128 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
ows slept the heroic dead of two
armies-stood forth as the more ap-
propriate and fitting monument. Fort
Recovery, therefore, became the
future landmark for treaties and state
lines.
Every age has its peculiar problem. The
pioneers dealt with the
problems of poverty. They struggled for
the future. They laid the
foundations of a new state. And as we
look about in this day of plenty,
we should remember the sacrifices and
suffering of those who rescued
the country from the wilderness and
built deep and strong the foundation
of our present prosperity.
A WORD FROM THE RED MEN.
L. E. WILLS.
No doubt after hearing of the many
depredations by the Indians
towards the whites, you wonder why the
Little Turtle Tribe of Red Men,
an order which was named after the red
man, have been invited to assist
and participate upon this occasion. And
indeed you have cause to wonder,
from the fact, as I have said, that we were
named after the red men of the
forest, and at the time this fort was
built the red man and the whites were
engaged in a frightful war.
If this was a debate I assure you that I
could quote you some history
in defense of the red men that would
cause many of you to change your
minds and your opinions, but as this is
not a debate I will just call to
mind a few instances that might correct
some of your minds in regard
to why you are here.
When Columbus discovered and landed on
our Eastern shores,
his report upon his return was that he
had discovered a country inhabited
by a copper colored race of people, who,
upon the first sight of the white
man, became frightened and ran away; but
upon repeated efforts became
more friendly and showed them much hospitality.
That is the first in-
stance in history that we have of the
red man. History also teaches us
that the primitive red men of the forest
were a people who loved their
freedom above all things. They were a
people who considered their word
and promise as sacred as their lives.
They were a people to whom vice
and treachery were perfect strangers.
They were also a God-fearing
people, who, history tells us, never
entered upon any important duty
without offering up an invocation and
prayer asking The Great Spirit for
his protecting power. When rain failed
to descend and the buffalo had
forsaken their hunting grounds they
gathered together and for days offered
up incantation and prayer and smoked the
pipe of peace, believing that
their words would ascend to Him in the
smoke and cause the rain to fall
and the buffalo to return. That society
at that time was not named the
Red Men's Order, but the same people-the
same society descended on
down until it became the Improved Order
of Red Men. And we were