USA > Indiana > Howard County > History of Howard County, Indiana, Vol I > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
"At the main camp the first was sustained some time by the great exertion of the officers, but with great inequality, the Indians under Little Turtle amounting to fifteen hundred warriors. Colo- nels Drake, Butler and Major Clarke made several successful charges, which enabled them to save some of their number by check- ing the enemy until flight was more practicable. Of the Americans five hundred and ninety-three were killed and missing, besides thirty-eight officers, two hundred and forty-two soldiers and twenty- one officers were wounded, many of whom died. Colonel Butler was among the slain. The account of his fall is shocking. He was se- verely wounded and left on the field. The well known and infa- mous Simon Girty came up to him and observed him writhing un- der the severe pains from his wounds. Girty knew and spoke to him. Knowing that he could not live, the colonel begged of him to put an end to his misery. This Girty refused to do, but turned to an Indian and told him that the officer was the commander of the army, upon which the Indian drove his tomahawk into the colonel's head. A number of others came around, and after taking off his scalp they took out his heart and cut it into as many pieces as there were tribes in the action and divided it among them. All manner of brutal acts were committed on the bodies of the slain. It need not be mentioned, for the observers of Indian affairs know that land was the main cause of this as well as all other wars between
40
MORROW'S HISTORY
the Indians and the whites, and hence it was easy to account for the Indians filling the mouths of the slain with earth after this battle. It was actually the case, as reported by those who visited the scene of action and buried the dead.
ACCOUNT OF THE DEFEAT.
"General St. Clair was called to account for this disastrous campaign and was honorably acquitted. He published a narrative in vindation of his conduct, which at this day few will think required. What he says of his retreat we will give in his own words: 'The retreat, you may be sure, was a precipitate one. It was, in fact, a flight. The camp and the artillery were abandoned, but that was unavoidable, for not a horse was left to draw it off had it otherwise been practicable. But the most disgraceful part of the business is that the greatest part of the men threw away their arms and ac- coutrements even after the pursuit, which continued about four miles, had ceased. I found the road strewn with them for many miles, but was unable to remedy it. for, having had all my horses killed and being mounted upon one that could not be pricked out of a walk, I could not get forward myself, and the orders I sent forward either to halt the front or prevent the men from parting with their arms were unattended to. The remnant of the army ar- rived at Fort Jefferson the same day just before sunset, the place from whence they fled being twenty-nine miles distant.' General St. Clair did everything that a brave general could do. He ex- posed himself to every danger, having during the action eight bul- lets shot through his clothes. In no attack on record did the In- dians discover greater bravery or determination. After giving the first fire they rushed forward with towahawk in hand. Their loss was inconsiderable, but the traders afterwards learned among them
4I
OF HOWARD COUNTY.
that Little Turtle had one hundred and fifty killed and many wounded. They rushed on the artillery, heedless of their fire, and took two pieces in an instant. They were again retaken by the troops, and whenever the army charged them they were seen to give way, and advanced again as soon as they began to retreat. Six or eight pieces of artillery fell into their hands, with about four hun- dred horses, all the baggage, ammunition and provisions.
GOVERNMENT DISAPPOINTED.
"This terrible defeat disappointed the expectations of the gen- eral government, alarmed the frontier inhabitants, checked the tide of emigration from the eastern and middle states and many fearful, frightful and horrible murders were committed upon white settlers. St. Clair resigned the office of major general and Anthony Wayne, a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary war, was appointed in his place. In the month of June, 1792, he arrived at Pittsburg, the appointed place of rendezvous. On the 28th of November, 1792, the army left Pittsburg and moved down the Ohio about twenty miles to a point called Legionville, where they remained until April 30, 1793, and then moved down the river to Fort Washington (Cin- cinnati) and encamped near the fort at a place called Hobson's Choice. They were kept here until the 7th of October, and on the 23d of the same month they arrived at Fort Jefferson with an effect- ive force of three thousand six hundred and thirty men, together with a small number of friendly Indians from the South. On the 8th of August, 1794, they arrived at the confluence of the rivers Auglaize and Maumee, where they built Fort Defiance. It was the general's design to have met the enemy unprepared in this move, but a fellow deserted his camp and notified the Indians. He now tried again to bring them to a reconciliation, and so artful were the
42
MORROW'S HISTORY
replies he received from them it was some time revolved in his mind whether they were for peace or war. At length, being fully satisfied. he marched down the Maumee and arrived at the rapids on the 18th of August. two days before the battle. His army consisted of three thousand men, two thousand of whom were regulars. Fort De- posit was erected at this place for the security of the supplies. They now set out to meet the enemy, who had chosen their position on the banks of the river with much judgment. The troops had a breastwork of fallen trees in front and the high, rocky shore gave them much security, as also did the thick woods of Presque Isle. The force was divided and disposed at supporting distances for about two miles. When the Americans had arrived at a proper dis- tance a body was sent out to begin the attack with orders to rouse the enemy from the covert at the point of the bayonet. and when up to deliver a close fire upon their backs and press them so hard as not to give them time to reload. This order was so well executed, and the battle at the point of attack so short, that only about nine hun- dred Americans participated in it. But they pursued the Indians with great slaughter through the woods to Fort Maumee, where the carnage ended. The Indians were so unexpectedly driven from their stronghold that their numbers only increased their distress and confusion, and the cavalry made horrible havoc among them with their long sabers. Of the Americans there were killed and wounded about one hundred and thirty. The loss of the Indians could not be ascertained, but must have been very severe. The American loss was chiefly at the commencement of the action as they advanced upon the mouths of the Indian rifles. They main- tained their coverts but a short time, being forced in every direction by the bayonets. But until that was effected the Americans fell fast and we only wonder that men could be found to thus advance in the face of certain death. It has been generally said that had the ad-
43
OF HOWARD COUNTY.
vice of Little Turtle been regarded the disastrous fight with Gen- eral Wayne would not have occurred. He was not for fighting Gen- eral Wayne at Presque Isle, and rather inclined to peace than fight- ing him at all. In a council held the night before the battle he ar- gued : 'We have beaten the enemy twice under separate command- ers. We cannot expect the same good fortune to always attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps ; the night and the day are alike to him, and during all the time he has been marching on our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, they have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers to me it would be well to listen to his offer of peace.' For using such language he was reproached by another chief with cowardice, which put an end to further dis- course. Nothing wounds the feelings of a warrior like the reproach of cowardice, but Little Turtle stifled his resentment, did his duty in battle, and its issue proved him a truer prophet than his accuser believed."
WAYNE'S VICTORY.
General Wayne's victory broke the power of the Miamis, but they were not conquered, and were yet hostile to the invading whites. The government adopted a policy of conciliation, hoping to win them to friendship and peace. The government built Little Turtle a house upon Eel river, twenty miles from Fort Wayne, to induce the other Miamis to a like mode of life by their own exertions, but because they had to work for their homes and he had been given his they became envious and thus prejudiced the cause sought to be advanced and engendered hatred of Little Turtle by the other Indians. He was not a chief by birth, but had been raised to that position by his superior talents. This was a cause of much jealousy and envy at this time, as also a neglect of his counsel heretofore.
44
MORROW'S HISTORY
Drake says that Little Turtle was the son of a Miami chief by a Mohegan woman. As the Indian maxim with regard to descents is precisely that of the civil law in relation to slaves, that the con- dition of the woman adheres to the offspring, he was not a chief by birth. Little Turtle died in the summer of 1812 at his home but a short time after the declaration of war against England by the United States. His portrait by Stewart graces the walls of the war office of our nation. The following notice appeared in public prints at the time of his death at Fort Wayne in July, 1812: "On the 14th inst. the celebrated Miami chief, Little Turtle, died at this place at the age of sixty-five years. Perhaps there is not left on this continent one so distinguished in councils and war. His disor- der was the gout. He died in camp because he chose to be in the open air. He met death with great firmness. The agent for Indian affairs had him buried with the honors of war and other marks of distinction suitable to his character. He was generally in his time styled the Messissago Chief, and a gentleman who saw him soon after St. Clair's defeat says he was six feet high, about forty-five years of age, of a very sour and morose countenance and apparently very crafty and subtle. He was alike courageous and humane. pos- sessing great wisdom." The author before quoted says: "There have been few individuals among aborigines who have done so much to abolish the rites of human sacrifice. The grave of this noted warrior is shown to the visitor near Fort Wayne. It is frequently visited by the Indians in that part of the country, by whom his memory is cherished with the greatest respect and veneration."
TREATY OF GREENVILLE.
Soon after General Wayne's victory the treaty of Greenville in 1795 followed. In that and subsequent treaties the government obtained large bodies of their lands. The Indian policy of the gov-
45
OF HOWARD COUNTY.
ernment was to purchase their lands, excepting what they them- selves would cultivate, to lead them to agriculture instead of war and hunting, and to remove them west of the Mississippi as soon as it could be peacefully and justly done.
In the War of 1812 they again fought the United States and were whipped by the forces under Lieutenant Colonel Campbell on the 18th day of December, 1812, in the southern part of what is now Wabash county, being the last battle of any note with the Miamis in this region. The expedition against them was resolved upon by General Harrison in November, 1812. Six hundred mounted men and a small company of scouts and spies were accordingly sent out from Greenville, Ohio, in December under Lieutenant Colonel John B. Campbell, who reached the north bank of the Mississinewa, near the mouth of Josina creek, December 17, 1812, and surprised an Indian village there, destroying it, killing eight warriors and taking forty-two prisoners. The troops then destroyed three other villages farther west on the river and encamped for the night. While hold- ing a council of war on the morning of the 18th they were attacked by the Indians under Little Thunder in considerable force. The fight lasted about an hour, and the Indians were defeated, leaving fifteen dead upon the field and carrying many away in their retreat.
A portion of the tribe were then friendly to the United States, but they could not control the hostile portion. In 1818 a treaty was made with them, and again another on the north side of the Wabash river, just east of the city of Wabash, on the 26th day of October, 1826, by General John Tipton, then Indian agent, assisted by General Cass and James B. Ray. The place was called "Para- dise Springs."
INDIANS GIVE UP LAND.
The tribe which under Little Turtle had sent fifteen hundred warriors to the field had dwindled down in 1822 to between two
46
MORROW'S HISTORY
thousand and three thousand people all told. They had acquired a burning desire for liquor, and drunkenness led to innumerable fights among the members of the tribe, and it is estimated that as many as five hundred were killed in eighteen years in these broils. In the treaty of October, 1826, the Indians gave up large quantities of land, but reserved some valuable tracts, among which was a res- ervation beginning two and a half miles below the mouth of the Mississinewa, extending five miles up and along the Wabash, and north to the Eel river, including the present site of Peru, Indiana. In payment for this they received thirty-one thousand dollars in goods and thirty thousand dollars in cash immediately and twenty- six thousand dollars in goods and thirty-five thousand dollars in cash in 1827, thirty thousand dollars in 1828 and twenty-five thousand dollars annually thereafter. In 1838 the Miamis numbered but eleven hundred, and in this year they sold to the government one hundred and seventy-seven thousand acres of land in Indiana for three hundred and thirty-five thousand six hundred and eighty dol- lars, among which was a seven-mile tract off of the west side of the "Reserve" in what is now Cass, Howard and Clinton counties, which was transferred by the United States to the state of Indiana and by it the proceeds were used for the completion of the Wabash and Erie canal from the mouth of the Tippecanoe river down. Pre- vious to this a five-mile strip off of the north side of the "Reserve" and on the south side of the Wabash river had been used in the same way to build the same canal down to the mouth of the Tippecanoe river. William Marshall, of Jackson county, Indiana, helped nego- tiate with the Miamis the treaty of November 28, 1840, at the "forks of the Wabash," in which they finally relinquished the tract known as the "Miami Reserve." being all of their remaining land in In- diana, to the United States for the consideration of five hundred and fifty thousand dollars and several smaller items, such as reser-
47
OF HOWARD COUNTY.
vations, houses for their chiefs, etc. Three of these reservations lie in Howard county. Previous to this, in 1834-1845, the Wea and Piankeshaw bands, three hundred and eighty-four in number, had moved to the south side of the Kansas river. By the treaty of 1840 the remainder agreed to remove at the expense of the United States in five years, but their departure was delayed until 1847, in which year they were removed to the Marais des Cygnes, in the Fort Leavenworth agency. They were gathered to Peru for removal, and from there they were taken to Cincinnati and thence to their new home in the West beyond the Mississippi. Not all of the Mi- amis went. Many of them had renounced their tribal relations and elected to remain with their white brothers and to receive their in- terest on money held for them by the government through the spe- cial Indian agency at Peru. In 1875 there was disbursed at Peru twelve thousand dollars interest money. Some of these Indians own large farms, well improved and with fine residences. Rich- ardville was the successor of Little Turtle as the Miami chief. His other name was Pee-jee-wah. He signed by his mark (X) the treaty of Greenville in August, 1795. From him Howard county was orig- inally named Richardville county.
From the treaty at Greenville in 1795 the Miamis had contin- ued to yield by purchase portions of their territory until 1838 only a part of the Miami reserve remained to them of that princely do- main they once claimed as theirs. The Miami Indian reserve was originally thirty-six miles square, commencing near the town of La Gro, on the Wabash, where the Salamonie unites with the Wa- bash, running thence through Wabash and Grant counties into Mad- ison county ; its southeast corner was about four miles southeast of Independence at the center of section 27, thence running south of west parallel with the general course of the Wabash river across Tipton county and through the town of Tipton and crossing the west
18
MORROW'S HISTORY
line of Tipton county about three miles from its southwest corner to where it intersects a line running north and south from Logans- port, which is the western boundary of Howard county, one mile west of range line No. I east; thence north to Logansport ; thence up the Wabash to the mouth of the Salamonie, then embracing parts of Wabash, Grant, Madison, Tipton, Clinton, Cass and Miami coun- ties, and all of Richardville (now Howard) county, and containing about eight hundred and thirty thousand acres.
MIAMIS IN HOWARD.
The Miami Indian population of Howard county in 1840 was about two hundred. The most important point of this population was the Indian village, Kokomo, on the south side of Wildcat, where South Kokomo is located. There were Indian villages south of Cassville and Greentown. There were "traces" or Indian paths from Kokomo down Wildcat and across to Frankfort and Thorn- town : from Kokomo to Peru by way of the village of Cassville, and from Kokomo to Meshingomesia by way of a village south of Green- town. These paths were much used and well worn. It is said that Chief Pee-jee-wah, or Richardville, had four sons-Kokomoko, shortened to Kokomo (Black Walnut), Shock-o-mo ( Poplar), Me- shin-go-me-sia (Burr Oak), Shap-pan-do-sia (Sugar Tree).
Kokomoko, from whom the city of Kokomo was named, is said to have been born about 1775, and according to the most au- thentic reports he died in 1838. He was a strong and silent man, who left to the women and his three brothers the trading so com- mon to the Miamis. He died in loneliness and was buried according to the customs of his people, although directed by white men. His remains now lie buried in the old cemetery at Kokomo.
With the deportation of the Miamis in 1847 Indian life may
49
OF HOWARD COUNTY.
be said to have closed in this country, for while many Indians of that tribe remained, they adopted the manners, customs and style of living of the whites. It is proper and fitting to close this chapter with a brief account of their government, customs and laws, as of a people whose work is done and whose history is of the past.
THIS GOVERNMENT.
They were emphatically a free people. Their government was democratic. Having no written language, they had no written laws defining their rights and duties, but they had usages and customs consented to and acquiesced in by the members of the tribe. No man's property or consent could be commanded except by his con- sent. War could not be declared nor peace concluded only through their councils, in which women participated as well as men. They had no organized form of government. They had no officers chosen to enforce their unwritten laws. They had no courts of justice to right the wrongs done to each other or to mete out justice to the offender. There were certain customs and usages consented to and acquiesced in, granting to the party injured or his relatives re- dress for the wrong, but that redress was not afforded by govern- mental aid. If one stole from another the party aggrieved might by force or otherwise take twofold from the thief. Bancroft says: "Unconscious of political principles, they remained under the in- fluence of instincts. Their forms of government grew out of their passions and wants and were therefore nearly the same. Without a code of laws, without a distinct recognition of succession in the magistracy by inheritance or election, government was conducted harmoniously by the influence of native genius, virtue and experi- ence. Prohibitory laws were hardly sanctioned by savage opinion. The wild man hates restraint and loves to do what is right in his own eyes."
4
50
MORROW'S HISTORY
"The Illinois," writes Marest, "are absolute masters of them- selves, subject to no law." The Delawares, it was said, "are, in general, wholly unacquainted with civil laws and proceedings, nor have any kind of notion of civil judicatures, of persons being ar- raigned and tried, condemned or acquitted." As there was no com- merce, no coin. no promissory notes, no employment of others for hire, there were no contracts. Exchanges were but a reciprocity of presents, and mutual gifts were the only traffic. Arrests and pris- cners, lawyers and sheriffs were unknown. Each man was his own protector, and, as there was no public justice, each man issued to himself his letters of reprisal and became his own avenger. In case of death by violence the departed shade could not rest till appeased by a retaliation. "His kindred would go a thousand miles for the purpose of revenge, over hills and mountains, through large swamps full of grapevines and briars, over broad lakes, rapid rivers and deep creeks, and all the way in danger of poisonous snakes, exposed to the extremes of heat and cold, to hunger and thirst. And blood be- ing once shed, the reciprocity of attacks involved family in mortal strife against family, tribe against tribe, often continuing from gen- eration to generation. Yet mercy could make itself heard, even among barbarians, and peace was restored by atoning presents, if they were enough to cover up the graves of the dead."
A tribe of Indians is a body of kindred, subdivided into the clan, the gens and the family. The gens constituted an organized band of relatives, the family the household. The name of the mother follows the children and fixes the line of kinship. If her father was a chief her son inherits the honor. In their domestic relations she is the head of the family and through her blood all property, political and personal rights, must descend. If she was a "Turtle" the name of all her children is "Turtle," and they are known as the Tur- tle gens, clan or family. An Indian man or woman may marry a
51
OF HOWARD COUNTY.
cousin on the father's side, but not on the mother's. The father, though a chief and crowned with a hundred victories, though he has lined his wigwam, with the scalps of enemies, cannot cast upon his kin his property, his fame or name, and though he be Wolf, Beaver, Bear or Hare, the children are all "Turtle." Big, Black or Little "Turtle," as fancy may direct. It is not the province of the his- torian to say that the Indian rule as here set out is wrong and that the civilized rule is right. The Indian rule is certainly very close to nature.
COURTSHIP.
A man seeking a wife usually consults her mother, sometimes by himself, sometimes through his mother. When agreed upon the parties usually comply, making promises of faithfulness to the par- ents of both. Polygamy was permitted. but was practiced very lit- tle. Wife No. I remained at the head of the family, while wife No. 2 became the servant. Divorces are permitted but do not often oc- cur. The Indian's idea of marriage and divorce is well illustrated by this anecdote: "An aged Indian, who for many years had spent much time in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, one day, about the year 1770, observed that the Indians had a much easier way of get- ting a wife than the whites, but also a more certain way of getting a good one. 'For,' said he, 'white man court-court maybe one whole year, maybe two years before he marry. Well-maybe then he get a very good wife, but maybe not ; maybe very cross. Well, now, suppose cross. Scold so soon as get awake in the morning. Scold all day. Scold until sleep. All one-he must keep him. White people have laws forbidding throw wife away, he be ever so cross-must keep him always. Well, how does Indian do? In- dian, when he sees industrious squaw, he go to him, place his two forefingers close aside each other, make two like one-then look
-
52
MORROW'S HISTORY
squaw in the face. See him smile; this is all one. He say yes. So take him home-no danger he be cross. No, no; squaw know too well what Indian do if he cross. Throw him away and take another. Squaw love to eat meat ; no husband no meat. Squaw do everything to please husband, he do everything to please squaw- live happy.'"
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.