The History Museum proudly presents “A Bend in Time,” a podcast of curated histories hosted by Aaron Helman of the greater South Bend, Indiana area.
Series 7 explores the earliest days of the city of South Bend, from the great Kankakee swamp and early French explorers to famous firsts and the Potawatomi Trail of Death.
This series is presented in conjunction with The History Museum's America250 programming and the exhibit First Peoples, First Settlers: Indiana's Interwoven Roots, which explores the beginnings of settlement in the area and the interactions between European settlers and America's Native peoples. First Peoples, First Settlers is on display until January 31, 2026.
Visit The History Museum's website at historymuseumsb.org (http://www.historymuseumsb.org/)
Episode 8: Coquillard's Folly
This final episode rounds up the milestones that turned a handful of cabins into a real town: Horatio Chapin's dry goods store, Sunday school, and stint as the town's first board president; the county's first sheriff, treasurer, and jail; the courthouse Peter Johnson built for $6,000; and the marriages, births, and everyday lives that filled in the town Coquillard and Taylor had platted.
Part of Series 7: Early South Bend
A Bend in Time is presented by The History Museum in South Bend, Indiana and hosted by Aaron Helman.
This series is presented in conjunction with The History Museum's America250 programming and the exhibit First Peoples, First Settlers: Indiana's Interwoven Roots, which explores the beginnings of settlement in the area and the interactions between European settlers and America's Native peoples. First Peoples, First Settlers is on display until January 31, 2027.
Visit The History Museum's website at historymuseumsb.org
20 Aug 2026
Series 07-07: The Trail of Death
Episode 7: The Trail of Death
As the region's new settlements grew, the desire for land grew with it. The land, however, was already occupied. Most of the area's native peoples were coerced, threatened, and then mandated at gunpoint to give up their homelands and move west. This episode traces the forced removal of Chief Menominee's band from Twin Lakes in 1838, the 660-mile march that killed at least 42 people, and the far murkier story of Alexis Coquillard's own role in completing the removals.
Part of Series 7: Early South Bend
A Bend in Time is presented by The History Museum in South Bend, Indiana and hosted by Aaron Helman.
This series is presented in conjunction with The History Museum's America250 programming and the exhibit First Peoples, First Settlers: Indiana's Interwoven Roots, which explores the beginnings of settlement in the area and the interactions between European settlers and America's Native peoples. First Peoples, First Settlers is on display until January 31, 2026.
Visit The History Museum's website at historymuseumsb.org
12 Aug 2026
Series 07-06: Coquillard's Folly
Episode 6: Coquillard's Folly
Canal Fever swept the nation after the Erie Canal turned Buffalo mud into New York gold, and Alexis Coquillard caught it bad. With the fur trade dead and mill-powered boomtowns like Lowell and Rochester as his model, South Bend's founder staked his fortune on a four-mile mill race meant to divert the Kankakee into the St. Joseph and turn South Bend into an industrial powerhouse. Spoiler alert: It didn’t work.
Part of Series 7: Early South Bend
A Bend in Time is presented by The History Museum in South Bend, Indiana and hosted by Aaron Helman.
This series is presented in conjunction with The History Museum's America250 programming and the exhibit First Peoples, First Settlers: Indiana's Interwoven Roots, which explores the beginnings of settlement in the area and the interactions between European settlers and America's Native peoples. First Peoples, First Settlers is on display until January 31, 2026.
Visit The History Museum's website at historymuseumsb.org
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.9 / 5
14 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 37 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
53
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
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