Washington Township (part 2 of 3)

" From the time that the resolution is taken to make war, till the departure of the warriors, they sing their war-songs every night ; the days are passed iu making preparations. They depute some warriors to go to sing the war-song amongst their neighbors and allies, whom they engage beforehand by secret negotiations. If they are to go by water, they build or repair their canoes; if it is winter, they furnish themselves with snow-shoes and sledges. The raquets, which they most have to wear on the snow, arc about three feet long, and about fifteen or eighteen inches in their greatest breadth. Their shape is oval, excepting the end behind, which terminates in a point. Little sticks, placed across at five or six inches from each end, serve to strengthen them, and the piece which is before us is in the shape of a bow, where the foot is fixed and tied with leather thongs. The binding of the raquet is made of slips of leather about a fourth part of an inch wide, and the circumference isoflight wood hardened by fire. * * * The sledges, which serve to carry the baggage, and, in case of need, the sick and wounded, are two little boards, very thin, about half a foot broad, each board, and six or seven feet long. The fore-part is a little bent upward, and the sides are bordered by little bands, to which they fasten straps to bind what is on the sledge. However loaded these carriages may be, a savage can draw them with ease by the help of a long band of leather, which he puts over his breast, and which they call collars.

All things being ready, and the day of departure being come, they take their leave with great demonstrations. * * Lastly, they all meet at the cabin of the chief. They find him armed as he was at the first day he spoke to them, and as he always appeared in public from that day. They then paint their faces, every one according to his own fancy, and all of them in a very frightful manner. The chief makes them a short sppeeh ; then he comes out of his cabin singing bis song of death. They all follow him in a line, keeping a profound silence, and they do the same every morning, when they renew their march. The women go before with the provisions, and when the warriors come up with them, they give them their clothes, and remain almost naked - at least as much as. the

" Formerly, the arms of these people were bows and arrows, and a kind of javelin, which, as well as their arrows, was armed with a point of bone, wrought in different shapes. Beside this, they had what they call the* head -breaker.'/ This is a little club, of very hard wood, the head of which is round, and has one side with an edge,' to cut. The greatest part have no defensive arms."

Such were their customs of war, less than 200 years ago, when the use of firearms was far less common than at the present day. They were, however, equal to the demands of the times, and served well their purp >s in in 'using a spirit of stubborn bnvery that, with the class of offensive and defensive weapons in use, was most formidable in its effects.

Among the Miamis-of the last century, also, there were classes of amuse¬ ments which commanded much of their attention, when not engaged in war or the chase. They bad their games oP straws, not unlike some of the civilized games of chance of the present day. A bundle of straws, containing an uneven number, say 201, which were separated into parcels of ten each, except one, which contained eleven. These were divided by the chief among the players, promiscuously. He who selected the parcel of uneven number, a certain number of points, the aggregate of which was sixty or eighty. Beside this, there were games of bat and ball, which they played in a manner not unlike the more mod-

In ii memoir concerning the Indians of Canada, as far as the Mississippi ^ River, being a review of their habits and conditions, in the year 1717, prepared for the proper information of the French Government, upon the subject, the following reference is made to the Indians at Kekionga, at that date.

" The Miamis are sixty leagues from Lake Erie, and number 400, all well formed men, and well tattooed. The women are numerous. They are hard¬ working, and raise a species of maize unlike that of our Indians at Detroit. It is white, of the same size as the other, the skin much finer, and the meat much whiter. This nation is clad in deer skin, and when a married woman goes with another man, her husband cuts off her nose and does not see her any more. This is the only nation that has such a custom. They love plays and dances, where¬ fore they have more occupation. The women are well clothed, but the men use scarcely any covering, and are tattooed all over the body."

Another custom, prevailed among the Miamis, is entitled to especial men¬ tion - the ceremony preliminary to the replacement of a member of the family removed by death. On such occasions a meeting of the family and kindred, with adjacent villagers, assembled at a suitable place. The process was through the agency of a game of chance, where there were several candidates, as was often the case ; otherwise, the replacement was accomplished by substitution. The one selected was, ever afterward, recognized as the legitimate heir, and entitled to receive all the effects of the deceased. The ceremony of selection was always followed by a replacement dance, in honor of the occasion.

The beggar dance was sometimes indulged in, but was uot a custom among the Miamis, as was the case with some of the kindred tribes. Its purpose was rather a means to supply, from traders and strangers, the improvised wants of the proposer. " With no other covering on their bodies but a part of a deer or other skin about their waists, the rest of the body and face painted with some bright colors, with perhaps some gay Ornament or feathers about their heads, often several in number, would pass from agency to agency, in front of whose doors they would go through with the liveliest movements of dancing, singing, etc., which, to the spectators, was often very amusing, aod who seldom failed to give the red dancers some tobacco, a loaf or two of bread, some whisky, or other article that would be pleasing to them."

Complimentary and medicine dances were frequent, also, and were conducted with reference to the gratification of the party to be complimented, on the one hand, or as an initiatory ceremony incident to the introduction of chosen candi¬ dates into the fraternity of " Medicine Men." These, as most other similar cer¬ emonies, were followed by a feast and dance, in which the " fuculty " engaged with great zest. The candidate, having passed the ordeal, was placed under the instructions of the "Old Doctor, or Medicine Man," and henceforward devoted his life to the practice of his profession with whatever skill his application to business was rewarded. The music provided on such occasion, " consisted usually of a deer-skin entirely free from hair, which they stretched in some way, similar to our common drum-head, and upon which their 1 music man ' would keep time, and hum an air adapted to the Indian's style of dancing.

Ac what period in their history the Miamis made the Ke-ki-ong-a their Central City," is not now satisfactorily attainable, but without doubt at a time antedating or cotemporaneous with the early white settlements on the Atlantic Coast. This statement is at variance, no doubt, with the opinions entertained by others, who believe that from time immemorial, "when the memory of man run¬ neth not to the contrary," their typical band of the Algonquin family, had inhab¬ ited and possessed this, to them classic ground. To establish the opinion, however, from authentic data, or accepted traditions, will be a difficult if not an impossible task. On the contrary, the statement made by Little Turtle, in his address to Gen. Wayne, at the treaty of Greenville, in August, 1795, corroborated and confirmed by the narratives of the early French voyageurs, as Bancroft declares, is wholly inconsistent with such an assumption.

Little Turtle, one of the most intelligent and discreet of the Miami chiefs, thus discourses on the question. Addressing Qen. Wayne, he says : " 1 hope you will pay attention to what I now say to you. I wish to inform you where your younger brothers, the Miamis, live, and also the Pottawatomics, of St. Joseph, together with the Wabash Indians. You have pointed out to us the boundary line between the Indians and the United States ; but I now take the liberty to inform you that the line cuts off from the Indians a large portion of country which has been enjoyed by my forefathers from time immemotial, without molestation or dispute. The prints of my ancestors' houses are everywhere to be seen in this portion. I was a little astonished at hearing you and my brothers who are now present, telling each other what bus¬ iness yon had transacted together, heretofore, at Muskingum, concerning this country. It is well known to all my brothers present, that my forefathers kindled the first fires at Detroit ; thence he extended his lines to the west waters of the Scioto; thence to its mouth ; from there down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash : and thence to Chicago, on Lake Michigan. At this place I first saw my elder brothers, the Shawanoes. I have now informed you of the boundaries of the Miamis nation, where the Great Spirit placed my forefather long ago, and charged him not to sell or part with his lands, but preserve them for bis pos¬ terity. This charge has been handed down to me."

When it is understood that the Miamis are an offshoot of the Algonquin stock, which, at the time their separate existences became known to Europeans - say about, the middle of the sixteenth century - occupied the territory north of the St. Lawrence River, and the line of lakes extending westward, beyond Lake Supe¬ rior, the Esquimaux and Hudson's Bay lying to the northward; that the branches proceeding from the family domain necessarily migrated from beyond the St. Lawrence, the problem will not be of difficult solution - Whence came they ?

The first historical account of the tribe since known as the Miamis was in the year 1669, in the vicinity of Green Bay, where they were visited by the French missionary, Father Allouez, and subsequently by Father Dablon. From there they passed to the southward of Lake Michigan, in the vicinity of Chi¬ cago, subsequently settling on the St. Joseph, of Lake Michigan, establishing there a village, another on the river Miami, of Lake Erie, and a third on the Wabash, as we learn from Charlevoix :

" In 1G71, the Miamis were settled at the south end of Lake Michigan, in a place called Chicagou, from the name of a small river which ruus into the lake, and which has its source not far from the river of the Illinois. They are divided into three villages - one on the river St. Joseph ; the second, on another river, which bears their name and ruus into Lake Erie, and the third, upon the Ouabache, which runs into the Mississippi. These last arc now known by the name of the Ouyatenons '* [Weas]. P. 114.

It. is highly probable, notwithstanding, that, prior to their location near tin' Lake des Puans, having separated from their primogenitors, they first assumed the character of a distinct tribe at Detroit, as stated by Little Turtle, and there first kindled their council-fire. That they spread thence to the valley of the Scioto, to the Ohio, to the mouth of the Wabash and thence to Chicago, inhab¬ iting, from time to time, the vast area circumscribed by the various streams named, thus becoming the recognized proprietors of that extensive domain.

In 1680, the Iroquois, after a rest from their earlier conquests, turned their attention to the Illinois, the most important as well as the most accessible of the Western Algonquins. War was decreed in the councils of the chiefs. The chief town of the Miamis lay in their path and was visited by the war party and induced to join in the invasion of the territory of the Illinois, their kinsmen, notwithstanding it was the probable purpose of these new allies to make them their next victims. For long years prior to this date, u jealous feeling had existed between the Miamis and the Illinois, which circumstance had much to do in promoting their alliance with the Iroquois against, them, since it offered an opportunity to gratify their desire for revenge. About the middle of September, the Iroquois with their allies were approaching the borders of the Vermilion River in warlike attitude, anxious for the fray. The Illinois, also, having been notified of the advance of this formidable army, manifested an anxiety to meet the assailants. They were in an open prairie adjacent to the thick woods on the margin of the river. The Iroquois were numerous, and armed for the most part with guns, pistols and swords. "Some had bucklers of wood or rawhide, and some wore those corselets of tough twigs interwoven with cordage, which their fathers had used when fire-arms were unknown." On the other hand, the Illi¬ nois, about one hundred of them with guns, the rest with bows and arrows, were face to face with the enemy in an open prairie, advancing, seemingly anxious to exhibit their prowess, to the charge. They leaped, yelled and shot off bullets and arrows. The Iroquois replied with similar manifestations of anxiety. Not¬ withstanding the hostile exhibitions, the fight,' brisk and demonstrative at first, yielded to mediating exertions of mutually interested parties, with comparatively lit¬ tle bloodshed, and the Illinois withdrew. Subsequently the Iroquois crossed over to the Illinois side of the river and took possession of their towns and erected a rude fort for immediate protection. Thus conditioned, they proceeded to finish their work of devastation and havoc at their leisure. A treaty was at length concluded, and soon after broken by preparations "to attack and destroy the Illi¬ nois women and children in their island sanctuary." The work was slow but destructive, and " a hideous scene was enacted at the ruined village of the Illinois. Their savage foes, balked of a living prey, wreaked their fury on the dead. They dug up the graves ; they threw down the scaffolds. Some of the bodies they burned; some they threw to the dogs; some, it is affirmed, they ate. Placing the skulls on stakes as trophies, they turned to pursue the Illinois, who, when the French withdrew, abandoned their asylum aud retreated down the river. The Iroquois, still, it seems, in awe of them, followed them along the opposite bank, each night encamping face to face with them ; and thus the adverse bands moved slowly southward till they were near the mouth of the river. Hitherto, the compact array of the Illinois had held their enemies in check ; but now, suffering from hunger and lulled into security by the assurance of the Iroquois that their object was not to destroy them, but ot)ly to drive them from the country, they rashly separated into several tribes. Some descended the Missis¬ sippi ; some,* more prudent, crossed to the western side. One of their principal tribes, the Tamaroas, more credulous than the rest, had the fatuity to remain near the mouth of the Illinois, where they were speedily assailed by all the force of the Iroquois. The men fled and a very few of them were killed ; but the women and children were captured to the number, it is said, of seven hundred. Then followed that scene of torture, of which, some two weeks later, La Sallp saw the revolting traces. Sated at jength with horrors, the conquerors withdrew, leading with them a host of captives, aud exulting in their triumphs over women, children and the dead."*

In 1 686-87, there were frequent difficulties between the Iroquois and the Miamis, which occasioned much uneasiness among the officials ot the F nglish Colonial Government. So much interest was manifested by the English Governor in this regard, that he called a conference witluhis Iroquois allies for the purpose of ascertaining the true condition of aftairs. The conference was held at Albany on the 5th of August, 1687, when the Governor proposed to the chief sachems of the Five Nations that it would be better to send messengers to the Ottawas and Twichtwichs and the further Indians, and some of the prisoners of these nations left to bury the hatchets and make a covenant chain with them.

On the following day, one of the Maquase (Mohawk) sachems, named Siudachsegie, made a speech to the Governor, explaining the cause of the disturb¬ ances between them and those nations in alliance with the French. He said : " Wee are resolved to speake the truth, and all the evill we have done them is, that, about six yeares agoe, some of the Smnekes and some of the Onnondages went aboard of a French Barke att Onnyngaro, that was come to trade there, and took out of the said Barke a Caske of Brandy and cutt the Cable." It occurred, also, that in September, of the preceding year, the Senecas had visited the coun¬ try of the Omianics (Miamis), and in a warlike expedition had taken of them five hundred prisoners and lost twenty-nine killed, two of them in foray, and twenty-seven when the Touloucks (Outaouacs) and Illinois caught them.

Ten years later, Peter Schuyler and others, on behalf of the Senecas, in a communication to the English Governor, Fletcher, dated September 28, 1697, make this statement: "Wee are sorry to have it to tell you the loss of our brethren, the Sinnekes, suffered in an engagement with ye Twichtwichts Indians; our young men killed sevcrall of the enemy, but, upon their retreat, some of their ehiefe capts. were cut off You know our custome is to condole ye dead, therefore, we desire you give us some for these Beavours ; soe laid down ten Beavr. skins. The Wampum was immcdiatly given them for said skins, and the day following appointed for a conferance upon the first proposition made by them for powder & lead &c." Further statement is made concerning the war between the Five Nations and the Miamies, in Robert Livingston's report to the Secretary of Indian Affairs, in April, 1700. from which it would seem that the war had been pending between these parties for many years, taken in connection with the preceding statement. He recommends " That all endeavors be used to obtain a peace between the 5 Nations and the Dowaganhnas, Twichtwicks & other far Nations of Indians whom the Governor of Canada stirs up to destroy them, not only the 5 Nations have been mortall enemies to the French & true to the English, but because they hinder his trade with the said far Nations, trucking with them themselves and bringing the bevers hither."

In a subsequent communication by the same writer, on the 29th of August of the same year, a better reason is given, perhaps, for the desire to induce a cessation of hostilities between those belligerent nations. " Brethren : You must needs be sensible that the Dowaganhaes, Twichtwichs, Ottawawa & Diononades, and other remote Indians, are vastly more numerous than you 5 Nations, and that, by their continued warring upon you, they will, in a few years, totally destroy you."

In times past, but exactly when is not now known, the Miamis. because of their extensive dominion, power and influence, and of the numerous consanguine¬ ous branches acknowledging the relationship, were known as the Miami Confed¬ eracy. In 1765, the confederacy was composed of the following branches, situated and having warriors in number, viz. : Twightwees, at the head of the Maumee River, with 250 available warriors; the Ouiatenons, in the vicinity of Post Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, with 300 warriors; the Piankeshaws, on the Vermilion River, with 300 warriors, and the Shockeys, on territory lying on the Wabash, between Vincennes and Post Ouiatenon, with 200 warriors. At an earlier period, probably, the Miamis, with their confederates, were able to muster a much more formidable force, as the citation from the representatives of the Five Nations would seem to show.

In 1748, the English merchants and traders secured a limited trade with the Miamis, as much, it is said, in consequence of the failure of the French traders, who had, during the preceding century, held the supremacy, to supply the increasing wants of the Miamis, especially those on the borders of the Ohio and its tributaries. Thus a favorable influence was exerted on the part of the Miamis toward the English, which resulted in a treaty of alliance and friendship between the English and the Twightwees (Miamis) on the 23d of July of the same year, whereby the latter became and were recognized as " Good Frieuds and Allies of the English Nation * * * subjects of the King of

Ouabaehe, a branch of the River Mississippi," three in number, the first and principal of whom was Aque-nack-que, head chief of the Miamis, and the father "t Me-che-quin-no-qua (Little Turtle), at that time and for many years previously a resident of the Turtle Village in this vicinity, at which, the year preceding (1747), it is reputed that Little Turtle was born.

By their several treaties with the United States, the Miamis have ceded an aggregate of 6,853,020 acres of land. Aggregate of land given in exchange, 44,640 acres, the aggregate value of which was $55,800,000. The aggregate consideration paid for these lands, in money and goods, $1,205,907; total con¬ sideration paid. $1,261,707, as shown by the records of the Department at Washington City.

was the son of Aque-nac-que, the great war chief of the Twightwees [Miamis] at the beginning of the eighteenth century, who was also the principal of the three Deputies who represented the Twightwee nation at the Treaty of Lancaster. Penn., on the 23d day of July, 1748. His mother was of the tribe of the Mohegans, and is reputed as having been a superior woman, transmitting many of her best qualities to her son. Aquenacque was of the Turtle branch of the Miamis, and lived in the Turtle Village on Eel River, some sixteen miles north¬ west of Fort Wayne.

At this village Little Turtle was born, about the year 1747, and was the senior of his sister Algomaqua, wife of Capt. Holmes, by less than two years. He became chief at an early age,- not on account of any right by inheritance, because the condition of the offspring follows the mother, and not the father, and his mother not standing in the line of descent from hereditary chiefs, the child stood in the same category, but because of his extraordinary talents and adapted¬ ness for the position, which were noticeable from early boyhood. Upon the death of his father, therefore, he became the principal chief of the Miamis, by selec¬ tion. His first eminent services were those of a warrior, in which he distin¬ guished himself above all competitors. His courage and sagacity, in the estima¬ tion of his countrymen, were proverbial, and his example inspired others to unwonted achievements in council and the field. Neighboring consanguineous tribes, in their operations against the whites, drew courage from his presence, and achieved successes under his leadership. He was in himself a host on the battle¬ field, and his counsel always commanded respect.

At the time of St. Clair's expedition against the Wabash Indians, Little Turtle was the acknowledged leader, directing the movement of his people, which resulted in the defeat of the former, as he had previously done in the several actions in the campaign of Gen. Harmar. In comparison with Gen. St. Clair, as director of forces at Fort Recovery, his exhibitions of skill and tact in the management of the assault upon the white troops, were those of the more expert tactician. His loss in that engagement was light, while that of Gen. St. Clair was heavy.

" Again, he commanded a body of Indians in November, 1792, who made a violent attack on a detachment of Kentucky volunteers under Maj. Adair, under the walls of Fort St. Clair, near Eaton, Ohio, but. the savages were repulsed with loss. He was also at the action of Fort Recovery, in June, 1794. The campaign of Gen. Wayne, in August of the same year, proved too successful for the Turtle and superior to the combined force. Prior to the battle of Fort Miami, two miles below Maumee City, a council was held, when Little Turtle showed his sagacity and prudence by refusing to attack the forces of Gen. Wayne."

Having satisfied himself of the impracticability of further opposition to the whites, Little Turtle lent his influence toward the maintenance of peace, and, in part consideration for his services in this respect, the American Government erected for him, at bis village on Eel River, a comfortable house in which to live. "His habits were those of the whites, and he had black servants to attend to his household wants and duties. He was true to the interests of his race, and deplored tln-ir habits of drunkenness. In 1S02 or 1803, he went before the Leg¬ islature of Kentucky, and, through his interpreter, made an appeal in person for a law preventing the sale of ardent spirits to the Indians. The like mission he performed before the Legislature of Ohio, but without success. He described the Indian traders to life, viz.: ' They stripped the poor Indian of skins, guns, blankets, everything, while his squaws and children, dependent upon him, lay starving and shivering in his wigwam.'

" He was the first to introduce among his savage tribes the practice of vacci¬ nation for preventing the small-pox. and did much to prevent human sacrifice."

From the first appearance of Tecumsch and the Prophet, in their attitude of manipulators of opinions directed toward the formation of an Indian confederacy, he opposed their movements, and in consequence, through his influence, little was accomplished in that direction among his people and others for a long time.

In a communication dated at Fort Wayne, January 25, 1812, bearing his own signature, addressed to Gov. Harrison, he expressed himself as anxious to do all in his power to preserve peaceful relations between the white and red people. He was destined, however, to take no part in the pending conflict. "He came to this city, in 1812, from his residence, to procure medical aid, and was under the treatment of the United States Surgeon, and in the family of his brother-inlaw, Capt. Wells, at the Old Orchard - or rather was cared for by Capt. W.'s family at his own tent, a few rods distant, preferring it to the more civilized mode of living ' in doors.' His disease was the gout, of which he died in the open air, at the place (Old Orchard), above described, July 14, 1812, having the universal respect of all who knew him. The Commandant of the fort at that time. Capt. Ray, the friend of Little Turtle, buried the remains of the chief with the honors of war. A writer says: ' His body was borne to the grave with the highest honors by his great enemy, the white man. The muffled drum, the solemn march, the funeral salute, announced that a great soldier had fallen, and even enemies paid the mournful tribute lo his memory.' "

The place of his burial is near the center of the " Old Orchard," and his Indian ornaments and accouterments of war, a sword presented to him by Gen. Washington and a medal with Gen. W.'s likeness thereon, were buried with him. Some years ago, Coesse, a nephew and real chief, since dead, came to Fort Wayne and pro¬ nounced a funeral oration over the remains of his uncle, full of eloquent pathos, which was listened to by many of the old citizens of that period.

A distinguishing trait in the character of this celebrated chief, says Mr. Dawson, " was his ardent desire to be informed of all that relates to our institu¬ tions ; and he seems to possess a mind capable of understanding and valuing the advantages of civilized life, in a degree far superior to any other Indian of his time.

Jean B. Richeville

Pe-che-wa, or, as he was generally known, John B. Richardville, was the son of Joseph Drouet de Richeville, of French extraction^ trader at Ke-ki-ong-a, before and after the expedition of Le Balm, in 1780, by Tau-cum-wah, daughter of Aque-na-qua, and sister of Little Turtle. He was born, as tradition has it, and he has himself often stated, " near the old apple-tree," in the midst of the Miami Village, at the junction of the St. Joseph with the Maumee, about the year 1761. The associations clustering around this old apple-tree, during his childhood days, gave the chief ever afterward a profound regard, approaching almost to reverence ; hence he was instrumental in its preservation.

" The time of his birth was locally," says Schoolcraft, the period of the Pontiac war, in which the Western tribes followed the lead of that energetic and intrepid Algonquin, in resisting the transfer of authority from the French to the English power. He was too young for any agency in this war, and the event has no further connection with the man than as it introduced him and his people to a new phasis of history. Braddock had been defeated in 1755. Quebec surrendered in 1759, and, by the treaty which followed, France forever struck her flag in Canada. The long struggle was over - a struggle commencing at least as far back as the days of Champlain, in 1609. A hundred and fifty years of battles, forays and blood, in which Indian scalping parties, led sometimes by French officers, performed no small part, and inflicted agonies on the settlements. * * * The

Indians, who loved the French, did not and would not look peacefully on such a transfer of sovereignty. And the efforts of Pontiac to embody their feeling and lead it forth, only proved his power amoug the Indians, but was a decided failure."

In connection, also, with his early history, are many incidents of thrilling interest, a recital of which would not fail to command attention. One of these, referring to an occasion which determined his election to the chieftaincy of his tribe, is repeated.

It was less than a hundred years ago when the prevailing customs of the Indians were generally observed by the Miamis. A white captive had just been brought in, and the question was about to be submitted to the council whether the young mau should die. The council was held, and its mandate had gone forth that he must burn at the stake. All is confusion and bustle in the village, and the features of all save the hapless victim bespeak the anxiety with which they look forward to the coming sacrifice. Already the prisoner is bound to the stake, and the fagots are being placed in position, while the torch which is to ignite the inflammable mass was in the hands of the brave selected to apply it. But hold ! the time has not yet come when the fates have decreed that the man¬ date of the council is to be executed. A chief is to be chosen to rule over the tribe. There are many candidates apparently alike entitled to recognition. Again the question of eligibility is mooted, and the usages of the ages must be observed. He is to be from the line of royal ancestors, yet an exhibition of his prowess will tend to hasten the issue. An anxious mother, herself the accepted chiefess and successful ruler of many years, observes the progress of preparations for the sacrifice with calm indifference. Her son, the cherished idol of her household, is by her side, a quiet observer also of the prospective torture, yet solicitous. He would save the young man. The torch is being extended to fire the combus¬ tible material, and all attention is directed toward the spot. At a signal from his mother, young Pe-che-wah sprang from her side and bounded forward, knife in hand, to assert his chieftaincy by the captive's rescue. Electrified by the mag¬ netic force of his mother's desire, he dashed through the wild crowd, cut the cords that bound him, and bid the captive go free. Surprise and astonishment, not unmingled with displeasure, was visible in every countenance at the unex¬ pected denouement. Yet this daring feat of voluntary heroism was the universal theme of exultation. He was thereafter the recognized chief. In the mean time, the thoughtful mother, to make the rescue complete, placed the man in a canoe, covering him with furs and peltries, put him in charge of friendly hands, and sent him down tire Maumee to a place of safety.

Many years after, while on his way to Washington City, through the State of Ohio, he was recognized by the rescued captive, who manifested his gratitude with all the warmth of filial affection. It is needless to say those manifestations were fully reciprocated.

Pe-che-wah was present and participated- in the defeat of Gen. Harmar, in October, 1790, but was not characteristically warlike, being more disposed to exert his executive ability in attending to the interests of his people in other channels.

As the leading chief of his tribe, in their behalf he was present at, and signed the treaty of St. Mary's, on the 6th of October, 1818. Before that time, however, he was a party to the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, again at the treaty of Fort Wayne, in June, 1803, and at Vincennes, in 1805.

"About 1827," savs Mr. Dawson, in his notes, "8500 were appropriated by Congress to each chief, to build a residence. Richardville appropriated more, and built a substantial house, five miles from here, on the south bank of the St. Mary's, on one of the. reservations referred to. A part of this building was standing in 1859, owned by his granddaughter (the daughter of La Blonde"), who married James Godfrey. For many years, he kept an extensive tradinghouse in this city [Fort Wayne], on Columbia street, and in person lived there most of the time ; but about 1836, he moved the goods to the forks of the Wabash, and continued business there for many years, his squaw and younger members of his family at all times remaining, till her death, at home, on the St. Mary's. His housekeeper at the forks of the Wabash was Madame Margaret La Folia, a French woman, in person graceful and prepossessing."

In the management of the-affairs of his tribe, he was judicious and pains¬ taking, adjusting all matters of business appertaining to them with the most exact discrimination and prudence. As a consequence, he was held in highest esteem, not only by his own people but by the Indians generally throughout the Northwest. "He was honored and trusted as their lawgiver, with the most unsuspecting confidence and implicit obedience" - always adjusting questions of dispute without resort to bloodshed. He was a patient and attentive listener, always reaching his conclusions by deliberate consideration ; hence, he seldom had occasion to change them. " Averse to bloodshed, except against armed resistance, he was ever the strong and consistent friend of peace and good will."

In stature, he was about five feet ten inches ; in weight, about one hundred and eighty pouuds ; in disposition, taciturn ; in manner, modest and retiring, and in his intercourse with the white people, he was affable, yet dignified.

He died at his family residence on the St. Mary's, August 13, 1841, aged about eighty years. He was buried on the following day, after services by Rev. Mr. Clark, Irish Catholic Priest, of Peru, held at the Church of St. Augustine, in this city. He was first interred on the site of the Cathedral, but the remains were removed to make room for the building, and now rest in the Catholic

East side, " Here rests the remains of Chief Richardville, principal Chief of the Miami tribe of Indians. He was born at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, about the year 1760. Died in August, A. D. 1841." whose Indian name was To-pe-ah, perhaps a contraction of the Pottawatomie name, To-pe-na-bin, was the immediate successor of Pe-che-wah [Richeville], as the principal chief of the Miamis. He was the lineal descendant of La Fontaine, who mingled extensively in the affairs of Canada, during the latter part of the eighteenth century, sent out by the French Government in connection with Pro¬ vincial management. His father was of French extraction, and at one time a res¬ ident of Detroit ; his mother was a Miami woman, but whose name does not appear very frequently in the history of the tribe ; nevertheless, a woman of con¬ siderable force of character, as manifested in the distinctive qualities of her son.

He was born near Fort Wayne, in 1810, and spent a great portion of his life in the immediate vicinity. When about the age of twenty-one years, he was married to Catharine [Po-con-go-qua], a daughter of Chief Richardville.

In his younger days, he was noted for great strength and activity, indeed, his character as an athlete was quite conspicuous, being, perhaps, the most fleet of foot in the tribe. His residence was on the south side of the prairie, between Huntington and Fort Wayne, on lands granted by the treaties of October 23, 1834, and November 6, 1838. Manifesting great interest in the welfare of his tribe, he became very popular, and, after the death of Chief Richardville, in 1841, he was elected principal chief of the Miamis. Subsequently, " he moved to the forks of the Wabash, and resided in the frame building near the road, a few rods west of the fair grounds - the place belongin g to his wife, who inher¬ ited it from her father."

When, under the provisions of their final treaty with the United States, his tribe, in the fall of 1846, moved to the reservation set apart to them, west of the Mississippi, he went with them and remained during the winter. The following spring, he started homeward. " At that time, the route of travel was from the Kansas Landing (now Kansas City), down the Missouri and Mississippi, to the mouth of the Ohio ; up the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash, aud thence up the latter stream to La Fayette - all the way by steamboats. At St. Louis, he was taken sick, and his disease had made such progress that, upon his arrival at La Fayette, he was unable to proceed further, and died there, on the 13th of April, 1847, at the age of thirty-seven years. He was embalmed at La Fayette, and his remains were brought to Huntington, where he was buried in the grounds now occupied by the Catholic Church. His body was subsequently removed to the new cemetery. At the time of the removal of his body, so perfect had beeu the embalming, that but little evidence of decay was manifested."

" He was a tall, robust, and corpulent man, weighing usually about three hundred and fifty pounds, and generally dressed in Indian costume. There are two portraits of him remaining, one painted by Freeman, and one by R. B. Croft. About twenty months after his death, his widow married F. D. Lasselle, of Fort Wayne, but lived only a short time. Of her seven children by La Fon¬ taine, but two are now living - Mrs. Archangel Engleman, in Huntington, and Mrs. Esther Washington, who resides in Kansas." [Thos. Roche, Huntington.]

The Lenne Lenapi, better known, perhaps, as the Delaware Indians, are entitled to take high rank in the Algonquin family, rf, indeed, they are not entitled o be recognized as the prototype of that most extensive division of the aboriginal i-ace of America. They were originally separated into three divisions, each of which was designated by an insignia or emblematic totem. These divisions were known as the Unami , or Turtle branch; the Minsi, or wolf, aud the Unalachigo , )r turkev. After they crossed the Alleghanies, the whole nation was called Loups , or wolves, by the French, " from confounding them with the Mohicans of die Hudson, who appear, in the formative tribal ages, to have been descendants jf the wolf totem." . , ,

"At the beginning of the sixteenth century, this tribe occupied the banks jf a large river ^flowing into the Atlantic, to which they applied the name of Lenapihlttuk. This term is a compound of Lenapi, the name given to them¬ selves, and ittuk, a geographical term, which is equivalent to the English word domain or territory, and is inclusive of the specific, sepu, their name for a river. After the successful planting of a colony in Virginia, the coast became more subject to observation than at prior periods, by vessels bound to Jamestown with supplies. On one of these voyages, Lord de La Warre put into the capes or the river, and hence the present name of both the river and the tribe.

" The true meaning of the term Lenapi has been the subject of various interpretations. It appears to carry the same meaning as Inula, a male, in the other Algonquin dialects ; and the word was probably used, nationally, and with emphasis in the sense of men. For we learn, from their traditions, that they regarded 'themselves, in past ages, as holding an eminent position for antiquity, valor and wisdom. And this claim appears to be recognized by the other tribes of their lineage, who apply to them the term of Grand Father. To the Iroquois they applv the word uncle, and this relation is reciprocated by the latter with the term nephew. The other tribes of Algonquin lineage, the Delawares call brother , or younger brother. These names establish the ancient rank and influence of the tribes."

Tlie high position among the Indians tribes of the lake region and the neighbors of* these, in the early days of their known early history, was, especially after the loss of power and of caste, a source of proud remembrance. It was looked upon by them as a golden period in their tribal history. During this period, the bravery of their warriors, the wisdom of their counselors and the brilliancy of their warlike exploits, were themes, in after years, of oft recounted traditions. Then they were allied with the Iroquois and retained their ancient character for prow- i ess and enterprise. When, however, the Five Nations confederated at Onondaga, and were no longer engaged in petty quarrels among themselves, the former pleas¬ ant relations ceased, and the over-confident Delawares were made to feel the effect of concentrated power and consequent arrogance of their ancient allies. The concentrated energies of the Five Nations, thirsting for prominence among the North American tribes, soon set themselves about acquiring and maintaining the supremacy. To do this, aggressions were the order and ultimate conquests the end of movements thus directed. Thus the Delawares lost their native inde¬ pendence in the rise of Iroquois power, and became a subordinate nation, and were denied the enjoyment of their ancient rights and territory.

At the Treaty of Lancaster, Penn., in 1744, the Iroquois denied them the riodit to participate in the privileges incident to the treaty, and refused them recognition as aa independent nation, entitled to sell and transfer their lands. Canassatego. one of the Iroquois chiefs, on that occasion, upbraided them in pub¬ lic council for having attempted to exercise any rights other than such as belonged to a conquered people. " In a strain of mixed irony and arrogance, he told them not to reply to his words, but to leave the council in silence. He ordered them in a peremptory manner to quit the section of country where they then resided, and move to the banks of the Susquehanna." Theu it was that they left forever their native hunting-grounds, on the banks of the Delaware, and turned their faces westward, humiliated and subdued, except in proud recollection of their past achievements. Subsequently, in 1751, they inhabited the region about Shamokin and Wyalusing, on the Susquehanna, threatened on the one hand by the intrusive tread of white settlers, and the tomahawk of the Iroquois on the other.

Again, after a few years of mixed joys and reverses, they took shelter on the White Water River, of Indiana. This was about the beginning of the nine¬ teenth century, and here a missionary effort was set on foot among them, which in the end was broken up by the interference of the Shawanoe prophet during the period of his popularity as a reformer.

On the 3d of October, ISIS, at St. Mary's, Ohio, a treaty between the Delawares and the United States was concluded, by the provisions of which they ceded all their claims to lands in the States of Ohio and Indiana, under a perpet¬ ual annuity from the latter of $4,000, to provide them with a comfortable home beyond the Mississippi. In this treaty, the Delawares reserved the right to occupy their lands in Iudiana for a period of three years subsequent thereto.

The Pottawatomies

or Poux, as they appear to have been anciently known, are a branch of the Chippewas, [Ojibwas.j and trace their ancestral line back to t.he primitive family of tlie Algonquins. The name, by common repute, about the middle of the sev¬ enteenth century, was understood to be a nation of fire-makers, the present form of the word being derived, etymologically, from Pa-ta-wa, to expand or inflate the cheeks, as in the act of blowing a fire to kindle it, and me, a nation, hence the name - from the apparent facility with which they kindled the council fire.

The first notice we have of them was in 1641, when it is stated that they abandoned their own country (Green Bay), and took refuge among the Chippewas, so as to secure themselves from their enemies, the Sioux, who, it would seem, having been at war with had well-nigh overcome them. In 1660, Father Allouez, a French Missionary, speaks of the Pottawatomies as occupying territory : extending V Green Bay to the head of Lake Superior, and southward to the , countries of the Sacs, Foxes and Miarnis, and that traders had preceded him. i Ten years later, they returned to Green Bay and occupied the borders of Lake i Michigan on the north. Subsequently, about the beginning of the eighteenth ! century, they had traced the eastern coast of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the | river St. Joseph, where, and to the southward of Lake Michigan, a large body of ! them held possession toward the middle of the nineteenth century. Their occu¬ pancy of this territory by the Pottawatomies was at first permissive, only, on the ; part of the Miarnis, but, in the course of* time, their right was acknowledged by giving them a voice in the making of treaties, involving also the right of cession. i Being somewhat migratory they have acquired, as a consequence, the character of i beiog aggressive, while they quietly take possession of territory, the right to which is subsequently acknowledged. And, while it may be true that they sometimes I occupied territory without permission, as a rule, it is true, also, that such change j of locality is the result of forcible retirement from their own country, as was the fact upon their first removal from Green Bay.

During the progress of the Nicholas conspiracy, in 1747, the Pottawatomies were generally on the side of the French against the English, as were the Otta- . was. In a communication from M. de Loogueuil, Commandant at Detroit, to the Canadian Governor, giving in review the situation of civil and military affairs in Canada in 1747, the statement is made that "the Pouteouatamies are. as M. de Loogueuil believes, the best disposed ; in fact, that he has no fault to find ; that they are, consequently, the only persons he can confide in." This relation was generally, though not always, maintained between them ; the Pottawatomies, like most other of the Indian tribes, were susceptible, and liable to be affected by gifts or the promise of them ; hence, they were sometimes temporarily under the influence of English belts.

While the conspiracy of Pontiac was in process of development, the Potta¬ watomies, with other tribes heretofore occupying relations of amity with the j French, were visited by the agents of Pontiac, or by the chief in person, to secure i their influence in the furtherance of his plans. It required but little to arouse the feelings of these people in favor of their common ally, the French, and elicit the deep interest incident to the former relations existing between them. A fresh impetus was given to the current of sentiment prevailing amongst them, in the act of the surrender of the French garrison at Detroit to the English, which occurred on the 10th of November, 1760. At that time, the Pottawatomies and Wyandots were encamped below Detroit, on the opposite side of the river, and, seemingly, witnessed the transfer with indifference, preferring to await the issue of events speedily to follow. The mutterings of the impending storm were dis¬ tinctly heard in the early summer of 1761.

Early in the spring of 1763, after the garrison at Fort Miami, on the Mau¬ mee, had been surrendered to the English, the commandant was warned of the contemplated uprising of the Indians. A conference of the adjacent chiefs, held at his suggestion, developed the true situation, an account of which was com¬ municated to the English commandant at Detroit. This latter officer, resting in confidence upon the quiet demeanor of the Pottawatomies surrounding the post, discredited the report. He was soon, however, made only too conscious of his criminal disbelief. In the gatherings of the tribes which followed, the Pottawat¬ omies were in the front rank, anxious to participate in the coming conflict.

On the 25th of May, of that year, the old post at St. Joseph fell into the hands of the conspirators, the Pottawatomies bearing Pontiac's order for the sac¬ rifice of the garrison. No further impulse was required to insure the prompt execution of°the order. Two days later, the same determined band, in the further execution of orders, captured the fort al Kckionga, by the methods used in Indian warfare - treachery, with the accompaniments of human sacrifice.

Passing to the results of the expedition of Gen. Wayne, in 1794, the Pot¬ tawatomies following the course of events, participated in the conference and treaty at Greenville," in August, 1795, and allied themselves with the promoters of peace along the frontiers of the Northwest. They maintained that relation, with few exceptions, until the period of Tecumseh s effort at confederating the tribes, and his subsequent alliance with Great Britain, in 1812, during which time their peace propensities were conveniently laid aside.

After the close of that war, amicable relations were again resumed, and, on the 18th of July, 1815, the Pottawatomies concluded a treaty of peace with the United States, which was agreed to be perpetual.

was a war chief of the Pottawatomies, who, in the course of his career achieved a somewhat enviable notoriety. His tribe, during the greater part of the last 1 century, inhabited the region to the northward of the present site of Fort Wayne. About the period of the war of 1812, Metea was at the zenith of his power and influence, among the kindred tribes. " His villages were on the Little St. Joseph River, oue on the table-land where Cedarville now is, near the mouth, but on the north side of Cedar Creek ; and the other about seven miles from Fort Wayne, on the north side of St. Joseph, on a section of land granted by the Miami Indians at the treaty held in 1826, at the mouth of the Mississinewa, at Paradise Springs (Wabash) to John B. Bourie, which section was described so as to include Chop-a-tie village, perhaps better known as the * Bourie Section.' On the 10th of September, 1S12, when Gen. Harrison's army was forcing its march to raise the seige which the Indians were then holding over Fort Wayne, Me-te-a, and a few of his braves, planned an ambuscade at, the Five Mile Swamp,'' where Wayne's trace crossed it, and perhaps where the present county road crosses it, five miles southeast of this city. Having made an ambush on both sides of the road, in a narrow defile where the troops would have to crowd together, they laid in wait for the army; but Maj. Mann, a spy of Gen. Harrison, with a few avant couriers . discovered it in time to save the effusion of blood in the army. Metea, having located himself behind a tree, left his elbow exposed as it laid over the breech of his rifle, resting on his left shoulder. This Maj. Mann discovered, and instantly took aim, and firing, broke the arm of the brave chief; and, discovering that he had not killed him, he sprang off in hot pursuit after Metea, who gathered up his swinging and crippled arm, fled with a loud ' Ugh ! ugh !' and, by the hardest effort, escaped to Fort Wayne in time to advise the besieging Indians of the approach of Gen. Harrison's army, at which they prepared to leave, and left that afternoon.

" The arm of the chief healed up, but the bone never knit, which left it entirely useless. He often told over the incident of his wound, and chase by Maj. Mann, and gave him great praise for being a brave and athletic man. It was supposed that if Mann's men, who were with him as spies, had been as quick and courageous as he was himself, that Metea would have paid the penalty of that ambuscade with his scalp.

" He was a brave, generous, and intelligent Indian, who is described by those who knew him well, to have been not only an orator, but a powerful reasoner and practical man, especially at the treaties in which he took part. In addition to these qualities, he was most vivacous and witty.

" He lived in this vicinity, as is known, from 1800 to 1827, in May of which latter year, he came to his death by poison, said to have been surrepti¬ tiously administered by some malevolent Indians who were unjustly incensed at him for his adherence to the terms of the treaty of 1826, made at the mouth of the Mississinewa. The poison was supposed to have been the root of the Mayapple. He, the night before his death, was discovered to have been poisoned, and, in the the morning, found dead, his tongue having swollen'to such an extent as to have protruded far through his mouth, filling it so as to prevent, breathing. He was then buried on the sand-hill overlooking the St. Mary's and between where Fort Wayne College now stands, at the west end of Wayne street and the west end of Berry street. * * * ****** of the Pottawatomie chief Metea, who, for half a century or more, it is thought prior to May, 1827, had been an occupant of this soil, which had been reclaimed with such an indifferent spirit on the part of the whites, as that they nearly for¬ get that it was once Indian territory, and since which death, on the spot where stood his and the Indians beloved Ke-ki-ong-a (blackberry patch), has sprung up a beautiful city. But here comes a musing spirit ; their day is past ; their fires are out ; the deer no longer bounds before them ; the plow is in their hunting-grounds ; the ax rings through the woods, once only familiar with the rifle's report and the war-whoop ; the bark canoe is no longer on the river ; the springs are dry ; civil¬ ization has blotted out that race, was another noted chief of the P ittawatomies - noted especially for his exhibi¬ tions of cruelty and revenge. He often indulged in liquor, and when thus excited, his appearance and manner were those of a demon, giving loose rein to his vicious temper. He was, however, reputed to be a brave and efficient warrior.

The year 1812, says Schoolcraft, " was noted as the acme of the outburst of every malignant feeling which appears to have been in the heart of Western Iudians. The black reverse of the American arms at Detroit, Hull's surrender the horrid massacre of the retiring American garrison of Chicago, who were butchered like so many cattle on the "sandy shores of Lake Michigan - the wild howl of the tribes along the whole frontiers, came like the fierce° rushing of a tornado, which threatens to destroy entire villages. Among the elements o'f this tornado was the wild sasaguon, or war-whoop of Wau-bun-see. He was a war chief of some note at Chicago, distinguished for his ferocious and brutal character."

An exhibition of this is given in connection with a dispute between two of his squaws. One of them, to gain her point, went to the chief aud accused the other of abusing his children. The accused one was peremptorily brought before him. Her he ordered to lie down upon the ground on her back, and directed the accuser to dispatch her with a tomahawk. A single blow smote the skull.

There, said the savage, " let the crows eat her," and left her unburied until persuaded to do otherwise. Then he directed the murderess to bury her. This she did, but so shallow that the wolves dug up and partly devoured the body.

The Shawanoes

This tribe, one of the early types of the Algonquin family, was called Santanas by the Iroquois, and Shawanon, by the Delawares, meaning Southern. By the French they were called Chouanons, occasionally Massawomoes. They were erratic, and, in consequence, their location was little known prior to 1608. Mr. Jefferson, in his " Notes on Virginia," says that in 1608, when Capt. John Smith had been in America about one year, a fierce war was raging against the allied Mohicans residing on Long Island, and the Shawanoes on the Susquehanna, and to the westward of that river, by the Iroquois. Capt. Smith landed in April, 1607. In the following year, 1608, he penetrated down the Susquehanna to the mouth of it, where he met six or seven of their canoes filled with warriors about to attack their enemies in the rear.

In 1632, De.Lact mentions them as being then on either side of the Dela¬ ware River. Charlevoix speaks of them, in 1672, under the name of Chaouanons, as neighbors of the Andastes, an Iroquois tribe, south of the Senecas, and were, perhaps, represented at the treaty of Kensington, Penn., in 1682. They were parties to the treaty at Philadelphia, in 1701, which was signed by their chiefs, Wa-pa-tha, Lemoytungh and Pemoyajagh. [See Proud's Hist. Penn.]

Meantime, in 1684, the Iroquois, when complained of for having attacked the Miamis, justified their conduct on the ground that the Miamis had invited the Santanas (Shawanons) into the country for the purpose of making war upon them (Iroquois). [Colden's Hist. Five Nations.]

The Sacs and Foxes, originally on the St. Lawrence, claim the Shawanoes as of their stock, retaining traditional accounts of their emigration South. " Their manners, customs and language indicate a Northern origin, and upward of two centuries ago, they held the country south of Lake Erie. They were the first tribe which felt the force and yielded to the superiority of the Iroquois. Con¬ quered by these, they migrated to the South, and, from fear or favor, were allowed to take possession of a region upon the Savannah River ; but what part of that stream, whether in Georgia or Florida, is not known ; it is presumed the former." [Hist. Ind N. A.]

Mr. Gallatin fixes the date of their defeat by the Five Nations, as having taken place in 1672. He also places them as belonging to the Lenapi tribe of the North - originally to the Algonquin Lenapi nation. Prior to 1672, they were in Eastern Pennsylvania, on the St. Lawrence and on the southern shore of Lake Erie - generally, it was with some neighboring tribe. Subsequently, they were found South, on the Ohio River below the mouth of the Wabash, in Kentucky, Georgia and the Carolines.

In 1708, they were removing from the Mississippi to one of the rivers of South Carolina. Says Mr. Gallatin, there was a settlement of them on the head- | waters of the Catawba or Santee, probably the Yadkin. John Johnston, in the i transactions of the American Antiquarian Society, says that a large body of them who originally lived north of the Ohio River, for some cause emigrated to | the Suwanee River. From there they returned, under Black Hoof, about 1750, j to Ohio. This probably gave the name to the Suwanee (Shawnee) River.

In the wars that took place between the French and English, commencing J in 1755 and ending with the declaration of peace on the 10th of February, i

1763, the Shawanoes were the allies of, and assisted the French in the contest rendering essential service. Notwithstanding peace had been declared between these two belligerent powere by the 'ratification of the treaty to that end, the Indians, being dissatisfied with some of the provisions of that instrument, refused to abide by the terms, and continued their depredations against the settlers on the border. The particularly objectionable feature appears to have been that whereby the Canadian provinces were ceded to Great Britain. This objection was greatly enlarged by the acts of the British Government in building so many forts on the Susquehanna and elsewhere, because they were thus 'gradually " surrounded on two sides by a cordon of forts, and were threatened with an extension of them into the very heart of their country. They had now to choose whether they would remove to the north and west, negotiate with the British Government for the possession of their own land, or take up arms for its defense.

L hey chose the last alternative, and a war of extermination against the English in the Western country, and even those on the Susquehanna, was agreed upon and speedily commenced. * * * The contest was continued with resolute and daring spirit, and with much destruction of life and property, until Decem¬ ber, 1764, when the war was brought to a close by a treaty at the German Flats, made between Sir William Johnston and the hostile Indians. Soon after the con¬ clusion of this peace, the Shawanoes became involved in a war with the Clierokees, which continued until 1768, when, pressed hard by the united force of the former tribe and the Delawares, the Southern Indians solicited and obtained a peace. For the ensuing six years, the Shawanoes remained quiet, living on ami¬ cable terms with the whites on the frontiers. In April, 1774, howeve'r, hostili¬ ties between the parties were renewed."

From that time until the close of Wayne's campaign, in 1794, and the sub¬ sequent treaty of Greenville, in August, 1795, there was a series of conflicts, involving the sacrifice of many valuable lives, not of the white people onlv, but of the Indians, and, not the least among the latter, Cornstalk, the celebrated Shawanoe chief, and his son, Elenipsico, two genuine specimens of Iudian nobil¬ ity. Having united in the treaty of Greenville, with the exception of those who fought at Tippecanoe, the Shawanoes remained at peace with the government of the United States until the period of the war with Great Britain, in 1812, in which a considerable body of them became the allies of the English. Subse¬ quently we hear little of them in the attitude of warriors. Afterward, having disposed of their interest in the lands in this vicinity, by satisfactory treaty, they removed westward and settled upon "a tract of country twenty-five miles north and south, and one hundred east and west, bounded on the east by the State of Missouri and on the north by the' Kansas River, which, in point of soil, timber and water, is equaled by but few tracts of the same size in any country ; though there is, however, hardly a sufficient proportion of timber for the prairie. The Shawa¬ noes have become an agricultural people, their buildings and farms being similar to those of the whites in a newly settled country, enclosed by rail fences, and most of them in good form, each string of fence being straight, sufficiently high to secure their crops, and many of them staked and ridered. They all live in comfortable cabins, perhaps half, or more, being built of good hewn logs, and neatly raised, with outhouses, stables and barns." [Drake's Indians, 703 ]

Among the numerous Shawanoe chiefs and warriors whose history is particularly identified with the history of the Maumee Valley, especial attention is directed to the following :

Wey-A-Pier-Sen-Wah, Or Blue Jacket

" In the campaign of Gen. Harmar, in the year 1790, Blue Jacket, an influ¬ ential Shawanoe chief, was associated with the Miami chief, Little Turtle, in the command of the Indians. In the battle of August 20, 1794, when the combined army of the Indians was defeated by Gen. Wayne, Blue Jacket had the chief control. The night previous to the battle, while the Indians were posted at Presque Isle, a council was held, composed of chief* from the Miamis, Pottawatomies, Delawares, Shawanoes, Chippewas, Oltawas and Senecas, the seven nations engaged in the action. They decided against the proposition to attack Gen. Wayne that night in his eucampment. * * * * The counsel of Blue Jacket, however, prevailed over the better judgment of Little Turtle. The battle was fought, and the Indians defeated."

At the treaty of Greenville, which followed as an effect of this formidable engagement, Blue Jacket conducted himself with great dignity and moderation.

He was not among the first to act upon Gen. Wayne's proposition. He thus stated his reasons : " Brother, when I came here last winter, I did not mean to deceive you. What I promised you I did intend to perform. My wish to con¬ clude a firm peace with you being sincere, my uneasiness has been great that my people have not come forward so soon as you could wish, or might expect. But you must not be discouraged by these unfavorable appearances. Some of our chiefs and warriors are here ; more will arrive in a few days. You must not, however, expect to see a great number. Yet. notwithstanding, our nation will be well repre¬ sented. Our hearts are open, and void of deceit." At the conclusion of the treaty, he spoke again, as follows : " Elder Brothel's, and you my brothers present, you see now present myself as a war chief to lay down that commission and place myself in the rear of my village chiefs, who for the future will command me. Remember, brothers, you have all buried your war hatchets. Y'our brothers, the - Shawanoes, now do the same good act. We must think of war no more." He kept his word.

Cat-Aiie-Kasa, Or Black Hoof

Gf n" en'nle won for him their confidence and appreciation, and was never at a 1 fnPfin£g bra" fight under his leadership. " He was known far and lo" " ,," "Lt Shawano= warrior, whose cunning, sagacity and experience were coaled by the fierce and desperate hr^orywiAwhich horned ope, graceful Indnu ' it wejj vorsej in the traditions ot his peot S ic sooner had he satisfied himself of this truth than _ he acted uponft uMth tin* decision which formed a prominent trait in his character, principal chief of the Shawanoe nation, possessing all the influence and authority that usually attached to tile office, when Tepumseh and Ills brother commenced their hostile career. In this, Tecumseli solicited lus co-operation, but the sagacious chieftain refused to be allied with such an enterprise.

There was much of tile humanitarian, also, in lus composition, opposin poly¬ gamy and the practice of burning prisoners, and is reported to have lived l for y vein? with one wile, and to have reared a numerous family of children, who bot loved and esteemed him He was small in stature not more than five feet el I t Inches in height ; was cheerful and long-lived, dying in Wapakonatta, at the advanced age of one hundred and ten years.

Captain Logan

whose career as a warrior is so intimately associated with the pioneer history of Ifleu (bounty, and especially of Fort Wayne, was the tried friend of the white man and sacrificed his life in attestation of that fidelity, in the month ol Novem¬ ber 1812 during the progress of the memorable siege of Fort Wayne.

From the best authorities at hand, Logan, whose Indian name was bpemica- Luwba the Hi^h Horn, sprang from the Machaehac tribe ot the Shawanoes, and was born at the principal city of his tribe, on Mad River, Ohio, about the year 1778 He is alleged to have been the nephew of Tecumseh (his sisters son), but the statement is probably incorrect. There are manifest reasons for the statement that there was no relationship existing between them.

The first account we have of him is from Capt. Benjamin Lo0an, of "-c» lucky who had command of an expedition of mounted men from that State against the Shawanoes on the north side of the Ohio which destroyed the Machaehac towns on Mad River in September 1|86. After the capture and destruction of the village, the men were greatly annoyed by arrows shot by an invisible hand not unfamiliar with the use of a bow and arrow. A critical inves ligation revealed a young Indian fully equipped fur the work engaged in I hat vouth was the Capt. Logan of after years. The officer in command, much pleased wilh the courage and address of the boy, adopted him into Ins family to which he became a valuable addition. Subsequently, he was exchanged and permitted to return to his people, but lie retained the name ot Lo'-an °and continued to be the trusted friend of the white people.

Because of his bravery and intellectual qualities, he was promoted to the position of a civil chief, and acquired considerable distinction as a counselor and as an executive officer. , , , ,

In the war a-ainst England in 1812, he joined the American army, and acted as one of the guides to Gen. Hull in his expedition against Detroit. Afterward, when it became necessary as well as expedient to remove the women children in the vicinity of Fort Wayne to some place of safety in Ohio, John Johnston, the Indian Agent at Piqua, selected Logan as the most suitable person to be intrusted with so important an enterprise. He discharged that duty with the utmost delicacy and kindness, removing twenty-five women and children more than one hundred miles, those under his charge bearing testimony to his uniformly humane treatment, not sleeping, it is said, during the entire journey from Fort Wayne to Piqua. ...

Immediately after Hull's surrender at Detroit, in August, 181 _, during the progress of the memorable siege of Fort Wayne, the place was invested by some four or five hundred Indians, the entire garrison consisting of less than one hundred persons not more than sixty of whom were fit for duty, and the commanding offi¬ cer totally inefficient. Relief was necessary, and none was more readily accessible than the body of Ohio troops near Piqua. These had been directed toward lort Wayne, but to establish communication with them and make their presence here quickly available was an undertaking at once hazardous and critical, requiring both courage and tact in its successful execution, as the sequel will show.

On the 31st of August, it having been ascertained that the Indians, in larg. force, were on the route to Fort Wayne, it was essential that the garrison should be made acquainted with the situation. William Oliver (afterward Major), and Thomas Worthington, with Capt. Logan and a number of trusty Shawanoes, undertook the difficult task of communicating with the garrison. On the followins day, when within twenty-four miles of the fort, Oliver and Logan, with Capt. Johnny and Bright Horn, all- well armed and mounted, made an effort to dTd MtSSl' "until the 12'th of September. The Indians,' after a strugstarted down the Maumee to reconnoiter. Suddenly, about . noon, they w prised by some of the enemy, among whom wasWinainac, a Pottawatomie che , Klliott 1 half-breed holding a commission in the British army. Being powered, they were take,,

After two days of intense suffering, which had been boine with stoic mu ference having preserved his honor with the sacrifice of his life, he d»d»ilk tb« utmost composure and resignation, and was buried with the honors ot war. Pen. Winchester said of him: "More firmness and consummate biavery has seldom ameareTon the military theater." His death cast a gloom over the entire army aid he who mive utterance to the ungenerous implication upon the honor of the chief seemed deeply grieved at the consequences of his unprovoked assaul , prompted, as it certainly was, from motives of jealousy.

Nicholas Conspiracy

The origin of this conspiracy should, perhaps, date back to a period ^ more than 15(1 years anterior to the date of its ultimate consummation ^ subsequent to the first permanent French settlements in Canada and the 1 ration of the systematic trade with the Indians for the accumulation of furs as a source of pecuniary profit, English traders came and established a "

Indians esDeciallv en-a<red in the procurement of such furs as commanded me bLt prici in foreign°markets. The French having first opened avenues through which ilnfens could make the traffic profitable, and, by methods peeuhar 0 the French people secured their entire confidence, it was extremely difficu to divert !he made from those original channels. Failing to succeed ,n their attempts to overcome the inclination of the Indians to confide in and trade with ^ French, feelings of jealous, on the part of the English traders were naturally mgendered, and in the course of time became productive of results

The department of trade in furs most lucrative was that in beaver, which always commanded the readiest sales. From location and adaptation, iffime tribes procured the best qualities in larger quantities and with more cer a y , hence they were envied by the less successful, and their favor courted by petino traders. Of these) the Outaouas (Ottawas) were pre-eminent, and, at the same°time were most unyielding in their adherence to the French, thus consti¬ tution an almost impassable barrier to the advances of the English traders. With these conditions precedent, jealousy on the part of ot ler tn as, pei laps ancewith English, on the one hand, and the disposition on the part ot the English to secure their trade by whatever means, holding, at the same ^ time a comrollinn influence over powerful and ambitious tribes on the other, the process most likely to suggest itself was to induce an exertion of that insinuating influ¬ ence in pandering to the jealousies of circumjacent tribes will 1. pre texts .for wan Such means were speedily utilized by the. English, and the Ottawas were ght with manifestations of ill-feeling from former friends, who had upon to thus play their part in the game of intrigue to acquire the advantage of trjJ>Nest to the Ottawas, the Hurons were the best fur-gatherers, and occu¬ pied an enviable position in their sphere, supplying a large propoi ion 0 c material necessary to successful trade, and, with the Ottawas were early in the interest of the French traders, and were allies, also, of the Ottawas. They were however, subject to the influence of the Iroquois, whose kindred they were. That influence was exerted so as, eventually, to divert the trade into English cha«s to the detriment of the French interests. This left the Ottawas, the exclusive y lir-e traders in beaver, adhering to the French, notwithstanding the unsuccessful manipulating process adopted by the English agents. Meanwhile, these elements I of discord had their effect on the family relations of the ncighbonn0 tribes, involving also the relations of the French and English subordinate governments Feuds were engendered among the tribes, and promoted by the interference of their allies respectively. In the course of lime, petty wars becamo frequent, and I were sources of anfioyance, especially to the French, and the Hurons, from being

The immediate pretext for the conspiracy of Nicholas, the Huron chief while it was the outgrowth of the conditions before cited - was assumed to be in consequence of the circulation of English belts by Iroquois, among the neigh¬ boring tribes, as a means to that end, and Nicholas, sometimes known as Sandosket from the location of his principal villages on the bay of Sandusky - a Huron chief ot some notoriety, who, -from some disaffection, with a few followers, had left Detroit, a few years previously, and settled on the south of Lake Erie - became the self-constituted agent in the movement, and settled at the point named where he had better opportunities for gratifying his ambitious designs.

About the time of the contemplated attack upon Detroit, five Frenchmen, who were on their return from the post on White River, were murdered by some Hurons from Detroit, belonging to the band of the war chief Nicholas, who had stolen all the furs in the possession of the murdered men. Tins occurred on the ddd of June, 1747. Being wholly unaware of the presence of Englishmen anion" the Hurons, these men were unsuspicious of danger, and had counted upon tile hos¬ pitality and friendship of the Indians. It was quickly observable, however, that their presence was unsatisfactory to these emissaries of the English, who, instead of tendering to those travelers the hospitalities due to the citizens of a kindred nation, encouraged the village chief to seize them and appropriate their effects. " Tllls was accomplished on the afternoon of the day of their arrival.'' Nicholas assumed to be greatly irritated at the audacity of these Frenchmen, as he termed it, in coming to his town without his permission, and as a penalty for their temerity, he condemned them to death, the tomahawk executin'" in cold blood this imperative mandate.

At this time, also, all the Indians of the neighborhood, except the Illinois, had entered into the design of this Nicholas party to destroy all the French at Detroit, on one of the holidays of Pentecost, and afterward, to go to the fort and subject all to fire and the sword; which, as we have seen, failed because of the plot having been discovered. The discovery, however, does not appear to have been the result of Nicholas' misdirection and management, but of the too great anxiety of some of the young men to be first in carrying out the designs of the leader - striking too soon.

The purpose of the chief becoming known to the Commandant of the fort at Detroit, all the settlers in the vicinity were directed by him to retire within the fort and thus, being in a place of comparative security, be better prepared for any new treachery. J

Meanwhile, as soon as the Sandusky murders came to the knowledge of the Canadian Governor, M. de Longueuil, Commandant at Detroit, was instructed to require Nicholas to surrender the murderers of the five Frenchmen, that tliev might be made to expiate the crime. Messengers were accordingly sent and a demand made, but the demand was disregarded, the chief manifesting a spirit of defiance.^ The result of this condition of affairs was preparation for the prompt punishment of the perpetrators and their defiant abettors. While steps were being taken by the military authorities, at Detroit, to provide for the main¬ tenance of law and order, the protection of the people and preservation of the interests of trade, the wily chief was not inattentive to what was going on, but was equally active in preparing to execute his own plans, to which reference has been incidentally made. It was the purpose of the chief that * " a party of Detroit Hurons were to sleep in the fort and houses at Detroit, as they had often done before, and each was to kill the people where he lodged. * * * A hand of Pottawatomies was commissioned to destroy the French Mission, and villages on Bois Blanc Island ; the Miamis, to seize the French traders in their country ; the Iroquois to destroy the French village at the junction of the Miami and St! Joseph; the Foxes to destroy the village at Green Bay; the Sioux, Sacs and Sarastans to reduce Michilimackinac ; while the other tribes were to destroy the French trading-posts in their respective countries, seize the traders and put them to death. This great conspiracy, so skillfully planned and arranged, would have been attended with a frightful loss of life, and the utter annihilation of French power, but for its accidental, yet timely discovery."

The discovery was in this wise : A murder had been committed prema¬ turely, and some of the conspirators, being fearful of the consequences, held a meeting, to consider what was best to be done, in a room provided for the purpose. During the progress of their council, while the details of the conspiracy were bein^ discussed, one of the squaws had occasion to go into the garret in search of corm While there, she overheard the plans and in great haste went to a Jesuit priest and made a statement of the matter, which was at once communicated to M. de Lon¬ gueuil, the Commandant at the fort, who took-the precautionary steps necessary to insure safety. Soon an additional military force was sent by the Canadian Governor, which had the effect to so interfere with his plans that Nicholas aban¬ doned the project of consummating his destruction of the French power.

In the management of his diplomatic intercourse with other Indian tribes, to secure their alliance, Nicholas was greatly assisted by the English, who, it appeared, had been furnishing supplies of ammunition and military stores at San¬ dusky, and had otherwise given their influence for furthering his designs. As a partial return for the interest taken by I he English in their operations against the French and their Indian allies, Nicholas, on his part, offered them all the facilitaes in his power for the establishment of posts all along Lake Erie as far as the Miamis River, as a means of securing and maintaining their trading advantages. Ihe active co-operation of the English with the movements of Nicholas, was further shown by assurances to the effect that the Senecas had given an English belt to La Demoiselle, chief of a portion of the Miamis, allies of the English, to procure the assassination of Sieur Denonville, French Commandant at the Miamis post, and of M. de Longueuil, at Detroit, having offered a reward to whomsoever should carry their heads to the English Governor.

In addition to poisoning tho minds of the Miamis, and of the other tribes manifesting a moderate degree of friendship for the French, he was on tho alert to off means of communication between the Indians and Ihe authorities at Detroit, Montreal and Quebec, intercepting messengers and diverting from their legitimate channels these sources of information, that, in the mean time he could better execute his own plans, while the French authorities might, in Their fancied security, for the time being, be unguarded. This was especially true as to the Miamis who, upon the request of the Ca.-adian Covernor, had sent a deputation to Montreal. This deputation was met on the way by some of Nich¬ olas emissaries and induced, upon a misrepresentation of the facts, to return. The statement of Ensign Chevalier dc Pcyrade, Commandant at Post Ouyatenon, g'ves the details : While he was on his way down to Montreal, with the nations from the Ouabache, passing down the Miamis River, he learned of the treachery of the hurons ; that this intelligence, conjoined to other circumstances, obliged those nations to return to their village, where they were pretty quiet when ho left them to return to Detroit.

Early in July, 1747, information from the river St. Joseph disclosed the situation in that quarter, from which disclosures it appeared that the English had been endeavoring to debauch the nations belonging to that post, as well as in the others, by the unfavorable impressions they were trying to insinuate among them rough the agency of the Iroquois, who were continually employing pretexts to bring about the destruction of the French at that and adjacent posts. As a result the Miamis and Ouyatenons, especially, were in disorder, the former hav¬ ing allowed themselves to be gained over by the belts of Nieholas, who had repre¬ sented to them that Detroit had been razed by the lake tribes; hence, that they could no longer defer killing the French who remained among them. With this state of feeling among the Miamis, they were ready for the commission of any excess that might suggest itself. J

No other pretext being required, they first seized eight Frenchmen, who were in the fort at the Miami Village, about the last of August, 1747 These they did not injure, but shortly after, impelled forward by the continued interpo¬ sition of the emissaries of the English, the French fort at Ke-ki-ong-a, with the property belonging to the French inhabitant*, was seized by the disaffected Miamis and their confederates. The property was appropriated by the marauders, and a portion of the buildings adjacent, together with the fort, were partially destroyed by fire, in the latter part of September following. Before the consum¬ mation of this last act, however, information had been conveyed to the command¬ ant at Detroit, of the situation of affairs, who immediately sent four French dep¬ uties with messages to the Miamis, to dissuade them from the wrong course they were ignorantly pursuing, and induce them to go to Detroit, where they might be accurately informed concerning what had been represented to them. But, when the deputies arrived, the blow had been struck and the property destroyed. Notwithstanding the position of things, as ascertained by these deputies, many of the Miamis were prevailed upon to go to Detroit, as requested. But, in the mean time, Nicholas had adopted means to offset the effort of the French Com¬ mandant to rectify the impression before given out, that Detroit had been destroyed. He sent other belts to the Miamis, confirmatory of the first, which had the effect to again disconcert the pacific measures proposed, and cause the Miamis to return to their village, and send only two deputies to Detroit. These two deputies were immediately sent back by M. de Longueuil, with messages cal¬ culated to disabuse the nation as to the evil speeches of Nicholas.

When Nicholas found that no permanent advantage had been gained by his strategic movements; that all his plans were eventually circumvented, and that, with the additional force received at the Detroit post, his destruction was inevita! hie, he manifested a disposition to disband, and, while the Miami deputy was at Detroit, he, with Orontoni and Anioton, chiefs of the Huron traitors, went there to sue for peace and surrender the belts which had been the cause of their treason. Their sincerity, however, was doubted, and the actions of Nicholas were deemed equivocal and not free from suspicion that other motives than those manifested by him had induced the display.

Having made this bold exhibition of his intentions, steps were taken to enforce obedience to his promises, by war, in case of his refusal, and Mikinac, a trusty Outaouas chief, with a sufficient number of faithful allies, was dele¬ gated to carry these purposes of the French Commandant into execution.

Early in the month of February, 1748, the French Commandant at Detroit, with a view to maintain the advantages already acquired, and deprive the enemy of the liberty of seizing a post of considerable importance, sent Ensign Dubuisson to the Miamis, at Kekionga, with instructions " to form only a small establishment there to winter in. He has been supplied with thirty Frenchmen to maintain himself there, and is accompanied by thirty others, destined for the Ouyatenon trade, with orders to the latter to return to rejoin Sieur Dubuisson in the spring, so as to return together to Detroit. It is also further shown by the foregoing instructions, that Sieur Dubuisson was so sent, with a sufficient escort to keep possession of the fort, which had been partially burned, but not to undertake any¬ thing." [N. Y. Col. Doc. X, 150-181.]

"The same month," says Mr. Knapp, "La Joncaire, Governor of Canada, ordered M. de Longueuil to give Nicholas notice that no English traders would be allowed among his people, or in the western country, and, if they were found, they should receive notice to quit forthwith. Agreeable to these instructions, a French officer was sent to Sandusky, who notified Nicholas of the wishes of the Governor of Canada. Finding several English at the towns, the officer com¬ manded them to leave the country, which they promised to do.

1 Finding himself deserted by nearly all of his allies, his power for mischief gone, and the activity and determination of the French to suffer encroachments from the English no longer, Nicholas finally resolved to abandon his towns on Sandusky Bay, and seek a home farther west. On the 7th of April, 1748, he destroyed the villages and fort, and on the following day, at the head of 119 warriors and their families, left for White River, in Indiana."* It has been stated that he subsequently moved to the Illinois country, locating on the Ohio, near the Indiana line, and that he died there. This statement is probably incorrect, as it is pretty well settled that he remained on White River, and died near the fnrks of that stream, not far from the Wabash, in the fall of 1748, at about the age of fifty-eight, years.

Thus closed one of the most gigantic conspiracies of the eighteenth century, considered in the light of the influence brought to bear through the ingenuity of this chief, second, perhaps, only to that of Pontiac, which occurred a few years later. The result, too, is probably as much owing to the unyielding conduct of M. de Longueuil toward most of the tribes who had been engaged, as to the ill luck that continued to pursue the chief manipulator of the scheme. That the Miamis at, this point were deeply concerned in the plot, and performed the part assigned them by the destruction of the fort and the appropriation of the prop¬ erty, cannot now be doubted, but whether those acts were committed from motives of innate treachery, or were the consequences of too great credulity in yielding to the influence of flattering gifts from the hands of designing agents, is a ques¬ tion of more difficult solution.

When the conspiracy of Nicholas had spent its force, and was crushed out by the vigilance of the French authorities, and the fort at Ke-ki-ong-a had been partially burned through the agency of the Hurons and disaffected Miamis, durthe progress of the Indian movement, in order to maintain the advantages acquired, the French Commandant at Detroit sent Ensign Dubuisson to the Miamis, as a means of depriving the English emissaries of the liberty of seizing the post, which was of considerable importance, at that point. He was directed not to rebuild the fort, for that was not mcessary, having been only partially burned, but to so repair it as to make it tenable during the winter; hence, his occupancy of it was only for a few months, and this occupancy was with a force in the character of an escort sufficient to take and hold possession for the time being.

During the following year, 1749, Capt. De Celeron, under authority of the King of France, conducted an expedition into the Ohio country for the purpose of taking formal possession of the territory in the King's name, burying leaden plates along the borders of the Ohio River, and at other points. While thus engaged, he visited much of the interior country, and held frequent conferences with the Indian tribes of the vicinity. The expedition passed up the Miami River as far Demoiselle's Village, the site since occupied by Fort Laramie, it is said, from which point the route was overland until they struck the head-waters of the Maumee (perhaps the St. Mary's), and arrived at Kiskakon, the ancient site of Ke-ki-ong-a. This name, Kiskakon is reputed to have been taken from a branch of the Ottawas that came there from Michilimackanac, where they had resided since 1682. Here, De Celeron found a French military post, in command of M. De Raymond, who, it is supposed, rebuilt the fort at this point. That he did so, is not probable, since Sieur Dubuissou, who had been there in the winter of 1748, and so repaired it as to make it tenable during the period of his remaining there. This is, very likely, the rebuilding so often referred to in this connection. After leaving in the spring, he was returned in August of the same year, when re-enforcements and supplies were sent there for his benefit. Having been returned at that time, the presumption follows that he remained there through the succeeding winter, after which M. De Raymond took command.

When De Celeron reached this point, he halted a short period, sufficiently long to examine the locality with considerable care, and to provide pirogues for the descent of the expedition on the Maumee to Lake Erie, and the necessary supplies of provisions. On the 27th, part of the expedition started overland to Detroit, while the residue went by the way of the Maumee and Lake Erie. At the time of his visit here, Pied Froid (Cold-foot) was the resident chief of the Miamis.