Chain-O-Lakes Trail 

The trail is 10 MILES LONG AND IS MARKED ONLY BY THE PARK TRAIL MARKERS

(Trail 1, 2, 3, etc.) STAY ON MARKED TRAILS-  Scouts should use the enclosed map.

CHAIN-O-LAKES PARK

Chain-O-Lakes Park was the 20th state park in Indiana. It was dedicated on June 13th 1960 by Gov. Harold W. Handley. The park as over 7 miles of widely varying shoreline and contains 212 acres of water. The lakes that are in the park are: Sand, Rivir, Bowen, Norman, Finster, Dock, Long, Mud and Miller Lakes. The park contains 2,678 acres that are located 5 miles south-east of Albion, Indiana.

One of the most interesting features at Chain-O-Lakes State Park 1s its shape. It is about a mile wide and four miles long.

The lakes in this chain are known as kettle lakes and were formed by the last glaciers in this area approximately 10,000 years ago. The lakes were actually huge blocks of ice. Rivers of water resulting from melting ice carved the channels which connect eight of the 11 lakes in the park. Prior to its settlement by pioneers, the area was inhabited by Miami Indians. An Indian village of about 30 bark wigwams was located on the north shore of Bowen Lake. William Bowen was one of the first settlers in this area in the 1830’s. In 1840 he constructed a home on the north shore of Bowen Lake. One of the most unique buildings in the park is the Interpretive Center. It is the restored Stanley Schoolhouse, which was originally constructed in 1915. It is the forth school at this location and was in use until the early 1950's.

HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY

Noble County ts situated in the northeastern portion of Indiana. ‘The County was organized in 1836. The surface formation of the county is variable, level, undulating, hilly and marshy. In 1874, 20% of the land was considered marsh. There are about 150 large and small lakes in Noble County covering an area of 7,000 acres. Joel Bristol was the first white settler in the county. He settled in Noble Township 3 1/2 miles northeast of Wolf Lake on April 4, 1872. The first Post Office was established at Perry’s Prairie and was known as the Good Hope Post Office. The county was named after Noah Noble, Governor of Indiana at the time the county was organized. The first county seat was at the present site of Kimmel, at that time called Sparta. In 1837 the county seat was moved to Augusta. In 1844 it was again moved, when the Court House was destroyed by fire, to Port Mitchell. ‘Uhen in 1846 it was moved to the present location at Albion. The Albion Court House, constructed of brick and sandstone, was completed in 1889 at a cost of $113,000.00. 

Sometime between 1812 and 1821, a poruon of what are now Sparta and Washington Townships of Noble County, was an Indian reservation. At Indian Village there were about 40 wigwams and a square brick house which had been constructed by the U.S. Government as a residence for Chief Wawaissa, of “Flat Belly”, as he was called. The Indians occupied this reservation until 1838, when they were removed from the county. The territory within the limits of Nobel County was acquired from the Potawatomi by two treaties of cession: the Garey Mission ‘Treaty of 1828, anda Government Treaty of 1832.

The history of the Indians of Noble County, and for that matter, of Northern Indiana, is as colorful as the names of the Red Men recorded. The tribes living in Northern Indiana during the last half of the 19th century were more of less actively engaged in all the border wars with the pioncers in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and northern Kentucky. Beyond question, white prisoners who were captured were often brought, not only to Fort Wayne, but to Indian Village in Sparta Township. One of the early settlers in Sparta Township found a stone having the shape of an Indian tomahawk which bore the inscription: “was taken prisoner by the Indians in 1776. Andrew Clinton”. Other inscriptions were found on trees and on tree stumps, indicating that white men had seen this new West even before the French missionaries and explorers extended their chain of missions and settlements along the Great Lakes and on downward into the Mississippi area. The Red Man is gone from this area, but he cannot be forgotten, His life will long be told as a bright romance of the past.