Ohio History Journal
OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
PUBLICATIONS.
THE
INDIAN TRIBES OF
OHIO -HISTORICALLY
CONSIDERED.
A PRELIMINARY PAPER BY WARREN KING
MOOREHEAD,
MEMBER OF THE VICTORIA INSTITUTE.
PREFACE.
In looking through a large number of
historical and ethno-
logical books recently, I was impressed
by the fact that we have
no single work devoted exclusively to
Ohio Indians, and that the
student of the tribes of the Ohio Valley
in historic times must
peruse numerous volumes and pamphlets in
order to gain a com-
prehensive knowledge of them from 1600
down to 1840. The
State Archaeological and Historical
Society has published much
upon archaeology and history, but it has
not written the record
of the Indians and their relations
toward each other and toward
the whites.
I have thought to assume the preparation
of a history of
the Ohio Indians, and therefore offer
these pages as a prelim-
inary paper, or a condensation of the
subject. It is not possible,
in fact, to present the matter properly
and in such form as its
importance demands in less than three or
four volumes.
This paper, while a compilation - as all
American Indian
histories must be - is the result of an
endeavor to bring into
compact form for the student and general
reader, nearly all that
1.
2 Ohio Arch. and
His. Society Publications.
has been written by travelers,
historians, captives, ethnologists,
missionaries, etc., upon Ohio tribes. I
have aimed to select the
best and most trustworthy authors. It
will be seen that a num-
ber of names are omitted from my
foot-note references. They
may be well known to many readers as
writers who are quoted
in various popular books.
A number of points (relating to tribes 1600 to 1700) are un-
der discussion among historians and
ethnologists and there may
be some exceptions taken to a few of my
statements. I have
tried to submit only facts, or
conclusions backed by proper refer-
ences, and if errors are found, shall
stand corrected.
THE INDIAN TRIBES OF OHIO.
History in the Ohio Valley may be
properly said to begin
with La Salle's expedition of 1667. In
that year he discovered
and descended the Ohio. In April, 1682,
at the mouth of the
Mississippi, he claimed all the
Mississippi Valley for the French
crown, and in the name of Louis XIV took
formal possession.
In his speech he names the Shawanoes and
the Allegheny River
in particular. Thus we may assume that
he was familiar with
both the tribes and the larger streams
of the Ohio region.
There is another reference to the
region, but whether we
can accept it as an absolute historical
record remains to be
seen.
Sir John Hawkins' expedition of 1586 was
disbanded in
Nicaragua and some of his sailors made
their way north through
Mexico and then east across North
America to within fifty miles
of Cape Breton, where a French fishing
vessel picked them up.1
Historian Fernow thinks that they passed
through the Ohio
Valley. If so, they were the first white
men to enter that ter-
ritory. These men published an account
of their adventures
some years later. Like most of our
narratives written by cap-
tives and travelers the book is of no
value either to historians or
ethnologists. They had an opportunity to
immortalize them-
selves, but they seemed to have no
intelligent conception of the
lands, peoples and languages of their
wanderings.
1The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days,
Berthold Fernow. Albany,
1890.
P. 10.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 3
"A Shawanoe chief from the valley
of the Ohio, whose fol-
lowing embraced a hundred and fifty
warriors, came to ask the
protection of the French against the
all-destroying Iroquois.
'The Shawanoes are too distant,' was La
Salle's reply: 'but let
them come to me at the Illinois, and
they shall be safe.' 2 The
Shawanoes, to the number of some two
hundred or more lodges,
did move there and are shown on La
Salle's map, 1684.
In 1879 Robert Clarke and Company, of
Cincinnati, pub-
lished "Some Early Notices of the
Indians of Ohio", by General
M. F. Force. Along with another paper,
it contains seventy-five
pages and is the best report upon the
historic Indians of Ohio
that we have. Professor James Mooney of
the Bureau of Eth-
nology, Professor Lucien Carr of the
Peabody Museum, Pro-
fessor Cyrus Thomas of the Smithsonian
Institute, Dr. Daniel
G. Brinton of the University of
Pennsylvania, and many others,
have written much upon Algonkin and
Iroquoian stocks both
of tribes and sub-tribes which once
lived in Ohio, or passed
through the state while upon their
journeys. But I think that
Rev. Heckewelder, the famous missionary,
and Col. James Smith
have given us about the best description
of the Ohio tribes; that
is, from the standpoint of personal
contact. Parkman must not
be omitted from the list. A short, but
important article entitled,
"Early Indian Migration in
Ohio", by Judge C. C. Baldwin, ap-
peared in the American Antiquarian of
April, 1879, pages 227-
239.3
The Algonkin stocks seem to have lived
in Ohio at a very
early period. Dr. Brinton says that they
occupied more ter-
ritory than any other confederacy.4
They extended over the
whole of Newfoundland and into Labrador,
down the Atlantic
coast, along Hudson Bay, and roamed over
the water-shed of
2La
Salle and the Discovery of the Great West. Parkman, 1869.
Boston. P. 265.
3 Judge
Baldwin, in his article, speaks of a map made by Colonel
Charles C. Whittlesey, in which he
showed the distribution of the Indian
tribes. The Judge's paper was read
before the State Archaeological
Society in September, 1878. Aside from
the reprint in the Antiquarian,
I find no mention of his valuable production
among state papers.
4The Leni Lenape and their Legends,
Brinton, Philadelphia, '85,
pages 1 to 22.
4 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the St. Lawrence. The Blackfeet carried
their tongue to the
Rocky Mountains, while in the Ohio
Valley lived the Sha-
wanoes and upon the upper Mississippi
the Illinois.
Cabins of logs, villages surrounded by
high palisades and
cultivated fields characterize these
tribes, and place them above
those who were merely roving hunters.
Dr. Horatio Hale, the
eminent Canadian ethnologist, thought
that the Cherokees once
lived in Ohio - say in the fourteenth
century. Dr. Cyrus
Thomas is also of the same opinion, but
there are others who
doubt it.
In 1848 Dr.Albert Gallatin published a
map showing the dis-
tribution of tribes as his researches
led him to locate them for
the year 1600. He gives Ohio largely to
the Iroquois and places
the Eries along the shore of Lake Erie.5
In his "Indians of Ohio", Gen.
Force states that the Eries
were exterminated by the Iroquois (or
Five Nations) in 1656,
and that for nearly fifty years
afterwards Ohio was not inhab-
ited.6 A tribe may not have
made Ohio its permanent home
during that period, but surely Gen.
Force will not claim that
there were no hunting or war parties
passing through the state
during these years.
Relations des Jesuites, 1654-1658, Quebec, tell us much re-
garding the Eries, Hurons and Iroquois
before guns and other
European articles were largely
introduced. The Relation for
1648 states that the Eries or Cat Nation
are so called because
of the presence of a "prodigious number
of wildcats, two or three
times as large as our tame cats, but
having a beautiful and
precious fur." The Jesuites state
that the war was brought on
by the action of an unreasonable young
woman. They say that
1200 Iroquois left Onontague and marched
to the Cat Nation
frontier. The natives all fled to one
large town, where they for-
tified themselves. "The enemy made
his approaches. The two
principal chiefs, clothed like
Frenchmen, displayed themselves,
to strike terror by the novelty of this
dress. One of them, bap-
tized by father Le Moine, and well
instructed, mildly summoned
the besieged to surrender to save their
destruction which would
5 Transactions of the American
Eethnological Society.
Some Early Notices of the Indians of
Ohio.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 5
follow an assault. 'The Master of Life
fights for us,' said he;
'you and I are lost if you resist.' 'Who
is this master of our
lives?' proudly answered the besieged.
'We recognize none but
our arms and our hatchets.' Thereupon
the assault is begun.
The palisade is attacked on all sides
and is as well defended as
attacked.
"The besiegers tried to carry the
place by storm, but in
vain; they are killed as fast as they
show themselves. They re-
solved to use their canoes as shields.
They carried these in front
and thus sheltered they reached the foot
of the intrenchment.
But it was necessary to clear the great
beams or trees of which
it was built. They slant their canoes
and use them as ladders to
mount the great palisade. This boldness
so astonished the be-
sieged that, their armament being
already exhausted, for their
supply was small, especially powder,
they thought to retreat and
this was their ruin. For the first
fugutives being mostly killed,
the rest were surrounded by the
Iroquois, who, entered the fort
and made such a carnage of women and
children that the blood
in some places was knee deep."
The Relation continues that a remnant of
the Eries fled and
that most captives were burnt by the
Iroquois.
The account of Wm. Ketchum in
"Buffalo and the Senecas"
is different from the above.7 Because of its interest, I quote
it in full.
"The Eries were among the most
powerful and warlike of
all the Indian tribes. They resided on
the south side of the great
lake which bears their name, at the foot
of which now stands the
city of Buffalo; the Indian name for
which was Te-osah-wa.
"When the Eries heard of the
confederation which had been
formed between the Mohawks, (who
subsequently resided in the
valley of the river of that name) the
Oneidas, the Onondagas,
the Cayugas, and the Senecas, who also
resided for the most part
upon the shores and outlets of the lakes
bearing their names re-
spectively, (called by the French the
Iroquois Nation) they im-
agined it must be for some mischievous
purpose. Although con-
fident of their superiority over any one
of the tribes inhabiting
7 "Buffalo and the Senecas,"
William Ketchum, Vol. I, Chap. II.
Buffalo, '81.
6
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the countries within the bounds of their
knowledge, they dreaded
the power of such combined forces. In
order to satisfy them-
selves in regard to the character,
disposition, and power of those
they considered their natural enemies,
the Eries resorted to the
following means:
"They sent a friendly message to
the Senecas, who were
their nearest neighbors, inviting them
to select one hundred of
their most active, athletic young men,
to play a game of ball
against the same number to be selected
by the Eries, for a wager
that should be considered worthy the
occasion and the character
of the great nation in whose behalf the
offer was made.
"The message was received and
entertained in the most re-
spectful manner. A council of the Five
Nations was called, and
the proposition fully discussed, and a
messenger in due time dis-
patched with the decision of the council
respectfully declining
the challenge.
"This emboldened the Eries, and the
next year the offer was
renewed, and after being again
considered, again formally de-
clined.
"This was far from satisfying the
proud lords of the 'Great
Lake', and the challenge was renewed the
third time. The blood
of the young Iroquois could no longer be
restrained. They im-
portuned the old men to allow them to
accept the challenge, and
the wise counsels that had hitherto
prevailed at last gave way,
and the challenge was accepted. Nothing
could exceed the en-
thusiasm with which each tribe sent
forward its chosen cham-
pions for the contest. The only
difficulty seemed to be, to make
a selection where all were so worthy.
After much delay, one
hundred of the flower of all the 'Five
Nations' were finally desig-
nated, and the day for their departure
fixed. An experienced
chief was chosen as the leader of the
party, whose orders the
young men were strictly enjoined to
obey. A grand council
was called, and in the presence of the
assembled multitude the
party was charged in the most solemn
manner to observe a
pacific course of conduct towards their
competitors, and the na-
tion whose guests they were to become,
and to allow no provo-
cation, however great, to be resented by
any act of aggression
on their part, but in all respects to
acquit themselves in a manner
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 7
worthy of the representatives of a great
and powerful people,
anxious to cultivate peace and
friendship with their neighbors.
Under these injunctions the party took
up its line of march for
Te-os-ha-wa.
"When the chosen band had arrived
in the vicinity of the
point of their destination, a messenger
was sent forward to no-
tify the Eries of their arrival, and the
next day was to be set
apart for their grand entree.
"The elegant and athletic forms,
the tasteful yet not cum-
brous dress, the dignified, noble
bearing of their chief, and more
than all, the modest demeanor of the
young warriors of the
Iroquois party, won the admiration of
all beholders. They
brought no arms. Each bore a bat, used
to throw or strike the
ball, tastefully ornamented - being a hickory stick about five
feet long, bent over at the end, and a
thong netting wove into
the bow. After a day of refreshment all
things were ready for
the contest. The chief of the Iroquois
brought forward and
deposited upon the ground a large pile
of costly belts of wam-
pum, beautifully ornamented moccasins,
rich beaver robes, and
other articles of great value in the
eyes of the sons of the forest,
as the stake or wager, on the part of
his people. These were
carefully matched, article by article,
by the chief of the Eries,
tied together and again deposited in a
pile. The game began,
and although contested with desperation
and great skill by the
Eries, was won by the Iroquois, and they
bore off the prize in
triumph. Thus ended the first day.
"The Iroquois having now
accomplished the object of their
visit, proposed to take their leave. But
the chief of the Eries,
addressing himself to the leader said,
their young men, though
fairly beaten in the game of ball, would
not be satisfied unless
they could have a foot race, and
proposed to match ten of their
number against an equal number of the
Iroquois party, which
was assented to, and the Iroquois were
again victorious.
"The Kaw-Kaws, who resided on or
near the Eighteen Mile
Creek, being present as the friends of
the Eries, invited the Iro-
quois to visit their village before they
returned home, and thither
the whole company repaired.
"The chief of the Eries, evidently
dissatisfied with the result
8
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
of the several contests already decided,
as a last and final result
of the courage and prowess of his
guests, proposed to select ten
men, to be matched by the same number to
be selected from the
Iroquois party, to wrestle, and that the
victor should dispatch
his adversary on the spot by braining
him with a tomahawk, and
bearing off his scalp as a trophy.
"This sanguinary proposition was
not at all pleasing to the
Iroquois. They, however, concluded to
accept the challenge
with a determination - should they be
victorious - not to exe-
cute the bloody part of the proposition.
The champions were
accordingly chosen. A Seneca was the
first to step into the ring,
and threw his adversary amidst the
shouts of the multitude. He
stepped back and declined to execute his
victim, who lay passive
at his feet. As quick as thought, the
chief of the Eries seized
the tomahawk and with a single blow
scattered the brains of his
vanquished warrior over the ground. His
body was dragged
out of the way and another champion of
the Eries presented
himself. He was as quickly thrown by his
more powerful antag-
onist of the Iroquois party, and as
quickly dispatched by the in-
furiated chief of the Eries. A third met
the same fate. The
chief of the Iroquois party seeing the
terrible excitement which
agitated the multitude, gave a signal to
retreat. Every man
obeyed, and in a moment they were out of
sight.
"In two hours they arrived at Te-osah-wa,
gathered up the
trophies of their victories, and were on
their way home.
"The visit of the hundred warriors
of the Five Nations, and
its results, only served to increase the
jealousy of the Eries, and
to convince them that they had powerful
rivals to contend with.
It was no part of their policy to
cultivate friendship and
strengthen their own power by
cultivating peace and friendly
alliance with other tribes. They knew of
no mode of securing
peace to themselves, but by
exterminating all who opposed them.
But the combination of several powerful
nations, any one of
which might be almost an equal match for
them, and of whose
personal prowess they had witnessed such
an exhibition, inspired
the Eries with the most anxious
forebodings. To cope with
them collectively, they saw was
impossible. Their only hope
therefore was in being able, by a sudden
and vigorous move-
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 9
ment, to destroy them in detail. With
this view a powerful war
party was immediately organized to
attack the Senecas, whose
principal residence was at the foot of
Seneca Lake, near the
present site of the village of Geneva.
It happened that at this
period there resided among the Eries a
Seneca woman, who in
early life had been taken prisoner, and
had married a husband
of the Eries. He died and left her a
widow without children, a
stranger among strangers. Seeing the
terrible note of prepara-
tion for a bloody onslaught upon her
kindred and friends, she
formed the resolution of apprising them
of their danger.
"As soon as night set in, taking
the course of the Niagara
river, she traveled all night, and early
next morning reached the
shore of Lake Ontario. She jumped into a
canoe she found fas-
tened to a tree and boldly pushed out
into the open lake. Coast-
ing down the south shore of the lake,
she arrived at Oswego
river in the night, near which a large
settlement of her nation
resided. She directed her steps to the
house of the head chief
and disclosed to him the object of her
visit. She was secreted
by the chief, and runners were
dispatched to all the tribes, sum-
moning them to meet in council
immediately.
*
* * *
"No time was to be lost, delay
might be fatal. A body of
five thousand warriors was formed, with
a corps of reserve of
one thousand young men who had never
been in battle. The
bravest chiefs from all the tribes were
put in command, and spies
immediately sent out in search of the
enemy; the whole body
taking up a line of march in the
direction from whence they ex-
pected an attack.
"The advance of the war party was
continued for several
days, passing through successively the
settlements of their
friends, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and
the Senecas. But
they had scarcely passed the last wigwam
near the foot of
Can-an-da-gua lake, when their scouts
brought in intelligence
of the advance of the Eries, who had
already crossed the Chin-
issee-o (Genesee) river in large force.
"The Eries had not the slightest
suspicion of the approach
of their enemies. They relied upon the
secrecy and celerity of
10
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
their movements to surprise and subdue
the Senecas almost with-
out resistance.
"The two parties met about midway
between Canandaigua
lake and the Genesee river, and near the
outlet of two small
lakes, near the foot of one of which
(the Honeyoye) the battle
was fought. When the two parties came in
sight of each other,
the outlet of the lake only intervened
between them. The entire
force of the Iroquois was not in view of
the Eries. The reserve
corps of one thousand young men had not
been allowed to ad-
vance in sight of the enemy. Nothing
could exceed the impetu-
osity of the Eries at the first sight of
an opposing force on the
opposite side of the stream. They rushed
through it and fell
upon them with tremendous fury.
"Notwithstanding the undaunted
courage and determined
bravery of the Iroquois warriors, they
could not withstand such
a terrible onslaught, and they were
compelled to yield the ground
on the bank of the stream. The whole
force of the Iroquois,.
except the corps of reserve, now became
engaged; they fought
hand to hand and foot to foot; the
battle raged horribly, no
quarter was asked or given on either
side. As the fight thick-
ened and became more and more desperate,
the Eries, for the
first time became sensible of their true
situation. What they had
long anticipated had become a fearful
reality. Their enemies
had combined for their destruction, and they now found themselves
engaged suddenly and unexpectedly in a
fearful struggle, which
involved not only their glory, but the
very existence of their
nation. They were proud, and had
hitherto been victorious
over all their enemies. Their power was
felt and their superi-
ority acknowledged by all the
surrounding tribes. They knew
how to conquer, but not to yield.
All these considerations flashed
upon the minds of the bold Eries, and
nerved every man with
almost superhuman power.
"On the other hand, the united
forces of the weaker tribes,
now made strong by union, fired by a
spirit of emulation, excited
to the highest pitch among the warriors
of the different tribes,
brought for the first time to act in
concert; inspired with zeal
and confidence by the counsel of the
wisest chiefs, and led on
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 11
by the most experienced warriors of all
the tribes, the Iroquois
were invincible.
"Though staggered at the first
desperate onslaught of the
Eries, the Iroquois soon rallied and
made a stand, and now the
din of battle rises higher and higher;
the war club, the toma-
hawk and the scalping knife, wielded by
herculean arms, do ter-
rible deeds of death.
"During the hottest of the battle,
which was fierce and long,
the corps of reserve consisting of one
thousand young men, were
by a skillful movement under their
experienced chief and leader,
placed in rear of the Eries on the
opposite side of the stream in
ambush.
"The Eries had been driven seven
times across the stream,
and had as often regained their ground,
but the eighth time, at a
given signal from their leader, the
corps of reserve in ambush
rushed upon the almost exhausted Eries
with a tremendous yell,
and at once decided the fortunes of the
day. Hundreds dis-
daining to fly, were struck down by the
war clubs of the vigorous
young warriors, whose thirst for the
blood of the enemy knew
no bounds.
"Tradition adds that many years
after, a powerful war party
of the descendants of the Eries came
from beyond the Missis-
sippi, ascended the Ohio river, crossed
the country, and attacked
the Senecas. A great battle was fought
near this city, in which
the Eries were again defeated and slain
to a man, and their
bodies were burned and the ashes buried
in a mound which is
still visible near the old Indian
Mission Church, a monument
of the indomitable courage of the
terrible Eries, and their brave
conquerors, the Senecas."
And of these Eries, strange, interesting
folk - one of the
earliest tribes of which we have history
- we have no detail.
One authority says they are Algonkin,
another denies the propo-
sition. They perished in the dawn of
Ohio history, and we must
now turn from them to other and better
known tribes of men.
The Shawanoes are more closely
interwoven with Ohio's
history than any other nation.
They produced two of the
12 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
greatest men of the red race, Tecumtha8
and Cornstalk. They
were the implacable foes of the white
race. The Shawanoes
never mustered more than three hundred
warriors, yet they de-
feated our troops in more than twenty
engagements. The story
of their life is written in blood; yet
it is a record for which there
is ample justification. They were the
real warriors, the dic-
tators, the backbone of all Indian wars
in the Ohio Valley, and
upon them fell the brunt of nearly every
battle, and they with-
stood the shock and tumult of conflict,
brave men that they were.
I look over the pages of Indian history
and see there the names
of the Shawanoes standing forth above
all other names. Wrongs
and outrages unparalleled did they
suffer. They paid back the
debt with interest, and all men of
spirit irrespective of color or
culture-state would have done the same.
Gen. Force says that the Shawanoes first
occur in history
about the year 1660, living along the
Cumberland and Tennes-
see rivers. After reviewing much that
has been published about
them, Dr. Thomas says:9
"As Parkman has observed, this
tribe (the Shawanoes) pre-
sents one of the most puzzling problems
of our early history.
But there is one fact apparently not
properly appreciated which
should dispel much of the mystery of its
movements and correct
the idea entertained in regard to its
nomadic character.
"If we bear in mind the central
position of the Shawnees,
the region of Kentucky and middle
Tennessee, it can readily be
understood why notices of them appear in
the records of early
days in so many different quarters. The
French, moving west
along the line of the lakes and south
along the Illinois and Mis-
sissippi, hear of them by contact with wandering parties or
through intermediate tribes. And the
same is true in regard to
travelers and early settlers east and
south. Information con-
cerning them at so many widely different
points has naturally
suggested the opinion that they were
true nomads. Another
reason for this opinion is the fact that
about the time they be-
8 On
the authority of the Bureau of Ethnology, this being the
correct spelling and pronunciation.
9American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, p.
260, July, 1891. The Sha-
wanoes in Pre-Columbian Times.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 13
came generally known to the colonists,
they were attacked and
broken into scattering bands by other
tribes.
"Theories in regard to the early
home of the tribe have been
advanced which, in view of more recent
light, have been gener-
ally discarded as untenable. One of
these theories is that they
are to be identified with the
Massawomekes of Captain John
Smith's 'History of Virginia', whom he
states he encountered
at the head of Chesapeake Bay. In order
to sustain this theory
it is assumed that the Massawomekes of
Smith are identical with
the Eries or Cat Nation of the French,
mentioned by the early
writers and explorers as dwelling
immediately south of Lake
Erie. As it is now conceded that this
nation was linguistically
related to the Iroquois, while the
Shawnees belong to the Algon-
quian stock, this theory seems to be
without sufficient basis.
*
* * *
"There are reasons for believing
that the residence of this
people in Ohio in historic times was not
their first appearance
north of the Ohio river; a belief which
seems to be entertained
by Judge C. C. Baldwin, and, as I learn
from personal communi-
cation, by Mr. Lucien Carr, both of whom
have given the his-
torical side of the question a somewhat
careful examination.
"When in 1669 Abbe Gallinee
requested of the Senecas a
prisoner from the Ohio to guide La Salle
on his intended journey
to that river, the people living there,
according to their state-
ment, were called Toagenha. The Indians,
in order to dissuade
the French from their intended journey,
told them the Toagenha
were bad people, who would treacherously
attack them at night,
and that they would also run the risk
before reaching them of
meeting the Ontastois. As the latter
tribe was, beyond doubt,
the Andastes, there are good reasons for
believing that the for-
mer were Shawnees. Marshall, in his 'La
Salle and the Sen-
ecas', adds that the Toagenha were 'a
people speaking a corrupt
Algonkin.'
"As bearing up on the question, it
may be added that, ac-
cording to Shea, the Wyandottes called
the Shawnees Onto-
nagannha. In 1675 Garacontie, an
Onondaga chief, told his
14
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
people to live in peace with the French
and turn their arms
against the distant Ontwogannha.10
"There is, however, in the Relation
of Abbe Gallinee (1669-
'70), as given by Margry,11 another
statement that refers beyond
doubt to the Shawnees and indicates the
locality of a part of the
tribe at that time. Speaking of the
commencement of his jour-
ney to the southwest and the reason for
it, he remarks: 'Our
fleet consisted of seven canoes, each
manned by three men, which
departed from Montreal the sixth day of
July, 1669, under the
guidance of two canoes of Iroquois
Sonnontoueronons (Senecas),
who had come to Montreal in the autumn
of the year 1668 to
do their hunting and trading. These
people had lived here quite
a long while with M. de la Salle, and
had told him so many mar-
vellous things concerning the Ohio
river, which they claimed to
be perfectly acquainted with, that they
excited in him more than
ever the desire to visit it. They told
him that this river had its
source three days' journey from
Sonontouan, and that after a
month's travel he would reach the
Honniasontkeronons (prob-
ably Andastes) and the Chiouanons
(Shawnees), and that after
having passed these and a great
waterfall, which there was in
the river, he would find the Outagame
and the country of the
Iskousogos (probably Chickasaws), and
finally a country so
abounding in deer and wild cattle that
they were as thick as the
woods, and such great numbers of people
that there could be
no more."
After the year 1750 we continuously hear
of the Shawanoes
in Ohio.
The great Iroquois (Five Nations, and
later, Six Nations)
cannot be said to have had many villages
in Ohio in historic
times. In fact, they entered the
territory of the peaceful Algon-
kins solely by conquest for they were
totally dissimilar in lan-
guage and customs. The great physical
difference between the
Algonkin and Iroquoian people lies in
that the crania of the
former are brachycephalic and of the
latter dolicocephalic. Their
10 Shea, Catholic Missions, 1855.
11Decouvertes, Pt. 1, 116, 1875.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 15
famous league was formed in the middle
of the fifteenth century."
The main villages and government
remained in western and
central New York state, but small bands
of Wyandots and
Tuscaroras and Conestogas and Cayugas
and Mingoes roamed
about Ohio or located villages of
considerable size where their
fancy directed.
The Cherokees were some time upon the
headwaters of the
Ohio. The Bureau of Ethnology now
connects them with the
Iroquois. The Kickapoos, Miamis, Wabash,
Hurons, Chippe-
was, Ottawas, Ojibeways, etc., may have
been in Ohio some time,
or attended councils, or sent out war or
hunting parties. With
the exception of the Miamis, and
possibly one or two others,
none of them can be said to have lived
here for any length of
time.
The conditions existing in Ohio two
hundred years ago can
scarcely be appreciated by those of us
who live in this modern
age - this period of rush and strife, of
struggle after wealth and
power. To begin with, the streams
presented an almost even
stage of water throughout the year. The
timber was not cut,
swamps were not drained, there were no
drams, no canals, no
utilization of water-power. The streams
were half choked (save
in the deepest part of the channel) by
logs, trees and drift. In-
numerable small pools and swamps in the
woods also held water.
These discharged into sluggish creeks
and rivers, and they, in
turn, into the great waterways. It was
possible to go in large
canoes to the lake or come from thence
to the Ohio at any season
of the year. The Scioto, Muskingum and
Great Miami were the
favorite routes, the Scioto being the
most traveled.
Captive James Smith, in 1754, went to
the lake by way of
the West Branch of the Muskingum
(Walhonding) in a large
canoe with a number of Indians. The trip
could not be made
today in the lightest canvas canoe save
at high water stage.
Mr. Ketchum speaks of this in his
volumes. He also calls atten-
tion to the prairies of Ohio and New
York. I shall quote from
him again.13
12
L. H. Morgan, an authority upon the Iroquois. Also "The
Iroquois Book of Rites," Horatio
Hale, Philadelphia, '83.
13 "Buffalo and the Senecas,"
William Ketchum, Vol. I, Chap. III,
p. 16.
16
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
"The arrival and permanent
settlement of Europeans on
this continent, seriously affected not
only the aboriginal inhabit-
ants, their habits, modes of thought,
and of action, but also
wrought a great change in the face of
the country, particularly
in our own state. The earliest records
and observations of those
who visited the coasts of New England,
before any permanent
settlement of Europeans was made,
represent the country for the
most part as an open prairie - produced
by the periodical burn-
ing over of immense tracts of country by
the native inhabitants
-
and this was a custom persisted in from time immemorial.
The reason assigned for this by Thomas
Morton, in 1636, was,
that it was for the purpose of keeping
down the growth of trees,
shrubs, vines and vegetation, which
would otherwise grow so
rank as to become impenetrable and
obstruct the vision as well
as the passage through it. But
subsequent observation assigned
a better and more probable reason for
these periodical burnings.
The inhabitants subsisted almost
entirely by the chase; agri-
culture as a means of subsistence was
entirely unknown to them.
They lived almost entirely upon fish,
and the flesh of animals
they were able to kill by the means they
then employed, which
would now be considered very inadequate
to accomplish the
purposes designed. They found it
necessary to adopt some
method to entice the graminivorous
animals into the vicinity of
their settlements, and by burning the
dried vegetation every
spring, they not only kept down the
growth of timber and shrubs,
but stimulated the growth of a tender
nutritious grass, eagerly
sought for by the deer, the elk, the
moose, and the buffalo.
These not only sought the luxuriant
pastures for food, but they
soon learned that these open plains
afforded protection against
their enemies of the carnivorous race of
animals which prey upon
them. These stealthy marauders of the
feline and canine species,
exercised their vocation in the dense
forests, or in the darkness
of the night. They seldom ventured into
the open plain; hence
the harmless, defenceless animals which
furnished food for man,
roamed almost unmolested over the grassy
plains kept in per-
ennial verdure by his superior sagacity.
"All the regions of country which
are usually denominated
oak openings' are to be considered as
once open prairies, like
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 17
the vast prairies of the West, whose
origin is to be ascribed to
the same cause. These prairies extended
over a great portion
of what is now New England, a large
portion of the states of
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Kentucky, Ten-
nessee, etc. A large portion of Upper
Canada, particularly that
part of it bounded by the lakes Ontario,
Erie, and Huron, may
also be included in the once prairie
region, for it will be observed
that 'oak openings' prevail to a large
extent in all the territory
named. What are called the plains in our
vicinity, are a striking
example of the change which has taken
place within less than
two hundred years."
As to game in Ohio, little need be said.
There were elk,
deer, bear, buffalo, turkeys and all
kinds of birds and small quad-
rupeds in abundance; the streams swarmed
with fish. All ac-
counts agree as to the profusion of
animal life. Col. May, in
1788, said:
"I am of the opinion that deer are
plentier in this country
than horned cattle are in New
England."14
James Smith, writing of 1755-1759, says
that all kinds of
game, wild fruits, succulent roots,
etc., abounded in inexhaust-
ible quantities.15
Professor Lucien Carr in "The Food
of Certain American
Indians", mentions maize as being
prepared in more than thirty
ways each of which had an individual
name.16 There were sev-
eral varieties found by the whites in
Ohio upon their arrival and
they differed in size and hardness of
grain, in length of ear and in
time required to ripen. Beans, pumpkins,
tobacco and sweet
potatoes were cultivated. Wild potatoes
and wild rice were gath-
ered in quantities and stored for winter
use; also hickorynuts,
walnuts and all other nuts, red and
black haws, pawpaws, straw-
berries, blackberries, etc., maple
sugar, plums, persimmons,
14 Colonel May's Journey, 1788-9,
Marietta, O. Robt. Clarke, Cin-
cinnati.
15 An Account of the Remarkable
Occurrences in the Life and
Travels of Colonel James Smith, 1755'59.
Reprinted by Robt. Clarke
Co., Cincinnati, 1870.
16 Report of the American Antiquarian
Society for April, 1895,
Lucien Carr.
Vol. VII-2.
|
18 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. grapes and various barks and lichens, mussels from the streams and other foods which we would not esteem. Of wild honey and bears oil they had an abundance, and from walnuts they ex- tracted a rich oil. Thus we see that the Ohio tribes were highly favored by nature. |
|
|
|
It is not necessary to prepare a map of tribal distributions in 1600. The Miamis occupied the western or northwestern part of the state and the Eries the southern shore of Lake Erie. Roving bands of Shawanoes ranged north of the Ohio river. 1740 found several tribes in Ohio, and I have prepared a rough map showing their location. Boundaries of aboriginal peoples' territory cannot be accurately established. This partly explains |
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 19
the rude nature of my map. I have
exaggerated some of the
streams in order to clearly show the
portages. In early times
our rivers and creeks carried a more
even volume of water
through the year, and it was
comparatively easy to pass from the
Ohio to Lake Erie by canoe. The large
letters IROQUOIS,
are made to include Catawbas, Senecas,
etc., who had small vil-
lages in the northern and northeastern
portion of Ohio.
Our detailed history of the Ohio region
begins with 1740.
Mr. Fernow in "The Ohio Valley in
Colonial Days", gives us
much information, and I will say that
his volume afforded sug-
gestions for portions of this paper.17
When the French and Indian war broke out
the Ohio In-
dians sided mostly with the French. In
fact, nearly all the tribes
of the Colonies, the Northwest and
Canada were friendly to the
French, and it was only after large
presents that the English
were able to win over any considerable
bodies of natives. There
is reason for this preference on the
part of the Indians. French-
men understood Indian character; they
seemed to take naturally
to savage life. They were in close touch
with the red men and
there was much in common in the two
temperaments, both be-
ing excitable and changeable. French coureurs
de bois pene-
trated to the remotest corners of Ohio
and elsewhere long before
Englishmen had reached the western slope
of the Alleghenies.18
The French lived with the Indians; they
sympathized with
them, they gave them many gifts. Most of
captives' narratives
and many of the histories refer to this
love for the French.
Nothing so prejudices an Indian as
miserly habits and a with-
holding hand. Hence natives had no use
whatsoever for the
Dutch ,and but little for the people of
the United States during
and after the Revolution. Baron La
Hontan speaks for French-
men of high or low degree when he
writes, "The manners of
the savages are perfectly agreeable to
my palate."
There has been much written regarding the origin of the
17 "The Ohio Valley in Colonial
Days," Berthold Fernow. Joel
Munsell's Sons, Albany, 1890, No. 17 of
Munsell's Historical Series.
18 Read
Parkman, "La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West,"
also "The Conspiracy of
Pontiac," to obtain a full account of French
influences. Little, Brown & Co.,
publishers, Boston.
20 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
French and Indian war. Man's avarice
caused it. Both French
and English sought to control the fur
trade; they established
rival posts in the Ohio Valley, and war
was a natural result. The
French raided the New York and New
England settlements,
they arrested such English traders as
entered the Ohio country;
they persuaded the Indians to make war
upon the English
frontier.
"In 1749 La Jonquire, the governor
of Canada, learned, to
his great indignation, that several
English traders had reached
Sandusky, and were exerting a bad
influence upon the Indians
of that quarter; and two years later, he
caused four of the in-
truders to be seized near the Ohio and
sent prisoners to
Canada."19
In 1748 the Ohio Company of
Massachusetts was formed,
and in 1750 Christopher Gist was sent
out to survey the river as
far as the Ohio Falls (Louisville). Gist
accomplished his task
and reported to his superiors. In the
spring of 1753 the French
established several posts upon the Ohio
and the Lake (Erie).
Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia, sent
George Washington to
demand that the French remove from
British territory. We are
all familiar with this, Washington's
first service, and it need only
be said that the French received him
politely, but refused to re-
linquish the Ohio Valley. Following upon
this unsuccessful
mission were the campaigns of Trent and
Washington in the
spring of 1754. They also were failures.
Parkman says:20 "While the rival
nations were beginning
to quarrel for a prize which belonged to
neither of them, the
unhappy Indians saw, with alarm and
amazement, their lands
becoming a bone of contention between
rapacious strangers.
* * * *
"Thus placed between two fires they
knew not which way
to turn. Their native jealousy was
roused to its utmost pitch.
Many of them thought that the two white
nations had conspired
to destroy them and then divide their
lands, 'You and the
French', said one of them, a few years
afterwards, to an English
19 The Conspiracy of Pontiac, Vol.I, p.
72.
20Conspiracy of Pontiac. Vol. I, p. 100.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 21
emissary, 'are like the two edges of a
pair of shears, and we are
the cloth which is cut to pieces between
them.'" 21
While this storm was gathering, there
was a famous Ot-
tawa, Pontiac by name, whose messengers
were carrying com-
munications to the Ohio tribes.
Cornstalk the Shawano and
Logan the Mingo were both young men, but
there is every rea-
son to suppose that they received their
"baptism of fire" in this
French-Indian war.
Scruniyattha, the Half King or head
chief of the Wyandots
had been friendly to the English. In
fact, nearly all the Iroquois
were inclined towards the British
interests; but the more numer-
ous Algonkin tribes favored French
supremacy.
The spring of 1755 witnessed unusual
activities upon the
frontier. Fort Duquesne, on the present
site of Pittsburg, be-
ing well garrisoned, seemed to indicate
a permanent French
occupation of the Ohio territory.
Communication between Du-
quesne and Canada was continuous and
large quantities of guns,
powder, lead, knives, blankets,
household and farming imple-
ments, beads, paint, bells, gloves,
scissors, etc., were imported to
both give and sell to the Ohio Indians.
As a natural result of
murders committed by whites along the
Virginia and Pennsyl-
vania frontiers, the Indians were
incited to hostility against the
English. The munificence with which the
French distributed
those articles I have enumerated
confirmed the Indians in their
allegiance to France.
It is not necessary to narrate
Braddock's famous march, his
death, the disaster which overwhelmed
him, the conduct of
Washington, etc. All this ground has
been frequently covered.
There were some Ohio Indians in the
fight and they returned to
the Scioto, Muskingum, Ohio and lake
villages, exhibiting bloody
trophies and arms and clothing.
James Smith, in his famous book, gives
us side-lights on the
events following Braddock's defeat.22
Smith was a captive in
Fort Duquesne when the victorious
Indians and French came in
21 First,
Journal of C. F. Post.
22
An Account of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life and Trav-
els of Colonel James Smith. Cincinnati,
Robert Clarke & Co., 1870.
reprint.
22
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
from the field. He was immediately taken
to Tullihas on the
Walhonding, twenty miles above
Coshocton, in Newcastle town-
ship. It was inhabited by Delawares,
Caughnewagas and Mo-
hicans. He passed through a regular
adoption into the Caugh-
newagas tribe, a branch of the Iroquois.
There were two chiefs,
Tecauyaterighto, called Pluggy, and
Asallecoe, called Mohawk
Solomon. This Tecauyaterighto was a very
famous warrior and
defeated the whites in several
engagements.
In Smith's hunting excursions he
traveled pretty generally
over the state. His report is of great
value, for Smith was a
very intelligent observer. Of the
Licking Reservoir - which
was a lake and swamp originally - he says
:23
"We then moved to the buffaloe
lick, where we killed sev-
eral buffaloe, and in their small brass
kettles they made about
half a bushel of salt. I suppose this
lick was about thirty or
forty miles from the aforesaid town
(Tullihas) and somewhere
between the Muskingum, Ohio and Sciota.
About the lick was
clear, open woods, and thin white-oak
land, and at that time
there were large roads leading to the
lick, like wagon roads.
We moved from this lick about six or
seven miles, and encamped
on a creek."
It may have been Jonathan's creek,
several miles south of
the reservoir, or it may have been one
of the branches of the
Licking river upon which Smith's party
encamped.
The main trail from Duquesne passed the
lake and swamp
now known as the Licking Reservoir. Many
parties and indi-
viduals had traversed it. Christopher
Gist encamped there Jan-
uary 17, 1751.
Smith thinks that the Indians with whom
he lived had rea-
son to fear an attack for he says:
"I had observed before this that
the Indians were upon their
guard, and afraid of an enemy; for,
until now they and the South-
ern nations had been at war."
In October Pluggy and party returned
from an expedition
against the South Branch of the Potomac
settlers. Smith re-
ports that many prisoners and scalps
were brought along.
23 Remarkable Occurrences, etc. Page
21. This was in 1755, sum-
mer.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 23
In the fall his captors took him up the
Walhonding and Mo-
hican, then up the Black Fork to the
"carrying-place" or portage
in Ashland county (northern). There they
struck the head waters
of the Black river (Canesadooharie) and
descended that to the
lake. The Wyandots had a village here.
Upon reaching the Wyandot town, (about
two miles from
the present site of Sandusky) called
Sunyendeand, they bought
new clothes, paint, tobacco, etc., of the
French traders there lo-
cated. While here several old Indians
engaged Smith in conver-
sation.24 "The two old
Indians asked me if I did not think the
Indians and French would subdue all
America, except New
England, which they had tried in old
times. * * * They said
they had already drove them all out of
the mountains, and had
chiefly laid waste the great valley
betwixt the North and South
mountain, from Potomac to James river,
which is a considerable
part of the best land in Virginia,
Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
* *
* They asked me to offer my reasons for my opinion, and
told me to speak my mind freely. I found
that the old men them-
selves did not believe they could
conquer America, yet they were
willing to propagate the idea, in order
to encourage the young
men to go to war."
A large war party was made up at
Sunyendeand and sent
against the frontiers. They returned
with scalps, prisoners and
plunder. These prisoners were well
treated, according to Smith's
account. By the narratives of those who
were with the Indians
for any length of time, we learn that
prisoners were humanely
treated. The adoption rites may have
been severe, but once re-
ceived into the tribe a prisoner was
treated with kindness and
consideration. After 1790 this could not
be affirmed of Ohio
tribes.
In October, 1756, he left the town and
went hunting with
Tecaughretanego, a Caughenewaga chief.
This man, and also
Tontileaugo, were two characters - noble
ones - of whom we
know nothing save through Smith's
narrative. I think that
either one will favorably compare with
any of the great aborig-
ines known to history. During Smith's
various hunting excur-
sions he went up the Tuscarawas, made a
portage of eight miles
Remarkable Occurrences, etc. James
Smith, p. 47.
24
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
and struck the Cuyahoga in Summit
county, Portage and Cov-
entry townships. He also went up the
Sandusky, made a short
portage and struck various sloughs which
enabled him to reach
the real Olentangy - now Big Darby - and
proceed down that
stream to the Scioto. We have so changed
surface conditions
by the destruction of our forests that
the same routes traversed
by Smith could not be run today save
during a brief period of
spring floods. A person starting in a
canvas canoe from Ports-
mouth could not ascend the Scioto even
as far as Columbus un-
less he dragged his boat over
innumerable riffles. Yet Smith
traveled this and other streams in large
canoes capable of carry-
ing many persons.
He speaks of French traders, in the
spring of 1757, being
in a Wyandot town opposite Fort Detroit
and that these traders
gave them much brandy. Smith was elected
one of those who
stayed sober and whose duties were to
conceal all arms so that
the intoxicated braves might be
prevented from injuring each
other.
"About the first of June, 1757, the
warriors were preparing
to go to war, in the Wiandot,
Pottawatomie and Ottawa towns;
also a great many Jibewas came down from
the upper lakes;
and after singing their war songs and
going through their com-
mon ceremonies, they marched off against
the frontiers of Vir-
ginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania singing
the traveling song,
slow firing, etc."25
This man Tecaughretanego was opposed to
the war and his
sound sense and judgment is shown in his
remarks to Smith.
"He had all along been against this
war, and had strenuously
opposed it in council. He said if the
English and French had
a quarrel let them fight their own
battles themselves; it is not
our business to meddle
therewith."26 If all Indians had pursued
this policy the Ohio tribes might be in
existence today.
Space does not permit my enlarging upon
the truly remark-
able philosophy of Tecaughretanego. But
I will quote some of
Smith's remarks upon the subject. They
were in camp some
forty miles from any other hunter's
habitations, and sixty miles
25 Remarkable Occurrences, etc. Smith,
p. 78.
26 Remarkable Occurrences, etc.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 25
from a village. They had been long
without sufficient food, for
the old Indian's rheumatism prevented
his hunting. Smith failed
in his efforts to secure game because of
a heavy, crusted snow
which lay upon the ground for many days,
and in which his foot-
steps made a loud noise. One evening
Smith returned faint and
weary. Tecaughretanego's little son had
gathered such wildcat
bones as lay about the camp and prepared
a thin soup of which
they partook.
"He said the reason why he deferred
his speech until now
was because few men are in right humor
to hear good talk when
they are extremely hungry, as they are
generally fretful and dis-
composed; as you appear now to enjoy
calmness and serenity of
mind, I will now communicate to you the
thoughts of my heart
and those things that I know to be true.
'"Brother, as you have lived with
the white people and you
have not had the same advantage of
knowing that the Great Be-
ing above feeds his people and gives
them their meat in due
season as we Indians have, who are
frequently out of provisions
and yet are wonderfully supplied, and
that so frequently that it
is evidently the hand of the great
Owaneeyo that doth this:
whereas the white people have commonly large
flocks of tame
cattle that they can kill when they
please, and also their barns
and cribs filled with grain, and
therefore have not the same op-
portunity of seeing and knowing that
they are supported by the
ruler of heaven and earth.
'"Brother, I know that you are now
afraid that we will all
perish with hunger, but you can have no
just reason to fear this.
'"Brother, I have been young, but
now I am old - I have
been frequently under the like
circumstances that we now are,
and that sometime or other in almost
every year of my life: yet,
I have hitherto been supported and my
wants supplied in time
of need.
'"Brother, Owaneeyo sometimes
suffers us to be in want in
order to teach us our dependence upon
him and to let us know
that we are to love and serve him; and
likewise to know the
worth of the favors that we receive, and
to make us more
thankful.
'"Brother, be assured that you will
be supplied with food
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
and that just in the right time; but you
must continue diligently
in the use of means - go to sleep and
rise early in the morning
and go hunting - be strong and exert
yourself like a man, and
the Great Spirit will direct your
ways.'"
Smith set out the next day. Being unable
to get game he
made up his mind to flee to the
settlements. While traveling
east during the afternoon he came upon
buffalo and succeeded in
killing a cow. After he had satisfied
himself he became heartily
ashamed of his conduct in leaving the
venerable old man and
little box to perish of hunger.
Accordingly, he scaffolded up the
meat out of reach of wolves, and
returned with a load to camp.
When they had refreshed themselves the
primitive philosopher
delivered a speech or sermon upon
gratitude, dependence upon
the Creator and kindred subjects.
In July, 1758, many tribes which had
gathered at Detroit
marched to Fort Duquesne to intercept
Generals Forbes and
Grant. Readers are familiar with the
English account of the
taking of Duquesne. But Smith gives us
the Indian side of the
affair. He says the Indians claimed they
would treat Forbes
and Grant as they did Braddock. Frequent
accounts of Forbes'
progress were brought to the Ohio and
Detroit camps by run-
ners. They were well posted as to his
army, its condition and
movements. Col. Grant and his
Highlanders succeeded in gain-
ing a hill some two hundred yards from
Fort Duquesne. As they
obtained possession during the night,
neither the French nor the
Indians knew that he was there until
daylight, "when drums were
beat and bag-pipes played upon."
"They then flew to arms, and the
Indians ran up under
cover of the banks of Allegheny and
Monongahela for some
distance and then sallied out from the
banks of the river and took
possession of a hill above Grant; he was
on the point of it in
sight of the fort. They immediately
surrounded him, and as he
had his Highlanders in ranks in very
close order, and the In-
dians scattered and concealed behind
trees, they defeated him
with a loss of only a few warriors; -
most of the Highlanders
were killed or taken prisoners."
The French endeavored to make the
Indians stay and meet
Forbes, but as it was hard for them to
leave their squaws at this
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 27
season of the year, the greater part of
them went home. Some
remained and joined the French in an
attack upon Forbes. They
were defeated and Forbes entered the
valley and took possession
of the defences, which he re-named,
calling them Fort Pitt. The
Indians said that the troops were now
learning how to fight, that
many Virginians accompanied them and
taking trees they se-
verely galled the red men. They could
subdue the red-coats,
they told Smith, but they could not
withstand Ashalecoa, or
Great Knife, as they called the
Virginians.
In July, 1759, Smith deserted the
Indians and returned to
his own people. Some idea of his
appearance can be had from
his own statement, "They (his
relatives) received me with great
joy, but were surprised to see me so
much like an Indian, both
in my gait and gesture."
I have introduced much of Smith's matter
largely because
(as Parkman says) his narrative is our
best account of captivity
among the Ohio tribes. The perusal of
his quaint, peculiar and
interesting book carries one back to the
streams, lakes, woods
and open glades of nearly a century and
a half ago. It is a
breath of real nature, a glimpse of true
simplicity of life. There
were hardships, but there were
pleasures; there were few vices
and many virtues. Our bustling
commercial cities of today are,
in many instances, built over those
villages of the historic Indian
period, and multitudes of the race
against whom Smith's Indians
fought tramp unceasingly over forgotten
graves. A little more
of this life of the woods might better
our selfish, worldly, busi-
ness constitutions of today. Pitiable
indeed is he in whose na-
ture there is nothing in common with the
spirit of the forest, and
of the stream and of the field.
Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson was a champion
of the American
race if there ever lived one. She was
prompted to write "A
Century of Dishonor", from the
standpoint of a humanitarian,
but it is also a historical monument to
her labors. I will say
personally, that both among the Sioux
and the Navajos I have
heard of her work. The Indian Rights
Association and all
movements toward protecting the Indian
against fraud are in-
debted to her, and the race itself can
never repay her for her
noble interest in its welfare.
28
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
In chapter two of her book, she speaks
of the Delawares.
These Indians had made a treaty with
Penn and for many years
kept constant peace with the whites,
although often given great
provocation to take up the hatchet.
At Fort M'Intosh, in 1785, a treaty was
made with the Dela-
wares in which the whites assumed to
restore Chief Wicocalind,
who had been deposed, to his tribal
rank. I will quote Mrs.
Jackson upon these points in full.
"The Wyandots, Chippewas, and
Ottawas as well as the
Delawares, joined in it. They
acknowledged themselves and all
their tribes to be 'under the protection
of the United States, and
of no other sovereign whatsoever.' The
United States Govern-
ment reserved 'the post of Detroit' and
an outlying district around
it; also the post at Michilmackinac,
with a surrounding district
of twelve miles square, and some other
reserves for trading
posts.
"The Indians' lands were comprised
within lines partly in-
dicated by the Cuyahoga, Big Miami and
Ohio rivers and their
branches; it fronted on Lake Erie; and
if 'any citizen of the
United States', or 'any other person not
an Indian', attempted
'to settle on any of the lands allotted
to the Delaware and Wyan-
dotte nations in this treaty' - the
Fifth Article of the treaty said
- 'the Indians may punish him as they
please.'
"Michigan, Ohio, Indiana,
Pennsylvania, all are largely
made up of the lands which were by this
first treaty given to the
Indians.
"Five years later, by another
treaty at Fort Harmar, the
provisions of this treaty were
reiterated, the boundaries some-
what changed and more accurately
defined. The privilege of
hunting on all the lands reserved to the
United States was prom-
ised to the Indians 'without hindrance
or molestation, so long
as the behaved themselves peaceably';
and 'that nothing may
interrupt the peace and harmony now
established between the
United States and the aforesaid
nations', it was promised in one
of the articles that white men commiting
offences or murders on
Indians should be punished in the same
way as Indians commit-
ting such offences.
"The year before this treaty
Congress had resolved that 'the
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 29
sum of $20,000, in addition to the $14,000 already
appropriated,
be appropriated for defraying the
expenses of the treaties which
have been ordered, or which may be
ordered to be held, in the
present year, with the several Indian
tribes in the Northern De-
partment; and for extinguishing the
Indian claims to the lands
they have already ceded to the United
States by obtaining regu-
lar conveyances for the same, and for
extending a purchase be-
yond the limits hitherto fixed by the
treaty.'
"Here is one of the earliest
records of the principle and
method on which the United States
Government first began its
dealings with the Indians. 'Regular
conveyances', 'extinguish-
ing claims' by 'extending purchase.'
These are all the strictest
of legal terms, and admit of no double
interpretations.
"The Indians had been much
dissatisfied ever since the first
treaties were made. They claimed that
they had been made by
a few only, representing a part of the
tribe; and in 1786 they
had held a great council on the banks of
the Detroit river, and
sent a message to Congress, of which the
following extracts will
show the spirit.
"They said: 'It is now more than
three years since peace
was made between the king of Great
Britain and you; but we,
the Indians, were disappointed, finding
ourselves not included in
that peace according to our
expectations, for we thought that its
conclusion would have promoted a
friendship between the United
States and the Indians, and that we
might enjoy that happiness
that formerly subsisted between us and
our Elder Brethren. We
have received two very agreeable
messages from the Thirteen
United States. We also received a
message from the king, whose
war we were engaged in, desiring us to
remain quiet, which we
accordingly complied with. During this
time of tranquillity we
were deliberating the best method we
could to form a lasting
reconciliation with the Thirteen United
States. We are still of
the same opinion as to the means which
may tend to reconcile us
to each other; and we are sorry to find,
although we had the
best thoughts in our minds during the
beforementioned period,
mischief has nevertheless happened
between you and us. We
are still anxious of putting our plan of
accommodation into exe-
cution, and we shall briefly inform you
the means that seem most
30
Ohio Arch. and His. Soeiety Publications.
probable to us of effecting a firm and
lasting peace and reconcili-
ation, the first step toward which
should, in our opinion, be that
all treaties carried on with the United
States on our parts should
be with the general will of the whole
confederacy, and carried on
in the most open manner, without any
restraint on either side;
and especially as landed matters are
often the subject of our
councils with you - a matter of the
greatest importance and of
general concern to us - in this case we
hold it indisputably ne-
cessary that any cession of our lands
should be made in the most
public manner, and by the united voice
of the confederacy, hold-
ing all partial treaties as void and of
no effect. We say, let us
meet half way, and let us pursue such
steps as become upright
and honest men. We beg that you will
prevent your surveyors
and other people from coming upon our
side of the Ohio river.'
"These are touching words, when we
remember that only
the year before the United States had
expressly told these In-
dians that if any white citizens
attempted to settle on their lands
they might 'punish them as they
pleased.'
"'We have told you before we wished
to pursue just steps,
and we are determined they shall appear
just and reasonable in
the eyes of the world. This is the
determination of all the chiefs
of our confederacy now assembled here,
notwithstanding the ac-
cidents that have happened in our
villages, even when in council,
where several innocent chiefs were
killed, when absolutely en-
gaged in promoting a peace with you, the
Thirteen United
States.'
"The next year the President
instructed the Governor of the
territory northwest of the Ohio to
'examine carefully into the
real temper of the Indian tribes' in his
department, and says:
'The treaties which have been made may
be examined, but must
not be departed from, unless a change of
boundary beneficial to
the United States can be obtained.' He
says also: 'You will not
neglect any opportunity that may offer
of extinguishing the In-
dian rights to the westward, as far
as the Mississippi.'
"Beyond that river even the wildest
dream of greed did not
at that time look.
"The President adds, moreover: 'You
may stipulate that
any white person going over said
boundaries without a license
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 31
from the proper officers of the United
States may be treated in
such manner as the Indians may see fit.'
"I have not yet seen in any
accounts of the Indian hostilities
on the northwestern frontier during this
period, any reference
to those repeated permissions given by
the United States to the
Indians, to defend their lands as they
saw fit. Probably the
greater number of the pioneer settlers
were as ignorant of these
provisions in Indian treaties as are the
greater number of Amer-
ican citizens today, who are honestly
unaware, and being unaware
are therefore incredulous, that the
Indians had either provoca-
tion or right to kill intruders on their
lands.
"At this time separate treaties
were made with the Six
Nations, and the governor says that
these treaties were made
separately because of the jealousy and
hostility existing between
them and the Delawares, Wyandottes,
etc., which he is 'not will-
ing to lessen,' because it weakens their
power. 'Indeed,' he
frankly adds, 'it would not be very
difficult, if circumstances
required it, to set them at deadly
variance.'
"Thus early in our history was the
ingenious plan evolved
of first maddening the Indians into war,
and then falling upon
them with exterminating punishment. The
gentleman who has
left on the official records of his
country his claim to the first sug-
gestion and recommendation of this
method is 'Arthur St. Clair,
governor of the territory of the United
States northwest of the
Ohio river, and commissioner
plenipotentiary of the United States
of America for removing all causes of
controversy, regulating
trade, and settling boundaries with the
Indian nations in the
Northern Department.'
"Under all these conditions, it is
not a matter of wonder that
the frontier was a scene of perpetual
devastation and bloodshed:
and that, year by year, there grew
stronger in the minds of the
whites a terror and hatred of Indians;
and in the minds of the
Indians a stronger and stronger distrust
and hatred of the whites.
"The Delawares were, through the
earlier part of these
troubled times, friendly. In 1791 we
find the Secretary of War
recommending the commissioners sent to
treat with the hostile
Miamis and Wabash Indians to stop by the
way with the friendly
Delawares, and take some of their
leading chiefs with them as
32 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
allies. He says, 'these tribes are our
friends,' and as far as is
known, 'the treaties have been well
observed by them.'
"But in I792 we find them
mentioned among the hostile
tribes to whom was sent a message from
the United States Gov-
ernment, containing the following
extraordinary paragraphs:
"'Brethren: The President of the
United States entertains
the opinion that the war which exists is
an error and mistake
on your parts. That you believe the
United States wants to
deprive you of your lands, and drive you
out of the country.
Be assured that this is not so; on the contrary, that we should be
greatly gratified with the opportunity
of imparting to you all
the blessings of civilized life; of
teaching you to cultivate the
earth, and raise corn; to raise oxen,
sheep and other domestic
animals; to build comfortable houses;
and to educate your chil-
dren so as ever to dwell upon the land.
"'Consult, therefore, upon the
great object of peace; call
in your parties, and enjoin a cessation
of all further depredations;
and as many of the principal chiefs as
shall choose repair to
Philadelphia, the seat of the Great
Government, and there make
a peace founded on the principles of
justice and humanity.
Remember that no additional lands
will be required of you or any
other tribe, to those that have been
ceded by former treaties.'
"It was in this same year, also,
that General Putnam said
to them, in a speech at Post Vincennes:
'The United States
don't mean to wrong you out of your
lands. They don't want
to take away your lands by force. They
want to do you justice.'
And the venerable missionary,
Heckewelder, who had journeyed
all the way from Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, to try to help bring
about peace, said to them: 'The great
chief, who has spoken
to you is a good man. He loves you and
will always speak the
truth to you. I wish you to listen to
his words, and do as he
desires you.'
"In 1793 a great council was held,
to which came the chiefs
and head men of the Delawares and of
twelve other tribes, to
meet commissioners of the United States
for one last effort to
settle the vexed boundary question. The
records of this council
are profoundly touching. The Indians
reiterated over and over
the provisions of the old treaties which
had established the Ohio
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 33
river as one of their boundaries Their
words were not the words
of ignorant barbarians, clumsily and
doggedly holding to a point;
they were the words of clear-headed,
statesman-like rulers, insist-
ing on the rights of their nations. As
the days went on and it
became more and more clear that the
United States Commis-
sioners would not agree to the
establishment of the boundary
for which the Indians contended, the
speeches of the chiefs grow
sadder and sadder. Finally, in
desperation, as a lost hope, they
propose to the commissioners that all
the money which the United
States offers to pay them for their
lands shall be given to the
white settlers to induce them to move
away. They say:
"'Money to us is of no value, and
to most of us unknown;
and as no consideration whatever can
induce us to sell the lands
on which we get sustenance for our women
and children, we
hope we may be allowed to point out a
mode by which your
settlers may be easily removed, and
peace thereby obtained.
"'We know that these settlers are
poor, or they would never
have ventured to live in a country which
has been in continual
trouble ever since they crossed the
Ohio. Divide, therefore,
this large sum of money which you have
offered us among these
people; give to each, also, a proportion
of what you say you would
give to us annually, over and above this
very large sum of money,
and we are persuaded they would most
readily accept of it in
lieu of the lands you sold them. If you
add, also, the great
sums you must expend in raising and
paying armies with a view
to force us to yield you our country,
you will certainly have
more than sufficient for the purpose of
repaying these settlers
for all their labor and their
improvements.
"'You have talked to us about
concessions. It appears
strange that you should expect any from
us, who have only been
defending our just rights against your
invasions. We want peace.
Restore to us our country, and we shall
be enemies no longer.
"' * * * We desire you to consider, brothers, that our
only demand is the peaceable possession
of a small part of our
once great country. Look back and review
the lands from whence
we have been driven to this spot. We can
retreat no farther,
because the country behind hardly
affords food for its present
Vol. VII-3.
34
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
inhabitants, and we have therefore
resolved to leave our bones
in this small space to which we are now
confined.'
"The commissioners replied that to
make the Ohio river
the boundary was now impossible; that
they sincerely regretted
that peace could not be made; but
'knowing the upright and
liberal views of the United States,'
they trust that 'impartial judges
will not attribute the continuance of
the war to them.'
"Notice was sent to the governor
that the Indians 'refused
to make peace,' and General Anthony
Wayne, a few weeks later,
wrote to the Secretary of War: 'The
safety of the western fron-
tiers, the reputation of the legion, the
dignity and interest of the
nation - all forbid a retrograde
maneuver, or giving up one inch
of ground we now possess, till the enemy
are compelled to sue
for peace.
"The history of the campaign that
followed is to be found
in many volumes treating of the pioneer
life of Ohio and other
northwestern states. One letter of
General Wayne's to the Sec-
retary of War, in August, 1794, contains
a paragraph which is
interesting, as showing the habits and
method of life of the people
whom we at this time, by force of arms,
drove out from their
homes-homes which we had only a few
years before solemnly
guaranteed to them, even giving them
permission to punish any
white intruders there as they saw fit.
By a feint of approaching
Grand Glaize through the Miami villages,
General Wayne sur-
prised the settlement, and the Indians,
being warned by a deserter,
had barely time to flee for their lives.
What General Wayne
had intended to do may be inferred from
this sentence in his
letter: 'I have good grounds to conclude
that the defection of
this villain prevented the enemy from
receiving a fatal blow at
this place when least expected.'
"However, he consoles himself by
the fact that he has 'gained
possession of the grand emporium of the
hostile Indians of the
West without loss of blood. The very
extensive and highly cul-
tivated fields and gardens show the work
of many hands. The
margins of those beautiful rivers - the
Miamis, of the Lake, and
Au Glaize - appear like one continued
village for a number of
miles, both above and below this place; nor
have I ever before
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 35
beheld such immense fields of corn in
any part of America, from
Canada to Florida.'
"All these villages were burnt, and
all these cornfields de-
stroyed; the Indians were followed up
and defeated in a sharp
fight. The British agents did their best
to keep them hostile,
and no inconsiderable aid was furnished
to them from Canada.
But after a winter of suffering and
hunger, and great vacillations
of purpose, they finally decided to
yield to the inevitable, and
in the summer of 1795 they are to be
found once more assembled
in council for the purpose of making a
treaty; once more to
be told by the representatives of the
United States Government
that 'the heart of General Washington,
the Great Chief of Amer-
ica, wishes for nothing so much as peace
and brotherly love';
that 'such is the justice and liberality
of the United States,' that
they will now a third time pay for
lands; and that they are
'acting the part of a tender father to
them and their children
in thus providing for them not only at
present, but forever.'
"Eleven hundred and thirty Indians
(eleven tribes, besides
the Delawares, being represented) were
parties to this treaty.
By this treaty nearly two-thirds of the
present state of Ohio were
ceded to the United States; and, in
consideration of these 'cessions
and relinquishments, and to manifest the
liberality of the United
States as the great means of rendering
this peace strong and
perpetual,' the United States
relinquished all claims 'to all other
Indian lands northward of the river
Ohio, eastward of the Mis-
sissippi, and westward and southward of
the Great Lakes and
the waters uniting then, according to
the boundary line agreed
upon by the United States and the King
of Great Britain in
the treaty of peace made between them in
the year 1783,' with
the exception of four tracts of land.
But it was stated to the
Indians that these reservations were
made, not 'to annoy or
impose the smallest degree of restraint
on them in the quiet
enjoyment and full possession of their
lands,' but simply 'to con-
nect the settlements of the people of
the United States,' and 'to
prove convenient and advantageous to the
different tribes of
Indians residing and hunting in their
vicinity.'
"The fifth article of the treaty
is: 'To prevent any misun-
derstanding about the Indian lands now
relinquished by the
36
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
United States, it is explicitly declared
that the meaning of that
relinquishment is this: that the Indian
tribes who have a right
to those lands are quietly to enjoy
them--hunting, planting,
and dwelling thereon so long as they
please without any molesta-
tion from the United States; but when
those tribes, or any of
them, shall be disposed to sell their
lands, or any part of them,
they are to be sold only to the United
States; and until such sale
the United States will protect all the
said Indian tribes in the
quiet enjoyment of their lands against
all citizens of the United
States, and against all other white
persons who intrude on the
same.'
"The sixth article reiterates the
old pledge, proved by the
last three years to be so
worthless--that 'if any citizen of the
United States, or any other white person
or persons, shall pre-
sume to settle upon the lands now
relinquished by the United
States, such citizen or other person
shall be out of the protec-
tion of the United States; and the
Indian tribe on whose land
the settlement may be made may drive off
the settler, or punish
him in such manner as they shall think
fit.'
"The seventh article gives the
Indians the liberty 'to hunt
within the territory and lands which
they have now ceded to the
United States, without hindrance or
molestation, so long as they
demean themselves peaceably.'
"The United States agreed to pay to
the Indians twenty
thousand dollars worth of goods at once;
and 'henceforward,
every year, forever, useful goods to the
value of nine thousand
five hundred dollars.' Peace was
declared to be 'established'
and 'perpetual.'
"General Wayne told the Indians
that they might believe
him, for he had never, 'in a public
capacity, told a lie'; and one
of the Indians said, with much more
dignity, 'The Great Spirit
above hears us, and I trust we shall not
endeavor to deceive
each other.'
"In 1813, by a treaty at Vincennes,
the bounds of the reser-
vation of the Post of St. Vincennes were
defined, and the Indians,
'as a mark of their regard and
attachment to the United States,
relinquished to the United States the
great salt spring on the
Saline Creek.'
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 37
"In less than a year we made still
another treaty with them
for the extinguishment of their title to
a tract of land between
the Ohio and Wabash rivers (which they
sold to us for a ten
years' annuity of three hundred dollars,
which was to be 'exclus-
ively appropriated to ameliorating their
condition and promoting
their civilization'); and in one year
more still another treaty,
in which a still further cession of land
was made for a permanent
annuity of one thousand dollars.
"In August of this year General
Harrison writes to the Sec-
retary of War that there are great
dissensions between the Del-
awares and Miamis in regard to some of
the ceded lands, the
Miamis claiming that they had never
consented to give them
up. General Harrison observes the most
exact neutrality in this
matter, but says, 'A knowledge of the
value of land is fast gain-
ing upon the Indians,' and negotiations
are becoming in conse-
quence much more difficult. In the
course of this controversy,
"one of the chiefs has said that he
knew a great part of the land
was worth six dollars an acre.'
"It is only ten years since one of
the chiefs of these same
tribes had said, 'Money is to us of no
value.' However, they
must be yet very far from having reached
any true estimate of
real values, as General Harrison adds:
'From the best calcu-
lation I have been able to make, the
tract now ceded contains
at least two millions of acres, and
embraces some of the finest
lands in the western country.'
"Cheap at one thousand dollars a
year!-even with the
negro man thrown in, which General
Harrison tells the Secretary
he has ordered Captain Wells to purchase
and present to the
chief, The Turtle, and to draw on the
United States Treasury
for the amount paid for him.
"Four years later (1809) General
Harrison is instructed by
the President 'to take advantage of the
most favorable moment
for extinguishing the Indian title to
the lands lying east of the
Wabash, and adjoining south'; and the
title was extinguished
by the treaty of Fort Wayne--a little
more money paid and
a great deal of land given up.
"In 1814 we made a treaty, simply
of peace and friendship,
with the Delawares and several other
tribes: they agreeing to
38
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
fight faithfully on our side against the
English, and we agreeing
to 'confirm and establish all
boundaries' as they had existed before
the war.
"In 1817 it was deemed advisable to
make an effort to 'extin-
guish the Indian title to all the lands
claimed by them within
the limits of the state of Ohio.' Two
commissioners were
appointed, with great discretionary
powers; and a treaty was
concluded early in autumn, by which
there was ceded to the
United States nearly all the land to
which the Indians had claim
in Ohio, a part of Indiana, and a part
of Michigan. This treaty
was said by the Secretary of War to be
the 'most important of
any hitherto made with the Indians.'
'The extent of the cession
far exceeded' his most sanguine
expectations, and he had the
honesty to admit that 'there can be no
real or well founded
objection to the amount of compensation
given for it, except
that it is not an adequate one.'"
To this splendid presentation of the
claims of the Delawares
I need only add that they were removed
beyond the Mississippi,
and finally removed again. To-day but a
miserable remnant
remain to attest the inability of the Indian
to withstand contact
with civilization, to also emphasize the
greed, rapacity and self-
ishness of our own people.
"Sir William Johnston, the
superintendent for Indian affairs
in the Northern Department, a man than
whom probably no
one else was better acquainted with
Indian policy, had several
years before Pontiac's war, warned the
authorities in the respective
colonies, not to exasperate the
aborigines along the Ohio by
too much land-grabbing.27 At
the Congress held in Albany, New
York, in 1754, the Indians proposed the
Allegheny mountains
as the western boundary of the Colonies,28
but the purchases
made then by Pennsylvania and the
subsequent appearance of
surveyors on the Juniata and
Susquehanna, induced the Dela-
wares, Shawanoes, Nanticokes and others
settled in that vicinity,
to withdraw either to Diohogo or to the
Ohio.
"The men in authority, hundreds of
miles away from the
frontiers, paid no attention to the
warnings of their agents, and
27The
Ohio Valley in Colonial Days, Fernow, p. 176.
28Sir William Johnson Papers, Vol. IV.
p. 124.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 39
Pontiac's war was the consequence of
arousing the Indians' jeal-
ousies by encroaching too near upon
them, by taking possession
of the lakes and by stopping the
distribution of ammunition, etc.
among them."29
Johnson, in New York Colonial Documents,
Vol. VIII, page
460. thus speaks of the characters who
brought on these troubles.
"Dissolute fellows, united with
debtors, and persons of wan-
dering disposition, who have been
removing from Pennsylvania,
Virginia, etc., for more than ten years
past into the Indian coun-
try, towards and on the Ohio and had
made a considerable num-
ber of settlements as early as 1765,
when my deputy (Crogan)
was sent to the Illinois, from whence he
gave me a particular
account of the uneasiness it occasioned
among the Indians.
Many of these emigrants are idle fellows
that are too lazy to
cultivate lands, and invited by the
plenty of game they found,
have employed themselves in hunting, in
which they interfere
much more with the Indians than if they
pursued agriculture
alone, and the Indian hunters already
begin to feel the scarcity
this has occasioned, which greatly
increases their resentment."
I have paid particular attention to the
influence of "frontiers-
men," "pioneers,"
"traders," "trappers," etc. on Indians. The
Sioux told me at Pine Ridge (South
Dakota) in 1890 that the
wars were caused by theft, whisky,
land-grabbing, fraud, destruc-
tion by hunters, or wilful murder of
peaceful Indians. Red Cloud,
born in 1822, said that
when he was a young man they had no
trouble, it was only when the
"advance-guard of civilization"
reached the plains that trouble began.30
A more peaceful and
industrious tribe than the Navajos
cannot be found. Now they
are surrounded by a good class of people
and therefore have no
trouble. But in early days they had
difficulties with miners, trav-
elers, etc., and quietly put a number of
them out of the way.
As the government kept a watchful eye
over them and protected
them, trespassing on the Navajo
reservation soon ceased.
The conditions in Ohio, 1750 to 1800,
and on the plains,
1840 to 1870, were similar. The worst element of
the East drifted
29The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days, p.
177.
30 See the Illustrated American, January-April,
1891, for full account
of Sioux troubles of 1890, by W. K. M.
40 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
thither, killed the game, fired upon
natives, whether friendly or
hostile. Of course the natives
retaliated and returned blow for
blow. Do not misunderstand me as saying
that all whites were
of this class. The free and easy life of
the plains, excitement
of the chase, or opportunity for
investment, or exemption from
arrest, brought out happy-go-lucky,
careless fellows, both rascals
and honest men; and the Indians
suffered.
Lean Wolf, Rain-in-the-Face and other
prominent chiefs
of the Sioux corroborated Red Cloud in
his statements to me.
Before I describe the conflict in Ohio,
let me call attention
to the Shawanoes. They were better
situated to resist attacks
of the whites, for their people were
scattered in sixteen small
villages upon the various interior
streams in the year 1760.31
"Christopher Gist, in his journey
down the Ohio, in 1750,
found one village of Shawanoes. This was
at the mouth of the
Scioto, and contained one hundred and
forty houses and three
hundred men."32
In 1758 the English established a
trading post on the Wal-
honding, above its mouth, and also one
at the mouth of Elk
creek. It is reasonable to conclude that
English traders were
pretty well represented in the various
villages by 1760.
The United Brethren's (called Moravian,
but not with
authority) missions in Ohio stand forth
as bright spots in a dark
wilderness. Had they been permitted to
remain, historians would
have less of tragedy to record. In the
fall of 1758 the Ohio
tribes sent a large embassy to Easton,
Pa., and made a formal
peace with the English. Christian Post
was instrumental in get-
ting this treaty signed.
"White Eyes" was a Delaware,
living much of his time upon
the Muskingum. His Indian name was
Koquethageehlon. In
1762 on the above named river were
settled the greatest civil
and military chiefs of the nation.
Christian F. Post, one of the
missionaries, located by the village,
having special permission,
and cleared ground for a cornfield.
However, the Indians stopped
31 Conspiracy of Pontiac, Vol. 1, p.
150.
32 Force, quoted from Appendix to
Pounall's Topographical De-
scription. London. 1776.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 41
him and confined his operations to a
lot, 200 x 200 feet. In con-
cluding remarks upon the subject, they
said:
"You have marked out a large spot
of ground for a plan-
tation, as the white people do
everywhere, and by and by another
and another may come; and the next thing
will be that a fort
will be built for the protection of
these intruders, and thus our
country will be claimed by the white
people, and we driven farther
back, as has been the case ever since
the white people first came
into this country. Say, do we not speak
the truth?"33
This same man Post endeavored to get
Shingask (which
some write Shingas) to go to Lancaster
and meet the governor
of Pennsylvania. But the wily war chief
would not depart from
Ohio, fearing that he would be murdered
by the English in
revenge for his activities during the
war. Post is much in evi-
dence in Ohio and Pennsylvania affairs.
He was a staunch United
Brethren missionary and the first white
man, not a trader, to
erect a log dwelling in Ohio.
On the twelfth of September, 1760, Robert Rogers
started
for Detroit and other posts to take
possession of them in the
name of England. Near the Cuyahoga
river's mouth he was
met by Pontiac and a party of warriors.
Parkman says:
*
** "here, for the first time, this remarkable man stands
forth distinctly on the page of
history."34 Pontiac and
other
northern chiefs were discontented. They,
as well as Ohio Indians,
saw that no presents were forthcoming
from the occupants of
the north. Forts were erected or strengthened. When the
Indians visited them they were not
received with the cordiality
characteristic of the French occupation.
Cold looks, oaths and
blows were their portion. "At a
conference at Philadelphia in
August, 1761, an Iroquois sachem said,
'We, your brethren of
the several nations, are penned up like
hogs. There are forts
all around us, and therefore we are
apprehensive that death is
coming upon us.' "35
33 A Narrative of the Mission of the
United Brethren among the
Delaware and Mohican Indians. John
Heckewelder, Philadelphia, 1820,
p. 62.
34 Conspiracy of Pontiac, Vol. I, p.
165.
35 Conspiracy of Pontiac, Vol. I, p.
177.
42 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
Pontiac and his famous conspiracy are
equally well known.
Of him and his I need say but little.
While he besieged Detroit
his allies in Ohio were not idle. The
resonant drum measured
the war chant in villages on the Scioto,
along the Muskingum
and upon the lake. Warriors, ever
restless, sang the traveling
and war songs, painted themselves in
divers colors and set out
along the narrow forest trails.
Colonel Henry Bouquet thinks that the
Shawanoes and Del-
awares began the conflict too soon, and
before the other tribes
were entirely prepared.36 They attacked frontier settlements in
time of harvest and destroyed immense
quantities of property.
Of the traders, settlers, hunters and
soldiers killed we shall prob-
ably never know the true number.
"All our forts, even at the
remotest distances, were attacked
about the same time, and the following
ones soon fell into the
enemy's hands:
"Le Boeuf, Venango, Presque Isle,
Lake Bay, St. Josephs,
Miamis, Ouachtanon, Sandusky and
Michilmackinac."37
Colonel Bouquet was sent to relieve the
garrison at Fort Pitt
and to proceed from thence against the
Indians of Ohio. He
set out in July of 1763 and reached
Bushy Run in August, where,
upon the fifth and sixth, he met and
defeated the combined
attacks of the savages. His loss,
however, was heavier than
that of the enemy.
In the spring of 1764 Bradstreet started
for the lakes to
chastise the Wyandots, Ottawas and
Chippewas, while Bouquet
set out upon his famous march to the
"forks of the Muskingum."
Probably on Monday, October 8, 1764,
Bouquet and his force
crossed the boundary into Ohio. This
date is worth remem-
bering, for previously no large body of
troops had ever entered!
Ohio in pursuit of the natives.
Tidings of his march brought
consternation to the Indians.
Never had they dreamed that it was
possible for such an army
to penetrate the wilderness and menace
their largest settlements.
36 An Historical Account of the
Expedition Against the Ohio In-
dians in the year 1764, Henry Bouquet. Reprinted by Robt. Clarke,
1868. Cincinnati.
37 Ibid. p. 5.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 43
Some were for war, others for peace.
Most of them feared exter-
mination, for the previous year they had
killed all the traders
(or nearly all) among them, and sacked
their stores. At the time
exaggerated statements as to the value
of these goods were made.
Parkman shares in the opinion that
$500,000 is too high a valua-
tion. He says, however, that more than
one hundred traders
perished.38 At Sandusky the
Missionary Loskiel reports a strat-
egem employed by the Wyandots.39 As the
traders were too
numerous to be attacked openly, they
were persuaded to permit
themselves to be bound. "In this
case," said the Wyandots,
"the hostile Indians would refrain
from injuring them and they
should be set at liberty as soon as the
danger was past." No
sooner had the unsuspecting traders been
securely tied than the
natives, laughing at their simplicity,
fell upon them with knife
and hatchet, murdered them, and then
divided their goods. Thus
did they repay treachery and deceit and
cruelty in like measure.
Bouquet frequently saw Indians during
his march, and upon
several occasions they came to him for
conferences. They
sounded him as to his intentions, and he
told them in no uncer-
tain words. He notes that the banks of
the Muskingum are
free from undergrowth and covered by stately timber. He
observes many fine openings, or
"oak prairies," and herds of
game.
"Bouquet continued his march clown
the valley of Mus-
kingum until he reached a spot where the
broad meadows, which
bordered the river, would supply
abundant grazing for the cattle
and horses; while the terrace above,
shaded by forest-trees,
offered a convenient site for an
encampment.40 Here he began
to erect a small pallisade work as a
depot for stores and baggage.
Before the task was complete, a
deputation of chiefs arrived
bringing word that their warriors were
encamped, in great num-
bers, about eight miles
from the spot, and desiring Bouquet to
appoint the time and place for a
council. He ordered them to
meet him, on the next day, at a point
near the margin of the
river, a little below the
camp; and thither a party of men was
38 Conspiracy of Pontiac, Vol. II,
p. 8.
39 Loskiel's History of the Mission, p. 99. London, 1794.
40 Conspiracy of Pontiac, Vol. II, p. 213.
44 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
at once dispatched to erect a sort of
rustic arbor of saplings and
the boughs of trees, large enough to
shelter the English officers
and the Indian chiefs. With a host of
warriors in the neigh-
borhood, who would gladly break in upon
them, could they
hope that the attack would succeed, it
behooved the English
to use every precaution. A double guard
was placed, and a
stringent discipline enforced.
"In the morning the little army
moved in battle order to
the place of council. Here the principal
officers assumed their
seats under the canopy of branches,
while the glistening array
of the troops was drawn out on the
meadow in front in such a
manner as to produce the most imposing
effect on the minds of
the Indians, in whose eyes the sight of
fifteen hundred men under
arms was a spectacle equally new and
astounding. The perfect
order and silence of the far-extending
lines; the ridges of bayo-
nets flashing in the sun; the fluttering
tartans of the Highland
regulars; the bright red uniform of the
Royal Americans; the
darker garb and duller trappings of the
Pennsylvania troops,
and the bands of Virginia backwoodsmen,
who, in fringed hunt-
ing-frocks and Indian moccassins, stood
leaning carelessly on their
rifles, - all these combined to form a
scene of military pomp
and power not soon to be
forgotten."
October 17 the chiefs Kiashuta, of the
Senecas; Custaloga,
of the Delawares; and of the Shawanoes
one "whose name sets
orthography at defiance," as
Parkman aptly remarks, met Bouquet
for a preliminary conference. The
speeches have been frequently
quoted and need not be reproduced here.
It is well to note
that the Shawanoes declined to speak
until they knew what terms
would be made the other Indians. When
the chiefs dispersed
in order that they might collect the
white prisoners demanded
by Bouquet, the troops moved down to
near the forks (the present
site of Coshocton) and there erected a
stockade. All the villages
were now within easy striking distance.
November 11 the various bands of
Indians came to Bouquet
and surrendered nearly three hundred
captives. During the
interval between October 17 and November
11 the commanding
officer had been busy with his
correspondence. Indeed, it seemed
as if his plans would be defeated.
Bradstreet, within easy strik-
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 45
ing distance of the hostile Wyandots of
Sandusky, did nothing,
and letters from Bouquet to him seemed
of no avail. The Sha-
wanoes considered themselves excepted
"from the general
amnesty, and marked out for
destruction." The French traders
among them secretly abetted them in this
delusion and distrib-
uted much powder and lead and other
munitions of war. Bouquet
was compelled to send urgent messages to
the Scioto villages.
We may assume that he was ably assisted
by James Smith, who
accompanied the expedition, and who, as
we have seen, was
thoroughly acquainted with Indian
character.
The scene, as we are told, could not
have been more affect-
ing. Many of the relatives of captives
had come along with
the army. These fell upon their lost
ones in paroxysms of joy.
Even the stoic savages themselves
betrayed emotion, and in sur-
rendering the more beloved of their
captives, shed many tears
over them. Smith, Parkman, Bouquet and
other writers say that
captives who had been with the Indians a
long time were reluctant
to leave the life of the woods. Several
had to be bound, others
were compelled to come against their
will. Many fled to the
frontier and joined their Indian
friends, choosing the hardships
and pleasures of the Indian villages and
hunting-fields rather
than those of civilization. The
autobiography of Mary Jemison,
and other intelligent captives, gives us
much information as to
the treatment of prisoners.
"Among the children brought in for
surrender there were
some, who, captured several years
before, as early, perhaps, as
the French war, had lost every
recollection of friends and home.
Terrified by the novel sights around
them, the flash and glitter
of arms, and the strange complexion of
the pale-faced warriors,
they screamed and struggled lustily when
consigned to the hands
of their relatives."41
And after the conditions were all fulfilled,
Bouquet, humane
officer and gentleman that he was,
freely forgave the warriors
and took each and all of them by the
hand with appropriate
speeches. The Shawanoe speaker I shall
quote, for his remarks
indicate the feeling of his
tribe--eternal enmity to the white
race. From the tenor of his speech it is
believed that at a great
41 Conspiracy of Pontiac, Parkman, Vol.
II, p. 229.
46 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
council upon the Scioto the head men
declared they would sub-
mit, but not through fear. They were
warriors first, last and
always.
"Brother, when we saw you coming
this road you advanced
towards us with a tomahawk in your hand;
but we, your younger
brothers, take it out of your hands and
throw it up to God to
dispose of as he pleases; by which means
we hope never to
see it more.42
"And now, brother, we beg leave
that you who are a war-
rior, will take hold of this chain
(giving a string of wampum)
of friendship and receive it from us, who
are also warriors, and
let us think no more of war, in pity for
our old men, women and
children." And the Shawanoes
produced the fragments of a
treaty held with William Penn in 1701
and concluded another
speech, "Now brother, we who are
warriors may forget our dis-
putes and renew the friendship which
appears by these papers
to have existed between our
fathers."43
Bouquet gives us a summary in his book
of the various In-
dian tribes. He thinks the Shawanoes in
Ohio had five hundred
warriors, but I am of the opinion that
the people could not mus-
ter more than three hundred fighting men
at the time of Pontiac's
war. He also states that the natives carry
news very fast by
means of runners and canoes and that
they can cover a surpris-
ing extent of ground in twenty-four
hours.
"In the enumeration of Indians by
Sir Wm. Johnston in
1763, which includes none south of the
Ohio and Pennsylvania,
the only mention of the Shawanoes is
'three hundred removed to
the Scioto and other branches.' "44
They had been much reduced
by war at this time.
Had the Ohio tribes known what Sir
Jeffrey Amherst pro-
posed to Col. Bouquet regarding them, they would never
have sur-
rendered a prisoner, but on the
contrary, probably have tortured
every one of them. Amherst's diabolical
proposition stamps him
42An Historical Account of the
Expedition Against the Ohio In-
dians in the year 1764, Henry Bouquet.
Robt. Clarke, Cincinnati, 1868.
P. 71.
43 An Historical Account, etc. Boquet,
p. 72.
44 Indians of
Ohio, Force, p. 33.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 47
as a low villian of the worst type.
Having the advantages of
civilization and belonging to a
Christian nation, his suggestion
is all the more despicable. We might
expect such thoughts to
occur to savages, but least of all to a
high officer in the army of
Great Britain.
"Could it be contrived to send the
Small Pox among those
disaffected tribes of Indians? We must
on this occasion use
every strategem in our power to reduce
them." (Signed) J. A.
Again, "Measures must be taken,
that, in the End will put a
most Effectual Stop to their very
Being."45
Of the hostages which Bouquet took
subsequent to the first
conference, there were fourteen. Some
escaped en route to Fort
Pitt after the surrender of the
prisoners. In May, 1765, five hun-
dren and seventy-one chiefs and warriors
and many women and
children made peace at Fort Pitt with
Major Murray. One hun-
dred and nineteen Shawanese warriors
were present. It is very
interesting to note that an Indian named
Simon Girty (Katepaco-
men) was one of the Delaware hostages.
On one occasion James
Smith was elected to represent the
Shawanese before Col. Bouquet.
Just before this expedition an
enumeration of the tribes had been
made.
Girty, who now appears before us, was
then twenty-three
years of age, having been born in 1741.
He was one of four
sons. Girty early became a captive. He
witnessed the torture
of his step-father, Turner, at the
stake. The history of the
Girtys, by C. W. Butterfield (Robt.
Clarke, Cinti., '92) covers
the field of their operations. I have
used it largely.
In 1756 the mother and John Girty were
taken down the
river by the Delaware Indians. The other
children remained at
Kittaning. Simon learned the Seneca
language; James lived
with the Shawanoes and George with the
Delawares. They all
became adepts at savage life. Simon is
the best known to his-
tory. There are bright spots in his
life, yet it may be truthfully
said that he was the cause of much
trouble and committed many
crimes upon the frontier. Simon was
known to Pontiac. He
cultivated the disaffected elements in
all tribes.
45 Conspiracy of Pontiac, Vol. II, p.
39. This letter was written
in July, 1763, and a similar one in
August of the same year.
48 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
We now arrive at the "mission
period" which followed im-
mediately after the boundary-treaty.
Post, the missionary and
pioneer, had secured permission for the
teachers Heckewelder
and Zeisberger to preach to the Ohio
tribes.
"In October, 1768, a great treaty
was held by Sir William
Johnson at Fort Stanwix, with the Six
Nations, the Shawnees,
Delawares, and Senecas of Ohio, at which
more than two thou-
sand Indians were present.46 Several
weeks were occupied in
completing the business transacted, the
principal of which was,
the settlement of the question of a
boundary line between the
whites and the Indians. The governors of
several of the colo-
nies were present at this treaty. Governor
Penn, of Pennsyl-
vania, after waiting several days for
the arrival of the delegates
from some of the more distant nations,
who were slow in com-
ing, was obliged to leave, and placed
his affairs in the hands of
two commissioners, to represent that
colony. After much dis-
cussion and negotiation, conducted
entirely by Sir William John-
son, on the part of the English,
assisted by his two sons-in-law,
Col. Guy Johnson and Col. Claus, the
boundary was agreed up-
on, and the treaty signed by the chiefs
of all the six nations, and
their dependents, the Delawares,
Shawnees, etc. This line ex-
tended from near Lake Ontario, at the
junction of Canada and
Woods creeks, to Owego on the
Susquehanna, thence through
Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc., to the
mouth of the Cherokee or
Tennessee river."
In 1771 Zeisberger and Heckewelder were
invited to settle
on the Muskingum (Elk's Eyes, is the
meaning of this word).
In April, 1772, Zeisberger with
twenty-eight natives settled at
Shonbrun (five springs). August 23rd of
the same year many
Indians and several missionaries removed
from the Susquehanna
to Shonburn. In April, 1773, the entire
settlement on Big Beaver
removed to the Muskingum. In the fall of
1770 a
great Indian
Council was held upon the plains of the
Scioto. Sir William
Johnson sent Chief Thomas King to
represent him. The attend-
ance at this meeting was very
considerable, upwards of 2,000;
men, women and children being gathered
together.
46 "Buffalo and the Senecas,"
William Ketchum, Vol. I, p. 158.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 49
"Accordingly, on the 13th of April,
1773, this handsome vil-
lage was evacuated; one part of the
congregation traveling
across the country by land, and the
other divisions, accompanied
by the writer of this narrative, in
twenty-two canoes, loaded with
baggage, Indian corn, etc., went by
water, first down the Big
Beaver to the Ohio - thence down that
river to the mouth of
the Muskingum - thence up that river,
according to its course,
near two hundred miles, to Shonbrun, the
place of destination."47
Another town, Gnadenhutten was built.
Some ideas of the size
of these communities, their order and
the effect they had upon
the wilderness surrounding them may be
had from Heckewel-
der's narrative. As to the chapels,
"Both were built of squared
timbers and shingle roofed, with a
cupola and bell. That at
Shonbrun was forty feet by thirty-six,
and that at Gnadenhutten
somewhat smaller.48 The towns
being regularly laid out, the
streets wide and kept clean, and the
cattle kept out by means
of fences, gave the whole a neat
appearance and excited the as-
tonishment of all visitors."
Containing upwards of sixty com-
fortable dwellings, with barns and
store-houses, a grist mill, etc.,
these two communities rivalled all of
the white settlements west
of Lancaster.
Concerning the converts much might be
said. They pre-
sented noble traits - having been
savages, they were now in-
dustrious, peaceable farmers, teachers,
coopers, stock-raisers and
hunters. Anthony, baptized in 1749,
remained steadfast up to
the time of his death in 1773.
Heckewelder speaks feelingly of
the death-bed scene. Isaac, formerly
Glickhican, presents us
with a dramatic incident. When the
hostile Monseys were about
to break up the mission at Salem, and
desiring to take Issac to
Detroit, hesitated to enter his house,
knowing him to be a brave,
daring man in the past, he stepped out
and addressed them
thus:
"Friends, by your maneuvres I
conclude you are come for
me! If so, why do you hesitate?49 Obey your orders! I am
47 Heckewelder's Narrative,
Philadelphia, 1820, p. 120.
48 Ibid, p. 122.
49 Heckewelder's Narrative, p. 270.
Vol. VII- 4.
50 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications.
ready to submit! You appear to dread
Glickhican, as formerly
known to you.50 Yes, there was a time
when I would have
scorned to have been assailed in the
manner you meditate; but
I am no more Glickhican, I am Isaac now,
a believer in the true
and living God, for whose sake I am
willing to suffer anything
- even death!" Then stepping up to
them with his hands placed
on his back, he said, "You want to
tie me and take me along.
Do so." With trembling hands they
tied him, and took him off.
In passing by our camp at Gnadenhutten,
while they were taking
him to the Half King, he addressed us:
"A good morning, my
brethren!" to which we replied:
"Good morning, fellow-pris-
oner, be of good cheer!" "Yes,
yes", said he in reply, "I am so."
Converts to the number of nearly two
hundred were added
to the congregations. Even hostile
Wyandots, Senecas, Mo.-
seys and Shawanoes passing the village
stopped to wish the con-
gregations well. No one can read Loskiel
and Heckewelder
without being impressed with the success
and influence for good
of these missions.
In 1774 the Wyandots and Delawares set
apart thirty miles
of fertile land between Tuscarawas and
"the great bend below
Newcomerstown" for the missionaries
and their flocks. In 1775
the chapel at Shonbrun was too small to
contain the numbers
attending service. White Eyes, a most
able and respected Dela-
ware chief, gave his support to the
missions and commended
them to all his race. Netawtwas, head
chief of the Delawares,
decided upon his death-bed at Pittsburg
that the gospel should
be preached by the brethren to his
tribe.
At this time, 1777, Heckewelder writes
that Shonbrun con-
tained upwards of sixty dwellings of
squared timbers. "The
street, from east to west, was long and
of a proper width; from
the center, where the chapel stood,
another street ran off to the
north. * * * They had large fields under
good rail fences,
well paled gardens, and fine fruit
trees; besides herds of cattle,
horses and hogs."
This is the bright picture presented in
'77. That which
follows, the historian may well hesitate
to draw, for its shades
are somber, and the colors are of blood
and of fire.
50 His name signifies the sight on a gun
barrel.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 51
Zeisberger extended his labors to the
Shawanoes at Waka-
tameki, paying them a second visit in
1778.
In 1774 war broke out between the
Shawanoes-Wyan-
dots and the Virginians. Heckewelder
says that the "white
people were the agressors." Some
idea of the treatment ac-
corded Indians by roving bands of white
desperadoes can be
obtained from the following:
"On May, 1st, 1774, the following
alarming intelligence ar-
rived at Fort Pitt, by one Stevens, who
had proceeded in a trad-
er's canoe, which was attacked on the
16th by the Cherokees, in
order to have carried her to Sciota, who
gave the following par-
ticulars, viz.;51
"That on the 25th, upon his way
down the river, and near
Wheeling Creek, he observed a canoe
coming up the river, which
suspecting to be Indians, he made to the
opposite shore to
avoid them: but upon his approach near
the shore was fired
upon, and a Shawnese Indian in the canoe
with him, was killed;
upon a second fire from the shore, a
Delaware Indian, who was
also in the canoe, was killed; said
Stevens further says, he could
not perceive who it was fired upon him,
as they lay concealed in
the weeds, and upon throwing himself
into the river, observed
the canoe that was coming up to be white
people, upon which he
made towards them, and found it to be
one Michael Cressop,
with a party of men who denied knowing
anything of what had
happened to them, although from
circumstances, he, the said
Stevens, is well convinced that the
above murder was done by
some of said Cressop's associates.
Stevens likewise informed
me, that while he was in company with
Cressop, he heard him
make use of threatening language against
the Indians, saving:
"'He would put every Indian to
death he met on the river;
and that if he could raise men
sufficient to cross the river, he
would attack a small village of Indians
living on Yellow Creek.'"
Some white people settled on choice
spots of ground along
the south side of the Ohio, and Indians
who lived upon the
northern shore, or who happened to be
coming up or down the
stream in canoes, were decoyed across
and murdered by them.
51 Buffalo and the Senecas, Ketchum,
Vol. I, p. 169.
52 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Logan's relatives, and also Bald Eagle
and Silver Heels were
among the killed.
At this period we note Joseph Brant
(Thayendanega) the
famous Iroquois leader, statesman and
warrior - a man of
great natural ability and education -
became interested in Ohio
affairs. He was born in 1742 upon the
banks of the Ohio where
his people had a temporary village. He died in Canada in
1807.52
Logan was the son of Shikellimus, a
distinguished Cayuga
sachem. Thayendanega was affected by the
murders of Bald
Eagle and Silver Heels. They were old
and well known and
both were friendly. Stone says of these
murders:53 "After tear-
ing the scalp from his head (Bald Eagle)
the white savages placed
the body in a sitting posture in the
canoe and set it adrift down
the stream. Especially exasperated, at
about the same time,
were the Shawanoes against the whites
for the murder of one
of their favorite chiefs, Silver Heels,
who had in the kindest
manner undertaken to escort several
white traders across the
woods from the Ohio to Albany a distance
of nearly five hun-
dred miles." Heckewelder says that
the rage of the Ohio tribes
knew no bounds. They drove their traders
out of the country.
Encouraged by the success of the United
Brethren, Rev.
David Jones of Fairfield, New Jersey,
set out for the Shawano
town Chillicothe, on the present site of
Frankfort, Ross county.54
Traders had started from Pennsylvania in
1772 and moved into
the Scioto country. James Girty was in
the employ of one of
these stores in the capacity of
interpreter. Jones reached the
town and sought for Girty. But his
missionary efforts received
a setback, for the Indians were not only
opposed to him, but he
had trouble in securing a competent
interpreter. Of one who
was recommended to him he instituted
search, but found that
he had gone beaver hunting and would not
return until in the
spring. "'This news', he wrote in
his diary, 'blasted all my
prospects of making a useful visit; and
having no other remedy,
52 Life of Joseph Brant. Wm. L. Stone,
New York, 1838.
53 Ibid, Vol. I, pp. 38, 40, 41.
54 There were several Chillicothes. Old
Town, Greene county, is
on the site of another.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 53
I applied to one James Girty who was
well acquainted with their
language, but a stranger to religion;
neither had he any inclina-
tion to engage in such solemn matters
contrary to the tenor of
his life, having little or no fear of
God before his eyes; yet he
was civil, and after much persuasion
engaged to assist me; but
he dare not proceed he said until some
head men came home
who were out hunting but expected soon
to return. In the
meantime I employed myself by making a
vocabulary of the
language by his assistance and Mrs.
Henry's, (the wife of a white
trader, herself a white woman). However,
the temper of the
Indians was such that the good man did
not wait for the return
of the head men, but soon started on his
journey homeward.55
A report was brought to the Ohio tribes
that Lord Dun-
more was marching against them from
Virginia. Accordingly
the hostile natives moved westward
leaving, for the present, only
the Christian Indians along the east
side of the Muskingum.
General Lewis and Lord Dunmore set out
in September
against the Shawanoes. The former followed the Ohio, the
latter headed for the Shawanoe towns in
the Pickaway Plains.
Both Simon Kenton and Simon Girty
accompanied Dun-
more on his expedition. Lewis reached
the mouth of the
Kanawha and fought the battle of Point
Pleasant in which some
eight hundred Indians led by Logan,
Cornstalk, Ellenipisco
(Cornstalk's son) and Red Eagle
participated. The forces were
about equal. During the fight
Cornstalk's voice was frequently
heard crying, "Be strong, be
strong!" Finally the savages re-
treated. Smith says that the retreat was
most masterly carried
out and that most of the body crossed
the river, bearing away
their wounded and dead, while a few
picked men kept up the
battle. Lewis's brother was killed
during the action.
"This battle, considering the
numbers engaged, has been
ranked one of the most bloody on
record.56 The loss of the In-
dians was never known, but must have
been severe; it is said
that in addition to the killed and
wounded borne away, numbers
of the slain were thrown into the river,
and thirty-three of their
warriors were found dead upon the field,
the following day. The
55 History of the Girtys, Butterfield,
p. 20.
56 Buffalo and the Senecas, Vol. I, p.
178.
54 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
loss of the Virginians was also severe.
Two of their colonels
were killed, four captains, many
subordinates, and between fifty
and sixty privates, besides a much
larger number wounded. It
is said that Cornstalk was opposed to
giving battle at the mouth
of the Kanawha, but being overruled in
council, resolved to do
his best.
"Upon their arrival at Chillicothe,
a council of Indians was
held to decide what was next to be done.
Cornstalk addressed
the council. He said, 'The long knives
are upon us from by
two routes. Shall we turn and fight
them?' No response being
made to the question, he continued:
'Shall we kill our squaws
and children, and then fight until we
are killed ourselves?' As
before, all were silent, whereupon
Cornstalk struck his toma-
hawk into the war post, standing in the
midst of the council and
remarked with emphasis: 'Since you are
not inclined to fight,
I will go and make peace.' Saying which,
he repaired to the
camp of Lord Dunmore, who having crossed
the Ohio was now
approaching Scioto. Cornstalk was
accompanied by several
other chiefs, on this mission of peace,
but Logan refused to go
with them. He was in favor of peace, but
scorned to ask it.
The chief speaker on this occasion was
Cornstalk, who did not fail
to charge the whites with being the sole
cause of the war, enum-
erating the provocations which the
Indians had received, and
dwelling with peculiar force upon the
murders committed in the
family of Logan."
Dunmore marched without opposition to
near Cornstalk
town -
now six miles southwest of Circleville, Ohio, on the
Pickaway Plains. He was within easy
reach of the two Chilli-
cothes, also near the town on the
present site of Westfall, and
but a mile from Squaw Town. He encamped
on the "Black
Mount", or high ridge of ground
prominent in the center of the
Plains and an object of more than
historic interest. He sent
messages to the various camps.
"While negotiations were going
forward the Mingo chief
held himself aloof.57 'Two or
three days before the treaty', says
an eye witness, 'when I was on the
out-guard, Simon Girty who
was passing by,
stopped with me and conversed; he said he was
57 History of the Girtys, p. 29.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 55
going after Logan, but he did not like
his business for he was
a surly fellow. He, however, proceeded
on and I saw him re-
turn on the day of the treaty and Logan
was not with him. At
this time a circle was formed, and the
treaty begun. I saw John
Gibson on Girty's arrival get up and go
out of the circle and
talk with Girty, after which he (Gibson)
went into a tent, and
soon after returning into the circle,
drew out of his pocket a
piece of clean, new paper, on which was
written in his own hand-
writing a speech for and in the name of
Logan.' This was the
famous speech about which there has been
so much controversy.
It is now well established that the
version as first printed, was
substantially the words of Logan."
The latest attack upon the speech of
Logan appeared in no
less a standard magazine than the
Century. The name of Lord
Dunmore was incorrectly given, and the
speech referred to as
lacking evidence of authenticity in
history. I wrote to the author
giving a large number of historical
references, etc. From the
reply I have received, and what I have
since learned, I take it
that he desired to have some of the
Virginia officers of the day
appear in a little better light than
their actions warrant. He
even denied that Cressap committed
murders upon Logan's rela-
tions. I do not care whether Cressap or
Broadhead slew Lo-
gan's people. This does not affect the
speech -, the change of
a name. During the controversy,
Cressap's friends simply
shifted the blame onto Broadhead, and
never denied that Lo-
gan's relatives were foully murdered in
time of peace by whites.
Aside from some forty-five reliable
references of people who
lived during these stormy scenes, the
speech itself is best evi-
dence of its genuineness. It lost,
doubtless, in translation, for
the Indian conception does not retain
its original beauty when
literally translated. Through the
European and the Indian
minds run vastly different thoughts.
Such an outburst of hu-
man passion comes only from a heart torn
by conflicting emo-
tions. It is not possible that Gibson
calmly evolved this speech
out of his own mind. Logan was a man of
great ability. He
had long brooded over his wrongs - usually in solitude -
and he realized that there was nothing
left in life for him
or for his race. Treaties they might
make, but those treaties
56 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
could not be kept. There was no hope.
The end was come only
when the last acre had passed into the
hands of his grasping ene-
mies. Every chief of prominence has
realized this to a greater
or less extent. Tecumtha and Cornstalk
and Pontiac and Brant
and Osceola and Red Cloud and Joseph and
all that list of re-
markable aborigines have delivered, to
their credit, striking ora-
tions on the destiny of the American
race. Not one compared
with that of Logan. To say that this
burst of native eloquence,
this touching, yet withal dignified
plea, this flight of oratory
which has moved the hearts of men for
more than a century, is
the product of an English army officer
written in cold blood, is
to assume a position substantiated
neither by history nor by
reason.
Although the state of Ohio has not as
yet preserved the
sites of battles, conferences or
treaties, it is worthy of record in
this report that a monument has been
erected by a private gen-
tleman at the site of Logan's cabin. Mr.
John Boggs, whose
father built the first settler's cabin
in the Pickaway plains prior
to 1800, raised a monument one hundred
yards from a large
elm (known as the Logan Elm). Upon four
bronze tablets,
placed one on each side of the shaft, he
sets forth the facts as
he learned them from his father and
others. One states the
family history briefly, giving the names
of children killed by
Indians, etc.; another gives the facts
of Dunmore's expedition;
another affirms that Logan spoke under
this elm. The site is
in Pickaway township.
The elm is about two miles and a half
from the site of Dun-
more's camp. Girty, it will be
remembered, was sent to Logan's
camp some distance away. The elm is
about seven feet in
diameter, has a spread of one hundred
and sixty feet, and is
one of the largest trees I have seen in
that entire region. It
is very old and has already commenced to
die at its top. Mr.
Boggs is deserving of great credit for
his interest in preserving
this historic site.
"Peace followed with the Shawanoes,
but the Mingoes, in
attempting to escape without making
terms with Dunmore, were
The Indian Tribes of 0hio. 57
by Major William Crawford, who led a few
brave men against
them, severely punished.58
In 1775 it seems that troubles
again occurred upon the
frontier. The following Indians came to
Fort Pitt and presented
Lord Dunmore with their grievances:
White Eyes, Cornstalk,
Kayashuta (Mingo Chief), John Montour
(half breed, but a prom-
inent man) and Logan.
In November of this year (1775) Henry
Hamilton arrived
at Detroit as Lieutenant-Governor and
Indian superintendent for
the British Government. During the
beginning of the American
Revolution the Indians were cautioned by
both sides to observe
strict neutrality regarding the
conflict. As the conflict grew
fiercer, the tribes were compelled to
take sides, and as a natural
consequence they were soon "between
the upper and lower mill-
stones." Let us follow Heckewelder's narrative through part
of this period. He was right among all
the hostile as well as
the friendly tribes, and is entirely
competent to speak.
Captain Pipe was an artful and cunning
man. He was a
chief of the Delawares and very jealous
of White Eyes, also a
chief, yet one of more character and
honor. In 1776 various
rumors reached the Christians that the
Iroquois would join the
English. The Sandusky Wyandots were soon
influenced by the
British at Detroit. They were the worst
of our Ohio Indians.
Chiefs White Eyes, Gelelemend
(Killbuck), Netawatwes and
Machingwipuschiis (Big Cat) did
everything to preserve peace
by sending embassies and exhorting the
nations not to take up
the hatchet. The Sandusky warriors
advised their cousins "to
keep good shoes in readiness to join the
warriors." On Novem-
ber 12 Matthew Elliot entered the
town with a number of horse-
loads of goods, a hired man and a female
Indian companion.
As he expressed sentiments favorable to
the Americans, and
Wyandots friendly to English interests
were near at hand, the
missionaries were placed in a desperate
situation. Should the
Wyandots murder Elliot the Americans
might claim that the
missions sheltered British Indians and
move against them. All
this was represented to Elliot, but he
did not depart until they
58 The following pages are taken almost entirely from Heckewelder.
(Narrative of the United Brethren
Mission, etc.)
58
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
had continuously importuned him for some
days. He was over-
taken by Wyandots, bound, and his goods
divided amongst them.
The missionaries heard of this, and,
sending out some Christian
Indians in pursuit, prevailed upon the
Wyandots to release the
captive.
In 1777 the Shawanoes resolved to join
the British. Some
of the disaffected elements in the
Delaware nation did likewise.
The Virginians and Pennsylvanians were
cordially hated by the
Ohio Indians. Neither did the natives
love the British, but they
looked upon the south and east as
countries from whence all the
settlers, hunters, expeditions and
armies came, and as the British
at Detroit made them large gifts, they
decided "to aid the father
in his war upon his disobedient
son."
Cornstalk, one of the best Indians ever
born in the Ohio
Valley, was killed under treacherous
circumstances this year.
He and his son Ellinipsico went to the
stockade-fort at Point
Pleasant upon business. Both were well
known to the people
of the place as being friendly and
neutral. Captain Arbuckle
could have prevented Cornstalk's murder,
but through fear of
his own troops he refrained from so
doing. While the chiefs
were inside, some soldiers came running
to the fort and reported
that when in the woods they had been
fired upon. The troops
did not pursue after the miscreants who
had committed the out-
rage, but fell upon the defenseless
Indians within.
As the swearing troops approached,
Ellinipsico was agitated
and sought to defend himself. Not so
with Cornstalk. "He had
grappled too often with death on the
battle-field to fear his
approaches now. Perceiving the emotions
of his son, he calmly
observed: 'My son, the Great Spirit has
seen fit that we should
die together and has sent you to that
end. It is his will, and
let us submit.' The mob having entered
the apartment of the
chiefs, fired upon them. Cornstalk fell
pierced by seven bullets
and died without a struggle. The son,
after the exhortation of
his father, met his death with composure
and was shot as he
sat upon a bench."
The Virginians and Kentuckians were
determined to destroy
the missions, believing them to be a
base of supplies or a con-
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 59
venience to tribes in league with the
British. But the American
officers at Fort Pitt had all confidence
in the missionaries.
"However, in the beginning of
October (1777), a party of
freebooters from the Ohio settlements,
in defiance of the com-
mandant's endeavors to restrain them
from it, crossed the Ohio
with intentions to destroy the peaceable
Delaware settlements in
the Muskingum; being, however, timely
discovered by a party
of Wyandots, headed by the Half King,
they were attacked
and totally defeated."59
Early in the spring of 1778 the Wyandots
and Mingoes
began to commit outrages against the
settlements. As these
war parties passed the mission towns the
Christians were com-
pelled, according to Indian custom, to
either feed the warriors
or suffer as a consequence the killing
of cattle and hogs in case
of refusal. Heckewelder makes it a
strong point that the mis-
sionaries permitted no member of the
congregation to go to war
or to aid the enemy, or to receive any
property brought back
from the raids, or to entertain in the
houses any persons warriors
by profession, or not of good moral
character. Frequently war
parties halted a distance from the
missions (for the leaders well
knew that the missionaries did not
desire their presence among
the Christians) and when the Elders or
"National Assistants"
of the mission heard of the presence of
these parties they sent
food to them and cared for such
prisoners as they might have.
Frequently did they buy prisoners in
order that they might save
them from torture or adoption. An old
man was purchased from
the Shawanoes in this year and tenderly
cared for by the Chris-
tian women until he was sufficiently
strong to be taken to Pitts-
burg.
The British commander at Detroit sent a
letter to the mis-
sionaries in which he stated that the
Christians must turn out
and fight the Americans or suffer
consequences. After a con-
sultation, Zeisberger committed the
communication to the flames.
March 28, 1778, Alexander McKee, Simon
Girty and Mat-
thew Elliot, all three suspicious and
dangerous characters, fled
from Fort Pitt and descended the Ohio.
Seven soldiers ran
off with them. Girty claimed that they
had not been well used,
59 Heckewelder's Narrative,
Philadelphia, 1820, p. 165.
60
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
hence their desertion to the British.
The commandant at Fort
Pitt immediately declared them outlaws
and offered a compen-
sation for their apprehension. These
rascals reached Goshocking
and told the Indians that the Americans
had all conspired for
their destruction. They then departed
for the Scioto.
Captain Pipe seized upon this as his
opportunity to gather
to himself all the Delawares. White Eyes
was yet friendly to
the Americans. A great council was
called at his town upon
the Walhonding. (Gook-bo-sing, fifteen
miles above the forks.)
Pipe wished to induce the warriors to go
to war, but personally
he did not care to then take up the
hatchet. White Eyes put
himself on record. Said he:
"If you will go out in this war,
you shall not go without
me. I have taken peace measures, it is
true, with the view of
saving my tribe from destruction, but if
you think me in the
wrong and give more credit to vagabond
fugitives, whom I know
to be such, than to myself, who am best
acquainted with the
real state of things; if you insist on
fighting the Americans, go,
and I will go with you. I will not go
like the bear hunter to
set his dogs upon the animal to be
beaten about with his paws,
while he keeps himself at a safe
distance. No! I will lead you
on, I will place myself in the front, I
will fall with the first of
you. You can do as you choose, but as
for me, I will not sur-
vive my nation. I will not live to
bewail the miserable fate of
the brave people who deserve, as you do,
a better."
At this critical juncture, February, 1778,
several of the
teachers went to Fort Pitt and there
interviewed Colonels Hand
and Gibson and were informed that no
action was contemplated
against the missions; that they were
considered as neutral.
Although the journey was beset by
dangers, for hostile bands
might be encountered upon any one of the
trails, they set out
for home. When near Gnadenhutten, they
heard the beat of
a drum and the war song sung to its time.
They found the
Christians still there. A party of
Wyandots was at the bluff
two miles below, and it was their drum
which Heckewelder heard.
Having had no rest of consequence,
Heckewelder was completely
exhausted; yet he slept but a few hours.
Accompanied by John
Martin, an Indian convert, he swam the
Muskingum and pro-
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 61
ceeded towards Goshocking, "where
all was bustle and confusion,
and many preparing to go off and fight
the Americans."60
"Arriving by ten o'clock in the
forenoon, and in sight of
the town, a few yells were given by a
person who had discovered
us, intended to notify the inhabitants
that a white man was com-
ing, and which immediately drew the
whole body of Indians into
the street; but although I saluted them
in passing, not a single
person returned the compliment, which,
as my conductor
observed, was no good omen. Even Captain
White Eyes, and
the other chiefs, who had always
befriended me, now stepped
back when I reached out my hand to them,
which strange con-
duct however did not dismay me, as I
observed among the crowd
some men well known to me as spies of
Captain Pipe's watch-
ing the actions of these peace chiefs,
wherefore I was satisfied
that the act of refusing me the hand had
been done from policy,
and not from any ill will toward my
person. Indeed, in looking
around I thought I could read joy in the
countenance of many
of them in seeing me among them at so
critical a juncture, when
they, but a few days before, had been
told by those deserters
that nothing short of their total
destruction had been resolved
upon by the Long Knives. Yet, as no one
would reach out
his hand to me, I inquired into the
cause, when Captain White
Eyes, boldly stepping forward, replied,
'That by what had been
told them by those men (McKee and party)
they no longer had
a single friend among the American
people; if, therefore, this
be so, they must consider every white
man who came to them
from that side as an enemy who only came
to deceive them and
put them off their guard for the purpose
of giving the enemy
an opportunity of taking them by
surprise.' I replied that the
imputation was unfounded and that, were
I not their friend, they
never would have seen me here. 'Then,'
continued Captain White
Eyes, 'you will tell us the truth with
regard to what I state to
you.' Assuring him of this, he in a
strong tone asked me: 'Are
the American armies all cut to pieces by
the English troops?
Is General Washington killed? Is there
no more a Congress?
And have the English hung some of them
and taken the remainder
60 Nearly all this matter is taken
directly from Heckewelder's Nar-
rative.
62 Ohio Arch. and His. Soeiety Publications.
abroad to hang them there? Is the whole country beyond the
mountains in possession of the English,
and are the few thousand
Americans who have escaped them now
embodying themselves
on this side of the mountains for the
purpose of killing all the
Indians in this country, even our women
and children? Now
do not deceive us, but speak the truth.
Is this all true what I
have said to you?'
"I declared to him before the whole
assembly that not one
word of what he had just told me was
true, and holding out to
him, as I had done before, the friendly
speeches sent by me for
them, which he, however, as yet refused
to accept, thought by
the countenances of the bystanders that
I could perceive that
the moment bid fair for their listening,
at least to the contents
of those speeches, and accidentally
catching the eye of the drum-
mer, I called to him to beat the drum
for the assembly to meet
for the purpose of hearing what their
American brethren had
to say. A general smile having taken
place, White Eyes thought
the favorable moment had arrived to put
the question, and, hav-
ing addressed the assembly in these
words: 'Shall we, my friends
and relatives, listen once more to those
who call us their breth-
ren?' which question, being loudly and
as with one voice
answered in the affirmative, the drum
was beat, and the whole
body quickly repairing to the spacious
council chamber, the
speeches, all of which were of the most
pacific nature, were read
and interpreted to them. When Captain
White Eyes arose and
in an elaborate address to the assembly
took particular notice of
the good disposition of the American
people toward the Indians,
observing, that they had never as yet
called on them to fight
the English, knowing that the war was
destructive to nations,
that those had from the beginning of the
war, to the present
time, always advised them to remain
quiet and not take up the
hatchet against either side. A newspaper
containing the capitu-
lation of General Burgoyne's army being
found enclosed in the
packet, Captain White Eyes once more
rose up and, holding the
paper unfolded with both his hands so
that all could have a view
of it, said, 'See, my friends and
relatives, this document contains
great events; not the song of a bird,
but the truth!' Then step-
ping up to me, he gave me his hand,
saying; 'You are welcome
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 63
with us, brother.' Every one present
followed his example, after
which I proceeded with my conductor,
John Martin, to Lichtenau
(the new mission) where, to the
inexpressible joy of the venerable
missionary, Zeisberger, and his
congregation, we related what
had taken place, while they, on the
other hand, assured us that
nothing could have at that time come
more seasonable to save
the nation and with it the mission from
utter destruction than
our arrival."
White Eyes immediately sent runners to
the Shawanoe towns
on the Scioto apprising his
"grandchildren" of the "song imposed
upon us" and cautioning them not to
listen to it. The scene,
the speech of White Eyes and the
confusion in the towns are all
well known to readers, having frequently
been told in our border
warfare histories.
For some time during 1778 the
missionaries were undis-
turbed, and we read in Heckewelder's
Narrative of many con-
verts and a large attendance at
services; also the passing of
numerous parties through the towns.
During the fall, Matthew
Elliot, who, it will be remembered, was
one of those who fled
from Pittsburg in Girty's party,
succeeded in persuading the
governor at Detroit that the
missionaries were sent among the
Delawares by the American Congress for
no other purpose than
stirring up dissension and of enlisting
their sympathies against
the British. McKee and Girty were
parties to this assertion.
Indeed, the destruction of the mission
is largely chargeable to
them.
White Eyes died in this same year while
accompanying Gen-
eral McIntosh on an expedition into the
Tuscarawas country.61
He was a great and useful man and is
spoken of highly by many
of the writers.
In 1779 the whites from the Ohio river
began stealing horses
from the Christian Indians. During the
same year a delegation
of the Cherokees journeyed from the
south and visited the Del-
awares for the purpose of consoling them
for the loss of White
Eves. The ceremony performed was very
affecting.
61 Brigadier-General McIntosh in
November and December of 1778
erected Fort Laurens on the Tuscarawas.
Bolivar, in Tuscarawas county,
is half a mile above the site
of the tort.
64 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
During the excitement attendant upon the
capture of the
governor of Detroit by General Clarke,
Simon Girty had engaged
to lead a war party for the purpose of
taking Zeisberger alive
or dead. A friendly trader contrived to
send word to Hecke-
welder.62 He despatched two
brethren, one of whom was the
brave Isaac Glickhican, of whom I have
already spoken. They
met the senior missionary at Lichtenau,
and when nine miles
from that place eight Mingoes, headed by
Simon Girty, sud-
denly appeared in the path. "This
is the very man we have come
for; now act agreeable to the promise
you have made!" cried
Girty. Two young Delawares at this
moment burst out from the
forest, and taking in the situation at a
glance, prepared their
guns to defend Zeisberger. Girty
withdrew, not wishing to face
complications which might arise were he
to attack two Indians
not Christians. The young warriors
accompanied the mission-
ary to Gnadenhutten, saying that while
not of the faith, yet they
could not see so good a man as the
minister captured by Girty.
In 1780 and the early spring of 1781
complications arose
which sadly disturbed the peace of the
missions. Pipe and some
other chiefs continued their intrigues.
Even friendly Delawares
began to counsel a union with the
Sandusky villages and to
advocate an alliance with the British.
In the spring of 1781 Colonel Broadhead
camped a few miles
from Salem and sent word for an
interview. The missionaries
gave him an audience. He spoke at great
length upon the peace-
ful conduct of the Christians, of the
examples they were setting
their more warlike neighbors, and of the
faith that Congress had
in Zeisberger and Heckewelder. Broadhead
was doubtless sin-
cere in this, but while he spoke
"an officer came with great speed
from another quarter of the camp, and
reported that a particular
division of the militia were preparing
to break off for the purpose
of destroying the Moravian settlements
up the river." Colonel
Broadhead immediately took measures to
prevent them perfecting
their designs.
"On the afternoon of the tenth of
August, 1781, the Half
King, with an hundred and forty armed
men, suddenly appeared
62 I continue to quote from
Heckewelder, or to use his information
with slight alterations.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 65
before the town of Salem with the
British colors flying, and
having formed for themselves a large
camp, the colors were set
in the center, where Captain Elliot,
with the Half King and Mr.
McCormick (the flag bearer), had their
tents fixed." Elliot called
upon Heckewelder and said that something
of importance was
in store for the Christians. Accordingly
word was sent to the
inhabitants of the three towns and
Gnadenhutten (it being the
center) was set upon as the point of
conference.
"Soon more than three hundred
warriors had assembled
from the lake region and elsewhere. The
Wyandots from Up-
per Sandusky commanded by the Half King;
others of the same
nation from Detroit and Lower Sandusky,
commanded by Kuhn,
a head chief of the latter place;
Captains Pipe and Wingemund,
Delaware war-chiefs; the Monsey
war-chiefs with about forty
men; the two Shawanoe captains, named by
the traders John
and Thomas Snake, and a few of their men
from Sciota; several
straggling Indians of the Mohegan and
Ottawa tribes."
August twentieth, after a week of
feasting and debating, the
Half King appointed a conference for the
following day. The
speeches, long and interesting and given
nearly in full by Hecke-
welder, cannot be repeated here. Having
preserved a pacific
course through the war, the Christians
urged that they did not
fear the Virginians. Moreover their
possessions of corn, cattle,
property and food were so extensive that
they could not well
move to the Sandusky region. They
succeeded in convincing
the Half King against their removal. But
Elliot and the Mon-
seys continued to clamor for the
Christian's removal, "for", said
he, "the Virginians will surely
come here and murder them."
Elliot did not care himself, but he was
desirous of drawing the
entire Delaware nation into the war and
this was the only way
he could accomplish his purpose.
Debates, quarrels and plot-
tings were rife. It became known that
Elliot expected to get
the cattle himself and sell them in
Detroit for forty dollars per
head, and for this purpose he had
brought several horse-loads
of goods to distribute among the Indians
after the Christians
were made captive.
September 2nd the warriors became very
surly. Dead cattle
Vol. VII-5.
66 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
caused an intolerable stench in the
town. The Half King
called the people together again and
demanded, would they
move or not? They replied in the
negative. Then the savages
went into council and sat nearly all
night. Some were in favor
of murdering the missionaries at once.
But others held that
men like Isaac Glickhican would defend
them. Heckewelder's
policy of universal peace prompted him
to employ heroic meas-
ures which he thought the present crisis
warranted. That was,
the placing of an Indian friendly to the
mission in the night
council. How such an one eluded the
viligance of the savages
we know not, we must confess that it was
an admirable bit of
detective work. September 4th all the
congregation being called
to the chapel, the senior missionary,
Zeisberger, presented an ad-
dress of some three hours in length. The
edifice was crowded,
for not only Christians, but many of the
warriors and chiefs were
also present. The sermon was of such
touching, gentle and
comforting character that, if we are to
believe Heckewelder,
nearly all were in tears at its
conclusion, and even the hostile
element came forward and shook hands
with the missionaries,
averring that this removal was due to
the officers at Detroit and
the chiefs, and that they were unwilling
agents compelled to
perform it.
I shall pass rapidly over the sacking of
the towns, the in-
sults and privations heaped upon the
Christians during the march
to the Sandusky Plains. It is a dark
chapter in Ohio history.
Help could have been had from Pittsburg,
for messengers from
Gnadenhutten had reached that post and
informed the com-
mandant of the state of affairs. But he
wisely concluded that an
armed intervention on his part would
result in the extermina-
tion of the missions, for the British
would then consider them as
enemies. As the sequel will show, it
would have been better
had Broadhead and Gibson sent an
expedition against the Wyan-
dots and others while they were in the
missions. The expe-
dition would have crushed them and the
border ruffians who did
destroy the towns shortly afterward,
would have heard of this
action. Being convinced that the
missions were friendly and
under the protection of Fort Pitt,
Williamson and his party would
not have dared to assault them. The only
danger of extermina-
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 67
tion would be from Detroit or Sandusky,
and a small fort be-
tween Salem and Gnadenhutten garrisoned
by brave men, would
have secured the towns. But no such
action was taken, and in-
stead of protection, murder and arson
reigned.
September 11th they started. The Half
King searched the
woods for buried articles; for the
Christians had hidden all their
pewter and kitchen utensils, their
ploughs, hoes, and various iron
implements, some of their personal
belongings and much corn.
This was done during the night. Pipe
conducted the party, and
as his Delawares were rather friendly as
compared with the
Wyandots, the Christians got along very
well. But the Half
King soon caught up and "behaved like
a mad man", and so the
missionaries importuned Pipe to let them
go on either with the
Delawares or alone, promising that they
would proceed to the
designation in good faith and as rapidly
as possible. They went
up the Walhonding river, but slowly, on
account of low water
and drift. A heavy rain and
thunder-storm detained them a day.
Falling trees crushed their largest
canoe and it sunk with much
food and valuable personal belongings.
The Half King sent off
a party headed by his two sons against
the Ohio river settle-
ments, but the force was defeated and
his two sons killed. I
shall refer to this action later. After
leaving the river they pro-
ceeded across country. The Wyandots
again came up with
them and urged greater speed. They
whipped the horses and
also numbers of the converts, crying,
"How, how!" (along,
along).
October 11th they were left by the Half
King at Upper San-
dusky and told to shift for themselves.
Both men and women
were completely exhausted and barely
able to march. Food
was getting scarce and the packs which
all carried seemed like
lead, so they settled down upon a plain
by the river. The mis-
sionaries left the Christians here and
set out for Detroit, where
they obtained audience with the
Commandant, November 9th.
Pipe and his men were present. Arnet
Schuyler De Peyster, the
commandant, addressed him:
"'Captain Pipe, you have for a long
time lodged complaints
with me against certain white people
among your nation, and
whom you call teachers to the believing
Indians, who, as you
68
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
say, are friends to the Americans, and
keep up a continual cor-
respondence with them, to the prejudice
of your father's interests.
You having so repeatedly accused these
teachers and desiring
that I might remove them from among you;
I at length com-
manded you to take them together with
the believing Indians
away from the Muskingum and bring them
into your country,
and being since informed that this has
been done, I ordered you
to bring those teachers together with
some of their principal
men before me, that I might see and
speak with them; since that
time these men now sitting before you,
have come in and sur-
rendered themselves up to me without
your being with them.
I now ask you, Captain Pipe, if these
men are those of whom
you so much complained; and whom I
ordered you to bring be-
fore me?' Pipe replied in the
affirmative. The Commandant
continued:
"'Well, both the accuser and the
accused being present, it
is but fair, that the accused hear from
the accuser, of the com-
plaints he has against him; I therefore
desire you to repeat what
you have told me of these teachers and
accuse them of it.'
"Pipe, standing at the time, turned
to his counsellors tell-
ing them to get upon their legs and
speak. Finding them panic-
struck he appeared to be at a loss how
to act. Seeing that his
men would not speak, he boldly defended
the teachers against
accusations brought against them,
saying, 'That they were good
men and that he wished his father to
speak good words to them.
They were his friends, and that he would
be sorry to see them
treated ill and hard.' The officer
persisted, the Indians hung
their heads and finally Pipe boldly
said: 'Father, the teachers
cannot be blamed for this, for living in
our country where they
had to do whatever we required of them,
they were compelled
to act as they did. They did not write
letters for themselves but
for us. I am to blame! I caused them to
do what they did!
We urged them to it, whilst they
refused, telling us that they
did not come here for the purpose of
meddling in our affairs,
but for the spiritual good of the
Indians.' The Commandant
then asking him, 'What he wished him to
do with us, whether
he should send us out of the country, or
permit us to return
again to our families and
congregations?' Pipe, contrary to
The Indian Tribes of Ohio.
69
what was expected, advised that we be
suffered to return to our
homes."
The officer then questioned the
missionaries and Hecke-
welder explained his work and what he
knew of the American
Congress, all of which was interpreted
to Pipe and his followers.
Satisfied with the explanation given he
acquitted them of the
charges and admonished that neither they
nor their converts
should meddle in the war.
"On retiring from the council-house
we were congratulated
by many respectable inhabitants of the
place on our happy ac-
quittal and the prospect of our
returning again to our families."
People gave them clothes, the traders
furnished food, De
Peyster presented them with horses, and
in joy they joined the
congregation at Upper Sandusky.
March 13th to 15th, 1782, bad news came
from the Mus-
kingum. The Christians were preparing to
return to their for-
mer homes, for the winter had been
extremely rigid. Food had
been scarce and there was much suffering
The intrigues of
Girty and Elliot well nigh effected
their destruction, but so far
they had escaped. Many of the Christians
had returned to Salem
and Gnadenhutten to gather corn, etc.
They had been there but
a short time when they were met by over
one hundred white
men, mostly back-woodsmen and under the
leadership of one
Williamson. These gathered the Indians
together and informed
them that they must die.
"For", said they, "when they killed
the Indians, the country would be
theirs, and the sooner this
was done the better."
"Finding that all entreaties to
save their lives were to no
purpose, and that some more bloodthirsty
than their comrades
were anxious to begin upon them, they
united in begging a short
delay, that they might prepare
themselves for death, which re-
quest was at length granted them. Then
asking pardon for any
offense they had given, or grief they
had occasioned to each
other, they kneeled down offering
fervent prayer to God their
Savior and kissing one another, under a
flood of tears fully re-
signed to His will, they sang praises
unto Him in the joyful hope
that they would soon be relieved from
all pain and join their
Redeemer in everlasting bliss.
70
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
"The murderers, impatient to make a
beginning, came again
to them while they were singing, and
inquiring whether they
were now ready for dying, they were
answered in the affirmative;
adding, 'that they had commended their
immortal souls to God
who had given them the assurance in
their hearts that he would
receive their souls.' One of the party
now taking up a cooper's
mallet, which lay in the house (the
owner being a cooper) say-
ing, 'how exactly this will answer for
this business', he began
with Abraham, and continued knocking
down one after another
until he had counted fourteen, that he
had killed with his own
hands. He now handed the instrument to
one of his fellow-mur-
derers, saying, 'My arm fails me! Go on
in the same way! I
think I have done pretty well!'
"The number of Christian Indians
murdered by these mis-
creants exceeded ninety." Isaac
Glickhican was of the number.
Two lads escaped. One, understanding
English well, gave the
missionaries his version of the affair.
Years afterward some of
the whites engaged died expressing
remorse, and one in particu-
lar, when under the influence of liquor,
would rehearse the scene,
the prayers, the cries of the murdered;
and, it is said, his recita-
tion was intensely dramatic. He would
fall upon the ground in
a paroxysm of terror and remorse calling
upon the Almighty to
blame others rather than himself!
The savages not only condemned the
action; they said,
"What kind of people are these who kill
their friends? We kill
enemies." James Smith said, in a
burst of righteous indigna-
tion:
"This was an act of barbarity
beyond anything I ever knew
to be committed by the savages
themselves."
Congress, to our shame, never punished
these murderers.
In 1797 it gave the United Brethren
three separate tracts of
4,000 acres each at Salem, Gnadenhutten
and Shonbrun. Hecke-
welder visited the spot and laid out
town sites. In October Zeis-
berger and the rest settled upon the old
sites. They remained
some time after Zeisberger's death,
which occurred in July, 1808,
at Goshen on the Muskingum. Then they
abandoned the mis-
sions and returned to Bethlehem, Pa.
I need not refer to the small missions
established in Canada,
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 71
or to Heckewelder's second journey to
Detroit, or to the terrible
night in the same house with Girty, when
that individual, being
in an adjoining room, threatened to chop
through the partition
and split their heads with his war
hatchet.
"After the murders at Gnadenhutten
the Wyandots, Sha-
wanoes and Delawares continually kept
spies out to guard against
being surprised by the Americans."
In May, two months after
Williamson's stroke, that individual and
Colonel Crawford set
out for the Christian Indian settlement
near Sandusky with the
object of killing them and also such of
the Wyandots and other
tribes as might lay in their path.
Finding none there, they turned
towards the towns containing real warriors,
"which," observes
the faithful Heckewelder, "was
exactly what the assembled war-
riors wished for." Having reached
an open place in the high
grass; the Indians engaged the troops.
Although about five
hundred strong, the savages would have
completely routed them
but for the darkness.
"The plan now being that they would
surround them during
the night and at daybreak attack them
from all sides, they moved
on at the proper time, when, however, to
their mortification, they
discovered that the heroes had fled
during the night, not choosing
to, as it appeared, stand an engagement
with the kind of warriors
they met here. Some few who were not
awake from their sleep
when their comrades went off, were found
yet in that condition,
lying in the high grass. Many bundles of
ropes and ready-made
halters, to take off the plunder and
horses which would fall into
their hands, were collected in the
prairie. It seemed that they
calculated on taking much booty home
with them, but finding
themselves mistaken, they chose to lose
their baggage rather
than to run the risk of losing their
lives. In the pursuit many
were killed, and poor Colonel Crawford,
together with Doctor
McKnight, had the misfortune to be taken
prisoners. 'Where
is Williamson, the head murderer?' was
the call of the Indians
from every quarter. They being told that
he was one of the
first that had fled from the ground,
they cried out: 'Revenge,
revenge, on those we have in our power
for the murder of the
Christian Indians on the Muskingum and
our friends at Pitts-
burg.' 'These,' said they to one
another, 'have come out on a
72
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
similar expedition with the same men who
committed that
atrocious murder on our friends and
relations, to do the same
to us that are all alike. They want our
country from us and
know of no better way of obtaining it
than by killing us first!
For this very reason they killed the
believing Indians and our
relations at Pittsburg.' They called
aloud for the surviving Chris-
tian Indians to come forward and take
revenge on these pris-
oners; but they having moved, their
savage relations stepped
forward in their stead. The fire was
kindled and poor Crawford
tied to the stake. The torture had not
begun when it occurred
to him that he had one particular Indian
friend, by name Winge-
mund. 'Where is my friend Wingemund?' he
called out. 'I
wish to see him.' This Indian chief
being sent for, an interesting
and somewhat affectionate conversation
took place between them,
yet without producing the effect the
Colonel had faintly calculated
upon- he hoping that both by the
influence his Indian friend
had with the nation and the intercession
he would make in his
behalf, his life might be saved; in
which, however, he found
himself grievously mistaken, for at this
time, or, as the case then
stood, it was not in the power of any
man or even body of men
to save the life of one who had been of
the party and was doomed
to suffer in Williamson's stead who had
escaped. He was told
by the exasperated crowd 'that he came
out with the worst kind
of murderers.'"
The speeches made by the chiefs to
Crawford are striking.
I have not space sufficient to present
them in full, but they can
be found in Heckewelder's narrative.
They cover the entire
ground fully and completely; show the
feeling of the non-chris-
tian Indians towards such Americans as
Williamson brought along
upon this expedition and refer to those
of the same party who
murdered the poor harmless and friendly
converts at Gnaden-
hutten.
Judge Anderson in the January Quarterly
of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society
has ably presented the
American side of Crawford's expedition.
I am treating of the
neglected Indian side. As I have
frequently said throughout
this report, the continued depredations
committed by irresponsible
whites upon the Indians-many times after
peace had been
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 73
declared, or when there was no war- stirred
up the natives to
acts of hostility and revenge. It was
the border element; those
characters described by missionaries,
officers, captives, travellers
and historians, which heeded not whether
the government in the
East made treaties or declared peace,
but continued to settle
upon Indians' lands and to kill Indians'
game and to cheat and
defraud and murder and rob; it was this
element, I say, which
caused all the trouble. The same was
true in recent times upon
the western plains.
Judge Anderson's paper covers the
details of the Crawford
expedition so completely that it is not
necessary for me to say
more regarding it. I shall only sum up
what Heckewelder and
others have to offer as reasons for this
horrible punishment.
Heckewelder was in a position to know
the Indians' feelings
better than any of the American
officers. He had been in charge
of Indian missions through all these
stormy days and he was
entirely familiar with hostile and
friendly tribes and individuals
alike. What, then, were the chief
reasons for Crawford's torture?
1. He was caught in bad company; very bad company.
Williamson was known to have led the
whites in the Gnaden-
hutten massacres. Crawford was a
gentleman, a brave man and
one of high character. Williamson and
those who were with
him were not. But the savages were in no
humor to distinguish
between the guilty and the innocent.
They wanted Williamson
and not being able to seize that valiant
(?) warrior, they inflicted
his punishment upon poor Crawford. The
Indians say that Wil-
liamson and his followers not only
possessed guilty consciences,
but were cowards at heart.
2. During
the fight scouts visited Williamson's abandoned
camp and found upon the trees, scratched
with charcoal: "No
quarter given to Indians, whether man,
woman or child." The
bark had been removed in order to obtain
an even surface. They
were infuriated. What would Europe think
of our soldiers if, in
the present Spanish war, the.buildings
or trees surrounding our
camps should be decorated with such
sentiments?
Crawford's burning is one of the worst
examples of diabolical
savagery to be found in history. But
what shall we say of Wil-
liamson and his men - representing a
"civilization and an estab-
74
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
lished government; worshippers of the
true God," who would
give no quarter to man, woman or child?
Can we expect chil-
dren of the forests, to be more human
than "civilized beings"?
3. The intense hatred of the Americans,
fostered by the
knowledge of great wrongs, etc.
The part played by Girty in this affair
is well known and
need not be reproduced here. The escape
of Doctor Knight
and the retreat of the Americans have
also been frequently
described. Crawford and Williamson's
defeat encouraged the
Indians to war upon the settlements and
induced St. Clair and
Harmer to march against the towns, but
both were defeated.
This was in 1790. Heckewelder
only refers to it.
We have seen what the missionaries
accomplished, and it
is now time to draw that portion of my
history to a close. Had
they been permitted to continue their
work on the Muskingum
unmolested, they might have brought most
of the Ohio tribes
to good acts and industry. Until the
Girty, Elliot, Pipe and
Half King intrigues they were reverenced
by every Indian nation
in the state. Their success with the
converts lay in this fact:
they did not merely pray and preach,
sing and hold services.
It was a practical Christianity which
they introduced. It was
successful in itself, -its destruction
was from without. Their's
was the only highly successful mission
work among the American
race prior to 1800. Of the men
themselves, we have no higher
types in Ohio history. Noble, brave,
self-sacrificing, spiritual,
full of tact and wisdom, schooled in the
German, English, Wyan-
dot, Delaware and Iroquois tongues,
their names are assured
of perpetual fame. Both gave us much of
historic, ethnologic
and philologic matter. And yet against
these men-pillars of
righteousness and learning, full of good
works - rose up those
despicable inferiors and assassins who,
in the end, caused their
ruin. Williamson and the rest are only
mentioned in history
because of the odium of their acts.
A fitting memorial to these devoted and
worthy men and
their followers would be the erection of
a simple but imposing
mausoleum, in which tablets should state
the names and deeds
of these missionaries. Ohio is indebted
to them and she should
do what she can in recognition of their sacrifices.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 75
We rather lost sight of what occurred
generally in the Ohio
region while speaking of the missions.
The little circle of peace-
ful Delawares and others on the
Muskingum presented the only
villages whose inhabitants were not
engaged in war. A fierce
action in Kentucky at McClelland's
Station upon Christmas day,
1776, and again on January 1, 1777,
resulted in the defeat of the
whites by Pluggy and his band.68
About this time Daniel Boone
and Simon Kenton appear upon the page of
history. The former
a pioneer and Indian fighter, the latter
somewhat of a hunter and
adventurer.
In October, 1778, Kenton was captured
upon the Ohio river.
His companion had been killed and
scalped. Kenton and Mont-
gomery were stealing horses from
Chillicothe, three miles north
of Xenia, Ohio. Kenton was taken to the
village and compelled
to run the gauntlet.64 He was
beaten with switches, and at each
blow they asked him, "Steal Indian
hoss, hey?" Blackfish, chief
of the Shawanoes at that place,
interviewed him in no polite lan-
guage. He was strapped to an unbroken
colt and taken to Piqua,
upon Mad river, five miles west of the
present city of Springfield.
Then he was taken to Machack (at West
Liberty) and from there
to Wapatomica (near Zanesfield, in Logan
county).
He was sitting upon the floor in the
latter place, his face
being painted black, when in marched
Simon and James Girty,
John Ward, and Indians with eight
captives and seven scalps.
Girty recognized his old time friend and
interested himself in
his behalf. Remarkable as the statement
may appear, Girty was
greatly affected by the meeting. He
bought him a fine new outfit
at the trader's. He interceded with the
chiefs for Kenton's life
with success. Some time afterwards a war
party returned with
the news that they had been defeated,
and desiring revenge and
finding a white captive in the village,
they seized upon Kenton
in spite of Girty's efforts. Girty took
Kenton to Solomon's Town,
a short distance away, where he had his
lodge, but the Indians
demanded that they return to Wapakoneta
and appear before a
large council. Kenton's heart sank as he entered the door, for
63 McDonald's Sketches, p. 212.
64 History of the Girtys, for all
my information on Kenton, etc.
76 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
he
saw about him dark and scowling faces which boded no good.
All
present grasped Girty's hand, but refused that of Kenton.
The
warriors made alternate speeches nearly all night. Girty fre-
quently
spoke with feeling of his friend, how that he had once
saved
his life, and that he would give any sum to have him pre-
served.
But his speeches availed naught. The council finally
decided
upon Kenton's death, and Girty broke the news to him.
However,
Girty persuaded them to select Upper Sandusky as
the
point of torture, and sending word, he bribed a trader, who,
in
turn, offered large moneys and goods to the Indians. Thus
Kenton
was permitted to reach Detroit, and finally he got back
to
Kentucky.
In
1779 Colonel Bowman was sent against the Indians at
the
Mad river towns. These he destroyed, but his own troops
suffered
somewhat in consequence.
During
this period the traders were very active stirring up
the
Shawanoes to hostility. Some idea of the amount of goods
distributed
can be had from the following:
"George
Girty also acted as disbursing agent at the Sha-
wanese
towns, dealing out supplies to the Shawanese. A con-
temporaneous
statement, as to himself and others, of goods thus
furnished
Indians, is extant.65
£ s. d.
Chas.
Beaubein furnished goods to Indians
at
Miami Town ......................... 1603 8 0
Matthew
Elliott in Indian country....... 47 6 9
Captain
McKee in Indian country......... 835 5 6
George
Girty in Indian country .......... 72 17 0
A
charge to George Girty at this period is also in existence:
Bucks.
To salt at Shawanese towns ........................... 4
To
116 pounds of flour........
...................... 14
To
one bag with flour................................ 2
To
tobacco. . .......................
......... ....... 3
23
In
1780 the British officer Bird and Simon Girty, accom-
panied
by seven hundred Indians, attacked Fort Liberty, Ken-
65
History of the Girtys. Butterworth, p. 108.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 77
tucky. They were very successful,
killing numbers and taking
many prisoners. There were about three
hundred taken or killed
in this engagement. In the same year
General George Clarke,
attacked the Shawanee towns upon Mad
river and the Little
Miami. He succeeded in defeating the
hostiles, but suffered
considerable loss. George and James
Girty took part in the
defense of the towns, but in spite of
their efforts the villages
were burned.
In 1781
the Indian war became general in Ohio.
There
was not a tribe (not counting the
Christian Delawares) which
could be called friendly. In April of
this year General Broadhead
burned the town of Coshocton, killing
fifteen men and taking
many prisoners. The hostiles then
retreated to the Scioto and
Mad rivers.
The tribes sent for Joseph Brant
(Thayendanega), and he
came with a considerable force to
cooperate with the Girtys. The
combination of these forces gave Brant
one of the largest Indian
armies ever seen in Ohio. It presented a
terrifying as well as
an imposing spectacle. Eleven miles
below the mouth of the
Great Miami, on August 24, they
encountered one wing of Clarke's
army commanded by Colonel Lochry,
comprising more than one
hundred men, all of whom were killed or
captured. They also
took one of his boats and its occupants.
Simon Girty arrived from Upper Sandusky
with all the men
he could press into service and they
awaited Clarke upon the
Ohio's banks. Meantime, Brant was
insulted by Girty. He
promptly retaliated by drawing his sword
and striking the ren-
egade upon the head. The blow came near
ending Girty's earthly
career, and for weeks he was confined to
his blankets. Clarke,
hearing of the great force awaiting him,
retreated, and the sav-
ages disbanded in disappointment. On
their way home they
raided such settlements as lay within
easy reach.
The Half King's sons were killed by the
Poes upon the Ohio.
The fight of the elder Poe with these
two Indians has been made
famous in frontier annals. He spied the
sons alone, they having
left their party some miles in the
woods. He conceived the plan
of attacking the larger one in a
hand-to-hand fight after first
78 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
shooting the smaller. The fight was a
bloody one and of doubtful
termination, but Poe succeeded in
killing them both.
An Indian much in evidence during the
war, but of whom
the average student hears little, was
Blue Jacket, of the Sha-
wanoes. He held aloof from the whites,
seldom coming in con-
tact with them, save on the field.
The year 1784 found the Indians
depending more upon the
British, for from Canada they received better support. The
Americans were desirous of effecting a
general treaty and named
the mouth of the Great Miami as the
site. But this plan failed.
Girty (Simon) was present at a great
council held near Belle-
fontaine. It was one of the largest
aboriginal meetings in Ohio.
Every tribe had its representatives.
Girty urged a general com-
bination against the Americans.
Seventeen hundred and eighty-six and
1788 saw two expedi-
tions against the Shawanoes in the Miami
and Scioto regions, by
officers Logan and Todd. Both were
successful.
Great destruction of property along the
frontier occurred
during the war.
"'It appears by respectable
evidence (says Rev. Mr. Harris)
that from 1783 to 1790 the time that the
United States com-
menced hostilities against the Indians,
that on the Ohio and the
frontiers on the south side of that
river, they (the Indians) killed
and wounded and took prisoners about 1500 men, women and
children, besides carrying off upwards
of 2,000 horses and other
property to the amount of $50,000. These
depredations were
for the most part carried on by Indians
in small war parties'"66
It should be nearer $500,000 from all
the evidence I can
collect, and yet all this was
accomplished by but few Indians.
"I am of the opinion that from
Braddock's war until the
present time, there were never more than
3,000 Indians at any
time (1799) in arms against us west of Fort Pitt, and
frequently
not half that number."67 Smith
records twenty-two important
engagements on Ohio soil prior to 1792
in which our tribes did
most of the fighting.
And now we come to the greatest
aborigine of the Ohio Val-
66 Buffalo and the Senecas, Ketchum,
Vol. II, p. 4.
67 Remarkable Occurrences, etc., James
Smith, p. 155.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 79
ley, a man whom many have placed
superior to Brant (Thayen-
danega) and who certainly ranked not
lower than second in the
long list of celebrities of the American
race. I refer to Te-
cumtha, or Tkamthi, popularly called
Tecumseh. Born in 1770,
he was but a youth during the period of
the Revolution, yet his
boyhood days were spent among scenes of
activity - the coming
and going of innumerable war parties,
the attacks of soldiers
upon his people's villages. Reared among
such surroundings,
hearing the beat of the war-drum from
his earliest infancy, it is
no wonder that he imbibed the military
spirit and agreed with
Thayendanega, "that he liked the
music of the harp, and the
organ still better, but he liked the
fife and drum best of all be-
cause they made his heart beat
quick."
He was no such character as Logan or
Pontiac and he dif-
fered in many points from Brant and
Cornstalk. There is no in-
stance during his entire lifetime of his
preserving other than a
defiant attitude toward the whites.
Strong in his self-reli-
ance born of an intrepid nature, he was
a moving and controll-
ing spirit among all the tribes of the
northwest. Possessing
much personal magnetism he drew around
him all the dissatis-
fied Indians. These were of all tongues
and conditions, yet he
moulded the whole into an effective and
well-drilled army and
one which was more frequently victorious
than overcome.
Col. W. S. Hatch was with the Cincinnati
Light Infantry in
the war of 1812, and knowing much of
Tecumtha he published, in
1872, "A Chapter of the War of I812",68 which is largely devoted
to telling about Tecumtha and his
brother, the prophet, he
claiming to be the chosen instrument of
God; their mission be-
ing "to drive the whites across the
salt-sea where they belonged."
Being the youngest of three brothers
born at the same time, Te-
cumtha was considered among Indians as
possessing supernat-
ural power, for twins are not common
among our aborigines, and
triplets almost unknown.
"They were born in a cabin or hut,
constructed of round
saplings chinked with sticks and clay,
near the mouth of Still-
water, on the upper point of its
junction with the Great Miami,
68 Miami Printing and Pub. Co., Cincinnati.
80 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
then a pleasant plateau of land, with a
field of corn not subject
to overflow.69
"These facts were communicated to
me a short time after
the council at Springfield in 1806, in
the presence of Col. Robert
Patterson, one of the original
proprietors of Cincinnati, by Gen.
Simon Kenton."70
His name, unlike that of other
aborigines, has been nearly
preserved by the interpreters, as spoken
by the Shawanoes. It
is exceedingly musical. I present what
Professor Gatschet of
the Bureau of Ethnology says regarding
it.71
"TECUMSEH'S NAME. - As to their origin, the personal
names in use among the Shawnee or
Shawano Indians are either
nicknames, pet names, or totemic names.
This class of names is
very significative, for by their
interpretation may be discovered
the totemic clan to which the person
bearing the name belongs.
The number of Shawnee totem-clans is not
very large, but of
great interest, through the fact that
they are all named after
classes of animals, as
"round-footed," "hoofed" or "split-footed,"
"living in the air,"
"inhabiting the ground," and others. When
a man is named "Tight-fitting"
or "Good-fit," he is known to be
of the clan of the rabbit, for the fur
of that animal fits very
closely. A woman called "Foaming
Water" will be found to
belong to the turtle totem-clan, for
when the turtle crosses the
water bubbles arise around its pathway.
"The name of chief Tecumseh (in
Shawnee Tekamthi or
Tkamthi) is derived from nili ni
tkamthka, "I cross the path or
way" (of an animate being.) By this
is meant that the name be-
longs to a totem of one of the
round-footed animals, as that of
the raccoon, jaguar, panther or wildcat,
and not to the hoofed
ones, as the deer. Tecumseh and his
brothers belong to the
manetuwi msi-pessi or "miraculous panther" totem; msi means
great; pishiwi, abbreviated pessi,
cat; both terms combined sig-
nify the panther or mountain lion.
69A Chapter on the War of 1812, p. 89.
70 Hatch speaks of him as being sixteen
years old at Harmar's de-
feat, his first participation in action.
If this be true, he was born in
1775. But I am inclined to Moony's
statement that 1770 is the correct
date.
71 American Anthropologist, Vol. VIII, January,
1895, p. 91.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 81
"Tecumseh's name has been variously
translated in former
times as
"panther-lying-in-wait," "crouching lion", and "shoot-
ing star." All these only
paraphrase the meaning, but do not
accurately translate or interpret the
name. The adjective mane-
tuwi, when it qualifies the noun msi-pessi as an
epithet, points
to a miraculous, unaccountable, even
transcendental existence,
and the whole must be rendered by
"celestial lion" which is a
meteor or shooting-star. The manetuwi
msi-pessi lives in water
only and is not visible as an animal,
but only as a meteor, ex-
ceeding in size and brilliancy all the
other shooting-stars. It
was the totemic emblem of a Shawnee
clan, and the members
of this clan, to which Tecumseh or
Tkamthi belonged, were con-
sequently classed as the descendants of
a round or claw-footed
progenitor.
"The quick motion of a meteor was
evidently likened to that
of a lion or wildcat springing upon its
prey, and the yellow color
of both may have made the comparison
more effective. All
over America the natives suppose these
celestial bodies to be
the souls of the dead, and as they
travel mainly in a westerly
direction they are believed to return to
their western abode. In
the west lies the Pacific ocean;
therefore the tribes west of the
Rocky mountains think the souls are
returning to that great
aquatic world. To all primitive people
the home of the deceased
lies in the west, for there set the
celestial bodies which represent
the souls of the departed ones."
The idea of a prophet who preached a
return to aboriginal
customs is not new in Indian history.
Such an one appeared in
1762 at Tuscarawas on the Muskingum,
another at Cuyahoga
in the same year. John McCullough, a
captive for many years,
gives us an account of their doctrines.
Several have risen up in
modern times, notably in 1890 at Pine
Ridge, South Dakota, on
the Ogallala Sioux reservation.
Eenskwatawa, Tecumtha's
brother, began his studies for the
office of shaman or priest,
while the warrior was yet young.
Little is heard of the mighty warrior
until at Harmar's de-
feat in '91. He was at that time a
young man. It is related that
Vol. VII-6.
82
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
upon seeing his brother fall, he fled
from the field.72 Be that as
it may, no less a character than
Thayendanega in his first battle
"trembled so that he took hold of a
sapling for support?" And
it is not to Tecumtha's discredit, for
some of our bravest of-
ficers in the late civil war upon going
into action for the first
time exhibited cowardice. Of Harmar's
expedition Hatch. says :78
"He marched with three hundred and
twenty regulars from
Fort Washington (Cincinnati) on the 30th
of September, 1791,
with orders to destroy all the Shawnee
villages on the Scioto
and then unite with the troops from
Kentucky, then on the
Wabash, and advance to the Miami of Lake
Erie destroying all
Indian villages on the upper and
headwaters of the Great Miami,
the St. Mary's and wherever found by the
combined forces.
"He advanced northward about
twenty-five miles to a posi-
tion on the Great Miami at which Fort
Hamilton was established
the following year by Gen. St. Clair,
and there united with the
volunteer militia troops from Kentucky
and Pennsylvania, who
had as the main part of his army already
moved in advance, those
from Kentucky being under the command of
Gen. Hardin; his
entire combined force amounting to 1453
men. After bringing
on supplies, he moved northeastwardly
upon the chief town of
the Shawnees, Chillicothe." This
was three miles north of
Xenia, and had been largely reinforced
since the abandonment
of the older towns upon the Scioto.
"This celebrated town was
on an eminence fronting and overlooking
the rich meadows of
the Little Miami. Its remains I examined
as early as 1806 at
which time numerous articles of Indian
construction and use,
stone battle-axes, arrow-heads, and
various other things were
scattered over the ground.
"On Harmar's approach he found the
smoking ruins of a
burned and abandoned village; not an
Indian to be seen. They
had sacrificed their 'Moscow' and
retired ten miles in the direc-
tion of the confluence of the Mad River
and the Great Miami;
took up an advantageous position and
awaited Harmar's move-
ments, who played into their hands by
sending a small detach-
72 James Mooney, in The Ghost Dance
Religion, says Tecumtha's
brother was killed in 1794 at Wayne's
Victory.
73A Chapter on the War of 1812, Hatch,
p. 93.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 83
ment under Gen. Hardin of but two
hundred and ten men to
attack them. This little detachment they
cut to pieces. Har-
mar then sent his forces to the Scioto
who destroyed without re-
sistance their towns and their crops on
the borders of that stream;
when, as he alleged, having lost several
of his horses, he aban-
doned the idea of joining the Kentucky
forces on the Wabash
and broke up camp in order to return to
Fort Washington; but
as he had not at this time become
possessed of his brilliant ideas
in regard to 'victories', 'he felt
desirious', as he said, 'of wiping
off in another action the disgrace which
his arms had sustained.'
He halted about eight miles from his
camp (the ruins of Chilli-
cothe) late at night, and again detached
Gen. Hardin with but
360 men to find the enemy and bring him
to action. Early the
next morning that intrepid and brave
officer reached the conflu-
ence of Mad river and the Great Miami,
where he found the
Indians in great force; who with
skillful maneuvres brought him
within their lines, when his little
detachment was, as in the case
of the first, overwhelmed and nearly all
destroyed. The skele-
ton of Hardin's little force regained
headquarters."
Harmar retreated to Fort Washington. It
was in the sec-
ond engagement that Tecumtha
participated.
The year following, Gen. Arthur St.
Clair marched against
these same Indians, and also the
Delawares, Wyandots and
Miamis. His utter defeat, and the
outrages committed upon his
fleeing forces, are well known to all
readers, having been pub-
lished scores of times, and it is
therefore not necessary for me
to give the particulars here.74 Elliot and McKee were both
present. Tecumtha was yet young, but it
is supposed that he
distinguished himself. St. Clair's
defeat has always been charged
to poor generalship. The numbers and
quality of the troops
gave assurance of success: but defeat
came.
General Anthony Wayne conducted a
vigorous campaign in
1794. He marched northward from Fort
Washington in August
and at the rapids of the Maumee, on the 20th,
he completely
routed the allied tribes, with great
slaughter. They called Wayne
74Smith says: "It is said that
there was more of our men killed at
this defeat than there were in any
one battle during our contest with
Great Britain."
84
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Sukach-gook, a black snake,
"for", said they, "he possessed all
the art and cunning of that
reptile."
I now turn to the period of Tecumtha's
greatest activity.
Professor James Mooney has published a
magnificent memoir
upon the Ghost-Dance Religion. His
researches, both historical
and ethnological, cover in detail all
the characters and events of
the last Ohio Indian war. I use much of
his material relating to
Tecumtha and his brother, the prophet.76
Of the events just prior to the war of
1812 Professor
Mooney
says: "Under the able leadership of
Little Turtle they76 twice
rolled back the tide of white invasion,
defeating two of the finest
armies ever sent into the western
country, until, worn out by
twenty years of unceasing warfare, and
crushed and broken by
the decisive victory of Wayne at the
Fallen Timbers, their vil-
lages in ashes and their cornfields cut
down, the dispirited chiefs
met their conqueror at Greenville in
1795 and signed away the
rights for which they had so long
contended.
"By this treaty, which marks the
beginning of the end with
the eastern tribes, the Indians
renounced their claims to all ter-
ritory east of a line running in a
general way from the mouth of
the Cuyahoga on Lake Erie to the mouth
of the Kentucky on
the Ohio, leaving to the whites the
better portion of the Ohio
Valley, including their favorite hunting
ground of Kentucky.
The Delaware, the Wyandot and the
Shawano, three of the
leading tribes, were almost completely
shorn of their ancient in-
heritance and driven back as refugees
among the Miami."
"The Canadian boundary had been
established along the
lakes; the Ohio was lost to the Indians;
for them there was
left only extermination or removal to
the west. Their bravest
warriors were slain. Their ablest
chieftain, who had led them
to victory against St. Clair, had bowed
to the inevitable, and
was now regarded as one with a white
man's heart and a traitor
to his race. A brooding dissatisfaction settled down on the tribes.
Who shall deliver them from the
desolation that has come on
them?
75 Fourteenth Annual Report, Bureau
American Ethnology. James
Mooney on the Ghost Dance Religion, pp.
622 to 700.
76 The Ohio Tribes.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 85
"Now arose among the Shawano
another prophet to point
out to his people the 'open door'
leading to happiness. In Novem-
ber, 1805, a young man named Laulewasikaw
(Lalewethika, a
rattle or similar instrument -
Gatschet), then hardly more than
thirty years of age, called around him
his tribesmen and their
allies at their ancient capital of
Wapakoneta, within the present
limits of Ohio, and there announced
himself as the bearer of
a new revelation from the Master of
Life, who had taken pity on
his red children and wished to save them
from the threatened
destruction. He declared that he had
been taken up to the
spirit world and had been permitted to
lift the veil of the past
and the future-had seen the misery of
evil doers and learned
the happiness that awaited those who
followed the precepts of
the Indian god. He then began an earnest
exhortation, denounc-
ing the witchcraft practices and
medicine juggleries of the tribe,
and solemnly warning his hearers that
none who had part in
such things would ever taste of the
future happiness. The fire-
water of the whites was poison and
accursed; and those who
continued its use would after death be
tormented with all the
pains of fire, while flames would
continually issue from their
mouths. This idea may have been derived
from some white
man's teaching or from the Indian
practice of torture by fire.
The young must cherish and respect the
aged and infirm. All
property must be in common, according to
the ancient law of
their ancestors. Indian women must cease
to intermarry with
white men; the two races were distinct
and must remain so.
The white man's dress, with his
flint-and-steel, must be discarded,
for the old time buckskin and the
firestick. More than this,
every tool and every custom derived from
the whites must be
put away, and they must return to the
methods which the Master
of Life had taught them. When they
should do all this, he
promised that they would again be taken
into the divine favor,
and find the happiness which their
fathers had known before
the coming of the whites. Finally, in
proof of his divine mis-
sion, he announced that he had received
power to cure all dis-
eases and to arrest the hand of death in
sickness or on the
battle-field.
Drake, in his aboriginal races, and many
writers refer to
86 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the influence of this man. An intense
excitement prevailed.
Drunkenness ceased, dogs were killed,
fire was made with bow-
drill or by rubbing sticks, guns
discarded and people gave them-
selves up to prayers and fastings. His
oft-repeated remark was,
'I told all the redskins that the way
they were in was not good,
and that they ought to abandon it.'
"The prophet now changed his name
to Tenskwatawa, 'The
Open Door' (from skwa'te, a door,
and the'nui, to be open; fre-
quently spelled Elskwatawa,) significant
of the new mode of life
which he had come to point out to his
people, and fixed his
headquarters at Greenville, Ohio, where
representatives from the
various scattered tribes of the northwest
gathered about him to
learn the new doctrines. Some,
especially the Kickapoo, entered
fervently into his spirit, while others
were disposed to oppose
him. The Miami, who regarded the Shawano
as intruders, were
jealous of his influence, and the chiefs
of his own tribe were some-
what inclined to consider him in the
light of a rival. To establish
his sacred character and to dispel the
doubts of the unbelievers,
he continued to dream dreams and
announce wonderful revela-
tions from time to time, when an event
occurred which event-
ually silenced opposition and stamped
him as one inspired.77
"By some means he had learned that
an eclipse of the sun
was to take place in the summer of 1806.
As the time drew
near he called about him the scoffers
and boldly announced that
on a certain day he would prove to them
his supernatural author-
ity by causing the sun to become dark.
When the day and hour
arrived and the earth at midday was
enveloped in the gloom of
twilight, Tenskwatawa, standing in the
midst of the terrified
Indians, pointed to the sky and cried:
'Did I not speak the truth?
See, the sun is dark!' There were no
more doubters now. All
proclaimed him a true prophet and the
messenger of the Master
of Life. His fame spread abroad and
apostles began to carry
his revelations to the remotest
tribes."
John Tanner, a captive among the
Ojibeways, heard of this
Shawanoe prophet. Mooney quotes his
observations in full.
Inflamed by the new doctrine, conscious of the wrongs done
them and their fathers, it is no wonder that the Indians
seized
77 Continued quotation from Mooney's Ghost-Dance Religion.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 87
upon it as a means of salvation.
Tecumtha may or may not
have believed it--for authorities differ
on this point-but it
is certain he was conscious of a great
opportunity and availed
himself of it. He preached the doctrine
of arms rather than
that of prayer or pennance.
"These lands are ours. No one has a
right to remove us,
because we were the first owners." - Tecumtha
to Wells, 1807.78
"The Great Spirit gave this great
island to his red children. He
placed the whites on the other side of
the big water. They were
not contented with their own, but came
to take ours from us.
They have driven us from the sea to the
lakes -we can go no
farther."-Tecumtha, 1810.
"And now we begin to hear of the
prophet's brother,
Tecumtha, the most heroic character in
Indian history. Te-
cumtha, 'The Meteor,' was the son of a
chief and the worthy
scion of a warrior race. His tribe, the
Shawano, made it their
proud boast that they of all tribes had
opposed the most deter-
mined resistance to the encroachments of
the whites. His father
had fallen under the bullets of the
Virginians while leading his
warriors at the bloody battle of Point
Pleasant in 1774. His
eldest and dearest brother had lost his
life in an attack on a
southern frontier post, and another had
been killed while fight-
ing by his side at Wayne's victory in 1794. What wonder that
the young Tecumtha declared that his
flesh crept at the sight
of a white man!
"But his was no mean spirit of
personal revenge; his mind
was too noble for that. He hated the
whites as the destroyers
of his race, but prisoners and the
defenseless knew well that they
could rely on his honor and humanity and
were safe under his
protection. When only a boy --for his
military career began
in childhood-he had witnessed the
burning of a prisoner, and
the spectacle was so abhorrent to his
feelings that by an earnest
and eloquent harangue he induced the
party to give up the prac-
tice forever. In later years his name
was accepted by helpless
women and children as a guarantee of
protection even in the
midst of hostile Indians. Of commanding
figure, nearly six feet
in height and compactly built; of
dignified bearing and piercing
78 The Ghost-Dance Religion, Mooney, p. 681.
88
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
eye, before whose lightning even a
British general quailed;
with the fiery eloquence of a Clay and
the clear-cut logic of a
Webster; abstemious in habit, charitable
in thought and action,
brave as a lion, but humane and generous
withal-in a word,
an aboriginal knight- his life was given
to his people, and he
fell at last, like his father and his
brothers before him, in battle
with the destroyers of his nation, the
champion of a lost cause
and a dying race.
"As a basal proposition, Tecumtha
claimed that the Green-
ville treaty, having been forced on the
Indians, was invalid; that
the only true boundary was the Ohio, as
established in 1768,
and that all future cessions must have
the sanction of all the
tribes claiming rights in that region.
"By this time there were assembled
at Greenville to listen to
the teachings of the prophet hundreds of
savages, representing
all the widely extended tribes of the
lake region and the north-
west, all wrought up to the highest
pitch of excitement over the
prospect of a revival of the old Indian
life and the perpetuation
of aboriginal sovereignty.
"In the spring of 1807 it was
estimated that at Fort Wayne
fifteen hundred Indians had recently passed
that post on their
way to visit the prophet, while councils
were constantly being
held and runners were going from tribe
to tribe with pipes and
belts of wampum. It was plain that some
uncommon move-
ment was going on among them, and it was
also evident that the
British agents had a hand in keeping up
the excitement. The
government became alarmed, and the
crisis came when an order
was sent from the President to Tecumtha
at Greenville to remove
his party beyond the boundary, of 1795
(the Greenville treaty).
Trembling with excitement, Tecumtha
arose and addressed his
followers in a passionate speech,
dwelling on the wrongs of the
Indians and the continued encroachments
of the whites. Then
turning to the messenger, he said:
'These lands are ours. No
one has a right to remove us, because we
were the first owners.
The Great Spirit above has appointed
this place for us, on which
to light our fires, and here we will
remain. As to boundaries,
the Great Spirit above knows no
boundaries, nor will his red
children acknowledge any.' (Drake,
Tecumseh, 3.) From this
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 89
time it was understood that the Indians
were preparing to make
a final stand for the valley of the
Ohio. The prophet continued
to arouse their enthusiasm by his
inspired utterances, while
Tecumtha became the general and active
organizer of the war-
riors. At a conference with the governor
of Ohio in the autumn
of 1807, he fearlessly denied the
validity of the former treaties,
and declared his intention to resist the
further extension of the
white settlements on Indian lands.
"The next spring great numbers of
Indians came down from
the lakes to visit Tecumtha and his
brother, who, finding their
following increasing so rapidly,
accepted an invitation fom the
Potawatami and Kickapoo, and removed
their headquarters to
a more central location on the Wabash.
The Delaware and
Miami, who claimed precedence in that
region and who had all
along opposed the prophet and Tecumtha,
protested against this
move, but without effect. The new
settlement, which was on
the western bank of the river, just
below the mouth of the Tip-
pecanoe, was known to the Indians as
Kehtipaquononk, 'the
great clearing,' and was an old and
favorite location with them.
It had been the site of a large Shawano
village which had been
destroyed by the Americans in 1791, and
some years later the
Potawatomi had rebuilt upon the same
place, to which they now
invited the disciples of the new
religion. The whites had cor-
rupted the name to Tippecanoe, and it
now generally became
known as the Prophet's town.
"Nothing else of moment occurred
during this year, but
it was learned that Tecumtha
contemplated visiting the southern
tribes in the near future to enlist them
also in his confederacy.
In 1809, however, rumors of an
approaching outbreak began to
fill the air, and it was evident that
the British were instigating
the Indians to mischief in anticipation
of a war between Eng-
land and the United States. Just at this
juncture the anger of
Tecumtha's party was still further
inflamed by the negotiation
of treaties with four tribes, by which
additional large tracts were
ceded in Indiana and Illinois. The
Indians now refused to buy
ammunition from the American traders,
saying that they could
obtain all they wanted for nothing in
another quarter. In view
of the signs of increasing hostility,
General Harrison was author-
90 Ohio Arch. and
His. Society Publications.
ized to take such steps as might be
necessary to protect the fron-
tier. Tecumtha had now gained over the
Wyandotte, the most
influential tribe of the Ohio region,
the keepers of the great
wampum belt of union and the lighters of
the council fires of
the allied tribes. Their example was
speedily followed by the
Miami, whose adhesion made the tribes of
the Ohio and the
lakes practically unanimous. The prophet
now declared that he
would follow in the steps of Pontiac and
called on the remote
tribes to assist those on the border to
roll back the tide which
would otherwise overwhelm them all. In
return the Sauk and
Fox sent word that they were ready
whenever he should say
the word.
"In the summer of 1810, according
to a previous arrange-
ment, Tecumseh, attended by several
hundred warriors, descended
the river to Vincennes to confer with
General Harrison on the
situation. The conference began on the
fifteenth of August and
lasted three days. Tecumtha reiterated
his former claims, saying
that in uniting the tribes he was
endeavoring to dam the mighty
water that was ready to overflow his
people. The Americans
had driven the Indian from the sea and
threatened to push them
into the lakes; and, although he
disclaimed any intention of
making war against the United States, he
declared his fixed reso-
lution to insist on the old boundary and
to oppose the further
intrusion of the whites on the lands of
the Indians, and to resist
the survey of the lands recently ceded.
He was followed by
chiefs of five different tribes, each of
whom in turn declared that
he would support the principles of
Tecumtha. Harrison replied
that the government would never admit
that any section belonged
to all the Indians in common, and that,
having bought the ceded
lands from the tribes who were first
found in possession of them,
it would defend its title by arms. To
this Tecumtha said he
preferred to be on the side of the
Americans, and that if his terms
were conceded, he would bring his forces
to the aid of the United
States in the war which he knew was soon
to break out with
England, but that otherwise he would be
compelled to join the
British. The governor replied that he
would state the case to
the President, but that it was
altogether unlikely that he would
consent to the conditions. Recognizing
the inevitable, Tecumtha
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 91
expressed the hope that, as the
President was to determine the
matter, the Great Spirit would put sense
into his head to induce
him to give up the lands, adding: 'It is
true he is so far off' he
will not be injured by the war. He may
sit in his town and drink
his wine, while you and I will have to
fight it out.' The governor
then requested, that in the event of an
Indian war, Tecumtha
would use his influence to prevent the
practice of cruelties on
women and children and defenseless
prisoners. To this he read-
ily agreed, and the promise was
faithfully kept. (Drake, Tecum-
seh, 4.)
"The conference had ended with a
tacit understanding that
war must come, and both sides began to
prepare for the struggle.
Soon after it was learned that the
prophet had sent belts to the
tribes west of the Mississippi, inviting
them to join in a war
against the United States. Outrages on
the Indians by settlers
intensified the hostile feeling, and the
Delawares refused to give
up a murderer until some of the whites,
who had killed their
people, were first punished. Harrison
himself states that the
Indians could rarely obtain satisfaction
for the most unprovoked
wrongs. In another letter he says that
Tecumtha 'has taken for
his model the celebrated Pontiac, and I
am persuaded he will
bear a favorable comparison in every
respect to that far-famed
warrior.'
"'The implicit obedience and
respect which the followers
of Tecumseh pay to him is really
astounding, and more than any
other circumstance bespeaks him one of
those uncommon geniuses
which springs up occasionally to produce
revolutions and over-
turn the established order of things. If
it were not for the vicinity
of the United States, he would perhaps
be the founder of an
empire that would rival in glory Mexico
or Peru. No difficulties
deter him. For four years he has been in
constant motion. You
see him today on the Wabash, and in a
short time hear of him
on the shores of Lake Erie or Michigan
or on the banks of the
Mississippi, and wherever he goes he
makes an impression fav-
orable to his purposes. He is now upon
the last round, to put
a finishing stroke to his work. I hope,
however, before his return,
that that part of the fabric which he
considered complete will
92
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
be demolished, and even its foundation
rooted up.' (Drake,
Tecumseh, 5.)"
At this same conference Tecumtha said
"in answer to a ques-
tion on the subject by the General, he
asserted his policy openly
and fully, that he was forming a grand
confederacy of all the
nations and tribes of Indians upon the
continent, for the purpose
of putting a stop to the encroachments
of the white people; and
in his argument in defense of his
course, said, that 'the policy
which the United States pursued of
purchasing in unceasing detail
their lands from the separate Indian
tribes, he viewed as a mighty
water, ready to overflow his people, and
that the confederacy
which he was forming among the tribes to
prevent any individual
tribe from selling without the consent
of the others, was the dam
he was erecting to resist this mighty
water.'"79
"On this trip Tecumseh went as far
as Florida and engaged
the Seminole for his confederacy. Then,
retracing his steps into
Alabama, he came to the ancient Creek
town of Tukabachi, on
the Tallapoosa, near the present site of
Montgomery. What
happened here is best told in the words
of McKenney and Hall,
who derived their information from
Indians at the same town
a few years later."
Tecumtha next visited the Creeks.80
"He explained his ob-
ject, delivered his war talk, presented
a bundle of sticks, gave
a piece of wampum and a war hatchet -
all which the Big War-
rior took - when Tecumtha, reading the
spirit and intentions
of the Big Warrior, looked him in the
eye, and, pointing his
finger toward his face, said: 'Your
blood is white. You have
taken my talk, and my sticks, and the
wampum, and the hatchet,
but you do not mean to fight. I know the
reason. You do not
believe the Great Spirit has sent me.
You shall know. I leave
Tuckhabatchee directly, and shall go
straight to Detroit. When
I arrive there, I will stamp the ground
with my foot and shake
down every house in Tuckhabatchee.' So
saying, he turned and
left the Big Warrior in utter amazement
at both his manner and
his threat, and pursued his journey. The
Indians were struck
no less with his conduct than was the
Big Warrior, and began
79A Chapter of the War of 1812, p. 111.
80 All this matter is taken from Mooney's
Ghost-Dance Religion.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 93
to dread the arrival of the day when the
threatened calamity
would befall them. They met often and
talked over this matter,
and counted the days carefully to know
the day when Tecumtha
would reach Detroit. The morning they
had fixed as the day
of his arrival at last came. A mighty
rumbling was heard - the
Indians all ran out of their houses -
the earth began to shake;
when at last, sure enough, every house
in Tuckhabatchee was
shaken down. The exclamation was in
every mouth, 'Tecumtha
has got to Detroit!' The effect was
electric. The message he
had delivered to the Big Warrior was
believed, and many of
the Indians took their rifles and
prepared for the war. The
reader will not be surprised to learn
that an earthquake had pro-
duced all this; but he will be,
doubtless, that it should happen
on the very same day on which Tecumtha
arrived at Detroit,
and in exact fulfillment of his threat.
It was the famous earth-
quake of New Madrid on the Mississippi.
(McKenney and
Hall, 1.)
"The fire thus kindled among the
Creek by Tecumtha was
fanned into a blaze by the British and
Spanish traders until the
opening of the war of 1812 gave the
opportunity for the terrible
outbreak known in history as the Creek
war.
"While Tecumtha was absent in the
south, affairs were rap-
idly approaching a crisis on the Wabash.
The border settlers
demanded the removal of the prophet's
followers, stating in their
memorial to the President that they were
'fully convinced that
the formation of this combination headed
by the Shawano prophet
was a British scheme, and that the
agents of that power were
constantly exciting the Indians to
hostility against the United
States.' Governor Harrison now sent
messages to the different
tribes earnestly warning them of the
consequences of a hostile
outbreak, but about the same time the
prophet himself announced
that he had now taken up the tomahawk
against the United
States, and would only lay it down with
his life, unless the
wrongs of the Indians were redressed. It
was known, also that
he was arousing his followers to a
feverish pitch of excitement
by the daily practice of mystic rites.
"Harrison now determined to break
up the prophet's camp.
Accordingly, at the head of about nine
hundred men, including
94 Ohio Arch.
and His. Society Publications.
about two hundred and fifty regulars, he
marched from Vin-
cennes on the 5th of November, 1811,
encamped within a few
miles of the prophet's town. The Indians
had fortified the place
with great care and labor. It was sacred
to them as the spot
where the rites of the new religion had
been so long enacted, and
by these rites they believed it had been
rendered impregnable to
the attacks of the white man. The next
day he approached still
nearer, and was met by messengers from
the town, who stated
that the prophet was anxious to avoid
hosilities and had already
sent a pacific message by several
chiefs, who had unfortunately
gone down on the other side of the river
and thus had failed to
find the general. A truce was
accordingly agreed on until the
next day, when terms of peace were to be
arranged between the
governor and the chiefs. The army
encamped on a spot pointed
out by the Indians, an elevated piece of
ground rising out of a
marshy prairie, within a mile of the
town. Although Harrison
did not believe the Indians would make a
night attack, yet as
a precaution he had his troops sleep on
their arms in order of
battle.
"At four o'clock in the morning of
the 7th Governor Harri-
son, according to his practice, had
arisen preparatory to the
calling up the troops, and was engaged,
while drawing on his
boots by the fire, in conversation with
General Wells, Colonel
Owen and Majors Taylor and Hurst. The
orderly drum had
been roused for the purpose of giving
the signal for the troops
to turn out, when the attack of the
Indians suddenly commenced
upon the left flank of the camp. The
whole army was instantly
on its feet, the camp fires were
extinguished, the governor
mounted his horse and proceeded to the
point of attack. Several
of the companies had taken their places
in the line within forty
seconds from the report of the first
gun, and the whole of the
troops were prepared for action in the
course of two minutes,
a fact as creditable to their own
activity and bravery, as to the
skill and bravery of their officers. The
battle soon became gen-
eral and was maintained on both sides
with signal and even des-
perate valor. The Indians advanced and
retreated by the aid of
a rattling noise, made with deer hoofs,
and persevered in their
treacherous attack with an apparent
determination to conquer
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 95
or die upon the spot. The battle raged
with unabated fury and
mutual slaughter until daylight, when a
gallant and successful
charge by our troops drove the enemy
into the swamp and put
an end to the conflict.
"Prior to the assault the prophet
had given assurances to
his followers that in the coming contest
the Great Spirit would
render the arms of the Americans
unavailing; that their bullets
would fall harmless at the feet of the
Indians; that the latter
should have light in abundance, while
the former would be in-
volved in thick darkness. Availing
himself of the privilege con-
ferred by his peculiar office, and
perhaps unwilling in his own
person to attest at once the rival
powers of a sham prophecy and
a real American bullet, he prudently
took a position on an ad-
jacent eminence, and when the action
began, he entered upon
the performance of certain mystic rites,
at the same time singing
a war song. In the course of the
engagement he was informed
that his men were falling. He told them
to fight on, it would
soon be as he had predicted. And then,
in louder and wilder
strains, his inspiring battle song was
heard commingling with
the sharp crack of the rifle and the
shrill war whoop of his brave
but deluded followers. (Drake, Tecumseh,
6.)
"Drake estimates the whole number
of Indians engaged in
the battle at between eight hundred and
one thousand, represent-
ing all the principal tribes of the
region, and puts the killed at
probably not less than fifty, with an
unusually large proportion
of wounded. Harrison's estimate would
seem to put the num-
bers much higher. The Americans lost
sixty killed or mortally
wounded, and one hundred and
eighty-eight in all. (Drake, Te-
cumseh, 7.) In their hurried retreat the
Indians left a large num-
ber of dead on the field. Believing on
the word of the prophet
that they would receive supernatural aid
from above, they fought
with desperate bravery, and their defeat
completely disheartened
them. They at once abandoned their town
and dispersed, each
to his own tribe. Tecumtha's great
fabric was indeed demol-
ished, and even its foundations rooted
up.
"The night before the engagement
the prophet had per-
formed some medicine rites by virtue of
which he had assured
his followers that half of the soldiers
were already dead and the
96 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
other half bereft of their senses, so
that the Indians would have
but little to do but rush into their
camp and finish them with the
hatchet. The result infuriated the
savages. They refused to
listen to the excuses which are always
ready to the tongue of the
unsuccessful medicine-man, denounced him
as a liar, and even
threatened him with death. Deserted by
all but a few of his own
tribe, warned away from several villages
toward which he turned
his steps, he found refuge at last among
a small band of Wyan-
dotte; but his influence and his sacred
prestige were gone for-
ever, and he lived out his remaining
days in the gloom of ob-
scurity."
"From the south Tecumtha returned
through Missouri,
Iowa, and Illinois, everywhere making
accessions to his cause,
but reached the Wabash at last, just a
few days after the battle,
only to find his followers scattered to
the four winds, his brother
a refugee and the great object of his
life - a confederation of all
the tribes - brought to nothing. His
grief and disappointment
were bitter. He reproached his brother
in unmeasured terms
for disobeying his instructions to
preserve peace in his absence,
and when the prophet attempted to reply,
it is said Tecumtha so
far forgot his dignity as to seize his
brother by the hair and give
him a violent shaking, threatening to
take his life.
"Early in 1812 Tecumtha sent
a message to Governor Har-
rison, informing him of his return from
the south, and stating
that he was now ready to make the
proposed visit to the Presi-
dent. To this Harrison replied, giving
his permission, but re-
fusing to allow any party to accompany
him. This stipulation
did not please the great leader, who had
been accustomed to the
attendance of a retinue of warriors
wherever he went. He de-
clined the terms, and thus terminated
his intercourse with the
governor. In June, 1812, he visited the
agent at Fort Wayne,
and there reiterated the justice of his
position in regard to the
ownership of the Indian lands, again
disclaimed having had any
intention of making war against the
United States, and re-
proached Harrison for marching against
his people in his ab-
sence. In return, the agent endeavored
to persuade him now
to join forces with the United States in
the approaching conflict
with England. "Tecumtha listened
with frigid indifference,
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 97
made a few general remarks in reply, and
then with a haughty
air left the council house and took his
departure for Malden,
where he joined the British standard.
(Drake, Tecumseh, 8.)
His subsequent career is a part of the
history of the war of 1812.
"Formal declaration of war against
Great Britain was made
by the United States on June 18, 1812.
Tecumtha was already
at Malden, the British headquarters on
the Canadian side, and
when invited by some friendly Indians to
attend a council near
Detroit in order to make arrangements
for remaining neutral,
he sent back word that he had taken
sides with the king, and
that his bones would bleach on the
Canadian shore before he
would recross the river to join in any
council of neutrality. A
few days later he led the Indians into
battle on the British side.
For his services at Maguaga he was soon
after regularly com-
missioned a brigadier-general in the
British army.
"We pass over the numerous events
of this war - Maguaga,
the Raisin, Fort Meigs, Perry's victory,
- as being outside the
scope of our narrative, and come to the
battle of the Thames,
October 5th, 1813, the last ever fought
by Tecumtha. After
Perry's decisive victory on the lake,
Proctor hastily prepared to
retreat into the interior, despite the
earnest protests of Tecumtha,
who charged him with cowardice, an
imputation which the British,
general did not dare to resent. The
retreat was begun with
Harrison in close pursuit, until the
British and Indians reached
a spot on the north bank of the Thames,
in the vicinity of the
present Chatham, Ontario. Here, finding
the ground favorable
for defense, Tecumtha resolved to
retreat no farther, and prac-
tically compelled Proctor to make a
stand. The Indian leader
had no hope of triumph in the issue. His
sun had gone down,
and he felt himself already standing in
the shadow of death. He
was done with life, and desired only to
close it, as became a
warrior, striking a last blow against
the hereditary enemy of his
race. When he had posted his men, he
called his chiefs about
him and calmly said, 'Brother warriors,
we are now about to
enter into an engagement from which I
shall never come out -
my body will remain on the field of
battle.' He then unbuckled
his sword, and, placing it in the hands
of one of them, said,
Vol. VII-7.
98
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
'When my son becomes a noted warrior and
able to wield a
sword, give this to him.' He then laid
aside his British military
dress and took his place in the line,
clothed only in the ordinary
deerskin hunting shirt. (Drake,
Tecumseh, 9.) When the bat-
tle began, his voice was heard
encouraging his men until he fell
under the cavalry charge of the
Americans, who had already
broken the ranks of the British regulars
and forced them to sur-
render. Deprived of their leader and
deserted by their white
allies, the Indians gave up the unequal
contest and fled from the
field. Tecumtha died in his forty-fourth
year.
"After the close of the war the
prophet returned from Canada
by permission of this government and
rejoined his tribe in Ohio,
with whom he removed to the west in
1827. (Schoolcraft, Ind.
Tribes, 2.) Catlin, who met and talked with
him in 1832, thus
speaks of him:
"'This, no doubt, has been a very
shrewd and influential
man, but circumstances have destroyed
him, as they have many
other great men before him, and he now
lives respected, but
silent and melancholy in his tribe. I
conversed with him a great
deal about his brother Tecumseh, of whom
he spoke frankly,
and seemingly with great pleasure; but
of himself and his own
great schemes he would say nothing. He
told me that Tecum-
seh's plans were to embody all the
Indian tribes in a grand con-
federacy, from the province of Mexico to
the Great Lakes, to
unite their forces in an army that would
be able to meet and
drive back the white people, who were
continually advancing
on the Indian tribes and forcing them
from their lands toward
the Rocky mountains; that Tecumseh was a
great general, and
that nothing but his premature death
defeated his plan.
(Catlin, 2.)'"
It seems that Red Jacket of the Six
Nations was opposed
to the war. He said in a letter to the
Secretary of War that the
Seneca chiefs had tried "to
dissuade Tecumtha from a farther
prosecution of his designs."81
Their peaceful counsels were of
no avail.
81 So-go-ye-wat-ha, or Red Jacket. Wm.
L. Stone, Albany, 1866,
p. 300.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 99
Some years before this (1798) he had
gone to Ohio upon
such a mission.
"The hostile Indians were met in
council by Red Jacket and
his associates at the Auglaize on the
Miami river of Lake Erie,
but were found in a most implacable
humor.82 In his anxiety
for a specification the President had
sent other messengers of
peace to traverse the Wabash country,
among whom were the
Rev. Mr. Heckewelder, Gen. Rufus Putnam,
Col. Hardin, Maj.
Truman and another officer named
Freeman. The last men-
tioned three of these messengers had
been intercepted and mur-
dered. The hostile council was large and
no white man save
Simon Girty was admitted. The Shawnees
were the only speak-
ers on behalf of the hostile chiefs, and
Red Jacket alone was al-
lowed to open his lips on behalf of the
pacificators." Hecke-
welder says that Girty was dressed as an
Indian and had a long
quill run through his nose.
In 1806 a council was held at
Springfield. Tarfee, the
Crane, was principal chief of the
Wyandots at that time and
had been a signer to the Greenville
treaty. He commenced the
ceremony, all the aborigines being
seated in a semi-circle in
front of the agent's stand.
"All was apparently going on
satisfactorily, when Tecumtha
arose and commenced his address; he
continued his oration for
three hours; commencing with the first
aggressions of the white
men, and bringing down his traditional
history from the first
settlement at Plymouth and Jamestown to
his own time. The
effect of his bitter, burning words of
eloquence was so great on
his companions, that the whole three
hundred could hardly re-
frain from springing from their seats.
Their eyes flashed, and
even the most aged, many of whom were
smoking, evinced the
greatest excitement. The orator appeared
in all the power of a
fiery and impassioned speaker and actor.
"At the conclusion of his address,
Tecumtha stood for a
moment, turned his back upon the agent's
stand, and walking to
82 Ibid, p. 198.
83 History of the War of 1812. Colonel
W. S. Hatch, Cincinnati,
1872. P. 99.
100
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the circle opposite, took his seat among
the young braves, glanc-
ing with lofty pride upon the
agents."
The interpreter had honor enough to
confess that he could
not properly translate the address; it
was too grand and lofty and
beyond his full understanding.
There is a tradition - and I only give
it as such, although
it is characteristic of the man - that
at the Springfield meeting
the agents were seated upon a platform,
and wishing to show
Tecumtha respect, they invited him at
the conclusion of his
speech, to sit with them. He understood
English fairly, and
seeing an opportunity to bring his
remarks to a dramatic close,
he strode toward his young men. Having
reached the circle,
he whirled about, and pointing upward,
exclaimed, "The sun is
my father", and then downward,
"the Earth is my mother; upon
her bosom will I repose," and
seated himself among his warriors.
August 16th, 1812, Detroit was
surrendered by Gen. Hull to
Gen. Brook. Tecumtha was present with
six hundred men to
cooperate with the British in case of
battle being offered. On
the 9th he had been compelled to retreat
after a sharp action
with a superior force. The Americans
lost sixty-eight men, the
Indians escaped with but few casualties.
He was now chiefly
about Malta or in the camps.
When Harrison advanced to Fort Meigs and
fortified him-
self, Tecumtha sent his famous
challenge. He had "Eight hun-
dred of the most valiant of whom were
well mounted; the prin-
cipal officers armed with carbine
rifles, pistols, tomahawk and
knife, at whose head he, with ever
attending suit of young braves,
the sons of the principal warriors, rode
up the line of the
Maumee, challenging General Harrison to
come out of Fort
Meigs and give him battle.84
'GENERAL HARRISON:
I have with me eight hundred braves. You
have an equal
number in your hiding place. Come out
with them and give me
battle; you talk like a brave when we
met at Vincennes, and I
respected you; but now you hide behind
logs and in the earth
like a ground hog. Give me an answer.
TECUMTHA.'"
84 Hatch, p. 115.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 101
When General Harrison was
besieged in Fort Meigs, Gen-
eral Clay Greene advanced to his support
with about eight hun-
dred men. Supposing that the enemy had
fled, and seeing a few
Indians ahead of them, they charged with
more impetuosity than
caution. "This was a strategem of
Tecumtha's; his Indians
appeared frightened, ran on before the
Kentucky volunteers;
the road leading through a thick wood, *
* * keeping up a
scattering fire, so as to lead on their
enemy.85
"Tecumseh, in this manner, drew the
whole regiment along
between two columns or files of his
warriors, posted on each
side of the road, on the ground, behind
trees and logs. When
all were within his ambuscade, on the
instant that his signal was
given, the columns closed on Dudley's
regiment; he was slain;
all except about one hundred and fifty
men were prisoners. Te-
cumtha turned them over to General
Proctor. That individual
permitted the more worthless element
among the savages to
plunder and shoot down a number of them.
Hearing of this,
Tecumtha dashed at full speed down the
road with his sword
drawn, and riding up to these
miscreants, with the appearance
of the greatest rage, struck them over
the heads and shoulders,
with the flat of his sword, exclaiming,
'are there no men here?'
The English officer informing me of this
incident said, 'he was
the maddest looking man I ever saw, his
eyes shot fire, he was
terrible.'"
In 1813 when Harrison entered Canada for
the second time,
Tecumtha called upon Proctor. He had a
scheme which might
have been successful if attempted. At
Amherstburg, where the
Harrison forces would land, was an
extensive forest fronting a
high bank and deep water. It was an
admirable place for an
Indian ambuscade. If the British and
Indians were driven from
this position they could take another
farther along the Thames.
"These views, however correct and
sound, met with no re-
sponse from General Proctor.86 He,
on the contrary, ordered
a rapid flight. Tecumtha rose abruptly
to his feet, dashed his
sword violently upon the table, and in a
great rage denounced
85 Hatch, p. 145.
86 Hatch, p. 119.
102
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Protor as a coward, 'a miserable old
squaw', turned upon his
heel and left the room.
"Harrison appreciated the soundness
of these views as well
as the talent and judgment of Tecumtha,
if Proctor did not. In
his communication to the governor of
Ohio, dated at Detroit,
October 11th, 1813, six days after the
battle of the Thames, he
says:
"'Nothing but infatuation could
have governed General
Proctor's conduct. The day that I landed
below Malden, he had
at his disposal upwards of three
thousand Indians. The Indians
were extremely desirous of fighting us
at Malden. I enclose
you
Tecumtha's communication or speech to Proctor. It is at
once the evidence of the talents of the
former, and the great
defect of them in the latter.'"
I have quoted Professor Mooney on the
battle of the
Thames and it is not necessary to add
much more. The great
Shawanoe knew he must depend upon his
own warriors. Proc-
tor surrendered early in the engagement.
Tecumtha and his
men realized the inevitable, yet they
hardened their hearts and
withstood the shock. But the Americans
were too strong and
so perished the flower of the Shawano
nation. They never again
met the whites in battle.
Nothing is absolutely known regarding
Tecumtha's death
beyond the fact that he fell. Claims
that this or that officer en-
gaged him in single combat are absurd
and have no foundation
in history.
Colonel Richard M. Johnson did not kill Tecumtha
in the
battle of the Thames. The warrior whom
he slew by discharg-
ing his pistol, was too large, and too
tall, and too dark; more-
over, he had black eyes.
"There is one thing certain, and
that is, if Tecumtha had
been shot down, whether dead or alive,
his body would have
been borne from the field by his devoted
warriors: nothing
would have prevented them.87 The
entire Indian force would
have concentrated at the spot if
necessary, and hundreds been
slain before they would have permitted
their great and beloved
leader to have fallen into the hands of
his enemies, dead or alive."
87 Hatch, p. 153.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 103
Hatch once asked some of the warriors
who had paid Cin-
cinnati a visit some years after the
death of Tecumtha:
"What has become of Tecumtha?"
Raising their right hand
to heaven, with an expression of the
deepest sorrow, "Gone."
"Did you see him on the day of the
battle?" "Yes."
"Just as the Americans came in
sight, he with his young
braves passed rapidly up and down the
line, spoke to every old
warrior; saw every one; said, 'Be brave;
stand firm; shoot
certain.'"
"Did you hear after the battle that
he was killed or badly
wounded?" No answer. * * * "No
Indian that I have met
has admitted the fact; and no white man
that I have seen has
with certainty known." (That
Tecumtha fell here.)
"The personal appearance of this
remarkable man was un-
commonly fine.88 His height was about
five feet nine inches,
judging him by his own height, when
standing close to him, and
corroborated by the late Col. John
Johnson, for many years
Indian agent at Piqua. His face, oval
rather than angular, his
nose handsome and straight, his mouth
beautifully formed like
that of Napoleon I, as represented in
his portraits; his eyes clear
transparent hazel, with a mild, pleasant
expression when in re-
pose, or in conversation; but when
excited in his orations, or by
the enthusiasm of conflict, or when in
anger, they appeared like
balls of fire: his teeth beautifully
white, and his complexion more
of a light brown or tan than red; his
whole tribe as well as their
kindred, the Ottoways, had light
complexions; his hands and
arms were finely formed; his limbs
straight; he always stood
very erect, and walked with a brisk,
elastic, vigorous step; in-
variably dressed in Indian tanned
buckskin; a perfectly well fit-
ting hunting frock descending to the
knee, was over his under
clothes of the same material; the usual
paint and finish of leather
fringe about the neck; cape, edges of
the front opening, and
bottom of the frock; a belt of the same
material, in which were
his side-arms - an elegant silver
mounted tomahawk, and knife
in a strong leather case, short
pantaloons, connected with neatly
fitting leggins and moccasins, with a
mantle of the same material
thrown over his left shoulder, used as a
blanket in camp, and as
88 Hatch. p. 113.
104 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
a protection in storms. Such was his
dress, when I last saw him,
on the 17th of August on the streets of
Detroit."
Tecumtha was the last of a series of
remarkable native
Ohioans to whom I have referred in this
history, and his death
brings my story nearly to its close. Of
his humanity, there can
be no question, and he therefore rises
above all the other abor-
igines of distinction.
Hatch says that he met many warriors at
Greenville, July
22. 1814,
during the formation of the second treaty. Regarding
Tecumtha's claim to honorable warfare,
and that he never tor-
tured prisoners; "they invariably
testified to the correctness of
this claim on his part, and says it 'was
true, they knew it to be
true.'"
Of his ability as an orator there are a
number of examples
which cannot be produced here in a
condensed history. I have
given one or two bits, and here is
another related by Col. Hatch.
EXTRACT OF A SPEECH MADE BY LIEUT.
GEN. PROVOST.
"Father, listen! The Americans are
taking our lands from
us every day. They have no hearts,
father; they have no pity
for us; they want to drive us beyond the
setting sun."
And now, what of the man himself? As
time passes and we
view history in the light of an age free
from prejudices, we can
safely place Tecumtha above all the
other actors in that drama.
I am persuaded that none of them
approached him in courage
and natural ability. We must remember
that Tecumtha was
reared among savages. That he should
possess intelligence, hu-
manity and all the qualities of a great
leader and exhibit fine
traits of character is surprising. We
naturally expect such in
the nature of those who have dwelt under
the protection and cul-
ture of civilization. In view of his
disadvantages and that he
successfully coped with them, elevating
himself among the great
men of his time irrespective of color,
he is deserving of highest
honor.
Tecumtha died as he lived - facing the
foe. A more heroic,
dauntless and determined character is
not to be found on the
pages of history in any land or of any
time. He had but a few
hundred men; thousands were hurled
against him. He could
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 105
never hope for success, but he hesitated
not. He came of a
noble tribe, one "whose business
was war", and it reverenced
him. During these troublesome times he
was as a rock jutting
out of the sea against which the waves
beat and raged in vain.
He was a Colossus, towering over other
men, representing all
that was highest and best in the native
Americans. His name is
assured undying fame and his deeds will
live as long as there is
a history of America.
In 1819 John Johnston was
Indian agent at Piqua, and he
gave Caleb Atwater a long account of the
tribes under his care.
He had charge of the Delawares,
Shawanoes, Senecas and Otta-
was. The Delawares were bitterly opposed
to the whites be-
cause they had broken so many treaties.
They wanted no white
neighbors and none of their religion,
but desired to move west
of the Mississippi, having sold their
lands for that purpose.
The Wyandots were stirred up about a
prospective war
with the United States. There was a
Methodist missionary
among them and he was doing much good.
Agent Johnston reports the following
Indians, October,
1819:
Shawanoes, two hundred and sixty-five
men, two hundred
and fifty-six women, two hundred and
seventy-nine children.
Wapakoneta.
Wyandots, one hundred and sixty-five
men, one hundred
and ninety-three women, one hundred and
eigthy-six children.
Upper Sandusky.
Ottawas, eighty-five men, eighty-eight
women, fifty-four chil-
dren. Auglaize.
Senecas, one hundred and ninety-five
men, one hundred and
eighty-seven women, one hundred and
sixty-nine children. Mi-
ami River.
Mohawks, sixteen men, nineteen women,
twenty-two chil-
dren. Upper Sandusky.
Black Hoof was the Shawanoe chief at
Piqua.89 These peo-
ple had a saw and grist mill and were
fairly industrious. They
were very brave and loved to talk of
valor in war. They were
89 Transactions of the American
Antiquarian Society: Worcester,
Mass., 1820. Caleb Atwater.
106 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
bitterly opposed to Christianity. He
thought the Senecas more
like whites than others of his wards. He
said the Shawanoes
had four tribes:
"1. The Piqua Tribe. In ancient times they had a large
fire, which being burned down, a great
puffing and blowing was
heard in the ashes; they looked and,
behold, a man stood up
from the ashes: hence the name Piqua - a
man coming out of
the ashes or made of ashes.
"2. The Mequachake Tribe, which
signifies a fat man filled
- a man made perfect, so that nothing is
wanting.
"3. The Kiskapocoke Tribe. The
celebrated prophet Els-
quataway and Tecumseh his brother
belonged to this tribe. They
were always inclined to war and gave
much trouble to the na-
tion. They finally separated and took up
their residence at
Greenville, this state, in 1806, since
which time their history is
generally known. In the late war they
lost twenty-two warriors
in battle and are quite reduced in
numbers. They have now
removed their former place of residence
at Tippecanoe.
"4. The Chillicothe Tribe.
Chillicothe has no definite
meaning - it is a place of
residence."
Among them the usual Algonkin custom of
initiating the
youths is observed. They also have war
medicine which is al-
ways taken with them when going to war.
In marriage they
consult brothers and uncles on the
maternal side. Fathers have
no voice. Divorces may be obtained at
the wish of either.
The Shawanoe's green corn dance in
August lasted four to
twelve days and was such as is observed
among all Algonkins.
"The Indians attended from all
quarters with their families,
their tents and provisions, camping
around the council or wor-
shipping house.90 The animals killed for the sacrifice are
cleaned, the head, horns and entrails
are suspended on a large
white pole with a forked top, which
extends over the roof of the
house. The women having prepared the new
corn and pro-
visions for the feast, the men first
take some of the new corn,
rub it between their hands then on their
faces and breasts and
they feast, the great chief having first
addressed the crowd,
thanking the Almighty for the return of the season and giving
90 Atwater. Transactions, etc., p. 286.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 107
such moral instruction to the people as
may be proper from the
time. On these occasions the Indians are
dressed in their best
manner and the whole nation attends,
from the greatest to the
smallest. The quantity of provisions
collected is immense, every
one bringing in proportion to his
ability. The whole is cast
into one pile and distributed during the
continuance of the feast
among the multitude by leaders appointed
for the purpose. In
former times the festival was held in
the highest veneration and
was a general amnesty which not only
absolved the Indians from
all punishments for crimes, murder only
excepted, but seemed
to bury guilt itself in oblivion. There
are no people more fre-
quent or fervent in their
acknowledgements of gratitude to God.
Their belief in Him is universal, and
their confidence so strong
that it is quite astonishing."
These tribes of Ohio had not only much
corn, etc., but they
also depended largely upon the chase.
They hesitated about
taking the field unless they had large
quantities of corn "cached"
in their villages. Some of them had
extensive orchards and
Wayne cut down several thousand peach
and apple trees during
one of his expeditions.
Some idea of the amount of corn raised
by these people can
be had from the following statement:
"In 1780, two hundred
acres of corn were destroyed at Piqua.
In 1790,
20,000 bushels
were burned on the headwaters of the
Miami river.
"The margins of these rivers (the
Miamis of the lakes and
the Auglaize) appear like one continuous
village for a number
of miles both above and below this
place, nor have I ever before
beheld such immense fields of corn in
any part of America from
Canada to Florida."91
Regarding one character I must add a few
more words.
Simon Girty, of whom much mention has
been made, moved
to Canada at the time of Wayne's
expedition, and located at
Malden, Ontario. He died February 18,
1818. He was in a
number of engagements in which Tecumtha
was either com-
manding officer or a subordinate, but it
does not appear that
the two had any relations with each
other.
91 General Wayne, writing from Grand
Glaize in 1794. Our Indian
Wards, p. 84.
108 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
He was five feet nine inches in height
and very active. Dur-
ing his later years he became much
dissipated, and it is said,
that upon his death-bed he was conscious
of the great wrongs
which he had done his own race.
From Piqua, Sandusky and other
reservations the remnants
of our Ohio Indians were moved to Indian
Territory, or beyond
the Mississippi. But a few score, and
these are tainted with
white or negro blood, remain today. They
do not present a
pleasing spectacle, for they have
imbibed all the vices and none
of the virtues of civilization. I shall
not speak of them further.
What have we remaining as evidence of
these once powerful
tribes? Nothing! Only a few graves and
village-sites here and
there, or scattered monuments, attest
their presence. In the
names of our rivers, creeks and
townships we have preserved the
fact that the Shawanoes, Delawares,
Wyandots, etc., were once
here. But in the volumes on Ohio Valley
history is our perma-
nent record. It is a sad one; a record
written in blood. Re-
viewed after the passing of several
generations, we can today
see that many of the expeditions were
totally unnecessary and
barren of results; that much of the
Indian war could have been
avoided. Had our adventurers, hunters
and land-grabbers been
suppressed; treaties and boundaries once
made respected, and
such men as Heckewelder and Zeisberger
placed in charge of
all the Ohio tribes and given unlimited
authority, backed by the
powers at Pittsburg or by the general
government. I doubt not
but that there would have been few wars
and far less ravaging
of the frontiers.
Statistics are necessarily dry, but they
furnish much and
valuable information in few words.
Out of curiosity to ascertain the
approximate number of
both whites and Indians killed within
Ohio, or by war parties
sent out from Ohio against the frontiers
of Pennsylvania, Vir-
ginia and Kentucky, from the earliest times
down through the
war of 1812, and including the
last settler killed by an Indian
in northern Ohio in 1825, I occupied
most of the winter of
1893-'94 in computing from military
records, histories, etc., and
obtained this result: Whites killed by
Indians, 12,002; Indians
killed by whites, 7,837.
The Indian Tribes of Ohio. 109
The books of accounts, covering
transactions through more
than two hundred years, are closed. The
ledgers are posted,
and the final balance sheet is drawn
off. The totals do not rep-
resent dollars and cents, but pain and
suffering and blood. The
price demanded might have been less, but
because of broken
treaties, of fraud, of invasion, of
crime and of hard dealings and
impositions, it became more.
Our poor natives, lacking as they did
the advantages pos-
sessed by even the primitive settlers
and pioneers, have left a
record in war and in statescraft of
which a more powerful nation
might well be proud. Perhaps history
might be challenged to
produce a character, elevated from more
than mere obscurity -
from real savagery-who is the equal of
that magnificent man,
Tecumtha. And with Tecumtha died all
that was best of the
race of Ohio Indians. Truly his sun set
in a blaze of glory!