Side A: In 1817 the United States government signed a treaty with a number of Native American tribes in northern Ohio, including the Seneca Indians. The Fort Meigs or Maumee Rapids Treaty bound the Seneca tribe to cede all claims to land north of the Greenville Treaty line, and in return they received a 40,000 acre reservation at Lower Sandusky (Fremont) and a $500 annuity to be paid each year in perpetuity. The reservation’s boundary began 1.5 miles north of here and extended 6.5 miles to the south. The width of the reservation was 8 miles with the western boundary at the Sandusky River. Beginning in 1830, with a policy of Indian removal developed by the administration of Andrew Jackson, tribes east of the Mississippi River were pressured to move to reservations in the West. The Seneca Indians moved to northeast Oklahoma in 1831.
Side B: Said to be one of the largest mineral springs in the world, Mineral Springs at Green Springs flows up from an underground river at a rate of 8 million gallons of water every 24 hours. The overflow runs into Green Creek and eventually into Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie. In the early 1800s, Jacob Stem, Green Spring’s founder, used the water to establish the area’s first saw and grist mills. However, Mineral Springs, which remains at a constant 50 degrees year round, became a great source for “curing all ailments.” In 1868, local entrepreneur Robert Smith had the emerald green water analyzed for mineral content and found it high in calcium sulphate and magnesium sulphate. The area was developed to include hotels and spas, and people from many parts of Ohio and elsewhere came to be near the water. The water was also bottled and sold until the 1930s.
Sponsors: Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, Stemtown Historical Society, and The Ohio Historical Society