True Indian stories : with glossary of Indiana Indian names

GIFT OF

MUK-KONS-KWA, OR LITTLE BEAR WOMAN.
(Frances Slocum — The Lost Sister of Wyoming.)

TRUE

INDIAN STORIES

WITH

GLOSSARY OF INDIANA
INDIAN NAMES

BY

JACOB PIATT DUNN

SECRETARY OF THE INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SENTINEL PRINTING COMPANY

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
1909

COPYRIGHT, 1908

BY JACOB TIATT DUNN

All rights reserved

341924

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCING THE INDIANS i

II. THE LITTLE TURTLE 15

III. THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES 48

IV. WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT 72

V. THE FZVLL OF THE PROPHET 93

VI. WILLIAM WELLS 117

VII. THE DEFENSE OF FORT HARRISON 131

VIII. THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE 144

IX. THE SERVICE OF LOGAN 164

X. THE WALAM OLUM 181

XI. THE TRAGEDY OF THE FALLS 197

XII. THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING 213

XIII. THE TRAIL OF DEATH 234

INDEX GLOSSARY OF INDIANA INDIAN NAMES.. 253

1

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

FRANCES SLOCUM Frontispiece

GABRIEL GODFROY

SITE OF FORT WAYNE IN 1790 21

GREENVILLE TREATY MEDAL 39

KILSOKWA 46

DELAWARE COUNCIL HOUSE 55

SITE OF WHITE RIVER MISSION 63

TECUMTHA 80

MAP OF INDIANA IN 1811 . . . 87

TEMSKWAHTAWAH facing 94

PLAN OF BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE 105

THE PROPHET'S ROCK 109

WILLIAM WELLS 118

MAP OF CHICAGO IX l8l2 121

FORT DEARBORN MASSACRE MONUMENT 129

SITE OF FORT HARRISON 134

DEFENSE OF FORT HARRISON I41

MAP OF PIGEON ROOST SETTLEMENT 146

PIGEON ROOST MONUMENT 157

FORT WAYNE ix 1812 167

BLACK HOOF 175

ILLUSTRATION OF SIGN LANGUAGE 183

SAMPLE PAGE OF WALAM OLUM 190

THE FALLS AT PENDLETON 207

ROCK BLUFFS ON THE MISSISSINEWA .- 215

THE DEAF MAN'S VILLAGE 223

THE FRANCES SLOCUM MONUMENT 231

FOOT OF NASWAWKEE'S HILL 237

SITE OF MISSION AT TWIN LAKES 245

THE DESCENT OF MONDAMIN 262

METEAH 279

SITE OF POST OUIATANON 294

MAP OF TREATY SPRINGS 311

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCING THE INDIANS.

No part of the United States is richer in
the tragedy, romance and pathos of Indian
history than the region included in the old
Territory Northwest of the Ohio River. It
might be called the empire of the Algon-
quian tribes within our boundaries; for al
though they extended far into British Amer
ica; although there was a large detached
tribe — the Blackf eet — in the West ; although
the Lenni Lenape reached away to the Atlan
tic coast, most of the Algonquians of the
United States were here at the earliest
known period, and the Eastern tribes were
thro\vn back here as settlement progressed.
It was here that they made their last stand
for their country east of the Mississippi and
put the white man to his best effort to con
quer them. No part of the country ever pro
duced greater Indians than Pontiac, Tecum-

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

tha, The Little Turtle, Poch-gont'-she-he-
16s, and Black Hawk.

When the French entered this region their
first task was to aid the resident tribes in
driving back the Iroquois, who had acquired
firearms, and had almost overrun the coun
try to the Mississippi. After this was done
there was comparative peace until individual
tribes undertook war against the French;
but the French were always able to hold the
alliance of most of the tribes, and by their
aid almost exterminated the Mascoutins at
Detroit in 1712, and the Foxes in northern
Illinois in 1730. The French always treated
the Indians well and made notable efforts
for their spiritual welfare as well as for their
temporal needs. It was chiefly to a mission
ary enterprise that Indiana's first permanent
settlement was due. Father De Beaubois,
the priest at Kaskaskia, and in charge of
the religious interests of the Illinois settle
ments, desired to extend his work by the es
tablishment of a post on the Wabash and an
assembling of Indians there. He gained the
approval of the Louisiana authorities, who
also desired an additional supply of clergy

INTRODUCING THE INDIANS

and an establishment of nuns, of whom there
were none in Louisiana at the time.

In 1725 De Beaubois was sent to France
on this mission. The Chevalier de Bourg-
mont had collected twenty-two chiefs and
representative Indians to accompany him,
but just before they were to embark the ship
in which they were going sank at its moor
ings, and this so frightened them that only
half a dozen of the Indians could be induced
to make the journey. Their visit in France
was as notable an event in the world of fash
ion as the visit of Pocahontas to England,
and the account of their presentation at the
court and attendant celebrations fills thirty-
three pages of the court journal, Le Mercure
de France. De Beaubois succeeded in his
undertaking and sent out to Louisiana the
nuns who founded the celebrated Ursuline
Convent at New Orleans, and with them
Father D'Outreleau, who was to be the first
"Missionary to the Ouabache." Orders
were also sent for the establishment of a
post. The contemplated mission did not suc
ceed; but in the summer of 1731 Sieur de
Vincennes brought a small party of soldiers
and a band of Piankeshaws from the Ver-

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

million River and founded the post which
still bears his name.

By this time the efforts of the English to
get control of the fur trade had become
more serious, and they, too, had enlisted In
dian allies both in the north and in the south.
First came the disastrous Chickasaw cam
paign of 1736, in which Vincennes lost his
life; and after that intermittent warfare till
the close of the French and Indian war. In
all this the fighting was outside of our re
gion, and not till the British sought to take
possession of the Northwest was it brought
back in Pontiac's war. Again there was
comparative quiet until the war of the Revo
lution, which inaugurated the contest of the
American and the Indian in this section for
the occupancy of the soil. Of the period
then beginning I have sought to present
some authentic stories in the following
pages. It would require volumes to present
a full record of individual adventure, but I
have aimed to give some illustrations of va
rious phases of the contest, of battles and
massacres, of hardships, of white and Indian
captivity.

In doing this I have had especially in

INTRODUCING THE INDIANS

mind the preservation of the Indian names
of Indiana in their proper forms and with
their real meanings. This will be regarded
by many as a presumptuous undertaking,
and with some reason. Several months ago,
in a letter to me concerning Indian place
names, Gen. R. H. Pratt, of Carlisle School
fame, said: "The subject has not specially
interested me for the reason that, in my ex
perience, not one in twenty of the Indian
names in use could be recognized by any
member of the tribe from which the name
was derived. The attempts to perpetuate
such names are therefore only sentimental
abortion." This is very true, and true of In
diana names as well as of those elsewhere,
but there is no question of perpetuating the
names. They are here to stay. In the defi
ant words of Mrs. Sigourney—

'Their name is on your waters—

Ye may not wash it out."
And nobody desires to \vash them out.
That were a waste of energy much better
directed to washing something else. The
practical question is merely whether we shall
continue their use without an effort to ascer
tain their origin and meaning. As to this,

5

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

the extent of their corruption seems to me an
attraction rather than an objection. Nobody
cares much for a puzzle that is readily
solved, in philology or in any other line. But
there is at least passing interest in identify
ing any battered and distorted relic ; and in
reality our Indian names are no more cor
rupted than some others. Probably no
Frenchman would be reminded of his native
tongue by "Picketwire," but that is what the
cowboys of Colorado and New Mexico have
made of the Purgatoire River. Probably no
Frenchman would suspect the Smackover
River of Arkansas of bearing a French
name, but that is what remains of "Chemin
Couvert." Our own Mary Delome has rath
er a French air, but hardly enough to sug
gest that this tributary of the Maumee was
named "Marais de 1'Orme" (Elm Swamp).
On some of our maps of Laporte County will
be found "Lake Dishmaugh," which does not
look much like French, but it was originally
"Lac du Chemin," though Chamberlain
made the guess that it had been "Lac des
Moines."

Surely no Hindoo would lay claim to "In
diana" as of his language, but it is from the

6

INTRODUCING THE INDIANS

same root as "Hindoo" itself, for it comes
from "Sindhu," the native name of the In
dus — literally "the river" — whence Sindh or
Scinde, the province covering the delta. This
the Persians perverted" to "Hindu"; the
Greeks made it "Indos"; the Romans "In
dus," and from them it passed to the various
European forms. When Columbus discov
ered America he supposed it was India;
hence, he called the natives "Indios" ; and the
name has abided. At the treaty of Ft. Stan-
wix, in 1768, the Indians ceded a tract of
land in western Pennsylvania to certain
traders, whose goods they had taken or de
stroyed; and for this tract and for the com
pany organized to exploit it, the name "Indi
ana" was evolved by the English owners. It
is constructed on the same principle as Flor
ida, Georgia, Virginia, etc., and means a
place of Indians, or pertaining to Indians.
This name was passed on to us when Ohio
was cut off from Northwest Territory in
1800; but in the name of "Indiana County,"
Pennsylvania, it still appears at the place of
its birth.

As a matter of fact there is usually no
great difficulty in ascertaining the real In-

7

GABRIEL GODFROY.
(Wah'-pah-nah-ki'-kah-pwah— or White Blossoms.)

INTRODUCING THE INDIANS

dinn name if it is of a living language, for the
Indians usually perpetuate their own names,
though occasionally they have their own cor
ruptions. Most of the Miami names I ob
tained from Gabriel Godfrey, the best Miami
interpreter in Indiana, and Kilsokwa, the
oldest of the Indiana Miamis, and one who
speaks very little English. For the Pota
watomi I am indebted to Thomas Topash, an
intelligent Potawatomi of Michigan ; Quash-
ma, a Chilocco School boy, and Capt. J. A.
Scott, of Nadeau Agency, Kansas, who
called to his aid Mr. Blandin, the agency in
terpreter, and old Kack-kack (Kiak-kiak—
equivalent to the American term, "chicken-
hawk"; i. e., any of the larger hawks), re
cently deceased. For others I am indebted
largely to various friends who made inquiry
of Indians.

It is much to be.regretted that there is not
in print more available information concern
ing the Indian languages, and especially of
the Algonquian languages, from which so
many of our place names are taken. There
is considerable material for the Odjibwa and
the dialects of the Lenni Lenape, but scarcely
anything for the languages of the important

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

Potawatomi, Shawnee • and Miami nations,
and what little there is is not entirely relia
ble. And this is true of many other Indian
languages. At the last session of Congress
(1907-8) the Indiana Historical Society
made an earnest effort to secure a small ad
ditional appropriation for the Bureau of
Ethnology for taking up systematically and
specially the preservation of these lan
guages, but notwithstanding the co-opera
tion of the Bureau, the appropriation was re
jected by the House, after it had been made
by the Senate. There should unquestionably
be an united effort by the historical societies
of the country to have this work done. When
we consider the enormous effort that has
been made to rescue the languages of Egypt,
Babylon and other ancient countries, it
should arouse a realization of the importance
of preserving the living Janguages of our
own country while there is yet time, and
especially so because these are not written
languages, and if once lost they are lost for
ever.

And they are worth preserving, not only
for the influence they have had on our own
language, but for their intrinsic merit.

10

INTRODUCING THE INDIANS

Nearly all of our common errors as to Indian
names are due to the prevalent impression
that Indian languages are very crude. In
reality they have a very perfect grammatical
system of their own, but differing in im
portant features from that of any other
known languages. The grammatical inflec
tions of Algonquian \vords are more refined
and present nicer distinctions of meaning,
not only than those of the English, but also
than those of any European language. If
anyone doubts this statement I would refer
him to the conjugation of the verb "waub" of
the Odjibwa, as given by Schoolcraft in his
"Archives," covering ninety quarto pages;
and this is not complete, because it does not
cover what are known as the "transitions,"
i. e., the combinations with subject and ob
ject pronouns, which are characteristic of
these languages. And yet, complicated as
this might seem, it is on a very simple and
rational linguistic system, and simply ex
presses through verbal inflection the same
ideas that we express through various forms
of circumlocution.

I doubt that anyone has ever reproduced
exactly the Indian pronunciation of words.

ii

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

All of the Algonquian languages have some
sounds that are not found in the English lan
guage, and none of them have all of the Eng
lish sounds. In addition to this they all have
interchangeable sounds. For example, the
sounds of "b" or "p" may be used at the will
of the speaker in many words. Moreover,
there is an emphasis and accent that white
men rarely acquire — in fact, I have never
found an Indian who knew a white man that
could speak his language just as the Indians
speak it. However, I have endeavored to
reproduce Indian pronunciation, as it sounds
to me, as nearly as possible in ordinary Eng
lish characters, with a few additions. I
have represented long "a" as in "fate" by
"ay"; continental "a" as in "far" by "ah;"
and broad "a" as in "fall" by "aw." I have
used "q" to represent a sound more nearly
resembling German "ch" than any other I
know of, but having the quality of "gh," pro
nounced in the same way. Nasalized sounds
are indicated by a superior "n," and are pro
nounced as in the French.

If the effort I have been able to give to the
subject shall promote the study and record
of the Indian languages, I shall feel largely

12

INTRODUCING THE INDIANS

repaid for it, for the opportunity for this
work is rapidly decreasing. In our govern
mental Indian schools the study of Indian
languages is not encouraged, and perhaps
properly so, from a practical point of view,
for the primary object is to fit the Indian
youth to support themselves, and for this the
use of the English language is vital. It is
already quite common to find "educated In
dians" who do not speak their own language
at all, and obviously the more rapid the proc
ess of "Americanizing" the more rapid the
extinction of the American languages. It is,
therefore, evident that the work should be
undertaken as speedily as possible.

Prior to this time there have been two ef
forts at collecting Indian place names of In
diana. In his Indiana Gazetteer (1849) Mr.
Chamberlain has noted a number of Dela
ware names, which were presumably ob
tained from white men who had some famil
iarity with the Delaware language. There
were several of such persons in the State at
the time. Later Daniel Hough made a more
extended effort and collected nearly every
thing then available in print, as well as mak
ing some investigations among the Miami

13

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

Indians. The results were published in the
Geological Report of 1882 in the form of a
map, with comments by Judge Hiram Beck-
with. The comments are of no practical
value, being chiefly attempts to deduce Mi
ami and Potawatomi words from Odjibwa
stems, but the map is of material value, al
though Mr. Hough's patient work has been
marred in several instances by mistakes of
the engraver.

14

CHAPTER II.

THE LITTLE TURTLE.

The greatest of the Miamis and, perhaps,
by the standard of achievement, which is the
fairest of all standards, the greatest Indian
the world has known, was Mi'-shi-kin-noq'-
kwa, commonly known as The Little Turtle,
but that is not what his name means. Liter
ally it means The Great Turtle's Wife, but it
is not in that sense that it was applied to this
great chief.

The Miamis have specific names for the
most common turtles — at-che'-pong for the
snapping turtle, ah-koot'-yah for the soft-
shell turtle, we-neet'-chah for the box turtle
or tortoise, kach-kit'-yot for the map turtle,
and mi-shi-kin-noq'-kwa for the painted ter
rapin. This last is the commonest of all the
turtles in this region, and the most gaudily
colored, which probably explains its Indian
name, for who should be handsomely dressed
if not the wife of The Great Turtle, who typi-

15

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

fied the Earth, and who was the chief benefi
cent manitou of the Algonquian tribes in the
olden time ? But when it came to translation
the interpreters knew no specific English
name for the painted terrapin, and, as it is a
little turtle, never growing more than six or
eight inches across, they conveyed the idea as
well as they could by saying "The Little
Turtle."

The Little Turtle was rather small of stat
ure, and was probably a puny infant, which
may account for his name, for a more
sprawling, helpless-looking creature than a
newly hatched painted terrapin can hardly be
imagined. It has been stated that his mother
was a Mohegan woman, but his granddaugh
ter Kil-so'-kwa (The Setting Sun) says that
both his father and his mother were full-
blooded Miamis. He was born near the pres
ent city of Ft. Wayne, about 1751. Though
small of stature, he was both brave and wise.
He had also a remarkable dignity of manner
that commanded respect, and although not a
hereditary chief, he soon rose to a position of
leadership. His first opportunity for special
distinction came in 1780.

Up to that time the region about the head-

16

THE LITTLE TURTLE

waters of the Maumee had not been disturbed
in the war with the Americans, but had been
a center, easy of access to the British, from
which supplies were distributed and warriors
were sent out to harass the frontiers. It had
been an Indian stronghold for many years.
Before the Miamis dwelt there it was occu
pied by the Ottawas, or Pierced Noses — so
called because they punctured the cartilage of
the nose, as women do their ears, and sus
pended ornaments from it — and the Maumee
was in early times known as the Ottawa
River.

At the site of Ft. Wayne was the town of
one of their clans or divisions, who were
called Kis-ka-kons or Ki-ka-kons, i. e.,
Clipped Hair, or as the French called them,
Queues Coupees, because they shaved the
sides of their heads and wore their hair in a
bristling band across the head from front to
back. This name always attached to the
place, but the Delawares corrupted it to Ke-
gey-unk, which would mean "old place" if it
meant anything, and the Miamis to Ke-ki-
oon'-gi, which would mean "cut place" if it
meant anything, but both tribes disclaim
knowledge of the meaning of these names,

17

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

which is very proper because they lost the
real meaning long ago. Here and at smaller
villages in the vicinity the Miamis had dwelt
for nearly a century in apparent security.

But in 1780 a rude shock occurred. Out
from the East there came Colonel Le Balme,
a French officer, who came over with Lafay
ette and had been serving with the Conti
nental army in New England. Inspired per
haps by the success of George Rogers Clark,
he conceived a plan for capturing Detroit
with a force raised in the French settlements.
He won the confidence of the French settlers
on the Mississippi, and thirty of them started
with him on his expedition. At Vincennes
he recruited nearly as many more.

The expedition was well managed in the
earlier part. The men were mounted, and
they passed up the Wabash quickly and quiet
ly, making the journey from the Wea towns
in four days, and taking Ke-ki-oon'-gi by
surprise. There were few Indians in the
town and they fled, as did the British traders,
most of whom were of French birth. The in
vaders took some plunder from the stores and
then fell back to the Aboite River, where they

THE LITTLE TURTLE

encamped in fancied security. But they
counted without their host.

The alarm spread rapidly and soon came to
The Little Turtle, who quickly gathered a
band of warriors to attack the enemy. Find
ing Ke-ki-oon'-gi abandoned, they followed
back the trail and in the darkness of the night
struck the sleeping camp. La Balme had not
even posted sentinels, and he and his men
were all killed except a young man named
Rhy, who was carried captive to Canada and
handed over to the British authorities. He
said he was aid-de-camp to La Balme, and
that they had fallen back to the Aboite to
await reinforcements to the number of 400,
which \vere expected, but of these nothing
further was ever heard. The news of the de
struction of the expedition against Detroit
was received with great satisfaction by the
British, and thenceforth The Little Turtle
was the recognized war chief of the Miamis.

It has been surmised by local historians
that the Aboite received its name from this
event, the original form being Abattoir,
which was later corrupted to the present
form. This is wholly unfounded, as the
stream is called Riviere a Boite in documents

19

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

and maps of earlier date. Boitte, or its vari
ant bouette, is a word used by French fisher
men for minnows that are used as bait for
larger fish and their name for the stream was
River of Minnows. The Miamis call it Na-
kow'-e-se'-pe, or Sand Creek.

In the next ten years there was an abund
ance of fighting, of Indian raids on the Ken
tucky settlements and all along the frontier,
with counter expeditions by the whites. It
has been estimated that between the close of
the Revolutionary war and 1790 the Indians
killed 1,500 people and ran off 20,000 horses.
They did the greater damage, but they were
being gradually forced back and losing their
old homes. Many retired to the Miami coun
try, and in 1785 Ke-ki-oon'-gi is said to have
had a population of 1,000 warriors of various
tribes. But the white man was growing
weary of this petty and harassing warfare,
and this feeling was increased by the belief,
supported by very convincing evidence, that
the British, who still held the region about
Detroit, were furnishing supplies to the In
dians and urging them to war. It was de
cided that a crushing blow must be struck,
and in 1790 an expedition was started

20

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

against the Miami town under command of
Gen. Josiah Harmar, the commander-in-chief
of the American army.

The expedition consisted of 1,453 men,
rank and file, of whom 320 were regulars and
the remainder militia and volunteers from
Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. But
the latter were not up to the frontier stand
ard. Many were boys and old men, and most
of them were poorly equipped. They were
almost without discipline, and showed a great
deal of insubordination. There was jealousy
among the officers that extended to the men.
Nevertheless, the army moved forward. The
advance guard of 600 men, under Col. Har-
din, reached Ke-ki-oon'-gi on October 15,
and the remainder of the army two days
later. They found the place deserted. Most
of the men were away on their fall hunt and
the rest had hastily retired.

On the 18th Colonel Trotter was sent out
with 300 men, thirty of whom w^ere regulars,
to look for Indians, while the remainder of
the force engaged in the destruction of the
villages and crops. Trotter's trip was un
successful, and on the 19th Colonel Hardin
was sent out with the same command. The

THE LITTLE TURTLE

Indians were not strong enough to attack the
main army, but The Little Turtle had col
lected one hundred warriors and he placed
them in ambush some ten miles northwest of
Ke-ki-oon'-gi when Hardin was reported
coming. Hardin marched into the ambush
and the Indians opened fire and advanced.
All the militiamen except nine fled, and these,
with the regulars, were quickly hemmed in
and subjected to a pitiless fire, from which
only one escaped to tell the tale.

On the same day the army left Ke-ki-oon'-
gi and moved two miles down the Maumee to
a Shawnee town, where the work of destruc
tion was kept up. On the 21st, having de
stroyed five villages and 20,000 bushels of
corn, with quantities of beans, pumpkins, hay
and fencing, the army started on its return
and marched eight miles south. That night,
at the request of Hardin, who desired to re
trieve his misfortune of the 19th, Harmar
sent back a force of four hundred men under
his command, of whom sixty were regulars
under Major Wyllis.

The detachment marched in three divi
sions a few hundred yards apart, intending
cO surprise the Indians, who, it was antici-

23

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

pated, would return to their villages early in
the morning. But The Little Turtle was not
surprised. A small force of Indians ap
peared before the right wing and when at
tacked fled up the St. Joseph, which the Mi-
amis called K6-chis-ah-se-pe, or Bean River,
the division, contrary to orders, following
them for several miles.

Then The Little Turtle, with his main
force, fell on the center division, which in
cluded the regulars. The regulars fought
bravely, but lost so heavily that they were
forced to retire up the St. Joseph. They were
on the east side of the stream and the Indians
followed, mostly on the west side, pouring in
a deadly fire from behind trees and other
cover.

At last the remnant met the returning mili
tia, and with their united forces they com
pelled the Indians to fall back, and the sol
diers rejoined the left wing at Ke-ki-oon'-gi.
From there they returned to the main army
without pursuit, the regulars having lost two
officers and forty-eight men and the total loss
to the army now reaching 183 killed and
missing, besides many wounded, a number of
whom had to be carried on stretchers. Hardin

24

THE LITTLE TURTLE

desired Harmar to go back with the army,
but a council of officers decided that it was in
no condition to do so. The Indians had suf
fered large loss of property, but wrere left
with the belief that they had driven the
Americans back.

The expedition of Harmar was followed
by renewed attacks all along the frontier, the
Indians being inspired both by the desire for
revenge and the necessity of obtaining sup
plies of food. A bitter cry went up from the
settlers. The Ohio company voted to raise
troops to protect its settlements. Virginia
provided for military expeditions from Ken
tucky, which was then part of its domain.

Congress directed an expedition under
General St. Clair, and the erection of forts in
the Indian country to guarantee peace. The
Kentucky expeditions against the Wabash
towns were successful, and early in Septem
ber St. Glair's forces moved northward about
twenty-five miles from Fort Washington and
erected Fort Hamilton, on the Great Miami
River. On October 4 they advanced again,
this time forty-two miles, and erected Fort
Jefferson. On October 24 the army again ad
vanced, and on November 3 reached a point

25

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

on the headwaters of the Wabash near where
Fort Recovery was afterward established.

The advance was much delayed by failure
of the contractors to forward provisions, and
the army was weakened by numerous deser
tions, and by sending back one of the best
regiments in search of deserters. It now
numbered about 2,000 men.

Meanwhile the Indians had been busy.
They had been kept informed of the Ameri
can plans as made public by their British
friends and of the movements on the frontier
as gathered by their own scouts. Efforts had
been made to unite the tribes in sufficient
force not only to repel invasion, but also to
drive the whites from the region north of the
Ohio. Foremost in these efforts were The
Little Turtle, the Shawnee chief Blue Jacket
(Wey'-ah-pier-sen'-wah) and the great Del
aware war chief known in our frontier liter
ature asBuckongehelas (properly pronounced
Poch-gont'-she-he'-los. Heckewelder writes
it Pachgantschihilas and translates it "A ful-
filler ; one who succeeds in all he undertakes."
This is figurative; literally it means "The
Breaker to Pieces").

In the latter part of October these and
26

THE LITTLE TURTLE

minor chiefs had gathered 1,400 warriors in
the vicinity of Ke-ki-oon'-gi, and these as
sembled on the prairie, five miles below that
place on the St. Marys River, which the
Miamis called Mah-may'-i-wah-se-pe'-way,
or Sturgeon Creek, on account of the large
number of sturgeon that used to run up it in
the spawning season.

There was a division of sentiment as to
who should have the chief command that
threatened for a time to become serious.
Some favored The Little Turtle and some
Buckongehelas, but the latter was not a man
to let personal consideration stand in the way
of success. Dawson, who voiced General
Harrison's opinion, said of him: "This man
possessed all the qualities of a hero ; no Chris
tian knight was ever more scrupulous in per
forming all his engagements than the re
nowned Buckongehelas." He settled the con
troversy by withdrawing in favor of The Lit
tle Turtle on the ground that he was the
younger and more active man.

And now The Little Turtle had no ordi
nary Indian foray on his hands. He had an
army to deal with, and it must be handled as
an army, for the Indians were determined not

27

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

to await invasion and another destruction of
their winter supplies. They must be fur
nished with food on their march to meet the
enemy.

The Little Turtle divided his warriors into
squads or messes of twenty each, and ordered
that four from each mess, in rotation, should
act as hunters for that mess for one day,
bringing in at noon whatever game they had
obtained. The commander was well informed
as to the enemy. His scouts had hovered
about the army for a month, stealing horses
and cutting off stragglers at every oppor
tunity. In the night of November 3 he
brought his warriors close in around St.
Clair's camp and prepared for the attack.

The Americans were summoned to arms
for parade at daylight, as usual, and the wait
ing Indians silently watched their maneu
vers. Half an hour before sunrise — near 6
o'clock — they were dismissed for breakfast,
and as they dispersed to their quarters The
Little Turtle gave the signal for attack. The
militia outposts were quickly driven in, and
the Indians pressed after, keeping under
cover and maintaining a continuous rifle fire.

The troops were soon put in position and
28

THE LITTLE TURTLE

discharged repeated volleys at their con
cealed foes, but with little effect. Charge
after charge was made, but the Indians nim
bly retired before the bayonets and were back
again as soon as the soldiers turned, while a
destructive fire was poured into the charging
columns from the flanks. The Indians did
not show themselves except when raised by a
charge. They made special marks of the of
ficers and artillerymen.

The fight was one-sided from the start,
and by half-past 8 o'clock the army was help
less. The artillery was silenced. The men
were huddling in the center of the camp, deaf
to orders. The Indians were closing in. Most
of the officers were dead, and those remain
ing saw that the only hope was in retreat. .A
few brisk charges made an opening to the
road, and those who were able to go made
their way to it in utter rout. And as they fled
the panic seemed to grow. Fortunately the
Indians pursued for only four or five miles,
but the road for miles beyond that was
strewn with arms and accoutrements of men
who desired nothing to impede their flight.

The Little Turtle had vanquished an
American army 50 per cent, larger than his

29

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

own and had inflicted a loss of 37 officers, and
593 men killed and 31 officers and 242 men
wounded. He had captured all the enemy's
artillery, camp equipage and supplies, valued
at $32,800, besides much private property.
He had blocked for the time being the inva
sion of his country.

This was the greatest victory ever gained
by Indians over American troops. In the
Sioux victories at Fort Kearny and on the
Little Big Horn the Indians greatly outnum
bered the whites. The Nez Perces, under
Chief Joseph, met equal and superior forces
of soldiers, but their successes were only de
fenses and skilful retreats. The only engage
ment comparable with the defeat of St. Clair
was Braddock's defeat, and in that the In
dians were aided and officered by French
men, and would have retreated but for their
officers, while the Americans were not al
lowed by Braddock to fight in their own way.
The Little Turtle's victory was over a su
perior force, on its own chosen ground and
was achieved wholly by Indian military skill.

The defeat of St. Clair was a fearful blow
to the frontier settlements, most of which
were at once abandoned, except those ad join-
so

THE LITTLE TURTLE

ing the forts. Nearly all the able-bodied set
tlers had gone to the front, and there was
mourning in nearly every family. The In
dians were greatly emboldened, and war par
ties appeared all along the lines of the fron
tier, carrying havoc that brought forth a bit
ter cry for aid.

President Washington realized that more
adequate means must be taken to subdue the
Indians, and he asked Congress for authority
to raise three additional regiments of foot
and a squadron of horse. There was opposi
tion to this in Congress on account of the
poverty of the country, and it was even pro
posed to abandon the Northwest Territory
and make the Ohio River the boundary of the
United States. But such sentiment was not
popular, and there was soon manifested a
widespread determination for adequate meas
ures for conquering the Indians.

Congress provided for raising an army of
5,000 men, and President Washington called
''Mad Anthony" Wrayne from his farm to
command it. Meanwhile every effort was
made to settle the trouble peacefully. Com
missioners were sent to the Indians through
Canada, and councils were held, but the In-

31

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

dians stubbornly refused to treat except on
condition that the Americans retire from
north of the Ohio and make it the boundary
betw*een them.

Wayne went to Pittsburg in June, 1792,
and began the work of organizing the army,
but no offensive movements were made dur
ing that year, or until October, 1793, when
he advanced to a point six miles beyond Ft.
Jefferson and built Ft. Greenville. In De
cember he sent a detachment forward which
took possession of the field of St. Glair's de
feat and established Ft. Recovery at that
point. At these two posts Wayne wintered
his army, and prepared for a sure blow in the
coming summer.

Only one attack was made on Wayne's
forces in 1793. On October 17 a train of
twenty wagons, under convoy of two officers
and ninety men, was attacked seven miles
north of Ft. St. Glair. Most of the men fled,
and the two officers and thirteen men who re
mained, were killed. The Indians captured
seventy horses and took some of the supplies,
but did not destroy the remainder.

The winter passed without material in
cident, Wayne drilling his troops and mak-

32

THE LITTLE TURTLE

ing everything ready, while the Indians were
striving to bring other tribes to their aid. In
this they were assisted by the British, espe
cially those at the Roche de Bout (Rock of
the End), a place at the lower end of the
Maumee rapids, so called from a massive
rock in the stream. Here the British had
established a fort after the close of the
Revolutionary war, far within the American
lines, and here were located the storehouses
of Colonel McKee, an Indian trader, who
was one of the most obnoxious of the British
agents in urging the Indians to war.

The Little Turtle appeared before Ft.
Recovery on June 30 with a force of 1,500
men, a large number of whom were whites
in disguise. They had expected to find the
cannon they had captured from St. Clair and
to use them in assaulting the fort, but they
were disappointed. The Americans had dis
covered their hiding places, mostly under
logs, and they were now mounted in the fort.
But by chance they struck a convoy of ninety
riflemen and fifty dragoons under Major
McMahon, who were returning to the fort.
They at once attacked and overwhelmed this
force, killing five officers and seventeen men,

33

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

wounding thirty, killing and wounding
eighty-one horses and capturing 204. They
then attacked the fort and continued their
assault through most of the following day,
but their rifles were of little effect and they
withdrew.

A division of sentiment now arose among
the Indians. They had found it impossible
to surprise Wayne in camp, for his camps
were always fortified by surrounding walls
of logs and there was no opportunity to
attack in the open except when the troops
were ready for battle. The Little Turtle in
sisted that this was hopeless on account of
Wayne's superior force; that it was useless
to try to surprise "a chief who always slept
with one eye open," and that the only way
to fight him was to get in behind him and
cut off his convoys, leaving him stranded in
the wilderness. But they had succeeded
only twice in striking convoys, and one of
the successes was accidental. The British
urged an attack on the army and promised
aid. The Little Turtle was overruled and
even accused of cowardice. The majority
encouraged by their success with St. Clair,
decided on a pitched battle and The Little

34

THE LITTLE TURTLE

Turtle had no choice but submission to the
decision.

General Scott on July 26 joined Wayne
at Ft. Greenville with 1,600 mounted men
from Kentucky, and on the 28th the army
advanced. On August 8 they reached the
Grand Glaize and proceeded to build Ft. De
fiance at the junction of the Auglaize with
the Maumee. On the 13th a prisoner was
sent out with a peace message, advising the
Indians to listen no longer to "the bad white
men at the foot of the rapids," but to send
peace deputies at once if they desired to save
themselves and their women and children
from famine and danger.

On the 15th, having received no answer,
the army advanced down the Maumee, and
on the 18th, having marched forty-one miles
from Ft. Defiance, the soldiers began erect
ing a light fortification for the baggage, in
preparation for active work. On the morn
ing of the 20th they advanced about five
miles, when they came to a place known as
the Fallen Timbers — a thick wood in which
the ground was covered with old trunks of
trees, probably blown down by a tornado,
which prevented the action of cavalry. Here

35

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

the Indians were lying in ambush, to give
battle.

The advance guard was received with so
severe a fire that it was forced to fall back,
although under orders, in case of attack, to
hold its position until the army could come
to its support. But there was no other con
fusion.

Wayne at once dispatched his cavalry on
both flanks to gain the enemy's rear, and
ordered his infantry, who were marching
with loaded guns and fixed bayonets, to ad
vance, raise the Indians with the bayonet,
fire at short range, and chase them out of the
woods without stopping. The movement
was carried out to the letter. In the course
of an hour the Indians were driven over two
miles, and, being refused admission to Ft.
Miami — the British post — they dispersed in
all directions, the cavalry not having had
time to reach their position.

The pursuit was carried almost under the
walls of Fort Miami, whose commander
sent a protest to Wayne against this "insult
to the British flag." Wayne replied with a
demand for the garrison's removal from
United States territory, to which the com-

36

THE LITTLE TURTLE

mancler declined to accede. But he offered
no interference to the army, which remained
there for three days, destroying the crops
and property of the Indians and the store
houses of Colonel McKee, which were within
pistol shot of the fort.

The loss of the Americans was compara
tively small, being five officers and twenty-
eight men killed, and sixteen officers and
eighty-four men wounded. Of the wound
ed eleven died. The loss to the Indians was
never definitely learned, but it was much
larger than that of the whites.

On the 24th the army started on its re
turn to Ft. Defiance, laying waste the corn
fields and villages for fifty miles on each
side of the river. Wayne reported that the
margins of the Maumee and Auglaize were
like "one continued village" for miles, and
that he never "before beheld such immense
fields of corn in any part of America, from
Canada to Florida." The work of destruc
tion was continued at Ft. Defiance, and the
fort was strengthened for permanent oc
cupancy.

On September 14 the army marched to
Ke-ki-oon'-gi and began building the fort op-

37

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

posite the Indian town, which was named Ft.
Wayne by Colonel Hamtramck, who was
left in command. The Indian dominion of
"the Glorious Gate of the Wabash" was end
ed forever, and it is fitting that the name of
the man who ended it should remain as a
permanent memorial. But the old memories
linger also, and to this day the older Miamis
call the place Ke-ki-oon'-gi.

The spirit of the Indians was broken.
They suffered much during the winter,
though the British furnished them extensive
supplies. The British governor Simcoe, aid
ed by Colonel McKee and the Mohawk chief,
Captain Brant, tried to unite them for fur
ther resistance, but in vain. The action of
the British in refusing admission even to
wounded Indians at Ft. Miami and permit
ting Wayne's men to destroy goods of both
Indians and British under the guns of the
fort, had convinced them that the British
were afraid of the Americans.

Wayne had been a revelation to them. The
Miamis named him The Wind (a-lom'-
seng), on account of the way he had swept
them from the Fallen Timbers ; but the Dela-
wares named him The Blacksnake (Suk-

38

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

ach'-gook), because they esteem the black-
snake the wisest and most cunning of ani
mals, and the most destructive to smaller an
imals and birds. With very little resistance
the Indians obeyed his summons to assemble
at Ft. Greenville in the summer of 1795, and
on August 3 a treaty, which he dictated, was
concluded.

The Little Turtle now realized, as few
others did, that a new era had come to his
people, which called for a change in them.
In the past he had contended against the
vices of barbarism, and had been the chief
agent in suppressing "the ancient sacrificial
rites," including cannibalism, which had
been practiced among the Miamis as late as
the Revolutionary war.

He now entered on a campaign against the
vices of civilization, and an effort to gain its
advantages. Most destructive of the former
was intemperance. He visited the Legisla
tures of Ohio and Kentucky, as well as Con
gress, and begged for the prohibition of the
liquor traffic among the Indians. In a speech,
which was taken down in shorthand at the
time, he denounced it as "an evil that has
had so much ruin in it, that has destroyed

40

THE LITTLE TURTLE

so many of our lives, that it causes our young
men to say, 'We had better be at war with
the white people. This liquor that they in
troduce into our country is more to be feared
than the gun or the tomahawk; there are
more of us dead since the treaty of Green
ville than we lost by the years of war before,
and it is all owing to the introduction of this
liquor among us/ :

While on a visit to Washington The Lit
tle Turtle learned of the benefits of inocula
tion as a preventive of smallpox. He at
once had himself and the members of his
party inoculated, and he also carried this
remedy to his people, which was the means
of saving the lives of many of them and of
the surrounding tribes.

He tried to introduce a civilized system
of agriculture among the Miamis, and at his
request the Society of Friends of Balti
more, established a training farm on the
Wabash. It was located at a place known
as "The Boatyard/' because General Wilkin
son built a fleet of boats there to transport
his baggage down the river. This is some
two miles below the present city of Hunting-
ton, the site of which was known to the Mi-

41

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

amis as We'-pe-chah'-ki-oong or "The Place
of Flints," because there is here a flint ridge
running across the limestone, from which
they obtained abundant supplies of flints.

The farm was not a success, however, and
Philip Denis, the hard-headed Quaker, who
was put in charge of it, abandoned it at the
end of the first season because his Indian
pupils gave no co-operation beyond sitting
on the fence and watching him work.

The Little Turtle also endeavored to pro
mote friendship with the Americans, and op
posed British influences, which brought him
into opposition to Tecumtha. This opposi
tion was much aggravated by his supporting
the treaties made by Governor Harrison for
lands in the southern part of Indiana. As
the Government had built a substantial log-
house for him at his town on Eel River and
otherwise encouraged him in his efforts for
civilization, his enemies found many listen
ers to their insinuations that he had sold
himself to the Americans. This feeling was
worked up to such a point that in 1810 John
Johnston, the Indian agent, wrote to Gov
ernor Harrison: "This Turtle is contempti
ble beyond description in the eyes of the In-

42

THE LITTLE TURTLE

dians." Nevertheless he still retained his in
fluence with most of the Miamis, and very
few of them took part in the battle of Tippe-
canoe. After that event, his wisdom was
again generally recognized, and he regained
much of his former standing.

In his later years the old chief was much
troubled by rheumatism and gout, and was
treated for them by the army surgeons at
Ft. Wayne. One day an interpreter rallied
him with a suggestion that gout was sup
posed to be a disease of fine gentlemen. The
Little Turtle quickly replied: "I have al
ways thought that I was a gentleman."

And he was. He had not only a philo
sophic mind and a ready wit, but also a no
table instinct for the proprieties that fitted
him for any social surroundings. These
qualities attracted attention among the
whites wherever he went. One who met him
while on a trip East in 1807, writes:

"The Little Turtle and Rusheville, the
Beaver and Crow (Delawares), and the
two Shawnees, were dressed in a costume
usually worn by our own citizens of the
time — rcoats of blue cloth, gilt buttons, pan
taloons of the same color, and buff waist-

43

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

coats ; but they all wore leggings, moccasins
and large gold rings in their ears. The Lit
tle Turtle exceeded all his brother chiefs in
dignity of appearance — a dignity which re
sulted from the character of his mind. He
was of medium stature, with a complexion
of the palest copper shade, and did not wear
paint. His hair was a full suit, and without
any admixture of gray, although from what
he said of his age, at Ft. Wayne in 1804, be
ing then fifty-three, he must at this time have
been fifty-seven years old. His dress was
completed by a long red military sash around
the waist, and his hat (a chapeau bras) was
ornamented by a red feather. Immediately
on entering the house, he took off his hat
and carried it under his arm during the rest
of the visit. His appearance and manners,
which were graceful and agreeable in an
uncommon degree, were admired by all who
made his acquaintance.

The "Rusheville" here mentioned was The
Little Turtle's nephew, Jean Baptiste Rich-
ardville, who succeeded him as head chief of
the Miamis. His Indian name was Pin-je'-
wah, or the Wild Cat. He was the son of
The Little Turtle's sister, Tah-kum-wah

44

THE LITTLE TURTLE

(On the Other Side, i. e., in position, as
across a river), and a scion of the noble
French house of Drouet de Richardville.
This corruption of his name is quite com
mon, and a further twist is found in the
name of Russiaville, Howard County, which
was originallly intended to perpetuate his
memory.

We have also attempted to commemorate
a grandson of The Little Turtle in the name
of the town of Coesse, in Whitley County,
But this is our reproduction of his Potawa-
tomi nickname, Ku-wa'-ze, or as the Miamis
pronounce it, K6-wa-zi, meaning "old," or
as here "old man/' He was the son of The
Little Turtle's son, Ma-kot'-ta-mon'-gwah
(Black Loon). His cousin, Kil-so-kwa, says
his real name was M'tek'-yah, meaning "for
est" or "woods" ; but the nickname supplant
ed the true name, and in the treaties he ap
pears as "Co-i-sa," "Ko-es-say," or "Ko-

was-see."

Kil-so-kwa is the daughter of The Little
Turtle's son Wok-shin'-gah (the Crescent
Moon — literally "lying crooked"). Her
mother's name was Nah-wa'-kah-mo'-kwa
(the First Snow Woman — literally, the one

45

KILSOKWA— THE SETTING SUN.
(Granddaughter of The Little Turtle.)

THE LITTLE TURTLE

that comes first). She says that her own
name means "the setting sun," though lit
erally it appears to mean only "the sun"
(feminine) or "sun woman." Kil-so-kwa
married Antoine Revarre, a French-Cana
dian, and now lives near Roanoke, Ind., with
her son Antony Revarre, whose Indian name
is Wah'-pi-mon'-gwah (White Loon), at the
advanced age of ninety-seven years.

The Little Turtle prepared to take the side
of the Americans in the war of 1812, but he
was destined not to participate in that con
flict. His old enemy, the gout, carried him
off on July 14, 1812, while at Ft. Wayne for
treatment. He was buried on the bank of
the St. Joseph, above Ft. Wayne, with mili
tary honors. For a generation or more the
Indians were accustomed to visit his grave
and pay tribute to his memory, and well
they might, for if ever man served his gen
eration to the best of his ability, this man
had done so.

47

CHAPTER III.

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES.

It was at the close of May, 1801, that the
Moravian missionaries came to Wah'-pi-kah-
me'-kunk, standing where the city of Muncie
now is, or rather on the bluffs across the
river from Muncie. This was the eastern
most of the Delaware towns on White River,
and that was the cause of its name, for the
trails from the east and north and south all
struck it first, and so it was by pre-eminence
the White River Town. This is what the
name means, for in the early times the Dela-
wares adopted the Miami name of the river,
Wah'-pi-kah-me'-ki (White Waters — varied
to O'-pee-ko-me'-kah in the Unami dialect)
though in later times they commonly called
it Wah'-pi-ha'-ni, which in their own lan
guage means literally White River.

The missionaries were Brother John P.
Kluge and his wife, and Abraham Lucken-
bach, a young man of twenty-four years, all

48

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

of whom had been called to the work from
Pennsylvania, and had passed the preceding
winter with Zeisberger at Goshen, on the
Muskingum, learning the Delaware lan
guage. They had reached this point from
Goshen after a wearisome journey of nine
weeks, partly by water down the Ohio, then
up the Miami and Whitewater, and across
through the woods. They were accompanied
by two Delaware converts, one named
Thomas, and the other an old man named
Joshua, who had formerly lived at the mis
sion at Wyalusing (Place of the Aged War
rior — the same name was afterward given
to a stream in southern Indiana).

They were hospitably received, but the
Indians, who were pagans, pointed out a
place for them to settle some twenty miles
farther down the river. The truth is that
the pagans regarded the Christian Indians
as a sort of inoffensive idiots, who did not
have sense enough to protect themselves—
the Moravians being non-combatants—rand
who might be murdered by whites, as their
brethren had been at Salem and Gnadenhuet-
ten on the Muskingum, if they did not have

49

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

a surrounding cordon of Indians of more
warlike character.

This location was favorably situated for
their labors, being only two miles east of
the large town of the chief known to the
whites as Anderson. His Indian name was
Kok-to'-wha-nund, which may be translated
Making a Cracking Noise, i. e., as of a house
or a tree about to fall, for that is the mean
ing of Kok-to'wha, and the ending nund in
dicates that the noise is caused by some per
son.

The whites have given the name of Ander
son to the place, but the Indians did not call
it by the chief's name, as they did many
other places, but gave it the special name of
Wah'-pi-mins'-kink, or Chestnut Tree Place.
Some botanists have doubted that the chest
nut tree is native to Indiana, but the earliest
surveyor's notes show that they were com
mon in some regions. The section center
one and a half miles east of Anderson was
marked by "a chestnut thirty inches in dia
meter."

Indeed, the location was about the only
encouraging feature of the case, for these
pagan Delawares had an ancient religion of

50

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

their own to which they were much at
tached. It was (and is, for it still continues)
founded on the vision of a boy who was ill-
treated at home and wandered off one night
heartsore and very hungry, until, almost ex
hausted, he began moaning and supplicating
the Great Spirit. As he cried out "O-oo"
he heard twelve voices repeat the sound, one
after another. Then he fell asleep and a
manitou appeared to him as a man, with one
side of his face painted red and the other
black. He told the boy all about the spirit
world, and that the troubles of his people
were due to their wickedness and their fail
ure to worship the manitous for their good
ness.

In answer to an inquiry about the twelve
voices he said these were the voices of the
manitous ruling in the twelve spheres of
heaven, through which one must pass to
reach the Great Spirit; and all prayers are
thus passed in by them, from one to another,
until the twelfth delivers them to the Great
Spirit.

He gave the boy full instructions for the
religious rites the Indians must observe, es
pecially the annual thanksgiving feast, and

51

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

also for the temples or council-houses they
must erect for worship. These were to be
long and large, and to be divided into twelve
parts, in each of which must be a post with a
face carved on it, and painted red on one
side and black on the other, representing the
twelve ruling manitous. In the center there
must be a post with four faces carved on the
four sides, representing the Great Spirit who
sees and knows all things.

To these houses the people must enter by
the east door and retire in the same way, al
ways passing to the right, and never going
between the center post and the east door.
After entering, the Turtle clan or Unami
( People Down the River ) , commonly known
among themselves by their totem name, Pa-
ko-an-go (The Crawler), were to be seated
on the south side. On the west are the Tur
key clan, or Unalachtigo (People Near the
Ocean), commonly known among them
selves as Chi-ke-la-ki (from chik-e-no, a tur
key), or sometimes by their other name of
the turkey, Pullaeu ( It Does Not Chew — re
ferring to the bird's manner of eating). On
the north are the Wolf clan, known to us as
Monseys or Munsees, but properly Minsi or

52

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

Minthiu (People of the Stony Country),
whose totemic name is p'tuk-sit, or round
foot, because they did not make a picture of
a wolf for their totem, but only of its foot.

Of these houses on White River Lucken-
bach says : "In each of these towns there was
a council-house, about forty feet in length
and twenty feet in breadth, where they us
ually celebrated their sacrificial feasts and
dances. These houses were built of split
wood, piled up betwixt posts set in the
ground, covered with a roof made of laths
and the bark of trees, and having an en
trance at either end; but there was neither
floor nor ceiling; three fireplaces stood in a
straight line from end to end, with large ket
tles suspended over them in which a mess
of Indian corn and meat, boiled together,
was prepared for the guests to eat, after the
dance was over. Platforms one foot high
and five feet wide were raised all along the
sides of the house, which were covered first
with bark and then long grass on top of
that, to serve as couches for the guests to
sit or recline upon while smoking their pipes
and witnessing the dancing of the rest.
These dances were invariably got up in the

S3

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

night, and sometimes continued for weeks
together. The whole was concluded by a
sacrificial feast, for which the men had to
furnish the venison and bear's meat, and the
women the cornbread; and everything had
to be prepared in the council-house before all
feasted together amidst the observance of
certain rites."

And the superstitions of these pagans
were very real to them. They regarded
dreams and visions as supernatural visita
tions quite as fully as Pharaoh did. They
believed absolutely and fearfully in witches,
which is not very surprising when one con-
siders.that Blackstone had defended the Eng
lish laws against witchcraft less than fifty
years earlier. They were perversely argu
mentative, conceding that the whites had
acted very wickedly in crucifying the Savior
when he came to them, but urging that they
had never treated the manitous thus, and
that they did not see how they were con
cerned in the offense of the whites.

But, with all their failings, they at least
preached fairly well, for Luckenbach says:
"On such occasions the chiefs usually ad
dress speeches to their people of both sexes,

54

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

and rigidly enforce abstinence from all
gross sins, especially drunkenness (although
they themselves are very far from practic
ing what they teach), while recommending
them to practice hospitality, love and con
cord, as things that are well pleasing to God.
This proves that even savages are capable
of distinguishing between good and evil, and
are, therefore, possessed of a conscience that
either accuses or else excuses them, and that
will judge them at the last day."

Obviously the missionaries had a hard
task before them, but at least they were
promised an open field. Luckenbach says
that soon after their coming they "were vis
ited and welcomed by the two oldest Dela
ware chiefs, Packantschilas and Tetepach-
sit," and, although both were pagans, "both
of these chiefs assured us they had given
their people permission to visit us and to
hear the Word of God, and that they would
order them not to molest us in any way, nor
to pass through our place when they were
drunk." These were gratifying assurances,
for the former, known to the whites as Buck-
ongehelas, was the head war chief of the na
tion, and Ta-ta-pach-sit, sometimes men-

56

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

tioned as 'The Grand Glaize King/' was
the head chief in time of peace. His name
is given in an old Pennsylvania treaty as
"Tatabaugsuy, the Twisting Vine/' but
there is nothing in it like the Delaware words
for "twisting" or "vine." Ta-ta is a Dela
ware double negative, making it emphatic,
and the verb pachan (poch-6n) means to di
vide, separate, sunder; making the literal
meaning, "It can not be divided or pulled
apart." Such a name would not be applied
to any fragile vine, and the one woody twist
ing vine in the old Delaware country was
the American Woodbine, of which this is pre
sumably the specific name.

Encouraged by the assurances of these
chiefs, the missionaries proceeded with the
erection of a permanent dwelling. They
lived in hastily-constructed bark huts dur
ing the summer, but by November they com
pleted a substantial log cabin sixteen feet
square, which gave them comfortable shel
ter for the winter.

The work of conversion did not proceed
with much success, and it was not long un
til they discovered that they were contending
against an influence even more adverse than

57

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

the ancient Delaware religion. It was a
spirit of opposition to the whites in all
things, that arose chiefly from the land ques
tion — the continual demand of the white man
for more land. Only half a dozen years had
passed since the treaty of Greenville, when
the boundaries between American and In
dian were "fixed for all time," as the Indians
understood, but immediately after the treaty
there was a great flood of immigration to the
new lands, and soon there was talk of more
land being needed.

Some of the Indians promptly opposed
this, and among them none was more promi
nent than the young Shawnee Tecumtha. A
born orator, with eloquence as great as that
of any man his race has produced, and ab
solutely fearless, he proclaimed everywhere
the doctrine that the Indians were one peo
ple, that the land was their common inherit
ance and that no tribe could give any part
of it away without the consent of all.

This doctrine was soon widely adopted,
for in 1802 General Harrison wrote that he
did not believe that he could obtain land ces
sions without a general assembly of the
chiefs, for : "There appears to be an agree-

58

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

ment amongst them that no proposition
which relates to their lands can be acceded
to without the consent of all the tribes, and
they are extremely watchful and jealous of
each other lest some advantage should be
obtained in which they do not all partici
pate."

Nevertheless he proceeded to treat with
individual tribes. From September, 1802, to
December, 1805, he negotiated seven treaties
with "chiefs and head men," by which were
ceded about 46,000 square miles of territory
in southern Indiana and Illinois. No tribes
were represented but those asserting ancient
proprietary rights, although the Wyandots
and Shawnees had been assured a part in the
Indian lands at the treaty of Greenville. Te-
cumtha and his coadjutors denounced these
treaties, and the chiefs who made them, and
factions in all the tribes joined with them.

At some time prior to 1805 a number of
Shawnees, including Tecumtha and his
brother Law-le-was-i-kaw (The Loud
Voice) came to live with the Delawares on
White River, and it was here that Law-le-
was-i-kaw took the name of Tems-kwah-ta-
wah (He Who Keeps the Door Open) and

59

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

assumed the role of a prophet. He was read
ily accepted in this function, and under his
teaching the tribes were soon stirred to the
work of purification, which consisted chiefly
of abandoning the clothing and costumes of
the whites and driving out witchcraft. It
was notable that those accused of the latter
were chiefs who had signed the treaties or
persons who were known as friendly to the
whites. The Indians were taught that the
Great Spirit had made them a different race
from the whites, and that they must keep
themselves distinct. The tendency of the
new religion \vas to create hostility to the
white man in all lines.

In the spring of 1806 the situation became
so unpleasant that the missionaries decided
to remove. Poch-gont'-she-he'-los had died
in 1804, and Ta-ta-pach-sit was in disfavor
on account of friendship to the whites. They
were occasionally visited by drunken youths
who shot and carried off their hogs, and
showed hostility in other ways. Early in
March Luckenbach and Joshua made a trip
to the Mississinewa towns to look for a more
favorable location.

As they passed through Wah-pi-kah-me-
60

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

kunk they found the Delawares assembled
in large numbers holding council as to how
they should rid the tribe of witches. Follow
ing the plan of Tecumtha, the young men —
the warriors — had taken the reins of govern
ment into their own hands; and, following
the teaching of The Prophet, they had deter
mined to remove all witches. If those who
were accused of witchcraft would confess
and abandon their practices they would be
forgiven, but if not they would be turned
over to "Their Grandfather, the Fire."

Immediately after the return of Lucken-
bach and Joshua, seven Indians painted
black appeared at the cabin of the mission
aries and announced that they had come to
take Joshua before the tribunal. Old Ta-ta-
pach-sit had been arraigned for witchcraft
and had confessed, on promise of forgive
ness if he would surrender his witch bag —
the sack in which Indian medicine men pro
fess to carry the media of their magic. He
had declared that in the previous winter he
had given his witch bag to Joshua, who must
now confront him. Joshua went with them,
calm and unterrified in his consciousness of
innocence.

61

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

The statement as to Ta-ta-pach-sit was
true. The old chief had probably given way
under the weakness of old age and had hope
lessly involved himself and others. It was
simple enough, though weak, to admit the
practice of witchcraft, of which he was en
tirely innocent; but when it came to surren
dering or accounting for a witch-bag that he
never possessed, he was lost. He had said
it was hidden at various places, but search
did not reveal it. He then confessed giving
it to his wife, to his nephew and to Joshua,
but these all denied it convincingly, and the
old chief promptly brought forward some
new story.

The old Munsee woman who had been
serving as judge in such matters declined to
decide these cases. Aside from the difficul
ties involved, she had had a wonderful vision
in which she had devoured a light that ap
peared to her three times, and she construed
this to be a divine reflection on her judicial
standing. It was, therefore, decided to hold
the accused until The Prophet, who was ex
pected the next day, should come and decide
as to their guilt in person.

On the next day, March 17, the mission-
62

[/I

'Si

O
X

O

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

aries were startled by a party of black-paint
ed Indians who came to their place with Ta-
ta-pach-sit in custody. Hastily taking a fire
brand from one of the Indian lodges, they
passed on to a tree, under which the old man
had now indicated the place where the witch-
bag was concealed. They dug at the place
he pointed out, but found nothing. With
gathering fury they built a fire and threat
ened him with instant death if he did not give
up his poison.

The frenzied dotard pointed out one place
after another and they dug in vain. It was
hopeless. He was self-convicted. His own
son struck him down with his tomahawk.
They stripped him and cast his body into the
flames. After finishing their work they
came to the cabin of the missionaries, and
the son, displaying his father's belt of wam
pum, said: "This belonged to him who dis
carded my mother and his oldest children
and took him a young wife."

But what of Joshua? The missionaries
were beginning to feel alarmed about him,
and ventured some words in his defense. To
this the ominous reply of the Indians was
that they ought not to speak in his behalf,

64

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

because he was a bad man who had doubt
less brought many persons to death by his
magic powers. When the Indians had gone
their fears increased as they discussed the
situation, and in the morning Luckenbach
started to Wah-pi-kah-me-kunk to do what
he could for the aid or comfort of their
friend. About half way there he met the
chief Kok-to-wha-nund, who informed him
that Joshua had been killed at Wah-pi-kah-
me-kunk on the preceding day. The mis
sionary was overcome by grief, and lament
ed that they had slain an innocent man ; but
the chief sternly answered that he deserved
his doom, and that other wicked people who
made way with their fellow-men by poison
or magic would meet the same fate.

To a protest against the barbarity of such
executions, he replied: "You white people
likewise try your criminals, and whenever
you find them guilty you hang them or exe
cute them in some other way, and we are
now doing the same among us. Another of
our chiefs, Hackin-pom-ska, is now under
arrest on a similar charge, but his fate still
remains undecided."

There had indeed been exciting times at
65

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

Wah-pi-kah-me'-kunk on that St. Patrick's
day. The Prophet had returned and had con
fronted Joshua in the council-house. Joshua
protested his innocence. Unable to furnish
any proof against him, The Prophet declared
that while it was true that he did not have
the witch-bag of Ta-ta-pach-sit, he had
magic powers of his own by which he was
able to destroy a man's life when he wished
to offer a victim to his god. This was equiva
lent to a judgment of guilty. The Indians
conducted Joshua to a large fire which they
had built. They formed a ring about him
and demanded that he confess how many
men he had destroyed by his magic. Joshua
calmly and solemnly avowed his complete in
nocence.

There was a momentary halt. An Indian
stepped from the circle, went to the fire, and
lighted the tobacco in his tomahawk-pipe. As
he passed behind Joshua he suddenly sank
the tomahawk in his brain. With wild yells
the others then sprang forward and rained
blows on the senseless body. Then they
stripped his body and threw it in the flames,
where it burned to ashes.

There remained three others under accus-

66

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

ation. The nephew of Ta-ta-pach-sit was
a Christian Indian, commonly known as Billy
Patterson, who had lived among the whites
until he acquired considerable skill as a gun
smith. He was a strong and courageous
man, with a queer mixture of religious faith
and Indian stoicism and he received The
Prophet's condemnation with composure.
They offered him pardon if he would confess,
and abandon his magic practices, but he an
swered with scorn: "You have intimidated
one poor old man, but you can not frighten
me; go on, and you shall see how a Chris
tian and a warrior Can die." He was at once
burned at the stake. Bible in hand, pray
ing, chanting hymns, and defying all the
powers of evil until his voice was stifled, his
brave soul passed out as from one of the
martyrs of apostolic times.

The failure to elicit any confession or evi
dences of guilt from him was somewhat dis
quieting. When the council had resumed its
session and was considering the case of Ta-
ta-pach-sit's wife her brother entered the
council-house, went forward, took her by the
hand and led her out of the house. He then
returned and declared in a loud voice : "The

67

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

evil spirit has come among us and we are
killing each other." No further attempt was
made to try the woman, and the case of
Hack-ink-pom'-ska (He Walks on the
Ground) was taken up.

This chief was of different stuff from the
others. He did not wait for any additional
accusation. Advancing to The Prophet, he
denounced him as a liar and an impostor, and
threatened him with personal vengeance if
he made any charge of witchcraft against
him. This was a very practical test of di
vine protection, from the Indian point of
view, to which The Prophet was not pre
pared to submit, and after some discussion
Hack-ink-pom-ska was remanded to custody
to await further proceedings, but without be
ing deprived of his standing and authority as
a chief. No further action was taken against
him.

The news of these tragedies was slow in
reaching Governor Harrison at Vincennes —
up the trail to Ft. Wayne by runner, and
down the Wabash by boat — reaching him in
April. He at once sent a strong letter to
the Delawares, in which he said: "Who is
this pretended prophet who dares to speak

68

THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

in the name of the Great Creator ? Examine
him. Is he more wise or more virtuous than
you are yourselves, that he should be selected
to convey to you the orders of your God ? De
mand of him some proofs at least of his be
ing the messenger of the Deity. If God has
really employed him, He has doubtless au
thorized him to perform some miracles, that
he may be known and received as a prophet.
If he is really a prophet, ask of him to cause
the sun to stand still — the moon to alter its
course — the rivers to cease to flow — or the
dead to rise from their graves. If he does
these things, you may then believe that he
has been sent from God." This reached the
Indians after they had ended their crusade
against witchcraft, but it probably served to
lessen somewhat the influence of The
Prophet, for in the succeeding troubles the
Delawares were generally loyal to the Amer
icans.

And the missionaries ? After learning the
situation at Wah-pi-kah-me-kunk, Lucken-
bach decided to go at once before the council,
which was still in session, and ask what was
the sentiment as to them. He entered the
council-house, announced that he had heard

69

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

rumors that the Indians meant to drive the
missionaries away, and asked them to ex
press their minds freely concerning their fu
ture stay.

The head men replied that the rumors had
not originated with them, but possibly with
some of the young men ; that they had no
especial preference in the matter, and had
not, in fact, called for any white teachers,
but had merely requested that some of their
relatives at the Muskingum move out to
them ; of these, however, not the families ex
pected — the White Eyes and the Killbucks
— but only a few others had come. The mis
sionaries were free to come or go as they
liked ; no obstacles would be put in their way.
The council then advised him to consult
Hack-ink-pom-ska, and this chief coincided
with the council in the view that their serv
ices were not particularly desirable to the
Indians, especially in view of the surplus of
religion furnished by The Prophet.

On consultation with Brother and Sister
Kluge it was decided to ask the authorities
at Bethlehem permission to leave, although
this involved a wait of five or six months.
A messenger was sent and they waited

70

• THE DEATH OF THE WITCHES

through the summer, frequently annoyed by
drunken and quarrelsome Indians, until at
last the permission for their return came. On
September 16, with their little belongings,
they left the White River mission and turned
back to their Pennsylvania homes.

Their cabin remained standing for a num
ber of years, but even that did not preserve
their memory. A few years later, when the
white settlers came and found the Indian
town known as Little Munsee sprung up
about the place, it was assumed that the
cabin must have been built by the Indians as
a fort, because it was so much more substan
tial than ordinary Indian structures, and so
the tradition passed down.

CHAPTER IV.

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT.

No Indian's name is more inseparably
linked to the history of Indiana than that of
"Tecumseh," and none is more familiar to
American readers, but it is remarkable how
little is definitely known about this celebrat
ed man.

As to his death, there are three conflicting
accounts, each verified by the statements of
alleged eye-witnesses. As to his birth, Mc-
Kenney and Hall give a romantic story of
his descent from the daughter of an English
Governor of Georgia or South Carolina, who
took a fancy to marry a Creek warrior; but
the historians of those States do not men
tion this unusual event, and Benjamin Drake,
from whom McKenney and Hall state they
had their information, says that this story
was concocted by the Prophet to give impor
tance to his family.

Drake probably is right in his statement
72

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT

that Tecumtha was born at the old Shawnee
town of Piqua, on Mad River, Ohio; that his
father was Puck-e-shin'-wau (something
that drops), a Shawnee of the Kiscopoke
clan, and that his mother was Me-tho-a-tas'-
ke, Shawnee of the Turtle totem. Her name
signifies a turtle laying eggs in the sand.

But Drake says the name is properly "Te
cumtha," and that it means "a shooting star."
Other authorities say it means "a comet," "a
panther leaping on its prey," and "an ob
stacle in the path." Frank A. Thackery, su
perintendent and agent at Shawnee, Okla.,
writes to me: "The proper pronunciation of
this name is Te-cum-tha, with the accent
sometimes on the first syllable and some
times on the last, depending on the way in
which the word is used. The meaning of
the word in the Shawnee language is 'going
crossways/ and it is used in the sense of a
person crossing your path for the purpose of
disputing your passage."

Other Indian authorities give it as "cross
ing over," "going across," "flying over," any
of which explains the origin of the common
ly given meanings. Gatschet conjectured
that these meanings might be references to

73

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

the fact that Tecumtha belonged to the Man-
e-tti'-wi-mis-si-pis'-si or Spirit Panther to
tem. Figuratively this totem stands for a
meteor or a comet.

There is little truth in the common ideas
of the cause of Tecumtha's hostility. He was
a warrior, but he was not like the defiant
Seminole who is supposed to have said :
"I battle for the love I have
To see the white man fall."

Tecumtha was also a statesman, and his
chief end in life was to prevent a wrong to
his people. The cause of this originated in
the treaty of Greenville. At that time Gen
eral Wayne forced the assembled tribes to
accept a boundary line which gave most of
Ohio to the whites and threw the Ohio tribes
back into Indiana. The Ohio Indians — Wy-
andots, Ottawas, Six Nations of Sandusky,
Delawares and Shawnees — unanimously
asked General Wayne to divide the land be
tween the several tribes. They said, in a
formal address, as shown by our own official
records, "We wish to inform you of the im
propriety of not fixing the bounds of every
nation's rights; for, the manner it now lies
in, would bring on disputes forever between

74

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT

the different tribes of Indians, and we wish
to be by ourselves, that we may be acquaint
ed how far we might extend our claims, that
no one may intrude on us, nor we upon
them."

But General Wayne declined to do this,
and with remarkable disregard of the point
of the request said: "You Indians best know
your respective boundaries/' and urged
them : "Let no nation or nations invade, mo
lest or disturb any other nation or nations
in the hunting grounds they have heretofore
been accustomed to live and hunt upon, with
in the boundary which shall now be agreed

on."

This decision they were forced to accept,
and therefore the Ohio Indians were thrown
back among the more Western tribes with
out having any lands set off for them. They
mixed largely with the Indian tribes, many
of the Delawares and Shawnees making
their homes in the hitherto unoccupied parts
of southern Indiana, but they advanced the
theory that under the new arrangement the
land belonged to all the tribes in common,
and this was generally accepted.

In 1802 Governor Harrison wrote: "There

75

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

appears to be an agreement amongst them
that no proposition which relates to their
lands can be acceded to without the consent
of all the tribes."

But the only treaty in which he undertook
to get this general consent was the one of
June 7, 1803, and its cessions of land were
very slight — four miles square at the salt
springs in southeastern Illinois, and four
tracts each one mile square on the roads from
Vincennes to Kaskaskia and Clarksville, for
the location of taverns.

In return for this the United States was
to distribute 150 bushels of salt annually
among all the tribes, and to give free ferriage
to all of the Indians at the ferries that might
be established on these roads. This treaty
was signed by three Shawnees, but in no
other of Harrison's treaties did any Shawnee
join, or any Wyandot, or any Ohio Dela
ware, and apparently they were not consult
ed at all, although by 1806 he had negotiated
five other treaties for the cession of about
46,000 square miles of land in Illinois and
southern Indiana.

These treaties were made with the "chiefs
and head warriors" of various tribes, and

76

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT

four of them had only five Indian signers
each. It was these treaties that raised the
wrath of Tecumtha and his sympathizers,
for not only did none of the Ohio Indians
consent to them, but none received any part
of the compensation, although the Indiana
and Illinois Indians had shared equally in
the compensation at the treaty of Green
ville. It was clear that the Shawnees and
other Ohio Indians were being shut out en
tirely; and when the treaties of 1809 were
made, by which 3,000,000 acres were added
to the cessions, Tecumtha became defiant and
said that these treaties should not be carried
into effect.

It was then that Tecumtha came to Vin-
cennes and had his dramatic interview with
General Harrison. He came to Vincennes
on August 12, 1810, with a retinue of 75
warriors, and for several days there were
interviews and councils between him and
Governor Harrison. On the 20th an open-
air council was in progress before the Gov
ernor's residence. Tecumtha made a long
speech in which he urged that the treaties
had been made by but few people, and that
they had no right to dispose of the common

77

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

heritage. He threatened vengeance on the
chiefs who had signed the treaties if they
were not rescinded, and he charged Harrison
with having incited the trouble. He said :

"It is you that are pushing them on to do
mischief. You endeavor to make distinc
tions. You wish to prevent the Indians to
do as we wish them, to unite and let them
consider their lands as the common property
of the whole. You take tribes aside and ad
vise them not to come into this measure;
and until our design is accomplished we do
not wish to accept your invitation to go and
see the President. The reason I tell you this
is, you want, by your distinctions of Indian
tribes, in allotting to each a particular tract
of land, to make them to war with each other.
You never see an Indian come and endeavor
to make the white people do so. You are
continually driving the red people; when, at
last, you will drive them into the great lake,
where they can't either stand or work." He
declared that the warriors represented the
will of the Indians, and that unless the
treaties were rescinded he would call a great
council of the tribes to deal with the treaty
chiefs.

78

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT

At the close of his speech Governor Har
rison began to reply. He was dwelling on
the uniform justice which the United States
had shown in its dealings with the Indians,
when Tecumtha sprang to his feet and de
nounced the statement as untrue, and
charged that Harrison and the United
States had cheated and imposed on the In
dians. With defiant gesticulation he said to
the interpreter, Barron, "Tell him he lies."
Barren hesitated and sought to soften the
expression, but Tecumtha reiterated, "No,
no. Tell him he lies." But the stir inter
rupted the proceedings. Several of the war
riors arose and stood in a threatening at
titude. General Gibson, Secretary of the
Territory, who understood the Shawnee lan
guage, directed Lieutenant Jennings to ad
vance with the guard of twelve men, who
had stood at a little distance. As soon as
order was restored Tecumtha's words were
translated, and Governor Harrison indig
nantly reproached him for his conduct, and
ordered him to return to his camp, saying
that the council fire was extinguished and
he would hold no further communication

7Q

TECUMTHA.

(From the only known portrait — a pencil sketch by Pierre
le Drou, a youn£ trader at Vincennes. Probably not an
exact likeness. Represents Tecumtha in his British uni
form.)

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT

with him. Abashed by this firm stand, the
Indians sullenly withdrew.

With cooling time, Tecumtha realized that
he had made a diplomatic blunder. In the
morning Barren visited him in his camp, and
found him very desirous of a further inter
view and an amicable settlement. Governor
Harrison consented to the interview on con
dition that Tecumtha would apologize for
his insult, and in the afternoon the council
was resumed. With perfect dignity, but in
a respectful manner, Tecumtha disclaimed
any intention to offer insult, and explained
that he had perhaps been misinformed as to
the sentiments of the white people, who, he
had been told, were divided in their opinion
as to the treaties; but he said he knew they
already had more land than they could use,
"as he had sent some of his men to recon-
noiter the settlements, and had found that the
lands towards the Ohio were not settled at
all." Governor Harrison then asked him to
state explicitly whether the Kickapoos
would accept their annuities under the late
treaty, and whether the surveyors who might
be sent to run the boundary line, under the
treaty of 1809, would be interfered with. To

81

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

this Tecumtha responded that he was author
ized to say that the Kickapoos would not ac
cept their annuities; and, as to the bound
aries, "I want the present boundary line to
continue. Should you cross it, I assure you
it will be productive of bad consequences."
The council was then brought to a close.

On the next day, Governor Harrison, ac
companied only by Barron, visited Tecum-
tha's camp, where he was politely received,
and another long interview was held, but
without different result. Tecumtha restated
his position, and when Governor Harrison
assured him that his claims would never be
admitted by the President, he replied:

"Well, as the great chief is to determine
the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put
sense enough into his head to induce him to
direct you to give up the land. It is true, he
is so far off he will not be injured by the
war. He may sit still in his 'town, and drink
his wine, while you and I will have to fight
it out."

This closed the conferences of 1810, but,
in June, 1811, Governor Harrison sent a
message to Tecumtha and The Prophet,
warning them of the consequences of hos-

82

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT

tilities. To this Tecumtha replied, protest
ing that no hostilities were intended, and
saying that he would come to Vincennes in
hope of a peaceable adjustment of all differ
ences. In July the Indians began to assem
ble about twenty miles north of Vincennes,
and when Tecumtha joined them they num
bered about 300, of whom one-tenth were
women and children. This gathering caused
apprehension, and Governor Harrison sent
a message disapproving it. Tecumtha re
plied that he had only twenty-four men in
his party, and "the rest had come of their
own accord; but that everything should be
settled to the satisfaction of the Governor,
on his arrival at Vincennes." To be pre
pared for any emergency, the militia of the
county, amounting to 750 men, were called
out, and guards were stationed about the
town.

It was charged, and generally believed by
the whites, that Tecumtha contemplated
treachery. At this time about the only
friends the Indians had in southern Indiana
were the Shakers, who had a settlement some
fifteen miles north of Vincennes. They had
a mission to the Shawnees in 1807, and ap-

83

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

parently were on much the same friendly
terms with the Indians as the Quakers have
usually been. The Indians who accompanied
Tecumtha assembled near their settlement.
One of the leading Shakers made this rec
ord:

"These were trying times with us. We
had use for all the wisdom and patience we
possessed. These hungry creatures were
about us nearly three weeks, singing and
dancing to the Great Spirit. Some of the
time there were upward of two hundred, all
peaceable, showed no abuse to any one, would
drink no whisky, and never to our knowledge
took to the value of one cucumber without
leave. Nor could we discover in them the
least hostile symptoms, still declaring their
innocence, grieved that the people would not
believe them — saying to the people: Took,
see our squaws and children. We do not go
to war so. We only come here because the
Governor sent for us/ But notwithstanding
all this the people moved into forts and into
town, bag and baggage, all around us. Oh,
how often did my soul cry out within me,
Lord, God ! What can ail this people ? Surely
the prophecy of Esdras is fulfilled upon them.

84

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT

'Wit has hid itself from them, and under
standing withdrawn itself into its secret
chamber/ "

But whether treachery was meditated or
not, Tecumtha was resolute in his opposition
to the treaties. It was a hopeless situation.
On the one side Tecumtha contended for the
same principle that we maintained in the civil
war — that the Indian lands belonged to all
the Indians in common and that no one tribe
could dispose of any part of it without the
consent of all the tribes. On the other hand,
Governor Harrison held, as he stated to the
next Legislature :

"Are then the extinguishments of native
title, which are at once so beneficial to the
Indian, the Territory and the United States,
to be suspended on the account of the in
trigues of a few individuals? Is one of the
fairest portions of the globe to remain in a
state of nature, the haunt of a few wretched
savages, when it seems destined by the
Creator to give support to a large population,
and to be the seat of civilization, of science,
and of true religion ?"

But the existence of these two theories on
a frontier, even without formal war, meant

85

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

trouble. There were scarcely any Indian hos
tilities in the Northwest from the treaty of
Greenville until 1803, but in the decade fol
lowing southern Indiana was the scene of
many a bloody tragedy. Prowling bands of
warriors fell on defenseless settlers, killing
men and carrying women and children cap
tive. And many of the whites did not hesi
tate to kill an Indian at any favorable oppor
tunity, without regard to his hostile or peace
able attitude.

The danger was so great and so constant
that the territorial authorities caused block
houses to be built at various points, and
maintained companies of rangers, who pa
trolled the established lines of travel to pro
tect immigrants. It was Indiana's notable
period of border warfare, and when it ended
the white man's theory was triumphant — es
tablished by blood and steel.

Tecumtha did not live to see the end, but
he never gave up his cherished hope. It was
not without reason that he charged Govern
or Harrison with trying to make war be
tween the Indian tribes, for the Governor's
policy alienated the Indiana tribes from Te
cumtha. They received the annuities and

86

INDIANA IN 1611.

ff
Dearbor

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

other compensation for the lands, whose sale
he opposed, and there were very few of them
in arms against the Americans, either at
Tippecanoe or in the war of 1812.

Realizing that his forces were not suffi
cient for successful war, disappointed re
peatedly in his efforts to secure Indian al
lies, he hailed with joy the advent of war
with the British and enrolled with them. One
can easily imagine the chagrin with which
he saw these allies being driven back by the
Americans, and can understand the bitter
ness of his speech to General Proctor at Mai
den, when the latter was preparing to re
treat. His life-long dream came back as he
begged Proctor to turn the arms and ammu
nition over to the Indians and let them stay
and fight.

"Listen," said Tecumtha, "when war was
declared our Father stood up and gave us
the tomahawk, and told us that he was then
ready to fight and strike the Americans—
that he wanted our assistance and that we
would certainly get our land back that the
Americans had taken from us. * * * Father,
you have the arms and ammunition which
our Great Father sent for his red children.

WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT

If you have an idea of going away, give them
to us. You may go, and welcome. Our lives
are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are
determined to defend our land, and if it be
His will, we wish to leave our bones upon it."

And undoubtedly he went into the battle
of the Thames with that feeling — with the
conviction that the supreme hour had come
when all must be won or lost, and gave his
life as the crowning sacrifice of his life's ef
fort.

And yet this concession of Tecumtha's
honesty of purpose is no reflection on Gov
ernor Harrison, but only a presentation of
the different point of view. Harrison al
ways warmly resented every charge of un
fairness on his part. At the treaty of 1814,
he was especially urgent that the Indians
should point out any matter in which he had
ever deceived them or done them injustice.

At that time Harrison said as to Tecum
tha's position:

"After the treaty was made the Prophet
and his brother, who had no right to par
ticipate in it, began to propagate the princi
ple that the whole of the lands on this conti
nent were the common property of all the

89

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

tribes and that no sale could take place or
would be valid unless all the tribes were par
ties to it. This idea is so absurd and so
new, too, that it could never be admitted by
the Seventeen Fires, either on their own ac
count or on that of the tribes who live near
to them and whose rights they have guar
anteed ; and you all know, for you were pres
ent at the discussion between Tecumseh and
myself, on the subject of those lands, that
this was the only claim he was able or ever
attempted to set up."

Very true. Tecumtha offered a claim that
was of no value under our laws, but under
this construction the Ohio Indians were the
only ones who ever surrendered their old
homes to our Government without receiving
some territory that they might call their own,
elsewhere. Under it they were made abso
lutely homeless, except as they might be tol
erated by the other tribes.

It is not strange that they did not take this
view, nor that they protested against it.
Looking back now, it is not hard to do them
this justice. Indeed, when contemplating
such a life as Tecumtha's, one may easily

90

.WHY TECUMTHA FOUGHT.

sympathize with the sentiment of Wendell
Phillips as to the Indian :

"Neither Greece, nor Germany, nor the
French, nor the Scotch, can show a prouder
record. And instead of searing it over with
infamy and illustrated epithets, the future
will recognize it as a glorious record of a
race that never melted out and never died
away, but stood up manfully, man by man,
foot by foot, and fought it out for the land
God gave him against the world, which
seemed to be poured out over him. I love
the Indian, because there is something in the
soil and climate that made him that is fated,
in the thousand years that are coming, to
mold us."

There are few Americans who have not
accorded admiration to Tecumtha's manly
character, but perhaps none has paid higher
tribute than Charles A. Jones, the Cincinnati
poet, in whose poem to "Tecumseh, the Last
King of the Ohio/' occur these stanzas :

Art thou a patriot? — so was he —

His breast was Freedom's holiest
shrine ;

And as thou bendest there thy knee,
His spirit will unite with thine;
91

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

All that a man can give, he gave —
His life — the country of his sires

From the oppressor's grasp to save —
In vain — quenched are his nation's
fires.

Oh, softly fall the summer dew,

The tears of Heaven upon his sod,
For he in life and death was true,

Both to his country and his God ;
For, oh, if God to man has given,

From his bright home beyond the skies
One feeling that's akin to Heaven,

'Tis his who for his country dies.

CHAPTER V.

THE FALL OF THE PROPHET.

Notwithstanding the eloquence, magnet
ism and high repute of Tecumtha among
the Indians, there is little room for question
that the chief element of strength in his
confederacy was the influence of his brother,
the Prophet. The original name of this man
was the Loud Voice — commonly written
Law-le-was-i-kaw, or Ol-la-wa-chi-ca, but
more properly La-lu-e-tsee-ka. When he as
sumed the role of prophet, at our White Riv
er Delaware towns, in 1805, he took the name
of Tems-kwah'-ta-wah, or He Who Keeps
the Door Open. American writers have com
monly denounced him as an impostor, and a
conscious humbug, but there is in fact no
more reason for questioning his sincerity,
though he may at times have resorted to
trickery to enhance his reputation, than there
is for questioning the sincerity of Mahomet
or Joan of Arc or our own Mrs. Eddy. Al-

93

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

most all Indians believe in the supernatural
character of visions and dreams and their
common teaching is that if a person will pur
ify himself and fast and pray for a week or
so, the Manitous will reveal themselves to
him. A week's fasting naturally produces
visions, which are accepted as spiritual visi
tations in answer to prayer.

Among the white contemporaries of the
Prophet, almost the only ones who credited
his sincerity were the Shakers, who are
among the few sects who accept literally
the prophecy that "your old men shall see
visions and your young men shall dream
dreams." They sent three missionaries to
the Shawnees in 1807, and one of these, Rich
ard McNemar, records the Prophet's own
story of his divine calling as follows :

"He [the Prophet] had formerly lived on
White River ; had been a doctor and a very
wicked man. About two years ago, while
attending on sick people at Attawa, in a
time of general sickness, he was struck with
a deep and awful sense of his sins; cried
mightily to the Good Spirit to show him
some way of escape, and in his great distress
fell into a vision, in which he appeared to be

94

TEMS-KWAH-TA-WAH (HE WHO KEEPS THE DOOR OPEN)
THE SHAWNEE PROPHET.

(From Portrait formerly in National Gallerv.)

THE FALL OF THE PROPHET

traveling along a road, and came to where
it forked. The right-hand way, he was in
formed, led to happiness, and the left to
misery.

"This fork in the road, he was told, repre
sented that stage of life in which people
were convicted of sin; and those who took
the right-hand way quit everything that was
wicked and became good. But the left-hand
road was for such as would go on and be
bad, after they were shown the right way.
They all move slow till they come here, but
when they pass the fork to the left then they
go swift. On the left-hand way he saw
three houses — from the first and second
were pathways that led into the right-hand
road, but no way leading from the third.
This, said he, is eternity. He saw vast crowds
going swift along the left-hand road, and
great multitudes in each of the houses, un
der different degrees of judgment and mis
ery. He mentioned particularly the punish
ment of the drunkard. One presented him
a cup of liquor resembling melted lead ; if he
refused to drink it he would urge him, say
ing: 'Come, drink — you used to love whisky.'
And upon drinking it his bowels were seized

95

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

with an exquisite burning. This draught he
had often to repeat. At the last house their
torment appeared inexpressible ; under which
he heard them scream, cry pitiful and roar
like the falls of a river.

"He was afterward taken along the right-
hand way, which was all interspersed with
flowers of delicious smell, and showed a
house at the end of it, where was everything
beautiful, sweet and pleasant; and still went
on learning more and more; but in his first
vision he saw nothing but the state of the
wicked, from which the Great Spirit told him
to go and warn his people of their danger,
and call upon them to put away their sins
and be good. Whereupon he began to speak
to them in great distress, and would weep
and tremble while addressing them. Some
believed, were greatly alarmed, began to con
fess their sins, forsake them and set out to
be good. This spread the alarm and brought
many others from different tribes to see and
hear, who were affected in like manner. But
some of the chiefs, who were very wicked,
would not believe and tried to keep the peo
ple from believing and encouraged them on
in their former wicked ways. Whereupon

96

THE FALL OF THE PROPHET

the Great Spirit told him to separate from
these wicked chiefs and their people, and
showed him particularly where to come, to
ward the big ford where the peace was con
cluded with the Americans [i. e., Greenville,
O. ] , and there make provision to receive and
instruct all from the different tribes that
were willing to be good. Accordingly all
that believed had come and settled there, and
a great many Indians had come to hear, and
many more were expected. That some white
people were afraid, but they were foolish,
for they would not hurt any one."

The moral teachings of the Prophet were
not objectionable, as the sins he specially
condemned were witchcraft, lying, stealing,
poisoning people, fighting, murdering, drink
ing whisky, beating their wives and lewd-
ness, but he taught also that acceptance of
the customs of the whites was a sin for In
dians, for which they were being punished.
And these have always been the general
lines of the teachings of Indian prophets.
They had been followed by the great Dela
ware prophet, forty years earlier, who was
largely instrumental in bringing on the con
spiracy of Pontiac (Ottawa for "an anchor

97

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

pole" — i. e., a pole thrust in the bottom of a
lake or river for holding a small boat). They
have been followed by most of the Indian
prophets since then, as may be seen in the ad
mirable study of "The Ghost Dance Reli
gion/' by our Indiana ethnologist, James
Mooney, which forms the second volume of
the fourteenth annual report of the Bureau
of Ethnology. It is the natural hope of a
people who feel themselves being crushed by
a superior power that the Almighty will in
some way intervene in their behalf, if they
repent and abandon their sins. But this
also naturally encourages hostility to the su
perior race among the younger and more
warlike individuals, and it certainly had that
effect in this case.

In the spring of 1808 The Prophet and
his followers moved from Greenville to the
Wabash, just below the mouth of the Tippe-
canoe. Their town there is commonly called
Kethtippecanunk, which should be Ke-tap'-e-
kon-nunk' for it means Tippecanoe town, or
place, and the Potawatomi name of that
stream is Ke-tap'-e-kon — in Miami Ke-tap'-
kwon, which is the name of the buffalo fish,
formerly abundant in the river. This was

98

THE FALL OF THE PROPHET

in the territory of the Potawatomis, who al
ways had a strong tendency to the supernat
ural, as is shown by the names they have
left us. There is Manitou Lake, which they
believed to be inhabited by an evil spirit.
Near it is a tributary of the Tippecanoe, to
which the people of the vicinity still give trie
proper Potawatomi name of Chip-wah-nuck',
or Ghost Hole, and which has some connec
tion with the mysteries of the lake. The St.
Joseph River — the principal stream of their
country — they called Sahg'-wah-se'-pe, which
may be translated Mystery River, for sahg'-
wah means a mushroom, or anything that
comes up in the night without any seed hav
ing been planted. Their legend of the origin
of this name is that they once found a strange
Indian sitting on the bank of this stream,
and no one ever learned who he was or
whence he came ; so they called him, and also
the stream, Sahg'-wah.

Most curious of all is the name Shipshe-
wana, given to a lake and its outlet stream
in Lagrange County. Wah-we-as'-see (Full
Moon — literally the Round One), a grand
son and namesake of the old chief for whom
Lake Wawasee was named, more commonly

99

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

known as Thomas Topash — his mother, old
Wahweasee's daughter, having married a
Miami named Topash (Sweating; i. e., as a
pitcher of cold water collects moisture on a
warm day) — says this is properly Shup'-she-
wah'-no, and means "Vision of a Lion."
Whatever a Potawatomi sees in a vision aft
er fasting is called "wah'-no," and the origi
nal Indian of this name saw a lion. To my
remonstrance that lions were not found in
this country, and that the name must have
been given long before a Potawatomi ever
saw a lion, he replied : "That is nothing. The
Indians see everything in their visions. They
saw the whites long before they came to this
country. They have seen all the animals at
the bottom of the sea, that nobody ever saw.
This man saw a fierce, wild beast, with a big
head and mane, and afterward when the In
dians saw a lion they knew it was shup'-she."
At the new home on the Wabash, The
Prophet's religion prospered greatly, and its
fame spread far and wide. Hunter, the In
dian captive, and others tell of its spread
among the Odjibwas and other tribes of the
North, how they abandoned whisky, discard
ed textile clothing and returned to skins,

100

THE FALL OF THE PROPHET

threw away their \vitch-bags, killed their
dogs and abandoned the white man's ways,
even to giving up flint and steel for making
fires and resuming the primitive and tedious
mode of rubbing two dry sticks together.
Others tell of its spread to the Osages, west
of the Mississippi, and to the Cherokees,
Creeks and other Southern tribes. Hundreds
gathered to the village, where the life was
of religious solemnity. There were public
services morning and evening, with speak
ers who discoursed on the duties of man, the
pauses of their sermons being noted by a
loud "seguoy," or sort of "amen," from the
hearers. McNemar says of one of these
services : "On this occasion our feelings were
like Jacob's when he cried out, 'How dread
ful is this place! Surely the Lord is in this
place !' And the world knew it not."

With the growth of the new religion the
alarm of the whites increased. Temskwah-
tawah protested to General Harrison that his
designs were peaceable, but depredations on
the frontier continued, and from friendly
Indians on all sides came assurances that he
meant open war as soon as he was strong
enough. Tecumtha himself openly declared

101

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

that the boundary lines of the treaty of 1809
should not be run. Finally, in 1811, Gov
ernor Harrison and the national authorities
decided that the safety of the frontiers de
manded the breaking up of The Prophet's
town.

In September, the chief part of the forces
for the expedition having been assembled,
they moved up the Wabash to a point two
miles above Terre Haute, where Fort Har
rison was built. After completing it, and
being reinforced by the rest of the troops
called for, the expedition proceeded on Octo
ber 28. It was composed of nine companies
of regulars — eight from the Fourth Regi
ment and one from the Rifle Regiment; six
companies of infantry from the Indiana mi
litia, and Biggers' company of Indiana Rifle
men; three companies of Indiana Mounted
Riflemen; two companies of Indiana Dra
goons ; two companies of Kentucky Mounted
Riflemen, and a company of scouts and
spies. The companies were small, the entire
force aggregating a little over one thousand,
of whom one-fourth were mounted. On Oc
tober 31, having passed Big Raccoon Creek
(Hough's map marks this stream Che-que-ak

IO2

THE FALL OF THE PROPHET

—evidently intended for She'-qui-ah, which
is the Miami term for a poor, or lean, rac
coon), the army crossed the Wabash near
the present town of Montezuma. From this
point it kept to the prairie country on the
west side of the river, to avoid possibility of
ambush. On November 2, the army camped
two miles below the mouth of the Big Ver-
million, and erected a blockhouse twenty-five
feet square, at which a small guard was left
to protect the boats that had been used in
bringing the supplies thus far. The army
then proceeded through the prairies, usually
at some distance from the river, and on No
vember 6 came in sight of The Prophet's
town. The scouts were sent forward to ask
a conference with The Prophet, but as some
Indians appeared and seemed to attempt to
cut them off, they were recalled, and the
army moved forward. It had come to about
one hundred and fifty yards from the town
when some Indians came out and asked a halt
and a conference. It was agreed that the
troops should go into camp over night at
what is now known as "the battle ground,"
and that hostilities should be suspended un
til a conference could be held on the follow-

103

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

ing day. Governor Harrison says of the
camping place, "It was a piece of dry oak
land rising about ten feet above the level of
a marshy prairie in front [i e., to the south
east], and nearly twice that height above a
similar prairie in the rear, through which
and near to this bank ran a small stream
clothed with willows and other brushwood.
Toward the left flank this bench of land
widened considerably, but became gradually
narrower in the opposite direction, and at
the distance of one hundred and fifty yards
terminated in an abrupt point/' Here the
troops were disposed in hollow formation,
the left flanks of front and rear lines being
occupied by the regulars and the right by
Indiana militia. The left flank was covered
by the Kentucky militia, back of whom were
the dragoons, and the right flank by Spen
cer's Mounted Riflemen. Although no at
tack was anticipated, all preparations were
made for it, except fortifying the camp, and
Harrison said this was omitted for lack of
axes. The men slept on their arms, and ex
plicit orders were given for forming the
lines in case of attack.

There has been some contention as to the

104

PECANOE

andBatt

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

intent of the Indians, and the events of that
night, but the truth was probably told later
by White Loon (Wah-pi-mon'-gwah), one
of the leading chiefs present. He said that
there was no intention to attack until the
Potawatomi chief Winamac (Cat Fish — lit
erally mud fish), arrived and insisted on it.
A council was convened and most of the
chiefs opposed attack, but Winamac de
nounced them as cowards, said it was now
or never, and threatened unless the attack
was made 'to withdraw and take with him the
Potawatomis, who formed about one-third
of the town. Then the attack was agreed
to. White Loon, Winamac and Stone Eater
(Sa'-ne-ma-hon'-ga) were put in command,
the Indian force being about equal to that
of the whites. The Prophet made a speech,
in which he assured them of success, saying
that his charms would protect them from
the bullets of the whites, and the warriors
went into the battle as confident of super
natural protection as any religious fanatics
that ever lived.

They had intended to attack on three sides
simultaneously, but a sentinel, Stephen
Mars, caught sight of them as they crept

106

THE FALL OF THE PROPHET

in close to the lines, up the bank from Bur
netts' Creek, at the northwest angle, and
fired the alarm shot. . The Indians who were
close enough attacked at once, breaking the
lines at some points and in two or three in
stances penetrating to the tents. Mars was
killed as he fled. The recklessness of the as
sault showed their faith in The Prophet's
protection, and it took two hours of stubborn
fighting to convince them of its futility.

Governor Harrison was quickly at the
point of attack after the first firing, and, find
ing the lines at that point somewhat broken,
ordered up two companies for support. By
that time a heavy firing began at the north
east angle, and Harrison, turning there,
found Maj. Jo Daveiss (this is the correct
spelling — not Daviess, as it has been handed
down) anxious to charge the enemy. After
two refusals he was given permission to
charge, and dashed forward with only twenty
men. The Indians fell back from the front
and gathered on their flanks, pouring in a
heavy fire that drove back the charging
party, with Major Daveiss mortally wound
ed. The firing now extended all around the
camp, and was especially heavy on the left

107

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

flank, where, as on the right flank, the In
dians could approach on high ground under
cover of the trees. The morning was dark
and cloudy, and it had rained intermittently
during the night. The campfires gave the
Indians the advantage in aiming, and they
were extinguished as soon as possible. The
lines were reinforced wherever needed, and
held intact. So the fight went on in the dark,
from a little after four o'clock till daybreak,
when gallant charges were made on the right
and left flanks, and the Indians were chased
into the marshes where the horsemen could
not follow. They did not return.

The pursuit was not extended far, for the
army had its hands full. Thirty-seven men
had been killed, and 151 wounded, of whom
twenty-five afterwards died. The cattle had
escaped, and had been driven away ; and the
troops had recourse to horse-flesh for meat.
A report was started that Tecumtha was on
his way to the place with 1,000 warriors.
November 7th was occupied with burying the
dead, caring for the wounded, and throwing
up breastworks of logs. On the 8th the
mounted men advanced to the town, and
found that the Indians had deserted it in

108

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

haste, leaving almost all their possessions.
After gathering up the copper kettles, with
what corn and beans they could carry, the
troops applied the torch and destroyed all
that was left. There remained no doubt
that the Indians knew they were whipped.
Their force in the fight was probably about
equal to that of the whites, and although re
ports as to their loss varied widely, it is cer
tain that it was no less than that of the
troops. Tecumtha was not in the vicinity,
having gone south to try to secure the alli
ance of the southern tribes, and it is very
well established that The Prophet had given
battle in defiance of Tecumtha's express or
ders.

He had met defeat, and it was more than a
mere defeat. A religion was shot and bay
oneted to death on that field. Across Bur
nett's Creek stands a large boulder, known
to this day as The Prophet's Rock. Either
on this or, as some say, on a bluff farther to
the east, The Prophet stood as his men
fought, making his charms and singing his
incantations to the Manitous. But to his
appeals the bullets of the frontiersmen gave
back the mocking answer of Elijah to the

no

THE FALL OF THE PROPHET

prophets of Baal — "Cry aloud," for "perad-
venture he sleepeth and must be awaked."
Was he sincere? Did he expect supernat
ural aid? Certainly he staked his all on the
outcome. And he lost all ; for even his most
devoted followers realized that, if there was
any divine interference at that time, the stars
in their courses fought against Tenskwahta-
wah.

After the battle he sought to explain the
disaster by saying that his wife had touched
his sacred instruments and destroyed the
charm, but in vain. His reputation as a
prophet was gone. For awhile he took ref
uge with a party of Wyandots on Wild Cat
Creek (often called Ponce Passu, or Ponceau
Pichou, corruptions of the French name
Panse au Pichou, which is a literal transla
tion of the Miami name Pin-je'-wah-mo'-ti,
or Wildcat's Belly) ; but soon he retired to
Canada, and later in life joined a band of
Shawnees west of the Mississippi, where he
died in 1834. Catlin, who met him and
painted his portrait there in 1832, speaks of
him as "doomed to live the rest of his days
in silence, and a sort of disgrace; like all
men in Indian communities who pretend to

in

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

great medicine in any way, and fail ; as they
all think such failure an evidence of the dis
pleasure of the Great Spirit, who always
judges right."

113

CHAPTER VI.

WILLIAM WELLS.

One of the most trying ordeals of the pio
neers, in Indian warfare, was the captivity
of children. Their parents naturally imag
ined that they were doomed to lives of hard
ship and misery, but in reality they were
more often adopted by Indian families, in
place of lost children of their own, and
treated with all the indulgence shown to
their own. This was especially so with
healthy, promising children, and the more-
so if they showed spirit.

For example, Peter Smock, grand-uncle
of Wm. C. Smock, of Indianapolis, was car
ried off from Kentucky and adopted in the
family of a Potawatomi named Winamac
(Catfish). The squaws first tried to make
a servant of him, but when he was left to
care for a child, he pinched and otherwise
maltreated it until his services as a nurse be
came undesirable. At this the Indians mere-

113

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

ly laughed, and said there was no use of try
ing to make a squaw of him; that he was a
brave. They next tried to make him hoe
corn, but soon found that he dug up much
more than he hoed. Then the squaws tried
to wash him in a stream, which is their proc
ess of "washing out the white blood and
making an Indian," but he got one of them
under the water and came near drowning
her before she was rescued. This feat put
him in still higher favor, and he was not
troubled thereafter.

Among the children carried into captivity
from Kentucky was William Wells. He
was captured in 1774 by a band of Miamis,
when about eight years old, at the home of
the Hon. Nathaniel Pope. He was a sturdy,
spirited lad, with high courage and an apt
ness for hunting that quickly made him a
favorite. Heckewelder says he was adopted
by a Miami named Gawiahatte, or the
Hedgehog, but there must be some error in
this, for Gawiahatte is Delaware, and the
Miami word for hedgehog is ah'-kah-wit.
The tradition handed down in the Wells
family is that he was adopted by The Little
Turtle. Kil-so-kwa says that the Miamis

114

WILLIAM WELLS

called William Wells A-pe-kon-it, and that
this is the name of a plant called the "wild
potato," which grows in mucky land. There
are several native plants called "wild potato"
or "Indian potato." One is the "man of the
earth" (ipomea pandurata), one of the
morning glory family, which has tubers
reaching ten pounds or more in weight. An
other is the Jerusalem artichoke (helianthus
tuberosa), which the Shawnees call to-pe-ka,
but our Miamis call it on'-zah-pa-kot'-tek, or
"yellow flower." These grow in dry soil,
and a-pe-kon'-it is what we know as the
"ground-nut" or "wild bean" (apios tube
rosa), which grows in low ground.

Wells grew very fully into Indian ideas.
Heckewelder, who knew him well, says he
once came upon him after he had shot a
bear, and broken its back. The bear was
whining piteously, and Wells was standing
in front of it, gravely talking to it, and occa
sionally striking it on the nose with his ram
rod. Heckewelder asked him what he had
said to the bear and he replied: "I have up
braided him for acting the part of a coward ;
I told him that he knew the fortune of war ;
that one or the other of us must have fallen ;

us

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

that it was his fate to be conquered, and he
ought to die like a man, like a hero, and not
like an old woman; that if the case had been
reversed, and I had fallen into the power of
my enemy, I would not have disgraced my
nation as he did, but would have died with
firmness and courage, as becomes a true

warrior/'

The Indians accorded Wells the standing
his merits warranted. He became a close
friend of Little Turtle, who gave him his
daughter in marriage, and thereafter they
were constant companions. Wells served
with distinction under his father-in-law in
the defeats of Harmar and St. Clair, win
ning admiration by his dash and courage.

It is commonly stated that after the latter
affair Wells seriously reflected on the fact
that he was fighting his own people, and
might shed the blood of his own kindred, and
on this account decided to join the whites.
The story handed down in the Wells family
differs from this. Their version, given as
coming from Wells himself, is that Wells
and The Little Turtle were in entire accord
in their views of the situation, and especially
as to the necessity of bringing about amica-

116

WILLIAM WELLS

blc relations between the Indians and the
United States. For this reason it was agreed
that Wells should join Wayne and use his
influence with the whites while The Little
Turtle tried to bring about a more pacific
frame of mind among the Indians. The two
parted at a point on the Maumee, some two
miles east of Ft. Wayne, long known as "the
Big Elm." With clasped hands, and both
men visibly affected, Wells said: "Father,
when the sun reaches the noon mark I shall
leave you and go to my people. We have al
ways been friends and always will be
friends. Upon the field of battle we may
meet again. Let the result be what it may,
the purity of the motives prompting us, and
our common love for the wronged Indians
must be our warrant ; and we may well trust
the Great Spirit for results that will vindi
cate our action this day." Wells then made
his way to the army of General Wayne, who
made him captain of a company of spies and
he served in that capacity until after the bat
tle of the Fallen Timbers, rendering invalu
able service. There are two facts that go to
confirm this story. One is the known oppo
sition of The Little Turtle to fighting

117

CAPT. WILLIAM WELLS.

(From a medallion portrait, now in
possession of his great-great-niece,
Mrs. Thos. W. McCluer, of O'Fal-
lon, Mo.)

WILLIAM WELLS

Wayne. The other is the fact that Wayne,
after reaching the Maumee with his army,
sent out messengers to the Indians urging
them to come to him and make peace, al
though every effort in that direction thereto
fore had been wholly unavailing.

With the coming of peace, Wells rejoined
his Indian friends at Fort Wayne. His
friendship with Little Turtle was resumed,
and he accompanied that great chief on his
various journeys, acting as his interpreter.
He learned to read and write well, and stud
ied all the books he could obtain, being aided
in this by General Harrison and others. He
served as justice of the peace for a number
of years, and also as Indian agent at Fort
Wayne. He aided Little Turtle in keeping
the Miamis out of Tecumtha's forces, and
there was comparative peace after the battle
of Tippecanoe through the early part of
1812. In May of 1812 a large council of
Indians was held on the Mississinewa, in
which were deputations of Wyandots, Chip-
pewas, Ottawas, Potawatomies, Delawares,
Miamis, Kickapoos, Shawnees and Winne-
bagos. They all made protestations of
friendship, including Tecumtha himself.

119

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

But on June 18 the United States declared
war on Great Britain, and thereafter British
emissaries were actively engaged in calling
the Indians to their aid. On July 17 the
American post at Mackinac surrendered to
a force of British and Indians. A large
force menaced Detroit, where General Hull
was in command, and early in August, pur
suant to directions from Washington, from
General Macomb, commanding the army.
General Hull directed Captain Heald, com
manding Fort Dearborn, to evacuate the
fort, if practicable, and in that event, to dis
tribute all the United States property con
tained in the fort, and in the United States
factory or agency, among the Indians in the
neighborhood. At the same time General
Hull requested Captain Wells, then Indian
agent at Fort Wayne, to proceed to Fort
Dearborn with a party of friendly Miamis,
to escort the garrison and the whites there
to Detroit.

Fort Dearborn was at the site of Chicago.
It was built in 1803, and stood on the south
bank of the Chicago river near its mouth.
It was a log structure, with blockhouses at
northwest and southeast corners. On the

120

,.v.'-5gB»W'

fi&*.&£2£2ri*

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

north side was a subterranean passage, or
sally port, leading from the parade ground
to the river, designed for escape in emer
gency, and for water supply in case of siege.
The whole was surrounded with a strong
palisade of posts set on end. It was garri
soned by fifty-four regulars and twelve mi
litiamen under Capt. Nathan Heald. The
site was historic. When first known by the
whites, "Chicagou" was a large Miami
town. There has been much discussion as
to the meaning of the name, some affirming
that it means "the place of the skunk," and
others "the place of wild onions." The rea
son of this confusion is that the stem "she-
kaug" enters into both the word for skunk
and the word for onion, and in such case the
only way to get the exact meaning is from
the reason of the name. This was given by
Lamothe Cadillac in 1695, who said it was
called "the place of garlic" or wild onions,
on account of the quantity of this plant that
grew there; and this is confirmed by other
early French writers.

On August 9, in the afternoon, the Pota-
watomi chief, Winamac (or Winimeg —
Catfish), arrived at the fort with the orders

122

WILLIAM WELLS

from General Hull for its evacuation. After
delivering them he went to John Kinzie, a
trader at the post, and urged that the post
be not abandoned; that the garrison had
ammunition and provisions for a six months'
siege; but that if Captain Heald decided to
leave the post the evacuation should be made
at once, and without notice to the Indians,
who, he said, were hostile. This was com
municated to Captain Heald, but he said his
orders were to distribute the goods, and he
must assemble the Indians for that purpose,
if he acted conscientiously. And in justice
to Captain Heald it should be remembered
that his course was approved by his su
periors, and that he was promoted soon
afterward.

The Indians were accordingly notified to
assemble, and it was soon observed that their
spirit was hostile. On the 12th Heald held
a council with them before the fort. The
other officers declined to attend, having
heard that the younger warriors intended
to assassinate the officers at this time; but
remained in the fort and trained the loaded
cannon on the assembly, which perhaps pre
vented any outbreak at the time. From the
first the minor officers and men opposed

123

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

evacuating the fort and remonstrated with
Heald. He said that even if he desired to
stay he lacked provisions. It was answered
that there were cattle enough to keep them
for six months. He urged that he had no
salt to preserve the meat. It was suggested
that it be "jerked/' but he insisted that he
must obey orders and abandon the post.

It was a trying situation. On one side
the officers and men were opposed to leaving
the fort, almost to the point of mutiny, and
the traders and friendly Indians agreed with
them; while on the other hand Heald ap
peared to be impelled by a conscientious
sense of duty, without regard to conse
quences, comparable only to that which led
the Modoc peace commissioners into the
death-trap of the lava beds. He had told the
Indians on the 12th that they would leave
the fort, and divide the goods among them,
and this he finally consented to modify on
the urgent advice of Kinzie and others, by
withholding and destroying the liquor and
the surplus arms and ammunition. On the
13th another council was held with the Indi
ans, and the surplus provisions, paints,
clothes and ordinary supplies were divided

124

WILLIAM WELLS

among them. That night the liquor, arms
and ammunition were carried into the sally
port, the liquor emptied into the river, and
the arms and ammunition destroyed. But
the Indians learned of this, and these were
the supplies that they most desired. They
afterward said that their destruction was
the cause of their attack on the troops.

On the 14th Captain Wells arrived with
thirty-two Miamis to aid the garrison. He,
too, had prepared to oppose the evacuation,
but the provisions and ammunition and arms
were now gone, and it was too late to at
tempt to hold the fort. The Indians showed
increased signs of hostility. On the evening
of the 14th the Black Partridge (Ma-kah-
ta-pa-ke), a friendly Potawatomie, came to
the quarters of Captain Heald and said:
"Father, I come to deliver up to you the
medal I wear. It was given me by the
Americans, and I have long worn it in token
of our mutual friendship. But our young
men are resolved to stain their hands with
the blood of the whites. I can not restrain
them, and I will not wear a token of peace
while I am compelled to act as an enemy."

On the morning of the 15th, at 9 o'clock,

125

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

the garrison began its march from the fort.
Wells, with fifteen of his Miamis, were in
advance. Then came the soldiers; then the
wagons with the women and children, the
remainder of the Miamis bringing up the
rear. Some five hundred Indians marched
along' with them, having promised Heald to
act as an escort. Wells had blackened his
face, as these Indians do on the warpath.

As they marched out, the musicians
played the dead march from Saul, symboliz
ing the evacuation, and also, unconsciously,
the tragedy to follow. The Indian trail they
followed led along the lake beach. About
half a mile from the fort there began a ridge
of sand hills about a hundred yards back
from the lake. As they reached this point
the Indians left them and moved back to the
prairie behind the sand hills, and when there
hurried forward behind the hills and took
a position for attack. About a mile farther
on Wells came riding back, crying, "They
are about to attack us; form instantly and
charge on them." His words were followed
by a shower of bullets from the sand hills.
The soldiers formed in line and charged,
gaining the summit of one of the hills. They

126

WILLIAM WELLS

fought gallantly, but they were only a hand
ful surrounded by ten times their number of
savages. The Miamis deserted and went
over to the enemy at the outset. The sol
diers continued their defense until half of
their number had fallen, when the Indians
made signs for a parley. Captain Heald
went forward alone, and was met by Black
Bird (Ma-kah-ta-pe-na-she), who promised
protection to the survivors if they would sur
render. Captain Heald accepted the terms
and the battle ended.

During the fighting Wells turned back to
the wagons, apparently apprehensive for the
women and children. He came up to Mrs.
Heald, who was his favorite niece, the
daughter of his brother, Col. Samuel Wells.
He was bleeding at the mouth and nostrils,
and told her he was fatally wounded, but
that he had killed seven of the redskins. He
asked her to tell his wife that he had died
fighting for their protection. He then
turned back to the fight, but soon noticed
that the Indians had gained the wagons and
were tomahawking the women and children.
Shouting, "Is that their game, butchering
women and children ? Then I will kill, too,"

127

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

he turned his horse toward the Indian camp,
where they had left their squaws and chil
dren. He was pursued by a number of In
dians, but he urged his horse on, lying flat
on its neck as he loaded his gun, and turn
ing occasionally to fire, until a ball killed his
horse, and he fell under it, entangled in the
stirrup. At this point Winamac and Wau-
ban-see (The Looking Glass) ran forward
to save his life, but as they got him on his
feet another Indian stabbed him in the back
and ended his life. The Indians cut his
heart out and ate it, under their idea that in
this way his courage would be transmitted
to them.

In this affair twenty-six regulars, twelve
militiamen, two women and twelve children
were killed. The Kinzies, with Mrs. Heald,
Mrs. Helm and Sergeant Griffith were saved
through the good offices of Black Partridge,
Sau-gan-ash (Englishman, commonly known
as Billy Caldwell), To-pen-i-bee (Quiet Sit
ting Bear — the head chief of the Potawato-
mis — the name appertains to the bear to
tem) and other friendly Indians. Captain
Heald and Lieutenant Helm, both of whom
were wounded, were also saved by friendly

128

FORT DEARBORN MONUMENT.
(Black Partridge saving the life of Mrs. Helm.)

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

Indians. Most of the wounded were killed
and the remaining prisoners were dispersed
among the Indians during the winter. Part
of them were sent to Detroit to be ransomed
in the spring. Six are known to have been
killed or to have died of exposure in captiv
ity. Mrs. Burns and Mrs. Lee, with their
infant children, were surrendered later by
the Indians, as was also the wife of Sergeant
Holt.

The fighting and the massacre occurred
practically in the space now bounded by
Michigan and Indiana avenues and Four
teenth and Twenty-first streets, in the city
of Chicago. The sand hills were long ago
removed. Having plundered the fort, on
the morning after the massacre, the Indians
set fire to it and destroyed it. So ended the
first Fort Dearborn. In 1816 the fort was
rebuilt and the bones of the victims of the
massacre, which had lain where they fell,
were then gathered up and buried near the
foot of Madison street. Later, owing to the
washing of the river and the lake, they were
reinterred by the authorities of Chicago.

130

CHAPTER VII.

THE DEFENSE OF FORT HARRISON.

When General Harrison marched up the
Wabash to Tippecanoe, in 1811, Capt. Spier
Spencer's company of mounted riflemen,
from Harrison County, familiarly known as
"the Yellow Jackets," started behind the
main force. They were a gorgeous body,
wearing yellow jackets and yellow shirts
with red fringe, and with black-tipped red
plumes in their hats. According to the
journal of John Tipton, who was one of
them, they had a very sociable and pleasant
time on the march, and on October 3 Tipton,
who was one of the most original and ar
tistic of spellers that Indiana ever produced,
made this entry:

"Thursday 3d marched at 9 four of our
horses missing three men left to hunt them
marchd one mile came to tare holt an oald
indian village on the East side of Wabash
on high land near a Large Prairie Peach

131

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

and aple trees growing the huts torn down
by the armey that campd here on the 2d
two miles further came up with the armey.
horses found. Campd on the river on beau-
tifull high ground to build a garison."

This was the beginning of Fort Harrison.
The "oald indian village" stood where the
city of Terre Haute now stands, and was
commonly called by the same name, as Tip-
ton indicates, but it was also sometimes
called "Old Orchard Town," and sometimes
"The Lower Wea Town," or "We-au-ta-
non." It was a village of We-ah-ta-nons,
who were a tribe of the Miamis. The name
Terre Haute was applied to the locality be
fore the village existed, or as the English
put it, "The Beginning of the Highlands,"
for here the bottom lands of the Wabash
begin to narrow, as you go upstream, and
this point marked the dividing line on the
Wabash between the French provinces of
Canada and Louisiana.

Fort Harrison, while primarily a relay
point for the Tippecanoe expedition, was de
signed as a permanent defense for Vin-
cennes and the frontiers. On Sunday, Oc
tober 27, Tipton notes "the garrison christ-

132

THE DEFENSE OF FORT HARRISON

ened and extra whisky issued;" and on
Tuesday the army moved on. The fort was
the ordinary log structure of the time, with
blockhouses at two opposite corners, from
\vhose projecting upper stories the outside
of the inclosing pickets could be reached by
the guns of the garrison. After the Tippe-
canoe campaign it was occupied by a com
pany of the Seventh Regiment of United
States regulars, under Capt. Zachary Tay
lor, afterward President of the United
States; and in the fall of 1812, as was usual
at frontier posts, a number of the soldiers
were incapacitated or debilitated by ague
and malarial fever. There had also been
several desertions.

On the 3d of September some friendly
Miamis informed Captain Taylor that the
Indians under control of The Prophet would
soon attack the place, and that they had
been warned to leave. On the same evening
at twilight the reports of four guns were
heard in the direction where two young men
from the fort had been making hay, about
a quarter of a mile from the fort. Captain
Taylor had been reared in Kentucky and
had been educated in woodcraft by Lewis

133

THE DEFENSE OF FORT HARRISON

Whetzell, the celebrated Indian fighter, so
he did not send out an investigating party
that night, but at 8 o'clock in the morning
a corporal was sent out with a small party,
who soon reported finding the bodies of the
two men, shot and scalped; and they were
brought in and buried. Late in the evening
of the 4th old Josey Renard (a Kickapoo,
whose proper name was Na-mah-toha, or
"Standing" — sometimes translated "Man-
on-his-Feet"), appeared before the fort with
about forty Indians under a white flag and
announced that they wanted to have a talk
in the morning, and to try to get something
to eat, after which they retired. Captain
Taylor was alert. He examined the arms of
the men to see that they were in perfect
order, issued sixteen rounds of ammunition,
and, as the night was dark and the sentinels
could not see every part of the fort, directed
the officer of the guard to patrol the inside.
He then went to bed, as he was just recov
ering from an attack of fever.

Through the surrounding woods a force
of about 600 warriors crept to the cover
nearest the fort in the quiet night. The at
tack was planned by a Kickapoo chief known

135

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

as La Farine (a French translation of his
Indian name P'kwaw'-shi-kun - - Judge
Beckwith makes it Pa-koi-shee-can — which
is their word for wheat, and also for flour or
bread made of wheat). According to his
own story, he made up a bundle of dry grass,
twigs, and other combustibles, which he
wrapped in a blanket, and fastened on his
back. Then, flat on his face, he crawled for
ward, with a large knife in each hand. He
would stick a knife in the ground and pull
himself up to it, and then stretch out the
other arm. Very slowly, listening to the
movements of the sentinels, and moving only
as they went away from him, he crept on
till he reached the walls of the lower block
house.

Here fortune favored him. The lower
part of the building was used by the post
contractor for the storage of provisions, salt
and whisky, and the cattle had licked several
holes under the bottom logs to get at the
salt. In these he introduced his combusti
bles, and with flint and steel soon had them
ignited, keeping the flame under cover of
his blanket until it was well started. Then
he slipped back into the darkness.

136

THE DEFENSE OF FORT HARRISON

About 11 o'clock Captain Taylor was
awakened by the discharge of a sentinel's
gun, and ran out and ordered the men to
their posts. His orderly, who was in charge
of the upper blockhouse, called to him that
the Indians had fired the lower blockhouse,
and he at once had the buckets filled from
the well in the fort. But the men were few,
and some of them feeble, and by the time the
water was brought and the door broken open
the fire had reached the whisky, and the
blockhouse was doomed. As the barracks,
which formed part of the walls of the fort,
joined this blockhouse, most of the men
thought they were lost, and for a few min
utes panic reigned. Says Taylor:

"What from the raging of the fire, the
yelling and howling of several hundred In
dians, the cries of nine women and children
(a part soldiers' and a part citizens' wives,
who had taken shelter in the fort), and a
desponding of so many men, which was
worse than all, I can assure you that my
feelings were very unpleasant; and, indeed,
there were not more than ten or fifteen men
able to do anything at all, the others being
sick or convalescent. And to add to our

137

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

other misfortunes, two of our stoutest men
jumped the pickets and left."

But young Taylor had the same qualities
that gained him the title of "Old Rough and
Ready" in the Mexican war. He quickly
determined on throwing the roof off of the
barracks, where they joined the blockhouse,
drenching the walls with water, and throw
ing a barricade across the opening made by
the burning building. Having convinced
the men that this could be done, they worked
with desperation to accomplish it. Dr.
Clark, the post surgeon, who distinguished
himself by his bravery throughout the ac
tion, led the party that threw off the roof,
and this was done with the loss of one man
killed and two wounded. The spread of the
fire was checked, and a barricade was soon
thrown across the opening as high as a man's
head. These moves saved the fort.

While they were in operation a constant
fire was maintained from the fort, and the
Indians poured in a heavy fire of bullets and
an immense number of arrows. But they did
not have the advantage they anticipated.
The fire lighted up the surroundings of the
fort, and they did not dare to advance to

138

THE DEFENSE OF FORT HARRISON

close quarters. They kept up their firing
until 6 o'clock in the morning, when daylight
made the guns of the fort more effective, and
then withdrew out of range. But they drove
up the horses and hogs of the settlers near
the fort, which they could not catch, and
shot them ; and they drove off sixty-five head
of cattle belonging to the settlers as well as
the oxen belonging to the fort.

There were only two men killed in the
fort. One was engaged in throwing the roof
off the barracks, and failed to get down
when directed. The other was firing over the
pickets, and called that he had killed an In
dian; and, as he raised his head above the
pickets to look for his victim, was himself
shot. Of the two men who tried to escape,
one was killed about 130 yards from the
fort, and the other made his way back to
the gate and begged for it to be opened.
Taylor thought this an Indian stratagem
and ordered him shot; but fortunately Dr.
Clark recognized his voice and directed him
to lie down behind a barrel that was lying
near the fort. He did so, and after daylight
was admitted to the fort with a badly broken
arm and some other injuries. In addition
. 139

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

to these, two men were wounded, but not
seriously.

The Indians engaged in the attack were
chiefly Potawatomis, Kickapoos and Win-
nebagos, but Taylor says there were also
a number of Miamis. A French interpreter
in the fort asserted that he recognized the
Wea chief, Stone Eater ( Sa'-ne-ma-hon'-
gah), and the Miami chief, Negro Legs (a
nickname; his name was Muk'-kwah-ko-
non'-gah, which may be rendered "Bear
Marks/' as it means the scratches on the
bark of a tree made by a bear in climbing).
The Indian loss was never learned, as they
carried their dead and wounded away with
them, but probably it was not large.

Before night of the 5th Taylor had closed
up the gap made by the burned blockhouse
by putting up a strong row of pickets, which
were obtained by pulling down the guard
house. The fort was now safe from direct
attack, but was in a bad way for provisions,
as the supplies had been burned; and for
some days the inmates had to subsist on
green corn, which fortunately was abun
dant. On the 10th Taylor attempted to send
messengers to Vincennes by river, as none

140 .

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

of his men knew the country, but they found
the Indians watching the river, and were
forced to turn back. On the 13th Taylor
sent two more messengers by land, who suc
ceeded in getting through, but relief was al
ready on the way. News of the attack on
the fort had reached Vincennes on the 6th
by messengers who had started for Fort
Harrison, and had been driven back by the
Indians. Troops were assembling at Vin
cennes for the war, and on the 12th a force
of 1,200 men, under Col. William Russell,
started from Vincennes to the relief of the
fort. They found no Indians, but a party
of eleven men that followed them, escorting
a provision train for Fort Harrison, was
attacked at "The Narrows," in Sullivan
County, and defeated, with the loss of seven
men, and all the provisions. Colonel Russell
left Colonel Wilcox's regiment of Kentucky
volunteers at the fort, temporarily, and the
Indians soon disappeared from the vicinity.
The gallant defense of Fort Harrison had
a most cheering effect on the frontiers, and
praises were showered on Captain Taylor
and Dr. Clark from all sides. Taylor was bre-
vetted a major by General Harrison, and his

142

THE DEFENSE OF FORT HARRISON

regular commission as major followed on
May 15, 1814. He served against the In
dians in the Northwest during the remainder
of the war, taking part in the expedition of
General Hopkins, and other movements, al
ways with creditable mention. It has long
been felt that his service to this region has
not been recognized as it should be, and on
February 25, 1908, the Indiana Society of
the Sons of the American Revolution started
a movement to have the site of Fort Harri
son made a national historic park. Its pres
ent owner, Mr. Ehrmann, is willing to dis
pose of it for that purpose, but for no other,
as he feels that, if not consecrated, the place
should at least not be desecrated. It is cer
tainly to be hoped that the movement will
succeed and that Fort Harrison Park will
be handed down to future generations as a
memorial to American valor.

143

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE.

At the northern border of Clark's Grant,
as you cross the spur of the Knobs, known
as "the Silver Hills," into Scott County, you
come to the valley of Pigeon Roost Creek.
It was so named because there was here one
of those notable gathering places of the wild
pigeons that were so common in the Ohio
valley in early times. Great forests of beech
trees furnished their favorite food, and
countless thousands of these birds gathered
to nest and raise their young. They were so
numerous and so easily taken that they were
sold at 25 cents a bushel. Whether from the
great slaughter of the pigeons, or the re
moval of the beech woods, the birds disap
peared so completely in the last quarter of
the nineteenth century that it was commonly
believed that either they were extinct or they
had migrated to some other country. But no
evidence of any such migration has been

144

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

found, and since 1899 their appearance in
small flocks has been frequently reported in
various parts of the country.

In this valley a settlement was begun in
1809, and, notwithstanding the troubled con
dition of the frontier, the settlers enjoyed
comparative peace for some time. There
were no Indians permanently located near
to them, and the stragglers who came into
their vicinity were not troublesome, and
used to trade with them and hold shooting
matches with them. Most of these settlers
were related. Near the center of the set
tlement, a quarter of a mile southeast of the
present monument, was the home of Will
iam E. Collings, a man sixty years of age,
but well preserved, and an expert rifleman.
With him lived his youngest children, Lydia
and John, the latter thirteen years of age.
A hundred yards east was the cabin of
Henry Collings, a son. Three-quarters of a
mile east was the cabin of another son, Rich
ard, whose family consisted of a wife and
seven children. Some two miles to the west
was the home of John Biggs, and about
three miles to the southwest was the home of
Dr. John Richie, both of whom had mar-

145

PIGEON ROOST SETTLEMENT.

I. Monument. 2. Wm. E. Ceilings house. 3. Henry Ceilings
house. 4. Richard Ceilings house. 5. Zebulon Ceilings house,
and block house. 6. Dr. Richie house. 7. John Biggs house.
8. CofTman house. 9. Jeremiah Payne house. 10. Silver Creek
block house.

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

ried daughters of William Ceilings. Scat
tered to the north of the settlement were the
homes of the brothers, Jeremiah and Elias
Payne, Isaac Coffman and Daniel Johnson,
who were also relatives, the last three hav
ing married three sisters named Bridge-
water. As a measure of precaution there
had been three blockhouses erected in the
vicinity; one near the present town of Vien
na, some six miles north of the Pigeon Roost ;
one about eight miles southeast of this on
Silver Creek, and one five miles south of the
Pigeon Roost, at the home of Zebulon Col-
lings, another son of William.

On September 3, 1812, the same day that
the hostilities began at Ft. Harrison, a war
party of twelve Shawnees crossed White
River at the present town of Sparksville, and
stealthily made their way to the unsuspect
ing settlement. They first came to the cabin
of Elias Payne, north of Vienna. He was
absent, and his wife and seven children were
speedily killed and scalped. Keeping away
from the Vienna blockhouse, they passed on
to the south, but on the way they tried to kill
some cows belonging to Jeremiah Payne,
and when the animals ran home bellowing,

147

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

with arrows sticking in their sides, he real
ized the danger and hastily took his wife and
child to the blockhouse. He then hurried
away to warn his brother's family, but found
the cabin in flames, while scattered house
hold goods and strips of human flesh hung
on trees showed that the Indians had ac
complished their mission here.

The next victims found by the Indians
were Elias Payne and Isaac Coffman, who
were hunting bee trees in the woods north
of Pigeon Roost. The savages crept up on
them and opened fire, killing CofTman and
wounding Payne, who fled and was pursued
for two miles before he was overtaken and
mortally wounded. His faithful dog, ap
parently realizing his master's helpless con
dition, returned to the Vienna blockhouse
and attracted the attention of Jeremiah
Payne, who boldly started out in search of
his brother. Led by the dog, he found Elias
unconscious and dying, and, having put him
in as easy a position as possible, he went to
get help, but on his return Elias was dead.
They buried him where he lay, and the grave
is still pointed out near the road, west of
Vienna.

148

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

Moving on to the south, the Indians came
to the home of Richard Collings, who was
away on militia service, and his wife and
seven children fell easy victims to savage
fury. After scalping them and firing the
house, they moved on toward the home of
Henry Collings. He was working in the
field when he was struck in the head by a
bullet, and the Indians left him for dead. His
wife had been to Jeremiah Payne's to get
spools for warping, and was met by the In
dians on her return. They killed her and
with savage atrocity ripped her unborn child
from her body, scalped it and left it lying on
the mother's breast.

But now the Indians had reached the dan
ger point. At the home of William Collings
was Captain Norris, an old Indian fighter,
who had been wounded in the shoulder at
Tippecanoe and who had been sent to the
settlement to urge the desirability of a block
house at this point. Mr. Collings thought it
unnecessary, and while they were discussing
the question they were alarmed by shots and
caught sight of the Indians approaching the
house of Henry Collings. They at once pre
pared for the defense of the house, where

149

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

there were fortunately two rifles. Norris
could not shoot well on account of his wound
ed shoulder, but could aid in loading the
guns. The daughter Lydia was set to mold
ing bullets. The boy John had started to
drive up the cows and had caught a horse
for that purpose, when he saw an Indian
approaching. Dropping the reins he ran for
the house, but the Indian was gaining on
him when his father caught sight of them,
and at the crack of his rifle the pursuer fell,
while John safely reached the shelter of the
cabin.

Collings took the other rifle, and as he
looked through the cabin loophole saw a big
warrior at the door of Henry Colling's home.
It was a hundred yards away, but that was
easy shooting for a frontier marksman and
Collings was a good one, as the Indians
knew, for he had often beaten them in shoot
ing matches. He fired and the Indian dropped
dead. The Indians now realized that they
had trouble on their hands, and one of them
tried the strategem of putting on the dress
and shawl of Mrs. Henry Collings, and ap
proaching in that disguise. But the keen
eye of Collings detected the deception and

150

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

his deadly rifle ended the life of one more
redskin. After that the enemy kept care
fully under cover, and apparently divided
their forces, part going westward in search
of easier prey and part remaining to watch
the Collings house. But the occupants of
this were alert and vigilant, and gave no op
portunity for attack while daylight lasted.

After dark they realized that the situation
was more dangerous, as the Indians might
succeed in firing the cabin, and they decided
to slip away from it and get to the block
house, south of them. The children and Nor-
ris went ahead, taking one of the guns, and
Collings guarded the rear. The first three
gained the adjoining cornfield without mo
lestation, but as Collings passed the corncrib,
an Indian who was concealed behind it fired
at him, but without hitting him. He raised
his rifle, but found that the Indian's bullet
had broken the lock, and the gun could not
be fired. He called to Norris to bring back
the other gun, but Norris either did not hear
or did not heed, and as the Indians did not
attempt to come to close quarters, he made
his way into the corn, where he became en
tirely separated from the others, and the In-

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

dians followed him. He passed through the
corn and through the woods till he came to
the vicinity of Richie's cabin, where he hid
behind a log. He heard the Indians looking
for him, but they did not find his hiding place,
and at daybreak he started for the block
house, which he reached without further
trouble. Meanwhile Norris and the children
lost their way in the darkness, and after wan
dering hopelessly in the woods until they
were exhausted they sat down to rest and
soon fell asleep, notwithstanding the peril of
their situation. When daylight came they
got their bearings and found their way to
the blockhouse in safety.

The defense of the Collings house, al
though the active part of it lasted less than
an hour, served as a check that probably
saved many lives, for evening was approach
ing, and the sound of the firing served as a
warning to the scattered settlers. The In
dians who went to the west found only one
home where the people were not on their
guard. This was the residence of John Mor
ris, who was away on militia service, and his
mother, his wife and his only child all fell
victims to the tomahawk. The cabin of John

152

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

Biggs was found empty by the Indians. At
sundown Mrs. Biggs had gone to the woods
to look for her cow, accompanied by her two
children, and carrying her baby in her arms.
As she came near the edge of the woods, on
her return, she heard the shouts of the In
dians, who had surrounded the house, and at
once started in flight to the blockhouse. The
Indians fired the cabin, and finding that it
was empty, entered the woods in search of
the family; and at one time came so close to
them that Mrs. Biggs heard their foot
steps and their voices. While in imminent
danger of discovery, the baby began to cry,
and she was unable to quiet it in any way
but by holding her shawl over its mouth.
When the Indians had got out of hearing
she found to her horror that the baby was
smothered to death. For some minutes she
was overcome by grief, but the necessity of
saving the living nerved her for further
effort, and, carrying her dead child in her
arms, she slowly and painfully pursued her
way through the woods with the two chil
dren until they arrived at the blockhouse,
about daylight.

Others were even more fortunate in their
153

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

escape. Ben Yount, who lived east of the
settlement, heard the shooting in the after
noon, and mounting a horse, with his wife
behind him, and each carrying a child, the
family went to the blockhouse on Silver
Creek. Dr. John Richie also caught the
alarm while working in the field, and hast
ening home, took his wife, who was ill, upon
his back and carried her through the corn
field to the woods. Here they spent most
of the night in hiding, and reached the
lower blockhouse in the morning. Mrs.
Betsey Johnson heard shooting and screams,
and started to the blockhouse at once. It
was none too soon, for she looked back and
saw her house in flames, but she made her
escape unharmed. Mrs. Beal, who lived
near the settlement, and whose husband was
away with the militia, heard the guns and
fled to the woods with her two children.
They hid in a sink-hole until after dark, and
then worked their way to the southern
blockhouse, where they arrived at 2 o'clock
in the morning.

After Jeremiah Payne had made pro
vision for his own family he mounted his
horse and started to Clark County for aid.

154

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

Night had fallen, and the road through the
woods was a primitive one, but as day was
breaking he reached Charlestown. The
alarm was spread rapidly and the mounted
riflemen of the militia soon began to gather.
A force was quickly started to the scene of
the tragedy, under command of Major John
McCoy. As they marched along they were
joined by others to whom the call for aid had
reached, and when they came to the Pigeon
Roost about 2 o'clock in the afternoon there
were more than 200 men in the party.
Everywhere was desolation and horror.
Only one house — that defended by Collings
was standing, and about the ruins were mu
tilated bodies of women and children. The
only person found alive was Henry Collings,
who had recovered consciousness and
crawled into a flaxhouse and concealed him
self. He lived but a short time after he was
discovered. At 3 o'clock the trail of the
Indians was found and followed until dark,
when the Muscackituck River was reached.
It was too swollen to cross in the dark, so
the party encamped for the night, and in
the morning, having learned that the In
dians started early on the preceding day,

155

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

and probably could not be overtaken, the
party returned to the Pigeon Roost.

In recent years a curious error has be
come prevalent, of writing the name of this
stream "Muscatatack," though this form
was unknown in earlier times. It is a Dela
ware word, compounded of Mosch-ach'-geu,
which means "clear," "not turbid," and
hit'-tuk, which as a terminal, in composition,
means "a stream," and is usually applied to
small and swift rivers. The proper Indian
name is Mosch-ach'-hit-tuk — the "ch"
sounded as in German — which may be
translated "Clear river." There is no
foundation for the translation "Pond river,"
which is commonly given for the name.

On their return the militia gathered all the
human remains they could find, and buried
them on the hill opposite the Collings
house. On the next day, September 6, they
were reinforced by a company of sixty vol
unteers from Jeffersonville, under Captain
McFarland, and 350 volunteers from Ken
tucky. The united forces decided on a retal
iatory raid on the Delaware towns on White
River, but, owing to disputes over the or
ganization, there being several men desirous

156

PIGEON ROOST MONUMENT AND OLD SASSAFRAS TREE.

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

of command, the expedition was not made,
and the forces dispersed. It was very well
that they did, for the Delawares had noth
ing to do with the massacre, and had been
friendly to the whites during the Tippecanoe
campaign. Moreover, the presence of the
militia was appreciated at home, for the
whole region had been thrown into a panic,
and a number of people had left their homes
and gone to Kentucky. The courthouse at
Charlestown was temporarily converted into
a fort for the protection of the town.

But gradually the fear wore off and the
people returned to their homes. Cabins were
rebuilt at the Pigeon Roost, and work re
sumed, but the shadow of the tragedy did
not rise for many months, though there were
very few Indian depredations in that neigh
borhood thereafter. Zebulon Collings, one
of the returning settlers, gives this vivid pic
ture of their life while the dread was upon
them: 'The manner in which I used to work
in those perilous times was as follows: On
all occasions I carried my rifle, tomahawk
and butcherknife in my belt. When I went
to plow I laid my gun on the plowed ground
and stuck up a stick by it for a mark, so that

158

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

I could get it quick in case it was wanted. I
had two good dogs; I took one into the
house, leaving the other out. The one out
side was expected to give the alarm which
would cause the other inside to bark, by
which I would be awakened, having my
arms always loaded. I left my horses in the
stable close to the house, having a port-hole
so that I could shoot to the stable door. Dur
ing two years I never went from home with
any certainty of returning, not knowing the
minute I might receive a ball from an un
known hand; but in the midst of all these
dangers, that God who never sleeps nor
slumbers has kept me."

So far as known, the Indians carried
away only two prisoners on this raid. One
was a little girl three years of age, named
Ginsey McCoy, a cousin of Mrs. Jeremiah
Payne. She was heard of afterward in an
Indian camp on the Kankakee, and a party
went to recover her, but the Indians had
left, and no trace of her could be found.
Many years later her uncle, the Rev. Isaac
McCoy, and his wife, while on missionary
work among the Indians, west of the Missis
sippi, found her the wife of an Indian chief,

159

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

with several children. She had remembered
her name, but had become an Indian in feel
ing. She consented to return to Indiana
and visit her relatives, but after a short stay
rejoined her Indian family for the remainder
of her life.

The other was a boy, about 10 years of
age, named Peter Huffman. He and an
other lad were in the woods, playing, when
they discovered some Indians approaching.
Peter hid behind a log but was discovered,
while his playmate, who had crawled into a
hollow log, escaped. Peter was sold to some
other Indians, and was carried into Canada,
where he was held for a number of years.
At length friends got word of this, and Will
iam Graham, a member of the first constitu
tional convention of Indiana, went to Wash
ington in his behalf. He interested Jonathan
Jennings, then representative, in the case,
and they secured the sympathy of President
Monroe, who caused correspondence to be
opened on the subject with the Earl of Dal-
housie, then Governor-General of Canada.
The Governor interested himself in the mat
ter, and, by the aid of a Catholic priest who
was well acquainted among the Indians,

160

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

finally succeeded in locating the captive
youth, who was returned in 1824. But he,
too, soon wearied of civilization, and it is
said that he went first to Charlestown, and
then to Jeffersonville, where he took passage
on a flat boat that was carrying a party of
Indians down the river, in their removal to
the west; and that was the last known of
him.

Of the Indians engaged in this affair,
practically nothing is known beyond this
passage in McAfee's History of the War of
1812: "On the 20th (September 1813) Lieu
tenant Griffith, who had been sent with a
scouting party to the River Raisin, returned
to camp with an Indian prisoner called Mis-
silemetaw, who was a chief counsellor to
Tecumseh, and uncle to the celebrated
Logan, but a man of very different prin
ciples and conduct. He had been the leader
of the Indians at the massacre of the Pigeon
Roost, in the Indiana Territory. Griffith had
caught him asleep in a house at the River
Raisin. * * * He was an Indian of ex
cellent information, and had been the con
stant companion and friend of Tecumseh.
Being under an impression that he would

161

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

now certainly have to die, he gave Colonel
Johnson a long and apparently very candid
account of past transactions since the treaty
of Greenville to the present day. He said the
British had supplied The Prophet's party
with arms and ammunition before the battle
of Tippecanoe; that Tecumseh's plan for a
common property in their lands had been
strongly recommended and praised by Col
onel Elliott ; and that the British had used
every means in their power, since the year
1809, to secure the friendship and aid of the
Indians in the event of a war with the
United States — having invited them to
Maiden and made them presents for that
purpose; and having also represented to
them that they should receive British aid to
drive the Americans over the Ohio River,
after which they should live in the houses
of the inhabitants and have their daughters
for wives. He said he was convinced that
the British had deceived them, and that the
Great Spirit had forsaken him in his old age
for his cruelty and wickedness."

For ninety years the grave of the victims
was marked only by a giant sassafras tree,
over fourteen feet in circumference at its

162

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE

base; but by act of February 11, 1903, an
appropriation of $2,000 was made by the
Legislature, through the efforts of the Hon.
James W. Fortner, of Jeffersonville, for a
monument to the victims of the massacre.
On October 1, 1904, the completed monu
ment, a fine shaft of Bedford limestone, was
dedicated. It towers forty-four feet above
the grave, companion sentry with the old
sassafras, which is fast falling to decay;
mutely calling to memory the most fearful
Indian tragedy that was ever known to the
soil of Indiana.

163

CHAPTER IX.

THE SERVICE OF LOGAN.

The name of Logan has three associations
with the Indian history of Indiana. The
first is through the Mingo chief, whose pa
thetic speech, "Who is there to mourn for
Logan?" has become one of the gems of the
world's eloquence. This speech was deliv
ered to John Gibson, first Secretary and
some time acting Governor of Indiana Ter
ritory. When a young man, Gibson was
captured by the Indians, and was about to
be put to death, when he was saved by an
aged squaw, who adopted him as her son.
He lived with the Indians for several years,
married a sister of Logan and became
versed in several Indian languages. In 1774
he was with Lord Dunmore's expedition
when some Indians met it under a flag of
truce and asked that some one be sent to
them who could speak their language. Gib
son was sent with them, and, having met the

164

THE SERVICE OE LOGAN

Indians in council, he was called to one side
by Logan, who gave him the speech as a
message to the British commander.

A second Logan was a Miami Indian,
known to the whites by that name, who was
one of the victims of the Fall Creek murders.

The third was the Shawnee warrior,
known as Captain Logan, for whom the
city of Logansport was named. In the fall
of 1786 a party of Kentuckians was led
against the Shawnee towns on Mad River,
Ohio, by Gen. Benjamin Logan. The towns
were taken by surprise, most of the warriors
being absent, and about thirty women and
children were captured. After the first
feeble resistance had ceased, the troops were
annoyed by a discharge of arrows from
some invisible foe, and on search found a
boy concealed in the grass, who had under
taken this assault single-handed. He was
promptly added to the collection of captives,
and General Logan was so much pleased
with the bravery and address of the youth
that he adopted him into his own family,
where he grew to manhood, and was mar
ried to a Shawnee girl, who had been cap
tured in one of the raids by Colonel Hardin.

165

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

General Logan's son-in-law. He received
the name of James Logan and the name fol
lowed him when, shortly afterward, in an
exchange of prisoners, he was returned to
his people.

Logan became widely and favorably
known to both Indians and whites. He was
a fine-looking fellow, six feet tall and splen
didly formed, with courage of the highest
quality. He was always a firm friend of the
whites, and on the breaking out of the war
of 1812 he joined the American army, and
acted as one of the guides on the march of
General Hull's army to Detroit. Soon after
he was intrusted with an important mis
sion. The Indians in the vicinity of Ft.
Wayne were giving indications of hostility,
and it was considered desirable to remove
the women and children at that point to a
place of greater safety. John Johnston, the
Indian agent at Piqua, knowing Logan well,
and having great confidence in him, selected
him for this duty. Logan justified his
choice by bringing from Ft. Wayne to Piqua,
nearly one hundred miles through the wil
derness, twenty-five women and children, not
only in safety, but bearing grateful testi-

166

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

mony to his delicacy and kindness. It is
said that Logan's sense of responsibility
was so strong that he did not sleep while the
journey was in progress.

The precaution was timely, for after the
surrender of Detroit by General Hull on
August 16, Ft. Wayne was soon invested by
a force of about five hundred warriors.
They pretended to be friendly, but secret in
formation sent to Antoine Bondie, an Indian
trader, whom it was the desire of Me'-te-ah
(Kiss Me — a Potawatomi chief, who lived
at Cedar Creek, nine miles above Ft.
Wayne) to protect, put the garrison on
guard. The situation, however, was peril
ous. There were less than a hundred men
in the fort, and only two-thirds of them were
fit for duty. The commandant, Captain
Rhea, was old and was made completely in
competent by intemperance. The Indians,
finding no chance for taking the fort by as
sault, decided to try treachery, and a plan
was formed by a celebrated Potawatomi
chief named Winamac (Cat Fish — not the
one who figured at Fort Dearborn — the
name was common among the Potawat-
omis.) He gained the confidence of Captain

168

THE SERVICE OF LOGAN

Rhea, and arranged for a conference with
a small party of chiefs in the fort, on Sep
tember 3. Their plan was to carry knives
and pistols under their blankets, assassinate
the officers in the council, and throw open
the gates to their friends.

But meanwhile deliverance was prepar
ing. William Oliver, a young man who re
sided at Ft. Wayne, had gone to Cincinnati
on business, and, hearing of the siege of the
fort, he joined the Ohio militia, and tendered
his services to General Harrison for an at
tempt to reach the fort. Harrison warned
him of the danger of the undertaking, but
Oliver was resolute. He overtook the mi
litia at the St. Mary's River, where they
were awaiting reinforcements. Gen. Thomas
Worthington, an Indian commissioner, who
was with the troops, joined with Oliver, and
the two induced sixty-eight of the militia
and sixteen Shawnees, among whom was
Logan, to start with them. In two days they
had reached a point twenty-four miles from
Ft. Wayne, but thirty-six of the party had
abandoned them, and the force was not
strong enough to risk an encounter with the
besiegers. It was therefore decided that

169

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

Oliver should make an attempt to reach the
fort, accompanied by Logan and two other
Shawnees, known as Captain Johnny and
Brighthorn.

They started at daybreak of September 3,
\vell mounted and well armed, and proceed
ing cautiously, reached a point four miles
east of Fort Wayne before they found any
fresh signs of the enemy. Here Logan
found places where they had recently been
watching the road, and, abandoning it, they
cut across to the Maumee, which they
reached about a mile and a half from the
fort. Leaving their horses in the brush they
reconnoitered on foot, and finding no evi
dence of Indians between them and the fort,
they remounted, regained the road, and
made a dash for the east gate. They reached
it without interruption, but found it locked,
and none of the garrison at hand. The In
dians had moved around to the west and
south sides in preparation for their assault,
and the garrison was preparing for the con
ference. Oliver's party slipped down the
bank of the Maumee, and up again to the
north side, coming around the corner of the
fort as Winamac and his party of chiefs

I/O

THE SERVICE OF LOGAN

came around the opposite corner on their
treacherous mission. They were completely
disconcerted by the unexpected arrivals,
whom they took to be forerunners of a large
force, and after shaking hands, and protest
ing friendship, Winamac and his party with
drew, and Oliver's party was admitted to
the fort. Quickly grasping the situation,
Oliver hastily wrote a letter to Worthing-
ton, detailing the need of speedy relief, and
while the beseigers were still in confusion
and indecision, the east gate was opened
and Logan, Captain Johnny and Brighthorn
were started with it to Worthington's camp.
The enemy did not discover them until they
were well started, and then attempted a
pursuit, but the Shawnees escaped them and
reached Worthington the next morning.
The arrival of Oliver's party was remark
ably opportune, for it was agreed by the gar
rison that there had not been another hour
in the previous eight days in which they
could possibly have reached the fort in
safety.

Immediately after their return from the
pursuit, the Indians began a furious attack
on the fort, which was kept up for seven

171

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

days. Several times they succeeded in firing
buildings with burning arrows, but the gar
rison always succeeded in extinguishing the
flames and repulsing their assaults. The de
fense was resolute and vigilant, Captain
Rhea was practically deposed from com
mand, and his lieutenants, Curtis and Os-
trander, aided by Oliver and Major Stickney,
the Indian agent, took charge of affairs.
Several days after Oliver's arrival, the be-
seigers gained possession of a trading-house
near the fort, from which they demanded the
surrender of the fort, promising protection
in case of surrender, and threatening exter
mination otherwise. They asserted that they
had been reinforced by a number of Indians
and two cannons, with British artillerists.
Meeting a prompt refusal, they began a fu
rious attack on the fort, but the garrison
was ready for them. Every man was at his
post, with several loaded guns at his side.
The pretended cannon were made of wood,
reinforced by hoop iron, by some British
traders who were with them. One of these
burst at the first discharge, and the other at
the second. Lieutenant Curtis, who was in
command, directed the men not to fire until

172

THE SERVICE OF LOGAN

the Indians advanced within twenty-five
paces. The order was obeyed, and in a few
minutes the enemy retired in confusion, hav
ing lost eighteen killed.

Meanwhile General Harrison was coming
to the relief of the fort with a force which
grew as he advanced to more than a thou
sand men. The Indians tried several times
to surprise him, but failing in this, they did
not risk a general attack. Their last at
tempted ambush was at a place known as the
Black Swamp, five miles south of Fort
Wayne, but failing there, they fired the grass
and retired past the fort. This was on the
morning of September 10, and a few hours
later General Harrison's army drew up be
fore the fort, and the siege was ended. Cap
tain Rhea was court-martialed, but allowed
to resign. Several expeditions were sent out
to destroy the Indian towns within a radius
of fifty or sixty miles, which was success
fully accomplished. The fort was put in a
complete state of defense, and all available
cover within musket shot of it was removed.
In the latter part of September the army be
gan its march down the Maumee toward the
British and Indian establishment at the

173

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

Rapids, destroying Indian villages and prop
erty as it advanced.

On November 21 General Harrison sent
out Black Hoof (Ma-kot'-ta-way-kah'-sha
—the name is written variously, usually
dropping the first syllable), the principal
chief of the Shawnees, with about twenty
warriors, including Logan, to reconnoiter
in the direction of the Rapids. They en
countered a superior force of hostile In
dians, and were forced to retreat. The
pursuit was so vigorous that they dispersed,
most of the party going to Fort McArthur,
while Logan, with Captain Johnny and
Brighthorn, made their way to the camp of
General Winchester. They told their story,
which was generally credited; but one Ken
tucky officer expressed doubt of their sin
cerity, and this so touched the sensibility of
Logan that he announced that they would
give proof of their loyalty on the morrow.
The next morning the three Indians left the
camp, going toward the Rapids. They pro
ceeded without incident until noon, when
they dismounted to rest. Here they were
surprised by a band of seven hostile In
dians under command of Elliott, a half breed,

174

BLACK HOOF (MA-KOT-TA-WAY-KAH-SHA.)
From Portrait formerly in National Gallery.)

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

who held a commission as lieutenant in the
British service, and Winamac, the Pota-
watomi chief who had figured so promi
nently at Fort Wayne.

Four of the hostile party were mounted,
and there was no chance for escape. With
quick grasp of the situation, Logan walked
boldly up to Winamac, with whom he was
well acquainted, and said that they had
tired of the American service, and were on
their way to give information to the British
commander. After some parley this expla
nation was accepted, but Logan's party
were disarmed and they all started toward
the British camp. After traveling a while
they so gained the confidence of their cap
tors that their guns were restored to them,
but later Logan overheard Winamac advis
ing Elliott that the prisoners should be
killed. He then determined to take the in
itiative, and the opportunity soon came when
the party stopped to gather some haws. At
a signal Logan shot Winamac and Captain
Johnny shot Elliott. Brighthorn held his
fire until the others had loaded, and then
mortally wounded a young Ottawa chief
who was with their captors. The firing now

176

THE SERVICE OF LOGAN

became general, and, as Logan leaned for
ward to shoot, a ball struck him just below
the breast bone and passed through his body.
Immediately afterward Brighthorn was shot
through the thigh. It was then decided to
retreat, and Logan and Brighthorn turned
their horses and fled, while Captain Johnny
covered the retreat. They managed to get
to Winchester's camp, some eighteen miles
away, in five hours, notwithstanding their
wounds; and Captain Johnny came in safely
in the morning with the Ottawa's scalp at
his belt.

Logan's wound was fatal. He lingered
for two days in great agony, but displayed
such fortitude that General Winchester re
ported, "More firmness and consummate
bravery has seldom appeared in the military
theater." He had vindicated his honor, but
at the cost of his life. Reparation was made
as far as possible by burying him with full
military honors. Major Hardin wrote that
his death caused "sorrow as generally and
sincerely displayed as I have ever witnessed"
in the army, and with cause, for his services
had been so important that the British had
offered a reward of $150 for his scalp. As

177

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

he faced death, Logan displayed much con
cern for his two boys, and left a dying in
junction to John Johnston, the Indian agent,
to send them to Kentucky to be educated
among his friends there. Johnston tried to
execute this request, but was prevented by
their mother, who was backed by the Shaw-
nee chiefs in her opposition to sending them
so far away. The matter was finally com
promised by attempting their education at
the agency, but the facilities there were
slight and the boys finally rejoined their
tribe, where they became as wild as any of
their kindred.

The Indian name of Captain Logan is us
ually written "Spemica Lawba," and trans
lated "High Horn," but it occurs in other
forms. In the treaty of 1817, provision is
made for "the children of Captain Logan, or
Spamagelabe, who fell in the service of the
United States during the late war." The
first word is the Shawnee "spum'-muk,"
which also means "above" or "on top."
This confusion of vowel sounds is very com
mon in Indian names, and is very natural,
for the spelling is phonetic, and it is often

178

THE SERVICE OF LOGAN

almost impossible to determine the short
vowels.

In the spring of 1828 there gathered in
formally at the site of Logansport a little
knot of early settlers, and others interested,
to select a name for the new town which had
just been surveyed. General Tipton, who
admired classic titles, proposed an alleged
Latin compound, said to mean "Mouth of
the Eel/' which was the name commonly
given to the place at that time by the whites.
Another proposed Ke-na-pe-com-a-qua — the
common form of the Miami name of Eel
River and of their old town at the mouth of
that stream. It is properly Ke'-na-pe'-kwo-
ma'-kwa, i. e., Eel, or literally, snake-fish, or
snake water-animal. Others proposed va
rious names, and finally Hugh B. McKeen,
a son-in-law of Barron, the Indian inter
preter, who had formerly been in the Indian
trade at Ft. Wayne, proposed the name of
Logan, in commemoration of this friend of
the whites. The suggestion pleased Colonel
Duret, who proposed that "port" be added
to round it out, and by common consent the
name was adopted. And so there was given
a monument more lasting than stone or

170

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

bronze to this Indian soldier who died for
the people against whom he had fought as
a child.

180

CHAPTER X.

THE WALAM OLUM.

It is not generally known that the most
valuable pictographic record of the Indians
of the United States was obtained in Indi
ana, from the Delaware Indians, who lived
on White River. The Indians have three
forms of language — the spoken, the sign
language and the pictographic, the last
named being their nearest approach to a
written language.

The second and third differ from the first
in that it is in words, like our own language,
while in them the signs, whether made by
the hands, arms or head, or inscribed on
some material, are ideographic. They are
also universal, because they are "natural"
signs of ideas, and for this reason, although
the illustrations given herewith may seem
unintelligible to us who are not familiar with
idea signs, the Indians of different tribes,
having totally different spoken languages,

181

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

communicate readily with one another by
the sign language, and also with the deaf
and dumb. This has been fully demon
strated by the experiments of Professor Gal-
laudet and others. Of course, in the latter
they do not use the common mode of the
deaf and dumb, of spelling out words with
letters, but use the general idea signs which
the deaf and dumb all use to some extent.
Indeed, we all use them to some extent, as
in shaking or nodding the head.

In summer, any boy knows what another
boy means when he holds up a hand with
the first and second fingers extended like a
V. That is the natural sign for a valley, and
the contracted sign for a stream. The In
dians complete it in the latter sense by bring
ing a finger tip of the other hand to the
crotch of the V, and moving it away in a
wavy line, indicating the flow of a stream
through its channel. From this comes the
common boy's sign for going swimming.

The name of this Delaware record
"Walam Olum" indicates the character of
the record. In the Delaware language,
"walam" means paint, and "olum" means
a record stick, on which the record usually

182

X

—

p

X

o

>

o
w

PL § t^ts^^^

e rf* ~ <<T <5r ~ « C* X

5 ^ *S .. ^ ? 5

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

was made by notches. Hence, the name
means the painted stick record, or, as it has
sometimes been translated, 'Tainted Rec
ords," or 'Tainted Sticks," or, as Professor
Brinton suggests, "The Red Score," because
walam is sometimes used specially for red
paint, or vermilion.

For the preservation of these picto-
graphs, the world is indebted to the cele
brated Rafinesque (Constantine Samuel Ra-
finesque-Schmaltz), whose name is some
what familiar in Indiana, because he was
one of the most picturesque of the charac
ters attracted to New Harmony. He was
of French-German parentage, but was born
in Turkey, in 1784. He was in the United
States from 1802 to 1805, and returned in
1815, living here till his death in 1842. He
was an all-round scientist, who published a
large amount of matter, but was discredited
by contemporary scientists, who doubted his
remarkable discoveries, and it is only in re
cent years that the real value of his work
has been recognized. And this is what hap
pened as to the Walam Olum, for it was
not until after his death that it was given
to the public.

184

THE WALAM OLUM

Rafinesque says that the original record
was obtained from the Delaware Indians on
White River by Dr. Ward, presumably a
Kentucky physician of that name with whom
he was on terms of friendship while pro
fessor of history and natural sciences at
Transylvania University from 1819 to 1826.
It was given to Dr. Ward in 1820 for im
portant medical services, and in 1822 he
obtained the Delaware text or translation
of the pictographs. The English translation
was obtained some years later by Rafinesque
himself, by the aid of John Burns, an inter
preter.

After Rafinesque's death it passed into
the hands of Brantz Mayer, of Baltimore,
and later to E. G. Squier, the distinguished
archaeologist. In 1848 Squier read a paper
on the record before the New York Histor
ical Society, which was published in the
American Review for February, 1849, and
has since been reproduced in Beach's "In
dian Miscellany," and in Drake's "Aborigi
nal Races of North America." A complete
reproduction of the pictographs and trans
lations will be found in Brinton's "The
Lenape and Their Legends."

185

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

The record begins with an account of the
creation of the world, which is followed by
an account of the deluge, and this by the
story of the Delaware nation and its various
chiefs. The opening words are as follows:

1. At first, in that place, at all times,
above the earth.

2. On the earth was an extended fog,
and there the great Manito was.

3. At first, forever, lost in space, every
where, the great Manito was.

4. He made the extended land and the
sky.

5. He made the sun, the moon, the stars.

6. He made them all to move evenly.

7. Then the wind blew violently, and it
cleared, and the water flowed off far and
strong.

8. And groups of islands grew newly,
and there remained.

This is so similar to the first chapter of
Genesis that one might naturally suppose it
the source of the ideas, but archaeologists
agree that the Walam Olum is an entirely
independent and original record. Its lan
guage is not "missionary Delaware," but of
an earlier character; and the line of

186

THE WALAIH OLUM

thought quickly leaves the Bible line. The
great Manito (Kitanito) made only the
things that were good for mankind; and
then came an evil Manito — Maskanako, the
great serpent — who made all the bad things,
mosquitoes, gnats and flies; he brought
quarreling and unhappiness, and bad weath
er, and sickness and death; and then, to cap
the climax, he brought a great flood to
drown man and the other animals. But his
evil design was thwarted by Nanabush, an
Algonquian deity who wras a sort of patron
saint of men, who created the great turtle
and gathered man and the animals on its
back, with the aid of the Manito daughter
(Manito-dasin) until the deluge subsided,
as recounted in the accompanying extract.
The picture record brings the history down
to the discovery of America and ends with
these words :

"At this time, from north, and south, the
whites came.

"They are peaceful, they have great
things; who are they?"

But there is another chapter of the Dela
ware text, bringing the story down to the
removal of the Delawares from Indiana, in

187

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

1820, written by one of the Indiana Dela-
wares, and as one of the earliest known pro
ductions of an Indiana author is of special
note. It is as follows:

SONG VI THE MODERN CHRONICLE.

1. Alas, alas! We now know who they
are, these Wapsinis (East people),
who came out of the sea to rob us of
our lands. Starving wretches ! they
came with, smiles, but soon became
snakes (or enemies).

2. The Walumolum was made by Lek-
hibit (The Writer) to record our glory.
Shall I write another to record our
fall? No! Our foes have taken care
to do that; but I speak what they
know not or conceal.

3. We have had many other chiefs since
that unhappy time. There were three
before the friendly Mikwon (Miquon
or Penn) came. Mattanikum (Not
Strong)* was chief when the Winakoli
(Swedes) came to Winaki; Nahumen
(Raccoon) when the Sinai wi (Dutch)
came, and Ikwahon (Fond-of -Women)

*Note by Raflnesque: "Mattanikum was chief in 1645. He is
called Matta-horn by Holm, who, by a blunder, has n ade his name
half Swedish. Horn is not L^napi. Mattanikum means Not-horned,
without horns, emblem of having little strength,"

188

THE WALAM OLUM

when the Yankwis (English) came.
Miquon (Penn) and his friends came
soon after.

4. They were all received and fed with
corn; but no land was ever sold to
them; we never sold any land. They
were allowed to dwell with us, to build
houses and plant corn, as friends and
allies. Because they were hungry and
we thought them children of Gishaki
(or sun land), and not serpents and
children of serpents.

5. And they were traders, bringing fine
new tools, and weapons, and cloth,
and beads, for which we gave them
skins and shells and corn. And we
liked them and the things they brought,
for we thought them good and made
by the children of Gishaki.

6. But they brought also fire-guns, and
fire-waters, which burned and killed,
also baubles and trinkets of no use,
for we had better ones before.

7. After Mikwon, came the sons of Do-
lojo-Sakima (King George), who said
more land, more land we must have,
and no limit could be put to their steps.

189

Pictographs.

Delaware.

11. Amanganek makdopannek

alendyuwek metzipannek.

12. Manito-dasin mokol-wichc-

map,

Palpal pay at pay at wemiche-
map.

13. Nanaboush Nanaboush we-

miniokom,

Winimokom linnimokom tu-
lamokom.

14. Linapi-ma tulapi-ma tulape-
wi tapitawi.

15. Wishanem tulpewi pataman

tulpewi poniton wuliton.

16. Kshipehelen penkwihilen,
Kwamipokho sitwalikho,
Maskan wagan palliwi pal-

liwi

SAMPLE. PAGE

190

English.

II. There were many monster fishes, which ate some of
them.

12. The Manito daughter, coming, helped with her canoe,
helped all, as they came and came.

13. [And also] Nanabush, Nanabush, the grandfather of

all, the grandfather of beings, the grandfather of
men, the grandfather of the turtle.

14. The men then were together on the turtle, like to

turtles.

15. Frightened on the turtle, they prayed on the turtle
that what was spoiled should be restored.

16. The water ran off", the earth dried, the lakes were at
rest, all was silent, and the mighty snake departed.

OF THE WALAM OLUM.

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

8. But in the north were the children of
Lowi-Sakima (King Louis), who were
our good friends, friends of our
friends, foes of our foes, yet with
Dolojo wished always to war.

9. We had three chiefs after Mikwon
came — Skalich, who was another Ta-
menend, and Sasunam-Wikwikhon
(Our-uncle-the-builder), and Tutami
(Beaver-taker), who was killed by a
Yankwako (English snake), and then
we vowed revenge.

10. Netatawis (First-new-being) became
chief of all the nations in the west.
Again at Talligewink (Ohio, or place
of Tallegwi) on the River Cuyahoga,
near our old friends, the Talamatans.
And he called t>n all them of the east
(to go to war).

11. But Tadeskung was chief in the east
at Mahoning, and was bribed by
Yankwis; then he was burnt in his
cabin, and many of our people were
killed at Hickory (Lancaster) by the
land-robber Yankwis.

12. Then we joined Lowi in war against
the Yankwis; but they were strong,

IQ2

THE WALAM OLUM

and they took Lowanaki (North-land,
Canada) from Lowi, and came to us
in Talegawink, when peace was made,
and we called them Kichikani (Big
knives).

13. Then Alimi (White eyes) and Gele-
lenund (Buck-killer) were chiefs, and
all the nations near us were friends,
and our grandchildren again.

14. When the Eastern fires began to re
sist Dolojo, they said we should be
another fire with them. But they killed
our chief Unamiwi (the Turtle) and
our brothers on the Muskingum. Then
Hopokan (Strong-pipe) of the Wolf
tribe was made chief, and he made
war on the Kichikani- Yankwis, and
became the friend of Dolojo, who was
then very strong.

15. But the Eastern fires were stronger;
they did not take Lowinaki, but be
came free from Dolojo. We went to
Wapahani (White River) to be farther
from them; but they followed us
everywhere, and we made war on them,
till they sent Makhiakho (Black-snake,

193

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

General Wayne), who made strong
war.

16. We next made peace and settled lim
its, and our chief was Hackingpous-
kan (Hard-walker), who was good
and peaceful. He would not join our
brothers, the Shawanis and Ottawas,
and Dolojo in the next war.

17. Yet after the last peace, the Kichi-
kani-Yankwis came in swarms all
around us, and they desired also our
lands of Wapahani. It was useless to
resist, because they were getting
stronger and stronger by joining fires.

18. Kithtilkand and Lapanibit were the
chiefs of our two tribes when we
resolved to exchange our lands, and re
turn at last beyond the Masispek (Mis
sissippi River), near to our old coun
try.

19. We shall be near our foes the Wakon
(Osages), but they are not worse than
the Yankwisakon (English snakes),
who want to possess the whole Big-
island.

20. Shall we be free and happy, then, at

194

THE WALAM OLUM

the new Wapahani? We want rest

and peace, and wisdom.
A little explanation may make this more
intelligible. In the ninth verse, "Tame-
nend" means affable or agreeable — literally
beaver-like. The reference is to the cele
brated chief who was the original of St.
Tammany. In the tenth verse "Taligewi"
should perhaps be Alligewi, though Brinton
thinks that the Talega were Cherokees. The
Talamatans were Hurons or Wyandots,
otherwise known as Delemattenos. In verse
11, "Mahoning" is the Delaware word for
deer-lick. In verse 13, "Alimi" is evidently
an error, as it was the name of George
White Eyes, a descendant of the original
Captain White Eyes, of the Revolutionary
period. The latter's name was "Koguetha-
gechton," which means "large white space
showing in the eyes." In verse 16, the
name "Hackingpouskan," according to
Heckewelder, should be Hackink Pomskan,
and means "to walk on the ground." He
was the chief who was charged with witch
craft by The Prophet, but defied him, and
escaped unharmed. In verse 18, "Kithtil-
kand" is William Anderson, and "Lapani-

195

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

bit" is the chief whose name is attached to
the treaty 'of 1818 as "Lahpanihle, or Big
Bear/'

The extract gives a forcible presentation
of the sad feelings with which the Dela-
wares left their homes in Indiana, and their
forebodings as to their new home in the
West. They were not destined to find "rest
and peace." They located first in Kansas
and remained there until 1867, when the
neighboring whites became so annoying
that they sold their lands, and, with the con
sent of the Government, bought lands in the
Cherokee country in Indian Territory. Here
they did well until the Dawes commission
apportioned the Cherokee lands in severalty,
and, with the inscrutable intelligence that
occasionally invades Indian affairs, made
no provision for the Delawares, who had
bought their lands of the Cherokees, with
the consent and approval of the Government.
Now, the remnant are begging Congress,
and have been for several years, to do the
simple justice of giving them what rightful
ly belongs to them according to our own
laws and in conformity with every dictate of
honesty and decency.

196

CHAPTER XL

THE TRAGEDY OF THE FALLS.

The principal tributary of White River in
central Indiana is Fall Creek. The name of
this stream is a translation of the Delaware
name, which Chamberlain gives as "Soo-
sooc-pa-ha-loc," saying that it means "Spilt
Water." His translation is rather fanciful.
Sok-pe-hel-lak, or sook-pe-hel-luk, is the
Delaware word for waterfall, but the word
for water does not enter into its composition.
The stem "sok" (sook, sog, sohk) enters in
to the verb "to spill," but also into the verbs
"to rain" and "to pour;" and its primary
sense is the idea of emitting or pouring
forth. Pehellak carries the idea of "swift
ness," "rushing," "tumultuousness." The
name refers to the falls at Pendleton, which
were formerly about eight feet in hight. In
1864 a milldam was made on the rock ledge,
immediately above the fall, making an im
pressive double fall of it; but this has been

197

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

removed and the rock ledge has been par
tially cut to drain lands above, and the fall
is now not very striking in appearance.

The Miami name of the stream is Chank'-
tun-oon'-gi, or "Makes-a-Noise Place," and
the unusual occurrence of a place name for
a stream is due to the reference to these
same falls. The site of Indianapolis, being
at the mouth of Fall Creek, was also called
Chank'-tun-oon'-gi by the Miamis, and the
name is also sometimes given to Indianapo
lis. The falls were noted among the Indians
on their own account; and in the period of
white settlement the place has become nota
ble for two events that occurred there — the
mobbing of Frederick Douglass, in the days
of slavery agitation, and the conviction and
execution of certain white men for the mur
der of a party of Indians.

After the Delawares moved west from In
diana, their villages on White River were
partially occupied for several years by In
dians from the northern part of the State,
and their lands were common hunting
grounds until the progress of settlement
drove out the game. In the spring of 1824
a small party of Indians camped on the

198

THE TRAGEDY OF THE FALLS

headwaters of Lick Creek, some eight miles
east of the falls, and about a mile northeast
of the present village of Markleville. There
were two men in the party, one a Shawnee
known as Ludlow, and the other a Miami,
who went by the name of Logan. With
them were three women, two boys about ten
years of age, and two girls who were young
er. The men were engaged in hunting and
trapping, and the whole party was quiet and
inoffensive. But they had been very suc
cessful in their hunting, and had a large
quantity of furs, in addition to a good supply
of kettles and utensils for making maple
sugar; and their property excited the greed
of a white man named Harper, living in the
vicinity. He was a frontiersman of the
reckless class, who often boasted of the num
ber of Indians he had killed, and openly
maintained that it was no worse to kill an
Indian than to kill a wild animal. He se
cured the alliance of James Hudson, another
trapper of somewhat better character, and
these two took into their plot Andrew Saw
yer and John T. Bridge, brothers-in-law,
two settlers who were clearing farms near
by.

IQ9

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

On Monday, March 22, these four men,
accompanied by Bridge's son John, a strip
ling of nineteen years, and a boy named
Andrew Jones, appeared at the Indian camp,
professing to be in search of some lost
horses. The Indians readily consented to
aid in the search, and Ludlow started in one
direction, followed by Harper, and the Mi
ami in another, followed by Hudson, the
rest of the party bringing up the rear. After
going a short distance Harper shot Ludlow
in the back, instantly killing him. At the
report of his gun Hudson shot the Miami,
Logan, in the same manner. The five men
then returned to the camp and opened fire
on the helpless survivors. Sawyer and each
of the Bridges shot a squaw, and Sawyer
then shot the oldest boy, but did not kill him.
The other children were killed, but it was
not definitely learned by whom, as all the
party were shooting. Seeing that the boy
he had shot was not dead, Sawyer seized
him by the legs and dashed his brains out
on a log. The murderers plundered the
camp of everything of value, and mutilated
the bodies of their victims, to create the im-

200

THE TRAGEDY OF THE FALLS

pression that they had been killed by In
dians.

On the following day some persons on
their way to a religious meeting in the neigh
borhood discovered the dead bodies and the
plundered camp, and the news spread rapid
ly, exciting horror and alarm. Whatever
prejudice may have existed on the frontiers
against Indians, there was never any sym
pathy with robbery, for that was a danger
to which all were exposed. For ten years
there had been no Indian troubles, and
everybody knew the tendency of the Indian
to revenge. There were many Indians near
at hand and few whites. There were a few
houses at the falls, small villages at Ander
son and Indianapolis, and scattered settlers
between these points, most of the country
being covered with unbroken forest. Capt.
John Berry, who lived at Anderson, started
at once to Piqua, O., and gave notice to John
Johnston, the Indian agent for the district,
who promptly notified the authorities at
Washington. The Indian Department im
mediately offered rewards for the apprehen
sion and conviction of the murderers, and
under its instructions Colonel Johnston and

20 1

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

William Conner visited the Indians and as
sured them that the Government would pun
ish the murderers.

But, meanwhile, the settlers had been
moving. Parties were at once formed to
apprehend the murderers, and suspicion
quickly fell on the guilty parties. Harper
managed to escape, but within a week the
others were under arrest and had made par
tial confession, while sufficient evidence had
been obtained to demonstrate their guilt. A
session of the Circuit Court occurred at Pen-
dleton in April, and on the 9th of that month
the four prisoners were indicted for murder,
but on account of the illness of the presiding
judge their trials were set for the October
term. Meanwhile the prisoners were con
fined in the new jail, a structure of hewn
logs fitted closely together, with one door
and no windows, and surrounded by a stock
ade of heavy posts set in the ground. On
July 20 the prisoners all escaped, but they
were soon recaptured, and after that they
were heavily ironed and guarded day and
night by a specially appointed body of men
paid by the Indian Department.

At that time the circuit courts of Indiana,

202

THE TRAGEDY OF THE FALLS

were composed of three members, a presid
ing judge, who was learned in the law, and
two associates who were not, and whose
function was presumably to temper the law
with common sense. The presiding judge
was William W. Wick, a young man, but an
excellent lawyer, who afterward became
quite prominent in the State. The associate
judges were Adam Winsell, the village
blacksmith, and Samuel Holliday, both pio
neers of excellent character.

The members of the bar used occasionally
to have a little quiet diversion with the as
sociate judges, and on October 7, the court
having been opened in the absence of the
presiding judge, the attorneys for the de
fendants asked for a writ of habeas corpus,
for the release of their clients. After a
somewhat perplexing argument, Judge Win-
sell disposed of the matter by saying: "It
would do you no good to bring out the pris
oners. I ironed them myself, and you will
never get them irons off until they are tried,
habeas corpus or no habeas corpus.'7 On
the arrival of Judge Wick the prisoners
were arraigned, and asked for separate
trials, and on the next morning the trial of

203

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

James Hudson began. The court was held
in the cabin of William McCartney, there
being no courthouse. The prosecutor was
Harvey Gregg, a prominent lawyer of early
times, and the Indian Department had em
ployed to assist him Gen. James Noble, and
his son-in-law, Philip Sweetser, both able
lawyers. General Noble was United States
Senator from Indiana from 1816 to his
death, in 1831, and was considered the
strongest jury lawyer of the Indiana bar.
The defense was represented by William R.
Morris, Calvin Fletcher, Bethuel F. Morris
and Martin M. Ray, all excellent lawyers.

The jury was typical of the frontier. It
was noted that every juryman wore mocca
sins and carried a hunting knife. The evi
dence was brief, consisting chiefly of the tes
timony of the boy, Andrew Jones. The facts
were practically undisputed, and the de
fendants' attorneys devoted most of the day
to the recital of Indian atrocities on the
frontier, but the appeal to prejudice was of
no avail. The case went to the jury that
night, and in the morning it returned a ver
dict of murder. Hudson was called up for
sentence, and Judge Wick delivered an im-

204

THE TRAGEDY OF THE FALLS

pressive address, referring to the atrocity of
the crime, the wrongs of the Indians, the
duties of the whites as civilized and Chris
tian people. He said: "I feel no wish un
necessarily to harrow up your feelings, but I
must ask you why you could not permit Lo
gan to revisit his former home, and to hunt
in his native forests ? How could you have
the heart to make war upon, shoot and de
stroy the venerable old chief, whose name
ought to have been his passport and protec
tion from Maine to Georgia, and from the
Mississippi to the Atlantic? The blood of
a Logan has a second time gone up before
heaven crying aloud for vengeance. The
blood of a Logan and a friend of the white
man rests upon your conscience, and has
imprinted a stain too deep to be washed out
but by the blood of a Redeemer."

Hudson was sentenced to be hanged on
December 1, but his case was appealed to
the Supreme Court, and a respite was grant
ed him by the Governor until January 12.
The other cases went over to the spring term
of 1825. The Supreme Court evidently
made no search for technicalities on which
to reverse the case. It easily disposed of

205

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

such objections as that the grand jury had
been chosen by the clerk instead of the Coun
ty Commissioners, and that the clerk had in
tentionally included men not qualified to
serve as trial jurors. It hesitated a little
over the fact that the defense had not been
allowed to ask the jurors whether they be
lieved that a conviction was necessary for
the protection of themselves and their fam
ilies from the Indians; but decided that, al
though such a belief would disqualify a
juror, the juror could not be asked "to testi
fy to his own depravity."

On the night of November 13 — the same
day on which the Supreme Court made its
decision — Hudson managed to escape from
the jail, and was assisted over the stockade
by his fellow-prisoners. In his effort to
elude the pursuit he waded Fall Creek where
it was quite deep, and, as the night was cold,
he became so chilled by his wet clothing that
he was unable to go on. He crawled into
a hollow log for shelter, but his feet were
exposed and were so badly frozen that he
could not walk. Here he was found, com
pletely helpless, and taken back to jail. On
January 12 the sentence was executed. The

206

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

scaffold was erected at the edge of the bot
tomland north of the jail. The neighboring
hillside was covered with spectators from
all the country round, including several In
dians, who had come to see if punishment
would actually be made. Hudson had to be
helped to the scaffold, being in such pitiable
condition as excited the sympathy of those
who saw him. He made full confession be
fore his death. This, it is said, \vas the first
instance of a white man being executed for
the murder of an Indian in the United
States. Certainly it was the first case in this
region. Men were arrested and tried re
peatedly in territorial times for murdering
Indians, but the juries always refused to
convict, although by treaty we were bound
to punish such offenders. Governor Harri
son complained of this repeatedly in letters
to the Government and in messages to the
Legislature. It was the more shameful be
cause the Indians either surrendered their
offenders or punished them. In 1811, hav
ing demanded of the Delawares the surren
der of an Indian charged with robbery, Gov
ernor Harrison wrote: "They said they
would never deliver up another man until

208

THE TRAGEDY OF THE FALLS

some of the white persons were punished
who had murdered their people. They
would, however, punish him themselves, and
did put him to death/'

The other trials came on in the spring of
1825. The circuit had been changed, and
Miles C. Eggleston was the presiding judge,
the other court officials being the same, ex
cept that Oliver H. Smith, later United
States Senator from Indiana, was the pros
ecuting attorney. The Government also
added to the prosecution Messrs. Polk,
Finch and Veeder, while the defense was
reinforced by James Rariden and Lot
Bloomfield, both talented lawyers. The new
courthouse had been completed, a log struc
ture of two rooms, with puncheon floors, and
the trials were held in it. The juries were
of typical frontiersmen, as before. On May
10 Sawyer was tried and convicted for kill
ing one of the squaws, but he escaped with a
verdict of manslaughter, and a sentence of
two years in the penitentiary. On May 11
young Bridge was tried and convicted of
murder, but with a recommendation to the
Governor for his pardon, on account of his
youth, and the fact that he had been led into

209

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

the crime by the older men. On May 12 the
elder Bridge was convicted of murder. On
May 13 Sawyer was tried for killing the In
dian boy. The prosecution dwelt on the
atrocity of the offense, and Mr. Smith, hold
ing the bloody shirt of the lad before the
jury, urged on them that, although the
shooting of the squaw might be manslaugh
ter, the brutal killing of the wounded boy
could be nothing but murder. A verdict of
murder was returned, and on the following
morning the three men were sentenced to
be hanged on June 3. It was a pathetic
scene as the elder Bridge, gray and already
bent with age, stood with his brother-in-law
and his favorite son to receive the sentence.
They were haggard from their long confine
ment, and dejected by the certainty of their
fate. The tears ran down their faces and
the crowded courtroom was filled with their
groans and sighs. Judge Eggleston's face
was pale and his voice quivered. The sol
emn conclusion of the sentence, "And may
God have mercy on your souls," could
scarcely be heard.

On June 3 the sentence was executed in
the presence of a larger assemblage than

2IO

THE TRAGEDY OF THE FALLS

before. Again there were a number of In
dians in attendance. Sawyer and the elder
Bridge were brought out first and hanged
from the same scaffold on which Hudson
had died. But there was an added horror.
Sawyer was a powerful man and at the fatal
moment, by a desperate effort, he broke the
cords that fastened his arms and clutched
the rope above his head. Then ensued an
awful struggle, while the sheriff and his as
sistants pulled down his arms and refastened
them. When both men were dead they were
cut down and laid in their coffins and young
Bridge was helped up the scaffold by the
sheriff. The black cap was pulled down
over his face. Then there was a stir in the
crowd and Governor Ray mounted the scaf
fold and announced the pardon of the youth,
which was received with a general cheer.
But when his face was uncovered his blank
stare showed that executive clemency had
come too late. Reason had fled.* The ap
proval of the spectators gave way to regret
that the pardon had been delayed so long.
Tradition has it that an Indian chief present
was asked if they were satisfied and that he

•Bridges subsequently regained his reason and livec' to quite a
ripe age.

211

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

replied, "Indian want no more white man
weighed."

There can be no doubt that these tragic
events made a deep impression on the fron
tier, where they were the chief topics of con
versation for many days. The crime was so
cold-blooded and unprovoked that it aroused
the condemnation of almost every one.
There were then two newspapers published
at the village of Indianapolis. The Indiana
Gazette denounced it as "one of the most
outrageous transactions that has occurred
since the settlement of the State." The
Western Censor characterized it as "murder
scarcely excelled in atrocity by the savages
themselves." The general sentiment was no
less pronounced and even the respite of Hud
son was openly condemned, in the popular
demand for swift and full punishment for
the murderers. The sentiment that was
awakened was wholesome and there was
very little occasion for complaint of lawless
ness during the remaining years in which
the remnant of the Indian tribes resided in
the State.

212

CHAPTER XII.

THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING.

Just above the city of Peru, on the south
side of the Wabash, the Mississinewa river
empties. Massissineway, the whites used to
call it, and that is nearer the Miami name,
which is Na-mah'-chis-sin'-wi. The In
dians translate it freely, "Much Fall in the
River," but literally it means an ascent, or
as So-wil'-lin-jish'-yah (The Open Hand)
explained it, "a slope up, but not as much as
a hill."

The name is appropriate, for it is a fine,
rapid stream. Its valley was for many years
a favorite home of the Miamis. Just below
its mouth was a large Miami town, which
the whites called "the Osage town," because
there lived here an Osage Indian who was
quite prominent among the Miamis. His
name appears in treaties as "Osage, the
Neutral," but the Miamis called him Wah-
shah'-shie, which is their name for the Osage

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

tribe. Their name for the place was Ik'-ke-
pis-sin'-noong, or the Straight Place, be
cause the Wabash at this point is straight
for about two miles.

Seventy years ago, following the Indian
trail up the Mississinewa, you would soon
have reached the home and trading-house of
Francois Godfrey, a French half-breed, who
was the last war chief of the Miamis. They
called him P'lons'-wah, or more broadly
Pah-lons'-wah, but there is no such Miami
word as this, and, indeed, he had no
Indian name. It was merely their effort to
pronounce Francois, for they have no sound
of "f" or "r" in their language, but substi
tute a "p" for the former and an "I" for the
latter.

Still farther up you would pass the curious
rock cliffs, where the river has cut its way
deep in the Niagara limestone; and still
higher, some ten miles from the mouth of
the stream, where the hills begin to come
close to the river, you would come to the
Deaf Man's Village. It was not much of a
village — only three log cabins, one of them
a queer two-story affair — and was the home
of a Miami chief named She-pah'-can-nah,

214

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

or The Awl, i. e., the instrument with which
the Indians punched holes in skins when
sewing them together. In his later life he
lost his hearing, and was then named Ka-
kip'-shah, or The Deaf.

To this village, one evening in- January,
1835, came Col. George W. Ewing, an In
dian trader from Logansport, cold, tired and
hungry. He was hospitably received at the
principal cabin by old Muk-kons'-kwa (Lit
tle Bear Woman) the widow of She-pah'-
can-nah, who was an old acquaintance. Aft
er a hearty supper they sat by the cheerful
open fire and chatted in the Miami language.
The other members of the household
dropped off to bed and these two were left
alone. The conversation became broken.
She was evidently agitated. He rose to
retire, but she said: "No. I have some
thing on my mind. I am old and weak. I
shall not live long, and I must tell it. I can
not die in peace if I do not/'

He sat down again, and a long silence fol
lowed, she staring at the fire, and he strange
ly drawn by her crown of reddish auburn
hair, with a peculiar light brown streak at
the back of the head — remarkable hair for

216

THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING

an Indian woman. Finally he suggested
that she tell her story at some other time,
but she answered: "No, no, I may die; I
may die; and then I will have no peace in
the spirit world."

Then she told her secret. She was a white
woman who had been carried away from
home by three Delaware Indians when a lit
tle child. She could not tell when, but it was
before the last two wars. (The war of 1812
and Wayne's war.) She had lost her moth
er tongue, and had forgotten her Christian
name, but she remembered that her father's
name was Slocum, that he was a Quaker,
and that he lived on the banks of the Susque-
hanna, not far from a town where there was
a fort. She thought there were seven other
children, six older than herself, but they must
all be dead — she was so old herself. The
Indians had carried her far away, past the
great falls (Niagara) and on to the Dela
ware towns of Ohio, where she was adopted
as a child by a Delaware chief. Her foster
parents treated her very kindly, and she
grew up as an Indian. Once, when travel
ing with her adopted parents, they found a
wounded Indian lying helpless on the

217

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

ground. It was the Miami war chief She-
pah'-can-nah. They took him home and
nursed him to health. He became the hus
band of Frances, and he was a good hus
band. She felt that she must tell Mon'-kyot
(Bald Head, the name given by the Miamis
to Ewing), but he must not tell others; her
relatives might come and take her away
from her home and her children.

The old woman had acquired the Indian's
dread of the white man's power, and it was
for this reason that she had guarded her se
cret so long. Ewing assured her that he
would protect her, and when she had fin
ished her story she said: "There, now, I
can die. Oh, you don't know how this has
troubled me. Something all the time whis
pered in my ear, you must do it — you must
do it; and now it is done. The great load
I have carried over fifty years is off my
shoulders. I am a free woman."

In the morning, having convinced the old
woman that she would not be carried away
against her will, Colonel Ewing resumed
his way, determined on an effort to find her
relatives. He had no clew to their location
beyond the fact that they had lived near the

218

THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING

Susquehanna, and at a venture he wrote to
the postmaster of Lancaster, Pa., reciting
the facts as he had them, and suggesting in
quiry through the newspapers for a family
named Slocum, from whom a child had heen
stolen hy the Indians about the time of the
Revolutionary war. The postmaster was
proprietor of the Lancaster Intelligencer, but
for some reason did not publish the letter. It
lay in the office for two years, when a new
editor came in the person of John W. Forney,
afterward well known to the whole country.
He at once published the letter, and luckily it
appeared in a special edition containing
some temperance documents that was mailed
widely to clergymen. A copy came to the
Rev. Samuel Bowman, an Episcopalian min
ister, who had been stationed at Wilkes-
Barre when young, and was familiar with
the pathetic Slocum history. He at once for
warded the paper to surviving members of
the family, and it came to them as a voice
from the dead.

And well it might. It was in the summer
of 1777 that Jonathan Slocum had come
from Rhode Island with his family, includ
ing his father-in-law, Isaac Tripp, and set-
sip

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

tied in the beautiful Wyoming valley, at the
site of Wilkes-Barre. They were Quakers,
and by kindly treatment won the friendship
of the Indians who came about them. They
escaped injury in the fearful massacre of
July, 1778, and were so confident of their
safety that they remained in their home after
most of the settlers had abandoned the val
ley or gathered in forts. But their confi
dence was not well founded.

On November 2, 1778, three Delaware In
dians approached the house. The men were
away, but two neighbor boys were near the
door grinding a knife. The elder boy, who
wore a soldier's coat, was at once shot by
one of the Indians. Mrs. Slocum and most
of the children fled to the woods. Frances,
a girl of five years, and a lame brother took
refuge beneath the staircase in the house.
The Indians went through the house and
took a few things that attracted their desires.
Then, noticing the children beneath the
stairs, they pulled them out and started away
with them. At this the mother's love over
came her fear, and, leaving the underbrush,
where she had been concealed, she ran for
ward to plead for her children. When she

220

THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING

pointed to the lame boy's feet the Indians
abandoned him, but one of them swung
Frances to his shoulder, and they all started
on a run to the forest. To the tears and
beseechings of the agonized mother they
returned no answer but savage laughter.
The forest closed behind them, the child
looking back over the Indian's shoulder, with
tears streaming down her face, as she
screamed, "Mamma! Mamma!"

The alarm was given at the fort, and a
pursuing party went out, but without suc
cess. The child was gone; and she had left
indelibly printed on her mother's mind that
last picture of her tear-stained face, and
ringing in her ears those cries for help. And
there was another source of anguish — one of
those little things that sometimes wring the
soul. Frances had a new pair of shoes, and
in the usual economy of the frontier at the
time she had been kept barefoot about the
house until cold weather should come. Now
the shoes stood useless, while the little feet
were exposed to the stones and the thorns,
and winter was coming on. Again and
again she moaned: "Oh, if the poor little
creature only had her shoes!" If she could

221

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

but have known it, Frances was quickly sup
plied with comfortable moccasins, and with
native dress that appealed to her childish
vanity as well as her sense of comfort. In
dians are indulgent to their children, and an
adopted child is usually favored as much as
their own. But the mother could not know,
and to her came only the haunting face, the
cry of "Mamma! Mamma!" and the imagi
nation of hardships of every kind ; but worst
of all those poor, bruised feet, with no one to
care for them.

The days dragged by wearily, but her cup
of sorrow was not yet full. But six weeks
had passed when both her husband and her
father were killed by Indians while working
in a field near the fort, and she was left to
suffer alone. Imagination shrinks from the
contemplation of her woe, but in it all the
fate of Frances weighed most heavily. As
to the others the loss was hers, for to her
faith they were in a better and happier life,
but where was the child? There was no
peril, no hardship that her mind did not con
jure up, for to her Frances was always alive
—alive and suffering. She must be found
and rescued.

222

—
EJ.

5'

7:

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

It was impossible to do much while the
war continued, but in 1784, as soon as hostil
ities ceased, two of the older sons pushed
forward to Niagara and made inquiry in
every direction for their sister. They
offered a reward of 100 guineas for her re
turn, but if the Indians knew where she was,
they would not tell. In 1787 they made an
other journey into Ohio, whither the tide of
settlement had turned, enlisting the sympa
thy and aid of Indian agents and traders,
and offering a reward of $500 for their sis
ter's return, but after several months of
fruitless search they turned back baffled and
disheartened. In 1789, there was a large
gathering of Indians at Tioga Point (Ath
ens, Pa.), to surrender captives whose re
turn had been demanded by the Government.
There the aged mother went also, braving
the hardships of the long journey through
the wilderness, that a mother's instinct
might not be wanting to know the child if
she should be there. But she was not among
the captives there, and the sorrowing woman
went back again to her life of dread and sus
pense. In 1791, the brothers accompanied
Proctor's expedition to the Cornplanter's

224

THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING

town on the headwaters of the Allegheny,
seeking for word of the lost one, but again
without success.

In 1793 one of the brothers went to the
Indian treaty at Buffalo, but returned with
no tidings. In 1797 four of the brothers,
with hopes renewed by the general pacifica
tion of the Northwestern tribes, went on an
extended search, up through Canada and on
to Detroit. They made inquiry everywhere
and offered rewards. Even the Indians
seemed to sympathize with them, but no
trace could be found of their long-lost sister.
Then, indeed, hope seemed crushed, and yet
ten years later, having passed her allotted
three-score years and ten, the mother went
to her grave, still feeing that her daughter
lived. It is not hard to believe that infinite
justice and infinite mercy then lifted the veil,
and let her know that her fears had been
groundless — that her little girl, even among
savages, had not been mistreated and had
not suffered.

But the brothers and sisters did not know,
and the dying injunction of their mother to
keep up the search added inspiration to what
had become almost a matter of religion to

225

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

them. Letters of inquiry and appeals for in
formation were continued whenever oppor
tunity arose. Nearly twenty years after the
mother's death there came to the East the
strange story of the Wyandot mission — of
the invasion of the Wyandot town at San-
dusky by a lone negro apostle, without
money, supplies or friends, who had finally
learned their language, converted a number
of the Wyandots to Christianity, established
a Methodist church, and started the tribe on
the road to civilization. And with this came
a report that one of the converts, Between-
the-Logs (Te-ar-ron'-tu-6s — he was of the
bear totem, and the name refers to the man
ner of a bear crouching between two logs)
had a white wife, who had been taken captive
when a child. Possibly this might be
Frances, and so, in 1826, one of the brothers,
accompanied by a nephew, made the long
journey to Upper Sandusky, only to find that
their effort was again fruitless.

But even after this long series of disap
pointment the letter of Ewing revived their
hope, and an interchange of letters with him
almost assured them that the lost was at last
found. Arrangements were quickly made

226

THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING

for a journey to the Mississinewa by two of
the brothers and a sister — all now over sixty
years of age — and in September, 1837, they
started on this last search. The details of
the journey are not material. They came
to the Deaf Man's Village, accompanied by
James T. Miller, an interpreter, and James
B. Fulwiler, of Peru. They were received
by 'Muk-kons'-kwa with all of an Indian's
stoical show of indifference. Could this
wrinkled old Indian woman be the fair child
whom they had sought so long? Her hair
alone appealed to memory. They asked to
see the forefinger of her lef" hand. It had
been crushed and the nail was gone.

"How did that happen?" they asked.

"My brother struck it with a hammer in
the shop, a long time ago, before I was car
ried away," was the answer.

This brought certainty, for this had oc
curred about a year before her loss. She
told the story again through the interpreter.
Her memory of her father and the family,
of the coming of the Indians and of her
capture, all agreed with theirs. But her
name was forgotten.

"Was it Frances?" one asked.
227

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

There was an instant show of emotion in
her stolid face, which gave way to a smile
as she finally answered: "Yes, Franca,
Franca."

It was indeed the long-lost sister, but there
were no tears of joy, no fond embraces.
They told their part of the story, the moth
er's grief and the long search. They con
vinced her that this gray-haired woman was
her sister who ran away to the fort with her
little brother when the Indians came, and
that one of these old men was that brother.
She was interested, but she was an Indian as
completely as if born one. She did not un
derstand their language and they did not
understand hers. The meeting was almost
painful in its failure of anticipations, but the
constraint wore off somewhat as they con
versed through the interpreter, and she
agreed to visit them on the following day in
Peru.

In the morning — it was Sunday — Frances
came to the new hotel in the little town, ac
companied by the daughters Ke-ki-nak'-ish-
wah (Cut Finger) and On-sah'-wah-shin'-
kwa (Yellow Leaf), and the former's hus
band, Ta-quah'-ke-ah (Autumn), a French

228

THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING

half-breed commonly known as Captain
Brouillette — all riding astride Indian ponies.
They were dressed in their best, and brought
with them a ham of venison as a friendship
offering, which was delivered with due na
tive ceremony. After some reminiscence,
the brothers and sisters spoke of the old
home on the Susquehanna, and begged her
to go back and make her home with them,
promising her every comfort in her declining
years. With a look of sadness she shook her
head and answered firmly :

"No, I can not. I have always lived with
the Indians ; they have always used me very
kindly; I am used to them. The Great Spirit
has always allowed me to live with them, and
I wish to live and die with them. Your look
ing-glass may be longer than mine, but this
is my home. I do not wish to live any bet
ter, or anywhere else, and I think the Great
Spirit has -permitted me to live so long be
cause I have always lived with the Indians.
I should have died sooner if I had left them.
My husband and my boys are buried here,
and I can not leave them. On his dying day
my husband charged me not to leave the
Indians. I have a house and large lands,

229

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

two daughters, a son-in-law, three grand
children, and everything to make me com
fortable ; why should I go and be like a fish
out of water?"

"But won't you at least go and make a
visit to your old home, and when you have
seen us, return again to your children?"
asked one of her brothers.

"I can not; I can not. I am an old tree.
I can not move about. I was a sapling when
they took me away. It is all gone past. I
am afraid I should die and never come back.
I am happy here. I shall die here and lie in
that graveyard, and they will raise the pole
at my grave with the w7hite flag on it, and
the Great Spirit will know where to find me.
I should not be happy with my white rela
tives. I am glad enough to see them, but I
can not go. I can not go. I have done."

Her position was supported by her daugh
ters and Captain Brouillette, who .was a man
of good habits, and one of the few Indians
who had adopted civilized methods of farm
ing; and the brothers and sister themselves
finally concluded that perhaps she was right.
And so the meeting that had been dreamed
of for years came to an end. Frances went

230

FRANCES SLOCUM MONUMENT.

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

back to her Indian home, and the others
turned back to the East, satisfied that they
had at least performed their mission, and
complied with their mother's dying request.
There were letters, of course, and visits
from various Eastern relatives; and in 1846,
at the request of Frances, her nephew, the
Rev. George Slocum, came to live near her,
and give her his counsel and assistance. Most
of the Miamis had then been removed to the
West, under the treaty of 1840, but by a
special resolution of Congress, Frances and
her children were permitted to remain in
their old home. There on March 9, 1847.
she peacefully passed away, and was laid to
rest in the little family graveyard on the hill
near by.

Half a century rolled away, but she was
not forgotten. Her story had become one
of the features of our frontier legends. In
1899 James F. Stutesman, of Peru, called
the attention of the surviving members of
her family to the fact that her grave was un
marked. A family monument organization
was at once formed, and on May 17, 1900, in
the presence of a large number of whites and
Indians of the vicinity, and of members of

THE LOST SISTER OF WYOMING

the Slocum family from all parts of the coun
try a handsome white bronze monument over
her grave was unveiled. As you look on it,
and out over the valley where she lived, you
are carried back to the olden time, and real
ize that this eventful life was one of the
early links in the complicated chain that
binds East and West, North and South, into
one common fatherland.

237

CHAPTER XIII.

THE TRAIL OF DEATH.

When the Potawatomis made their last
large cessions of land in northern Indiana,
in 1832, they retained a number of small
reservations for little bands that did not
wish to go west of the Mississippi. Half a
dozen of these were scattered along the Tip-
pecanoe river, beginning at its head with
that of Mes-kwah-buk's band, whose village
was where the village of Oswego (an Iro-
quois word meaning "Flowing Out"— usu
ally applied to the mouth of a stream) now
stands. Mes-kwah-buk is the Potawatomi
word for copper, literally red metal, or stone ;
but To-pash says it is also applied to a red
sky at sunrise, and that it was in this sense
that it was used in this chief's name. The res
ervation farthest down the river was that of
Meh'-mot-way (Cat Bird. The word also
means "He complains," or "he cries out with
pain") and others, just above Rochester.

234

THE TRAIL OF DEATH

Other reservations were grouped about
Lake Maxinkuckee ( M6g-sin'-ke-ki — accent
on the second syllable — or Big Stone coun
try). Of these the largest was that of Aub'-
be-naub'-be's band, southeast of the lake,
covering thirty-six sections. Aub'-be-naub'-
be is equivalent to our slang term "rubber
neck," for it means "looking backward," as a
person or animal looks back over the shoul
der when going away from you. East of the
lake was the reservation and village of Nas-
waw'-kee (the Feathered Arrow — the word
also means "a feather," or "one who feathers
arrows"). North of these, at Twin Lakes,
was a reserve of twenty-two sections for the
bands of Me-nom'-i-nee (Wild Rice), No-
taw'-ka (Hearing, or Listening), Ma-kot'-
ta-m'wha (Black Wolf) and others.

In the year 1836 these reservations were
relinquished to the United States by a series
of treaties and most of the Indians were re
moved in 1837. The Indians were not very
willing to go, and the treaties were the cause
of much feeling. In Aubbenaubbe's band it
resulted in the killing of the old chief by his
son Puk-shuk (Falling Down — the name is

235

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

sometimes written Pau-ko-Shuk). Puk-shuk
was then made chief and started with the
band to the West, but escaped on the way,
and came back to his old country, where he
dragged out the few remaining years of his
wretched existence. By August 6, 1838,
most of the Indians had gone except Menom-
inee and his band. Menominee had not
signed the treaty and refused to go. A coun
cil was held at his village, attended by Col.
Abel C. Pepper, the Government agent, and
a number of Indians and whites of the vicin
ity. Menominee was obdurate. When all the
argument had been completed, he arose and
said to the council :

"The President does not know the truth.
He, like me, has been imposed upon. He does
not know that you made my young chiefs
drunk and got their consent, and pretended
to get mine. He does not know that I have
refused to sell my lands, and still refuse. He
would not by force drive me from my home,
the graves of my tribe, and my children who
have gone to the Great Spirit, nor allow you
to tell me your braves will take me tied like
a dog, if he knew the truth. My brothers,
the President is just, but he listens to the

236

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

word of young chiefs who have lied; and
when he knows the truth he will leave me
to my own. I have not sold my lands. I will
not sell them. I have not signed any treaty,
and will not sign any. I am not going to
leave my lands, and I do not want to hear
anything more about it."

The situation was embarrassing. Menom-
inee was an exemplary man — a religious
man, who exhorted his followers to abstain
from liquor, to be honest and peaceable.
The Rev. Isaac McCoy, for eighteen years
a Baptist missionary among the Indians of
northern Indiana, bears testimony to this. A
number of the band were also exemplary, for
this village was the place of a Catholic mis
sion, and the testimony of the missionaries
can not be questioned. A chapel had been
built in 1830. It was a log structure, thirty
by twenty feet, standing on a little eminence
on the bank of the largest of the four little
lakes in the immediate vicinity. The west
half of the structure was two stories high;
the upper one, which was reached by a ladder
from below, being used as quarters for the
priest. It was of Indian construction, and
not of the best. Father Petit says : "In more

238

THE TRAIL OF DEATH

than one place we can see daylight through
the walls. My fireplace is large enough to
contain a quarter of a cord of wood. I have
no carpet, and the boards of my floor are so
slightly fastened that they yield to the pres
sure of the foot like the keys of the piano
to the musician's fingers."

At this place, in connection with neighbor
ing charges, Father de Seille officiated for
seven years; and on his death, in 1837, Bis
hop Brute' sent Father Petit to take his place.
Benjamin Marie Petit was a native of
Rennes, born in 1811. After a brilliant
course in college, he studied for the bar, and
practiced successfully for a time; but in the
year 1835 he felt himself called to the min
istry in mission work. In this he was en
couraged by Bishop Brute', who happened to
be in Rennes at the time. He began his
theological studies at Paris, and concluded
them at Vincennes, Ind., his ordination be
ing somewhat hastened by the death of
Father de Seille. Father Petit at once en
tered on his charge, and soon became deeply
interested in his Indian parishioners. He
was not only a man of culture and deep reli
gious fervor, but also of most tender heart

239

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

and keen sympathy. His letters are full of
praise for his Potawatomi converts. In one,
written about a month after he had begun
work among them, after describing their dil
igence in church duties, he says:

"Many are in the habit of frequent com
munion, and when deprived of this consola
tion by the death of M. de Seille, they prac
ticed spiritual communion with the most edi
fying fervor. I have already baptized eight
een adults. The spirit of proselytism is ad
mirable among these children of the forest;
all the newly baptized, who belonged to an
other village, brought with them others of
their friends in order that they might be
taught their prayers and catechism. I could
scarcely give you an idea of the attachment
of my good Indians. 'We were orphans/ they
say, 'and in the dark; but you appeared like
a great light, and now we live. You take the
place of our dead father, and we shall do
nothing without your advice.' 'I do not hold
the hearts of others in my hand,' said an old
man, as he clasped my hand, while big tears
filled his eyes, 'but mine will never forget
what you have told us. If we have any

240

THE TRAIL OF DEATH

trouble we come to you. What shall we do
when you leave us ?'

At this time this was the only Catholic
mission to the Indians in northern Indiana.
There had been one for a time at the village
of Che-chauk'-kose (Little Crane), on the
Tippecanoe river, in what is now Marshall
County, but it had been abandoned, and
Father Petit's field included the Potawatomis
of all northern Indiana and southern Michi
gan, as well as the white Catholics at South
Bend and other points. He calls his mission
"Chichipe Outipe," which I have not yet been
able to identify, but the first word is appar
ently She-she'-pa, which is the Potawatomi
word for "duck."

Trouble soon followed the council at Me-
nominee's village. The Hon. Daniel Mc
Donald, who made personal investigation of
the matter among the old settlers, says the
origin of the trouble was "with Mr. Waters,
who had settled in the reservation, without
authority, a few months previous, and de
sired the Indians to leave so he could pre
empt 160' acres of the reservation, under the
law of Congress passed in June of that year.
He was the disturbing element and set about

241

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

deliberately to work up the disturbance so
that the Governor would be compelled to re
move them." Certain it is that Waters
claimed that some ten days after the council
the Indians chopped his door and threatened
his life. This was followed by the burning
of ten or twelve Indian cabins. Then Waters
and others petitioned Governor Wallace for
protection. Colonel Pepper, the Indian
agent, made a requisition for one hundred
men to keep the peace and Governor Wallace
at once appointed General John Tipton to
raise that number of volunteers and take
charge of the situation. He acted so
promptly that, as Governor Wallace re
ported, "in about forty-eight hours after the
requisition was authorized the requisite force
was not only mustered but was transported
into the midst of the Indians before they
were aware of its approach."

This was true. Part of the Indians were
in the chapel at prayer when Tipton an
nounced his arrival by a volley of musketry.
It was effective notice. Father Petit says of
the old mother of Black WTolf, whom he
found sick at South Bend later, "The poor
creature had been so frightened at the dis-

242

THE TRAIL OF DEATH

charge of musketry, ordered by General Tip-
ton, when he made prisoners of the Indians,
that she ran to the woods, where she hid
herself for six days, without having any
nourishment during all that time. She
had wounded her foot and could not walk.
Happily, an Indian, who was looking for his
horses, found the poor fugitive, and, placing
her on one of the horses, brought her to a
French family near South Bend, where I
heard her confession/'

There was no parleying with Tipton. He
was not a cruel man, but he understood that
he was sent to remove the Indians, and he
left no room for mistake. He says: "Many
of the Indian men were assembled near the
chapel when we arrived, and were not per
mitted to leave camp or separate until mat
ters were amicably settled, and they had
agreed to give peaceable possession of the
land sold by them." The few arms the In
dians had were taken from them. Squads of
soldiers were sent in every direction to bring
in stragglers, and by September 4 Tipton
had gathered 859, young and old, for re
moval. It had not been arranged that Father
Petit should accompany them. He assembled

243

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

them in the chapel for a final service, and
to remove the decorations. He says : "At the
moment of my departure I assembled all my
children to speak to them for the last time. I
wept, and my auditors sobbed aloud. It was
indeed a heartrending sight, and over our
dying mission we prayed for the success of
those they would establish in the new hunt
ing grounds. We then with one accord sang
'O Virgin, we place our confidence in thee.'
It was often interrupted by sobs, and but
few voices were able to finish it. I then left
them." On September 3 the Indians paid a
last visit to their dead at the little graveyard,
and held an impressive service, accompanied
by general lamentation, that was indescrib
ably pathetic, as they bade farewell forever
to the resting places of their lost ones.

Early on the morning of September 4 the
order to march was given, and the Indians
started on their long journey. The soldiers
destroyed all the huts and cabins to remove
any temptation to return. And now the
physical discomforts almost caused forget-
fulness of others. The season had been un
usually hot and dry. The dust floated in
clouds. Many of the ordinary sources of

244

X

o
•J.

•s.

o

w

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

water supply had dried up, and others were
almost unfit for use. Malarial fevers were
unusually prevalent among both whites and
Indians. On September 16 a Laporte County
correspondent wrote: "Death, disease and
drought are dealing distress around us. We
had within a few weeks past more than four
times as many deaths as in all the four years
since the first commencement of the settle
ment of this county. * * * Deep River,
through its whole length across Robinson's
Prairie is entirely dry. * * * Cedar Lake
[now a popular resort], a beautiful sheet of
water two miles in length and one in breadth,
has fallen so low that it has stagnated,
turned green, with a very offensive smell
that has affected the health of the settlers
upon its borders most seriously. Cattle be
gin to suffer for food and water in many
places."

For the sick and feeble Indians the rough
traveling in the wagons provided for their
use was almost unendurable. Even by the
time they reached Logansport their camp
was described as "a scene of desolation; on
all sides were the sick and dying." They
fared worse than the soldiers, of whom Tip-

246

THE TRAIL OF DEATH

ton says : "I was compelled to discharge one
or more every day and permit them to re
turn home on account of bad health/'

On they went through the Wabash valley,
the suffering increasing until General Tip-
ton united with the Indians in an urgent call
to Father Petit to join them. His health
was so delicate that his friends urged him
not to go, but he obtained permission from
Bishop Brute', and hurried after them, com
ing up with them at Perry ville. He says:
"On Sunday, September 16, I came in sight
of my poor Christians, marching in a line,
and guarded on both sides by soldiers who
hastened their steps. A burning sun poured
its beams upon them, and they were envel
oped in a thick cloud of dust. After them
came the baggage wagons, into which were
crowded the many sick, the women and chil
dren who were too feeble to walk * * *
Almost all the babies, exhausted by the heat,
were dead or dying. I baptized several new
ly-born happy little ones, whose first step
was from the land of exile to heaven."

And this was no exaggeration. A letter
to the Terre Haute Courier, dated Septem
ber 17, 1838, which was widely copied in the

247

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

State papers, tells of their arrival at Dan
ville, 111., and is notable for its tone of seem
ing apology for sympathy with the sufferers.
The writer says: "Their movements are im
peded much by sickness, and those various
accidents to which an emigrating party of
800, old and young, may be supposed liable.
Although there, are fifty or sixty sick in the
camp, this proportion is said to be less than
that which exists in the county around Dan
ville, and other portions of the Wabash, in
proportion to population. * * * Some
affecting scenes have taken place in the camp
since and before the Indians were got under
way. One chieftain had a mother upward
of a hundred years old, over which a con
sultation was held whether or not it would
be better to put her to death before she
started, as no hopes of her long surviving
(particularly under the fatigues of emigra
tion) could reasonably be entertained. For
tunately, humane counsels prevailed, and the
poor creature died and was buried after a
journey of four days. * * * Others have
been compelled to leave a wife after them
in one place, and a child in another, in con
sequence of sickness; and some have had to

248

THE TRAIL OF DEATH

bury, far remote from their native hunting
grounds, or from the promised land of their
adoption in the West, their nearest and dear
est kindred. These things, of course, must
excite one's sympathies, but how can they
be avoided, considering all things? They
are treated with all possible kindness by the
amiable conductor and those under him; but
yet, to see 800 poor, half-clothed, hatless,
breechless creatures in a single file, choked
with dust, and suffocated with heat, mount
ed on poor, half-starved Indian ponies, is a
sight that no man of sensibility can look
upon unmoved or with composure. The dif
ficulty of finding water, horse feed, etc., in
crossing the Grand Prairie, it is feared, may
impede very much their march, as well as
increase among them the progress of dis

ease."

At this point General Tipton and his men
turned back, except fifteen men retained as
an escort, and the Indians proceeded under
the care of Judge William Polke, the Gov
ernment agent, and Father Petit. They rest
ed for two days before starting on, and
Father Petit records: "Here we left six
graves under the shadow of the cross." Then

249

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

they marched on into the parched prairies of
Illinois, crossed the Mississippi, and on to
the Osage River, where they arrived after a
journey of two months over the trail of
death, 150 fewer, by death and desertion,
than when they started.

In his report of the removal, General Tip-
ton says of Father Petit: "It is but justice to
him to say that he has, both by example and
precept, produced a very favorable change in
the morals and industry of the Indians ; that
his untiring zeal in the cause of civilization
has been and will continue to be eventually
beneficial to these unfortunate Potawat-
omis, when they reach their new abode/'
But Father Petit was not to remain with
them. He found Father Hoeken waiting to
take charge of them, but he was so weak
ened by the journey that six weeks passed be
fore he could turn back as directed by Bish
op Brute'. One hundred and fifty miles on
horseback brought him to St. Louis, but he
could go no farther. He found kindly shelter
with the Jesuits there — his last shelter. A
month later Bishop Brute' received a letter
from the rector of the Jesuits in which he
said: "What a great loss has your diocese

250

THE TRAIL OF DEATH

sustained in Father Petit! He arrived here
on the 15th of January, reduced to a most
pitiable state by the fever; eleven running
sores on different parts of his body, his per
son covered with the tint of the jaundice, and
in the last stage of debility. God certainly
gave him strength which his body did not
possess, in order to reach St. Louis. * * *
On the night of the 10th of February they
came to tell me that he was near his end. As
I entered he raised his head, and inclined it,
saluting me with a smile upon his dying lips.
I asked him if he suffered much. He an
swered by casting an expressive glance at
the crucifix, 'You wish to say', I replied, 'that
He suffered much more for you?' 'Oh, yes/
he answered. I placed the crucifix to his
lips, and he kissed it twice, with great ten
derness. During his agony we recited the
prayers for the dying, which he followed,
his eyes constantly fixed upon us. He sweet
ly expired about midnight, age twenty-seven
years and ten months."

Father Petit's memory is cherished. In
1856 the clergy of Notre Dame brought his
remains from St. Louis and reinterred them
by those of Father De Seille. One of them

251

TRUE INDIAN STORIES

writes: "We consider these two precious
mortal remains a double source of blessing
for the ground they sanctify. It does us
good to kneel between those two revered
tombs, so eloquent in their silence. We feel
very little inclined at any time to pray for
them, but we love to recommend ourselves
to their intercession." And the Indians are
not forgotten. In 1905 Daniel McDonald,
of Plymouth, who is thoroughly conversant
with the story of their wrongs, and has
called public attention to it, introduced in
the Indiana Legislature a bill for an appro
priation to erect a monument to the Pota-
watomis at Menominee village, and rebuild
the Indian chapel. He made an eloquent
plea for this memorial to the Indians we had
mistreated, but his bill did not pass at that
session. Undaunted, he continued his effort,
and in 1907 his bill became a law. The com
mission provided for by this act is now pre
paring for its work, for which it is author
ized to receive outside donations in addition
to the $2,500 appropriated by the State, and
in due time a fitting memorial will be made
to these people, who, it must be confessed,
suffered hard treatment at the hands of our
forefathers.

252

INDEX GLOSSARY OF INDIANA IN
DIAN NAMES.

ABOITE — River and township in Allen
County. A corruption of the French name
Riviere a Boitte or Riviere a Bouette,
meaning River of Minnows — strictly
speaking, minnows used as bait for larger
fish. The Miami name of the stream is
Na-kow'-we-se-pe, or Sand Creek.

AMO — Town in Hendricks County. Often
said to be "the Indian word for honey
bee," which is ah'mo, in Odjibwa and
Potawatomi. In reality it is the Latin
"amo," "I love."

ANDERSON — County-seat of Madison Coun
ty. Named for William Anderson, head
chief of the Indiana Delawares. His In
dian name was Kok-to'-wha-nund, which
may be translated "Making a Cracking
Noise," or "Causing to Crack." The
name of the Delaware town at this point
was Wah'-pi-mins'-kink, or Chestnut
Tree Place.

253

INDEX GLOSSARY

ANOKA — Town in Cass County. Anoka is a
Sioux adverb, signifying "on both sides,"
but in this form is used only in composi
tion. As a separate word, the Sioux use
"a-nog."

APEKONIT — Miami name of Captain Wil
liam Wells, sometimes translated "Indian
potato." It is the Miami name of the "wild
bean/' or "groundnut" — apios tuberosa.
Pronounced a-pe-kon'-it.

ASHKUM — Reservation and village of a
Potawatomi chief of that name, in Miami
County. The name is variously translated
"to continue," "more and more," "more
of the same kind" — the idea being the
same in each case.

ATCIIEPONGQUAWE — A creek, tributary to
the Salominee, in Jay County, now known
as Butternut Creek, named in the treaty of
St. Mary's (Oct. 6, 1818) to locate a
reservation for the children of Langlois.
The name is compounded of at-che'-pong,
the Miami for "snapping-turtle," and
"wah-we," an egg. Probably the latter
should be plural, and the name would be
better written at-che'-pong-kwah'-wah.

AUBBEENAVBBEE — Township in Fulton

254

INDEX GLOSSARY

County, and reservation of a Potawatomi
chief of that name. The name means
Looking Backward, i. e., as a person or
animal looks back over its shoulder when
moving away from you. Pronounced
awb'-be-nawb'-be.

BLACKHAWK — Postoffice in Vigo County,
named for the celebrated Sauk chief Ma-
kah'-ta-me'-she-kiak'-kiak. The name
means Black Sparrow Hawk, but by uni
versal usage it is made Blackhawk.

BLACK LOON — Reservation in Cass County
for a Miami named Ma-kah'-ta-mon'-
gwah, i. e., Black Loon.

BUCKONGEHELAS — Commonest form of the
name of the great Delaware war-chief,
and of the town in which he lived on
White River. It occurs in many forms,
ranging from Buckengelis to Pokenchelah
and Packangahelis. It is properly pro
nounced Poch-gont'-she-he'-los, and
means "Breaker to Pieces."

CAKIMI — A Potawatomi woman for whose
children the reservation on the Wabash
River, below the Tippecanoe, now known
as the Burnett Reserve, was made by the
treaty of 1818. She was a sister of To'-
255

INDEX GLOSSARY

p'n-i-be" (Quiet Sitting Bear), who was
head chief of the Potawatomis at the be
ginning of the last century. The Potawa-
tomi pronunciation is Kaw-ke'-me, and
the meaning is "Run Away from Home."

CALUMET — Two streams of northwestern
Indiana, tributary to Lake Michigan,
Great and Little Calumet. The name is a
corruption of what was formerly written
Cal-o-mick, Killomick, Kenomick, Ken-
noumic, which represent dialect variations
of the same word, varying from Ken-
nom'-kyah in the Potawatomi to Ge-keT-e-
muk in the Delaware, and signifying a
body of deep, still water. Calumet is not
an Indian word, but of French origin.

CAYUGA — Postoffice in Vermillion County,
named for the New York lake and city.
The name is Iroquois — sometimes given
as Gwa-u-geh — and is said to mean "the
place of taking out," i. e., the beginning
of a portage.

CEDAR CREEK — Stream in Allen County,
tributary to the St. Joseph River. The
name is a literal translation of the Pota
watomi name Mes-kwah'-wah-se'-pe. The
town of the Potawatomi chief Me'-te-ah
256

INDEX GLOSSARY

(Kiss Me) was at its mouth, and took
from it its name of Mes-kwah'-wah-se'-
pe-o'-tan, or Cedar Creek Town.

CHARLEY — A Miami who had a reservation
in Wabash County, adjoining the city of
Wabash ; also a creek which empties there.
His Indian name was Ke-ton'-gah—
sometimes written Ke-tun-ga — which
means "sleepy."

CHECHAUKKOSE — Reservation and vil
lage of Potawatomi chief of that name,
on Tippecanoe River, in Marshall County.
It is sometimes written Chit-cha-kos, and
in other forms. It is the diminutive form
of Che'-chawk — the crane — and is to be
translated "The Little Crane." There was
for a time a Catholic mission at this place.

CHICAGO — East. Town in Lake County.
There has long been a controversy as to
whether this name means "Place of the
Skunk," or "Place of Wild Onions," aris
ing from the fact that the same stem en
ters into both words. The latter is cer
tainly correct, as it is given by the earliest
French chroniclers — Joutel and Lamothe
Cadillac — and the Chicago River was

257

INDEX GLOSSARY

known as "Garlick Creek" during the
French period.

CHINQUAQUA — Reservation in Cass County.
The name is a corruption of Shin-gwah'-
kwah, which the Miamis apply indiscrim
inately to evergreen trees, such as the
pine, the cedar, the tamarack, etc.

CHICHIPE OUTIPE — Given by Father Petit
as the Potawatomi name of the Catholic
mission at Twin Lakes in Marshall Coun
ty, but not translated by him. The first
word is probably She-she'-pa — their word
for "duck."

CHIPPECOKE — Common form of the name
of the Indian village at Vincennes. The
Miami name of the place was Chip-kah'-
ki-oon'-gi, or Place of Roots, but the last
two syllables are sometimes dropped.

CHIPPEWANAUNG — Place on Tippecanoe
River in Fulton County, where treaties
were made with the Potawatomis in 1836.
The Indians say this means "Chippewa
Place," but give no reason for the name.

CHIPWANIC — Tributary of the Tippecanoe,
near Manitou Lake, in Fulton County.
People of the vicinity give the name its

258

INDEX GLOSSARY

proper Potawatomi pronunciation — Chip-
wah-nuk'. The word means "Ghost hole."

CHOPINE — Two Indian reservations, one in
Whitley County and one in Allen County.
The name varies to Chappene, Shappeen.
It is a French nickname, properly Chop-
ine, meaning a pint measure, that was ap
plied to two Miamis. Old Chopine was
Ma-kwah'-kyah, or "Beaver Head."
Young Chopine was Pe-cong'-gah, or
"Striking."

COESSE — Town in Whitley County. This is
the Potawatomi nickname of a Miami
band chief. The Miamis pronounce it
K6-wa-zi, and it appears in various trea
ties as Coisa, Koessay, Kowassee, etc.
The Potawatomi pronunciation is Ku-
wa'-ze, and the word means "old," or, as
here, "old man." He was a son of Ma-
kah-ta-mon'-gwah, or Black Loon, and a
grandson of Little Turtle. His Miami
name was M'tek'-kyah, meaning "forest,"
or "woods."

CORNSTALK — Postoffice in Howard County;
also "Pete Cornstalk Creek," a small
stream in the same county. These are
memorials of an old Miami of the Thorn-

25Q

INDEX GLOSSARY

town band, who lived in this vicinity.
"Cornstalk" was merely a nickname used
by the white settlers. His proper name
was Ah-son'-zong, which means "sun
shine."

DEER CREEK — Tributary of the Wabash,
emptying below Delphi. It is called Pas-
seanong Creek in treaties, and this name
is still sometimes given to Deer Creek
Prairie, opposite its mouth. This is the
Miami name of the stream, compounded
of ah-pas'-syah, a fawn, and the terminal
locative; literally "The Place of the
Fawn."

DELAWARE — Name of Indiana county, town
and several townships, referring to the
Delaware Indians. The word Delaware is
not Indian, but refers to their former res
idence near the Delaware River, which
was named for Lord De La Warr, Gov
ernor of Virginia. They call themselves
Lenni Lenape (len'-ni len-ah'-pay) which
' may be translated "virile men," "true
men" or "men of men." The western Al-
gonquians usually called them Wah'-pi-
nacb'-i, or "Eastlanders"; and sometimes

260

INDEX GLOSSARY

E'-la-nah'-bah, or "People from the
Dawn."

DORMIN — Prairie in Laporte County. This
is a corruption of m'dah'-min, the Pota-
watomi word for maize or corn. The
name may have been given for a Pota-
watomi chief of this name, who figures
in the treaties as "Me-do-min," "Mat-
taw-min," etc. The Odjibwa form of this
word is Mondamin (spirit grain), and it
is also the name of the spirit or deity of the
maize.

DRIFTWOOD — Common name of the east
fork of White River. It is sometimes
said that the Indian name was On'-gwah-
sah'-kah, which is the Miami for "drift
wood," but I have never found a Miami
who knew it by that name. On Hough's
map it is marked "Gun-dah-quah," which
may possibly have been intended for the
Delaware gun-a-quot, meaning "long."

EAGLE CREEK — Tributary of White River,
in Marion County. Chamberlain says:
"Its Indian name was Lau-a-shinga-
paim-honnock, or Middle of the Valley, so
called from the beautiful bottoms that ex
tend along it, sometimes from two to four
261

THE DESCENT OF MONDAMIN— SPIRIT OF THE MAIZE.
(By C. T. Webber.)

INDEX GLOSSARY

miles in width." This may be correct.
Lawi is the Delaware for "middle;"
schingeu means "level;" pern, or peem,
has the force of "near" or "adjoining;"
and hanni is a "river."

EEL RIVER — Tributary of the Wabash, emp
tying at Logansport. This name, and the
French name — L'Anguille — are transla
tions of the Miami name of the stream
which is Ke-na-pe'-kwo-ma'-kwa. The
final vowel is very slightly sounded, or not
at all. The valley of this stream was the
chief residence of the Miamis known to
the Americans as "Eel Rivers," who prob
ably included what were known to the
French as Pe-pi-ko-kias and Miamis of
Maramech.

EEL RIVER — Tributary of White River, emp
tying in Greene County. Chamberlain
gives the Indian name of the Eel River
of the Wabash as Sho-a-maque, but prob
ably confuses that stream, which was not
in the Delaware country, with this one,
which was; for sho-a-maque is evidently
intended for the Delaware name of the
eel, schach-a-mak, i. e., slippery fish.

ELKHART — Tributary of the St. Joseph's of
263

INDEX GLOSSARY

Lake Michigan; also city and county
named for the river. The name was
formerly written Elk Heart, or Elksheart,
which, like the French name, "Coeur de
Cerf," is a literal translation of the Pota-
watomi name of the stream Me-sheh'-
weh-ou-deh-ik/ The same name was
given to a Potawatomi village that was
located on the stream. The name refers
to an island at its mouth, which resem
bled an elk's heart in shape.

FALL CREEK — Stream of central Indiana,
tributary to White River. The name is a
translation of the Delaware name, which
Chamberlain gives as "Soo-sooc-pa-hal-
oc, or Spilt Water." Sokpehellak, or sook-
pehelluk, is the Delaware word for a wa
terfall, and the name refers to the falls at
Pendleton. The Miami name of the
stream is Chank'-tun-oon'-gi, or "Makes a
Noise Place," which refers to the same
falls.

FLAT BELLY — A large reservation in Kos-
ciusko and Noble counties, for the band
of Pa-pa-kee'-chi, of which the English
name is a literal translation. The reser
vation extended to Wawassee, or Turkey
264

INDEX GLOSSARY

Lake on the west, but the chief's village
was east of that, at what is now known
as "Indian Village/' in Noble County.

FORT WAYNE — Called by old Miamis Ke'-
ki-oon'-gi, for explanation of which see
Kekionga.

GODFROY — Reservation on the Wabash and
Mississinewa rivers opposite Peru, to
Francois Godfrey, a French half-breed,
who was the last war-chief of the Miamis.
It is commonly stated that his Indian
name was Pah-lons'-wah, but there is no
such Miami word — it is their mode of pro
nouncing Francois. He had no Indian
name.

HUNTINGTON — County-seat of Huntington
County. The Miamis call this place We-
pe-chah'-ki-oon'-gi, or in shorter form
We-pe-chah'-ki-oong, which means "Place
of Flints." A flint ridge crosses the lime
stone here, which furnished the Indians a
valuable supply in early times.

ILE A I/AIL French name, meaning

"Island of Garlic," for a small island in
the Wabash, in Carroll County (Sec. 5,
Tp. 25 N., Range 2 W.). The name seems
to have been adopted by the Indians, and
265

INDEX GLOSSARY

was used in the treaty of St. Mary's
(1818), as "Esle a 1'Aille," to locate a res
ervation to the children of Antoine
Bondie.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Miamis called the site
of the city Chank'-tun-oon'-gi, from its
location at the mouth of Fall Creek, and
also sometimes give the same name to the
city. It means "Makes a Noise Place."

ILLINOIS — French form of the word illini-
wek, or "men," which was the name the
Illinois Indians gave to themselves.

IROQUOIS — River, tributary to the Kankakee,
and township in Newton County. Charle-
voix says the word is a Gallicism derived
from hiro, "I have spoken," a word by
which the Iroquois were wont to conclude
their speeches, and kowe, an exclamation.
The Bureau of Ethnology derives it from
an Algonquian word meaning "real ad
ders." The name refers to an ancient bat
tle said to have occurred on the stream, in
which the Illinois routed a party of Iro
quois.

JOSINA CREEK — A small stream in Wabash
and Grant Counties, tributary to the Mis-
sissinewa. The word is an erratic corrup-
266

INDEX GLOSSARY

tion of T6-san'-yah, the common Miami
abbreviation of Met'-6-san'-yah, which is
the equivalent of our word "Indian." Met-
osanyah's village was at the mouth of the
stream, which on some maps is marked
"Metocinyah Creek."

KANKAKEE — River of northern Indiana;
postoffice in Starke County; and town
ships in Laporte and Jasper counties. Fa
ther Charlevoix gives the name as Thea-
kiki, which he says the Canadians had cor
rupted to Kiakiki. This is the Potawatomi
name, which Rev. Isaac McCoy makes
"Tiau-kakeek," and which the Indians
pronounce Teh'-yok-ke'-ki. It means "low
land" or "swampy county." Father Ma-
rest wrote the name "Huakiki," which is a
corruption of the Miami "Ma-whah'-ke-
ki," meaning "wolf county." Both names
appear on old maps. Kankakee is presum
ably a further corruption of Kiakiki. The
name appeared later as "Qui-que-que,"
and "Quin-qui-qui ;" the French pronun
ciation of the latter being practically the
same as Kankakee.

KEKIONGA — Common form of the name of
the Indian village which stood at the site
267

INDEX GLOSSARY

of Ft. Wayne. It is a corruption of Ki-
ka-kon, or Kis-ka-kon, which was the or
iginal name. The Kiskakons, a tribal di
vision of the Ottawas, had a village here
before the Miamis, and the Maumee was
then known as Ottawa River. The Mi-
amis corrupted the name to Ke'-ki-oon'-gi,
which they still apply to Ft. Wayne. The
Dela wares made it Ke-gey-unk. Ki-ka-kon
means "clipped hair," and was given to
these Indians because they shaved the
sides of the head and trimmed the remain
ing scalp-lock like the mane of a Roman
horse. The French called them Queues
Coupees.

KENAPACOMAQUA — Common form of the
name of the large Miami town at the
mouth of Eel River, which was destroyed
by Gen. Wilkinson in 1791. The name is
Ke-na-pe'-kwo-ma'-kwa, but the final
vowel is sounded lightly, if at all. It
means "eel;" literally "snake-fish."

KENTUCKY — Stream in southern Indiana.
The name comes originally from the large
tributary of the Ohio from the south ; and
its meaning is uncertain, because the orig
inal form of the word is not known, nor
268

INDEX GLOSSARY

the language from which it was taken. In
Henderson's treaty with the Cherokees, on
the Watauga it is called Cantuckey Che-
nooe. But the name is also said to be
Rain-tuck. John Johnston says the word
is Shawnee, and means "head of the
river." It was also called Cuttawa River
in early times. Cuttawa is probably the
Cherokee Ki-tu'-wha — a name formerly
applied to the tribe, but later to a secret
organization pledged to maintain the
autonomy of the tribe. This was com
monly called "the Keetoowah Society" by
the whites.

KEWANNA — Postoffice in Fulton County,
and reservation for Potawatomi chief of
that name. Ke-waw'-ne is the Potawato
mi name of the prairie chicken ; and also
means "lost." The word is very similar
to the Miami Ke-wah-ni, which means
"nose."

KICKAPOO — Creek in Warren County,
named for the Indian tribe. The meaning
of the name is uncertain, but Schoolcraft
surmised that it was a corruption of Neg-
ik-a-boo, meaning "otter's ghost." The
otter was one of their totems. They were
269

INDEX GLOSSARY

closely associated with the Mascoutins,
whose name is variously interpreted "Fire
Nation" or "Prairie Nation," on account
of the similarity of the words for "fire"
and "prairie" in the Algonquian dialects.

KITHTIPPECANUNK — Popular form of the
name of The Prophet's Town, and the old
Indian town that stood at the same place.
It means "Tippecanoe Town," and is
formed by adding the terminal locative to
the name of the Tippecanoe River, which
is Ke-tap'-kwon in Miami, and Ke-tap-e-
kon in Potawatomi; and these are names
of the buffalo fish.

KILLBUCK — Creek in Madison County; also
Delaware village on White River, com
monly known as "Buck's town," and
named for Charles Killbuck, who lived
there. Killbuck has become a Delaware
family name, the original bearer of which
died about 1776. His son, who was known
both as Killbuck and Gelelemend (The
Leader), was very prominent in Revolu
tionary times. He became a Moravian
convert, and was baptised William Henry,
in honor of a friend of his father. He
died at Pittsburg in 181 1, aged 80 years.
270

INDEX GLOSSARY

KILSOKWA — The oldest Indian living in In
diana in 1908, born in 1810. She is a
daughter of Wahk-shin'-gah (The Cres
cent Moon — literally Lying Crooked), who
was a son of Little Turtle. Her mother's
name was Nah-wa'-kah-mo'-kwa, which
she translates 'The First Snow" — literal
ly it means the one that comes first in any
thing. She says her own name means
"The Setting Sun," but literally it appears
to mean only "The Sun (feminine)," or
"Sun Woman." Kil-so'-kwa married a
Frenchman, Antoine Revarre, and now
lives near Roanoke with her son Antony
Revarre, whose Indian name is Wah'-pi-
mon'-gwah, or White Loon.

KOKOMO — County seat of Howard County;
also a creek near it. Said to have been
the name of a Miami chief of the Thorn-
town band, but there is no such name
signed to any treaty unless it be "Co-come-
wah," which appears in the treaty of 1834.
It has been translated "Black Walnut,"
"Bear Chief," and "Young Grandmother,"
for none of which is there any basis. Both
Godfrey and Kilsokwa say there was a
Thorntown Indian named Ko-kah'-mah,
271

INDEX GLOSSARY

and that the name refers to him. Godfrey
says this name means "He Goes Under,"
as in diving; and that it may be translated
"Something Diving," or "The Diver."

LAGRO — Town in Wabash County. The
name is a corruption of Le Gros, the
French nickname of a Miami chief who
lived here. His Miami name was O-sah'-
mo-nee, which is presumably a Miami cor
ruption of 6n'-sah-la'-mo-nee — the Miami
name of the bloodroot, and the original
name of the Salamonie River, which
empties opposite the town. See Sala
monie.

LITTLE DEER CREEK — Stream in Miami
County. The Miami name is Ah-pas'-
syah, which is their word for a fawn.

LITTLE MUNSEE — A Delaware town on
White River, about 4 miles east of Ander
son (S. E. 1-4 of Sec. 17, Range 8 E.). It
was located on the site of the old Moravian
Mission. For meaning of name, see
"Muncie."

LITTLE RIVER — Tributary of the Wabash, to

which portage was made from the Mau-

mee, in going to the Wabash. The Miami

name of the stream is Paw-we'-kom-se-pe,

272

INDEX GLOSSARY

which means "Standing Still River," or
"No Current River." It runs through a
flat country, and its natural quiet was in
creased by beaver dams, which travelers
sometimes used as locks.

LOGANSPORT — County seat of Cass County,
named for Captain Logan, a Shawnee In
dian, who was killed in 1812 while in the
service of the United States. His Indian
name was Spemica Lawba, or High Horn.
The town stands on the site of the old
Miami town of Ke-na-pe'-kwo-ma-kwa.

MACHESAW — Reservation made for a Pota-
watomi of this name by the treaty of 1832.
The Potawatomi pronunciation is Mat'-
chis-saw, and the meaning is Bleating
Fawn.

MANHATTAN — Postoffice in Putnam County,
named from Manhattan Island, New
York. The meaning is uncertain, because
the original form of the word is unknown.
The old Dutch writers called it Manatte,
which resembles the Delaware "menatey,"
meaning an island. Heckewelder says it
is a corruption of manahachtanienk, and
means "the place where we all got drunk."
Schoolcraft derives it from manau, mean-
273

INDEX GLOSSARY

ing "bad," and atun, "a channel," with the
terminal locative; and says the reference
is to Hell Gate. Tooker makes it "island
of hills." Other translations are "small
island," "beautiful view," and "place
where wood is gathered for bows and ar
rows." The last refers to a growth of
hickory said to have been on the island.
The chances favor Heckewelder's view, as
Manhattan was not originally an island,
for the Harlem and Spuyten Duyvel
Creek were not connected at low tide.

MAJENICA — Postoffice in Huntington Coun
ty; also creek. They are named for the
Miami chief Mon-je'-ni-kyah, which
means "big body," or rather "big frame,"
for it refers to the size of the entire per
son.

MAKKAHTAHMOWAY — Common form of
name of a Potawatomi chief who had a
joint reservation with Menominee at Twin
Lakes, in Marshall County. The name is
pronounced Ma-kah'-ta-m'wah — the final
syllable varying to m'weh — and the mean
ing is "Black Wolf."

MANITOU — Lake in Fulton County. This is
the Potawatomi ma-ne'-to — the Miami
274

INDEX GLOSSARY

form being mah-nat'-o-wah — and refers to
a supernatural monster said to inhabit the
lake. Ma-ne'-to signifies merely a spirit,
and good or bad qualities are indicated by
adjectives.

MAUMEE — River of northeast Indiana, trib
utary to Lake Erie. The name is a cor
ruption of Me-ah'-me, approaching the In
dian pronunciation, and abandoning the
French spelling. It was formerly called
"the Miami of the Lake," and still earlier
as the Ottawa River, on account of the
residence of that tribe on its banks. John
Johnston gives "Cagh-a-ren-du-te, or
Standing Rock," as the Wyandot name of
the stream. This name refers to a large
rock near the foot of the rapids, known
as Roche de Bout.

MARAMECH — One of the bands or divisions
of the Miamis. It is the Peoria word for
"catfish," sometimes written maramek, or
maramak. The Miami form is me-aT-16-
mak, sometimes written malamak ; and the
Potawatomi and Odjibwa forms are man-
amak, or manumaig. The term "Miamis
of Maramech" refers to their location,
probably on a stream of that name, of

275

INDEX GLOSSARY

which there were several. The most im
portant was the Kalamazoo, of Michigan,
on which these Indians lived for some
years. They were probably the same band
as those later known as "Eel Rivers."

MAXINKUCKEE — Lake in Marshall County.
The name has been written in various
ways. The Potawatomi pronunciation is
M6g-sin'-kee-ki, and the meaning is "Big
Stone Country." There were several
terminal moraines about the lake, which
have made extensive rock bars in it.
Many of the bowlders that formerly lay on
the shores have been gathered up and used
for foundations and retaining walls. Old
fishermen claim that there is one enormous
bowlder in the south end of the lake that
comes within five or six feet of the sur
face of the water, and is an especially
good fishing place; but it is rare that any
of them can locate it.

MAZAQUA — Reservation in Cass County, to
a Miami chief whose name appears in va
rious forms but is properly pronounced
Me-ze'-kwah. It is their word for hail or
hailstones.

MEMOTWAY — Reservation for band of a

276

INDEX 'GLOSSARY

Potawatomi chief of this name, on the Tip-
pecanoe River in Fulton County. It is
pronounced Meh'-mot-way, and is the
name of the catbird. Literally it means
"complaining," or "crying out from pain,"
the reference being to the querulous note
of the bird.

MENOM i NEE — Potawatomi reservation in
Marshall County, and village in same at
Twin Lakes, where there was a Catholic
mission. Me-nom'-i-ne means "Wild Rice
People" and was applied to the tribe of
that name on account of their extensive
use of wild rice for food. The Miamis
call wild rice nay'-lo-min, or wild grain,
but the Potawatomis use me-nom-in.

MESHINGOMESHIA — Miami reservation on
the Mississinewa River in Wabash and
Grant counties, and village in Grant
County. The name is Me-shing'-gwa-
min'-ji, but it occurs in numerous forms,
and is popularly corrupted to "Shingle
Mash." Specifically it is the name of the
burr-oak tree, and is often used as a per
sonal name for both males and females.
Min-ji, in composition, means "tree." The
remainder of the word may be a survival
277

INDEX GLOSSARY

of a primitive Algonquian form, corre
sponding to the Delaware m'chingwe, and
meaning "large;" or it may be "shing-
gwah," meaning "leaves/' which is used
by the Miamis in composition, although
they use she-pah-kwah as a separate word.
The burr-oak is the largest of our oaks,
with the largest leaves, and is a fine shade
tree.

MESQUABUCK — Reservation at Tippecanoe
Lake, in Kosciusko County, and village
which stood at the site of Oswego, both
named for the Potawatomi chief to whom
they belonged, and who is popularly re
membered in the vicinity as "Squaw
Buck." The name is Mes'-kwah-buk,
which is the Potawatomi name for "cop
per," and is sometimes used for red pipe-
stone. Topash says it is also used to signi
fy the red color of the sky at sunrise or
sunset, and that it was applied to this chief
in this sense.

METEA — Postoffice in Cass County named
for the Potawatomi chief Me'-te-ah — Mc
Coy calls him Meteor. His village was on
the St. Joseph's, about nine miles above Ft.
Wayne, at the mouth of Cedar Creek, and
278

ME-TE-AH (KISS ME.)
(From Portrait formerly in National Gallery.)

INDEX GLOSSARY

was called Mus-kwah'-wah-se'-pe-o'-tan,
or Cedar Creek Town. Accounts of him
will be found in Keating's Narrative of
Major Long's Expedition in 1823; in Mc-
Kenney and Hall's Indian Tribes; and in
local histories of Allen and other counties.

METOSANYAH — Reservation and creek in
Wabash and Grant counties. The name
is commonly abbreviated to T6-san'-yah,
and has been corrupted to Josina. It is the
exact equivalent of our new-coined word
"Amerind," i. e., American Indian. Liter
ally, and no doubt originally, it means
"the Living," but after the coming of the
whites it would naturally be applied to
that portion of "the living" that were na
tive to America. It is often used as a per
sonal name for both males and females,
and is translated "Indian."

MIAMI — County, town, several townships
and streams all named for the Miami na
tion of Indians. The proper pronuncia
tion is Me-ah'-me — in the plural Me-ah'-
me-ah'-ki, or Me-ah'-me-6k — but it is
hopelessly corrupted to Mi-am'-mi. The
Miamis do not know the meaning of the
word, and it is never translated by the old

INDEX GLOSSARY

chroniclers; so it is evidently a name
given by some other tribe. The oldest
forms given by the French writers are
"Oumiamiouek," "Oumiamiak," etc. This
is most probably "Wemiamik" — the Dela
ware name of the Miamis given in the
Walum Olum. It means "all beavers," or
"all beaver children," i. e., figuratively
"all friends." The Delawares were on
very friendly terms with the Miamis from
the most ancient known times; and they
called themselves "grandfathers" of all
the Algonquian tribes. It has been urged
that "Miami" is from the Odjibwa name
of the tribe, "O-maum-eeg, or People who
live on a peninsula," but there is no record
that the Miamis ever lived on a peninsula,
and it is more probable that this is an Od
jibwa corruption of "Oumiamiouek," with
a merely accidental meaning. An ingen
ious extension of this theory was based
on the occurrence of the name "Miami" in
Florida, originally applied to Lake Okee-
chobee, and later to a river and town on
the east coast; but there is no evidence
that the Miamis ever lived in Florida, and
no probability that any Indian tribe would
281

INDEX GLOSSARY

call Florida a peninsula. The Florida
"Miami" is no doubt a corruption of "Ma-
yaimi," the name of one of the ancient
tribes of that region. The Miami nation
included the tribes known as Ouiatanons,
Piankeshaws, Twightwees, Eel Rivers,
and, at an earlier date the tribes known
as Illinois. See these names ; also "Mara-
mech." LaPotherie says of the Miamis:
"They travel but rarely by water, but are
great walkers, which has given them the
name of Metousceptinioueks or pilgrims."

MICHIGAN — Lake and city. Michigan is
probably of Odjibwa origin; compounded
of mi-shi, meaning "great," and sa-gie-
gan, meaning "lake."

MISHAWAKA — Town in St. Joseph County.
The name is a corruption of the Potawato-
mi m'sheh'-wah-kek, a contraction of
m'sheh'-wah-kee'-ki, or "country of dead
trees;" in our common phrase "a deaden
ing." There was at this point a tract
of dead timber, caused by fire or storm.

MISHIKINOQKWA — Miami name of the cele
brated Little Turtle; also his village on Eel
River, sometimes called Turtle's Town.
The pronunciation is Mi'-shi-kin-oq'-kwa
282

INDEX GLOSSARY

—the "q" representing a sound of "gh"
similar to the German "ch." The literal
meaning is "Great Turtle's Wife," but spe
cifically it is the name of the painted ter
rapin (chrysemys picta), which is the com
monest of the turtle family in this region.
It is also the most gaudily colored, which
explains the literal name, The Great Tur
tle being the chief beneficent deity of the
Algonquian tribes. As the painted terrapin
is small, not growing over six or eight
inches across, the early interpreters, who
did not know a special name for it, called
it "the little turtle," and the name has
become permanent.

MISSISSINEWA — Tributary of the Wabash,
emptying at Peru. The name is also some
times given to a Miami town at its mouth,
otherwise known as Osage town. The
Miami name is Na-mah'-chis-sin'-wi,
which as applied to the stream is trans
lated "much fall in the river." Literally
it means an ascent, or, as one mixed-blood
explained it, "a consider'ble slope up, but
not as much as a hill." It is formed from
the verb na-mah'-chis-sing, meaning "it
slants." The name was formerly written,
283

INDEX GLOSSARY

as it is still commonly pronounced in the
neighborhood, Mas-sis-sin'-e-way.
MODOC — Postoffice in Randolph County,
named for the tribe of northern California
which achieved notoriety by the massacre
of the lava beds. It is said that the name
was given to them by the hostile tribe of
the Shasteecas, and that it means

"enemies."

MOHAWK — Postoffice in Hancock County,
named for the Iroquois. The meaning is
uncertain, but is supposed to be "cannibal,"
as that interpretation was given it in 1676,
when they were mentioned as "Maugwa-
wogs, or Mohawks, i. e., man-eaters."

MONON — Postoffice and township in White
County ; also creek tributary to the Tippe-
canoe. Mo'-non is a Potawatomi word
exactly equivalent to "tote," as used in the
South. If you carry anything the act is
monon. If you accompany a person it is
monon. If you drive one's carriage, or
take him in your own, it is monon.

MOTA — Reservation and town of a Potawat
omi chief in Kosciusko County. The
name is pronounced mo'-tay, and means a
jug, or a big bottle.

INDEX GLOSSARY

MUKKONSQUA — The celebrated captive
Frances Slocum was named Muk-kons'-
kwa by the Miamis. The name means
Little Bear Woman.

MUKKOSE — Potawatomi reservation and vil
lage in Marshall County. The name has
been corrupted to Muckrose, Maukose,
Mankekose, etc., but is properly Muk'-
kose. It is a diminutive form, meaning
Little Beaver.

MUNCIE — County seat of Delaware County,
originally known as Munseetown or Mun-
ceytown. It was so called because there
was a large town of the Delawares, most
ly of the Munsee or Wolf clan, on the
north side of the river at this point. Mun
see is a corruption, developed through
Monsey, and Monthee, from Min'-si or
Min'-thiu, meaning "People of the Stony
Country," and referring to their former
mountainous home in the East. They were
commonly called Loups, or Wolves, by
the French. The Delaware name of this
town was Wah'-pi-com-e'-koke, or Wah-
pi-kah-me'-kunk, which means White
River Town. It was the easternmost of the
Delaware towns on White River — the
285

INDEX GLOSSARY

first reached by the trails from the north,
east and south, — and took this name by
pre-eminence. The town originally stood a
short distance farther up the river; and
it is said in local histories that it was then
called "Outainink," and that this means
"Old Town." This is evidently due to a
misunderstanding of the Delaware word
uten-ink, which means "site of the town,"
or "place where the town was," but has
been mistaken for the name of the town
that was there.

MUSCACKITUCK — River of southern Indi
ana, tributary to the east fork of White
River; often improperly written Muscata-
tack. Chamberlain says of it: "In In
dian Mesh-caque-tuck or Pond River,
from its many stagnant places in low
water." This is erroneous. There is no
such Indian word for "pond." There are
no "stagnant places" in the Muscackituck
even now, and it was. a large? and steadier
stream, when the Indians knew it, before
the forests were removed. The ending
"tuk" or "hit-tuk" is never applied to
stagnant water, and of itself implies water
in motion. The name is Delaware — com-
286

INDEX GLOSSARY

pounded of mosch-ach'-geu, meaning
"clear," "not turbid," and hit'-tuk, mean
ing a stream — usually a small and rapid
river. Hence, Mosch-ach'-hit-tuk — the
"ch" sounded as in German — or Clear
River.

MUSKELONGE — Lake in Kosciusko County,
four miles south of Warsaw. There has
been much discussion as to the proper
form of the word — muskellonge, mascal-
longe, maskinonge, etc. — which is due to
different dialects — the Odjibwa and cog
nate tribes having no "1," and substituting
"n" for it. Its meaning is the same in
Indian as in English — or literally "the
great pike."

NANCY TOWN — Common name of Delaware
village on White River, about 9 miles west
of Anderson (S. E. 1-4 of Sec. 5, Range
7 E. ) . It was also known as Nantico, but
properly as Nantikoke, being named for
James Nantikoke, who lived there. Nanti
koke is the name of one of the Delaware
sub-tribes, and, according to Brinton,
means "tide-water people," referring to
their ancient residence between Chesa
peake Bay and the ocean.
287

INDEX GLOSSARY

NAPPANEE — Town in Elkhart County,
named for the Canadian town, which, how
ever, is spelled with one "p." The name is
the word for "flour" in the language of
the Missisauga Indians, who, according
to their chief Paudash, are a branch of
the Shawnees, who were driven north
from the Ohio Valley by the Iroquois.
The Canadian name refers to a grist mill
built in early times at the falls of the Nap-
anee, or Apani River.

NASWAWKEE — Reservation in Marshall
County, bordering Lake Maxinkuckee.
The hill rising from Maxinkuckee land
ing is still known as Nas-waw'-kee's Hill,
the Government having built him a house
there. The common spelling varies from
Naswaka to Neeswaughgee, but the Pota-
watomi pronunciation is Nas-waw'-kee.
It means primarily "a feather;" but also
"a feathered arrow," or "one who feathers
arrows." The portrait of this chief in the
National Gallery was marked "Na-swa-
ga (The Feathered Arrow)" and that is
presumably the meaning intended in his
name.

NEAIILONGQUATI — Common form of name of

288

INDEX GLOSSARY

reservation in Allen County. It is a cor
ruption of Nay-wil'-leng-won'-gah, which
means "Four Wings." This chief was
commonly known to the whites as "Big
Legs."

NOTAWKAH — Potawatomi chief who shared
the Menominee reservation, in Marshall
County. The name means "he hears," or
"he listens."

OKAWMAUSE — Reservation to a Potwatomi
chief under the treaty of 1832. The name
is pronounced O'-ko-mouse, and means
"Little Chief."

ONTARIO — Postoffice in Lagrange County,
named for the lake. Schoolcraft says that
Ontario is a Wyandot word — originally
"on-on-tar-io" — and that it signifies
"beautiful hills, rocks, waters." He sup
poses it to be expressive of the feelings on
getting the view of the lake from Cadarac-
qui.

OSAGE — Name commonly given to the Mi
ami town at the mouth of the Mississine-
wa, on account of the residence there of an
Osage Indian. He lived among the Mi-
amis as a member of their tribe, and ap
pears in their treaties as "Osage," or

INDEX GLOSSARY

"Osage the Neutral." The Miamis called
him Wah-shah'-shie, which is their name
for the Osage tribe.

OHIO — County, named for the river. La
Salle wrote of the river in 1680, "the Iro-
quois call it Ohio, and the Ottawas Oligh-
in-cipou." Ohio is an Iroquois exclama
tion signifying "beautiful." Olighin-
cipou is apparently the same as the old
Delaware name Allegewi-sipo, which
probably means river of the Talegewi or
Talega, a tribe with whom the Delawares
were at war anciently. John Johnston
says that the Wyandots called the river
O-he-zuh, meaning "something great;"
and that the Shawnees called it Kiskepila-
sepe, or "Eagle River." Hough gives the
Delaware name as "Palawa-the-pee, or
Turkey River." On the oldest French
maps, the Ohio, at its mouth, is marked
Ouabouskiau, Ouaboustikou, or Oua-
bouskigou. These are dialect forms of
Wah-bah-shik'-ki, the Miami name of the
Wabash. The tribes of this region treated
the Wabash as the main stream, and the
Ohio as tributary to it; and the French

290

INDEX GLOSSARY

followed their nomenclature until about
1750.

OSCEOLA — Postoffice iii St. Joseph County,
named for the celebrated chief of the Sem-
inoles (Rebels or Wanderers). The name
is that of the great "medicine drink" of
the Creeks, of whom the Seminoles are an
offshoot, and of the mixed military and
religious ceremony in which it is used.
The name is more properly os'-y-o-hul'-la,
and is taken from a prolonged note, yo-
hul'-la, that is used in the ceremony. The
whites commonly call this drink "black
drink," but the Creeks call it "white
drink," from the froth on the black liquid.
It is a decoction of the leaves of the cas-
sena or yaupon (ilex vomit oria), which
the whites call Appalachian, Carolina, or
South Sea tea. A description of the cere
mony will be found in Schoolcraft's Ar
chives, Vol. 5, p. 266.

OSWEGO — Town in Kosciusko County at the
outlet of Tippecanoe Lake. The name is
Iroquois. Beauchamp says: "Os-we-go,
Osh-wa-kee, Swa-geh, are among the
forms of a well known name. It means
'flowing out,' or 'small water flowing into
291

INDEX GLOSSARY

that which is large/ The name belongs
to the river, but was applied to the lake
by the Onandagas, in which case it meant
the lake at Oswego." The Indiana town
is on the site of the Potawatomi village of
Mes'-kwah-buk."

OTSEGO — Township in Steuben County. The
name is Iroquois, taken from the New
York lake. Beauchamp says : "Ote-sa-ga
is Otsego Lake, and traditionally is sup
posed to refer to a large stone at its out
let. In the last century the name also ap
peared as Os-ten-ha, which A. Cusick
tells me is something about a stone. Coop
er, in the preface to Deerslayer, says that
the stone above mentioned still retained
the name of the Otsego Rock." Cooper's
story, the scene of which was about this
lake, was an effective agency for making
the name popular.

OTTAWA — The earliest known name applied
to the Maumee River, on account of this
tribe living on its banks. Ottawas, or its
short form Tawas, is commonly said to
mean "traders;" but Lamothe Cadillac, in
his memoir of 1695, says: "I will say only
that the word Outaouas signifies in our
293

INDEX GLOSSARY

language Nation des Nez Percez, because
they pierce the nose, where they attach a
little stone, much embellished, which falls
to the middle of the mouth, between the
two lips." He further says that the Ot
tawa s were divided into four tribes: "the
Kiskakons, that is to say Queues Cou-
pees;" "the Nation du Sable, thus called
because their ancient residence was in a
sandy country;" "the Sinago;" and "the
Nassauakueton, that is to say the Nation
of the Fork."

OUIATANON — This is the form to which the
name of the old French post on the north
side of the Wabash, just below Lafayette,
finally settled after existing in at least "57
varieties." The title of the tribe of the
Miamis, for which it was named, ranged
from Ouaouiatanonouek to Ouias in the
French, and from Wawijachtenokes to
Weas in English. The pronunciation of
the full name is Wah'-we-ah'-tun-6ng. It
\vas the common Algonquian name of the
Detroit River, and of Detroit. Schoolcraft
derives it from "wa-we-a, a round about
course; ah-tun, a channel; and ong, local
ity." Our tribe probably took its name

293

I

INDEX GLOSSARY

from the Detroit River, for, in 1687, Du-
rantage speaks of "the Shawnees and Mi-
amis, for a long time proprietors of the
said country of the Detroit River and Lake
Erie, from which they had retired for some
time for their greater utility;" i. e., to La-
Salle's colony on the Illinois. The name
is probably not of Miami origin, for in
their language wah'-we-ah appears to be
restricted to the meaning "round," while
"curved" or "crooked" are denoted by
wah-kakwh'; thus the full moon is wah-
we'-ah-sit, i. e., "the round one," and the
crescent moon is wahk-shingh'-wah, i. e.,
"lying crooked." Post Ouiatanon was lo
cated in the wrest half of the east half of-
Sec. 27, Tp. 23 N., R. 5 W. The site
is crossed by the east and west cen
ter line, part lying in the N. E.
quarter and part in the S. E. quarter. It
is immediately west of a ravine and dry
run, which separates it from Sand Ridge
Church and cemetery. Excavation on the
east side opened the mixed French, In
dian and British burial ground of the fort,
a number of relics from which are pre
served at Purdue University. The local

295

INDEX GLOSSARY

D. A. R. has unfortunately put up a me
morial tablet about a quarter of a mile
from the real site. The Indian town was
on the south side of the river, a little lower
down, on what is now called Wea Prairie.

OWASCO — Postoffice in Carroll County. The
name is Iroquois, taken from the lake in
New York, and is said to mean "floating
bridge."

PATOKA — River in southwestern Indiana,
tributary to the Wabash; also town and
island in Gibson County, and township in
Pike County, named for the river. The
river is said to have been named for a
Musquakie or Fox chief, who lived in the
vicinity more than a century ago. There is
a postoffice and township of the same name
in Marion County, 111. There is record
of a Fox chief in Illinois whom the whites
called Patoka, but the Indians say the
name is properly Pah-ta'-ko-to (Pa-ta-go-
to; Pat-a-ca-to). He was also called Tah-
na'-ko-me, and was of the Wolf clan, to
which the name Pah-ta'-ko-to refers. Mr.
W. C. Kohlenberg, superintendent of the
Sac and Fox agency, writes of the name:
"It refers to the height of the water on the
296

INDEX GLOSSARY

side of a wolf in crossing a stream. In
others words, they say it almost asks the
question, of a wolf, 'How high did the
water come upon you in wading across
the stream?' Mr. (Henry C.) Jones is
one of the best interpreters we have, but
he is unable to give any other meaning."
On this basis Patoka may be translated
"How deep?" and the great fluctuations
of the stream would make the name quite
appropriate. I think, however, the name
is a reference to some Comanche slave, as
these were quite common among the Illi
nois Indians. The French called them Pa-
doucas — a slight corruption of the com
mon Algonquian term for them. In some
old French chronicles it is Padocquia. The
Miami form of this word for Comanche is
Pah-to'-kah.

PERU — The site of this city was called by the
Miamis ik'-ke-pis-sin'-noong, or Straight
Place, because the Wabash at this point
is straight for about two miles.

PIANKESHAW — A tribe of the Miamis, whose

chief towns were on the Vermillion River.

In 1731, part of them, under the influence

of Sieur de Vincennes, went with him to

297

INDEX GLOSSARY

his new post, and established the village
known as Chip-kah'-ki, or Chip-kah'-ki-
oon'-gi. The meaning of Piankeshaw is
uncertain, but Godfroy says that the idea
it conveys to him is of something scattered
about the ears. The Miami pronunciation
is pe-ung-gish'-ah.

PIPE CREEK — Stream in Cass County, and
township named for the stream. This is
a literal translation of the Miami name of
the stream — Pwah-kah'-nah — a pipe for
tobacco.

PINJEWAH — Miami name of Jean Baptiste
Richardville, their last head chief. The
"n" of the first syllable is nasal — the pro
nunciation being Pin-je'-wah. It was or
iginally the name of the wildcat, but is now
commonly used for the domestic cat. He
was a half-breed, his father being a scion
of the noble French house of Drouet de
Richardville, and his mother Tah-kum-
wah (On the Other Side — i. e., in place),
a sister of Little Turtle.

PONCEAU PICHOU — Handed down as the

name of Wildcat Creek, a tributary of the

Wabash. It is an American corruption

of Panse au Pichou, the French name of

298

INDEX GLOSSARY

the stream, which is a literal translation of
the Miami name Pin-je'-wah-mo'-ti, or
Belly of the Wildcat. The name is often
written Ponce Passu in local histories. On
old French maps it is commonly marked
Riviere Panse, a la Panse, or de la Panse.
POTAWATOMI — One of the most numerous
of the Indiana tribes. Keating gives the
pronunciation as Po-ta-waw-to'-me, and
says it means "we are making a fire," but
Quashma gives me the pronunciation as
Po-ta'-wot-me. The name is probably
from the Odjibwa, Po-da-wand-um-eeg, or
those who keep the fire. The Potawatomis,
Odjibwas and Ottawas were very closely
related, if not originally one people, and
called themselves "The Three Fires." The
Miami name of the Potawatomis is Wah-
ho'-na-hah, but they often use the nick
name, P6-tosh'. The French nicknamed
them Pous (French for lice), but the
meaning is accidental, and the name mere
ly an abbreviation, as the French made
the first syllable of their full name "Pou."
The Potawatomis became largely inter
mixed with other tribes at an early date,
especially with the Sauks and Foxes.
299

INDEX GLOSSARY

PROPHET'S TOWN — Indian town on the north
side of the Wabash, below the mouth of
the Tippecanoe, at which Tecumtha and
The Prophet gathered their followers.
The Indian name of The Prophet has many
dialect variations, due to his association
with so many tribes. Mr. Frank A.
Thackeray, superintendent and special
agent at Shawnee, Oklahoma, writes me:
'The brother of Tecumseh (The Prophet)
is best known among the Shawnees by the
name of Tems-kwa-ta-wa. The meaning
of this word is 'one who keeps open
door/ "

RACCOON — Big Raccoon Creek is a stream
of western Indiana, tributary to the Wa
bash. On Hough's map it is marked Che-
que-ak, which is evidently intended for
the Miami nickname Che'-kwi-ah, or She'-
kwi-hah. They say this means "a poor
'coon," but can give no intelligible reason
for it. The Miami word for raccoon is
a-say'pon. Kil-so-kwa thinks that She-
kwi-hah has some relation to she'-kwa-
tah, or taking marrow out of bones. The
Indians used to crack bones, and extract
the marrow for food.
300

INDEX GLOSSARY

ROANOKE — Town in Huntingdon County.
The name is the word of the Virginia In
dians for the shell money anciently used by
them. It was sometimes written "roe-
noke;" and Capt. John Smith wrote it
"rawrenock."

ROCKPORT — County seat of Spencer County.
In Cockrum's Pioneer History of Indiana
(p. 174) is given the statement of Joel
Harden, who was carried captive from
Kentucky by a mixed party of Kickapoos
and Delawares, that the name of the site
of Rockport "was Yellow Bank — in the
Kickapoo language Weesoe Wusapinuk."
There is some confusion in this. Weesoe
Wusapinuk is Delaware instead of Kick
apoo, and "Yellow Bank" was at Owens-
boro, eight miles below Rockport. The
site of Rockport was called by the whites
"Hanging Rock," from a projecting rock
formation, now removed, that was some
times known as "Lady Washington's
Rock."

RUSSIAVILLE — Towrn in Howard County.

The name is a corruption of Richardville,

which was the French name of Pin-je-wah,

the last head chief of the Miamis, The

301

INDEX GLOSSARY

name Richardville was commonly pro
nounced, and often written, Rush'-er-ville.
The county was originally named Richard
ville, for this chief, but the name was
changed to Howard in honor of Gen.
Tilghman Howard.

ST. JOSEPHS RIVER — The principal tributary
of Lake Michigan from northern Indiana
and southern Michigan. The Potawato-
mis, in whose country it was, call it Sahg'-
wah-se'-be, which may be translated "Mys
tery River." Sahg'-wah is practically
equivalent to our term "mushroom
growth" or "spontaneous growth," i. e.,
something that springs up without any
known seed. Topash says that the name
came from a Potawatomi legend of a
strange Indian, who was found on the
bank of this stream, and no one ever
learned who he was, or whence he came.
Hence they called him Sahg'-wah, and
gave this name to the stream.

ST. JOSEPHS RIVER — The north branch of
the Maumee. Kilsokwa says that the Mi
ami name of this stream is Ko-chis'-ah-
se-pe, or Bean River.

ST. MARYS RIVER — The south branch of the

302

INDEX GLOSSARY

Maumee. John Johnson said that the
Shawnee name of this stream was Coko-
theke sepe, or Kettle River. On Hough's
map it is marked Ke-ke-ong-se-pe — evi
dently a corruption of Ki'-ka-kon-se'-pe.
See Kekionga. The Miami name is Mah-
may'-i-wah-se-pe'-way, or Sturgeon
Creek, the reference being to the fact that
the sturgeon formerly resorted to the
Maumee and its tributaries in great num
bers in the spawning season.
SALAMONIE — Tributary of the Wabash,
emptying opposite La Gro. The spelling
is diverse — ranging from Sallimany and
Solimony to Salamonia in the name of a
town in Jay County which is named for
the stream. The Miamis call the stream
O-sah'-mo-nee. Both this and the Amer
ican name are corruptions of 6n'-sah-la'-
mo-nee, the Miami name of the blood-
root (sanguinaria Canadensis). Literally
the word means "yellow paint" — from
6n'-sah-wek — yellow (inanimate), and la-
mo-nee — paint. The plant is so called be
cause the Indians made a yellow paint or
dye from it. The name is identical with
that of the Miami chief who lived opposite
303

INDEX GLOSSARY

its mouth, and whom the French called Le
Gros. He may have been named from the
stream, or the stream from him.

SHANKITUNK — Stream in Rush County,
tributary to Flat Rock. If the name is not
much corrupted it means "Woody Place,"
from the Delaware tchanigeu, meaning
"woody," and the terminal locative. Pos
sibly, however, it is corrupted from tchan-
g-hit-tuk, which would mean "Woody
Creek."

SHAWNEE — Creek, township and prairie in
Fountain County, named for the Indian
tribe, a band of which lived in that vicinity,
having a town at or near the village of
Shawnee in Tippecanoe County. They
were probably Chartier's band, which
moved to that region from the Allegheny,
in 1745. The name of the tribe, in all the
Algonquian dialects, means "Southern
ers." The Miami form is shah-wahn'-wah.

SHEPAHCANNAH — The Miami husband of
Frances Slocum, and the name of his vil
lage on the Mississinewa. She-pah'-kan-
nah is the name of the awl used by the
Miamis in sewing skins — an instrument
five or six inches long, made of metal,
304

INDEX GLOSSARY

bone, or hard wood. In his later years
She-pah'-can-nah lost his hearing, and
was thereafter commonly known as Ka-
kip'-shah, or "Deaf." For this reason his
village was commonly known to the whites
as "The Deaf Man's Village."

SIIIPSIIEWANA — Postoffice in Lagrange
County, also creek and lake, named for a
Potawatomi Indian. Topash says it is a
corruption of Shup'-she-wah'-no, and
means" Vision of a Lion." Shup'-she prob
ably meant originally a fierce beast with a
large head and mane, and is now applied
specifically to the lion. Wah'-no is the
name given to any vision seen after a
"medicine fast."

TATAPACIISIT — The head chief of the Dela-
wares, otherwise known as "The Grand
Glaize King," who was executed for
witchcraft in 1806; also the village on
White River in which he lived. The name
occurs in numerous forms, such as Tala-
poxie, Telipockshy, Teta Buxika and Ted-
pachksit. Heckewelder has it sometimes
Tetepachski, and sometimes Tatapachkse,
and Luckenbach Tetepachsit. It is iden
tical with the old Pennsylvania treaty sig-
305

INDEX GLOSSARY

nature of "Tatabaugsuy or The Twisting
Vine;" but there is nothing in the name
approaching the Delaware words for
"twisting" or "vine." Literally "tata" is
an emphatic negative, and the verb poch'-
6n means to divide by force, or pull apart.
Such a name would not be given to any
frail vine, and the one notably twisting
woody vine of the Delaware country is the
American Woodbine (lonicera grata}, of
which Tatapachske, or Tatapachsit, is
presumably the specific Delaware name.

TECUMSEH — Postoffice in Vigo County,
named for the celebrated Tecumtha. The
name means "going across," or "crossing
over." The common interpretations of
"a comet," "a shooting star," "a panther
leaping on its prey," etc., are probably
derived from illustrations of the meaning.

THORNTOWN — Town in Boone County, on
site of old Indian village at the center of
"the Thorntown Reserve" of 1818, which
was relinquished in 1828, and the Indians
removed to Eel River. The Miami name
of the Indian town and the reservation was
Kah-we-6k'-ki-oong, i. e., Place of Thorns
or Thorn town.

306

INDEX GLOSSARY

TIPPECANOE — River, tributary to the Wa-
bash; also postoffice, lake, county, and
townships named for the river. The Mi
ami name of the stream is Ke-tap'-kwon,
the name of the buffalo fish, which was
formerly abundant, and is still common
in the river and its tributary lakes. Mc
Coy gives the Potawatomi form as Ke-
tap'-e-kon. Our word "Tippecanoe" is a
corruption of Ke-tap'-e-kon-nong (i. e.,
Ketapekon town, or place), the name of
the Indian town below the mouth of the
river. "Canoe" is not a word of the North
American Indians. There was a band of
Miamis whom the French called "Tepi-
cons," and this is probably a corruption
of the name of the river.

TOPEAII — Reservation in Allen County, to
Miami chief commonly known as Francois
Lafontaine. The- Miami pronunciation is
To'-pi-ah, and Kilsokwa says it means
"Frost on the Bushes," or Leaves.

TOPEKA — Postoffice in Lagrange County,
named for the city in Kansas. The word
is commonly said to mean "potatoes," or,
as Kansas jesters allege, "small potatoes."
This is indefinite as applied to Indian
307

INDEX GLOSSARY

foods. The Kansas Historical Society
adopts Dunbar's explanation that it is the
Shawnee name of "the root of a species
of sunflower found on the lowlands of the
Kansas River." The only native plant
answering to this description is the Jeru
salem artichoke (halianthus tuberosus),
the tuberous roots of which were a com
mon food of the Indians, wherever found.

TRAIL CREEK — A tributary of Lake Mich
igan, emptying at Michigan City. This
name, and the French name, Riviere du
Chemin, are translations of the Potawato-
mi name, Me-eh'-way-se-be-way. The old
Indian trail from Niles to Chicago fol
lowed this stream.

TWIGHTWEES — Commonest form of the
name given by the English to the Miamis
living about Fort Wayne. The English
took the word from the Iroquois, and its
original form was Twich-twich, — "ch"
sounded as in German — or Twigh-twigh.
This is very like the word for "snipe"
in some of the Iroquois dialects, and
may have been adopted by them in
derision of the crane totem of the Mi-
amis, to which this band belonged. On

INDEX GLOSSARY

the other hand, Godfrey informs me that
"the other Indians, especially the South
ern Indians, called the Miamis To-wa'-to-
was," but with what meaning he does not
know. Brinton suggests that the name is
the Delaware ta-wa (naked), repeated for
emphasis; but there was no reason why
the Miamis should be called naked by any
one, and especially by the Delawares, who
were their friends. Possibly the name
arose from the fact that the Ottawas, who
were commonly called "Tawas," resided at
the same place before the Miamis, and the
Iroquois name may have been corrupted
from this.

VERMILLION — River, tributary to the Wa-
bash, and county named for the river. Col
onel Croghan says that the stream was
"so called from a fine red earth found there
by the Indians, with which they paint
themselves." On Hough's map the Indian
name is given as "Osanamon," which is an
Algonquian name of vermilion paint.
Schoolcraft says it is compounded of
"osawa — yellow," and "unimun," a plant
from which the Indians made a red dye.
This accounts for the French name of the

309

INDEX GLOSSARY

stream — "Vermilion Jaime" — or "Red-
Yellow" which exactly translates the In
dian name, and very well describes the
color. The National Board of Geographi
cal Names undertook to "reform" the spell
ing of this word by dropping one "1," but
as the spelling is established by the Indiana
law creating the county it cannot legally
be changed in this way. Our Miamis now
do not use the word "osanimun," but call
vermilion "la-mo'-nee, which is the gen
eral word for "paint," or sometimes na'-
pe-kong-la-mo'-nee, which means "red
paint."

WABASH — The principal river of Indiana,
with county, city and townships named for
it. The name is a contraction of the Mi
ami name of the stream, which is Wah-
bah-shik-ki', or as more commonly pro
nounced, wah-pah-shik'-ki — "b" and "p"
being convertible in the Miami, as in most
Algonquian languages. The name is an
inflection of the Miami adjective "white,"
which in its simplest (inanimate) form is
wah-peek'. Wah-bah-shik-ki implies that
the object to which it is applied is bright,
or pure white, inanimate, and natural,

310

TAHKINGGAHMEOONGI.
Treaty Ground at Wabash.

INDEX GLOSSARY

such as a bright white stone, or shell. In
this case the name refers to the limestone
bed of the upper part of the stream. If
the noun qualified stood for something
artificial that was pure white, such as
cloth, or paper, the adjective form would
have to be Wah-pah-kin'-gi. The some
what common theory that Wabash means
"a cloud driven by the equinoctial wind"
evidently originated from mistaking an il
lustration for a definition.
WABASH — County seat of Wabash County.
The Miami name of the location was Tah-
king-gah'-me-oon'-gi, or "Running Wa
ter Place;" the reference being to a cele
brated spring, variously known as Para
dise Spring, Hanna's Spring and Treaty
Spring. The last name was given because
the treaty of 1826 was held here. The
spring was located about one hundred
yards west of the Big Four depot, on the
north side of Market street, but when the
street was improved the old spring was
closed, and the water piped across the
street to a drinking fountain. This is now
boxed up, and the water carried on to the
Big Four round house. The accompany-

312

INDEX GLOSSARY

ing map of the treaty grounds was made
by Elijah Hackleman, who was familiar
with them while the buildings were still
standing.

WACO — Postoffice in Daviess County. The
name, imported from Texas, is that of a
sub-tribe of the Wichita Indians. It is
pronounced way'-ko, and is sometimes
writen in the Spanish form, Hueco. It is
said to be their name for a heron.

WAKARUSA — Postoffice in Elkhart County.
The name is imported from the West, be
ing the same as Wau-ka-ru-sa, a stream in
Kansas. It is commonly said to mean
"hip-deep," but I have never found any
statement of the tribal language to which
it belonged.

WALUM OLUM — The chronological record
of the Delaware Indians, obtained from
those living on White River. The name is
pronounced Wah'-lum O'-lum, and means
"painted record."

WrAPASEPAii — Reservation in Allen County.
The name is a corruption of Wah'-pah-
say'-pon, meaning White Raccoon. The
Miami word for raccoon, a-say'-pon, is
obviously from the same original as its

313

INDEX GLOSSARY

Odjibwa equivalent aisebun, which School-
craft derives from ais (a shell) and ebun
(it was), giving a legend that the raccoon
was made from a shell by the Great
Spirit.

WAWASEE — Lake and postoffice in Kos-
ciusko County, named for a Potawatomi
chief. His grandson, Thomas Topash,
who has the same Indian name, says it is
pronouncedWah-we-as'-see. It is the Pota
watomi name of the full moon, and liter
ally means "the round one." The name
originally belonged to a small lake some
five miles southwest of the present Wa-
lage; and the present Wawasee, which is
partly artificial, being made by the dam at
Syracuse which united several small lakes
formerly connected by Turkey Creek, was
known as Nine Mile Lake or Turkey Lake.
The change was made by Col. Eli Lilly,
who arranged with the railroad and postal
authorities to name the station and post-
office Wawasee. Many of the people of
the neighboring county still use the older
names.

WAWPECONG — Postoffice in Miami County.
The name is a corruption of wah'-pe-kon,

INDEX GLOSSARY

which means "white bone." The reason
for selecting the name is not known.

WEA — Creek, postoffice and prairie in Tip-
pecanoe County. The name is commonly
pronounced we'aw. The French form was
ouia. These are abbreviations of Wah-we-
ah'-tung-ong, or Oua-oui-a-ta-non. See
Ouiatanon. Godfroy says that the Wea
village, which was located on the prairie,
was called Wi'-ah-ton-oon'-gi, or Weah-
tunong Town.

WESAW — Reservation and creek in Miami
County, named for the Miami chief for
whom the reservation was made. The
word we'-saw is the Miami name of the
gall-bladder of an animal.

WHITE RIVER — The largest tributary of the
Wabash, in central Indiana. It was orig
inally in Miami territory, and their name
for it is Wah'-pi-kah-me'-ki, or "White
Waters." The Delawares at first used
the same name, varied in the Unami dia
lect to O-pee-co-me-cah, as the Unami
use "6-peek" instead of "wah-peek" for
"white;" but later they commonly called
the stream Wah-pi-ha'-ni, or "White
River." On two of the oldest French

315

INDEX GLOSSARY

maps White River is marked "Ouapika-
minou" and "Oiapigaminou." These are
evidently attempts at the Miami name, in
which the engraver has mistaken the "k"
of the final syllable for an "n."

WINAMAC — County seat of Pulaski County,
named for a Potawatomi chief, whose
name appears as Wenameac, Wenameck,
Wynemac, Winnimeg, etc. This is the
Potawatomi name of the catfish, derived
from wee'-nud, meaning "muddy," and
mak, "a fish," indicating the preference of
most species of catfish for muddy water.
Winamac is a common Potawatomi name,
and appears in the early French records
as Ouenemek. The one for whom this
town was named figured at the Fort Dear
born massacre as friendly to the whites,
and was usually so, though he was said to
have been with the hostiles at the battle of
Tippecanoe. He made several visits to
Washington, and died in the summer of
1821. There is a sketch of him in Thatch
er's Indian Biographies.

WINNEBAGO — An Indian town on Wildcat
Creek, destroyed by the troops under Gen
eral Hopkins in 1812, named for the Win-

316

INDEX GLOSSARY

nebago tribe, which was quite largely rep
resented among the followers of The
Prophet. It contained "about forty houses,
many of them from thirty to fifty feet in
length, besides many temporary huts in
the surrounding prairie." It was located
on what is now known as the Langlois
Reserve, adjoining the city of Lafayette.
In our history it is often called Village du
Puant, because the French called the Win-
nebagos "Puans," i. e., fetid. This name
implies no reflection on the Winnebagos,
who were cleanly enough, but refers to
their river — Winnipeg, or Winnipeek,—
which became offensively odorous in sum
mer from dead fish. In fact Winnipeg
may mean either "stinking water," "salt
water," or "turbid water," and there has
been a difference of opinion from the ear
liest times as to which was intended in the
tribal name, with no prospect of its ever
being definitely settled. Schoolcraft says
that the Winnebagos call themselves
Hochungara (Trout nation) or Horoji
(Fish Eaters).

WINONA — Originally the name of a post-
office on Bass Lake — otherwise known as

317

INDEX GLOSSARY

Cedar Lake — in Starke County, but now
monopolized by the Winona Assembly for
Winona Lake — formerly Eagle Lake-
near Warsaw. The name is the same as the
Wenonah of Longfellow's Hiawatha. Wi-
no'-nah is a Sioux, female, proper name,
signifying a first-born child. If the first
born is a boy, the name given is Chas'-kay,
and in that case there can be no Winona
in the family. When sex is not desired to
be indicated the Sioux word for "first
born" is to-kah'-pah, which is the numeral
"first" and is also used as a comparative,
meaning the elder or larger of two. In this
sense it is the counterpart of ha-kah'-ta,
which means the younger or smaller. The
name Winona was first introduced to the
reading public by Keating's pathetic ac
count, in his Narrative of Long's Expedi
tion, of the Sioux maiden who committed
suicide because her relatives sought to
make her wed against her will. Since then
it has been a popular name for Indian
girls with American writers.
WYALUSING — Stream in Jennings County,
tributary to the east fork of White
River. The name comes from Pennsyl-

318

INDEX GLOSSARY

vania, where it is given to a small tribu
tary of the Susquehanna. It was also the
Delaware name of the Moravian Mission
of Friedenshuetten (Tents of Peace)
which was located near the mouth of this
stream. As to the meaning, Heckewelder
says: "Wyalusing Creek. M'chwihillusink
(properly) is at the dwelling-place of the
hoary veteran. An ancient warrior hav
ing resided on that creek about one mile
above the town was the cause of this place
being so named, in remembrance of him."
WYANDOTTE — Postoffice in Crawford Coun
ty, and formerly one in Tippecanoe Coun
ty. The latter adjoins what is known as
the Richardville reservation, on which was
located "The Wyandot Town" where the
Miami treaty of 1828 was made. The
name is from the tribe. Heckewelder says
it was Ahouandate, but early chroniclers
usually wrote it Yendat, or Wendat.
Opinions differ as to the meaning, but
Horatio Hale is probably right in his view
that it means "People of One Speech."
The French called these Indians "Hur-
ons," referring to their hair, which they

319

INDEX GLOSSARY

.wore like the Ottawas in a bristling band
across the head from front to back.
YELLOW RIVER — Stream in northern Indi
ana, tributary to the Kankakee. Brinton
identifies this with the Wisawana (Yellow
River) of the Walum Olum, but Ra-
finesque thinks the Wisawana was the
Missouri. The Potawatomi name of the
Indiana stream is Way-thow'-kalr mik,
which means Yellow Waters.

Massacres of the Mountains: a His
tory of the Indian Wars of
the Far West

BY JACOB PIATT DUNN

"Of the many volumes which have been written on our
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dramatic interest." — Harper's Monthly.

Published by Harper & Brothers. Price $3.75. For salt
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Indiana: A Redemption from Slavery

(American Commonwealth Series)

BY JACOB PIATT DUNN

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We have a genuine history of the first people of that great
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Published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price $1.25. For
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