USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > History of Fort Wayne, from the earliest known accounts of this point, to the present period. Embracing an extended view of the aboriginal tribes of the Northwest, including, more especially, the Miamies with a sketch of the life of General Anthony Wyane; including also a lengthy biography of pioneer settlers of Fort Wayne. Also an account of the manufacturing, mercantile, and railroad interests of Fort Wayne and vicinity > Part 7
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# As related by the elder Peltier, and told the writer by Mr. Lonis Peltier, son of the former.
36
Ax INCIDENT.
express his antipathy towards them. Some time subsequent to his settlement, as mentioned, his horse strayed away, and, after a fruit- less search, made bold to accuse the Miamies of having stolen the animal, and declared that he would kill some one of the Indians for' it. Talking thus loudly on one occasion, in the hearing of the elder Peltier, long a trader among the Indians, in this and adja- cent regions, and who knew the Indian character well, Mr. P. very readily told him that he did not believe the Indians had taken his horse, and that he would advise him not to interfere with them- that he would suffer for it if he did. But the man was resolute in his belief and determination, and paid but little attention to the advice of Peltier, and went away. Not long after this, walking along near the St. Joseph, a short distance above the confluence of the St. Joseph and the St. Mary, with his gun on his shoulder, the stranger suddenly observed an Indian a short distance in advance of him; near the edge of the river, fishing. The season of verdure and · sweet-scented flowers had come again-it was spring-time, “ ever merry May "-and the birds were again singing their sweet and joy- ful notes. The lost horse had not yet been found, and now was a good opportunity to " kill an Injun," thought the man. Looking carefully about him, in every direction, and seeing no one, he took deliberate aim and fired. The shot proved effectual-the Indian rolled from his position, and expired. Again looking carefully about him, to ascertain, if possible, if any one had witnessed the act, and observing no one, he at once approached the body, placed some stones in the red man's blanket, in order to sink the carcass, then wrapping the blanket about the murdered Indian; hurled the body into the stream, from whence he carefully strode away, gloating within himself at his seeming seccess.
But, lo! on the opposite side of the stream, concealed by a thick underbrush, lay, unobserved, with eyes glaring upon the entire action of the new-comer, a faithful squaw of the murdered Indian, who, though giving no warning of the danger that stood so near her companion; fearing lest she too might fall a victim to his work of death, yet bore testimony to the whole scene, and soon gave warning to her Indian friends as to what had occurred. All was quiet-a resolution was quickly formed. "White man must die," they whispered among themselves. The shade of their murdered brother called for revenge:
The conduct of the stranger quickly reached the ears of Mr. P., who readily surmised the result, and watched the course of events. Time wore away-months passed-the new-comer had found his horse-and all seemed to have been forgotten ; when lo ! one bright morning, in the month of October, the sun's march, the falling leaves of Autumn, and the chill winds, all giving token of the approach of winter-the little log-cabin of the stranger was seen to be in ruins, and the inmates gone, no one knew whither, save the friends of the murdered Indian and the Great Spirit of the red man. The revenge
37
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE,
was complete, and the departed spirit of their murdered brother could now rest in peace.
How many similar tragedies may have been enacted in the regions of Ke-ki-ong-a during the period of Indian life here, we know not; but doubtless many a tragic event of this kind took place at this point, now known only in the unwritten pages of the Past.
As the head of each family was its chief, so each village had its head chief or sachem; and though the villagers were by no means restricted in their individual relations, each family being privileged to exercise its own peculiar ideas of domestic life, &c., independent of the other, if desiring, in every village,-yet, in a general sense, the habits and customs of each village and family were much the same among, not only the Miamies, but most tribes of the north- west.
The rule and power of control of a chief, sachem, medicine man, prophet, or indeed any member of a tribe, much as with the present state of civilization in America and other parts of the globe, depend- ed largely upon the amount of eloquence the speaker could bring to bear upon his people-a distinction for bravery, or the strongest will, as often gave the Indian prominence among the tribes as those acquiring and exercising power by hereditary descent; and while, in many respects, the government of the Indian seemed to partake of the Monarchical, it was yet of the Democratic order ; for no ques- tion of grave importance ever presented itself for consideration, but there was sure to follow an assemblage of the braves in council, where no action would be concluded wherein "the people were averse." And it was at such times that the eloquent and stern- willed often held sway .*
To preserve a record of treaties, was to carefully lay by their wampum belts. In cases of important councils between nations, exchange of gifts and belts was mutual, by which each speaker was also greatly aided in memory, The holding of a bundle of small sticks, of a certain number, by the speaker, on such occasions was also common, for each of which, the envoy from one nation to another would recite a message ; t and messengers were always selected with
*" It is of the Natchez Indians that the most wonderful tales of despotism and aristo- cratic distinctions have been promulgated. Their chiefs, like those of the Hurons, were esteemed descendants of the sun, had greater power than could have been established in the colder regions of the north, where the severities of nature compel the savage to rely on himself and be free ; yet, as the Natchez, in exterior, resembled the tribes by which they were surrounded, so their customs and institutions. were but more marked developements of the same characteristics. Everywhere at the north, there was the same distribution into families, and the same order in each separate town. The affairs relating to the whole nation, were transacted in general council, and with such equality. and such zeal for the common good, that, while any one might have dissented with impunity, the voice of the tribe would yet be unanimous in its decision."-Bancroft's His. U. S., vol. 3, pages 278 and 279.
+Referring to the Indians of the north, Bancroft says : " Their delight was in assem bling together, and listening to messengers from abroad. Seated in a semicircle on th ground, in double or triple rows, with the knees almost meeting the face,-the painted and tattooed chiefs adorned with skins and plumes, with the beaks of the red-bird, or the claws of the bear,-each listener perhaps with a pipe in his mouth, and preserving
38 1
THE FRIENDLY CALU MET
a view as well to ability as to the knowledge of the task to be per- formed. And it is said that "often an orator, without the aid of rank as a chief, by the brilliancy of his eloquence, swayed the minds of a confederacy."
Another interesting feature in Indian usage, was the Peace-Pipe, or Friendly Calumet. The writings concerning the early mission- aries, traders, explorers, and military officers, make repeated men- tion of it; and the beauty and simplicity of the custom must be read- ily seen and admitted. The calumet, to the red man, was always esteemed and reverenced as the most sacred of all their emblem- atic relations and devices ; and no village, in earlier times, when the red man held sway over the western wilds, was without its special- ly ornamented calumet,-which was often adorned with the feathers of the bird of liberty, the eagle, or other plumage or ornamental device, and always " consecrated in the general assembly of the nation." The messenger, traversing the wildest regions, on an errand of friendship,felt always secure, by a presentation of the peace- pipe, from all attack from ferocious or unfriendly tribes. The primitive custom of the messengers of Peace, bearing the calumet, was for the envoys to approach within a given distance of the village, first making a loud noise, then seating themselves upon the ground. Then the villagers, headed by their principal chief, or sachem, bear- ing the peace-pipe in his hand, all singing the Indian song of peace, went forth to meet them. Approaching the envoys, the latter rose to greet them, they, too, chanting a hymn, " to put away all wars, and to bury all revenge. " At once exchanging pipes, and smoking freely, peace was terminated, and the messengers were escorted to the villages where it was made known, in loud declamation, that the strangers were friends; and a great feast of hominy, dog, and bear's meat, was spread out and partaken of in honor of the messen- gers.
As the ancient Twightwee (Miami) villages, located within and about the present site of Fort Wayne, in the words of their famous chief, Little 'Turtle, formed " that glorious gate which the Miamis had the happiness to own, and through which all the good words of their chiefs had to pass from the north to the south, and from the east to the west," how many such solemn and interesting occasions as that of exchanging the friendly calumet and entertaining the em- bassy of a distant tribe with a great feast, may have made the woods and surrounding vales of this locality reverberate with the glad strains of the Indian peace song and jubilant dance of the villagers, none can now tell ; yet the strong supposition is that there were many such occasions here.
deep silenee,-they would give solemn attention to the speaker, who, with great action and energy of language, delivered his message ; and, if his eloquenee pleased, they esteemed him as a god. Decorum was never broken ; there were never two speakers struggling to anticipate each other ; they did not express their spleen by blows ; they restrained passionate inveetive; the debate was never disturbed by an uproar ; questions of order were. unknown."- . His. U. S. vol.53, page 279.
39
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
The Indian, though holding life as dear, perhaps, as most mortals, had, yet, withal, a singular disregard for death-a stoical indifference and fortitude that rendered him seemingly unsusceptible of pain ; and, as all history relating to the Indians most fully attests, at times, could kill and scalp a savage or civilized foe with as much ease and zest as if partaking of a pot of hominy, or feasting upon a portion of roast bear.
Some fifty years ago, a party of Indians, as was often their habit at that period, had congregated about the little trading hut of J. Peltier,-then conspicuous at the foot of the hill, just below the old fort,-and becoming somewhat intoxicated, two of the party, of dif- ferent tribes, became excited about some trivial matter, and one of them drew a knife from his belt, and cut the other across the abdo- men so severely, as to let his intestines partially out .* Seating him- self upon the ground, the wounded Indian soon deliberately drew his own knife, cut a piece of flesh from the outer part of the stomach, and began to eat it.
The Indian cutting him, suddenly seeing this, proudly cjaculated Del-au-aweah! (that's a brave man, or he is a brave man!) And to show his compassion for the wounded brave, he at once approach- ed him, and, with a blow from his tomahawk, ended the further suf- fering of the wounded Indiant
In the ancient songs of the red men there was always a vein of disregard or contempt for death; and it was no uncommon thing for the chiefs to declare that " the spirits on high would repeat their names." Where they wished to exhibit a spirit of defiance towards an antagonist, it was no unusual thing for the Indian to prepare a red-colored belt, a small bundle of "blo ody sticks,"and dispatch them to the enemy. In early times, the Indians were most feared when they prowled about in small parties, laying in wait, here and there-suddenly bounding upon a small settlement, or waylaying the emigrant. Concealment and surprise constituted their highest sense of warfare. When least anticipated, they were upon and scalping the carly settler. And sad was the havoc many times during the pioneer days of the western frontiersmen. On more than one occasion, as subsequent pages will attest, has the tragedy of an Indian massacre been enacted within the boundaries of the territory of the Miamies.
*Capt. Wells, who resided at this point for many years with the Miamies, while in Philadelphia with Little Turtle, in 1797, in a conversation with the distinguished French philosopher and traveler, Count Volney, referring to one of the chiefs of the Miamies, at old Fort Miamis, here, known as Blue Joeky, said : " This man, (on one occasion) when drunk, met an old enemy, to whom he had borne a grudge of twenty- two years standing. Blue Joeky seized the opportunity and killed him. Next day all the family were in arms to revenge the murder. He came to the fort, and said to the commanding offieer, who repeated the tale to mne, ' Let them kill me. It is but right. My heart betrayed me, and the liquor robbed me of my wits. But they threatened to kill my son, and that was not just. Father, try to make it up for ine. I will give them all I have ; my two horses, my trinkets, my weapons, except one set, and, if that will not content them, I will meet them at any time and place, and they may kill me.'"
For some years after the war of 1812, it was no uncommon thing for them to kill cach other here in their drunken sprees. { Recollections of Mrs. Griswoldl.
INDIAN DANCES.
Every people, however barbarous or civilized, ever had their seasons of relaxation and merry-making. Among the most favor- ite pastimes of the Miamies, were their dances.
In the spring time, as a matter of reverence to the Great Spirit (Much-a-te-Auceke), " the man with the black robe; the good man or preacher,"-asking him to aid in the production or growth of a bountiful crop, they had the corn-planting dance. A great deal of importance was attached to this dance, which was conducted with an air of marked solemnity and earnestness,-all the villagers partaking in it,*
It was a time-honored custom with the Miamies and most tribes of the West, that when a member of a family died, a meeting of the family and immediate villagers would take place at a certain time, subsequent to the death of the person, with a view to replac- ing the deceased, which was done by means of a game of chance, there being often a number of candidates for the place, The lucky one at once fell heir to all the effects of the deceased. After which they all joined in a merry dance, called the Replacement Dance.
'The Beggar Dance was also frequent here; but was seldom if ever indulged in by the Miamies. The Pottawattamies, who were frequently here, with perhaps a few others of the Shawanoe, Wyan- dot, or Kickapoo nations, were the only ones who commonly indulg- ed in this dance.
The object of the beggar dance was to obtain presents, or indeed anything the stranger, trader, or settler might feel disposed to give them; and, with no covering on their bodies, but a part of a deer or other skin about their waists, the rest of the body and face paint- ed 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 the liveliest movements of dancing, singing, &c., which, to the spectators, was often very amusing, and who seldom failed to give the rude dancers some tobacco, a loaf or two of bread, somc whiskey, or other article that would be pleasing to them.
The Indians of the Northwest had many social pastimes, and their complimentary dances were probably frequent. The " medi- cine-dance " was one of some rarity, which usually took place only out of respect or courtesy to the medicine-men. In the complimen- tary dance, it was a custom to obtain permission of the party to "be complimented to dance for him." This granted, preparations were made by painting the face elaborately, and marking the body, which was usually bare about the chest and shoulders. In addition to this, a profusion of ornaments, in the form of feathers, &c., were added to the hair ; and most " happy was he, who, in virtue of har- ing taken one or more scalps, was entitled to proclaim it by a cor- responding number of eagle's feathers, The less fortunate made a sub- stitute of the feathers of the wild turkey," or other game. For which purpose too, the fowls ofthe pioneers were often closely " plucked."
, John P. Hedges. #The Pottawatamies lived a few miles north of Ft. Wayne.
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HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
The preparations for the complimentary dance being ready, the dancers congregated at some point selected, " and then marched to the spot in view for the dance, attended by the dull, coarse sound of the Indian drum and shee-shee-qua, or rattle. Arranging them- selves in a circle, they would dance with violent contortions and jesticulations, some of them graceful, others only energetical, the squaws, who usually stood a little apart, and mingled their discor- dant voices with the music of the instruments, rarely participating in the dance. Occasionally, however, when excited by the general gaiety, a few of them would form a circle outside and perform a sort of ungraceful up-and-down movement, which possessed no merit, save the perfect time which was kept, and for which the Indians seemed, without exception, to have possessed a natural ear. The dance finished, which was often only when the strength of the dancers was quite exhausted, a quantity of presents were brought and placed in the middle of the circle, by request of the party com- plimented. An equitable distribution of the gifts having taken place, and the object of the gathering terminated, all withdrew."*
The medicine-dance was mainly to celebrate the power and skill of the Medicine Man in the cure of disease, and as a means of respect to him as a supposed interpreter of the will and desires of the Great Spirit, as related to the direction of his people.
Says Mrs. J. H. Kinzie, in her interesting narration of experien- ces and observations among the Indians of the North-West, during the early part of the present century, "a person was selected to join the fraternity of the ' Medicine Man' by those initiated, chiefly on account of some skill or sagacity that had been observed in him. Sometimes it happened that a person who had had a severe illness which had yielded to the prescriptions of one of the members, was considered a proper object of choice from a sort of claim thus established. When he was about to be initiated, a great feast was made, of course at the expense of the candidate, for in the most simple, as in the most civilized life, the same principle of politics held good, and ' honors were to be paid for.' An animal was killed and dressed, of which the people at large partook-there were dances and songs and speeches in abundance. Then the chief Medicine Man took the candidate and privately began to instruct him in all the ceremonies and knowledge necessary to make him an accomplished member of the fraternity. Sometimes the new member selected was yet a child. In that case, he was taken by the Medicine Man so soon as he reached the proper age, and quali- fied by instruction and example to become a creditable member of the fraternity.
"Each Medicine Man usually had a bag or some receptacle in
* The medicine, man "occasionally made offerings and sacrifices which were regarded as propitiatory. ** #
* He was also a ' prophet,' in so far as he was, in a limited degree, an instructor, but did not claim to possess the power of foretelling future events."-"Wau-Bun, the . Early Day ' in the North-West,"-pages 360, 361, and 362.
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THE HUNTING SEASON.
which was supposed to be enclosed some animal to whom in the course of their pow-wows, he addressed himself, crying to him in the note common to his imagined species, and the people seem all to have been persuaded that the answers which were announced were really communications in this form, from the Great Spirit.
"The Indians appear," continues Mrs. Kenzie, " to have no idea of a retribution beyond this life. They have a strong appreciation of the great fundamental virtues of natural religion-the worship of the Great Spirit, brotherly love, parental affection, honesty, tem- perance, and chastity. Any infringement of the laws of the Great Spirit, by a departure from these virtues, they believe will excite his anger, and draw down punishment. These are their principles. That their practice evinces more and more," says she, " a departure from them, under the debasing influences of a proximity to the whites, is a melancholy truth, which no one will admit with so much sorrow as those who lived among them, and esteemed them a quar- ter of a century ago, before this signal change had taken place."
There were many dances, however, among the Miamies, as well as many periods of the year in which they indulged in such festivi- ties, throughout their villages. Evening, and often through the greater part of the night, during the milder seasons, was the usual time for such enjoyment. Their music consisted, usually, of a deer skin entirely free of hair, which they stretched in some way, similar to our common drum-head, and upon which their " music man " would keep time and hum an air adapted to the Indian's style of dancing. It was very common on such occasions to have a large pot of hominy cooking over a moderate fire, to which the dancers would occasionally repair and partake, all from the same spoon or wooden ladel.
But the red man was never entirely fixed or permanent in his location. Hunting and fishing occupied a very large share of his time. The summer months especially, were much devoted to fish- ing. The furry animals and the deer, from which he expected cach season to realize a moderate income, with which to procure ammu- nition, blankets, &c., for another season, were never disturbed by the Indian until the period arrived for their furs and hides to be fully matured for the market. Then the Indians and their familes (excepting there were some who, from age or infirmity, were una ble to go,) left their villages, and sought new homes in the woods, or near some large prairie, where the deer, the ottar, the raccoon, &c., were most abundant. And their return, to renew their old homes, was only hailed by the springing of the early grass, or the joyful song of some sweet bird of passage that had again, at the first tokens of Spring, ventured a return to the Northwest. And this was life among the Miamies here, to a late period of their history. This was life in the primitive wilds of the great Northwest a hun- dred and fifty years or more ago. What a civilization may be ours one hundred and fifty years hence !
CHAPTER IV.
"The junetion of these rivers (the St. Mary and the St. Joseph), may even claim a page in the annals of that momentous contest between French and English civilization-between Romanism and Protestantism-which was waged with alterna- ting success, and with short intervals of repose, for more than a hundred years, ter- minating, soon after the fall of Quebec, in the establishment of Anglo-Saxon supremacy by the treaty of 1763."-Extract from a lecture of J. L. Williams, Esq., delivered in Fort Wayne, March 7, 1860.
Death of La Salle-A line of stockade forts contemplated and established by the French-Progress of events following this movement of the French-Movements of the English-The French become aroused-Feuds of the Old World rekindled in the New -- The French and the Indians-Washington sent as a Messenger -- War -Braddock's Defeat-Activity of the Contending Armies-Wolfe's Advance upon Quebee-Final triumph of the English Army on the Plains of Abraham-A new Era dawned upon the New World.
IXTEEN hundred and eighty-two had passed. The shouts of " vive le roi," by La Salle and his voyageurs, near the month of the great Father of Waters had long since died away on the still air, and La Salle himself fallen a victim, on the shores of Texas, to the treachery of his followers. 1699 came. Lemoine d'Iberville had planted a little colony on the newly-pos- sessed territory of Louisiane. And again years sped away. The little settlement upon the newly acquired dominion of the South grew and prospered amid the spontaneous growths of nature every- where about it; and the French Government had begun seriously to contemplate the union of her Northern and Southern extremities by the arrangement and establishment of a continuous line of stock- ade forts and settlements through the interminable forests and prairies, along the shores of beautiful rivers, by the margin of dreary lakes, lowly vales, and towering cliffs-from the river St. Lawrence to the dark blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico, The mid- dle of the 18th century came, and the great enterprise was rapidly hastening toward a complete consummation. A fort on the strait of Niagara stood in full view of, and guarded the entrance to, the vast interior extending towards the great Southwest. A second sprang up at Detroit, overlooking and controlling the route from Lake Erie to the North. A third soon stood defiantly forth at St.
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