The North Manchester Covered Bridge,(#14-85-02), which crosses the Eel River (Which empties
into the Wabash at Logansport) was built in 1872 by the Smith
Bridge Company, a single span #4 Patented Truss structure. It is
174 feet long including the 12' overhangs on either end. THIS IS
THE WIDEST COVERED BRIDGE IN INDIANA at 18' wide. It is 12' foot
high, but is now limited to 7' vehicles, and 5 tons. The bridge was
placed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1982...
North Manchester has many downtown antique stores, a great
Fern Bar Eatery (Mainview), and numerous magnificent
Turn-of-the-Century Homes.
EEL
RIVER
Those of us with pale
faces are relatively recent settlers along the Eel or the
"Kenapocomoco" (really) River. Rivers were vital for trade and
transportation then .
For more than a
century before there were permanent white settlements, French and
British traders were carrying on an extensive trade with the Native
Americans and the Eel was one of the important highways for that
trade. As the struggle for the possession of the land became
intense the Eel was still one central focus. At least four major
battles were fought on its banks and Eel River villages and the Eel
River Indians supplied many of the personnel. That included the
great chief Meshekinnoquah, the Little
Turtle.
At a point where the
river was no longer navigable for canoes and small pirogues, either
the French or the British helped build a trading post where the
trappers and hunters could bring their furs.(Kekionga was only
about fourteen miles from that point). And by the same portage the
traders could move into the interior. Chief Little Turtle no doubt
spent a lot of time there. His sister, Tacumwah had another trading
post on the north side of the river and some distance away. After
the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 the U. S. government built Little
Turtle a house at this Eel River post and he spent most of his last
years there. It was a large double log house and he lived in
comfort attended by black servants. He went to the home of his son
in law Capt. William Wells in Ft. Wayne where he died in
1812.
About two miles south
of Columbia City, Route 9 crosses Eel River. Just south of the
river is an elevated piece of ground known in early days as "The
Island." Then it was about 300 acres of land bounded on the north
by the Eel and on the West, South and East by very swampy land .
There the Indians could retreat and defend themselves from enemies.
Sometimes their primary enemies were the Potawatomis and sometimes
the whites.
Below "The Island" Eel
River becomes larger with the addition of the waters of Mud Creek
and Blue River. For about sixty miles there were no major villages
because of the conflict between the tribes but many boats were on
the river and important trails followed the river. It was a land of
abundance. Lots of nuts, berries, maple syrup for the making , and
an abundance of wild animals and fish in the river. There were
other villages of note: Chief Pierish, on what is now the
Manchester College sports field; one mile below Roann, at Stockfale
a village called Niconza, or Squirrels village, a Potawatomi
chief.
 Dogs Allowed
 Available
year-round 
Less than 500 ft. from car to cache
 Check Tide Before
Caching  Accessible
in Winter
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Happy Caching from LEAD DOG & EARTH
DOG!!
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