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198 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. CHAPTER III. THE INDIANS. THE origin of the American Indian is a subject of deep interest to the ethnologist, even as it is one of instruction and entertainment to the general reader. The era of their establishment as a distinct and insulated people must be credited to a period immediately subsequent to the division of the Asiatic people and the origin of languages. No doubt whatever can exist when the American Indians are regarded as of Asiatic origin. They are descended directly from the survivors of that people who, on being driven from their fair possessions, retired to the wilderness in sorrow, reared their children under the saddening influences of their unquenchable griefs, and, dying, bequeathed them only the habits of the wild, cloud-roofed homes of their exile. From that time forward the American Indian, as we know him, has existed. THE SHAWANOES OR SHAWNEES. The early history of the Chaouanons (Shawano, changed to Shawanoes, Shawanee and ultimately to Shawnee), belongs to that of the great Algonquin family of the St. Lawrence country. The home of this division of the tribe, within the historic period, was the Valley of the Cumberland. Here they lived in savage grandeur until the Iroquois took the war path in 1655, when they were called upon to defehd their hunting grounds. From this time to 1672 a relentless war was waged which resulted in their defeat and expulsion. They fled southward, some locating in the Carolinas, others at the head of the Mobile River in Florida, while others wandered into New Spain. After a few years, however, the remnants of the tribe were collected, and all joined in the enterprise of repossessing their ancient hunting grounds. In 1682 a peace was concluded between the Iroquois and Shawnees, and the same year the former entrusted the latter tribe with the care of the Treaty-parchment on which their agreement with William Penn was recorded. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 199 How well the Shawnees observed this trust is shown by the fact that during the year 1715 Opessah, a Shawnee chief, presented the original treaty to a great council held at Philadelphia. After the council of reconciliation was held, the chiefs of this itinerant tribe gave some proof of their readiness to occupy some one district, rather than continue their travels and encroachments. They looked westward and great numbers flocked into the country of the Miamies and Wyandots, so that during Father Marquette's travels in the Lower Ohio region, they appeared so numerous that he entered in his journal- * * * * in such numbers that they appear as many as twenty-three villages in one district, and fifteen in another, lying quite near each other. Again during La Salle's explorations, it is related that he was accompanied by thirty Chaonanons from the Ouibach country. The treaty between William Penn and the Indians made in 1682, was the first treaty with white people in which the Shawnees participated. From that time up to 1832 the Quakers took a lively interest in this tribe. In 1706 one Thomas Chalkley was sent out by the London Society of Friends to report on the habits, customs and wants of those Indians. In his report he speaks very highly of the savages, and does not forget to point out the position of their women. He states of one of their tribal councils: "In this council was a woman who took part in the deliberations of the council, as well as upon all important occasions. On the interpreter being questioned why they permitted a woman to take so responsible a part in their council, he replied that some women were wiser than some men, and that they had not done anything for years without the counsel of this grave woman, who spoke much in this council." During the French and British wars and the wars for independence, the Quaker mission among the Shawnees did not exist. After the peace of 1814, however, the Society of Friends renewed their friendship with those Indians, established a school, a saw-mill, a flour-mill and house of worship among them at Wapakonetta, with the zealous Henry Harvey in charge, which was continued down to the period of the Indian exodus. An Irish lady also presented a sum of $500 to be expended in furthering the interests of the Shawnees here by Col. Johnson. In the following chronological record the story of the Shawnees is 200 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. told. In 1701 the conference between Wapatha, representing the Indians, and Penn, representing the whites, was held at Philadelphia. No treaty was under consideration. It was rather a friendly meeting, called under peculiar circumstances, each to pledge his party to carry out the principles of peace and friendship. In 1715 the Chief Opessah represented this tribe at Philadelphia in the inter-tribal council. He was, undoubtedly, the first chief of the Shawnees inhabiting northwestern Ohio, where, by this time, they pretended to have a title to some of the Wyandot and Miami hunting grounds. Through his diplomacy his nation attained strength and an aggressive name, which rendered the tribe remarkable among the Western savages. The Shawnees encroached not only upon the hunting grounds, but also upon the personal rights of the Miamies and Wyandots. Indeed, wherever the impudent Shawnee found entrance, there he made his home. Dr. George W. Hill, in his dealings with the history of this tribe, says: "The depredations of the Shawnees upon the settlements in Virginia caused Gov. Dunmore in 1774 to send an army for the invasion of the Indian tribes on the Scioto and Little Miami in Ohio. In September, 1774, a great battle was fought at the junction of the Great Kanawha with the Ohio, in which the Shawnees and their allies were defeated and compelled to beat a hasty retreat across the Ohio River. The Shawnees were led by Cornstalk, a great chief, aided by the celebrated chief and warrior Blackhoof, equally distinguished for his bravery, oratory, shrewdness and generosity. In the fall of 1774 Gov. Dunmore held a treaty, being the last English Governor of Virginia, with the Shawnees and their allies, not far from the present site of Circleville, Ohio, in which Cornstalk, Blackhoof, Logan, the Grenadier Squaw, and other noted Indians participated. Peace was proclaimed, but was of short duration. The arrival of Boone, the McAfees, the Harrods, the Hendersons, the Bullets, Hancocks, Floyds, and others in Kentucky from 1773 to 1776 again inflamed the jealousy of the Shawnees, and repeated raids were made against the new settlers to exterminate them. British agents fomented the discontent of the Ohio Indians, and in some instances planned and headed their expeditions against the white settlements. "In 1777 the Shawnees became somewhat divided on the policy of continuing the war against the revolted colonies then seeking independence HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 201 from the mother country. Cornstalk, celebrated as chief and leader, headed the anti-war party, and visited an American block-house at the mouth of the Great Kanawha to warn the Virginians of the approaching storm, and if possible avert the calamity of border invasion. He was accompanied by another chief called Red-Hawk. Those messengers of peace were immediately seized and confined in the block-house as hostages, to prevent the expected depredations of the Shawnees. While thus confined his son, Ellinipsico, who had also fought in the great battle at Point Pleasant in 1774, came to the fort to learn the fate of Cornstalk, his father. He had become uneasy at his long absence, and prompted by filial affection had come to seek him out in his exile. While in the fort a few soldiers, who had crossed the Kanawha to hunt, were attacked by strange Indians, and a soldier by the name of Gilmore was killed. The result was that a party of soldiers, in revenge for the death of Gilmore, proceeded to the block-house and shot Cornstalk, Red-Hawk and Ellinipsico ! This act—barbarous and unjustifiable—terminated all uncertainty, and precipitated the Shawnees upon the borders of Virginia and Kentucky, and was the occasion of repeated invasions from 1777 to the peace of 1795, under Gen. Wayne, at Greenville." There were present at the treaty of Greenville in the fall of 1795 the following-named speakers from among the Shawnees: Blue Jacket, Red Pole, Puck-se-kaw, Black Wolf, Lame Hawk, Blackhoof, Kee-a-hah, Kekia-pil-athy, and Captain Johnny; among the Delawares, Buck onga-he-las and three others. Captain Pipe, who cruelly caused the torture and death of Col. Crawford, on the Tymochtee, in 1782, is believed to have died just before the treaty, though his death is a mystery. It is contended that he lived as late as the war of 1812, on the Mohican. After the treaty, in the years 1807-8-9-10, the Shawnees began to fall back on their reserves. Prior to the treaty of 1795 they were scattered pretty much all over Ohio, and along the streams in Indiana. Up to that treaty they had been induced to sell portions of their hunting grounds in exchange for lands in the West, and certain sums of money to be paid yearly. When the chiefs and warriors attended such treaties, they were often made drunk and badly cheated by the agents sent out by the Government. It was easily to be seen that the Indian title to all their lands in Ohio would soon be extinguished. Their Ohio hunting 202 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. grounds were the choicest upon the continent, and their leading chiefs found it necessary to take proper steps to prevent the whites from getting all such lands. While residing on Mad River, the Shawnees were divided into four tribes or bands: the Mequachake, the Chillicothe, the Kiskapocoke and the Piqua. The priesthood was confided to the Mequachake, and the office of chief- was hereditary. In other tribes the offrce of chief was bestowed from merit or achievements in war. Their towns were scattered along the banks of the Scioto, the Mad River, and the Little Miami, in southern Ohio. Cornstalk, the great chief, so cruelly assassinated at Point Pleasant, resided east of the Scioto River, on Sippo Creek, in what is now Pickaway County, and his sister, the Grenadier Squaw, who was six feet high, resided near him on the opposite side of the stream, in Squaw Town. The principal town, Old Chillicothe, was located near the mouth of Massie's Creek, three miles north of the present site of Xenia. Piqua, memorable as the birthplace of Tecumseh and Elsqua-ta-wa, was situated on the north bank of Mad River, seven miles west of the present site of the city of Springfield, in Clark County. Upper and Lower Piqua, in Miami County, were not far from the present site of the city of Piqua. When the troops under Gen. Logan destroyed the Mequachake towns on Mad River in 1786, the Shawnees fled toward the wilderness at the head of the Auglaize and Ottawa Rivers, where game abounded, and where they would have time and protection to concoct their plans. This was the time of their first settlement in what is now Allen County. In the fall of 181 a good deal of uneasiness existed among the Shawnees, Delawares, Wyandots, and other western tribes, and British agents were very active in their endeavors to seduce the Ohio Indians into the British service, in case of a war with the United States. Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, and the Prophet employed all their arts to induce the Little Turtle, Blackhoof, Buck-ong-a-he-las, and other noted chiefs, to join the league; but the Turtle, having been over-ruled by the Blue Jacket, in the battle of "Fallen Timbers," refused to follow the lead of the wily Shawnee again. Dr. Hill, in his references to the first treaty of Maumee, says : By a treaty held at the Maumee Rapids, in 1817, by Gen. Lewis Cass and HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 203 Duncan McArthur, the Shawnees were given a reservation around Wapakonetta, in the name of Blackhoof, and along Hog Creek, of ten miles square; and in 1818, at the treaty of St. Mary's, twenty-five square miles, to be so laid out that Wapakonetta should be the center. At the same treaties, the Shawnees and Senecas, in what is now Logan County, in and around Lewistown, received a reservation of forty square miles. The founder of the latter village is believed to have been the Chief John Lewis, who married Mary, the Indian sister of the captive Jonathan Alder. The Shawnees continued to reside on these reservations until their final removal west of the Mississippi. None of the band of Tecumseh was included in the schedule of names appended in the treaty of 1817, at the Maumee Rapids, nor at St. Mary's. They had forfeited all right to protection by the Government of the United States, having joined the British in 1812. As the Wapakonetta band was at the time of removal within the limits of Allen County, the names of the Shawnees of that reservation are as follows : "Qua-tu-wa-pee, or Captain Lewis, of Lewistown, forty square miles. Tracts at Wapakonetta divided among the following : Blackhoof, Pam-thee or Walker, Pea-se-ca or Wolf, Shem-an-ita or Snake, Athel-wak-e-se-ca or Yellow Clouds, Pem-thew-tew or John Perry, Ca-calawa or End of the Tail, Que-la-we, War Chief, Sa-ca-chew-a, We rewe-la, Wa-sa-we-tah or Bright Horn, Otha-ra-sa or Yellow, Tep-e-te-seca, New-a-he-tuc-ca, Ca-awar-icho, Tha-cat-chew-a, Silo-cha-he-ca, Tapea or Sanders, Me-she-raw-ah, To-lea-pea, Poc-he-caw, Alawe-meta-huck or Luliaway or Perry, Wa-wel-ame, Ne-me-cashe, Ne-ru-pene-she-qual or Cornstalk, Shi-che, She-a-law-he, Nam-ska-ka, Tha-cas-ka or David McNair, Sha-pu-ka-ha, Qua-co-waw-nee, Neco-she-cu, Thu-cu-sen or Jim Blue Jacket, Cho-welas-eca, Qua-ha-ho, Kay-ketch-he-ka or William Perry, Sew-a-pen, Peetah or Davy Baker, Ska-poa-wah or George McDougal, Che-po-cu-ra, She-ma or Sam, Che-a-has-ka or Capt. Tommy, Gen. Wayne, The-way, Ohawee, We-a-re-cab, Capt. Reed, Law-ay tucheh or John Wolf, To-cu-tio or Gurge, Ske-ka-cump-ske-kaw, Wish-emaw, Mug-way-mano-treka, Quas-kee, Thos-wa, Bap-tis-ta, May-we-aliupe, Perea-cumme, Choch-ke-lake or Dam, Kewa-pea, Ega-ta-cum-shequa, Wal-upe, Aqua-she-qua, Pemata, Nepali̊, Tape-she-ka, La-tho-wayno-ma, Saw-a-co-tu or Yellow Clouds, Mem-his-he-ka, Ash-e-lu-kah, 0- 204 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. hip-wah, Tha-pae-ca, Chu-ca-tuh, Ne-ka-ke-ka, Thit-hue-cu-lu, Pe-la-cul-he, Pe-las-ke, She-sho-lou, Quan-a-ko, Hal-koo-tu, Laugh-she-na, Cap-awah, Ethe-wa-case, Qua- he-thu, Ca-pia, Thuca-trou-wah or the Man Going up Hill, Mag-a-thu, Te-cum-te-qua, Tete-co-patha, Kok-us-the, Sheat-wah, Sheale-war-ron, Hagh-ke-la, Aka-pee or Heap up Anything, Lamo-to-the, Ka-ska, Pan-hoar, Penitch-tharn-tah or Peter Cornstalk, Capea, Shua-gunme, Wa-wal-ep-es-shec-co, Cale-qua, Teto-tu, Tas-his-hec, Nawe-bes-he-co or White Feather, Sheper-kis-co-she, Nartekah, She-makih, Pes-he-to, Theat-she-ta, Mil-ham-et-che, Cha-cod, Lawathska, Pa-che-tah, Away-baris-ke-caw, Hato-cuino, Thomas-hes-haw-kah, Pepa-co-she, Oshas-he, Quel-ao-shu, Me-with-a-quiu, Ageupeh,Quellime." The foregoing contains the names of all males at Wapakonetta, in 1817, being 126. Each person was allowed about five hundred acres. The following are the names of the Shawnees to whom the Hog Creek Reservation was assigned, many of whom resided at the village where the council-house was built, afterward the Ezekiel Hover farm. Each Indian owned about 500 acres of land : Pe-aitch-tha, Orero-i-mo or Little Fox, On-a-was-kine, Pama-thaw-wah or George Williams, Wapes-ke-ka-ho-thew, Pa-haw-e-ou, Shin-a-gaw-ma-she, Ne-qua-ka-buchka, Pe-lis-ka, Ke-tu-che-pa, La-wet-che-to, E-paun-nee, Ka-nak-hih, Joso or Joseph Parks, Law-noe-tu-chu or Billy Parks, Shaw-na-ha, Wayma-tal-ha-way, Ke-to-aw-sa, She-she-co-pea, Le-cu-seh, Quil-na, Que-das-ka, These were the males residing on Hog Creek in 1817, and numbered about twenty-one at the time of their removal in 1832. The treaty of Maumee Rapids further provided that 640 acres should be set off for the children of Spamagelabe, Capt. Logan, on the east side of the Auglaize, adjoining the ten mile reservation at Wapakonetta. In negotiating this treaty of 1831 the services of Francis Deuchoquette were dispensed with, and in his place was appointed a man who would not fail to misrepresent the true meaning of the written' wards. As a result, the Indians found themselves the victims of Gardner's treachery. A deputation visited Washington to seek redress, but failed to receive justice. During the journey thither Deuchoquette died, and the Indians lost their most disinterested and true friend. The story of this treaty is told in Dr. Hill's relations of Indian history as follows: "In the year 1831, Hon. John McIlvaine, Indian agent for the Shawnees and Senecas of HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 205 Ohio, was instructed by the Department at Washington to approach those tribes on the question of disposing of their reservations, and removal west of the Missouri, and it was done through James B. Gardner, as special commissioner. The Shawnees had but little confidence in the integrity of Mr. Gardner, and entered into the proposed consultation with reluctance. Col. John Johnston, of Piqua, the old agent, who had served the Shawnees and other tribes included in his agency for over thirty years, had been removed by the President in consequence of his political opinions. In the midst of their prosperity and peace Commissioner Gardner sent a message to the Shawnees at Wapakonetta, informing them that he would be there in a few days to make propposals for the purchase of their lands. This was the first intimation of the kind that had reached their ears since they had entered upon their reservations, which the Government had declared they should occupy for an indefinite term of years. The message greatly surprised and alarmed them, for they had always dreaded such a contingency, guided by the history of the past, though they did not expect it so soon, having been so repeatedly assured by the Government that they should forever remain upon and own their lands without being molested by any one. Having full faith in the guarantees of the Government, they had been induced to improve their lands, and change their mode and manner of life. The message of Gardner produced great confusion of mind and uncertainty of purpose. The chiefs consulted their Quaker friends as to the proper steps to be taken. It seemed almost incredible that the Government intended to thrust aside the plighted faith of the nation, and dispossess this handful of helpless Indians of so small a tract of land. Their Quaker friends advised them to refuse to sell or part with their lands. In the mean time the traders, and others having claims on the Indians, demanded immediate payment, and commenced offering the chiefs large bribes to induce them to sell, expecting to get their dues in that way, regardless of the fate of the poor Indians. In this way the advice of the Quakers was overlooked, and the Indians induced to part with their improvements and wild lands. In a few days, Gardner notified the chiefs to meet him on a fixed day at Wapakonetta, and from that time until his arrival the utmost confusion, grief and alarm prevailed among the Shawnees. The head men met him in general council, when, through a new interpreter, Gardner delivered a 206 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. long harangue, describing the difficulties in the way of taxation, making roads and the like, that were about to overtake them, adverting to the fact, also, that mean white men would soon ruin them with bad whiskey, that white men would collect debts from them under their laws by seizing property, while an Indian's oath would amount to nothing; that white men would turn their horses in the Indian's grain field, and Indians be beaten by white men without remedy; and in this way continued to alarm their fears, until he had produced a desire in his hearers to remove to the wilds of Kansas, where they could feast on buffalo] elk, and other wild game, without working, as the whites did. if they would consent to sell their lands and go West, the great Father, President Jackson, would make them rich in a new and splendid country, which would never be within the limits of any State, where they could live by hunting! (How fallacious!) If they would sell their reservations in Ohio, the Government would give them 100,000 acres of beautiful land, adjoining the tract of fifty miles square which Gov. Clark of Missouri had ceded to their Shawnee brethren in 1825, and upon which they were living.' " REMOVAL TO KANSAS. As the time for the removal of the tribe to Kansas came nearer and nearer, the Shawnees were observed to grow more dull and listless. With the arrival of David Robb and D. M. Workman among them, they realized truly that they must leave their old hunting grounds forever, and with this realization, each lodge entered on a special method of making the occasion memorable. Many surrendered themselves to despair, and plunged into a course of dissipation ; others, with more regard to the legends of the tribe, collected their trophies, articles of the chase, domestic utensils, and even leveled the mounds of the burial grounds of the tribe. This accomplished, the sub-agents, Robb and Workman, gave the order to proceed on that long Western journey, and 700 members of the Shawnee family, with half that number of Senecas, moved toward the West in September, 1832, and traveled until Christmas of that year, when they camped on their Kansas reservation. Joseph Parks, a Quaker half-breed, conducted them from the Mississippi westward. John Mcllvaine and James B. Gardner accompanied them to the Mississippi. In 1833 fifty left for Kansas. A large number of the Indians visited HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 207 among other tribes until 1833 and 1834, revisited their old home on the Auglaize, and next followed the Western trail. INDIAN BIOGRAPHY. Many references have been made in the first part of this chapter to the Indian chiefs who were once masters of this county and neighborhood. Again in the first part of this book, devoted to a history of Ohio, such names as Pontiac, Tecumseh, Logan, Blackhoof—find a very full mention. For these reasons the following personal notices of Indians who were at once famous or notorious, are given in a most concise form, each sketch containing only some important point or points not credited in the first part of the history. So much has been written regarding Tecumseh (pp. 69 to 73), it is only necessary here to make one reference to the man. Few there are who have not read of the barbarity of the English troops during the whole war of the Revolution, as well as the war of 1812; fewer still are ignorant of the premium offered by the English commanders to their soldiers and Indian allies. Who does not remember the massacres of Fort Meigs and of the River Raisin ? Who has not heard of Gen. Proctor's infamous doings there, of his order to kill all prisoners, of his enthusiasm in witnessing, for two hours, how ably his own troops and his Indians carried out his diabolical command ? Tecumseh came on the scene too late to save all, yet in time to cast a ray of light on his own character, and save his Indian brothers from the obloquy which, to this day, attaches itself to the white man. According to the chronicler, he said: "He sprang from his horse, caught one Indian by the throat and the other by the breast, and threw them to the ground; then, drawing his knife and hatchet, and running between the Indians and prisoners, brandished his weapons wildly and dared the attack on another prisoner. Maddened by the barbarity which he loathed, he sought Gen. Proctor, and demanded why this massacre was allowed. "Sir," replied the General, "your Indians cannot be commanded." "Begone !" answered the chief with a sarcastic sneer, "you are unfit to command; go, you are not a man." Let the rebuke be the reproach of a savage; it is worthy of recognition to-day, for in the humanity of manhood is the philosophy of life. 208 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. Elsquatawa, the twin brother of Tecumseh, is known in history as the Prophet. This false friend accompanied the renegade Shawnees under the lead of Tecumseh, to the British service in Canada; returned after the war to Wapakonetta; went west of the Mississippi with a large number of his tribe in 1828, and died of cholera in 1833 in Kansas. In a reference to him Jonathan Alder says: ," I was very well acquainted with the Prophet. He was not a warrior, but a low, cunning fellow. He prophesied many things that did not come to pass. He was a vain man, with a great amount of show, but with little sense. His powers of prophecy were not well sustained by the Indians in general; in fact, they had but little faith in him." After the treaty of Ft. Wayne in 1809, it is related by Dr. Hill that the Prophet ordered the execution of Leather- lips, a noted Wyandot chief, for pretended witchcraft, but really to get rid of his influence. Six Wyandot warriors were sent to put him to death. The warriors and their leader, Roundhead, went directly from Tippecanoe to execute him. They found him encamped on a stream about twelve miles above the present city of Columbus. When the warriors arrived, and their purpose was ascertained, several white men made an ineffectual effort to save his life. A council took place, and the warriors resolved to kill the chief, as ordered. An Indian, with much warmth, accused him of magic or witchcraft; but Leatherlips denied the charge. When the sentence of death was passed upon him, he returned to his camp, ate a dinner of jerked venison, washed and dressed in his best Indian clothing, and painted his face. He was tall and dignified, and his hair quite gray. When the time of his execution arrived, he shook hands with those present, and turned from his wigwam and commenced to chant his death song. He then moved toward th4 point where the warriors had dug a grave. When he got to the grave, he kneeled down and prayed to the Great Spirit. When he finished, Roundhead also knelt and prayed. Leatherlips again knelt and prayed, and when he ceased, one of the warriors drew from his skirts a keen, new tomahawk, stepped up behind the chief and struck him on the head with his whole strength. The chief fell forward in the agonies of death. The executioner struck him again, once or twice, and finished his suffering. The body was buried with all his Indian ornaments, and the warriors and whites disappeared. An attempt has been made to fix the responsibility HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 209 of this great crime upon the Wyandot chief Crane. Crane was the friend of the whites, and opposed to the schemes of the treacherous Prophet, and it is clear never could have authorized the execution of a fellow Wyandot chief. The Wyandot chief, Roundhead, had a village on the Scioto in the southwest corner of Hardin County, where the town of Round Head was subsequently laid out At what precise date the Indians started this village is not known, but about the year 1800 Maj. James Galloway, of Greene County, visited them at this point, and says that there was then quite a number of apple trees in the village, and that the Indians raised many swine. Some of those trees, said to have been planted by this old chief, are yet standing. Roundhead, whose Indian name was Stiahta, was a fine looking man. He had a brother named John Battise, a man of great size and personal strength. He was well remembered by the pioneers of the Miami and Scioto Valleys on account of possessing an enormous nose, which resembled in size and hue an immense blue potato full of indentations, and when he laughed it shook like jelly. He lived at a place called Battisetown some miles west of his brother's village, joined the English in 1812, and was killed at the siege of Fort Meigs. In 1807 Roundhead was present with Tecumseh and other chiefs at a council held at Springfield, Ohio, between the whites and Indians to settle a difficulty which arose over the killing of a white man named Myers, a few miles west of Urbana. The execution of Leatherlips, a well- known Wyandot chief, which took place twelve miles north of Columbus, Ohio, in 1810, on the charge of witchcraft, was intrusted by Tecumseh to Roundhead, who at the head of six braves came from Tippecanoe and did the deed. The celebrated Mingo chief, Logan, with a band of followers, had a village in the southeastern part of Hardin County as early as 1778. It is probable that he moved from the lower Shawnee towns on the Scioto, where his cabin stood in 1774, to this point, soon after Lord Dunmore's campaign. The exact location of this village is not known, some old settlers claiming that it stood in the vicinity of " Grassy Point." Col. John McDonald, in his biography of Simon Kenton, when telling of his capture in 1778, says: " As the Indians passed from Wapatomika to Upper Sandusky, they went through a small village on the 210 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. River Scioto, where then resided the celebrated chief, Logan, of Jefferson memory. Logan, unlike the rest of his tribe, was humane as he was brave. At his wigwam, the party who had the care of the prisoner, stayed over night." From this account it seems they also remained the succeeding day and night, not leaving for Upper Sandusky until the second morning after their arrival at Logan's village. The old Shawnee trail crossed the Scioto near the residence of the late Judge Portius Wheeler, several miles northeast of Grassy Point, and as the Indian village was on the Scioto, it is safe to infer that the wigwams of Logan and his band were in the vicinity of the Shawnee ford and not at Grassy Point. The main reason why the latter place has been thought to have been the site of the Mingoe camp, is that the Indians had cleared and cultivated some land in that locality, which, upon subsequent abandonment, had grown up in blue grass, hence the name, Grassy Point. It is more probable that the land referred to was cultivated by the Shawnees and Wyandots, who owned this territory in common, while the Mingoes occupied it only by consent of these tribes, who loved it as one of their favorite camping grounds, and a sacred depository of their dead in bygone ages, One of the most noted chiefs was the venerable Blackhoof-he-we-ka-saw—in the raids upon Kentucky sometimes called Blackfoot. He is believed to have been born in Florida, and, at the period of the removal of a portion of the Shawnees to Ohio and Pennsylvania, was old enough to recollect having bathed in the salt water. He was present, with others of his tribe, at the defeat of Gen. Braddock, near Pittsburgh, in 1755, and was engaged in all the wars in Ohio from that time until the treaty of Greenville, in 1795. He was known. far and wide as the great Shawnee. warrior, whose cunning, sagacity and experience were only equalled by the force and desperate bravery with which he carried into operation his military plans. He was the inveterate foe of the white man, and held that no peace should be made nor negotiation attempted, except on the condition that the whites should repass the mountains, and leave the great plains of the West to the sole occupancy of the red men. He was the orator of the tribe during the greater part of his long life, and is said to have been an excellent speaker. Col. John Johnston says he was probably in more battles than any living man HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 21 of his day, and was the most graceful Indian he had ever seen, and possessed the most natural and happy faculty of expressing his ideas. He was well versed in the traditions of his people, and no one understood better their relations to the whites, whose settlements were gradually pressing them back, and could detail with minuteness the wrongs inflicted by the whites on his people. He remembered having talked with some of the aged chiefs who had been present at the treaty with William Penn in 1682. He fought the battles against Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne, hoping to retain his country; but when finally defeated in 1794, he decided that further resistance was useless, and signed the treaty of Greenville in 1795, and continued faithful to its stipulations until his decease, which occurred in the summer of 1831 at Wapakonetta, at the advanced age of one hundred and twenty years! Blackhoof is said to have been opposed to polygamy and the practice of burning prisoners. Ho lived forty years with one wife, raising a large family of children, who both loved and respected him. He was small in stature, not more than five feet eight inches in height. He was favored with good health and unimpaired eye-sight to the period of his death. Quasky, his elder son, was the successor to Blackhoof. He possessed many of the qualities of his distinguished father. He went West with his people in 1832, and was living in 1853. He, like his father, was a fine speaker. La-wa-tu-cheh, John Wolf, was a Shawnee of some note. Col. John Johnston hired of him a trading house at Wapakonetta, and he often accompanied the Colonel on his trading trips in the forest, among the different tribes. He died at Wapakonetta. Wa-the-the-we-la, or Bright Horn, was another noted chief, who was present when Logan was mortally wounded in the contest with Winemac in 1812, and was severely wounded in the thigh in the same fight, but recovered and lived at Wapakonetta. He was, with Blackhoof, the especial friend of Gen. Harrison, in the war of 1812. He was a brave man, and of sound integrity. He fought like a hero for our cause in the war of 1812. He was a large and commanding Indian in appearance, and was quite shrewd and intelligent. He died in 1826, at Wapakonetta. Peter Cornstalk was a chief in succession to his father, who was 212 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. assassinated at Pt. Pleasant, Va. This Peter was a fine specimen of the Indian, and a true friend of the settlers in the Auglaize country. He moved to Kansas in 1828 with the Prophet. Nern-pe-nes-he-quah, also a son of Chief Cornstalk, went to Kansas in 1832. Henry Clay, son of Capt. Wolf, was educated under the supervision of Col. John Johnston, at Upper Piqua, at the expense of the Quaker friends. He afterward became a leading chief and married the daughter of Jeremiah McLain, formerly a member of Congress from the Columbus district, in 1835. Way-wel-ea-py was the principal speaker among the Shawnees at the period of their removal. He was an eloquent orator, grave, gay or humorous as occasion required. At times, his manner is said to have been quite fascinating, his countenance so full of varied expression, and his voice so musical, that surveyors and other strangers passing through the country listened to him with delight, although the words fell upon their ears in an unknown language. During the negotiation for the sale of their reserve, he addressed his people and Mr. Gardner several times. His refutation of Gardner's assumed superiority over the Indian race was complete and full of irony. Col. George C. Johnston often met this chief at his trading post in Wapakonetta, and says he was a fine looking Indian, and cultivated the friendship of the pioneers. He was the principal speaker of the Shawnees, and delivered the opinions of the tribe at treaties and in public assemblies. He removed West with his tribe, where he died in 1843. Lullaway, John Perry, head chief of the Shawnees, often traded at the station of Col. Johnston. He signed the treaty of 1831, at Wapakonetta. He could converse fluently in English. He was a man of influence with his tribe, and of good habits. He was much grieved when he learned that the Shawnees had been deceived as to the value of their reservations. He went West in 1832, and died in 1843. The chief Oxonoxy resided where Charloe village now stands. About the year 1827 this savage killed his son-in-law and grandson; he was tried by a council of chiefs, sentenced to be beheaded, but instead of carrying out the sentence one of deposition was substituted. His daughter was brought to Dr. John Evans, father of Dr. S. A. Evans, of Del- HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 213 phos, for treatment. When her health was restored the chief presented to the Doctor one of his best horses. Buck-ong-a-he-las, a noted old Delaware chief, mixed much with the Shawnees. He is supposed to have been born near Philadelphia, Penn., a few years after the treaties with Penn, and, when he lived on the Auglaize, was well advanced in age. In colonial days, with Jacobs and other leading Delawares, he resided in western Pennsylvania, and is believed at that time to have been identical with the Shingess " who entertained Washington, when a young man, in 1753. Shingess was an active warrior when Fort Du Quesne was taken in 1759. Heckewelder speaks of meeting him at the Tuscarora town on the Muskingum, as early as 1760. As early as 1'764 King Beaver, who was a brother of Buck-ong-a-he-las, is met by Gen. Gibson at the mouth of Big Beaver. Just what time he settled in western Ohio is not known. At the capture of Col. Hardin, Maj. Truman and others in 1792 as bearers of a flag of truce from Washington, after having treacherously murdered Hardin, the Indians arrived near the Indian town of Auglaize, and reported to the old chief, "who was very sorry they had killed the men, and said, instead of so doing, they should have brought them along to the Indian towns, and then, if what they had to say had not been liked, it would have been time enough to have killed them. Nothing could justify them for putting them to death, as there was no chance for them to escape." This chief fought against Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne. He signed the treaty of 1795. He must have been over one hundred years old. He died at the Ottawa village on the Auglaize in 1804. The chief Blue Jacket, it will be remembered, commanded the Indian army at the battle of " Fallen Timber " in 1794, and with much reluctance signed the treaty with Wayne at Greenville in 1795. He was very bitter in his feelings toward the " Long Knives," who were rapidly settling upon the lands that formerly belonged to the red man. His feelings were quite as intense as those of Tecumseh, though he did not possess his abilities for organization. As a matter of prudence, he did not join Tecumseh in the war of 1812. He is supposed to have died at the Ottawa village, down the Auglaize, just prior to the treaty at Maumee Rapids in 1817. It appears that Gens. Cass and McArthur, in that treaty, made provision for his family at Wapakonetta, in which James, 214 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. George and Charles Blue Jacket received each about one thousand acres in the reservation. Quilna, another chief, was actually, popular among the white pioneers. He shared in all their sports and industries; was as good a workman as he was a hunter. Little Fox, a brother of Pht, was an irreconcilable. Up to the departure of this Indian for Kansas he could not believe that he was doomed to leave Ohio. Turkeyfoot, a peculiar formation, just as broad as he was long, was a savage capable of entertaining and practicing the most diabolical ideas. At times he would reduce himself to believe that he was on good terms with the whites, and while in such a mood he would make a circuit of all the white settlements. Tu-taw was one of the first mail-carriers in the Northwest, having been employed by Mad Anthony to carry letters and dispatches between Piqua and Defiance. Smith Baxter relates the following story respecting him: " Old Tutaw was one day, in 1830, passing down the Auglaize in his canoe loaded with bark, which grounded near Sam Baxter's cabin. In an effort to float the canoe he got into the water and made such a splash and dash therein that young Baxter ventured to have a laugh at his expense. In 1846 he met Tutaw, who looked at him for an instant and said,' ' You bad boy, you laugh at old Tut when he got his canoe fast.' " Pht or Fallen Timbers, the last chief of his tribe in Ohio, was as peculiar in many respects as his name—which, by the way, is pronounced Pe-aitch-ta. Under him the Council House was built in 1831, but not completed. The wigwam or cabin of the old chief stood but a few rods northwest of the council-house. Here the chief, after a long sickness, died and was buried a short time before the removal of the tribe, in 1832. He was buried near his cabin in his garden. John F. Cole, now residing in Lima, states that he was present at the burial of this old chief. His grave was dug by his wife and daughter. Puncheons of proper size and thickness were split, and these substituted for a coffin. They were placed on their edges at the bottom of the grave, which was not over two feet deep, and a third one placed over the corpse, thus forming a rude coffrn. There were many Shawnees present, and many little HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 215 trinkets were deposited with the body. All seemed to be deeply affected. After the burial of the chief, according to an old custom, the Shawnees slaughtered a beef, cooked and prepared the meat, and held a sort of feast. The old council-house was not fully completed until about 1832. The Shawnees with their bitter feuds, their wars of extermination, their alliances with the British, their invasions, their revenges, their hates, are all gone. Seldom do the thoughts of the higher people, who now own and cultivate their lands, turn toward the West in sympathy with the aborigines. How different with the exiles? In their daydreams, far away in Kansas, they look toward the rising sun, and long to return to the land where they passed their youth, to surround themselves again with the memoried scenes, May we not hope that in coming years these children of Nature may learn from the Past; may arrive at a high state of civilization and then come among us to realize the barbarous condition of their fathers, and conceive the littleness of their tribal glories? |