An Indian village stood on this site for about 500 years. Near the end of that time, Hernando de Soto and him met probably visited. Several of his men kept journals and described a village much like this one, and several Spanish artifacts have been discovered. Makes Sense to me
There isn’t much to the park — a large field bordered on one side by the St. Francis River and on the other three sides by a ditch. There’s one mound where the chief’s cabin was located.
The Indians who lived here made pots with faces on them, perhaps to remember the enemies they killed. I thought they were pretty funky — so much so that I bought a small replica pot for my wall (along with a replica bell like the ones de Soto’s men traded here.
There’s also a one-room schoolhouse, part of the community that was built for the workers — mostly Black — employed at the Northern Ohio Cooperage and Lumber Company. It was built around 1910 and used until 1948.
I was the only visitor for most of my stay. I know I was the first of the day, because when I walked around the trail and then tried to get back in the visitor center by the trail-side door, it was locked. The ranger who unlocked it said they almost always forget to open it until the first visitor is locked out.
