150 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO moment surrendered to the force under my command, after a sharp conflict. "I have the honor to be, sir, "Your obedient servant, " O. H. PERRY. " In his official dispatch, Commodore Perry speaks in the highest. terms of respect and pity for his wounded antagonist, and requests permission to grant him an immediate parole. Of Captain Elliot, the second officer in command, he says : " That he is already so well-known to the government that it would be PERRY 'S WILLOW-PUT-IN-BAY Marks site where some of his men were buried —Tree planted soon after the famous battle. almost superfluous to speak. In this action he evinced his characteristic bravery and judgment, and since the close of it has given me the most able and essential assistance." Immediately after the action, the slain of the crews of both squadrons were committed to the waters of Lake Erie. On the following day the funeral obsequies of the American and British officers who had fallen during the engagement took place at an opening on the margin of the bay, in an appropriate and affecting manner. The crews of both fleets united in the ceremony. "The stillness of the weather, the procession of boats, the music—the slow and regular motion of the oars striking in exact time with the notes of the solemn dirge—the mournful waving of the flags, the sound of the minuteguns from all the ships, the wild and solitary aspect of the place, gave to these funeral rites a most impressive influence and formed an affecting contrast with the terrible conflict of the preceding day. Then the people of the two squadrons were engaged in the deadly strife of arms; now they were associated as brothers to pay the last tribute of respect to the slain of both nations. Two American officers, Lieutenant Brooks and Midshipman Laub, of the Lawrence, and three British officers, Captain Finnis and Lieutenant Stoke, of the Charlotte, and Lieutenant Garland, of the Detroit, lie interred by the side of each other in this lonely place on the margin of the lake, a few paces from the beach." At the time of the engagement, General Harrison was at his headquarters at Fort Seneca. A couple of days later, just as he was about to set out for Lower Sandusky, filled with anxiety for the fleet because he had received reports of a terrific cannonading on the tenth, the short and laconic message of Commodore Perry reached him. The ex- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 151 hilarating news aroused Lower Sandusky and Fort Seneca to an uproar of joy. Harrison immediately set out for Lower Sandusky, and there he issued orders for the movement of his troops to the margin of the lake, preparatory to their embarkation for Canada. Perry's ships conveyed the army to the Canadian shore, and enabled them to completely rout the British army, with their Indian allies, on the 5th of October. As time passes the victory of Commodore Perry assumes greater and greater proportions in the eyes of the students of history. This is not because of the numbers of vessels or men engaged. In the light of modern warfare, judged by the standard of the super-dreadnaught, and its monster guns, it was a small affair. Nine small sailing vessels on the one side and six on the other, with probably 1,000 men all told, the greater part of whom were not even seamen—such were the forces that met at Put-in-Bay. One gun froM a modern man-of-war would throw more metal in one charge than an entire broadside from the 117 guns of the opposing fleets. It is by its results that the action must be judged. It cleared the waters of Lake Erie of hostile vessels, and rendered possible the invasion of Canada that followed. Likewise, because of the heroism displayed as a struggle between man and man, it deserves to be remembered. The prowess in the seasoned sailors and the courage in the raw and unseasoned men from the shore are worthy of a high place in the annals of the nation. One hundred years later a national celebration was held at Put-in-Bay, when there was dedicated a noble and lofty monument in commemoration of the great victory of Commodore Perry. It was attended by President Taft and other high officials of the United States, as well as by notable Canadian dele- PERRY'S VICTORY MONUMENT PUT-IN-BAY gates, who came here in a spirit of fraternity. Today an imposing shaft, visible for scores of miles on every side, stands as a monument to the heroism and achievement of Commodore Perry and his gallant sailors. It is indeed fitting that the simple story of the valor and the sacrifice of the brave men, who fell in the great battle on Lake Erie, should thus be perpetuated in enduring marble and bronze, in order that the future generations of Americans may have kindled afresh in their breasts the love of our common country and loyalty to the republic founded by our fathers and sustained by their sons in the dark hours of adversity and trial. CHAPTER XIV THE RED MEN OF THE FORESTS While this section of our great country was only an indistinguishable part of the expansive wilderness beyond the Alleghenies, and long prior to the coming of his paler rival, Northwest Ohio was a red man's paradise. Its softly swelling prairies, its picturesque streams, its blue lake, constituted an ideal home for the savage hunters and warriors. One vast and almost continuous forest covered the greater part of the fertile soil, as the grass carpets a. well-kept lawn. Yet this prolific wilderness, teeming with latent fertility, was but a hunting ground and a battlefield for a few fierce tribes of savages. Here and there, in some open ground, the dusky squaws turned back the black mould with the crudest of implements fashioned out of bone and iron, in which they planted small fields of maize and beans. Beyond this no other tribute was demanded from the almost inexhaustible soil by the ignorant children of the forest, and nature itself provided their sustenance. It would seem as if the words of Gitche Manito were written especially to apply to the red men residing in Northwest Ohio : "I have given you lands to hunt in, I have given you streams to fish in, I have given you bear and bison, I have given you roe and reindeers, I have given you brant and beaver, Filled the marshes full of wild fowl, Filled the rivers full of fishes; Why then are you not contented? Why then will you hunt each other'?" From the watershed near the center of the state, ample streams ran northward toward great Lake Erie, and seamed the forest with their devious windings. They were navigable for canoes during the entire year, except for a short winter season, and the portages were short between these streams and those flowing south, so that the savage could easily transport his light bark canoe and pack between them. They clung to these favorite haunts with the love of patriots, and the tenacity of savage despair. One can in imagination see these dusky inhabitants of the woods stealing their way beneath the shadows of the primeval forest, or silently driving their canoes under the overarching branches of the Sandusky, or the Maumee, or the Auglaize. If it was a marauding party, the war-whoop might suddenly break the primeval solitude, while the warriors would rend the air with their hideous shouts over the scalps which they soon snatched from the bleeding heads of their victims. The crash of falling forests and the columns of ascending smoke proclaimed the sure and steady advance of the white settlers. The sight filled the red men's untutored nature with rage and cruelty. Again and again was the frontier land ravaged by the tomahawk, the knife, and the rifle. The air was darkened by the smoke of burning homes, where the firebrand had been applied. The Indians had no forum in which to try their titles to the land, except the court of force, which was to them the tribunal of last resort. It was a trial by wager - 152 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 153 of battle, wherein the arguments were made by the rifle, the tomahawk, and the scalping knife, and not by the mouthings of paid advocates. Nearly all the tribes residing in Ohio were of the Algonquin stock, although the Wyandots can be traced back to the Iroquois. The total number of Indians residing in Ohio at the time of the incoming of their successors was not great, as we reckon numbers today. At the time of Pontiac's Conspiracy, it was estimated that 15,000 Indians lived in Ohio, who were capable of putting 3,000 warriors on the warpath. More than one-half of these doubtless resided in Northwest Ohio, for none made their homes along the Ohio River. This probably conflicts with the prevalent notion that the forests literally swarmed with savages. There were a few Indian villages, many isolated groups of lodges in the forests, which were the homes of hunters, and narrow trails that wound their way among the trees and bushes. So thin and scattered was this native population, that even in those parts where they were most numerous one might journey for days together through the twilight forests without encountering a single human form. Large tracts were left in absolute solitude and inhabited by wild beasts alone. Escaped captives have traveled from the Lower Sandusky River to Wheeling or Pittsburg in daytime without casting eyes upon a single human being. There were many Indian tribes resident in Northwest Ohio. In fact, tribal relations were constantly changing among the aborigines. Tribe was giving place to tribe, language was yielding to language all over the country. Immutable as were the red men in respect to social and individual development, the tribal relations and local haunts were as transitional as the winds. The Indian population, which the French found at Montreal on their arrival there, had disappeared at the opening of the next century, and had been succeeded by an entirely different tribe. The Hurons, or Wyandots, were scattered during the French occupation of Canada, through the 154 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO animosity of the Iroquois. The Eries along the southern shores of Lake Erie had been exterminated by the same implacable foes. Thus the tribe that implanted its name upon our own expansive lake melted away like a dream. The tribal blood was constantly being diluted by the adoption of prisoners, whether . white or red. In fact, it was the policy of many tribes to replenish their losses in war by adopting the young braves captured from the enemy. Likewise, the wandering French traders and coureurs de bois had left an infusion of the Celtic blood in almost every tribe. THE SHAWNEES The Shawanees, Shawanos, or Shawnees (the latter spelling is adopted in this work), were a tribe that command considerable attention in a history of Northwest Ohio. The French called them Chaouanons. Fearless and restless, wary and warlike, they were the vagrants of the trackless forests. La Salle had been warned of their ferocity by the Jesuits. They were ever seeking new fields for conquest or opportunity. Nomadic, as were all the savages, the Shawnees bear off the palm for restlessness, and they were the equal of any in their undying hostility to the whites. They had wandered from the waters of Lake Erie to the warm shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to that they are known to have been along the Delaware River. They were a party to the famous Penn Treaty, held under the great elm in 1632. Marquette speaks of meeting them during his missionary travels in the Northwest. "From the waters of the northern lakes to the sandy beach washed by the temperate tides of the Mexican Gulf—from the Valley o'f the Susquehanna to the gloomy cottonwood forestoff the Mississippi—in forests grand and gloomy with the stately growth of ages—in the prairie, blossoming with beauty, and fragrant with the breath of a thousand sweets —by mountain torrents, or shaded springs, or widespread plains—the Shawnee sought the turkey, the deer, and the bison; and, almost from the landing of the whites at Jamestown, his favorite game was the cunning and avaricious pale-face." They were proud and haughty, and consid- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 155 ered themselves superior to the others. The Shawnee traditions said that the Creator made them before any other tribe or people, and that from them all red men were descended. Their arrogant pride and warlike ferocity made them the most formidable of all the nations with which the white settlers had to contend in Ohio. They reveled in their prowess and cunning. When driven from the Carolinas and Georgia, the Shawnees decided to repossess their former hunting grounds. Instead of resorting to force, however, they betook themselves to diplomacy. At a council of reconciliation, they were given permission to settle on the lands of the Miamis and Wyandots. They first established themselves along the Scioto, and later along the Auglaize and Miami. This matter of ownership was raised by both the Miamis and Wyandots at the Greenville Treaty, but the Government gave the Shawnees equal recognition with the other tribes. When the Miamis moved to Indiana, after the burning of Pickawillany, in 1782, the Shawnees assumed possession of their abandoned towns along the Mad River. Tribes under Blue Jacket and Blackhoof then established themselves at Wapakoneta at the same time, and others settled at St. Mary's, Lewistown, and the mouth of the Auglaize. Skulking bands were ever harassing the whites along the Ohio River, and attacking the flatboats of the settlers. Numerous indeed were the captives that they brought back. As a famous council house was located at Wapakoneta, many of them were brought there. Munitions of war were regularly furnished them by the British. At least 150 Shawnee warriors took part in the defeat of St. Clair. Blue Jacket lived in his village along the Auglaize in the style befitting a great chief. At the Treaty of Greenville, the Shawnees withheld participation for several weeks through their obstinacy. When the chiefs finally decided to join with the other tribes, they were reserved and haughty. But the warmheartedness of General Wayne was irresistible. When they left, Blue Jacket, Blackhoof, and Red Pole expressed their undying personal regard for Wayne, and they never again took up arms against the United States. No more were scalps offered for sale ; never again were people compelled to run the bloody gauntlet, or be burned at the stake. The Shawnees returned to their former vocations of hunting and trapping, with an increased cultivation of the soil. This was, of course, done by the women, as with the other tribes. The men lounged about during the summer, when the skins and furs were not fit for market. In the fall season nearly all the villagers commenced making elaborate preparations for their winter's hunt. When everything was ready, the whole village, men, women and children, together with their dogs (of which they always had a large supply), cats, and all their ponies, of which they kept great numbers, with as much of their furniture as they could conveniently carry, generally consisting of several brass or copper kettles, some wooden ladles, bowls, and large spoons, a tomahawk, and each one a large butcher-knife, set off for the lonely woods. "I have seen many of these companies moving off in cold weather," says a pioneer, "among whom were to be seen the aged, gray-headed grandmother, the anxious, care-worn and nearly forlorn mother with her half-naked children, and often a little infant on her back, fastened to a board or wrapped in her blanket and held to her back, with its little naked head to the cold wind over its mother's shoulder ; the whole company headed by a nimble-footed and stout-hearted warrior, with his blanket drawn close around his body, a handkerchief curiously twisted to a knot, on his head, with his gun on his shoulder and gun-stick in his hand, his tomahawk in his belt, which is so constructed that the poll is his pipe and the handle the stem, and he carries his tobacco 156 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO in the skin of some little animal, often a polecat skin." THE OTTAWAS The Ottawas were a Canadian tribe which formerly dwelt along the river of that name, and were also driven from there by the Iroquois. Accompanying the Wyandots, with whom they were on friendly terms, they went west, only to be again hurled back by the Sioux. Scattering bands finally found asylum along an affluent of the Maumee, and there gave their name to the river since known as the Auglaize. Indians frequently bestowed their name upon a river along which they lived, and the name changed as the tribes shifted their habitations. The Delawares also occupied lands with the Wyandots. They called themselves Lenape, or Leni-Lenape, meaning, "real men." They were in many respects a remarkable people. They were generally peaceable and well disposed toward the whites and religious teachers. When the Iroquois subdued them they "put petticoats on the men," to use their" expression, and made "women" of them. They were deprived of all right to make war, change their habitation, or dispose of their land without the consent of their overlords. Those found in Northwest Ohio had fled there to escape the humiliation of such surroundings. THE SENECAS One of the smaller tribes was the Senecas, who dwelt along the Lower Sandusky. Prior to the incoming of the white man, they remained there by the sufferance of the hospitable Wyandots. They were also Iroquois, or Mingoes, and were probably renegades from that nation. Among them were also a few Oneidas, Mohawks, and Tuscaroras. By the treaty of 1817, at the Foot of the Maumee Rapids, they were granted 30,000 acres on the east side of the Sandusky, within what is now in Sandusky and Seneca counties. In the following year they were granted an additional 10,000 acres. These lands they held until they were ceded to the United States in 1831, when the tribe removed to Missouri, on the Neosho River. About the beginning of the nineteenth century, these "Senecas of the Sandusky," as they were frequently called, numbered about 400 souls. At this time they were more dissipated than their neighbors, the Wyandots. Virtue was indeed at a low ebb, for the marriage relation was maintained. in name only, and their free practices led to many quarrels and difficulties of a serious nature. Their principal chiefs at that time were Coonstick, Small Cloud Spicer, Seneca Steel, Hard Hickory, Tall Chief, and Good Hunter. During the absence of his brothers on a long hunting trip, about the year 1825, Chief Comstock died. On the return of Coonstick and Seneca Steel, richly laden with furs and with many horses, their younger brother, by name Seneca John, was the principal chief. The brothers accused him of witchcraft, and condemned him to death. Now witchcraft among the Senecas, as among other Indian tribes, was an unpardonable sin and punishable only in this one way. It was frequently a convenient method of getting rid of an undesirable member of the tribe. Now John was a gentle, peaceable Indian, who was much respected by the whites. His credit was always good, and he frequently went security for the more improvident members of his tribe. "I loved my brother Comstock more than I love the green earth I stand upon," said Seneca John with rare eloquence. "I would give myself limb by limb, piecemeal by piecemeal—I would shed my blood drop by drop, to restore him to life." But all his protestations of innocence and affection for his brother Comstock were of no avail. His two other brothers formally pronounced him guilty, and HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 157 declared their determination to be his executioners. John replied that he was willing to die, and only wished to live until the next morning, "to see the sun rise once more." This request being granted, John told them that he should sleep that night on Hard Hickory's porch, which fronted the east, where they would find him at sunrise. This but was a little north of Greensprings. He chose that place because he did not wish to be killed in the presence of his wife, and desired that the chief, Hard Hickory, should witness that he died like a brave man. Coonstick and Steel retired for the night to an old cabin. In the morning, in company with Shane, another Indian, they proceeded to the house of Hard Hickory, who related the incident to General Bush. A little after sunrise the chief heard their footsteps upon the porch, and opened the door just enough to peep out. He saw John asleep upon his blanket, while they stood around him. At length one of them awoke him. He arose upon his feet and took off a large handerchief, which was around his head, letting his unusually long hair fall upon his shoulders. This being done, he looked around upon the landscape and at the rising sun, to take a farewell look of a scene that he was never again to behold, and then told them he was ready to die. Shane and Coonstick each took him by the arm, and Steel walked behind. In this way they conducted him about ten steps from the porch; when Steel struck him with a tomahawk on the back of the head, felling him to the ground. Supposing this blow sufficient, they dragged him under a peach tree nearby. In short time, however, John revived, the force of the blow having been broken by his great mass of hair. Knowing that it was Steel who struck the blow, John, as he lay, turned his head toward Coonstick, and said : "Now, brother, do you take your revenge." This so operated upon the feelings of Coonstick that he interposed to save him. It so enraged Steel, however, that he drew his knife and slashed John's throat from ear to ear. The next day the victim was buried with the usual Indian ceremonies, not more than twenty feet from where he fell. Steel was arrested and tried for the murder in Sandusky County, and was acquitted. 158 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO When the Senecas were removed, Coonstick and Steel demolished the picket fence which had been around the grave and leveled the ground, so that not a vestige was left. THE MIAMIS Along the Maumee River the dominant tribes were the Miamis. The British called them Twigtwees, meaning "the cry of the crane," while Miami was the French designation. They were one of the most powerful tribes of the West, numbering many hundreds of warriors. Members of this tribe were reported as far distant as Illinois and Wisconsin. Of his people, Little Turtle, their famous chief, said: "My fathers kindled the first fire at Detroit; thence they extended their lines to the head waters of the Scioto ; thence to its mouth; thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash and thence to Chicago over Lake Michigan." The tribe gave its name to three rivers, Big Miami, Little Miami, and Maumee. They are said to have been above the average of the aborigines in intelligence and character. They were also credited with better manners and dispositions than most of the savages. Their chiefs, also, had a greater degree of authority over their warriors. Their headquarters had formerly been near Piqua, but about the time of Pontiac's Conspiracy they settled along the Maumee. A French traveler, early in the eighteenth century, wrote of them as follows: "The Miamis are sixty leagues from Lake Erie, and number 400, all well formed men, and well tattooed ; the women are numerous. They are hard working, and raise a species of Maize unlike that of our Aborigines at Detroit. It is white. of the same size as the other, the skin much finer and the meat much whiter. This Nation is clad in deer and when a married woman goes with another man, her husband cuts off her nose and does not see her any more. This is the only nation that has such a custom. They love plays and dances, wherefore they have more occupation. The women are well clothed, but the men use scarcely any covering and are tattooed all over the body." INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS. "Each Indian," wrote the British agent at Detroit to the home office, "consumes daily more than two ordinary men amongst us, and would be extremely dissatisfied if stinted when convened for business." Consider the agent's distress when almost 1,000 had already arrived for a treaty, and they were still coming in hungry groups. All those who had charge of Indian treaties bear witness to the same characteristics of these aborigines. They were like grown-up children, and, like youngsters, they expected to be fed and fed well. Even Little Turtle, one of the wisest of the chiefs, and extremely abstemious in the use of alcoholic spirits, was as uncontrolled as his followers in the matter of eating. As a result of this, he was a great sufferer from gout in his later days. The virtues as well as the vices of these aborigines were those of primitive man. Our Teutonic ancestors, when they wandered across the plains of Germany, or our British forefathers, who perambulated over the hills and dales of Britain, were not angels, or very exemplary in their habits. The men spent their time in hunting and fighting, while the women performed the household work and cultivated the fields. In some sections of Central Europe they have not got over the latter custom even to this day, and the women do far more than their full share of toil. Even so did the savages of North America. The squaws did all the' menial work. But they had a commendable sense of justice among themselves, and they were far better before the white man came in contact with them. It is no wonder that the squaws, who were HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 159 frequently comely when young, soon lost all their comeliness and degenerated into smoke-begrimed, withered, and vicious hags, whose ugliness and cruelty frequently showed itself toward the white captives. About the only actual labor that the warriors would deign to perform was in the making of bark canoes or the dug-outs, called pirogues, in both of which they were very proficient. In their light canoes, covered with birch, elm, or chestnut bark, they sailed in safety over the heaving billows of Lake Erie in the stormiest weather. Before the white man brought horses, the squaw on land and the canoe on water were the Indian's beasts of burden. In infancy the males were generally placed on boards, and wrapped with a belt of cloth, or skin, in order to make them straight. In early life they were stimulated to acts of courage and activity. The females were shorter in stature and slower in motion. This may possibly come from their being brought up to hard labor and the carrying of heavy burdens. That the men possessed a lively imagination is shown by their speech. One of the astonishing things was the retentiveness of the memory. In a speech made to them, every point was retained, considered, and answered distinctly. Their history and traditions were all preserved in this same way. They were calm and cool in their deliberations and, when their minds were once made up, were almost immovable. They never forgot an act of kindness, and generally sought an opportunity to repay it. The word "friend" meant much to them, and they would risk life as well as property to save a friend. From the "superior race" the Indians imbibed the vices of civilization rather than the virtues. "Every horror is produced," says General Harrison, "among these unhappy people by their intercourse with the whites. This is so certain that I can at once tell, upon looking at an Indian whom I chance to meet, whether he belongs to a neighboring or more distant tribe. The latter is generally well clothed, healthy, and vigorous, the former half naked, filthy, and enfeebled by intoxication; and many of them without arms, excepting a knife, which they carry for the most villainous purposes." Of the vices received from the civilized white man, the taste for "firewater" was not the least. For their own selfish purpose, the traders cultivated this taste with diabolical persistency, and the governments of France and England selfishly permitted and encouraged it. But, when the red man's head was muddled with liquor, he recognized neither friend nor foe. He did not always consider the color of the skin, for his befuddled brain could not distinguish tints. As a result, there were innumerable murders of his own kin, as well as of his white friends and enemies. It has been estimated that fully 500 deaths from murders and accidents occurred among the Miamis alone in the decade following the close of the War of 1812, and most of them were traceable to liquor. This is the worst condemnation that can be brought against the malevolent influence of the whites. A trader at Fort Miami reported (1802) that the Indians were then growing worse year after year. That spring he said that he had known them to lay drunk around the trading stations as much as ten or fifteen days, during which time scarcely a mouthful of victuals would be taken. Many of the Indians chiefs recognized this evil. The renowned chief, Little Turtle, of the Miamis, did all that he could to eradicate this unnatural and depraved appetite. But the great Wyandot chief, Mononcue, expressed himself in the following telling words : "You, my friends, must leave off bringing your water of death (meaning whisky), and selling to my people, or we never can live in peace, for wherever this comes, it brings fire and death with it; and if you will still give or sell it to Indians, it will take away all their 160 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO senses; and then, like a mad bear, they may turn around and kill you, or some of your squaws and children ; or if you should escape, they will go home, and be very apt to kill a wife, a mother, or a child ; for whenever this mad water gets into a man, it makes murder boil in his heart, and he, like the wolf, wants blood all the time, and I believe it makes you white people as bad as it makes us Indians, and you would murder one another as we do, only that you have laws that put those people in jail, and sometimes hang them by the neck, like a dog, till they are dead ; and this makes white people afraid. We have no such laws yet ; but I hope that by and by we shall have. But I think they ought first to hang all people that make and send this poison abroad, for they do all the mischief. What good can it do to men to make and send out poison to kill their friends? Why, this is worse than our Indians, killing one another with knife and tomahawk. If the white people would hang them all up that make it and sell it, they would soon leave it off, and then the world would have peace. Now, my white friends, if you love us or yourselves—if you love peace, I beg that you will not sell these fire-waters to our poor people ; they are but children, many of them ; and you know that a child will just as soon take poison as food." Little Otter, another famous chief, expressed himself as follows : "We know that it makes us foolish, and quarrelsome, and poor, and that it destroys us, and has greatly diminished our number; that we used to be much happier before it came among us, and that it would be much better for us to be entirely without it. We do not know how to make it; Indians don't know how to make it, and have nothing to make it of. If your people did not make it and bring it to us we should not have it. And if we did not see it we should not care anything about it. But when we get a taste of it we love it so well we do not know how to stop drinking. Brother, since it is so, why do you not stop your people from bringing it among us?" There was a contrast in this respect just as there is with the whites, and some of the more virtuous refused to associate with the others who were dissipated. This class also cultivated their little farms with a fair degree of taste and judgment. Some of them could cook a comfortable meal, while they made both butter and a kind of cheese. Many of them were quite ingenious and natural mechanics, with a considerable knowledge of and an inclination to use tools. One chief had an assortment of carpenter's tools, which he kept in neat order, and with which he made plows, harrows, wagons, bedsteads, tables, bureaus, etc. He was a frank and conscientious man and a good neighbor. When asked who instructed him in the use of tools, he replied, no one; then, pointing up to the sky, he said : "The Great Spirit taught me." The Indians were just as intemperate in their eating as in their drinking. When a hunting party returned home after the long winter hunt, burdened with large quantities of bear oil, sugar, dried venison, etc., they were improvident both in the eating and the giving away of their spoils. Such a thing as a regular meal was unknown, but if anyone visited a house several times in a day, he would be invited each time to partake of the best. They were epicureans rather than stoics, for they never willingly suffered privations. The Indian would neither forego an enjoyment nor suffer an inconvenience, if he could avoid it. After his etiquette, also, it was impolite to decline food when offered, for refusal was interpreted as a sign of displeasure or anger. It is not surprising that provisions rapidly disappeared under such thoughtless improvidences. Through this lack of foresight they were often reduced to great distress, and sometimes actually perished from hunger and exposure, even though they were HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 161 capable of enduring great privation and fatigue. They seem to have believed literally in the injunction to take no thought for the morrow. It was not uncommon for the Indians to be without sustenance for days at a time, but they never seemed to profit by such experiences. At times during the winter, when hunting was impossible, because of weather conditions, they were driven by hunger to digging walnuts', hickorynuts, or other forage from beneath the snow. They were sometimes compelled to boil the bones thrown from the feasts of their prosperous days, and even to gnaw the skins upon which they slept. Firm believers in witchcraft, as they were, the Indians generally attributed sickness and most misfortunes to this cause. As a result, they were in the habit of murdering those whom they suspected of practicing it. An Indian has been known to travel all the way from the Mississippi to Wapakoneta and shoot down a person in his cabin, merely on suspicion of his being a wizard, and to return home unmolested. Whenever a person became so sick as to induce his faMily and friends to think he was in danger of dissolution, it was not uncommon for them to place the victim in the woods alone, with no one to minister to his wants except a nurse or medicine man, who generally assisted in hurrying on the end. It was most distressing to see a helpless human being in this situation, and not be permitted to render assistance. Seldom indeed was a white. man permitted even a sight of the scene, it being contrary to the custom for anyone to visit them, except such as had the medical care. The whole nation were at liberty to attend all the funerals, at which there was generally great lamentation. A chief who died just previous to their removal from Wapakoneta was buried in the following manner : They bored holes in the lid Of his coffin—as is their custom .over his eyes and mouth, to let the Good Spirit ass in and out. Over the grave they laid Vol. I-11 presents, etc., with provisions, which they affirmed the Good. Spirit would take him in the night. These articles had all disappeared in the morning, but doubtless by the hand of an evil spirit clothed in a human body." The American Indian was and is a polytheist in his religious belief. The trees, the rocks, the rivers, the waterfalls, and the mountains were the abiding places, of supernatural be- ings. The rustling leaves, the marvelous rainbow, the rumbling thunder and the flashing lightning were each either a manifestation or the embodiment of a power that could be appeased and had better be obeyed than defied. To his mind even the wild animals of the forest and the birds of the air were sometimes possessed of a spirit or influence that demanded attention. The untutored red man of the forest was indeed a child of superstition, and hence his ceremonies were many. They were always fantastic, sometimes cruel and disgusting. His fetishism was one of his most prominent traits. He was just as primitie and just as savage in his religion as in his life—a strange mixture in which the brutal, the ridiculous, and the sublime were strangely mingled. His gods all bore the attributes of his own unrestrained nature. But all tribes recognized a Great Spirit, a Gitche Manitou, the Mighty. The conjurers among the Indians exerted an abnormal influence. It was this trait of mind that enabled The Prophet to ingratiate himself as he did, and stir the tribesmen up to such a high degree of fanaticism to aid Tecumseh in his far reaching plans. The conjurers were believed to be possessed of great skill in medicine, but it was generally a form of bewitching, or faith cure. Sickness and failure in hinting were alike attributed to a supernatural influence. Some of these medi cine men had a wonderful reputation, and were summoned from great distances. The conjurer would frequently demand a horse, saddle, and bridle, as well as an abundance 162 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO of whisky, as his fee. If the incantations were a failure, he had only to report that the Great Spirit killed the subject :of ::his ministrations. The Indian doctors likewise led in most of the tribal dances. In many instances these men oCcupied a really higher position in the esteem of 'the Indians, and exercised a more powerful influence than the chiefs themselves, for the chiefs received no emolument and generally had no authority or power to enforce their commands. Although. the Indians believed that there was both a benevolent and malevolent spirit, their prayers and sacrifices were usually offered to the latter. The reason for this was that the Good Spirit will not injure his children, but the bad spirit will if he can. Therefore he must be pacified. That the Indian was naturally kind-hearted and hospitable is testified to by nearly all the early settlers and missionaries. While cruel, crafty, and treacherous in dealing with enemies, he could be generous, kind, and hospitable among friends, and oftentimes magnanimous to a foe. Although a savage by nature, he was not a stranger to the nobler and tenderer sentiments common to humanity. He was not always the aggressor by any means, for history records no darker or bloodier crimes than some of those which have been committed by our own race against the poor Indians. However much we are disinclined to recognize their ownership in the soil, in their own opinion their title was indisputable. They claimed it by right of might, the sole arbiter, as the numerous sanguinary wars recorded on history's pages bear indisputable witness. The Indians fought after their own ideals. But with a white race, the British, actually offering a bonus for every American or French scalp brought into their posts, and feasting the returning war parties upon rich foods and exciting drinks, the ideas of the "palefaces" and their ideals must have been sadly confused in the poor, benighted brain of the ignorant savage. The trial of courage, or ordeal of "running the gauntlet," was one of the most savage amusements of the Indians. Heckewelder, in one of his books, describes this trying ceremony as follows : "In the month of April, 1782, when I was myself a prisoner at Lower Sandusky, waiting for an opportunity to proceed with a *trader to Detroit,—three American prisoners were brought in by fourteen warriors from the garrison of Fort McIntosh. As soon as they had crossed the Sandusky River, to which the village lay adjacent, they were told by the captain of the party to run as hard as they could to a painted post :which was shown to them. The youngest of the* three without a moment's hesitation immediately started for it, and reached it fortunately without receiving a single blow ; the second hesitated for a moment, just recollecting himself, he also ran as fast as he could and likewise reached post unhurt. The third, frightened at seeing so many men, women and children with weapons, in their hands ready to strike him, kept begging the captain to spare him, saying that he was a mason and would build him a fine large stone house or do any work for him that he would please. " 'Run for your life,' cried the chief to him, 'and don't talk now of building houses.' But the poor fellow still insisted, begging and praying to the captain, who at last finding his exhortations vain and fearing the consequences turned his back upon him and would not hear him any longer. Our mason now began to run, but received many a hard blow, one 'of which nearly brought him - to the' ground, which, if he had fallen would have decided his fate. He, however, reached the goal, and not without being sadly bruised and he was besides bitterly reproached and scoffed' at all around as a vile coward, while the others were hailed as brave men and received tokens. of universal approbation." With all their atrocities and foibles, and: HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 163 depravities, there is something fascinating about the Indian's character, as well as something extremely picturesque. The Indian preferred to describe a man, a river, or a town by some prominent quality or feature rather than a name. Thus all Indian names described a characteristic. Thus we had "The man with a pipe in his mouth," and "That man with a lame leg." A father was out hunting early one morning and, emerging from the dark forest, saw a herd of deer basking in the morning sun. Hence he gave his boy, born that day, the name of " Sun shining on the deer." Another name was "Star Road," after what we term the "milky way." More prosaic names were "Stand in the Water" and "Lump on the Head." It must be remembered, however, that each of these names had a real significance to the red men. One could not associate with them long without having a perceptibly growing attachment for them. The Indian did not greatly esteem some of the American customs, for he believed that his own were better. An aged Indian, who for many years had spent a great deal of time among the white people, observed that the Indians had not only a much easier way of getting a wife than the paleface, but that they were also much more certain of getting a satisfactory one. "For," said he, in his broken English, "white man court—court maybe one whole year—maybe two year, before he marry. Well, maybe, then he get very good wife—maybe not, maybe very cross. Well, now suppose cross; scold as soon as get awake in the morning! Scold all day ! Scold until sleep—all one, he must keep him! (The pronoun in the Indian language has no feminine gender.) White people have law against throwing away wife, be he ever so cross—must keep him always (possibly not so true today). Well, how does Indian do? Indian when he sees good squaw, which he likes, he goes to him, puts his forefingers close aside each other—make two look like one—look squaw in the face see him smile—which is all one; he say yes. So he take him home—no danger he be cross! No! No ! Squaw know very well what Indian do, if he cross. Throw him away and take another. Squaw love to eat meat. No husband, no meat. Live happy ! Go to Heaven!" This sentiment probably does not appeal very strongly to the extremely modern women of the twentieth century. CHAPTER XV (THE RED MEN OF THE FORESTS—Continued) The Indian is emphatically the natural man. It was an easy thing to formulate an Indian out of a white youth, and sometimes an adult. Many captives were formally adopted into the Indian families. Almost invariably they formed such attachments for their foster parents and relatives that they could scarcely be induced to return to their own people in after years. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to revert to the primitive ways and customs of their foster parents. The Indians treated them indulgently, and in exactly the same way as they did their own offspring. There was an old white woman living among the Shawnees, who had been taken a prisoner when very young. Several years afterward her friends tried to induce her to return, but in vain. She had then become more of a squaw than any other female in the tribe. Similar instances will be found along every section of our former frontier. John Brickell was captured by the Indians of Northwest Ohio at the immature age of nine, and remained with them until he had reached manhood. In accordance with a treaty, he was taken to the white encampment to be delivered over to his own people. Let me relate the incident in his own language. "On breaking up of spring, we all went to Fort Defiance and arriving on the shore opposite, we saluted the fort with a round of rifles, and they shot a cannon thirteen times (for the thirteen states). We then encamped on the spot. On the same day Whingy Pooshies told me I must go over to the fort. The children hung around me, crying, and asked me if I was going to leave them. I told them I did not know. When we got over to the fort and were seated with the officers, Whingy Pooshies told me to stand up, which I did. He then arose and addressed me in about these words : 'My son, these are men the same color with yourself, and some of your kin may be here, or they may be a great way off. You have lived a long time with us. I call on you to say if I have not been a father to you; if I have not used you as a father would a son? " 'You have used me as well as a father could use a son,' was the answer. " 'I am glad you say so. You have lived long with me ; you have hunted for me; but your treaty says you must be free. If you choose to go with people of your own color I have no right to say a word; but if you choose to stay with me your people have no right to speak. Now reflect on it and take your choice and tell us as soon as you make up your mind.' "I was silent for a few minutes, in which time I seemed to think of most everything. I thought of the children I had just left crying; I thought of the Indians I was attached to, and I thought of my people whom I remembered ; and this latter thought predominated, and I said, 'I will go with my kin.' He then sank back in tears to his seat. I heartily joined with him in his tears, parted with him, and have never seen or heard of him since." On his return from his captivity, Brickell settled in Columbus, and became one of her esteemed citizens. Not every father or foster - 164 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 165 father of the Caucasian race treats his son with such marked affection, or regrets parting so sincerely as did this simple, unlettered red man of the wilderness. Another captive of the Indians in Northwest Ohio was a man named Crow, but whose real name proved to be Jacob Knisely. He was stolen by the Wyandots on the Loyal Hannah, in Pennsylvania, and given to the Senecas, who adopted him. The prisoner was about two. or three years old when he was thus forcibly abducted. The parents were away from home at the time, and the older children were gathering berries, some distance away. The savages succeeded in escaping with the child unobserved. An old Seneca County pioneer speaks of Crow's decision to remain with his captives as follows: "When Crow's father came to hunt him up, he stopped at Crow's, and sent for my grandfather to come and interpret the conversation. Crow could not talk English. So I went along and heard all that was said. He stated all about the manner of the stealing of his son, and said he had now visited all the lodges of the other tribes without success. My grandfather had been with the Senecas so much that he spoke their language quite fluently. He was one of the few who made their escape at the massacre of Wyoming. "They talked a long time. Crow did not want to talk; denied every recollection of his white ancestry, and often refused to give any answer. Finally Mr. Knisely said to him : If you are my son, then your name is Jacob. With this Crow jumped up and said, 'That is my name, and I am your son; I recollect that, but I kept it all to myself for fear that somebody would claim me and take me away. Crow then sent up to the Wyandots and had his foster-mother come down, who corroborated Mr. Knisely's version of the stealing of his child. She was a very old squaw, and stayed several days, and as long as Mr. Knisely stayed, to satisfy herself that Crow would not go back with his father. Mr. 166 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Knisely tried every way to induce his son to go back with him to Pennsylvania; he said that his wife had been sick some time ; that she had mourned for her lost child some fifty years, and would be willing to die if she could only once more see her dear boy. The scene was very affecting; but Crow was immovable. He said he had now a family of his own to look after and could not go, but promised to visit his parents some other time. He laughed heartily over the idea as to how he would look dressed up like a white man. Mr. Knisely left one morning, and Crow accompanied his father as far as Bellevue, where they stayed together all night. Crow returned next day, and when the Indians started for their new homes in the West he went with them. He never went to see his parents at all. Crow got his share in the treaties with the Wyandots, as well as with the Senecas, and became quite well off. Crow's first wife was a full blood Indian ; his second wife was a daughter of William Spicer." The Indian is an anomalous character, just as is his white brother. There are many inconsistencies in his make-up ; but has he more of these contrarieties than his successor? The Russian has a reputation for cruelty and hardheartedness almost unsurpassed. And yet, there is not a kinder dispositioned and more charitable individual in the world than the Russian peasant. In that most despotic country, with autocracy as its cornerstone, we find the most democratic institution in the world —the village commune. This is only one of the paradoxes that one will find among the Caucasians. Neither the Teuton nor the Latin nor the Anglo-Saxon is exempt from such characteristics. The Great War has again resurrected the supposedly latent cruelties of all. Therefore do not expect to find uniformity or conformity among the tribes or the individuals of the aborigines. We get a description of the character of those aborigines who either roamed or dwelt along the Maumee, and who were very like all the others of the period, together with the trials and discouragements attending the efforts of the missionaries among them, from the few pages that have been preserved of the journal kept by Reverend McCurdy, a missionary along the Maumee : " They (the aborigines) have been collect. ing for ten days past (1808) from different places and tribes, and this is to be the week of their Great Council. Hundreds more are yet expected. The plains are now swarming with them, and they appear to be full of devilish festivity, although they can scarcely collect as much of any kind of vegetables as will allay the imperious demands of nature. They are here almost every hour begging for bread, milk, meat, melons, or cucumbers; and if they can get no better, they will eat a ripe cucumber with as little ceremony as a hungry swine. And, notwithstanding this state of outward wretchedness and these mortifying circumstances, they are swollen with pride, and will strut about and talk with an air as supercilious as the Great Mogul. Their ceremonies, also, are conducted with as much pomposity as if they were individually Napoleons or Alexanders. "Their houses, when they have any, are wretched huts, almost as dirty as they can be, and swarming with fleas and lice. Their furniture, a few barks, a tin or brass kettle, a gun, pipe, knife and tomahawk. Their stock are principally dogs. Of these they have large numbers, but they are mere skeletons, the very picture of distress. These unhappy people appear to have learned all the vices of a number of miserable white men, who have fled to these forests to escape the vengeance of the law, or to acquire property in a way almost infinitely worse than that of highwaymen. They are so inured to white men of this description that it is next to impossible to make them believe you design to do them good, or that your object is not eventually to HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 167 cheat them. It is vain to reason with them. Their minds are too dark to perceive its force, or their suspicions bar them against any favorable conclusions. Such is their ingratitude, that whilst you load them with favors they will reproach you to your face, and construe your benevolent intentions and actions into intentional fraud or real injury. They will lie in the most deliberate manner and to answer any selfish purpose. They will not bear contradiction, but will take the liberty to contradict others in the most impudent and illiberal manner. '' Until the coming of the white man, relations among the various tribes were of the most primitive nature. They did not even have any money. To them wampum served the purpose of a medium of exchange. But it was far more than money ; wampum was an article much in use among many tribes, not only for ornament and as a badge of wealth and position, but for the graver purposes of councils, treaties, and embassies. It might be used as an invitation to war, or as an emblem of peace and good will. In ancient times, it consisted of the small shells of mollusks, or fragments of shells, rudely perforated and strung together in the form of cylinders 1/8 of an inch or more in diameter, and from 1/4 to 1/2 an inch in length. This was done by rubbing them on stones of varying roughness, and the process required considerable skill as well as a great deal of patience and time. The strings were generally somewhat uniform in size. Sections of bones and the claws and beaks of birds, as well as teeth, also were used as wampum. More recently, however, it was manufactured by the white men from the inner portion of certain marine and fresh-water shells. In shape the grains or beads resembled small pieces of broken pipe stem, and were of various sizes and colors, black, purple, and white. When used for ornament, they were arranged fancifully in necklaces, collars, and embroidery ; but when employed for public purposes, they were disposed in a great variety of patterns and devices, which, to the minds of the Indians, had all the significance of hieroglyphics. An Indian orator, at every clause of his speech, delivered a belt or string of wampum, varying in size, according to the importance of what he had said, and with its figures and coloring so arranged as to perpetuate the remembrance of his words. These belts were carefully stored up like written documents, and it was generally the office of some old man in the tribe to interpret their meaning. When a wampum belt was sent to summon the tribes to join in war, its color was always red or black, while the prevailing color of a peace belt was white. Tobacco was sometimes used on such occasions as a substitute for wampum, since, in their councils, the Indians are in the habit of constantly smoking, and tobacco is therefore taken as the emblem of deliberation. With the tobacco, or the belt of wampum, presents are not infrequently sent to conciliate the good will of the tribe whose alliance is sought. INDIAN CHIEFS There were many noted chiefs in Northwest Ohio, and some have been given mention elsewhere in this work. One of the most eminent was Blue Jacket, who led the Indians at the battle of Fallen Timbers. The American captive, Oliver M. Spencer, with his captor's mother, visited Chief Blue Jacket, on the 21st of July, 1792, at his village on the north bank of the Maumee, 1 1/4 miles below the courthouse of the present City of Defiance. He afterward wrote of his visit, and of the noted chief and his visitors, as follows: "We were kindly received by Waw-paw-waw-quaw (his captor) whose wife, a very pleasant and rather pretty woman of twenty-five, according to custom set before us some refreshment consisting of dried green corn 168 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO boiled with beans and dried pumpkins, making, as I thought, a very excellent dish. After spending a few hours with his family, we went to pay our respects to the village chief, the celebrated Blue Jacket. This chief was the most noble in appearance of any aborigine I ever saw. His person, about six feet high, was finely proportioned, and stout and muscular ; his eyes large, bright and piercing; his forehead high and broad ; his nose aquiline ; his mouth rather wide ; his. countenance open and intelligent, expressive of firmness and decision. He was considered one of the most brave and accomplished of the aborigine chiefs, second only to Little Turtle and Buckon-ge-ha-la, having signalized himself on many occasions, particularly in the defeats of Colonel Hardin and General St. Clair. He held the commission, and received the half pay, of a brigadier-general from the British crown. "On this day, while receiving a visit from the Snake, chief of a neighboring Shawnee village, and from Simon Girty, he was dressed in a scarlet frock coat, richly laced with gold and confined around his waist with a parti-colored sash, and in red leggings and moccasins ornamented in the highest style of aborigine fashion. On his shoulders he wore a pair of gold epauletts and on his arm silver bracelets, while from his neck hung a massive silver gorget and a medallion of his majesty George III. Around his lodge were hung rifles, war clubs, bows and arrows, and other implements of war ; while the skins of deer, bear, panther, and otter, spoils of the chase, furnished pouches for tobacco, and mats for seats and beds. His wife was a remarkably fine looking woman. His daughters, much fairer than the generality of aborigine women, were quite handsome ; and his two sons, about eighteen and twenty years old, educated, by the British, were intelligent." Blue Jacket's home after the Greenville Treaty was at Wapakoneta. He was engaged in the liquor traffic for a number of years, or until about 1825. He and The Prophet and a few other Shawnees then emigrated to Missouri and joined the Shawnees there. Nothing is known of his history after that time. His son, James Blue Jacket, continued in the sale of whisky until the removal of the tribe to the West. The figure which stands out most prominently on the canvas of Northwest Ohio among the Indians is Meshekenoghqua, or the Little Turtle, chief of the Miamis. This name was not given the chief because of his stature, for he was nearly six feet in height. As a warrior, the Little Turtle was bold, sagacious, and resourceful, and he was not only respected by his people, but their feeling almost approached veneration. When fully convinced that all resistance to the encroaching whites was in vain, Little Turtle brought his nation to consent to peace and to adopt agricultural pursuits. Few indeed are the Indian leaders who accomplished so much in abolishing the rite of human sacrifice among their people. He became very popular and highly esteemed by the whites, among whom he was known as a man whose word could be depended upon. Furthermore, he was endowed with unusual wit, enjoyed good company, and was still fonder of good eating. During the presidency of Washington he visited that great man at the capitol, and during his whole life thereafter spoke of the pleasure which that visit afforded him. Col. John Johnson speaks of the Little Turtle in the highest terms. He was, says he, "A companionable Indian. Little Turtle was a man of great wit; humor and vivacity, fond of the company of gentlemen, and delighted in good eating. When I knew him he had two wives living with him under the same roof in the greatest harmony ; one, an old woman about his own age—fifty—the choice of his youth, who performed the drudgery of the house, the other a young and beautiful HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 169 creature of eighteen, who was his favorite ; yet it was never discovered by any one that the least unkind feeling existed between them. The Little Turtle used to entertain us with many of his war adventures." Thirty years after the Treaty of Greenville he died at Fort Wayne, of gout ( !), which would seem a marvelous fact did we not remember that the Turtle was a high liver, and a gentleman; equally remarkable was it that his body was borne to the grave with military honors by his great enemy, the white man. The muffled drum, the funeral salute, announced that a great soldier had fallen, and even enemies paid their mournful tribute to his memory. The sun of Indian glory set with him; the clouds and shadows, which for 200 years had gathered around their destiny, now closed in the starless night of death. The chief Catahecassa, or Blackhoof, died at Wapakoneta, shortly previous to their removal, at the alleged age of one hundred and ten years. Among the celebrated chiefs of the Shawnees, Blackhoof is entitled to the highest rank. He was born in Florida, before the emigration of that tribe to Ohio, and was old enough to recollect having bathed in the salt water. He was present with others of his tribe at the disastrous defeat of Braddock, near Pittsburg, in 1755, and was engaged in all the wars against the whites in Ohio, from that time until the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. Far and wide had the reputation of this great Shawnee warrior spread among the red men, for his cunning and sagacity were only equaled by the fierce and desperate bravery with which he carried into operation his military plans. Like the other Shawnee chiefs, he was the unyielding foe of the white man. He maintained that no peace should be made nor any negotiation entered into except on the condition that the whites should withdraw to the Ohio and re-cross the mountains, leaving the expansive plains of the West to the undisputed occupancy of the native tribes. He was the orator of his tribe during the greater part of his long life, and was an excellent speaker. The venerable Colonel Johnston, so frequently mentioned in these papers, described him as the most graceful Indian he had ever seen. Although a stern and uncompromising opposition to the whites had marked Blackhoof's policy through a series of forty years, and had nerved his arm in a hundred battles, he became at length convinced of the futility of an ineffectual strength against a foe so vastly superior and whose members were increasing daily. The temporary success of the Indians. in several engagements, previous to the memorable campaign of General Wayne, had kept alive the expiring hopes of the savages. Their signal defeat by that gallant officer, however, convinced the more reflecting of their leaders of the desperate and futile character of the struggle. Blackhoof was among those who decided upon making the best terms possible with the victorious Americans. Having signed the treaty of 1795, he continued faithful to its stipulations during the remainder of his life. From* that day he ceased to be the enemy of his former adversaries. As he was not one who could assume a negative and inactive character, he was transformed into the firm ally and friend of those against whom his tomahawk had been raised for so many years with murderous intent. It was not from sympathy or conviction that he became their friend, but in obedience to a recognized necessity, and under a belief that submission alone could save his tribe from destruction. Having adopted this policy, his sagacity and sense of honor alike forbade a recurrence either to 'open war or secret hostility. At the period when Tecumseh and his brother, The Prophet, commenced their hostile operations against the United States, Blackhoof was the principal chief of the Shawnee nation, and possessed all the influence and authority which are usually attached 170 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO to that office. Nevertheless, he continued faithful to the treaty which he had signed at Greenville in 1795, and by prudence and judicious counsel prevented the greater part of his tribe from joining the standard of Tecumseh, or engaging on the side of the British in the War of 1812. In that contest he became the firm ally of the young republic and, although he took no active part in it, he visited General Tupper's camp, at Fort McArthur. About 10 o'clock one night, when sitting by the fire in company with that general and several other officers, someone discharged a pistol through a hole in the wall of the but and shot the Shawnee chieftain in the face. The ball entered the cheek, and finally lodged in his neck. Blackhoof fell, and for some time was supposed to be dead, but finally revived and fully recovered from this painful wound. Prompt and diligent inquiry was instituted to discover the author of this cruel and dastardly act, but all efforts failed to lead to his detection. No doubt was entertained that this attempt at assassination was made by a white man, who was stimulated, perhaps, by no better excuse than the memory of some actual or imagined wrong inflicted by the unknown hand of some red savage. Blackhoof was opposed to polygamy, and to the barbarous practice of burning prisoners. He is reported to have lived forty years with one wife, and to have reared a numerous family of children, who both loved and esteemed him. His disposition was cheerful, and his conversation sprightly and agreeable. In stature he was small, being not more than 5 feet 8 inches in height. He was favored with good health, and unimpaired eyesight to the period of his death. This is the testimony of a contemporaneous writer. Another of the noted chiefs of the Shawnees was Pht, which is pronounced Pe-aich-ta. While the council house at Shawneetown was being built in 1831, but not completed, his cabin stood but a few rods northwest of the new building. Here the chief, after a long sickness, died, and was buried only a short time before the removal of the Hog Creek Indians to Kansas. He was buried near his cabin in his garden. A large concourse of Shawnees were present at his funeral, and many little trinkets were deposited with his body. After the burial, according to the ancient custom, the Shawnees slaughtered a beef, cooked and prepared the meat, and held a sort of feast. Peter Cornstalk, a son of the old chief of that name, who was at Point Pleasant, is noted among the Indians of this Northwest Ohio. He fought in the three great battles of the Maumee basin, but after that of Fallen Timber he decided that further resistance was useless. He and his tribe settled on the east bank of the Auglaize River, about two miles below Wapakoneta, where he resided until his tribe was moved to Kansas by the Government. He encouraged the cultivation of the soil more than any of the other chiefs, and his people became quite prosperous. When the Indians removed to the West, he was eighty-two years of age. There was a tradition in circulation for many years that Cornstalk died and was buried near Wapakoneta, at his old village. As a matter of fact, he lived until about the year 1845, and was interred at the Quaker Cemetery, near the Kansas River. Among the chiefs of the Senecas, after their contract with the whites, Hard Hickory was the leading spirit. He was a leader of no ordinary caliber, for he was possessed of polished manners, which are seldom seen in an Indian. He spoke the French language quite fluently, and the English in a fairly intelligible way. He was an ardent friend of the whites, but, by scrupulously adhering to the custom of his people, he endeared himself to them as well. The white merchants reposed implicit trust in him, and whenever Hard Hickory assumed responsibility for goods pur- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 171 ed, no other security was required. With his good traits, however, Hard Hickory ally lost his reputation as an honest man. He first became an embezzler and then a liar, as many white men have done under the same circumstances, some of whom have lived to njoy their ill-gotten gains. An annuity of 6,000 was due from the State of New York certain families of Cuyahogas, to which be Hard Hickory belonged. This annuity d been regularly paid, up to the time of eir removal to the Sandusky region. In 834 this annuity arrived in the form of a raft, and Hard Hickory was delegated to to Fort Gibson to get the money, together with George Herrin, the interpreter. After eiving it, Hard Hickory proposed to Hera trip to Washington to look. after the mess of the tribe. For a month Hard Hickory and the interreter reveled in all the luxuries and dissipation of the capital city. When they finally determined to return home, the Indians requested the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to reimburse them for the money expended, which was promptly refused. On arriving home, the annuity was practically exhausted. When summoned to make an accounting to his people, Hard Hickory at first attempted to say that something was wrong with the draft which compelled him to go to Washington, and that the money, all in silver, would arrive soon. Doubting this rather plausible statement, they dispatched a messenger to Fort Gibson to investigate the truth. When it was learned that the money had been paid, a solemn council of the tribe was held. Hard Hickory appeared and confessed his guilt. The penitent chief threw himself upon the mercy of his people, offering to surrender all his horses and other property as an indemnity. In spite of this, he was condemned to died. This fate seemed cruel and unmerited, to the stoical chief. For several days he confined himself in his house, heavily armed to resist the execution of the sentence. At length an Indian by the name of Shane went to the cabin and besought admittance. As he was alone, this request was granted. Shane wore a blanket, and when Hard Hickory held out his right hand in welcome, Shane drew a knife and thrust it through the body. He was then dragged out of doors, where several other Indians stabbed and tomahawked him. Thus perished in ignominy a chief who had acquired the respect of his white neighbors. One of the most distinguished Delaware chieftains of Northwest Ohio was Buckongahelas, although this name is spelled in various ways by' different writers. He was so active in the War of 1755 that the government of Pennsylvania offered a reward of $700 for his head and that of one other chief. He was looked upon as "the greatest Delaware warrior of his time," according to Heckewelder. Shortly after the Bouquet's expedition to the Muskingum., Buckongahelas moved west and settled on the Maumee River. A little later he moved up the Auglaize River and located at Ottawa Town, near Fort Amanda. He and his tribes participated in the battles against Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne. He was a really noble adversary, and it is said that he took no delight in the shedding of blood. He had been so much under the influence of the Moravian ministers that he might almost be termed a civilized man. In 1792, when Colonel Hardin, Major Truman, and several others were sent by President Washington with a flag of truce to the Indians of the West, they were captured and all of them murdered excepting William Smalley, who was conducted to Buckongahelas. This chief showed him great consideration. He rebuked the Indians for their atrocities, and protected Smalley with a guard, so that no harm could befall him. It is said that the conduct of the British at the battle of Fallen Timbers estranged him from the former allies, and from that time he remained a friend of the 172 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Americans. He was one of the chiefs who signed the Greenville Treaty, and all treaties for a decade thereafter until his death, late in the fall of 1804. At this time he is supposed to have been over one hundred years old. INDIAN HONOR   In the pioneer annals of Northwest Ohio the name of Capt. John Logan, a Shawnee warrior, should be written in a conspicuous place. His mother is said to have been a sister of Tecumseh. When a boy this Shawnee lad had been taken prisoner by some Kentuckians, and had lived for several years with the family of General Logan. Hence he received the name of Logan, to which the title of "Captain" was eventually attached. For a time he was sent to school, and was then given his liberty. Although he returned to his people, he ever remained a true friend of the whites who had treated him so kindly. His Indian name was She-ma-ge-la-be,. "the High Horn." He subsequently rose to the rank of a civil chief, in his tribe, on account of his many estimable intellectual and moral qualities. His personal appearance was commanding, being six feet in height, and weighing near 200 pounds. He kept his followers loyal to the United States, and fought on their side with constancy and fidelity.   When General Harrison reached Piqua, on September 5, 1812, he requested Colonel Johnson to furnish him some reliable spies. It was then that Captain Logan entered the service of the American commander. In November of that year, Harrison directed Logan to take a small party of his tribe, and reconnoiter the country in the direction of the rapids of the Maumee. When near their destination, the three scouts were met by a body of the enemy, superior to their own in number, and compelled to retreat. Logan, Captain Johnny, and Bright Horn effected their escape to the left wing of the army, then under the command of General Winchester, who was duly informed of the circumstances of their adventure. A thoughtless officer of the Kentucky troops, without the slightest ground for such a charge, accused Logan of infidelity to the American cause, and of giving intelligence to the enemy. Wounded to the quick by this foul accusation, the red man at once resolved to meet it in a manner that would leave no doubt as to his loyalty. He called upon a friend among the troops, and told him of the imputation that had been cast upon his reputation. He declared that he would start from the camp next morning, and either leave his body bleaching in the woods, or return with such trophies from the enemy as would relieve his character from the suspicion that had been so wantonly cast upon it.   "Accordingly, on the morning of the 22d," so runs the account, "he started down the Maumee, attended by his two faithful companions, Captain Johnny and Bright Horn. About noon, having stopped for the purpose of taking rest, they were suddenly surprised by a party of seven of the enemy, among whom were young Elliott, a half-breed, holding a commission in the British service, and the celebrated Potawatomie chief, Winnemac. Logan made no resistance, but, with great presence of mind, extending his hand to Winnemac, who was an old acquaintance, proceeded to inform him that he and his two companions, tired of the American service, were just leaving Gen. Winchester's army, for the purpose of joining the British. Winne-mac, being familiar with Indian strategy, was not satisfied with this declaration, but proceeded to disarm Logan and his comrades, rades, and placing his party around them, so as to prevent their escape, started for the British camp at the foot of the rapids. In the course of the afternoon Logan's address was such as to inspire confidence in his sincerity, and induce Winnemac to restore to him and his companions their arms. Logan now formed the plan of attacking his captors on the first   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 173   favorable opportunity, and while marching along succeeded in communicating the substance of it to Captain Johnny and Bright Horn. Their guns being already loaded, they had little further preparation to make than to put bullets into their mouths, to facilitate the reloading of their arms. In carrying on this process Captain Johnny, as he afterwards related, fearing that the man marching by gus side had observed the operation, adroitly did away the impression by remarking 'Me chaw heap tobac.’   "The evening being now at hand, the British Indians determined to encamp on the bank of Turkey foot creek, about twenty miles from Fort Winchester. Confiding in the idea that Logan had really deserted the American service, a part of his captors rambled around the place of their encampment in search of blackhaws. They were no sooner out of sight than Logan gave the signal of attack upon those who remained behind; they fired, and two of the enemy fell dead—the third, being only wounded, required a second shot to dispatch him ; and in the mean time the remainder of the party, who were near by, returned the fire, all of them 'treed.' There being four of the enemy, and only three of Logan's .party, the latter could not watch all the movements of their antagonists. During an active fight, the fourth man of the enemy passed around until Logan was uncovered by his tree, and shot him through the body. By this time Logan's party had wounded two of the surviving four, which caused them to fall back. Taking advantage of this state of things, Captain Johnny mounted Logan, now suffering the pain of a mortal wound, and Bright Horn, also wounded, on two of the enemy's horses, and started them for Winehester's. camp, which they reached about midnight. When the news of this gallant air had spread through the camp, and especially after it was known that Logan was mortally wounded, it created a deep and mournful sensation. No one, it is believed, more deeply regretted the fatal catastrophe than the author of the charge upon Logan's integrity, which had led to this unhappy result."   Logan's popularity was very great, and he was almost universally esteemed in the army for his fidelity to the American cause, his recognized bravery, and the nobleness of his nature. He lived two or three days after reaching camp, but in extreme bodily agony. His body was borne by the soldiers to Wapakoneta, where his family lived, and there he was buried with mixed military honors and savage rites. Previous to his death he related the particulars of this fatal enterprise to a friend, declaring to him that he prized his honor more than life. Having now vindicated his reputation from the imputation cast upon it, he died satisfied. It would be difficult, in the history of savage warfare, to point out an enterprise the execution of which reflects higher credit upon its authors than does this incident upon Logan and his two companions. "Indeed, a spirit even less indomitable, a sense of honor less acute, and a patriotic devotion to a good cause less active than were manifested by this gallant chieftain of the woods, might under other circumstances have well conferred immortality upon his name."   In the treaty of 1817, the grant of land was made to Logan's family, in the following words : " To the children of the late Shawnee chief, Captain Logan or Spa-ma-ge-la-be, who fell in the service of the United States during the late war, one section of land to contain six hundred and forty acres on the east side of the Great Au Glaise River adjoining the lower line of the grant of ten miles at Wapakoneta and the said river." Logan made the request that the money due him for services should be used for the removal of his family to Kentucky, where his children might be educated like the whites. The tribe to which he belonged, however, refused to give them up, and they disappeared behind the veil that obscures the fate of the red men of the forest.   THE WYANDOTS   CHAPTER XVI   When Samuel de Champlain journeyed across Canada to Lake Huron, in 1615, he found numerous villages of the powerful tribe known to the French as the Hurons. Along and near Georgian Bay was the ancient country of this virile tribe. They were a progressive people for savages, for some of their towns were fortified in an effective way against the offensive weapons of that day. They likewise showed their progressiveness by cultivating more of the soil than the other aborigines. This was probably necessary in a measure, because game was scarcer in the Huron country than elsewhere. In respect to the arts of life, they were in advance over the wandering hunters of the North and West. Their women made a species of earthen pot for cooking, wove rush mats for domestic use, and spun twine from hemp. The surplus products they bartered with the neighboring tribes.   The Hurons were divided into several branches, of which one was known as the Tionnoulates, or Tobacco Nation, because they cultivated this plant and trafficked it among the other tribes. They were not pure Hurons, but had become confederated with them. The downfall of the Hurons came about through the inveterate hostility of the Iroquois, of which fierce family the Hurons were also members. After the Hurons had welcomed the French and adopted many things from them, and several Jesuit missions had been established among them, the Iroquois tribes, known as the Five Nations, became even more vindictive. War party after war party made hostile expeditions against them. Toward their brethren they seemed to bear:   "In their faces stern defiance, In their hearts the feuds of ages, The hereditary hatred, The ancestral threat of vengeance."   It was in the year 1649, in the depth of winter, that the Iroquois warriors invaded the country of the Hurons, and stormed their largest villages. Indiscriminate slaughter followed, and the survivors fled in terror. Finally there was not a single Huron left alive in their ancient domain. The victors burned their huts, palisades, and villages. Some of the refugees sought refuge among other tribes, especially the Senecas and Eries. Many were carried off as captives. The Tobacco Nation held its ground longer than any other, but they also were compelled at length to flee. They made their way northward to the Island of Michilimackinac (Mackinac), where they were joined by the Ottawas and some other Algonquins. After several years they took possession of some islands in Green Bay, on Lake Michigan. Even here in this remote place their inveterate enemy followed them. They migrated west as far as the Mississippi, but were forced northward by the hostility of the Sioux, to Lake Superior. From there they gradually retreated to Detroit and Sandusky, where they lived under the name of Wyandots. Thus it appears that the Wyandots, whose name is so conspicuous in our Ohio history, are descendants of the   - 174 -