If you’ve ever wondered what a “sagamore” is, the state of Indiana stands ready with an explanation.
The term “sagamore” was used by the American Indian Tribes of the northeastern
United States to describe a lesser chief or a great man among the tribe to whom the
true chief would look for wisdom and advice.
Concurrently, the Wabash River is a key Indiana tributary of the Ohio, and a place name intimately associated with the Hoosier State. The word is taken from the French language name for the river, which itself is an adaptation of a term from the Miami–Illinois variant of the indigenous Algonquian tongue.
The Wabash River /ˈwɔːbæʃ/ (French: Ouabache) is a 503-mile-long river that drains most of the state of Indiana, and a significant part of Illinois, in the United States. It flows from the headwaters in Ohio, near the Indiana border, then southwest across northern Indiana turning south near the Illinois border, where the southern portion forms the Indiana-Illinois border before flowing into the Ohio River.
From these two components, the Sagamore of the Wabash award came into being.
The Sagamore of the Wabash award was created during the term of Governor Ralph Gates, who served from 1945 to 1949. Governor Gates was to attend a tristate meeting in Louisville with officials from the states of Ohio and Kentucky.
Aides to the governor discovered that the governor of Kentucky was preparing a Kentucky Colonel certificates for Governor Gates and Senator Robert A. Taft, who to represent the State of Ohio.
The Hoosiers decided that Indiana should have an appropriate award to present in return. Each governor since Gates has presented the certificates in their own way.
Earlier this year, I was made aware of a secret gathering on a snowy Saturday afternoon at the home of Judge and Mrs. Cody in Silver Hills.
Outgoing Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb was issuing the customary end-of-gubernatorial-tenure awards, reprieves and decrees, and among them was a Sagamore of the Wabash proclamation for my friend Scott Stewart, richly deserved, as advanced by State Representative Ed Clere.
The surprise party proved to be great fun, and Scott had no idea what was in store.
The following day, my wife Diana had arranged for us to make a social visit at the home of our friends Renee and Joe Cooper. I was cherishing these opportunities to exercise my new hip and get out in the open, as...Read more
