Richland County, Ohio - Indian Tribes in the County, 1880

Wyanvots on Hurons - Orrawas - DELAWARES - SH A WANEES - GREENTOWN - J EROMEVILLE - CA PT. PIPE - THOMAS Azmstronc - OrHer Curers - Joun M. ArMsTRONG, HIS EpucaTion, MARRIAGE, WorK anp DEATH - InpIAN ViLtLAges - Manners, Customs, Fooop - Huntingc - MArrIaAGE CEREMONIES - RELIGION - FEASTS AT

''T have given you lands to hunt in, I have given you streams to fish in, I have given you bear and bison, I have given you roe and reindeer, I have given you brant and beaver, Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl, Filled the river full of fishes.'' - Longfellow.

four principal tribes, the Wyandots or Hurons, the Ottawas, the Delawares and the Shawanees. nations' diverged in three directions from a point a few miles north of the site of Mansfield, east, west and south. All the northern part of the county was the country

Shawanees. In 1764, these nations were estimated by Mr. Hutchins, the United States geographer, to possess 1,600 warriors, divided among them as follows: Delawares. 600); Shawanees, 500; Wyandots, 300; Ottawas, 200.

The Delawares, the strongest nation, who had a representation in Richland County, according to their own traditions - all the authority possessed of Indian history - originally came from the West, crossing the Mississippi, gradually ascending the Ohio, fighting their way, and continuing on east until they reached the Delaware River, where the city of Philadelphia now stands, in which region of country they for a time obtained a fixed habitation. . As time passed, they became very numerous and very powerful, and, while here, they welcomed to the shores of the New World that good man, William Penn, and his peaceful followers. for whom ever after they entertained Col. John

West, relates that, generations after the founding of Philadelphia, the Delaware Indians in speaking of a good man. would say * Wa, she, a K, le, ne" - such a man is a Quaker, i.e., all good It seems that a portion of the tribe remained on the Delaware until 1823, when Col. Johnston removed them to the West. By their removal to the West, they called themselves * Wa, be. nugh, ka:" that. is, "the people from the Kast." or "the sun-rising."' says. "were the most wretched, squalid and debased of their and often furnished chiefs with a subject of reproach against the whites, pointing to these of their people and saying, 'See how you have spoiled them, meanrace, white people. and were ignorant of hunting, and incapable of making a livelihood as other Indians." In 1819. Col. Johnston enumerates eighty Delawares residing in his agency in Ohio, who were stationed near Upper Sandusky, and 2,300 in Indiana. The Colonel mentions

Bockinghelas and Capt. Pipe, principal chiefs of the Delaware tribe, and Killbuck, who had received a liberal education at Princeton College, and who retained the principles of Christianity until his death.

Strong as the Delawares may have been in their halcyon days, disease and the vices of the whites rapidly diminished their numbers, until, when the Greenville treaty was made, only 381 were enumerated. They were represented at the second Greenville treaty, in 1814, and in September, 1817, at a treaty held at the foot of the Maumee Rapids with Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, Commissioners on the part of the United States, a reservation of three miles square was granted to them near the Wyandot reservation, near the northern boundary of Marion County. This reservation was equally divided among sixteen principal Indians, among whom were Capt. Pipe, Zeshanau,* or James Armstrong, and others who had lived in Greentown, in this county, and whose history will be noticed hereafter. By the treaty concluded at Little Sandusky August 3, 1829, the Delawares ceded their reservation to the United States for $3,000, and removed west of the Mississippi.

The most noted Indian town in old Richland County was in the part assigned to the Delawares. This was Greentown, situated on Section 18, in Green Township. ~ Greentown was started about 1783," says Dr. Hill, "on the Black Fork of Mohican by an American Tory from the blood-stained valley of Wyoming. After that sanguinary slaughter, Thomas Green, who had aided the fierce Mohawks to murder his countrymen, fled to the wilds of Ohio with Jelloway, Armstrong. Billy Montour,Tom Lyons and others. The village received thename of the white fiend, and was called Greentown." strong, while that portion of the tribe living about Upper Sandusky were led by Capt. Pipe. For a while they were able to repel, the whites, but, in 1794, Gen. Wayne met them at the * Fallen Timbers," and so signally routed them that their power was forever broken. Ever after the name of Wayne was a terror to them. After the treaty of 1795, part of -the tribe returned to Greentown and part to Jeromeville,* established at that time. . The Indians remained at Greentown at peace with the whites until the war of 1812. During this interval their village grew to a population of more than a hundred souls, and became one of the best known in Northern Ohio. It was one of the chief towns among the aborigines, and in it were held many of their feasts, an account of two being given in succeeding pages. They cultivated fields of corn adjacent to the village, built good eabins, and entertained, as best they could, any white person applying for their hospitality.t

Capt. Pipe, who was one of their ruling spirits, and long time a chief, was, after the peace of 1795, a fervent friend of the whites. He had been an inveterate foe, and was the principal actor in the cruel exécution of Col. Crawford, in retaliation for the wanton murder.of their Moravian brothers. This was in strict accord with the ideas of Indian justice, and, had Col. Williamson, the commander of the militia who

* Jeromeville, another important Indian town in this part of the State, though not in "old Richland," well deserves a description. It was founded by John Baptiste Jerome, a Canadian Frenchman, who came about 1784 to the Huron River, where he married an Indian girl, a sister of the noted Indian, George Hamilton. After marriage, Jerome removed to upper Sandusky, where he remained until the outbreak of hostilities in 1790, when, with Capt. Pipe, of the Delawares, he engaged in battle against the Americans, only to be defeated by Gen. Wayne. After the treaty of Greenville, Jerome, Capt. Pipe, avd a number of Delaware Indians, came to the site of Mohican Jobnstown, on the south side of the stream, about threequarters of a mile from the present Jeromeville, where they established a town. This was about 1802 or 1803. Jerome crossed the stream and built a cabin a little northeast of a mill site long afterward used for such. He was here when Joseph Larwill surveyed the country, in 1806 and 1807. He wasstill here when the first settlers came, and had considerable land cleared in the creek bottoms. He resided in this cabin with his Indian wife and daughter until the Indians were removed by orders of Capt. Murray, an account of which is given in this volume, The removal caused their death. He was never the same man again. He married a German woman,

+ Another old Indian town in this vicinity was Helltown. Its location was not far from the present village of Newville. It is fully described in the history of Worthington Township.

so cruelly slew the inoffensive Moravians, been captured, Col. Crawford would have been spared. Capt. Pipe seemed to accept the results of war, and, knowing that the power of the Indians was gone, lived peaceably until his death. He wasone of the Indian chiefs who signed the treaty of peace at Greenville, July 22, 1814, between the United States and his and other tribes. By this act he fully identified himself with the American When he came to Mohican John's town, or Mohican Johnstown, as it is variously written, he built his cabin about one mile northwest of the old Mingo town, south of the stream, and on what is now the Haysville road. There he lived several years. Dr. William Bushnell says he has often been in his cabin, and par- He describes Capt. Pipe as humane, fine looking, dignified, courteous, & magnificent specimen of physical manhood, fully six feet high, and exceptionally well proportioned. He thinks the cabin was about twelve feet square, and was well made for an Indian's work.

The Armstrong family of Indians, members of the Delaware nation, became better known among the whites than any other family. Dr. Hill mentions Thomas Armstrong as the chief of the Delawares at Greentown, and their leader against the Americans in the Indian wars between 1790 and 1795. He was associated with Capt. Pipe, leader of the Delawares, upon the Sandusky and the Huron Rivers. Both were defeated by Gen. Wayne, whose power they ever after feared. After the treaty of peace ateGreenville, Capt. Pipe, with Jerome and others, came to this part of Ohio, and established Jeromeville. Dr. Hill does not mention the fact of Thomas Armstrong returning, but in after years, other authorities record the fact of there being other Indians by that name. These may have been his sons. The treaty of peace made by Lewis Cass and Dunean Me- Arthur in September, 1817, which gave a rescause.* ervation to the Delawares adjoining that of the Wyandots, specifies the following 'persons: | among whom it should be divided: "Capt. Pipe, son of old Capt. Pipe; Zeshanau, or James Armstrong; Mahanto, or John Armstrong; Sanoudoyeasquaw, or Silas Armstrong ; Teorow, or Black Raccoon ; Hawdorouwatistie, or Billy Montour ; Buckwheat, William Dondee, Thomas' Lyons, Johnnycake, Capt. Wolfe, Isaac and John Hill, Tishatahoones, or Widow Armstrong, Ayenucere, Hoomawon, or John Ming, and Yondorast."* Many of these had lived at Greentown, others at Jeromeville. The Armstrong family seems to have been well represented at this time. No mention is made of the old chief Thomas Armstrong. He may have lost his life in the Indian war, and these mentioned may have been his sons and his widow.

Dr. Bushnell and other old citizens knew John M. Armstrong quite intimately. He was well educated, receiving his education at Norwalk. He returned to Mansfield when his course'. was completed, and studied law with Hon. Thomas Bartley, afterward Governor of Ohio. He also studied with 'Judge Stewart, when his law office was on the southeast corner of the square where the court house now stands. While studying in Mansfield he recited a few branches of learning to Rey. Russell Bigelow, and thereby became acquainted with the minister's daughter, Lucy, a most excellent girl, whom he afterward married, to the great astonishment of her friends. "He is such a fine man, so dignified and so manly," said she in response to the inquiry of a friend: "I cannot help but respect and love him, and I think I will marry him." He proved an exemplary and model husband, and, when his studies were completed, he went to Upper Sandusky, where he became the chief of his tribe. He regulated their affairs, did much to elevate them, and while there was associated with "Chub," "Monque," "Blue

Eyes," " Between-the-logs." and other noted Christian Indians. They were Methodists, and supported a church established by Rev. James B. Finley, about 1820. The first person to preach to them was John Stewart, a mulatto, a member of the Methodist Church, who came to the Wyandots of his own accord in 1816, and gained much influence over them. His efforts on their behalf paved the way for the establishment of a permanent mission by the church, the first of this denomination among the Indians in the Mississippi Valley.

The mission church building was built of blue limestone, in 1824, from government funds, Rev. Mr. Finley having permission from the Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, to apply $1,333 for this purpose. The church still remains, and around it the graves of many of the Indian converts, who became most excellent citizens, many of whom were very loath to go farther West when their final remove was made in 1842.

. such subjects, says: "We can trace their history to the time of their residence on the tidewaters of Florida, and, as well as the Delawares, they aver that they originally came from west of the Mississippi. Blackboof, who died at Wapaghkonnetta, at the advanced age of 105 years, and who, in his day, was a very influential chief among the Indians, told me that he remembered, when a boy, bathing in the salt waters of Florida; also that his people firmly believed white or civilized people had been in the country before them, having found in many instances the marks of iron tools, axes upon trees and stumps, over which the sand had blown. Shawanoese means "the South," or "people from the South."* After the peace of 1763, the Miamis removed from the Big Miami River and a body of Shawanees established themselves at Lower and Upper Piqua, which became their principal headquarters in Ohio. They remained here until driven off by the Kentuckians, when they crossed over to the St. Mary's and to Wapaghkonnetta. The Upper Piqua is said to have contained at one period over four thousand Shawanees. They were very warlike and brave, and often were quite formidable enemies.

In the French war, which ended in 1763, a bloody battle was fought near the site of Col. Johnston's residence, at Upper Piqua. At that time the Miamis had their towns there, which on

English, with English traders, attacked the French and Indians. The latter had built a fort in which to protect and defend themselves, and were able to withstand the siege, which lasted more than a week. Not long after this contest, the Miamis left the country, retiring to the

The part assigned to this nation by Col. Whittlesey, extended to the line before mentioned, i. e., to the center of the county east and west, and north as far as the southern line of the Hurons, a short distance north of the site of Mansfield. The only village of the tribe

Crawford County, at a place known as Knisely's Spring, now Annapolis. The water of the spring is highly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, tarnishes silver, and deposits a sulphurous precipitate a short distance from the Dr. William Bushnell says the spring was a favorite resort of the Indians after he came to the county. He says also that the locality was a very sickly one, and that. in his capacity of a physician, he often visited the Indians who lived there. He has often placed silver in the water to note the tarnish which is quickly imparted to it. The water is a gentle cathartic. and, since the advent of the whites, the place has been improved, and accommodations made for visitors and those desirous of benefits from the spring water. The Indians, doubtless, annually came here during their occupancy of the country. They were well acquainted with all such localities, and often placed great confidence in the waters. whose effects they could perceive, but which they could not explain.

A small village. hardly worth the name. also existed in Troy Township, a history of which is given in connection with that of the township. There were several such * camps" in all parts of Richland County. They were really hunting-places, and were not considered as_ villages. The county was rather a good huntingplace, and as such, especially along its streams, dians from all the nations dwelling in this part | of Ohio. In the histories of the townships these various camps are more fully noticed. The northern portion of Richland County belonged in ancient times to the Kries. who were exterminated by the Five Nations in some of | their wars. The Wyandots, who, at the time | the French missionaries came to America, were | dwelling in the peninsula of Michigan, were allowed by the Five Nations to occupy the land | of the Eries. and thus came to dwell in this | county. The Ottawas, another conquered tribe. | and one allowed existence only by paying a | kind of tribute to their conquerors. the Ivo- | quois, were also part occupants of this same | part of: Ohio. This nation produced the re- | nowned chief Pontiac, who was the cause of 4 such widespread desolation in the West, an account of which is given in the history of the The Ottawas were often known as " Canada Indians" among the early settlers. Their' principal settlements were on the Maumee, along the lake shore, om » the Huron and Black Rivers, and on the streams flowing into them. The nation were~distinguished for cunning and artifice, and were devoid of the attributes of true warriors. They were often employed as emissaries, their known diplomacy and artifice being' well adapted to such business. The Wyandots, on the other hand, were a bold, warlike people. Gen. Harrison says of them: "They were true. warriors, and neither fatigue, famine, loss, nor any of the ills of war could daunt their courage. They were our most formidable and stubborn enemies among the .aborigines in the war of | 1812." They, like all tribes in the West, were | often influenced by British rum and British gold, and found in the end, as their chiefs .so aptly expressed it, that they were "only tools in the hands of a superior power, who cared nothing for them, only to further their own selfish ends."

Many of the Indians of all these tribes were friendly to all whites until the breaking-out. of the war with Great Britain, when they left the destroy the whites who occupied their country. They considered them then their enemies, and acted accordingly on all occasions, save where personal friendship, so strong in the Indian, developed itself. and, in many instances, saved Instances of this kind are frequently given, which appear in the narrative as they occurred.

| daily life of these sons of the forest, form interesting chapters in aboriginal history. It will be well to notice such in these pages, as far as space permits. The character of the Indians was largely the result of their lives. They judged and lived by what the senses dictated.

such from the whites. Hence their language was very symbolical. They could see the sun in his brightness, they could. feel his heat, hence they compared the actions of a good man to the glory of the sun, and his fervent energy to the heat of that body. The moon in her brightness, the wind in its fury, the clouds in their majesty, or in their slow, graceful motion through a lazy atmosphere; the grace and flight of the deer; the strength and fury of the bear; the rush or ripple of water as it coursed along the bed of a river, all gave them words whose expressiveness are a wonder and marvel to this day. They looked on the beautiful river that borders the southern shores of our State and exclaimed '"O-he-zo!" beautiful; on the placid waters of the stream bordering the western line of Indiana and ejaculated, "Wa-ba'" - a summer cloud moving swiftly ; on the river flowing into Lake Erie and said, "Cuy-o-ga" (Cuyahoga), crooked; and so on through their entire vocabulary, each name expressive of a meaning. full and admirably adapted to the object. At one time in the history of the Indians in the South. one tribe was driven from the homes of its ancestors, and in their flight they came to the green banks of a beautiful river. The spot was charmingly beautiful, and the chief, thrusting his spear into the earth, cried in a loud voice, ''Al-a-ba-ma"' - here we rest. A river and State now perpetuate the name and story.

The Indians in Northern Ohio, the tribes already mentioned, had learned a few things from their intercourse with the whites on the borders of Western Pennsylvania, when they were first seen by the pioneers of Richland County. Their cabins or wigwams were of two kinds, circular and parallelogram. The former, the true wigwam, was in use among the Ottawas when the whites came to their country. It was made of a number of straight poles driven firmly into the ground, their upper ends being drawn closely together; this formed a kind of skeleton tent. The squaws plaited mats of thongs, bark or grass, in such a manner as to render them impervious to water. These were spread on the poles, beginning at the bottom and extending upward. A small hole was left for the egress of smoke from the fire kindled in the center of the wigwam. Around this fire. mats or skins were spread, on which the Indians slept at night, and on which they sat during the day. For a door, they lifted one end of the mat, and crept in, letting it fall down behind them. These tents were warm and dry, and generally quite free from smoke. Their fuel was nearly always split by the squaws in the fall of the year, and kept dry by placing it under an inverted birch-bark canoe. These wigwams were easily moved about from place to place, the labor of their destruction and construction being always performed by the squaws - these beasts of burden among all savage nations. The wigwam was very light and easily carried about. It resembled the tents of to-day in shape, and was often superior in points of comfort and protection.

The cabins were more substantial affairs, and were built of poles about the thickness of a small-sized telegraph pole and were of various sizes, commonly, however, about twelve by fifteen feet in size. These poles were laid one on the other similar to the logs in a cabin, save that, until the Indians learned to notch the point of contact near the end, from the whites, they were held by two stakes being driven in the angles formed in the corners, and fastened at the top by a hickory or bark withe or by a thong of buckskin. The pen was raised to the height of from four to six feet, when an arched roof was made over it by driving at each end ~ a strong post, with a fork at the upper end, which stood a convenient height above the topmost log or pole. A stout pole was laid on the forks, and on this was laid a small pole reaching down to the wall. On these rafters small lath were tied, and over the whole pieces of linn bark were laid down. These were cut from the tree. often of great length and from six to twelve inches in width. They were then cut into proper lengths to cover the cabin. At the ends of the cabin split timbers were set up. so that the entire cabin was inclosed except a small aperture at one end, which was left for | This was covered by a deer's or bear's skin. At the top of the cabin an opening was left for the smoke to escape. for all Indians built their fires on the ground in the center of the cabin or wigwam, around which they spread |

In regard to food. the Indians were more eareful to provide for their future needs than their successors of the West are to-day. In the spring they made maple sugar by boiling the sap in large brass or iron kettles which they had obtained from the French and English traders. To secure the water they used vessels made of elm bark in a very ingenious manner. ~They would strip the bark." says Dr. George | W. Hill. of Ashland. ~ in the winter season. when it would strip or run. by cutting down the tree. and. with a crooked stick. sharp and broad at one end, peel the bark in wide strips. from which they would construct vessels holding two or three gallons each. They would often make over a hundred of these. They cut a sloping notch in the side of a sugar-tree, stuck a toma- | hawk into the wood at the end of the notch. | and, in the dent thus made. drove a long chip or spile, which conveyed the water to the bark vessels. They generally selected the larger trees for tapping. as they considered the sap from such stronger and productive of more sugar. | Their vessels for carrying the sap would hold from three to five gallons each, and sometimes. | where a large camp was located and a number of squaws at work, using a half-dozen kettles, great quantities of sugar would-be made. When the sugar-water would collect faster than.they could boil it, they would make three or four large troughs. holding more than a hundred gallons each, in which they kept the sap until ready to boil. When the sugar was made, it was generally mixed with bear's oil or fat, forming a sweet mixture into which they dipped their roasted venison. As cleanliness was not a reigning virtue among the Indians, the cultivated taste of a civilized person would not always fancy the mixture, unless driven to it by hunger. The compound, when made, was generally kept in large bags made of coon-skins, or vessels made of bark. The former were made by stripping the skin over the body toward the head, tying the holes made by the legs with buckskin cords, and sewing securely the holes of the eyes, ears and mouth. The hair was all removed, and then the bag blown full of air, from a hole in the upper end, and allowed to dry. Bags made in this way, Dr. Bushnell says, would hold whisky, and were often used for such purposes. When they became saturated they were blown full of air again, the hole plugged, and they were left to dry. Some times the. head was cut off without stripping the skin from it, and the skin of the neck gathered in folds like a purse. below which a string was tied and fastened with a pin. .Skin vessels were very common to the natives of America. All Oriental countries possess them, and there the traveler of to-day finds them the rule. They are as old almost as time.

The Indians inhabiting this part of Ohio were rather domestic in their tastes. and cultivated corn, potatoes and melons. Corn was their principal crop, and was raised entirely by the squaws.. When the season for planting drew near, the women cleared a spot of rich they followed lines to a certain extent, thus forming rows each way across the field. When the corn began to grow, they cultivated it with wonderful industry until it had matured sufficiently for use. Their corn fields were nearly always in the vicinity of the villages, and sometimes were many acres in extent, and in favorable seasons yielded plentifwlly. The squaws had entire charge of the work. It was considered beneath the dignity of a brave to do any kind of manual labor, and, when any one of them, or of any of the white men whom they had adopted, did any work, they were severely reprimanded for acting like a squaw. The Indian women raised the corn, dried it, pounded it into meal in a rude stone mortar, or made it into hominy. Corn in one form and another furnished the chief staple of the Indian's food. They had various legends concerning its origin, which, in common with other stories, they were accustomed to recite in their assemblies.

The Indians were always fond of amusements of all kinds. These consisted of races, games of ball, throwing the tomahawk, shooting at a mark with the bow and arrow, or with the rifle after its distribution among them, horse races. and other sports incidental to savage life. Their powers of endurance were remarkable, and astonishing accounts are often now told of feats of prowess exhibited by these aborigines. Of the animals hunted by the Indians, none seems to have elicited their skill more than the bear. 'To slay one of these beasts was proof of a warrior's prowess, and dangerous encounters often resulted in the hunter's search for such distinction. The vitality of bruin was unequaled among the animals of the forest, and, because of the danger attached to his capt- | ure, he was made an object of special hunts largeness of its bears. Some of the pioneers yet surviving often visited this country in search of bruin, when they first settled in the country, and-can relate astounding stories of their exploits at the time. The habit of these animals was to search out a hollow tree or a warm clump of bushes late in the autumn, where they could remain three or four months, during the extreme cold of the winter, subsisting entirely on the fat of their bodies. They would emerge in the spring very lean, and when so were exceedingly ferocious. When searching out their places of winter solitude, they often left the impress of their feet on the bark of the tree they ascended, or on the grass in the lair they hadfound. These signs were easily discovered by Indians and expert bear hunters. They were then very fat, and were eagerly sought by the Indians for their flesh and fat. Sometimes they would ascend trees thirty or forty feet high, and find a good wintering place and take possession. Again they would ascend the tree, if hollow, from the inside, and, finding a good place, occupy it. Then the hunters would divide forces, one ascend the tree and with | a long pole, sharpened at one end, or wrapped with a rag or dry skin saturated with grease and set on fire, thrust the same down on the bear and compel him to descend, only to meet his death at the foot of the tree from the arrow or bullet of the hunter below.

The skin of a fat bear was a great prize to an Indian. It made him an excellent couch on which to sleep, or a cloak to wear. His flesh was supposed to impart bravery to those who ate it, hence when dipped in sweetened bear's fat, it was considered an excellent dish and one often offered to friends. Venison, prepared the same way, was also considered a dish fit for the most royal visitors; a hospitality always extended to all who came to the camp, and if not accepted the donor was sure to be offended.

which simple agreement, among many tribes, was never broken. Sometimes the young woman courted the young brave, much after the fashion of the white people during leap years. This custom was considered quite proper, and favorably looked upon by the braves. In some localities the chief gave away the young woman | to some brave he considered competent to support her in the chase, a part of the domestic economy always devolving on the man. When the game was killed, the squaw was expected to cut up and prepare the meat for use, and stretch and tan the hide.

The marriage relation among the most of the tribes was held strictly by all, a variation from it on the part of the female meriting certain death. The Wyandots and Delawares prided themselves on their virtue and hospitality, and no authenticated case of the misuse of a female captive, except to treat them as prisoners of war, can now be quoted. They always evinced the utmost modesty toward their female captives. Respect for the aged, for parents and those in authority prevailed. When one among them spoke, all listened, never, under any circumstances, interrupting him. When he was done, then was the time to reply.

In theology, the natives were all believers of one deity, denominated by them the Great Spirit. They firmly believed in his care of the world and of his children, though different theories prevailed among the tribes regarding their creation. Their ideas of a divinity, as expressed by James Smith, a captive many years among them, are well given in the followlowing story, preserved in Smith's memoirs.

He and his elder Indian brother, Tecaughretanego, had been on a hunt for some time, and, meeting with poor success, found themselves straitened for food. After they had smoked at their camp-fire awhile, Tecaughretanego delivered quite a speech, in which he recounted how Owaneeyo (God) had fed them in times gone by ; how He fed the white people, and why they raised their own meat; how the Great Spirit provided the Indian with food for his use; and how, that though the prospect was sometimes gloomy, the Great Spirit was only trying them ; that if they would only trust Him and use the means diligently, they would be certain to be provided for. The next morning Smith rose early, according to the Indian's instructions, and ere long killed a buffalo cow, whose meat kept them in food many days. This was the occasion of another speech from This trust often led them to habits of prodigality. They seldom provided for the future, almost literally fulfilling the adage: "Let each day provide for its own wants." They hunted, fished and idled away their days. Possessed of a boundless inheritance, they allowed the white race to come in and possess their lands and eventually drive them entirely away.

_ Their manner of feasts may also be noticed. After the county began to settle, and while the Greentown Indians yet remained in Green Township, a number of the early. settlers, Andrew Craig, Capt. James Cunningham, James Copus, who preserved the following account of the feast, and a few others, were invited to one of their feasts. 'The ceremonies," says Dr. Hill, "took place in the council-house, a building made of clapboards and poles, about thirty feet wide and fifty feet long. When the Indians entered the council-house, the squaws seated themselves on one side of ,the room, while the braves occupied the opposite side. There was a small mound of earth in the center of the room, eight or ten feet in diameter, which seemed to be a sort of sacrificial mound. The ceremonies began with a sort of rude music, made by beating on a small brass kettle, and on dried skins stretched over the mouths of pots, making a kind of a rude drum. The pounding was accompanied by a sort of song, which, as near as can be understood, rafi: 'Tinny, tinny, tinny, ho, ha, ho, ha, ho,' aecenting the last sy]- lables. Then a chief arose and addressed them. During the delivery of his speech a profound silence prevailed. The whole audience seemed to be deeply moved by the oration. The speaker seemed to be about seventy years of age, and was very tall and graceful. His eyes had the fire of youth, and shone with emotion while he was speaking. The audience seemed deeply moved, and frequently sobbed while he spoke. Mr. Copus could not understand the language of the speaker, but presumed he was giving a summary history of the Delaware Nation, two tribes of which, the Wolf and the Turtle, were represented at the feast. Mr. Copus learned that the speaker was the famous Capt. Pipe, of Mohican Johnstown, the executioner of Col. Crawford. At the close of the address, dancing commenced. The Indians were clothed in deerskin leggins and English blankets. Deer hoofs and bear's claws were strung along the seams of their leggins, and, when the dance commenced, the jingling of the hoofs and claws made a sort of harmony to tne rude music of the pots and kettles. The men danced in files or lines by themselves around the central mound, the squaws following in a company by themselves. In the dance there seemed to be a proper modesty between the sexes. In fact, the Greentown Indians were always noted for handed around. The food was not very palatable to the white persons present, and they were compelled to conceal it about their persons until they had left the wigwam, when they threw the unsavory morsels away. No greater insult could have been offered the Indians than to have refused the proffered refreshments. Hence a little deception was necessary to evade the censure of these untutored sons of the

A feast was held by these same Indians in 1811, a short-time before the opening of the war of 1812. It is believed to be the last one held in this part of Ohio, as the war took away | all the principal Indian characters. . It was conducted very much as the one described - held in the fall of 1809., John Coulter, an old pioneer, recollects it very well, and, through

Coulter says that, while the food was cooking, an occasional morsel was thrown in the fire as. as offering to the Great Spirit. Alse, while the supper was being prepared, the chiefs, a large number of whom from all parts of Northern Ohio were present, commenced to move around the mound in the center of the cabin; sometimes singing and sometimes delivering short speeches in their native tongue. While this was going on, the balance of the audience were arranged in lines two or three deep around the inside of the council-house, which Henry Howe estimated, from narratives of pioneers given him | in 1849, was sixty feet long, twenty-five feet wide, one story high, and inclosed: by clap- | boards, or broad pieces of split lumber.' The singing of the Indians at this second feast was a low kind of melancholy wail, accompanied by a sort of grunt, contortions of the face and singular gesticulations of the arms. The Indians were dressed as those described in the feast of 1809, and, though Mr. Coulter could not understand their language, he thought it was either a4 recital of their history, or portended war. The ceremonies lasted two or three hours, when the provisions were handed around, and a general handshaking and congratulations followed, closing the feast. All the white men present at this feast gave it as their opinion that old Capt. Pipe was there. There were three or four hundred Indians present. Dr. Hill thinks, from all the evidence he can gather, Capt. Pipe was at this feast, and that soon

Concerning the murders committed by the Indians in Richland County, their narration will be deferred to that part giving the history of the pioneer settlements, as they more properly belong there. The Indians did not all disappear from this part of Ohio for many years after the advent of the whites. During the war of 1812 they were rather troublesome, and about that time the murder of the Zimmer family, the militia at. the Copus cabin, Martin Ruffner and Levi Jones, occurred. After the war closed, the Indians found their town destroyed, as has been narrated, and from that time until their removal from the country they had no fixed habitation. They often came to Mansfield to trade. Dr. Bushnell says he has often seen them come to town, gather under the forest trees in the public square, and there talk, smoke, trade, or idle away their time as suited their fancy. He says they were sometimes the finest physical specimens of mankind he has ever seen. "Tall, straight as an arrow, unexceptional physique, clad only in leggins and says the Doctor, "I could not tire contemplating." Sometimes they would get drunk, when they were a little dangerous. They traded peltry for hatchets, powder and ball, and trinkets of various kinds. By practice they became as sharp in bargains as the white traders and peddlers. Experience taught them to rely on their own judgment in all such matters.

By the treaty of September 29, 1817, the Delawares were deeded a reservation on the south of the Wyandot reservation, both in Marion and Wyandot Counties. When this was done, Capt. Pipe, son of "Old Capt. Pipe," was the principal Delaware chief. The Delaware Indians remained on their reservation until about 1829, when they ceded their reservation to the United States for $3,000, and moved west of the Mississippi. The Wyandots ceded theirs in March, 1842, and left for the Far West in July of the next year. At that 'date they numbered about seven hundred souls, and were the last Indian tribe to relinquish their claims to the soil of Ohio.