Lorain County, Ohio - Chapter 7: The Indians, 1879

Chapter 7: The Indians

The aboriginal tribes that are known to have inhabited this region, together with the entire country in Ohio lying to the south of Lake Erie, belonged to one or the other of two great families of Indians: the Algonkin, or Huron-Iroquois. The tribes which may be named as having been at one time or another dwellers upon the soil of what is known as the Western Reserve, are:

Of the Huron-Iroquois family: The Hries, followed by the Iroquois proper, or the six nations - the Mohawks, the Cayugas, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Senecas and the Tuscarawas - and the Hurons proper, or the Wyandots. Of the Algonkin family: The Delawares, the Shawnees, the Ottawas, the Miamis, the Chippewas, the Pottawattomies and the Kickapoos.

The Eries

The Zries are the only red men, who as a complete tribe have inhabited the region bordering the southern shore of the lake that bears their name. They were known to the first French explorers and discoverers of the great west, and by them were called the Felians or the Cat nation. Why they received this name is not known, except it was that through the forests in which they dwelt there prowled great numbers of the animal known as wild cats. They have given to the lake near which they dwelt the name that designated their tribe. More than this, we do not know aught of this strange people, except the interesting information which the traditions of other tribes furnish us in regard to their overthrow and complete destruction. These traditions come from their conquerors, the fierce and powerful Zroquwois, and by them we are assured that the account is accurate and trustworthy. We give herewith the narrative as taken from the lips of Black Snake and other venerable chiefs of the Senecas and Tonawandas, and published in the Buffalo Commercial of July, 1845. That paper says:

"Near the mission-house, on the reservation adjoining the city of Buffalo, can be seen a small mound, evidently artificial, that is said to contain the remains of the unfortunate Hries, slain in their last great battle. The Indians hereabouts believe that a small remnant of the Eries still exist beyond the Mississippi. The small tribe known as the Qwapaws, in that region, are also believed to be the remains of the Kaukwas, the allies of the Eves."

Destruction Of The Eries

The Hries were the most powerful and warlike of all the Indian tribes. They resided south of the great lake (Erie), at the foot of which stands the city of Buffalo, the Indian name for which was Tw-shu-way.

When the Hries heard. of the confederation which was formed between the Mohawks, who resided in the valley of that name, the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, who lived, fer the most part, wpon the shores and the outlets of the lakes bearing respectively their names (called by the French the Zroquois nation), they imagined it must be for some mischieyous purpose. Although confident of their superiority over any one of the tribes inhabiting the countries within the bounds of their knowledge, they dreaded the power of such combined forces.

In order to satisfy themselves in regard to the character, disposition, and power of those they considered their mutual enemies, the Hries resorted to the following means: They sent a friendly message to the Senecas, who were their nearest neighbors, inviting them to select one hundred of their most active, athletic young men to play a game of ball against the same number to be selected by the Fries, for a wager which should be considered worthy the occasion and the character of the great nation in whose behalf the offer was made.

The message was received and entertained in the most respectful manner. A council of the "Five Nations" was called, and the proposition fully discussed, and a messenger in due time dispatched with the decision of the council, respectfully declining the challenge. This emboldened the Aries, and the next year the offer was renewed, and, after being again considered was again formally declined. This was far from satisfying the proud lords of the great lake, and the challenge was renewed the third time.

The blood of the young Jroguois could no longer be restrained. They importuned the old men to allow them to accept the challenge. The wise counsels which had hitherto prevailed at last gave way, and the challenge was accepted.

Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm with which each tribe sent forth its chosen champions for the contest. The only difficulty seemed to be to make a selection where all seemed so worthy. After much delay one hundred of the flower of all the tribes were finally designated, and the day of their departure was fixed. An experienced chief was chosen as the leader of the party, whose orders the young men were strictly enjoined to obey. A grand council was called, and in the presence of the assembled multitude the party was charged in the most solemn manner to observe a pacific course of conduct towards their competitors and the nation whose guests they were to become, and to allow no provocation, however great, to be resented by any act of aggression on their part, but in all respects to acquit themselves worthy the representatives of a and great powerful people, anxious to cultivate peace and friendship with all their neighbors. Under these solemn injunctions the party took up its line of mareh for Tu-shu-way. When the chosen band had arrived in the vicinity of the point of their destination, a messenger was sent forward to notify the Hries of their arrival, and the next day was set apart for their grand entree.

The elegant and athletic forms; the tasteful, yet not cumbrous, dress; the dignified, noble bearing of the chief, and, more than all, the modest demeanor of the young warriors of the Jregucis party, won the admiration of all beholders. They brought no arms; each one bore a bat, used' to throw or strike a ball, tastefully ornamented, being a hickory stick about five feet long, bent over at the end, and a thong netting wove into thebow. After a day of repose and refreshment, all things were arranged for the contest. The chief of the Zroguois brought forward and deposited upon the ground a large pile of elegantly wrought belts of wampum, costly jewels, silver bands, beautifully ornamented moccasins, and other articles of great value in the eyes of the sons of the forest, as the stake or wager on the part of his people. These were carefully matched by the Fries, with articles of

The game began, and, although contested with desperation and great skill by the Fries, was won by the Jroguois, who bore off the prize in triumph. Thus ended the first day.

The Jrogusis having now accomplished the object of their visit, proposed to take their leave, but the chief of the Hries, addressing himself to their leaders, said their young men, though fairly beaten in the game of ball, would not be satisfied unless they could have a foot-race, and proposed to match ten of their number against an equal number of the Iroquois party, which was assented to, and the Jroqguots were again victorious.

The Kaukwas who resided on Eighteen-Mile creek, being present as the friends and allies of the Zries, now invited the Jroguois party to visit them before they returned home, and thither the whole party repaired. The chief of the Zries, as a last trial of the courage and prowess of his guests, proposed to select ten men, to be matched with an equal number of the Jroguois party, to wrestle, and that the victor should dispatch his adversary on the spot by braining him with a tomahawk and bearing off his scalp as a trophy. This sanguinary proposition was not at all pleasing to the Jroguots; they, however, concluded to accept the challenge; with the determination, should they be victorious, not to execute the bloody part of the proposition. The champions were accordingly chosen. ring, and threw his adversary, amid the shouts of the multitude. He stepped back and declined to exeeute his victim, who lay passive at his feet. As quick as thought the chief of the Zries seized the tomahawk,

'and, at a single blow, scattered the brains of his yanquished warrior over the ground. His body was dragged away, and another champion of the ries presented himself. He was quickly thrown by his more powerful antagonist of the Zrogwots party and as quickly dispatched by the infuriated chief. A third met the same fate.

The chief of the Jroguots party, seeing the terrible excitement which agitated the multitude, gavea signal to retreat. Every man obeyed the signal, and in an instant they were out of sight. In two hours they arrived at Tu-shu-way, gathered up the trophies of their victories, and were on their way home.

This visit of the hundred warriors of the Five Nations and its results only served to increase the jealousy of the Zries, and to convince them that they had powerful rivals to contend with. It was no part of their policy to cultivate friendship, and strengthen their own power by cultivating peace with other tribes.

but by exterminating all who might oppose them. But the combination of several powerful tribes, any of whom might be almost an equal match for them, and of whose personal prowess they had seen such an exhibition, inspired the Hries with the most anxious forebodings. To cope with them collectively they saw was impossible. Their only hope, therefore, was in being able by a vigorous and sudden movement to destroy them in detail. With this view a powerful party was immediately organized to attack the Senecas who resided at the foot of Seneca lake (the present site of Geneva), and along the banks of Seneca river. It happened that at this period there resided among the Hries a Seneca woman, who in early life had been taken prisoner, and had married a husband of the Erie tribe. He died and left her a widow without children, a stranger among strangers. -- Hearing the terrible note of preparation for a bloody onslaught upon her kindred and friends, she formed the resolution of apprising them of their danger. As soon as night set in, taking the course of the Niagara river, she traveled all night and early next morning reached the shore of Lake Ontario. She jumped in a canoe, which she found fastened to a tree, and boldly pushed into the open lake. Coasting down the lake, she arrived at the mouth of the Oswego river in the night, where a large settlement of the nation resided. She directed her steps to the house of the head chief, and disclosed the object of her journey. She was secreted by the chief, and runners were dispatched to all the tribes, summoning them immediately to meet in council, which was held in Onondaga Hollow.

When all were convened the chief arose, and, in the most solemn manner, rehearsed a vision, in which he said that a beautiful bird appeared to him and told him that a great party of the Hries was preparing to muke a secret and sudden descent upon them to destroy them, and that nothing could save them but an immediate rally of all the warriors of the Five Nations, to meet the enemy before they should be able to strike the blow. These solemn announcements were heard in breathless silence. When the chief had finished and sat down, there arose one immense yell of menacing madness. The earth shook when the mighty mass brandished high in the air their warclubs, and stamped the ground like furious beasts.

No time was lost. A body of five thousand warriors was organized, and a corps of reserve, consisting of one thousand young men who had never been in battle. The bravest chiefs of all the tribes were put in command, and spies immediately sent out in search

The advance of the party was continued several days, passing through, successively, the settlement of their friends, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas; but they had scarcely passed the last wigwam, now the fort of Ca-an-du-gua (Canandaigua) lake, when the scouts brought in intelligence of the advance of the Hries, who had already crossed the Ce-nis-se-u (Genesee)-river in great force. The Hries had not the slightest intimation of the approach of their enemies. They relied on the secrecy and celerity

The two parties met at a point about half-way between the foot of Canandaigua lake, on the Genesee river, and near the outlet of two small lakes, near the foot of one of which (ILoncoye) the battle was fought. When the two parties came in sight of each other the outlet of the lake only intervened between them.

The entire force of the five confederate tribes was not in view of the Zrics. The reserve corps of one thousand young men had not been allowed to advance in sight of the enemy. Nothing could resist the impetuosity of the Hries at the first sight of an opposing force on the other side of the stream. They rushed through it and fell upon them with tremendous fury. The undaunted courage and determined bravery of the Zroquois could not avail against such a terrible onslaught, and they were compelled to yield the ground on the bend of the stream. The whole force of the combined tribes, except the corps of the reserve, now became engaged. They fought hand to hand and foot to foot. The battle raged horribly. No quarter was asked or given on either side.

As the fight thickened and became more desperate, the Hries, for the first time, became sensible of their true situation. What they had long anticipated had become a fearful reality. Their enemies had combined for their destruction, and they now found themselves engaged, suddenly and unexpectedly, in a struggle not only involving the glory, but perhaps the very existence of their nation. 'They were proud, and had hitherto been victorious over all their enemies. Their superiority was felt and acknowledged by all the tribes. They knew how to conquer, but not to yield. All these. considerations flashed upon the minds of the bold Hries, and nerved every arm with almost superhuman power. On the other hand, the united forces of the weaker tribes, now made strong by union, fired with a spirit of emulation, excited to the highest pitch among the warriors of the different tribes, brought for the first time to act in concert, inspired with zeal and confidence by the counsels of the wisest chiefs, and led by the most experienced warriors of all the tribes, the Jroquois were invincible.

Though staggered by the first desperate rush of their opponents they rallied at once, and stood their ground. And now the din of battle rises higher; the war-club, the tomahawk, the scalping-knife, wielded by herculean hands, do terrible deeds of death. During the hottest of the battle, which was fierce ,and long, the corps of reserve, consisting of a thousand young men, were, by a skillful movement under their experienced chief, placed in the rear of the Aries, on the opposite side of the stream in ambush.

The Hries had been driven seven times across the stream, and had as often regained their ground; but the eighth time, at a given signal from their chief, the corps of young warriors in ambush rushed upon the almost exhausted Hries with a tremendous yell, and at once decided the fortunes of 'the day. Hun- dreds, disdaining to fly, were struck down by the warclubs of the vigorous young warriors, whose thirst for the blood of the enemy knew no bounds. A few of the vanquished ries escaped to carry the news of the terrible overthrow to their wives and children and old men that remained at home. But the victors did not allow them a moment's repose, but pursued them in their flight, killing all who fell into their hands.

The pursuit was continued for many weeks, and it was five months before the victorious party of the Five Nations returned to their friends to join in celebrating the victory over their last and most powerful enemy - the Zries.

Tradition adds that many years after a powerful war-party of the descendants of the Hries came from beyond the Mississippi, ascended the Ohio, crossed the country, and attacked the Senecas, who had settled in the seat of their fathers at Tu-shu-way. A great battle was fought near the site of the Indian mission-house in which the Zvies were again defeated, and slain toa man. Their bones lie bleaching in the sun to the present day, - a monument at once of the indomitable courage of the terrible ries and of their brave conquerors, the Senecas.

The Iroquois

After their conquest, the "ive Nations became the undisputed owners, if not the actual occupants, of the soil bordering the southern shore of Lake Erie. They carried their incursions into the far west, and became sovereigns of an almost boundless territory. For many years succceding the subjugation of the Hries this region was known as the hunting-ground of the powerful Zroguois. The Senecas which were the westernmost tribe of the Vive Nations were oftener the occupants of the territory than any other tribe. The rivalry between the French and English for title to American soil involved the Indians in innumerable wars, resulting in great decimation of their numbers. This struggle for rivalry ceased in 1763 with the treaty of Paris, when England came into the possession of France's title to the great west. From this time to the close of the Revolutionary struggle the Jroquois retained possession of the forests of Northern Ohio. In 1780 the number of the Zroguois

The Hurons, Or Wyandots

The peninsula enclosed between lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario, had been the dwelling-place of the original Hurons. After their defeat by the Five Nations they became widely scattered, some descending the St. Lawrence, where, in the region of Quebec, their descendants are yet to be seen; a part were adopted into the tribes of their conquerors; others fled beyond Lake Superior and hid themselves in the wilderness that divided the Chippewas from their western foes, while scattered bands took refuge in the forests of Northern Ohio. They were probably more familiarly known to the pioneers of this region than any other tribe of Indians,

Remnants Of Algonkin Tribes

The Algonkins, two hundred years ago, were by far the most numerous family of American Indians, and their domain reaching from the Atlantic to the Mississippi river was the greatest in extent. The historian, Bancroft, fixes their number two centuries ago at ninety thousand, while the Zroquois family are thought not to have exceeded seventeen thousand. A hundred years ago a number of their tribes were quite numerously represented on the soil of what is now Northern Ohio. The greatest number of these red men belonged to the Delaware, the Chippewa, and the Ottawa tribes, although remnants of the Shawnees, the Pottawatomies, the Miamis, and the Kickapoos were likewise present. In the wars between the Indians and the pioneer settlers of Ohio, preceding the treaties of Fort McIntosh (1785), of Fort Harmar (1789), of Fort Greenville (1795), and of Fort Industry, (1805), the red men were completely subdued, and thereafter this region, instead of being the permanent dwelling-place of one or more tribes of Indians, came to be temporarily the common hunting-ground of many tribes. Seeking permanent homes in the remoter west, they returned here during the hunting seasons to renew the sports of the chase and roam through the pleasant forests where lay buried the dead of their forefathers. Such was the condition, for the most part, of the red men of this locality when first came hither the white settler.

Abstract Of Treaties Conveying Lands

oe WHERE MADE, AND BY WHOM. SUMMARY OF THE GRANTS. WTB is erets Utrecht. England, France and other European powers. France cedes to England Bay of Fludson and its borders, Newfoundland and Nova we Albany, New York. Iroquois and the English. oe . All the claims of the Six Nations to lands west of Lake Erie, including a strip sixty miles wide along the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie from Oswego river 1744.....:. Lancaster, Pa. Same parties as above. to the Cuyahoga. All the lands of the Jroquois that are or hereafter may be within the colony of 20GR 2.5.8 At Logstown, on the Ohio. Same parties as above Virginia. and western Indians. Confirm the treaty of Lancaster, and consent to settlements south of the Ohio OT Paris. England and Portugal on the one side, and Lite

| France cedes to England islands in the West Indies; the Floridas; the eastern half of the valley of the Mississippi; all Canada; Acadia; and Cape Breton and its independent islands.

TBS e is n2 Paris. England and the United States. England cedes to the United States the territory in North America lying south of the chain of lakes and east of the Mississippi.

United States. Blt BerOre Fort McIntosh, at the mouth of Big Beaver. The | The Indians cede all their claims east and south of the Cuyahoga, and the portage United States and the Chippewas, Delawares, between it and the Tuscarawas to Fort Laurens (Bolivar); thence to Laramie's Ottawas, and Wyandots. Fort (northwest part of Shelby county); thence along the Portage path to the St. Mary's river, and down it to the Omee or Maumee river and the lake shore to the Cuyahoga.

The United States and the Shawnees. allotted a tract on the heads of the two Miamis and the Wabash, west of the Chippewas, Delawares, and Wyandots.

tribes, - Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Otta- Recovery and the mouth of the Kentucky river. was, Chippewas, Pottawattomies, Miamis, Kickapoos, Piankashaws, and Kaskaskias. 1796. .| At Buffalo. The Senecas and the Connecticut Land | The Senecas, represented by Brant, cede the Connecticut Land Company their Company. rights east of the Cuyahoga. 1805....... At Fort Industry, on the Maumee. The United | The Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Shawnees, Munsees, and Potta- States and Western Tribes. wattomies relinquish all lands west of the Cuyahoga as far west as the west line of the Western Reserve, and south of the line from Fort Laurens to Laramie's fort. 1807.......| At Detroit. The United States and Western | The Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandots and Pottawattomies cede all that part of Ohio Tribes. north of the Maumee river, with part of Michigan.

a ko 2 ea Brownstown, Michigan. The same parties and the Shawnees grant a tract two miles wide, from the west line of the Reserve to the rapids of the Maumee, for the purpose of a road through the Black swamp.

Ce Springwells, near Detroit. The Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawattomies, Wyandots, Delawares, Senecas, Shawnees, and Miamis, wl.o had engaged on the British side in the War of 1812, confirm the treaties of Fort McIntosh and Greenville.

WM. At the rapids of the Maumee. The Wyandots cede their lands west of the line of 1805, as far as Laramie's and the St. Mary's river and north of the Maumee. The Pottawattomies, Chippewas, and Ottawas cede territory west of the Detroit line of 1807 and north of the Maumeee.