Pioneer Days at the Navarre Cabin
June 15, 2012 — A celebration of the community’s settlement is taking place at “Pioneer Days,” being presented by the Center for History from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and 17, at the Navarre Cabin. Suggested donation is $3. The Navarre Cabin, which is owned by the Center for History, is located in Leeper Park East. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the cabin was built c. 1820 by Pierre Navarre, considered to be the first European to permanently settle in St. Joseph County.
During “Pioneer Days,” visitors can tour the Navarre Cabin, talk with costumed interpreters and see demonstrations of crafts, cooking, recreation,trades and period dress in the early 1800s.
Pierre Navarre, an educated man of French descent who came from Monroe, Michigan, in 1820 as an agent of the American Fur Company. Begun in 1808 by John Jacob Astor, the company competed with the great fur trading companies in Canada. Navarre’s arrival in South Bend and the establishment of the first trading post on the St. Joseph River prepared the way for the founding of Southhold, later to become South Bend. Navarre married a Potawatomi woman named Angelique Kechoueckouay. The couple had ten children, all of whom lived in the cabin.
For more information, call (574) 235-9664 or visit www.centerforhistory.org
