Cobmoosa

Cobmoosa (1768 - 1866), or Weebmossa meaning "Great Walker", was an Odawa leader who lived in a Native American village at the mouth of the Flat River at the present-day city of Lowell, Michigan until 1858.

From the mid-1830s, there was a wave of white people wanting to settle in Michigan. At that time, much of the land was the ancestral homeland of several Native American tribes. The federal government negotiated with the state's tribal leaders beginning in 1836, but were unable to secure a viable treaty to relocate them. Cobmoosa was one of 54 Odawa and Chippewa leaders involved in the successful negotiations of the 1855 Treaty of Detroit, where Odawa and Chippewa people stayed in Michigan, rather than relocating to Kansas as the government had negotiated with some, but not all, of the leaders in 1836. As a result of the 1855 treaty, Cobmoosa's tribe relocated from its ancestral lands to Elbridge Township in Oceana County, Michigan. There was compensation for the tribal chiefs and headmen, but most of the approximately $540,000 in cash and goods went to white "friends" involved in the negotiation process.

Cobmoosa lived 98 years and spent his last years in a log cabin that had been built by the government along Cobmoosa Lake. He was known for his eloquence and majestic walk and manner. The poem Cobmoosa's Lament was written in his memory, the town of Cobmoosa was named for him, and a stone monument was erected in his honor in Hart, Michigan.

Cobmoosa was born in 1768 at a Rapids of Grand River village. He is believed to be the son of Antoine Campau and his wife, who was said to have been the daughter of an Odawa chief. Cobmoosa said of his father, a Frenchman from Montreal named Antoine, "At an early period of the Revolution my father espoused the cause of liberty with the Americans and remained firm to the end." He grew into a tall man, with "long strides."

He had four to six wives, three of whom were the daughters of Chief Wobwindego. Cobmoosa had three daughters: Ne-gance, Mrs. Cub-as-ka and Mrs. Ne-gak. His sons were Henry, Antoine, and James.

Cobmoosa was well-respected among the natives of the Grand River Valley and was generally known for his eloquence and majestic presence. He lived in an Odawa village near the mouth of the Flat River, where the current town of Lowell, Michigan is located.

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