Who were the Aborigines of this part of Indiana-Algonquins, Miamis, Delawares, Shawanoes, Hurons, Iroquois, or Wyandots?

It is not essential, perhaps, to the purposes of this work, to consider the question, who were the original inhabitants of this country, except in a general way; whether they were white or copper-colored, civilized or savage in the characteristics, "Yet, in this day of ethnological inquiry, the historian, though his field be a local one, is expected to reflect whatever light the developments of the age may have brought forth in the regard. It is not in accord wth the spirit of inquiry, however, to ignore the investigations and dispose of the issues without comment. That this country was inhabited by a race of people possessing a higher order of intelligence and mechanical skill than is generally awarded to the Indians, so called, is, perhaps, unquestioned. The evidences of this superiority exist in forms more or less distinct in every locality. In numerous localities withing the State of Indiana, prehistoric remains are conspicuous, attracting the attention of archeologist to an investigation of them as a means of determining the identity of the people cotemporaneous therewith." Of these remains, the valley of the White River has an extensive collection. In another part of this volume will be found an aricle devoted to a description and discussion of these, with the best lights that have been brought to bear upon the subject. "With all the developments thus far made, the question who the Mound-Builders were, when and when they came, and what was their history, is yet unanswered. True, many conjectures more or less plausible in the method of their presentation, have been brought forward in the elaboration of these opinions."

"Passing, then, to an examination of the traditional and historical evidences at command pertinent to the Indiana race, a wider field opens up inviting attention. At the time when the existence of the American continent was made manifest to the civilized world, it was peopled by a race, who, in the absence of a more appropriate name, were called Indians because of their fancied resemblance to the inhabitants of the Eastern Indians, and, perhaps, for the mosre significant reason that they were found in the course incident to the discovery of a more direct route to the Indies and China, which seems to have been the impelling motive of the early voyagers from the Old World." While it is no doubt a conceded fact that European mariners had crossed the Atlantic and discovered the American continent long before the enraptured vision of Columbus was gratified with its inspection, for the purposes of this work, it may be assumed that Columbus and his successors were the first to discover and make known to the transatlantic work the existence of the country improperly designated as America. From about the period of the close of the fifteenth and the incoming of the sixteenth century, then, our knowledge of the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent will date.

Upon the first introduction of Europeans among the primitive inhabitants of this country, it was the prevailing opinion of the former, that this vast domain was peopled by one common family, of like habits and speaking the same language. Observation, however, soon dispelled the error, and, at the same time, established the fact of the great diversity of their leading characteristics, physiologial development, and in their language, the diversity sometimes arising from on cause and sometimes from another. Withing the past century, especially, has the subject of ethnological investigations acquired new interest, the developments of the period adding greatly to the stock of knowledge appertaining thereto. These investigations, in many instances, have elicited facts of vast moment in considering conditions as the result of causes before unknown to science. In a brief review of this subject, the reader's attention will be directed to an examination of such of the features of the investigation as pertain to the tribes and families of the Indian race who have heretofore inhabited this valley or whose history may be incidentally connected therewith. There are certain radical divisions, however, into which, by common consent, the race has been separated, that first should claim attention. The principal of these divisions is now known as the Algonquin, embracing among others, the Miami tribe, recognized as one of the most perfect types of that division, and in past ages one of the most extensive numerically. Next to the Miamis, if not entitled to rank first, are the Delawares or Lenne Lenapis, and the Shawanoes. The Miamis were early known as the 'Twa-'twas, Omes, and Omamees. Next to those were the Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas, and Piankeshaws, who collectively were known as the Illinese or Illinois Indians. Then the Ottawas, thc Chippewas and Mississauges were interchangeably known as the Nepersinians, Nipissings, Ojibwas, Sautaux and Chibwa After these were the Kickapoos or Miscoutins, the Pottawatomies or Poux, and the Sacs and Foxes. The Munsees was another name for the Delawares. This is the classification of Schoolcraft, who is recognized as excellent authority upon this subject.

Another division, the Hurons, Huron-Iroquois or Wyandots embraced all the remaining tribes with whose history we are at present interested. Of this division, the Hurons, better known as the Wyandots, enter more especially into our local history. Some of the tribes of the primary divisions as named above, are not immediately connected with the post-Columbian aborigines of this locality; hence, more than incidental reference to them in this relation is deemed unnecessary. As a division, the Algonquins have been migratory in character, not disposed, from choice or necessity, to remain long in the same territory. In speaking of them,. Mr. Schoolcraft, upon this point as deducible from the elemental features of their language, says: "We find some traces of this language in ancient Florida. It first assumes importance in the sub-genus of the Powhatanese circle in Virginia. It is afterward traced, in various dialects in the valleys of the Hudson and Connecticut, and through out the whole geographical area of New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia." "The terrm (Algonquin) appears to have, been first employed, as a generic word, by the French for the old Nipercinians, Ottawas, Montagnies, and their congeners, in the valley of the St. Lawrence. It is applied to the Salteurs of St. Mary, the Maskigoes of Canada, and, as shown by a recent vocabulary, Blackfeet of the Upper Missouri, the Saskatchawas, the pillgers of the Upper Mississippi, and the Crees or Kenistenoes of Hudson's Bay. Returning from these remote points, where this broad migratory column was met by the Athapasca group, the term includes the Miarnis, Weas, Piankeshaws, Shawanoes, Pottawatomies, Sacs and. Kickapoos. and Illinois, and their varieties, the Kaskaskias, etc., to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi. It will be seen, then, from this review, that branches of the primitive family have extended over a large proportion of the territory now occupied United States and British America."

Intellectually considered, the Algonquins occupy a position far above mediocrity, surpassed only by the Dacotahs and Iroquois, the latter standing, perhaps, in the first rank. Their language is euphonious and expressive, abounding in vowel sounds capable of numerous and nice, regular modifications. Aside from their distinctive individualties, there are few physical peculiarities which distinguish the Algonquins from other families of the North American Indians "All possess, though in various degrees, the long, lank, black hair, the heavy brow, the dull and sleepy eye, the full and cornpressed lips, and the salient but dilated nose. A similar, conformity of organ ization is not less obvious in the cranial structure of these peoples The Indian skull is of a decidedly rounded form. The occipital portion is flattened in the upward direction, and the transverse diameter, as measured between the parietal bones is remarkably wide, and often exeeds the longitudinal line The forehead is low and receding, and rarely arched, as in other races, a feature that is regarded by Humboldt, Lund, and other naturalists, as characteristic of the American race, and serving to distinguish it even from the Mongolian. The cheek bones are high but not much expanded, the whole maxillary region is salient and ponderous, with teeth of a corresponding size and singularly free from decay."

So far as the purposes of this work are concerned, an account of each of the separate tribes of the families enumerated, would be superfluous, since a few of them only have rnore than a remote relation to the particular history of those which have possessed or temporarily occupied the territory embraced within our prescribed limits. The latter include especially the Miamis and the Wyandots, and subsequently the Delawares or Lenne Lenapis, and the Shawanoes. It is our province, then, to review with some particularity the career of these tribes individually and collectively, giving, as fully as may be, the personal history of some of the more distinguished characters who have figured in the current of passing events.

THE MIAMIS.

As we have s the Miamis occupy a high position in the scale, as typifying the primitive or Algonquin family. This tribe has been variously designated as the 'Twa-'twas, Twe-Twees, Twigbtwees, Omes, Omamees, Aumlamis and finally, the Miamis. Their generic name was probably 'Twa-'twas, the name Miami being derived from the French M'Amis (my friends), said to have been applied to that people by the French traders in consequence of some mistrust growing out of the opprobrious use of the name 'Twa-'twa, by which they were before usually known. Next to the Delawares, perhaps, the Miamis are entitled to be recognized as the leading branch of the Algonquin group, tracing their individuality with the Ottawas and Nipercinians, from the country north of the river St. Lawrence, in the latter end of the sixteenth century, when the French navigators and traders began first to establish posts as the antecedents of permanent settlement in New France. Whatever is true of their relationship to the parent stock, whether immediate or remote, it is a fact, nevertheless, that many of the primitive characteristics of the generic group are preserved in the habits and language of the Miami nation.

In common with the primitive Algonquins, the language of the Miamis, as compared with the Huron, "has not so much force, but more sweetness and elegance. Both have a richness of expression, a variety of turns, a propriety of term a regularity, which astonish. But what is more surprising is, that, among these barbarians, who never study to speak well, and who never had the use of writing, there is not introduced a bad word, an improper term or a vicious construction, and even �hildren preserve all the purity of the language in their common discourse. On the other hand, the manner in which they animate all they say, leaves no room to doubt of their comprehending all the worth of their expressions and all the beauty of their language."

In their preparations for war, the Miamis had a custom peculiar to themselves, an account of which is given by Charlevoix, in narrating his travels in New France, but at too great length of detail for the purposes of this work. These ceremonies were uniformly observed, however.

When it is understood that the Miamis are an offshoot from the Algonquin stock, which, at that time their separate existence 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 Superior, the Esquimaux and Hudson 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 this tribe 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 Chicago; afterward settling on the St. Joseph's, 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 times past, but exactly when is not now known, the Miamis, because of their extensive dominion, power and influence, and of the numerous consanguineous branches acknowledging the relationship, "were known as the "Miami Confederacy". In 1765, the Confederacy was composed of the following branches, situated, and having warriors in number as fcllows: Twiglitwees, at the head of the Maumee River, with 250 available warriors; the Ouinteuons, in the vicinity of Post Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, with 300 warriors; the Piankeshaws, on the Vermillion 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 representatives of the Five Nations would seem to show.

In 1748, the English merchants and traders secured a limited trade with the Miamis, in consequence, it is said, of the failure of the French traders who had held the supremacy in this department during the preceding century, 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 that year.

By their several treaties with the United States, the Miamis ceded an aggregate of 6,853,020 acres of land. Aggregate of lands given in exchange, 44,640 acres, the total value of which was $55,800. The aggregate consideration paid for these lands in money and goods, was $1,205,907. Total consideration paid, $1,261,707, as shown by the official records of those transactions.

THE DELAWARES.

This tribe belongs also to the Algonquin family, and is said to stand in order among the best representative types of the primitive race, if, indeed, it is not entitled to be recognized as the prototype of that most extensive division of the aboriginal inhabitants of America. They have been known, heretofore, as the Lenne Lenapi, and were, at an early period in their history, separated into three divisions, each of which was designated by an insignia, or emblematic totem. These totemic divisions, were known as the Unami, or turtle branch, the Minsi, or wolf, and the Unalachigo, or turkey. When they crossed the Alleghanies, the whole nation were called Loups, or wolves, by the French, "from confounding them with the Mohicans of the Hudson, who appear, in the formative tribal ages, to have been descendants of the wolf totem." "At the beginning of the sixteenth century, this tribe occupied the banks of a large river, flowing into the Atlantic, to which they applied the name Lenapihittuk. This term is a compound of Lenapi, the name given to themselves, 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 of the river and hence the present name of both the river and the tribes."

"The true meaning of the term Lenapi has been the subject of various interpretations. It appears to carry the same meaning as Inaba, 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 positon for antiquity, valor and wisdom. And this claim appears to be recognized by the other tribes of this lineage, who apply to them the term of Grand Father. To the Iroquois they apply the word uncle; and this relation is reciprocated by the latter with the term nephew. The other tribes of the Algonquin lineage, the Delawares, call brother, or younger brother. These names establish the ancient rank and influence of the tribes." [Schoolcraft.]

In the early days of their known history, especially after their loss of power and caste, the oft-repeated remembrance of their former high position among the numerous tribes occupying the lake region, was a source of proud satisfaction. The relation connecting them with the period of their prosperity, was regarded as a golden epoch in their tribal history. It was then that the bravery of their warriors, the wisdom of their counselors and the brilliancy of their warlike exploits, gave them a prestige worthy to be recounted, in after years, among the traditions of their fathers. Then they were allied with the Iroquois, and retained their ancient character for prowess and enterprise. To recall these was pleasant. When, however, the Five Nations confederated at Onondaga and were no longer engaged in petty quarrels among themselves, the former pleasant 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 them about acquiring and maintaining the supremacy. To do this, aggressions were the order, and ultimate conquest the end of movement thus directed. So the Delaware lost their native independence in the rise of Iroquois power, and became a subordinate nation, denied the enjoyment of their ancient rights and territory.

In 1744, during the progress of the treaty at Lancaster, Penn., the Iroquois denied them the right to participate in the privileges incident to the treaty, and refused to recognize them as an independent nation entitled to sell and transfer their lands. Canassatego, one of the Iroquois chiefs, on that occasion, upbraided them in public council for having attempted to exercise any right 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." They dparted from the council, and, ere long, left forever their native hunting grounds, on the banks of the Delaware, and turned their.faees westward, humiliated and subdued except in the proud recollections of their past achievements. Agein, 1751, they inhabited the region about Shamokin an Wyalusing, on the Susquehanna, threatened on one hand by the intrusive tread of white settlers, and the tomahawk of the Iroquois on the other. After a few years of mixed joy and reverses, they took shelter on the White River, of Indiana. This was about the begining of the nineteenth century, and here a missionary effort was set on-foot among them, which was broken up by the interference of the prophet-brother of Tecumseh, during his career of popular jugglery and imposition.

The coming of the Delawares, and the occupancy of this immediate territory by them, was with the approbation and consent of the Miamis. After the treaty of Greenville, they had removed from the mouth of the Auglize to the head-waters of White River--a large branch of the Wabash. By the terms treaty of Greenville, it was determined that the community of interests in the land among the Indian tribes as claimed by Tecumseh, should not be recognized, but. That each individual tribe should be protected in every claim that should appear to be found in reason an injustice. It was also determined, that as a measure of policy and liberality, such tribes as lived upon any tract of land which it would be desirable to purchase, should receive a portion of the compensation, although the title might be exclusively in another tribe. Upon this principle, the Delawares, Shawanoes, Pottawatomies and Kickapoos were admitted as parties to several treaties. Care was taken, however, to place the title to such tracts as might be desirable to purchase hereafter, upon a footing that would facilitate the procuring of them, by getting the tribes who had no claims and who might probably interfere, to recognize the titles of those who were ascertained to possess them.

This was particularly the case with regard to the lands watered by the Wabash, which was declared to be the property of the Miamis, with the exception of the tract occupied by. the Delawares, on White River, which was considered to be the joint property of them and the Miamis. [Gov. Harrison to Secretary of War.] By the treat of St. Mary's, on the 3d of October, 1818 between the Delawares and the United States, the former ceded all their claims to land in the States of Ohio and Indlana under a perpetual anuity from the, latter of $4,000 to provide them with comfortable homes beyond the Mississippi. In this treaty, the Delawares reserved the right to occupy their lands in Indiana for a period of three years subsequent thereto.

THE SHAWANOES

are properly classified as members of the same family, springing from the same parent stock as the Miamis and Delawares, occupying, also, a high position among the Indian tribes formerly inhabiting the territorial area of the United States. By the Delawares, they were called Shawanau, and by the French Chouanons-occasionally, Massawomoes, but, by the Iroquois, they were designated as Satanas. The name Shawanan appears to have been derived from their location at the time when it was so applied--Southern-- inhabiting the Savanna country. They were erratic; hence, hence, their abiding place, prior to 1608, was almost unknown. At that time and since, however, their locality is ascertainable. Thomas Jefferson in his "Notes on Virginia," states that in 1608, when Capt. John Smith had been in America about one year, having landed in this country in April, 1607, 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. During that year, he travrersed the Suaquehanna to its mouth, where he met six or seven canoes filled with: Shawanoe warriors preparing to attack their enemies in the rear.

"In 1632, De Laet mentions them as being then on either side of the Delaware 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." [ Proud's Hist. Penn.] Colden, in his history of the Five Nations, speaks of them as occupying territory of the Miamis upon their invitation, with a view to war against the Iroquois by whom the Shawanoes had been defeated as early as the year 1672. Subsequently they were located on the south side of the Ohio River, below the mouth of the Wabash, in Kentucky, in Georgia, and in the Carolinas at later periods. Mr. Gallatin says that, in 1798, and after, there was a settlement of them on the head-waters of the Catawba or Sautee, probably the Yadkin. From there they returned, under Black Hoof to Ohio, al 1750. They were the allies of the French against the English, during the continuation of the French and Indian war, from.1755 to the declaration of peace, February, 1763. Being diasatisfied with the conditions of peace between the belligerent powers, they refused. to abide by its terms and continued their depredations against the settlers on the border with unmeasured barbary. Soon after the conclusion of their war against the English, in December 1764, they were involved in a controversy with the Cherokees which continued until 1768, when, pressed hard by the united force of the former tribe and Del awares, the Cherokees solicited and obtained a peace. During the succeeding six years, these several tribes remain in comparative quiet, living on amicable terms with the whites. In 1774, however, hostilities were again renewed, and prosecuted with vigor during a series of years. Having united in the treaty of Greenville, in 1774 with the exception of those who fought at Tippecanoe, the Shawanos remained at peace with the Government of the United States. Since that time, having sold all their lands in this State and moved west of the Mississippi, we hear little of them in the attitude of warriors.

THE WYANDOTS (OR HURONS).

In the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the settlements of New France began to extend westward along the borders of the lakes, this tribe occupied territory on the north and south, and at the west end, of Lake Erie. Then, they were known as Hurons, and subsequently as Huron-Iroquois. They belonged to the division of the Iroquois, and sustained an enviable reputation among the primitive tribes, besides being the recognized allies of the French during all the vicissitudes of early settlement and the incidents of trade. They, with the Ottawas, were the best fur gatherers or rather, the gatherers of the best furs, being especially skilled in the procurement of the beaver commanding the readiest sale and best prices, was most sought after. The French, from their treatment of the natives, were better able than any other people to secure these advantages of trade, and thus almost monopolized the traffic. In the course of time; this advantage became a source of great annoyance and chagrin to the English traders, who were unable to gain the confidence, and so secure the trade, of these great fur-gathering tribes. To overcome this, the English resorted to various means, some of which would not comport with honor and fair dealing. Petty jealousies were excited between contiguous tribes, resulting in war and bloodshed. One of the chief consequences of the policy adopted by the English to secure an advantage in the prosecution of this especially lucrative trade in beaver, was that the Hurons, from being the warm friends and allies of the French, came to be their secret and ultimately open enemies. This, however, was the work of time; almost a century elapsed from its inception to the period of culmination in the Nicholas conspiracy in 1747-48. The immediate pretext for this movement of Nicholas, the Huron chief, while it was known to be the outgrowth of jealousy on the part of the English, was assumed, for the purposes contemplated, to have been occasioned by the circulation of English belts, by their agents, the Iroquois, among the neighboring tribes, as a means to that end. Nicholas was sometimes known as Sandosket, from having his principal village on the bay of Sandusky, south of Lake Erie. He was a Huron chief of considerable notoriety, but, from some disaffection; left Detroit with a few followers and settled at Sandusky, where subsequently, his well-matured plans of conspiracy were formulated. Afterward, having been foiled in the execution of his scheme by the indiscreet haste of a few of his over-ambitious followers, and meeting with greater opposition than was contemplated, he finally succumbed to the inevitable, abandoned his town, on the Sandusky bay, destroyed it, and, at the head of 119 warriors and their families, left for White River, Indiana, on the 7th of April, 1748, where he died in the fall of that. year. His scheme was one of the most gigantic of the eighteenth century, and seldom, if ever, surpassed in the arrangement of it details. As diplomatist, be was no doubt the peer of Pontiac, but possessing less of his effective force as an orator.

Gov Harrison, in his letter to the Secretary of War, dated March 22, 1814, thus speaks of this tribe and its relations to the situation then present. "The Wyandot are admitted by the others to be the leading tribe. Their hold the grand calumet which unites them and kindles the council fire. This tribe is nearly equally divided between the Crane, at Sandusky, who is the grand sachem of the nation, and Walk-in-the-Water, at Browntown, near Detroit. They claim the lands bounded by the settlements of this State, southwardly and eastwardly; and by Lake Erie, the Miami River, and the claim of the Shawanoes upon the Auglazie, a branch of the latter. They also claim the land they live on near Detroit, but I am ignorant to what extent."

"The Wyandots of Sandusky have adhered to us through the war. Their chief, the Craine, is avenerable, intelligent and upright man. Within the tract of land claimed by the Wyandots, a number of Senecas are settled. They broke off from their own tribe six or eight years ago, but received a part of the annuity granted that tribe by the United States, by sending a deputation for it to Buffalo. The claim of the Wyandots to the lands they occupy, is not disputed, that I know of, by any other tribe. Their residence on it, however, is not of long standing, and the country was certainly once the property of the Miamis."

CHAPTER II.

INDIAN TREATIES.

Affecting the title to lands on White River.

By the provisions of the treaty of Greenville, Ohio, on the 3d day of August, 1795, between the United States and Indiana tribes--the former represented by Maj. Gen Anthony Wayne, commanding the armies, and sole commissioner of the United States, and the latter by their sachems, chiefs and warriors--an end was put a destructive war, all controversies settled, harmony restored and friendly intercourse established between the parties named in the treaty. In addition to the forgoing general provision, annunities were granted to the several tribes interested, of $1000 each; also, by Article V. "To prevent any misunderstanding about the Indiana lands relinquished by the United States in the fourth article, it is now explicitly declared, that the meaning of that relinquishment is this; the Indiana tribes who have a right to those lands, are quietly to enjoy them, hunting, planting, and dwelling thereon, so long as they please, without any molestation from the United States; but when those tribes, or any of them, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or any part of them, they are to be sold only to the United States; and, until such sale, the United States will protect all the said Indian tribes in the quiet enjoyment of their lands against all citizens of the United States, and against all other white persons who intrude upon the same. And the said Indian tribes again acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the said United States, and no other power whatever." Numerous other provisions were included, intending the more strongly, not only to establish a lasting peace but to define with particularity the respective rights of all the contracting parties thereto.

This treaty and these provisions were signed on the part of the Delawares in this vicinity, by Kith-a-we-nund, or Capt. Anderson; Buk-ong-e-he-las; Pee-kee-lund, Magh-pi-way, or Red Feather, and many others of equal rank and influence.

Again, by the provisions of Article IV, of the treaty between the United States and the Delaware tribe of Indiana, on the 18th day of August, 1804, it is stipulated that, "the said tribe having exhibited to the above-named commissioner of the United States, sufficient proof of their right to all the country which lies between the Ohio and White Rivers, and the Miami tribe, who were the original proprietors of the upper part of that country, having explicitly acknowledged the title of the Delawares, at the general council held at Fort Wayne, in the month of June, 1803, the said United States will, in future, consider the Delaware as the rightful owners of all the country which is bounded by the White River on the north, the Ohio on the south, the general boundary line running from the mouth of the Kentucky River on the east, and the tract ceded by this treaty, and that ceded by the treaty of Fort Wayne, on the west and southwest."

By the treaty at Vincennes, on the 27th of August, 1804, the Piankeshaws, who previously had claimed a right in certain lands lying between the Wabash and the tract before ceded by the Kaskaskias in 1803, relinquished all said right to the United States, thus acknowledging the right of the Delawares thereto. Also, by the provisions of Article V, of the treaty at Grouseland, near Vincennes, on the 21st day of August, 1805, "The Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel Rivers and Weas explicitly acknowledge the right of the Delawares to sell the tract of land conveyed to the United States by the treaty of the 18th of August, 1804, which tract was given by the Piankeshaws to the Delaware, about thirty-seven years ago."

Article II, of the treaty at Fort Wayne, September 30, 1809, between the United States and the Delawares, Pottawatomies, Miamis, and Eel River Miamis. "The Miamis explicitly acknowledge the equal right of the Delawares with themselves to the country watered by the White River. But is is also to be clearly understood, that neither party shall have the right of disposing of the same without the consent of the other; and any improvements which shall be made on the said land by the Delaware, or their friends the Mohecans, shall be theirs forever." This treaty was signed on the part of the Delawares, by Capt. Anderson, Pet-che-ke-ka-pon, The Beaver, Capt. Killbuck, and by Capt. Anderson for Hocking-pom-skon, who was absent. On the part of the Miamis, by Pucan, The Owl, Little Turtle, Wa-pe-mangua (or the Loon), Silver Heels and Sha-wa-pe-no-mo.

The Delaware, also, by the first article of the treaty with the United States, at St. Mary's, on the 3d day of October, 1818, ceded to the United States all their claim to land in the State of Indiana. And, by article II, "In consideration of the aforesaid cession, the United States agree to provide for the Delawares a country to reside in, upon the west side of the Mississippi, and to guarantee to them the peaceable possession of the same." By Article III, "The United states also agree to pay the Delawares the full value of their improvements in the country hereby ceded: which valuation shall be made by persons to be appointed by the President of the United States," etc. By Article VII. "One-half section of land shall be granted to each of the following persons, namely: Isaac Wobby, Samuel Cassman, Elizabeth Pet-cha-ka, and Jacob Dick; and one-quarter of a section of land shall be granted to each of the following persons, namely: Soloman Tindell and Benoni Tindell; all of whom are Delawares; which tracts of land shall be located, after the country is surveyed, at the first creek above the old fort on White river, and running up the river; and shall be held by the persons herein named, repectively, and their heirs; but shall never be conveyed or transferred without the approbation of the President of the United States." They were, also, by the fourth article, "allowed the use and occupation of their improvements, for the term of three years from the date of this treaty, if they so long require it." This treaty was signed by Capt. Anderson, La-pah-ni-hi (or Big Bear), James Nanticoke, Apa-ca-hund (or White Eyes), Capt. Killbuck, the Beaver, Ne-ta-ho-pun-a, Capt. Tunis, Capt. Ketchum, The Cat, Ben Beaver, The War Mallet, Capt. Cagh-koo, the Buck, Pet-che-nana-las, John Quake, Que-nagh-to-oth-mait, and Little Jack.

In a note appended to this treaty, "It will be perceived that they are the first nation of Indians with which the United States entered into a formal treaty; and it seems by the sixth article, of No. 1, of this chapter, that it was contemplated in the year 1778, during the American Revolutionary contest with Great Britain, to institute an Indian State, with the Delawares at its head, and with a right to a representation in Congress. The wandering mode of life and peculiar habits of the Indians no doubt frustrated this benevolent plan. The Delaware Indians are parties, in common with several different tribes, to other treaties with the United States."

CHAPTER III.

THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC.

Indian Opposition to English Control--The Strategy of Pontiac--His great Influence among the Indians--Successes and reverses--Ultimate Failure.

In 1847-48, in the conspiracy originating with Nicholas, a Huron chief, better known, perhaps, by the name of Sadosket, from the situation of his village in the vicinity of Sandusky Bay, we have an example, somewhat anomalous, it is true, of Indian dissatisfaction toward the French people. From the first introduction of the French policy among the savage nations, this unlettered people, because of the uniformly kind and generous conduct manifested toward them by the former, had always been attached to and in unchangeable alliance with them. When, therefore, this wily Huron began to develop his scheme of oppostion to the former friends and allies of his people, it was a surprise to all, except those who were cognizant of his movements. At first, his supporters were few, but, possessing unusual diplomatic talent, in a short time a formidable force was on the war-path, ready to execute his every command. But the fates were against him, and, after a stubborn pursuit of his skillfully arranged plans, he yielded sullenly to the power he could not overcome. His opposition had grown from the patronizing influence of English traders exerted during a long series of years. With Pontiac, the case was different. When the long-continued warfare between the English and French for supremacy had culminated, and the latter had surrendered to the former; when Quebec had fallen into the hands of the English, and one after another of the strongholds had passed from French possession, and new alliances became a necessity, then it was that the Indian began to manifest opposition to English rule. This wide-spread disaffection rapidly assumed form and the demand for a competent leader became imminent. The emergency was met in the choice of Pontiac. Might in his influence among the people of his race, powerful in person, commanding in presence, resolute to an extraordinary degree, possessed of a rare gift of eloquence, sagacious and subtle as a beast of prey--he rightfully claimed the office of chief over many tribes, and became the minister of vengenance for his race. He was a principal chief of the Ottawas and a warrior of great renown. As a participant in the battle upon the Heights of Abraham, in the vicinity of Quebec, he was the ally of the French, and, now that they had been subjugated, he manifested an unwillingness to surrender that allegiance to the conquerors, preferring to maintain, by force of arms if need be, his fidelity to the early friends of his people.

Had the English, at this juncture, adopted a course of policy toward the Indians similar to that of the French, much effusion of blood might hav been spared, and much of the unparalleled suffering of victims averted. "But then, as since, great Britain acted less from the dictates of a broad humanity than from the impulse of commercial gain. In fixing the degree of responsibility for what followed, we should, in order to be just, weigh well the causes which impelled the savages to the war-path. If Great Britain could have appeased those tigers of the American forest, panting for blood, she should have done it; that she not only offered no conciliation, but scorned and maltreated the untamed creatures, is to make her at least partially accountable for the conspiracy and its sad results."

"The mutterings of the impending storm were heard early in the summer of 1761, when Maj. Campbell, commanding at Detroit, was fully informed of a conspiracy among the tribes along the lakes and in the Ohio Valley, to rise simultaneously against all the forts, to massacre the garrison and then to combine and fall upon all settlements advanced over the easter ridge of the Alleghanies. Expresses were at one dispatched to all the points menaced. This betrayal of their plot sufficed to postpone the attack for that season. Sir Jeffrey Amherst commanded extreme caution to be used at all posts, while the Indians were treated with a severity and suspicion which only served to strengthen their bitterness of feeling toward their foe."*

While this postponement gave the English an opportunity to strengthen their posts and guard against attack, it enabled the Indians, also, to perfect their plans and better concentrate their efforts when the proper time arrived for their onward movement. Pontiac made good use of the delay in sending ambassadors to all the adjacent Indian tribes, urging an alliance. These movements of the wily chief were kept, however, profoundly secret, and, had it not been for the confidential disclosures, in the way of warnings to special friends, the result would have been most disastrous to the white settlements within the limits of the prescribed territory.

Among the means of diplomatic intercourse between the different tribes in that day, the transmission of belts, having an accepted significance, was, perhaps, the most conspicuous, and was generally accompanied with a speech or "talk," calculated to emphasize the symbology of the belt. A white belt was emblematic of peace, while black or red belts were suggestive of war, and were always transmitted by special messengers. The practiced observer understood well their purport, and prepared accordingly.

The chiefs, says Parman, have the power "to declare war and to make peace; but when war was declared, they had no power to carry the declaration into effect. The warriors fought if they chose to do so; but if, on the contrary, they preferred to remain quiet, no man cold force them to lift the hatchet. The war chief, whose part it was to lead them to battle, was a mere partisan, whom his bravery and exploits had led to distinction. If he thought proper, he sang his war-song and danced his war-dance, and, as many of the young men as were disposed to follow him gathered around and enlisted themselves under him. Over these volunteers he had no legal authority, and they could desert him at any moment with no other penalty than disgrace."

On the 25th of April, 1763, a council was summoned to meet on the River Encorces. " In accordance with the summons, they came issuing from their cabins--the tall, naked figures of the wild Ojibwas, with quivers slung at their backs, and light war-clubs resting in the hollow of their arms; Ottawas, wrapped close in their gaudy blankets; Wyandots, fluttering in painted shirts, their head adorned with feathers, and their leggins garnished with bells. All were soon seated in a wide circle upon the grass, row within row--a grave and silent assembly. Each savage countenance seemed carved in wood, and none could have detected the deep and fiery passions hidden beneath that unmoved exterior. Pipes, with ornamented stems,were lighted and passed from hand to hand." Before this grand council, Pontiac delivered his war speech, ingenious in its method and thrilling in its effects upon his silent, statue-like auditors. "Every sentence was rounded with a fierce ejaculation; and, as the impetuous orator proceeded, his auditory grew restless to spring at one into the bloody arena of battle and bury the scalping-knife and tomahawk in the body of the enemy." With this kind of enthused excitement at fever heat, the conspirators were ready for immediate action. Detroit was the objective point, but the plot was discovered in time to prevent its execution. Notwithstanding the failure to capture Detroit, numerous other posts--Sandusky, Presque Isle, Michilimackinac, Ouiatenon fell into the hands of conspirators. Soon the capture of the post at the junction of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Rivers followed.

Meanwhile, though these apparent successes of the conspirators had a tendency to encourage them, the results were not equal to their anticipations, in view of the fact that the strongholds of the English had in a measure become impregnable, and, the question of the ultimate success of the conspiracy no longer a doubtful one, its failure was found to be inevitable. This fact, to the mind of Pontiac, was strikingly manifest, and, though still sullen and intractable, he, and such of his followers as continued their allegiance to him, in the fall of 1764, left Detroit and took their abode for the time being on the Maumee, a few miles below the present site of Fort Wayne. Finally, in the spring of 1766, Pontiac left his encampment on the Maumee, "accompanied by his chiefs, and by an Englishman named Crawford, a man of vigor and resolution, who had been appointed by the Superintendents to the troublesom office of attending the Indian deputations and supplying their wants"--for the purpose of meeting in council the English governor at Oswego. Reaching the point of his destination, where the great council was held, he made his great peace speech, and "sealed his submission to the English" by acknowledging allegiance to them forever. This was the end of his warlike career.

------------------------------
* American Conspir, p. 35.

CHAPTER IV.
Expedition of Gen. Harmar against the Miamis--His Defeat, and its Consequences--St. Clair's Expedition and Defeat--Disaster Attending Wayne's Expedition and Victory--Indians Demoralized--Treat for Peace.

From the date of the failure of Pontiac's conspiracy until the commencement and during the progress of the American Revolution, but little more than local protection was afforded the frontier settlements against the depredations of Wester Indians. Indeed, it was a part of the policy of the British Government to maintain an alliance with belligerent tribes, for the purpose of using them, when opportunity offered, in its offensive warfare against the colonists. It was not until the close of the revolution, the success of the colonial arms and the establishment of a permanent government by the people of the United States, that any formidable movement was inaugurated against them, notwithstanding frequent and startling incidents of merciless Indian warfare were common. When however, the machinery of government was put into operation, and the power to meet force with force, if need be, was adequately established, President Washington called the attention of Congress to the necessity of effective measure in the premises. At first a pacific policy was adopted, and all reasonable means to establish and maintain the same applied, but without satis factory results. Hence, Washington, in his message of the 8th of January, 1790, directed the attention of Congress to the matter, using this language: "There was reason to hope that the pacific measures adopted with regard to certain hostile tribes fo Indians, would have relieved the inhabitants of our Southern and Western frontiers from their depredations; but you will perceive, from the information contained in the papers which I shall direct to be laid before you (comprehending a communication from the Commonwealth of Virginia), that we ought to be prepared to afford protection to those parts of the Union, and if necessary, to punish the agressors." Again, in his second annual message, on the 8th of December, in the same year, he submitted the following:

"It has been heretofore known to Congress that frequent incursions have been made on our frontier settlements by certain banditti (sic) of Indians from the northwest side of the Ohio. These, with some of the tribes dwelling on and near the Wabash have of late been particularly active in their depredations, and, being emboldened by the impunity of their crimes, and aided by such parts of th neighboring tribes as could be seduced to join in their hostilities or afford them a retreat for their prisoners and plunder, have, instead of listening to the humane invitations and overstures made on the part of the United States, renewed their violences with fresh alarcrity and greater effect."

"The aggravated provocations rendered it essential to the safety of the Western settlements, that the aggressors should be made sensible that the Government of the Union is not less capable of punishing their crimes than it is disposed to repect their rights, and reward their attachments. As this object could not be effected by defensive measures, it became necessary to put in force the act which empowers the President to call out the militia for the protection of the frontier. I have, accordingly, authorized an expedition in which the regular troops in that quarter are combined with such draughts of militia as were deemed sufficient."

Pursuant to the authority above referred to, Gen. Harmar, having been placed in chief command of the expedition, left Fort Washinton on the 4th of October, 1790, at the head of the army, the route being to the nortward, bearing to the northeast, passing the Indian village of Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, on the 6th. From there, the route lay to the northward and westward, in the direction of the Miami towns at the head of the Maumee. On the 14th of October,when about thirty miles from the objective point, Col. Hardin, with one company of regulars and 600 militia, was detached from the main army and sent forward to reconnoiter the position of the Indians, their number and apparent intentions. On the afternoon of the following day, this detachment reached the village and took possession of it, the Indians having vacated it a short time previously. In the meantime, however, the main body of the army, having pursued the regular line of march, arrived on the morning of the 17th, and crossed the Maumee to the village above, at the junction of the St. Joseph's with this stream. Then the destruction of village commenced, and before the 21st the destruction was complete, the chief town and five subordinate villages, with nearly twenty thousand bushels of corn found in the vicinity, had been reduced to ashes.

A general reconnaissance of the surrounding neighborhood having been determined upon to ascertain the whereabouts of the absconded savages, Gen. Trotter,with 300 Kentuckians, was sent out for that purpose on the morning of the 18th, after the destruction of the principal village. This reconnaissance was not rewarded with any beneficial results, and was, as a consequence, unsatisfactory to the General-in-Chief. On the morning of the following day, Gen. Trotter's command was transferred to Col. Hardin, with instructions as on the preceding day, and the detachment took up its line of march along the Indian trail, bearing to the northwestward, in the direction of the Kickapoo village. A halt was called, when about five miles from the head of the Maumee, and positions assigned to different divisions, anticipating an attack, but, none being made, the detachment moved forward about three miles, when two Indians were discovered on foot. These escaped unhurt, owing to the thick underbrush surrounding, though a gun had been fired at them. A little further on, a more formidable body of Indians were discovered with camp-fires in front of them. A fire was at once opened by these Indians upon Col. Hardin's detachment, which, without waiting to return the fire, hastily retreated with great loss, the regulars alone remaining to continue the fight against fearful odd. The result was most disastrous.

Col. Hardin was greatly chagrined at the apparently unnecessary defeat of his expedition, and, on the night of the 21st, after Gen. Harmar had taken up his line of march back in the direction of Fort Washington, after much persuasion, induced the commanding general to give him another opportunity to vindicate himself, by sending him back to the site of the village just destroyed. Accordingly, though Gen. Harmar was unwilling to try further experiments, having already suffered greatly, he received an order for a special detachment of 340 militia, of which forty were mounted, and sixty regular troops, the former to be commanded by himself, and the latter by Maj. Wyllys. The detachment marched immediately, forming in three columns, the regulars in the center, commanded by Capt. Asheton, with Maj. Wyllys and Col. Hardin in front, the militia forming the right and left. The Maumee was reached about sunrise on the morning of the 22d, when the spies, discovering the enemy on the opposite side of the river, reported to Maj. Wyllys, who halted the regulars, and gave his orders and plan of attack to the militia in front, with the commanding officers of the several divisions. There orders, however, were not generally communicated, leaving those uninformed officers in doubt. Divisions were sent to the leftwith instructions to cross the St. Mary's in rear of the village, and to the right, crossing the Maumee at the old ford in advance of the regulars, to cut off the retreat of the Indians below the village, while the center was to move forward, crossthe Maumee near the same point, and attack the enemy in front. Premature firing from the division sent to the rear of the village disarranged the order of attack, and the Indians, being apprised of the situation, attacked the entire body almost simultaneously, and forced the center by a concentracted movement, with fatal effect. The right and left, being held by an inferior force,were unable to afford any assistance in repelling the principal attacking force of the enemy. The engagement was short, sharp and decisive, the slaughter terrible. The loss to the whites was 183 killed and 31 wounded. The Indiana loss was not so great.

ST. CLAIR'S EXPEDITION.

The failure of the expedition of Gen. Harmar against the Wabash Indians naturally induced a coninuance of the hostile spirit manifested by the savages of that locality, and, indeed, of the whole territory northwest of the Ohio. The leaders of these hostile bands, whenever opportunity offered, never failed to exercise theri warlike propensity. Hence, the government of the United States found it necessary to adopt other measures for the relief of the frontier settlements. Accordingly, Gov. St. Clair was directed to prepare for such defense with all possible dispatch. Hence, on the 28th of March, 1791, he left Philadelphia and proceeded thence to Pittsburgh, arriving there on the 16th of April following. From Pittsburgh he repaired to Lexington, Ky., where he remained a few days and deprted for Fort washington, arriving there on the 15th of May. The garrison at the latter point consisted then of seventy-nine commissioned officers and privates fit for duty. At Fort Harmar, "the garrison consisted of forty-five, rank and file; at Fort steuben, there were sixty-one regulars; and at Fort Knox eighty-three." On the 15th of July following, the whole of the First Regiment of United States Infantry, "amounting to 299 non-commissioned officers and privates, arrived at Fort Washington, under orders from Gov. St. Clair, Commander-in-Chief." This force was subsequently increased under act of Congress to raise the number of regulars to complete the quota, drawn principally from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

Early in September, the army took up its line of march in the direction of the Miami towns at the head of the maumee, halting on the site where Fort Recovery was afterward erected. On the 3d of November, the army, consisting of about fourteen hundred effective men, encamped on the head-waters of the Wabash, among a number of small creeks. The right flank lay in front of a creek about twelve yards wide, and constituted the first line, while the left wing formed the second line. Between these two lines there was a space of about seventy yards, which was all the situation would allow. The right flank was supposed to be protected by the creek, while the left was covered by a steep bank, a corps of cavalry and some pickets. The militia passed over the creek and encamped in two lines about one quarter of a mile in advance of the main army. Snow was on the ground, and two rows of fires were made between Butler's and Darke's lines, with two rows also between the line of the militia.

At the same time, and while the army was thus encamped, Little Turtle and Buckongahelas, with other chiefs of less distinction, with about twelve hundred warriors, were lying only a few miles distant, awaiting a favorable opportunity to commence the attack. This opportunity was presented about 4 o'clock on the morning of the next day, and the attack was made accordingly, witha suddeness and effect seldom equaled, just as the army had been dismissed from parade in a state bordering on disorganization. The result was a most sanguinary and disastrous defeat to the white people, the details of which were almost incredible in the degree of barbarous atrocity. The loss was stated to have been thiry-nine officers killed, and 593 men killed and missing. The wounded, twenty-two officers and 240 men. The loss of the Indians did not exceed 150 killed and wounded.

The Government, then, in view of the situation, seeing that a larger, better-provided and better-disciplined army was necessary to give confidence to the settlers along the frontiers and put a quietus on the movements of the Indians, took immediate steps toward fitting out an expedition free from all the elements of weakness that characterized the two former.

WAYNE'S EXPEDITION.

When the outlines of a re-organization had been fully matured, Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne, a native of Chester County, Penn., was placed in chief command, Gen. St. Clair having resigned. Gen. Wayne at once proceeded to arrange preliminaries in such manner as to insure the most auspicious results.

While he was taking there preliminary steps, the Government of the United States was making efforts to establish treaties of peace and alliance with the hostile Indians of the Northwest. to do this, and to acquire the information pertinent to a knowledge of the movements and designs of these hostiles, messengers with "talks" delegated with authority to that end, with Commissioners empowered to make treaties with them, were appointed for different localities. It was especially enjoined upon these Commissioners and messengers, to assure the Indians that it was not the purpose of the government to take their lands without a satisfactory consideration therefor, nor without their entire consent, the failure to observe which had before been the occasion of so much bloodshed. Conformably (sic) with this idea, Gen. Wayne was instructed, in April, 1792, to issue a proclamation informing the people along the frontier of the measures in contemplation, and that it was their duty to refrain from any acts calculated to occasion distrust on the part of the Indians to be treated with.

"On the 28th of July, 1794, the troops under his command having been joined, two days previously, by Maj. Gen. Scott, with about sixteen hundred mounted volunteers from Kentucky, Gen. Wayne, with this united force, commenced his march for the Indians on the Maumee River. At a point on the St. Mary's River, about twenty-four miles to the north ward of Fort recover, he erected and garrisoned another post, which he called Fort Adams. Moving hence, on the 4th of August, he arrived at the junction of the Maumee and Auglaize, on the 8th. The capture of the post at this point is best described in the language of Gen. Wayne's report to the Secretary of War, dated August 14, 1794. He says: "I have the honor to inform you that the army under my command took possession of this very important post on the 8th inst.--the enemy, on the preceding evening, having abandoned all their settlement, towns, and villages, with such apparent marks of surprise and precipitation, as to amount to a positive proff that our approach was not discovered by them until the arrival of a Mr. Newman, of the Quartermaster General's Department, who deserted from the army near the St. Mary's. I had made such demonstrations for a length of time previous to taking up our line of march, as to induce the savages to expect our advance by the route of the Miami villages, to the left, or toward Roche de Bont, by the right--which feints appear to have produced the desired effect, by drawing the attention of the enemy to those points, and gave an opening for the army to appraoch undiscovered by a devious (i. e.), in a central, direction. Thus, sir, we have gained possession of the grand emporium of the hostile Indians of the West, without loss of blood."

After the capture of the post at the mouth of the Auglaize, Gen. Wayne completed a strong stockade fort at that point, which, from the character of the structure and his purpose in erecting it, he called Fort Defiance, Then, desiring still to spare the effusion of blood and carry out literally the instructions received from the hands of President Washington, he made overtures for peace with Indians, sending messengers with conciliatory talks. These efforts, however,were unavailing; the Indians, from their former successes, anticipating an easy victory, determined for war, notwithstanding Little Turtle and some other of the principal chiefs, in council, advised otherwise. In the meantime, however, while these efforts were in progress, Gen. Wayne, watching with sleepless vigilance every movement of the savages, was active in his preparations for offensive or defensive measures, as circumstances might require. Having convinced himself of the intentions of the Indians, "at 8 o'clock on the morning of 20th {of August, 1794}, the army again advanced in columns, according to the standing order of march--the Legion on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee; one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left, under Brigadier General Todd, and the other in the rear, under Brigadier General Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of the Legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep sufficiently advanced, so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether the Indians would determine for peace or war. After advancing about five miles, Major Price's corps received so severe a fire from the enemy, who were secreted in the woods and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. The Legion was immediately formed in two lines, principally in a close, thick wood, which extended for miles on our left, and for a considerale distance in front, the ground being covered with old fallen timber, probably occasioned by a tornado, which rendered it impracticable for the cavalry to act with effect, and afforded the enemy the most favorable covert for theri mode of warfare. The savages were formed in three lines, within supporting distance of each other, and extending for near two miles at right angles with the river. I soon discovered, from the weight of the fire and extent of their lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their favorite ground and endeavoring to turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders for the second line to advance and support the first, and directed Major General Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages, with the whole of the mounted volunteers by circuitous route; at the same time I ordered the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms and rouse the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and, when up, to deliver a close and well-directed fire on their back followed by a brisk charge so as not to give them time to load again."

From every account, the enemy amounted to two thousand combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine hundred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field. "We remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and cornfields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol-shot of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit spectators to this general destruction and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores and property of Col. McKee, the British Indian Agent, and principal stimulator of the war now existing between the United States and the savages."

"The loss of the Indians can only be estimated by the number of their dead left on the field, and, upon that basis, it would be safe to fix the number of killed at little less than eighty, and about two hundred wounded, for, when the battle was ended and the Indians had withdrawn, forty of their dead remained on the field, in addition to the large number necessarily taken off the field during the progress of the engagement, according to their universal usage, until their compulsory retirement--the wounded being more that double their death loss." According to the official report of Gen. Wayne, in the War Department, his loss was twenty-six regulars and seven Kentucky volunteers killed, while of the wounded, there were eighty-seven regulars and thirteen volunteers. Subsequently, nine regulars and two volunteers died from the effect of their wounds--at the date of the report, August 28, 1794.

CHAPTER V.
Expedition against the Mississinewa Towns--Battle and Destruction of the Towns--Delaware Mission--Col. Russel's Expedition--Burning the Delaware Towns--Incidents.

In this portion of Indiana teritory,there was comparative peace with the Indians, except from marauding parties, who not infrequently, in the accomplishment of their mischievous purposes, committed murders and other acts of violence, which, in the course of time, became unbearable--from the date fo the treaty, at Greenville, Ohio, until in the fall of 1812, after and during the second war with Great Britain, in which the Indians, through the agency of English emissaries, were induced to participate, according to the prospects of military advantage, or from motives of plunder. These movements, in the course of time, began to be intolerable, and decisive steps were taken to meet the crisis and enforce obedience to the treaty stipulations, for the preservation of peace. On the 6th of September, 1812, the militia of Clarke County, including sixty mounted volunteer from Jefferson County, under the command of Col. William McFarland, and 350 Kentucky volunteers who arrived on the following day, were drawn together for an apparently common purpose--that of burning the Delaware towns on White River. For some unexplained reason, however, the purpose was not executed, owing no doubt, to the concentration of effort by whites and Indians, toward the expedition against Fort Wayne, a month or two later.

The hostile spirit of the Miamis continuing, the necessity for destroying their towns on the Mississinewa became imminent, and Lieut. Col. Campbell, of the Nineteenth Regiment of United States Infantry, was assigned by Gen. Harrison for that duty. The detachment was composed chiefly of a regimen of Kentucky dragoons commanded by Col. Simrall, a squadron of United States volunteer dragoons commanded by Maj. James V. Ball, and a corps of infantry consisting of Capt. Elliot's company of the Nineteenth United States Regiment, Butler's Pittsburgh Blues, and Alexander's Pennsylvania Riflemen--the entire command comprising about six hundred mounted men. Receiving instructions on the 25th of November of that year, Col. Campbell took up the line of march toward the Mississinewa towns by the way of Springfield, Xenia, Dayton, Eaton and Greenville, that route being prescribed by Gen. Harrison because of its being more distant from the Delaware town, which he desired to avoid, in consequence of the friendly relation existing between the members of that tribe and the United States. In another part of his instruction, Gen. Harrison says: "It will be necessary that care should be taken to avoid coming in contact with them, or to avoid any ill consequences, should it happen to be the case. Inform yourself as minutely as possible from Conner and other who have been to Mississinewa, of the localities of the place, and the situation of the Indians. There are, however, some of the [Miami] chiefs who have undeviatingly exerted themselves to keep their warriors quiet, and to preserve their friendly relations with us. This has been the case with reference to Richarville (a half-breed Frenchman, the second chief of the Miamis), Silver Heels, [and] the White Loon certainly, and, perhaps, of Pecan, the principal chief of the Miamis, and Charley, the principal of the Eel River tribe. The same remark will also apply to the son and brother of the Little Turtle, who continued to his last moments, the warm friend of the United States, and who, in the course of his life, rendered them many important services. Your character as a soldier, and that of your troops, is a sure gurantee of the safety of the women and children. They will be taken, however, and conducted to the settlement. The utmost vigilance of your guards will not, however, afford you perfect security. Your men must, at all times, be kept ready for action, by night as well as by day. When you advance into the enemy's country, your men must be made to lie upon their arms, and with their accouterments on."

In his report of the expedition Col. Campbell says: "Early in the morning of the 17 [of December, 1812], I reached, undiscovered, an Indian town on the Mississinewa, inhabited by a number of Delawares and Miamis. The troops rushed into the town, killed eight warriors,and took fory-two prisoners, eight of whom are warriors; the residue are women and children. I ordered the town to be immediately burned--a house or two excepted, in which I confined the prisoners--and the cattle and other stock to be shot. I then left the infantry to guard the prisoners. I burnt, on this occasion, three considerable villages, took several horses, killed many cattle, and returned to the town I first burnt, where I left the prisoners, and encamped. At four, on the morning of the 18th, I ordered the reveille to be beaten, and the officers convened at my fire a short time afterward. While we were in council, and about half an hour before day, my camp was most furiously attacked by a large party of Indians, preceded by and accompanied with a most hideous yell. This immediately broke up the council, and every man ran to his post."

The encampment was of the usual form. The infantry and riflemen were in the front line, the company of Capt. Elliot on the right, Butler's in the center and Alexander's on the left. Major Ball's squadron occupied the right and on-half of the rear line; Col. Simrall's regiment the left, and the other half of the rear line. The attack was commenced at the angle formed by the left of Capt. Hopkins' troops and the right of Garrard's, but soon became general from the entrance of the right to the left of Ball's squadron. Every man, officer, and soldier stood firm, animated and encouraged each other. After an action of more than one hour the enemy fled with precipitation, having suffered great loss. Fifteen Indians were found dead on the battle-field, and many more were probably carried away. The Indian force engaged in the battle was inferior to that of Col. Campbell, whose loss was reported at eight killed and forty-two wounded, several others afterward dying of their wounds.

The Indians who were taken prisoners were nearly all Munsies, and included among those who composed Silver Heels' band. The villages destroyed were situated on the banks of the river, at points fifteen or twenty miles distant from its junction with the Wabash, the site of the pricipal Mississinewa village. "Lieut. Col. Campbell sent two messages to the Delawares, who lived on the White River, and who had been previously directed and requested to abandon their towns on that river, and to remove into the State of Ohio. In these messaged expressed his 'regret at unfortunately killing some of their people.' and urged them to move to the Shawanee settlement on the Auglaize River." Not long afterward, the Delawares, with a small number of Miamis, moved to the State of Ohio, and there placed themselves under the protection of the United States Government.

An expedition, composed of about one hundred and thirty-seven mounted men under the command of Col. Joseph Bartholomew, in June, 1813, started from Valonia toward the Delaware towns on the west fork of White River, with the intention to surpise and punish some hostile Indians supposed to be lurking about those villages. This expedition was made up of parts of three companies of rangers, one of which was commanded by Capt. Williamson Dunn, another by Capt. James Bigger, and a third by Capt. C. Peyton, with a small detachment of militia under Maj. Depauw, of Harrison County. In a letter written by Col. Bartholomew and addressed to Gov. Posey, we have the following brief account of the movements of this expedition. "Lieut. Col. John Tipton, of Harrison County, and Maj. David Owen, of Kentucky, acted as aids. We left Valonia on the 11th inst. [June, 1813], and pursued a course between north and northeast, about one hundred miles to the Upper Delaware on White River. we arrived there on the 15th, and found the principal part of the town had been burnt three or four weeks previous to our getting there. We found, however, a considerable quantity of corn in the four remaining houses. We went from there on the [16th] down White River, a west course, and passed another village three or four miles below, which had also been burnt. At the distance of twelve miles below the upper town, we came to another small village, not burnt. Here we discovered the signs of Indians who had come to this village for the purpose of carrying off corn. On the morning of the 17th, Capt. Dunn, Lieut. Shields and myself, with 30 men took the trail, and pursued it about a mile, when we met with three of the Indian horses, which we secured. The woods being very thick, we found it necessary to leave most of our horses under a small guard, and took with us only six mounted men, which were kept in the rear. After following the back trail of the Indian horses two miles further, we discovered a camp of two Indians on a high piece of ground. In attempting to surround them, they discovered one of our flanking parties, and immediately broke and ran. They were, however, fired on, and one killed. The mounted men were ordered to charge; but, before they could come near to the surviving Indian, he had got into some brush and hid himself. One of Capt. Peyton's rangers, being thrown from his horse on returning, was considerably in the rear, and, coming suddenly and unexpectedly on the Indiana who had concealed himself, he was fired on, and dangerously wounded through the left hip. The Indian then made his escape to a swamp, where he could not be found. At the same time that we set out on the Indian trail, the main force moved on to the lower town. They found no fresh appearance of Indians there, but much of their having some time previously frequented it to carry off corn. The lower town had, from appearances, been burnt early in the winter. We found at all the towns, from 800 to 1,000 bushels of corn, and, discovering that the hostile Indians were making use of it, [we destroyed it]. We conceived it was the more neccessary to do this, as the corn would, if not destroyed, enable considerable bodies of the enemy to fall upon and harass our frontier. Having the wounded man to take care of, whom we had to carry on a horse litter, it was thought prudent to return to Valonia, at which place we arrived on the 21st [June]."

CHAPTER VI.
Personal Sketches of Noted Indian Characters--Tamenend-White Eye--Captain Pipe--Bukongahelas--Captain Killbuck.

"Among the ancient Delaware worthies," says Thatcher,* "whose career is too imperfectly known to us to be the subject of distinct sketches, we shall mention only the name of the illustrious Tamenend. This individual stands foremost in the list of all the great men of his nation in any age. He was a mighty warrior, and accomplished statesman and a pure and high-minded patriot. In private life he was still more distinguished for his virtues, than in public for his talents. His countrymen could only account for the perfections they ascribed to him, by supposing him to be favored with the special communications of the Great Spirit. Ages have elapsed since his death, but his memory was "still fresh among the Delawares of the last century.

Possessing, in his day, so many admirers among the white people, that the old chieftain was recognized by them as almost a saint, his name was inserted in the calendars, and the 1st day of May annually celebrated as the "Festival of Tamenend." "On that day a numerous society of his votaries walked in procession through the streets of Philadelphia, their hats decorated with bucks' tails, and proceeded to a sylvan rendezvous out of town, which they called the Wigwam, where, after a long talk or speech had been delivered, and the calumet of friendship passed around, the remainder of the day was spent in high festivity. A dinner was prepared, and Indian dances performed on the green." This custom ceased, however, a few years after the conclusion of peace. From the best information at command, this noted chief flourished in the vicinity of Philadelphia, the seat of the ancient Delawares, near the middle of the seventeenth century, and died about the year 1685. The society of St. Tammany appears to have had its origin among the early admirers of Temenend.

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*Indian Biog. II, pg 121.

CAPTAIN WHITE EYES.

This chief is written as "the first captain among the Delawares." His Indian name was Ko-gue-tha-gech-ton, and he was the recognized leader of the peace party of the Delawares, at the commencement of the revolution, in 1775-76. At that time he was head chief of the Turle branch of the delawares, and resided in Ohio.*

Upon the death of Ne-ta-wa-twees, in 1776, he became chief sachem of his tribe, to which place his former positon of first counselor to that chief wold eminently qualify him. Since he was thus not the chief by regular descent, the place was only accepted until a younger chief in the regular line should become, by mature age, authorized to exercise the functions of the office. Being at the head of the peace party during the crisis which involved the liberites of the white people in this country, and favorable to the movement of maintaining missionaries among his people, he naturally awakened the enmity, if not the jealousy, of many of the other leading chiefs. Among these, Captain Pipe, so called, was most conspicuous, as well as most forward in signifying his dislikes. This latter chief was of the Wolf branch of the Delawares, lived and had his council-fire fifteen miles to the northward of the former, occupying his time and talents in forming the plan of a belligerent union with the British against the American forces. While Pipe was esteemed a great man by his cotempories (sic), Captain White Eyes was his acknowledged superior, as well as his senior, in all that appertained to the positions respectively occupied by them.

The purpose of the peace party was, in effect, to convince the Indians that they had no concern with either the British or Americans, while their welfare clearly suggested the policy as well as the propriety of maintaining amicable relations with both, as the true relation. Soon after the cimmencement of the war, in 1775, a conference between a number of the Seneca tribes and the Delawares was held at Pittsburgh, with a view to ascertaining the status of the latter and their disposition to assist the Bristish, or otherwise. The Senecas, as the representatives of the confederated tribes (Six Nations), were the champions of the British cause, and hoped to use the prestige of their own warlike exploits as a means of securing the co-operation of the peaceful Delawares. White Eyes represented the interests of his tribe and refused to awed into submission. Notwithstanding the Delawares had been reproached by their haughty conquerors with being only women--subjugated, these insolent reproaches of the Senecas were met by the following bold reply from White Eyes:

"I know," said he gravely, "I know well, that you consider us a conquered nation--as women--as your inferiors. You have, say you, shortened our legs and put petticoats on us! You say you have given us a hoe and a corn-pounder, and told us to plant and pound for you--you men, you warriors! But look at me. Am I not full grown, and have I not a warrior's dress? Aye, I am a man, and these are the arms of a man [showing his musket]; and all that country [waving his hand proudly in the direction of the Alleghany River], all that country on the other side of that water is mine."

He maintained his independence of character in every fiery ordeal through which he passes, denouncing, in unmeasured terms, the treason of the red man to their countrymen and their best interests. He died at Philadelphia in 1780, aged 120 years.

------------------
Thatcher--Heckewelder.

CAPTAIN PIPE.

His Indian name, according to Heckewelder, was Hop-o-can (a tobacco pipe). subesequently, however, he was known by the title Kogiesch-qua-no-hei (the maker of daylight). In his day, he was on of the most conspicuous of the war-captains of the Delawares, being a principal chief of the wolf branch of that tribe. As compared with Capt. White Eyes, he was the inferior of that justly celbrated warrior in all that goes to make up genuine nobility of character. Withal, however, aside from his untoward ambition and jealousy, his want of the characteristic magnanimity of his nation, he was a great man and noted warrier, a representative man of the Wolf Tribe. His ambitious proclivities made him warlike, energetic, restless. Brooding over old resentment, he panted for revenge, and longed for the coming of the political millennium, when "rogues" should be turned out of office and "honest ment" put in. With such a make-up, he could not fail to become the retailer of artifice whenever better motive failed, and was controlled by motives of selfishness rather than by principle, expecting in all conferences "to monopolize the thinking and talking."* He and his party were the outspoken enemies of the colonists, and, when the commanding officer of the British garrison at Detroit ordered the Moravian Indians on the Susquehanna to be taken to Canada with their priests, dead or alive, Capt. Pipe, with his followers, joined Half-King's band to enforce that order. The result of this expedition was the capture of this people and their subjection to cruelties little better than death. After their arrival at Detroit, a grand Indian council was convened, at which were present large numbers of various tribes, including Capt. Pipe's warriors, who had just returned from a scalping expedition, with four of the Moravian missionaries, who had been summoned at the instance of Capt. Pipe and others of his band, to aid in the maintenance of the charges against the prisoners. Before the conference was ended, the innocence of the missionaries had been clearly established, Capt. Pipe having failed to make good his accusations against them, and he was constrained to say, in the midst of his confusion, "The missionaries are innocent. What they have done, they were compelled to do. We were to blame. We forced them to it when they refused," referring to the interpretation of certain letters to the Delaware chief, received from Pittsburgh. Subsequently, he said: "I never wished your teachers any harm, knowing that they love the Indians, but I have all along been imposed upon and importuned to do what I did by those who do not love them; and now, when these were to speak, they hung their heads, leaving me to extricate myself, after telling our father (sic) things they had dictated and persuaded me to tell him." After this he lived a comparatively quiet life until the time of death, which occurred about the year 1818.

BUCKONGAHELAS.

"A more noted personage in his own time than even Logan, was the Delaware Buckongahelas, who rose from the station of a private warrior to be, as Heckewelder calls him, the head war-chief of his nation. That writer speaks of him at Tuscaroras, as early as 1762; and the chieftain accordingly reminded him of the fact, when,* in 1781, he visited the settlements of the Christian Indians in Ohio. His deportment on that occasion was singularly characteristic of the man; for all writers agree in representing him as fearless, frank and magnanimous. It should be premised that he lived on the Miami, and, being rather in the British interest, was disposed to watch quite closely the movements of the peace party. What he did, however, he did openly, and he never hesitated to explain himself with the same freedom."**

In 1783, Capt. Pipe, having sent him word not to suffer any of the Christian Indians, who had been under the instruction of the Moravian missionaries, to leave his territory, Buckongahelas answered the impertinent request in the following emphatic language: Having first, in general terms, said that he would never prevent them from going to their teachers, he continued--"And why did you expect them? Did I not tell you beforehand, that if you drove the teachers off, the believing Indians would follow them? But, you would not listen to me, and now we lose both! Who, think you, is the cause of all the disasters which have befallen these people! I say you!--you! who threatened them with destruction! You, who instigated the Wyandots to act the treacherous part they did--agree with them, that, as a recompense for their services, they should be entitled to all the plunder they could lay hold of."

While he was not an instrument in the hands of the British to do their bidding, nor subject to them, the great chieftain was their ally, and no longer their ally, even, than they treated him in a manner suitable to that capacity and to his own character. As such ally, wielding the influence of the most distinguished warrior in the Indian confederacy, in the interest of the British, he induced the Indians to commence, as well as to continue, the war against the Americans. Naturally, therefore, he confidently relied on them for support and protection in an emergency. In his expectations for protection, he was disappointed, as the sequel shows. In the engagement of the 20th of August, 1794, which resulted in a complete victory for Gen. Wayne over the combined hostile tribes, aided, it is said, by two companies of British militia from Detroit--then it was, in the face of all their protestations of friendship for the Indians, the gate of Fort Mimms were shut against his retreating and wounded warriors, after the battle which resulted so disastrously to them. This circumstance opened the eyes of the chieftain, and he determined upon an immediate peace with the United States, and a total abandonment of the British.

Accordingly, he assembled his remaining warriors and embarked them in canoes, designing to proceed up the river, and send a flag of truce to Fort Wayne. As he approached the British fort, he was requested to land, and he did so. "What have you to say to me?" said he, addressing the officer of the day. He was answered that the commanding officer desired to speak with him. The chief, in return, said: "Then he may come here." "He will not do that," the officer responded, "and you will not be suffered to pass the fort, if you do not comply." "What shall prevent me?" promptly retorted the exasperated chief. "These," the officer said, pointing to the canon--bristling through the port-holes. The chief replied deliberately; "I fear not your cannon. After suffering the Americans to defile your spring, without daring to fire on them, you cannot expect to frighten Buckongahelas." Thus saying, he ordered the canoes to push off,and they passed the fort without further demonstration. Forever afterward he refused to recognize the British as allies, and declined to receive presents from them. "Had the great Buckongahelas lived," says Mr. Dawson, "he would not have suffered the schemes projected by the Prophet (brother of Tecumseh) to be matured." Mr. Dawson further states, that Buckongahelas, on his death-bed, advised his people with great earnestness, to always rely on the friendship of the United States, and to desert the cause of the British. It is said of him, also, that no Christian knight was ever more scrupulous in performing all his engagements, and he had all the qualifications of a great hero. He died in 1804, shortly after the treaty at Vincennes in that year.

KILLBUCK (GELELEMEND).

was also a noted chief of the Delawares, and was the son of Gelelement (or Killuck) the elder, a chieftain of high renown among his people. Killbuck the younger, the subject of this sketch, was one of the most conspicuous of those noticed in the provisions of the treaty at Fort McIntosh, in 1785. The provision specially alluded to, is as follows:

"It is agreed that the Delaware chiefs, Kelelamand (Killbuck) or Col. Henry Henguepushees, or the Big Cat; Wicocalind, or Capt. White Eyes, who took up the hatchet for the United States, and their families, shall be received into the Delaware nation, in the same situation and rank as before the war, and enjoy their due portions of the lands to the Wyandot and Delaware nations in this treaty, as fully as if they had not taken part with America." His name, Gelelemend, signified a leader, but was called Killuck, because his father had been called so by the white people, hence the latter was known as Killbuck, Jr.

Like Capt. White Eyes, he had accepted the office of chief during the minority of the heir in regular line. He was prevented, however, by Capt. Pipe, from continuing the course of policy established by his predecessor, and forced to abandon their council-house at Goschoehing, and retire under protection of the Americans near Pittsburgh.

Afterward, his many services to Pennsylvania, while they were thoroughly appreciated and acknowledged by the white people, brought down upon him and hatred of his enemies and subjected him to great indignity, to such as extent, indeed, that he was, by them, ordered to be shot on sight. In after years, he joined the Christian Indians, and lived under their protection, never venturing far from home, lest the Munseys should meet and kill him. He died in full fellowship with band, in January, 1811, aged about eighty years. (Pages 16-23)

     * Thatcher, II, pg 123.
     ** Thatcher's Biog., p. 172-3.