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
Monument at Fort Jefferson. 129
named after the primitive red men of the
forest, a people that were not
much different from what we are to-day.
As I told you, they were a
God-fearing people, the same as we.
Their word was as sacred to them
as their lives, and I am not so sure
that that is true of all of us. I am
proud to say that I belong to an order
that was named after a people
as proud and noble as they. Then you
might say, why this war? I believe
and honestly believe that the white
man's greed for land, their superior
intelligence, the mistreatment of the
red man was the cause of the war,
and if I had time I could go back in
history and prove the assertion I
have made.
Whether that war was right or whether it
was wrong great minds
have differed and they still differ. At
any rate, the red man was driven
from the east, driven westward. At that
time this country was a wild
wilderness. The wild beast roamed at
will, and the cry of the stealthy
panthers could be heard at any time. The
rippling waters of the humblest
brooks ran on undisturbed to the great
rivers in the great beyond.
The Indians now being driven westward we
can imagine that we
see the tepee of the Indians placed on
those distant hills and the smoke
from the tepee ascending into the
heavens. We can imagine that we
see the dusky squaw. We can also imagine
that we see the little dusky
papoose playing and roaming at will.
Then we can also imagine that
we see the band of soldiers that stole,
as we are told, through yonder
valley and arrived at this spot and
built this fort, and no tongue can tell
nor no pen thoroughly describe the
privations and tortures that they en-
dured before that fort was built.
This is all that I have to say in regard
to the Order of Red Men.
The Historical Society being acquainted
with the history of the Order of
Red Men invited us to be here on this
occasion and that is why we are
here. In regard to the building of the
fort and the circumstances con-
nected with it you have been told.
REMARKS BY WESLEY VIETS.
Not having the slightest hint of my name
being called on this oc-
casion I am entirely unprepared to come
before you, and I do not feel
that I can add anything to what has been
said in regard to the history
of this old fort. All I can say is what
I know from my own experience.
I came to this place nearly
seventy-three years ago, and it was
then comparatively a wilderness. I have
played on this spot hundreds
of times as a boy and we always called
it the war ground. We would
say: "We will go over to the war
ground and hunt bullets." We would
pick up 6-ounce bullets that were shot
from the old guns, the old flint
lock that we had to load and prime it.
Powder was ignited through a
flint and we still had them when I was
old enough to shoot squirrels
in that woods. Pocket money was a little
scarce and we boys would
Vol. XVII.- 9.