USA > Indiana > Whitley County > History of Whitley County, Indiana > Part 9
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On the margin of Eel river, on each side, was a trail which the Indians had so con- structed with earth and timber that at low water it was a well worn highway. East of the road some thirty rods, was a splendid spring, and near it the bluff was cut down by a trail or portage to the river, and a crossing was established for some fair-sized craft of the canoe variety. About midway between the road and the junction of the rivers was the trail, portage or crossing, so arranged with stones and timbers as to be passable except in high stages of water. This was the only regular and well defined approach to the island.
Anthony Seymour purchased the forty acres of the island directly south of the river
and east of the road from James Compton in 1848, and moved upon it. His son, Charles Seymour, who spent much of his boyhood at this place, accompanied the expedition and gave the principal information.
At that time information was readily ob- tained from Coesse's family, and other scat- tering Indians and early settlers. It was one of the principal strongholds of the Mi- amis on Eel river, and predatory bands of Indians or whites could reach it only at a great disadvantage to themselves. It was a natural fortification.
There was a legend among the Indians of a white man on a white horse being on the island. This pale rider on his pale steed, kept concealed like a spirit, except when on a mission against the Indians or planning some harm to them. He could ride like the- wind, and liis sight was dreaded as a pesti- lence. When he appeared, they were sure some calamity was about to befall them by storm, fire or human foe.
The island was a well kept Miami In- dian garrison up to 1812, and Little Turtle exercised supervision over it during his chieftainship.
The island, when it came into the hands of the white man, was denuded of most of its heavy timber. There were scattering trees and unmistakable evidence of the red man's agriculture, but grown over with hazel brush.
On the west side of what is now the road. some forty rods south of the river, were six oak trees standing near each other and alone. when the Seymours came. These showed marks on the west side of frequent burning against them, from the roots up to a little more than the height of a man. and there
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were many scars of tomahawk or hatchet. About the roots were many charred bones of human beings. Mrs. Seymour inquired and was told by Mrs. Coesse that it was the spot where the Miamis tortured and burned their prisoners, brought sometimes many miles, and she also told of witnessing the burning of some Pottawattamies there when she was a little girl. There were several trees over the island that were similarly burned, but this seemed to be the principal place. The expedition placed a red stake by the road- side forty rods south of the center of section 23, township 31, range 9. The trees stood five rods north, forty-five degrees west from this stake.
Charles Seymour related that while liv- ing here he knew Coesse's son Simon very well, and often played and hunted with him, but could never get to see old Coesse him- self. He says: "Once Simon came over to our patch and ate cucumbers until I thought he would kill himself, and told him so; and he replied, 'Nothing kill Indian.' The next spring he took sick and died, but I guess the cucumbers did not kill him; I took care of him a great deal, saw the autopsy per- formed and helped bury him. This was the spring of 1852. Once I went over to Coesse's when Simon and his mother were unloading poles off of a wagon ; he told me something to say to his mother, and I re- peated it : she picked up a root and came at me so savage that I ran toward home like a deer; I afterward learned that I had said to her, 'Squaw can't run,' and she showed me that I was mistaken."
Mr. Seymour led the expedition to a spot about sixty rods west of the center of section 24, township 31, range 9, not far from the
river, on the farm now owned by John W. Koch. He was sure it was the scene of a battle between the Miamis and Pottawat- tamies. He had tended a field of corn on the spot sixty years ago, and saw many human bones and arrow heads. Coesse had told his father about the battle and of Little Turtle's ability as a warrior commanding the victorious Miamis, and that several Potta- wattamies were executed on the island.
Mr. Seymour has always been familiar with the spot. There can be no doubt that this was the expedition of the Pottawatta- mies against the Miamis in 1801, mentioned in several histories. It came about by individ- ual depredations, back and forth between the tribes, aggravated into feuds between the two great bodies. Six of the Pottawattamies crossed the island one night and killed two squaws and took away three ponies. The Miamis retaliated in kind. Then came the Pottawattamies in legion to the island and ran them off to the east until Little Turtle rallied them and gained the day. No doubt the execution Mrs. Coesse witnessed was one of the Indians who killed the Miami squaws.
THE BURNED CABINS.
On the line between Columbia and Union townships, on the west line of section 19. Union, and about forty rods north of the Reserve line, is Compton church, with cem- etery to the south. The roads at this point form five points, the brick church in the triangle.
This place has been referred to by old settlers, from time immemorial, as the place of the burned cabins, because the ground
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was covered with cabins partly burned when first seen by the new comers. There is tra- dition of buried treasure thereabouts. Every possible source has been exhausted to ascer- tain the history of the place, resulting only in finding that an Indian village once occu- pied the grounds; that there is an Indian burying ground on the bluff of the creek to the west. Who they were or what became of them, will never be ascertained. The evi- dence of Mrs. Revarre, elsewhere in this his- tory set out, is given for what it is worth. That she knew a family there and that they all died off naturally. does not account for the burned cabins. Were we to set down probability for history, we would say that Col. Simrall on his expedition, destroying Turtle Village September 17. 1812, de- scended this short distance farther and burned this village.
PAIGE'S CROSSING.
To the northwest of Compton church is Paige's Crossing, where the road from Co- lumbia City, after crossing the river, branches in three directions. On the west bank of the river, north of the road, Mrs. Coesse was born. Mrs. Revarre's romantic story of the killing of Coesse's father at this point is corroborated by Henry N. Beeson, who says Coesse told him he always shud- dered when he thought of the battle at this point, and that he saw the river filled with dead, among whom was his own father. There is also a tradition, now but a rumor of tradition, that the white men came along to a point between Paige's Crossing and Compton church. and being repulsed by the Indians, retired to the north, leaving a large
quantity of whiskey. That the Indians got it, became dead drunk, and then were all slaughtered by the invaders.
If Coesse saw this bloody massacre, then it must have been Simrall and his men. Coesse was too young to have seen any earlier expedition of this character, and there has been none since Simrall's. The further fact that neither Coesse nor Mrs. Re- varre mention the name of their illustrious grandfather, Little Turtle, in connection with this battle, indicates that he was dead. He died two months before Simrall's expedi- tion. If such battle occurred, it was un- doubtedly between Simrall and the Indians, and before burning their village at Compton church. Though history does not record it, there is nothing to indicate the contrary. In fact, it is highly probable.
At this point, it may be well to observe that Seek's Village reserve was not Chief Seek's reserve. He and Turtle and others had individual reserves in Allen and Hunt- ington counties. Seek's Village reserve was given to the Indians at Seek's Village. Ad- joining Seek's Village reserve to the east is Chapiene reserve, a section a mile square being given to that chief. If he ever lived in the county, we do not know it. He was a characterless Indian, of whom history knows but little. He lived about Fort Wayne, and died unrecorded. It is said of ·him that he traded his reserve, one mile square of the finest land in Whitley county, to some Fort Wayne traders for an old white stallion and two barrels of whiskey. The stallion died on the commons soon after, but not before Chapiene and his friends had drank all the whiskey.
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TURTLE AND TURTLE'S VILLAGE.
The names Little Turtle and Turtle are interchangeable in this narrative. The chief's name was Little Turtle, and his vil- lage was properly called Turtle Village. It had some other name before he became prominent, but it being the place of his resi- dence, and he the greatest of all the Mi- amis, it took his name.
Turtle Village was mostly on the south- west quarter of section 4, Union township. and north of the sharp curve or bend in the river. Turtle was born here; so were his sons and daughters, and likewise his father before him. It was the home of the family as far as Indian tradition could carry.
Historians who have copied after each other without research, say he was born in 1747. In fact, and beyond contradiction, he was born in 1751. Historians have also added, one after the other, that his mother was a Mohican, when in truth she was a Miami.
He attained to the chieftainship at an early age, not by heredity, for heredity is in the maternal line, and his mother was not of a family of chiefs; but he arose to the position because of his superiority over his fellows in statecraft, military ability, sagac- ity, plainness and forcibility of speech, and ability to gain and hold the confidence of his people. His courage and sagacity became proverbial; neighboring tribes shrank from him as an adversary, but drew courage and achieved success under his leadership.
The campaign of Wayne in August, 1794, was too much for him. He realized the foolishness of undertaking to keep up the warfare against the United States, as
did Lee at Appomattox. He accepted the situation as meaning the extinction of the red man, either by war or peace, and he chose the latter.
He returned to his village in Whitley county, and tried to teach his people the arts of peace. By act of congress, he was given about $1,000 in money to erect him- self a house. It has been said that he built a brick house, but that is not true. He was economical, and built but a log cabin on the bluff above the bend of the river, as above stated.
By the same act of congress, $1,200 was appropriated to clean off lands about his village for his people. This he expended. hiring his own people to do the work, and by 1801 had about 250 acres cleared and burned off about and around the village. His people were, however, not inclined to work, and it made fuel too far for the squaws to carry, and many of the tribe de- serted him and went above to Seek's Vil- lage, and others drifted to the villages far- ther down the river. He abandoned his vil- lage in 1802 and moved up the trail to the fort, now More's farm, as fully set out elsewhere in this work.
The next year he went before the legis- lature of both Ohio and Kentucky, and made personal appeals against selling liquor to his people. He was the first to introduce vacci- nation among his people for the prevention of small-pox, which was so fatal among them. He learned to vaccinate from the fort surgeon at Fort Wayne, was himself vacci- nated there, and next performed it on his own children at Turtle Village. With his removal from the village, the place passed into history.
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Turtle went from his home at More's, ably occurring at Paige's Crossing and in the spring of 1812, to Fort Wayne, to be Compton church ? treated by the fort physician. He died July 14, 1812, of what was then called gout, be- SEEK'S VILLAGE. cause of swelling in the feet, but of a dis- ease now termed Bright's disease by the pro- Whatever slight history has been writ- ten of the Eel river country draws no dis- tinction between Turtle's and Seek's villages. The terms are interwoven together. The writers, knowing no difference, have sought to leave the matter as much unsettled in the minds of the reader as in their own. Our late investigation has not only settled the distinction, but has located each place and their connection with each other. fession. He was buried with military hon- ors, about the center of the old orchard at Fort Wayne. He kept well informed as to the events leading up to the war of 1812, which was declared but a month before his death. Had he lived, and his counsel been followed, the disastrous campaign of Har- rison against his people had not taken place. Gen. Harrison reached Fort Wayne Sep- tember 12, 1812, the Indians beat a hasty Like Turtle's, no man knows when Seek's Village was first occupied by the red men, but as it existed long years after the destruction of the former, we know more about it. Of the 26th day of July expedi- tion, there were a number of living witnesses on the spot who could tell of it. They all agreed that it was on the north side of the river instead of the south, as shown on our government charts. At first there seemed confusion, as one witness pointed out a spot where the village stood, another a few rods away, and still another a short distance in another direction. Summing it all up, they were all correct. Seek's Village did not oc- cupy a spot ten rods square, but was scat- tered over perhaps a hundred acres on Silas Briggs' magnificent farm, at the very east- ern edge of Seek's Village reservation, and overlapping into Chapiene's, really the south-west quarter of section 3. Union town- ship. It was called Seek's Village, or In- dian Green, said all the witnesses The ex- act spot of Seek's home, the cemeteries and the trail between the two villages were lo- retreat, and their villages were destroyed. On the 17th, Col. Simrall arrived with a reg- iment of 320 dragoons, and Col. Farrow with a company of mounted riflemen. The next day their combined force was sent to destroy Turtle Village. but with strict or- ders not to molest the dead warrior's home at More's. History only says they faith- fully performed their work and returned. Were the history given in detail. and cor- rectly, it would be about this way. It was the intention of Gen. Harrison to break the power of the Indians forever. Turtle's Vil- lage was supposed to be the only place worthy of destruction, when in fact it was practically deserted. They passed along the trail and the fort and Turtle's home at More's, burning all the cabins except Tur- tle's house, and followed this trail to his vil- lage. and perhaps burned it as stated. Find- ing they had performed a feeble work, what more natural than that they passed a little farther down and performed the work which has heretofore been set out as prob-
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«cated. Old Seek is described as a big In- dian with a monstrous bull ring in his nose. The portage, or crossing of the river on the trail to Fort Wayne is yet plainly visible.
Referring to Mrs. Revarre's story of the death of her husband, John Owl, Jr., at Seek's Village, Otis Miner and Rufus Hull were present and helped bury him. Years afterward Miner told Briggs he had found an Indian in a ground hog hole, and they went to the place, and Miner pointed to the skeleton of John Owl, nearly uncovered by ground hogs.
Referring to the Simrall expedition against the Eel river Indians, we found that a white man's bridge over Beaver ruin about forty rods from the road running north and south between sections 9 and 10. Union township, lands now owned by James A. Mossman, had been dug up by the Mossman boys in 1850; another link to the chain of circumstantial evidence that Simrall. after destroying Turtle Village, passed to Paige's Crossing and Compton church, crossing on this particular bridge.
THE PORTAGES OR TRAILS.
In a country so densely populated as this was by Indians, there must necessarily be trails or roads through the forest every- where. They did not run by compass, nor were they permanent. They might change every month for many reasons. as, better and more solid ground, or to reach other places. An attempt to follow many of these has be- come so tiresome and confusing that we have entirely abandoned them.
There are two exceptions: The great highway from Eel river to Fort Wayne -- in
fact, the connecting link from the Great Lakes to the great west. To Alexander More alone are our readers indebted for the location on the accompanying map of this great highway. No other man living could give it. Moore has kept trace of it all these years, noting and marking every change made by man to obliterate it. This is one of the most important things in this history. The trail or portage is from Tur- tle's Village through the county, after which it practically follows the Goshen road to Fort Wayne. Also the trail starting from Seek's Village, Briggs's farm, striking the other and crossing it, and moving toward Fort Wayne, practically on the Yellow river road.
KILSOQUAH.
On August 3. 1906, M. L. Galbreath, John F. Mossman, Alexander More and myself drove to Roanoke to visit the only Indians living this side of Peru, Mrs. An- thony Revarre, and her son, Anthony Re- varre, Jr., now fifty-seven years old and quite an intelligent man with a high school education. He was married to a white wo- man. with whom he lived about ten years, when she died, childless. They lived peace- ably, amicably and happily together, say the neighbors. He now lives with his aged mother, who cannot possibly survive another year. says her family physician. The old lady does not speak English at all, but un- derstands quite a great deal. Her son acted as interpreter, speaking in an ordinary tone of voice, and she understood and answered very readily. In propounding questions to her, she would show by her expression that
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she understood much that was asked, and frequently replied without having the ques- tions asked in her language.
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The following was what was told by her : "My name is Kil-so-quah. In American language I am Mrs. Anthony Revarre. I was born near Markle, in Huntington county, in May, 1810. We did not keep ac- count of days, and I cannot give the day of the month. I am a granddaughter of Little Turtle, the greatest of the Miami chiefs, and the one most loved and respected by all our people. They always felt his counsels were safe and that they could not lose a battle when he commanded. My father said our people had occupied this country for ages, and Eel river and the Maumee and its trib- utaries were the heart of our possessions. The Pottawattamies and some others came among us, but the country was ours. Tur- tle's grandfather was a chief in the Eel river country. His father was a Frenchman about half blood, so that Turtle was but three-quarters Indian. Before my father died some one read to him in a history that his grandmother, that is, Little Turtle's mother, was a Mohican Indian. Father was much pained to hear this mistake, for he said he knew his mother was a pure Miami, as was his grandfather's first wife. No, Little Turtle's father was a half-blood Frenchman and his mother a pure Miami. I know my father could not be mistaken. He was an intelligent Indian and took great pride in his ancestry and often talked about it.
"They tell me I saw my grandfather, Little Turtle, though I was only two years and two months old when he died. .
"Turtle had two wives, the first, my grandmother, was the sister of Mak-wah.
who lived on St. Mary's river near Fort Wayne. Turtle then lived at Turtle Vil- lage at the bend in Eel river, where he was born and his father before him. She. died, leaving two sons and one daughter. and he could not stay there after that, so he moved up on the trail to the Fort, and then married Mak-wah's daughter, niece of his first wife. I do not know of any chil- dren by the last wife, nor do I know about any of his first wife except my father Mak- e-shen-e-quah, and Coesse's father Kat-e- mong-wah, and one daughter Ma-cute-mon- quah, who married the Great White Loon. Turtle's second wife was many years his junior, and after his death she married a Shawnee, and went to their reservation in the west, and was back once on a visit, when I saw her.
"Turtle was much devoted to Mak-wah, who was both brother-in-law and father-in- law to him, and stayed much at his house; but always lived on Eel river. His three children were born at Turtle Village, and my father went to the reservations on the Aboite. and married and lived there; but he and his family often visited, and I was familiar with the Eel river country from childhood. My aunt married White Loon at Turtle Vil- lage, and they settled at his place of abode on the Aboite and always lived there. Uncle Kat-e-mong-wah always stayed about Eel river, and was killed in some battle. I do not know the place, but it was on Eel river, and near the spot where Coesse's second wife was born. I have often heard that Mrs. Coesse's father took the body and . buried it on the bluff near their cabin, and an intimacy sprung up between the families, resulting in the marriage of the dead man's
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son to the daughter of the man who buried his body.
"My cousin's name was Me-tek-kah, meaning 'burning the woods.' Coesse was a nickname given him when a child, and even the family came to call him by that name. He has told me he was born at Turtle Village at the bend of Eel river. He was married twice, the first time to White Loon's sister (but they had no children). He is buried here beside that first wife. After her death he married Me-tek-on-sac, and they had two daughters and one son. The oldest daughter was Chic-un-sac-wah, meaning 'stump cut off short,' but she was nicknamed Liz or Lizzie; the second was Pac-oc-u-sae-quah, meaning 'straight tree,' and she was nicknamed Louisa. There was one son, nicknamed Simon, who died at the age of sixteen. He died at their farin near Columbia City and was buried there. Coesse came to visit me here in the fall of 1853, and the next day he fell sick of a fever. I wanted to get a doctor, but he would not have any and would take no medi- cine. He had some trouble in the family and said he did not care to live. He died delirious in less than two weeks, in the log house which stood where this one stands. He died on Sunday morning, and on Tues- day forenoon we buried him between his first wife and my husband on our farm. There were no services. Being very lonely here I took my two children and went up to Coesse's family and stayed there a year, after which I came back here again. Jacob Slessman came from Columbia City and moved me up; he also moved me back the next summer. Mrs. Coesse and family lived on the farm up at Columbia City about ten . snow, mist or fog, nicknamed Mary, went to 6
years after her husband's death, when they sold out and moved to Peru, and they are now all dead except an illegitimate son and half breed, George, who was born after Coesse's death.
"Prior to 1820, Chief John Owl, his wife and one son, came to the Eel river country and stayed most of the time, building a cabin at Seek's Village. His wife died and was buried at the village. Chief Owl soon after went back to the Illinois country, leaving his son John Owl with Seek, and he raised him. On one of our visits up there I be- came acquainted with him, and afterwards he came down here, and we were married in 1826, and moved up and lived at Seek's Village. My husband was a good Indian and did not drink; and as there was much dissatisfaction with Seek, there was talk of my husband taking his place as chief; but my husband took sick some months after we were married, lingered more than a year and died. We had no children. My hus- band was buried beside, or very near his mother at Seek's Village. After my hus- band's death, Seek was unkind to me and I came back to my father's; and ini 1832, four years after my first husband's death, I married Shaw-pe-nom-quah, who was half Indian and half French. His American name was Anthony Revarre. Six children were born to us, four dying in infancy. My son, Anthony Revarre, Jr., who lives with me, is the youngest, and was born on Christmas day, 1849, just two months after his father's death. His Indian name is Wa-pe-mung-quah,. meaning White Loon, and he was named after Great White Loon. My daughter Wan-nog-quan-quah, meaning
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Oklahoma about twenty years ago and married there. Both Mary and Tony at- tended the common schools and the Roanoke Academy and have good English educations. Mary expected to teach out there, but was married.
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