Join us as we go back in time to tell the stories of Griffith, from before our town was even though of and onward. Weโll begin in the early 1800โs, when the area we live now was completely waterlogged and the beaver was the most prominent citizen around.
Our town is located on low ground, between two high strips of land โ now called Ridge Road and Route 30. For the longest time, these lowlands in the middle were mostly a huge wetlands, fed by the Grand Calumet and Little Calumet river systems.
It was known as Cady Marsh, after a man named Jack Cady who ran an inn along the high ground that would become Ridge Road.
The area was also considered uninhabitable, and was not part of Indiana when it became a state in 1816. Yet, all that water was good for growing all kinds of plants and trees. So, it wasnโt surprising that a lot of beavers made their home there, too.
One group of people knew that the marshland was habitable when the water dried up in the summer heat โ Native Americans from the Potawatomi nation who lived in small villages southeast of here.
In that dryness of late summer and early fall, they camped here as their people had done for generations. Gathering edible plants, and grasses to weave baskets used for storage and to hold foods.
Hunting beaver was a prime activity during those waning days of summer. Potawatomi tribesmen then took those beaver furs to sell at Baillyโs Trading Post, some 20 miles away. They got in return, European-made goods like guns, metal tools, cloth and beads.
Speaking of Europe, thatโs where these Indiana beaver furs were sent, to make top hats for rich European gentlemen. Bet you didnโt know our area was once part of the massive North American Fur Trade!
By the mid-1800โs, most of Indianaโs Native American tribes had been moved out of โ the Land of the Indians โ by use of treaties. The Potawatomi Tribe was the last to go.
Time was coming to an end for the Cady Marsh, too. But that is another story.
๐ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐! ๐ Today, our very own ๐ญ๐ต๐ฎ๐ด ๐๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ, ๐ฅ๐๐๐ต ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐, is being inducted into the ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ!
From the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame 23rd Women’s Induction Class Program:
๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ (๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ) ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ, ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ญ๐ต๐ฎ๐ด The late Ruth (Hutchins) Parker, a 1928 graduate of Griffith, was a prolific scorer in her era, setting a record of 120 points in an 126-4 victory over Merrilville on Feb. 4, 1928. That was after she scored 106 points on a 53-of-64 shooting in a 115-10 win over Ross on Jan. 28, 1928. As a senior, the Purple Pantherettes of coach C.L. Wilson went 17-0 and outscored opponents by an average of 30.2 points, 41.9 to 11.7. These numbers were amassed when six-player rules were used for girls’ basketball – three forwards and three guards on each side of center line, no crossing the center line, two-dribbles maximum and a player had three seconds to pass or shoot the ball. After high school, Hutchins played basketball in an independent league, once scored 159 points in a game and later worked in the railroad industry. She married Ralph Parker, and they were parents to three children. The one-time scoring star passed away at 46 on March 29, 1956.
Griffith History Museums 