TARHE-THE CRANE
EMIL SCHLUP, UPPER SANDUSKY.
Probably no other Indian chieftain was
ever more admired
and loved by his own race or by the
outside world. He was
either a true friend or a true enemy.
Born near Detroit, Michi-
gan, in 1742, he lived to see a
wonderful change in the great
Northwest. Being born of humble
parentage, through his brav-
ery and perseverence, he rose to be the
grand sachem of the Wy-
andot nation. This position he held
until the time of his death,
when he was succeeded by Duonquot. Born
of the Porcupine
clan of the Wyandots and early
manifesting a warlike spirit, and
was engaged in nearly all the battles
against the Americans until
the disastrous battle of Fallen Timbers,
in 1794. Tarhe saw that
there was no use opposing the American
arms, or trying to pre-
vent them planting corn north of the
Ohio river. At that disas-
trous battle, thirteen chiefs fell and
among the number was Tarhe,
who was badly wounded in the arm. The
American generally
believed that the dead Indian was the
best Indian, but Tarhe sadly
saw his ranks depleted, and at once
began to sue for peace. Gen-
eral Wayne had severely chastised the
Indians, and forever broke
their power in Ohio. Accordingly, on
January 24, 1795, the
principal chiefs of the Wyandots,
Delawares, Chippewas, Otto-
was, Sacs, Pottowattomies, Miamis, and
Shawnees met. The
preliminary treaty with General Wayne at
Greenville, Ohio, in
which there was an armistice, was the
forerunner of the celebrated
treaty which was concluded at the same
place on August 3, 1795.
A great deal of opposition was
manifested to this treaty by the
more warlike and turbulent chiefs, as
this would cut off their
forays on the border settlements.
Chief Tarhe always lived true to the
treaty obligations which
he so earnestly labored to bring about.
When Tecumseh sought
a great Indian uprising, Tarhe opposed
it, and awakened quite
an enmity among the warlike of his own
tribe, who afterward
(132)
Tarhe-The Crane. 133 withdrew from the main body of the Wyandots and moved to Canada. The Rev. James B. Finley had every confidence in Tarhe, as evidenced in 1800, when returning from taking a drove |
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of cattle to the Detroit mar- ket, he asked Tarhe for a night's lodging at Lower San- dusky, where the Wyandot chief then lived, and intrusted him with quite a sum of money from the sale of cattle, and the next morning every cent was forthcoming. From 1808 until the War of 1812, Tarhe steadily op- posed Tecumseh's treacherous war policy, which greatly en- dangered Tarhe's life, and it is claimed he came near meet- ing the same fate that Leather |
Lips met on June 1, 1810. He even went so far as to offer his services with fifty other chiefs and warriors to General Harrison in prosecuting the war against Tecumseh and the Eng- lish under General Proctor. He was actively engaged in the battle on the Thames. So earnest was he in the success of the American cause, so sincere did he keep all treaty obligations, that General Harrison in after years, in comparing him with other chiefs, was constrained to call him "The most noble Roman of them all." Tarhe never drank strong drinks of any kind, nor used to- bacco in any form. Fighting at the head of his warriors in Har- rison's campaign in Canada, at the age of seventy-two years, is something out of the ordinary. Being tall and slender, he was nicknamed "The Crane." On his retiring from the second war for Independence, he again took up his abode in his favorite town -the spot is still called "Crane Town," about four and one- half miles northeast from Upper Sandusky, on the east bank of the Crane run, which empties into the Sandusky river. Here surrounded by a dense forest, he spent his old age in a log cabin, |
134 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
fourteen by eighteen feet. Just south of
the old cabin site are a
number of old apple trees, likely of the
Johnny Appleseed origin-
the fruit being small and hard; a short
distance south of the cabin
is the old gauntlet ground, oblong and
about three hundred yards
long; to the westward from the village
site, is a clearing of about
ten acres, still known as the Indian
field, and still surrounded by a
dense forest. Here Tarhe died in his log
cabin home, in Novem-
ber, 1818. In 1850, John Smith, then
owner of the land, had most
all of the cabin taken down for
fire-wood. At that time a small
black walnut twig, about the thickness
of a man's thumb, was
growing in the northwest corner of the
cabin, and is quite a tree
at the present writing -a
living and growing monument to the
memory of the great and good Wyandot
chief.
Aunt Sally Frost was Tarhe's wife when
he died. To them
one child was born, an idiotic son who
died at the age of twenty-
five years. Sally had been a captive
from one of the border settle-
ments, and refused to return to her
people. After the death and
burial of Tarhe, the principal part of
Crane Town was moved to
Upper Sandusky, the center of the
Wyandot reservation twelve
miles square. Herethe government at
Washington paid them an
annuity of ten dollars per capita until
the reservation reverted
back to the government in March, 1842.
Cabin sites are plainly discernable in
the old historic town,
which was usually a half-way place
between Fort Pitt and De-
troit. Here in the early days Indian
parties found a resting place
when on their murderous missions to the
border settlements.
This was one of the
"troublesome" Indian towns on the Sandusky
river that the ill-fated Col. Wm.
Crawford was directed against
in the Spring of 1782. Traces of the old
Indian trail may be
seen meandering southward through the
forest, where the war-
whoop was frequently given and the
bloody scalping knife drawn
over many defenseless prisoners. The
springs, just westward
from the town site, are cattle tramped,
but still bubble forth a
small quantity of water, but likely not
nearly so active as when
they furnished the necessary water for
the nations of the forest
a century and more ago.
On June 11, 1902, Mr. E. O.
Randall, the able and efficient
Secretary of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society,
Tarhe- The Crane. 135
in company with the writer, gave the
place a visit. Numerous
locusts were chirping away at their
familiar songs, quite loud
enough to drown out the voices of the
intruders.
Jonathan Pointer, who had been a colored
captive among the
Wyandots and who was a fellow soldier
with Tarhe in the Can-
adian campaign under General Harrison,
returned with that cele-
brated chieftain to his home and stayed
with him until the time
of Tarhe's death, always claiming that
he assisted in the burial
of Tarhe on the John Smith farm, about a
half mile southeast
from his cabin home. Logs were dragged
over the grave to keep
the wild animals from disinterring the
body. Jonathan Pointer
was engaged as interpreter for the early
missionaries among the
Wyandots; he died in 1857. No memorial
marks Tarhe's resting
place. Red Jacket, Keokuk, Leather Lips,
and other chieftains
have received monumental consideration
from American civiliza-
tion; but Tarhe, the one whose influence
and activity helped to
wrest the great Northwest from the
British and the Indians,
has apparently been forgotten. And how
long shall it be so?
Colonel John Johnson, who for nearly
half a century acted
Indian agent of the various tribes of
Ohio and who made the last
Indian treaty that removed the Wyandots
beyond the Mississippi,
was present at the great Indian council
summoned at the death
and for burial of Tarhe. The exact spot
where the council house
stood is not known, but a mile and a
half north from Crane town
site are a number of springs bubbling
forth clear water which form
Pointer's run, that empties into the
Sandusky river. They are
still called the Council Springs and the
bark council house was
likely in this vicinity. Colonel
Johnson, in his "Recollections,"
gives the following account of the
proceedings:
"On the death of the great chief of
the Wyandots, I was invited
to attend a general council of all the
tribes of Ohio, the Delawares of
Indiana, the Senecas of New York, at
Upper Sandusky. I found on arriv-
ing at the place a very large
attendance. Among the chieftains was the
noted leader and orator Red Jacket from
Buffalo. The first business
done was the speaker of the nation
delivering an oration on the character
of the deceased chief. Then followed
what might be called a monody,
or ceremony, of mourning or lamentation.
Thus seats were arranged
from end to end of a large council
house, about six feet apart, the
head men and the aged took their seats
facing each other, stooping down,
136 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
their heads almost touching. In that
position they remained for several
hours. Deep and long continued groans
would commence at one end of
the row of mourners, and so pass around
until all had responded, and
these repeated at intervals of a few
minutes. The Indians were all
washed, and had no paint or decorations
of any kind upon their persons,
their countenances and general
deportment denoting the deepest mourn-
ing. I had never witnessed anything of
the kind before, and was told
that this ceremony was not performed but
on the decease of some great
man. After the period of mourning and
lamentation was over, the In-
dians proceeded to business. There were
present the Wyandots, Shaw-
nees, Delawares, Senecas, Ottawas and
Mohawks. Their business was
entirely confined to their own affairs,
and the main topics related to
their lands, and the claims of the
respective tribes. It was evident,
in the course of the discussion, that
the presence of myself and people
(there were some white men with me) was
not acceptable to some of
the parties, and allusions were made so
direct to myself that I was
constrained to notice them, by saying
that I came there as a guest of
the Wyandots, by their special
invitation; that as the Agent of the
United States, I had a right to be there
as anywhere else in the Indian
country; and that if any insult was
offered to myself or my people,
it would be resented and punished. Red
Jacket was the principal speaker,
and was intemperate and personal in his
remarks. Accusations, pro and
con, were made by the different parties,
accusing each other of being
foremost in selling land to the United
States. The Shawnees were par-
ticularly marked out as more guilty than
any other; that they were
the last coming into the Ohio country
and although they had no right
but by the permission of the other
tribes, they were always the foremost
in selling lands. This brought the
Shawnees out, who retorted through
head chief, the Black Hoof, on the
Senecas and Wyandots with pointed
severity. The discussion was long
continued, calling out some of the
ablest speakers, and was distinguished
for ability, cutting sarcasm and
research, going far back into the
history of the natives, their wars, alli-
ances, negotiations, migrations,
etc. I had attended many councils,
treaties, and gatherings of the Indians,
but never in my life did I witness
such an outpouring of native oratory and
eloquence, of severe rebuke,
taunting national and personal
reproaches. The council broke up later in
great confusion and in the worst
possible feeling. A circumstance
occurred toward the close which more
than anything else exhibited
the bad feeling prevailing. In handing
round the wampum belt, the
emblem of amity, peace and good will,
when presented to one of the
chiefs, he would not touch it with his
fingers, but passed it on a stick
to a person next to him. A greater
indignity, agreeable to Indian eti-
quette could not be offered.
The next day appeared to be one of
unusual anxiety and despondence
among the Indians. They could be seen in
groups everywhere near the
council house in deep consultation. They
had acted foolishly-were
Tarhe -The Crane. 137 sorry -but the difficulty was, who would present the olive branch. The council convened very late, and was very full; silence prevailed for a long time; at last the aged chieftain of the Shawnees, the Black Hoof, rose- a man of great influence and a celebrated warrior. He told the assembly that they had acted like children, and not men yesterday; that |
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138 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. he and his people were sorry for the words that had been spoken, and which had done so much harm; that he came into the council by the unanimous desire of his people, to recall those foolish words, and did there take them back-handing round strings of wampum, which passed around and were received by all with the greatest satisfaction. Several of the principal chiefs delivered speeches to the same effect, handing round wampum in turn, and in this manner the whole difficulty of the preceding day was settled, and to all appearances forgotten. The In- dians are very civil and courteous to each other and it is a rare thing to see their assemblies disturbed by unwise or ill-timed remarks. I never witnessed it except upon the occasion here alluded to, and it is more than probable that the presence of myself and other white men con- tributed towards the unpleasant ocurrence. I could not help but admire the genuine philosophy and good sense displayed by men whom we call savages, in the transaction of their public business, and how much we might profit in the halls of our Legislatures, by occasionally taking for our example the proceedings of the great Indian council at Upper San- dusky.39 |
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