USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > History of Hillsdale county. Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 7
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In June, 1812, war was declared, and Tecumseh at once made common cause with the English, with all the warriors of his own and other tribes whom he could persuade to fol- low him. The Pottawattamies had not been so severely injured by the battle of Tippecanoe, but that some of their braves were still willing to try the chances of war against the hated Americans. When Gen. Hull crossed the
Detroit River into Canada in July of that year, Tecumseh, with thirty Shawnees and Pottawattamies, was at Malden. Others were added to these, and when Hull, by his tardy movements and feeble conduct, showed the weakness of his heart, the number was largely increased. The Pottawatta- mies, being nearly or quite the nearest tribe to the scene of action, and being anxious for revenge for their humiliation at Tippecanoe, formed a considerable part of Tecumseh's force.
About the 5th of August, Hull sent Major Van Horn with two hundred men to escort a convoy of provisions from the river Raisin. As the detachment approached Browns- town Creek it was saluted by volleys of musketry, and the usual terrific accompaniment of savage yells which an- nounced the presence of an Indian foe. Tecumseh with a large number of warriors, principally Shawnees. Pottawatta- mies, and Ottawas, had placed his people in ambush on Van Horn's path, and had assailed him with the greatest fury. After a brief conflict the Americans were utterly defeated, and fled to Detroit, having lost half their number in killed, wounded, and missing.
This victory of Tecumseh and his followers determined Hull to evacuate Canada. After doing so the general sent another force of six hundred men, under Lieut .- Col. Miller, to open the road to the convoy at the river Raisin. Again Tecumseh and his warriors flung themselves in the pathway of the advancing Americans, this time being assisted by a large body of British troops. A battle ensued at Mag- uaga, twelve miles below Detroit, where Miller found the enemy, both British and Indians, drawn up in line of battle to meet him. He attacked them without hesitation. After a brief conflict the English fled from the field, but Tecumseh, with his Shawnees and Pottawattamies, still kept up the fight. These, too, were at length defeated, and both white men and red men fled across the river to Canada, having lost a hundred and thirty-four in killed and wounded. The Americans had seventeen killed and sixty-four wounded.
Notwithstanding this check, Tecumseh still maintained his control over his warriors, and when the British com- mander, Gen. Brock, followed the imbecile Hull to Detroit, he reported to his government, and no doubt correctly, that he was accompanied by seven hundred Indians. At all events, there were enough to terrify the feeble Hull to an extraordinary degree, and his mind was filled with terrible visions of all the " hordes of the Northwest"-Shawnees, Ottawas, Pottawattamies, and Chippewas-overwhelming his fort, massacring himself and his garrison, and devasta- ting the settlements of Michigan with tomahawk and scalping-knife. Of the disgraceful surrender which fol- lowed on the 16th of August it is needless to speak here, save to say that all attempts to justify or extenuate it have miserably failed, and the name of the cowardly Hull must ever remain on the pages of American history only less hateful than that of Arnold, and even more contemptible.
As Mackinaw had already yielded to a British force, the surrender of Detroit and of Hull's army, with all the troops in the vicinity, carried with it control over the whole of Michigan, which, for the next year, became practically British territory. All the Indians were already favor- able to the English, and the remarkable success of the
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
latter naturally increased the confidence of the red men in their prowess. The warriors thronged by hundreds to the camp of the victors, and hardly a Pottawattamie or Ottawa capable of wielding a tomahawk was left behind.
Nine days after the surrender, and perhaps in conse- quence of it, a band of Pottawattamies, who resided at the head of Lake Michigan, fell upon, and massacred, the little garrison of Fort Dearborn (on the site of Chicago), as it was endeavoring to retreat eastward from that exposed post.
The next conflict in which the Pottawattamies took part was the celebrated battle of the river Raisin, near the site of Monroe, on the 22d day of January, 1813. Here a large force of British and Indians, under Gen- Proctor and Tecumseh, attacked a body of Americans under Gen. Winchester. Auchinleck, the Canadian histo- rian of the war of 1812, says there were two hundred Pottawattamies in the battle, and that these were about all the Indians present. It is admitted that they fought with great bravery, and their efforts, with those of their British comrades, were entirely successful. Whether from actual necessity, or because of the pall of imbecility which seems to have fallen upon the whole American army during the first months of the war of 1812, Gen. Winchester and his entire force surrendered to Gen. Proctor.
That officer soon after moved northward with the British troops, and most of the able-bodied prisoners, leaving the sick and wounded to the mercy of the Indians. He knew well enough what the result would be-what it always has been where the savages have had the opportunity of wreak- ing vengeance on the head of a helpless foe. No sooner had the British disappeared than the Pottawattamies, and the other Indians with them, fell upon the wretched Ameri- cans who were left behind. They began by plundering them of everything they possessed. Then, as their rage grew by its own indulgence, they thirsted for more exqui- site pleasure than plunder afforded. First one ferocious warrior sank his tomahawk into the head of some helpless victim, and, with a fearful yell, tore away the reeking scalp. Another, and another, and another, quickly followed his example, and soon the whole scene became one of brutal butchery, the sick and wounded Americans being slaughtered by the score without remorse by the savage Pot- tawattamies. It was what was to be expected from them, but something better might have been hoped from British officers, and few more disgraceful events have ever hap- pened than Proctor's abandonment of his helpless prisoners to the fury of the savages. It should be added that Te- cumseh was absent when the massacre began, and on his arrival did all in his power to stop it.
There were no other events of importance in which the Pottawattamies took part during that year, 1812, and as usual they returned home to hunt as winter approached.
In the spring of 1813, they again rallied to the aid of the British. After numerous desultory operations during the forepart of the year, Proctor and Tecumseh led a large force of British and Indians to attack the fort at Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio. The number of Indians was estimated at from one to two thousand, of whom from three to four hundred were Pottawattamies.
On the 2d of August, an assault was made by about five hundred British troops, while the Indians surrounded the fort, and kept up a continuous firing on every Ameri- can soldier they could discover. But the attacking column was completely repulsed by the one hundred and sixty Americans in the fort, commanded by the gallant Maj. Croghan, and both the red and white assailants quickly retired from the field.
The British and American fleets on Lake Erie were now preparing for action, and both were greatly deficient in seamen. The Americans supplied their place with raw militiamen, boys, and negroes ; the English endeavored to strengthen themselves by placing a number of Indian war- riors on each vessel, to act as sharpshooters and pick off the American gunners. On the memorable 10th of September the battle was fought which decided the mastery of Lake Erie. But alas for the noble red men ; no sooner did the American cannon-balls come crashing among them, and the ships shake from stem to stern with the thunder of their own guns, than Shawnees, Pottawattamies, and Otta- was alike fled from their elevated positions, took refuge in the holds of their respective vessels, and there remained in ignominious security but quaking in every nerve until the end of the conflict. They would have fought bravely, perhaps desperately, in their native woods, but their unac- customed position and the terrific thunder of the cannon were too much even for their stoic natures.
The battle of Lake Erie was immediately followed by the advance of the American army into Canada, under Gen. Harrison. The British and Indians retreated to the northeast. On the 29th of September, Gen. Har- rison took possession of Detroit, and Michigan once more- and let us trust forever-passed under American sway.
For, two or three days later, Harrison followed the British army up the river Thames. On the 5th day of October he overtook it near the Moravian towns on that stream, and the celebrated battle of the Thames ensued. The British were in line of battle next the river; on their right were the Indians, under Tecumseh, extending in irregular order into a swamp which protected their position on the north.
Tecumseh doubtless saw that this battle was to determine the event of the war so far as he and his were concerned. If the Americans could not be defeated, then, whatever might be the result elsewhere, there could be little hope but that the United States would hold possession of Mich- igan and the whole Northwest, and his people must go down before their power. Many of the more intelligent Shawnees and Pottawattamies likewise understood the situation, and the rest were devoted to Tecumseh ; all were determined to fight to the utmost.
The battle was begun in a very peculiar manner, Col. Richard M. Johnson's regiment of mounted riflemen being ordered to charge the enemy's lines, in advance of the in- fantry. Singularly enough, the British infantry at once gave way before the charge of a single battalion of the regiment, Jed by the lieutenant-colonel. Six hundred of them were taken prisoners, but their general, the man responsible for the massacre of the river Raisin, fled so early and so rap- idly as to escape capture.
The other battalion was led by Col. Johnson himself,
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
his principal foes being the Indians. From them, even after the British had all fled or surrendered, the riflemen encountered a fierce resistance. Cheered on by Tecumseh and the other chiefs, among whom Maipock, a fierce and implacable Pottawattamie, was one of the most conspic- uous, and feeling that this was their last chance, Shaw- nees, Ottawas, and Pottawattamies all fought with equal valor and ferocity. The American infantry came up and engaged in the conflict, yet still the warriors fought with desperate and useless courage against overwhelming numbers. But at length Tecumseh fell (no one has ever ascertained exactly when or where), the remaining braves were outnum- bered four to one, and all speedily fled or yielded to the victors. The Pottawattamies stood by Tecumseh to the last, and one of their number, a large, fine-looking chief, who was slain while emulating his great leader, is said to have been mistaken for him by many of the Americans.
The battle of the Thames completely extinguished the hopes of victory and independence indulged by the Indians of the Northwest. The confederacy which had been formed among them by the genius of Tecumseh at once fell in pieces after his death, and each tribe thought only of secur- ing its own safety. The Pottawattamies, Ottawas, and several other tribes immediately sent delegations offering peace to the successful Americans, and on the 16th of October Gen. Harrison granted them an armistice, having first received a number of warriors from each tribe as host- ages for the peaceable conduct of their comrades. The latter returned to their villages, and, although the war did not cease until the beginning of 1815, they were glad to refrain from taking any part in it.
Henceforth we have to deal with the Pottawattamies, not as a proud and powerful people, the unquestioned lords of Southern Michigan, setting at defiance by turns the governments of England and the United States, but as a subjugated, disorganized tribe, composed of a few feeble, scattered bands, roaming over the scenes of their former greatness, bartering their birthright for whisky, and beg- ging for occasional crusts from the hands of their conquerors. For these it will not be necessary to continue a separate record. Their story can be sufficiently told by occasional mention in the chapters devoted to the progress of the whites, and by description of the treaties by which the demoralized nation disposed of its broad domain.
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CHAPTER VI. THE ERA OF PREPARATION.
Recapitulation-Desolation after the War-Gen. Cass Governor- Treaty of 1817-Treaty of 1818-The great Chicago Treaty-An honest Murderer-" Give us Whisky"-Transfer of Southern Mich- igan to the United States-Boundary of the deeded Tract-Reser- vations and Gifts-List of Signers-Baw Beese and his Band-A Tragedy at Jonesville-Migratory Habits-Settlement of Lenawee County-Surveying the Chicago Road-Prospecting-Parties-Ap- proach of Settlement.
DESIGNING in this consecutive general history of the county to adhere as closely as possible to the chronological order, we have mentioned, in our chapters on the Pottawat- tamies, the transfer of Michigan from the French to the
English, in 1703 ; its conveyance by England to the United States, at the end of the Revolution ; its becoming a part of the Northwest Territory, in 1787; its transference to Indi- ana, in 1802 ; and its separate organization, in 1805. At the close of the war, in 1815, there was still only a narrow fringe of settlement along the Detroit River and Lake Erie, and this was in a most desolate condition. Many had been driven away by fear of the Indians, the property of others had been largely destroyed, and all were thoroughly discouraged by the trouble, terror, and hardships through which they had passed. As for the exterior of the Terri- tory, it was still in a state of nature.
Gen. Lewis Cass had been appointed Governor immedi- ately after the battle of the Thames, and as soon as the close of the war gave him an opportunity he devoted him- self with great zeal to the development of the resources of the Territory and the promotion of emigration. Whatever may be thought of his political course, all the early resi- dents of Michigan agree that as the Governor of a new Territory he could not have been excelled.
There was a considerable emigration immediately after the war, but the Territory had obtained so bad a reputation for dampness of soil and badness of health that the flow of land-seekers was less than might have been expected, and did not even approach the borders of Hillsdale County for many years. In fact, a law which had been passed by Con- gress in 1812, giving a large tract of Michigan land to sur- viving soldiers of the Revolution, was repealed after the war on account of a report made by inspectors sent to ex- amine the ground, that there was not enough good land in the Territory to satisfy the just claims of the beneficiaries.
Together with the office of Governor of Michigan, Gen. Cass held that of Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northwest, and immediately after the close of the war turned his attention to the subject of the extinguishment of the In- dian title, so that the Territory might be open to settlement by the whites. In September, 1817, he and Gen. Duncan McArthur held a council with the sachems and chiefs of the Wyandots, Senecas, Delawares, Shawnees, Pottawatta- mies, Ottawas, and Chippewas, at the rapids of the Mau- mee, when those nations ceded to the United States nearly all their lands in Ohio, and a small area in the southeastern part of Michigan.
For the cession of these lands, in which the Pottawatta- mies had but a slight interest, they received thirteen hun- dred dollars a year annually for fifteen years; the Wyandots being granted four thousand dollars annually forever ; the Ottawas and Chippewas a thousand dollars each annually for fifteen years, while the other tribes received smaller annuities. The treaty was signed by thirty-two Pottawat- tamie chiefs and warriors, while all the other tribes together were represented by about fifty. In fact, it was a charac- teristic of this tribe to have a very large delegation at all the councils where their interests were brought in question. Judging from the number of their representatives, they were the most democratic people in the whole Northwest.
In October, 1818, Gen. Cass and two other commis- sioners held a council with the Pottawattamies alone, by which the latter ceded to the United States a tract of land on the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers for a perpetual an-
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
nuity of two thousand five hundred dollars per year. This treaty was signed by thirty-four chiefs and warriors, headed by old "Topinabee." In 1820, Henry R. Schoolcraft, the celebrated student of Indian customs and history, states that the Pottawattamies of both Illinois and Michigan " obeyed" Topinabee, an old man who had signed the Greenville treaty with Gen. Wayne. But the " obedience" of the Indians to their chiefs was always very indefinite, and after the close of the war of 1812, when the growing power of the United States relieved them from the constant fear of war with neighboring tribes, their tendency to wander off in small bands, each under the leadership of some petty chieftain, became more and more pronounced. In 1820 the Pottawattamies were estimated by Mr. School- craft at three thousand four hundred persons all told.
But by far the most important of the treaties negotiated by Gen. Cass, so far as the destinies of Southern Michigan were concerned, was the one concluded at Chicago on the 29th day of August, 1821. Hon. Solomon Sibley was as- sociated with the general as a commissioner on behalf of the United States, while the Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawattamies, who were the contracting parties on the other side, were represented, the first named tribe by two chiefs, the second by eight, and the Pottawattamies by fifty-five. That is to say, that was the number which signed the treaty, but there was also a large number of less prominent warriors present, with their squaws and pap- pooses, and these warriors, and even the squaws, in the democratic constitution of Indian polity, could exercise a strong influence on the negotiations.
A curious incident in connection with this council is narrated in Smith's " Life of Cass," as derived from the gen- eral himself. While the latter was watching some peculiar ceremonies of the Indians in the early part of the proceed- ings, he observed a Chippewa looking very grave, and keeping apart from his fellows. Gov. Cass inquired the cause, and learned that the man, in a fit of passion, had killed a Pottawattamie in the early part of the same sea- son. The Pottawattamies had demanded the surrender of the murderer, and as the Chippewas, and in fact the homicide himself, admitted the justice of the claim, it was expected that the clansmen of the murdered man would inflict the penalty of death.
But the latter was owing some traders for goods received of them, and he was anxious to pay them before he died. He solicited and obtained the postponement of his execution until he could, by hunting, procure the means of satisfying his creditors. He had hunted successfully through the season, had obtained furs enough to pay his debts, and had come to the council prepared to suffer death at the hands of the friends of his victim. The Governor was touched by the stolid honesty of the doomed man, and by liberal presents to his intended executioners persuaded them to let him go free.
Probably an ample supply of whisky was the principal consideration which induced them to forego their revenge; for this was ever the most potent agent to reach their hearts. It is related, on the same authority above given, that even Topinabee, the hereditary chief of the Pottawattamies and the one who stood highest in their confidence, the veteran
of nearly a hundred years who had signed the Greenville treaty with Anthony Wayne, was more anxious about ob- taining a supply of whisky than anything else. When Gen. Cass urged him to keep sober so as to make a good bargain for himself and his people, he replied :
" Father, we do not care for the land, nor the money, nor the goods-what we want is whisky ; give us whisky."
Possibly, however, the old man spoke sarcastically, in view of the manifest anxiety of many of the Indians for that which was their deadliest bane.
After the usual time spent in bargaining and adjusting details (for the Indians were by no means all of them so drunk as to lose sight of their interests), the terms of the treaty were agreed upon and reduced to writing. By it the Pottawattamies as the actual occupants, and the Ottawas and Chippewas as their allies, ceded to the United States a tract of land stretching nearly across the Territory of Mich- igan from west to east, and described as follows : Beginning on the south bank of the St. Joseph River of Michigan near "Parc aux Vaches" (a short distance above the mouth) ; thence south to a line running due east from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan ; thence along that line to the tract ceded by the treaty of Fort Meigs in 1817 (which was far to the east of Hillsdale County), or, if that tract should be found to lie entirely south of the line, then to the tract ceded by the treaty of Detroit in 1807 (the west- ern boundary of which was twenty miles west of Lake Erie and the Detroit River) ; thence northward along that tract to a point due east of the source of Grand River; thence west to the source of that river; thence down the river on the north bank to its junction with Lake Michigan ; thence southward along the east bank of the lake to the mouth of the St. Joseph River ; and thence up that river to the place of beginning.
From the tract thus ceded five reservations were ex- cepted, none of which were in Hillsdale County, unless, possibly, one of three miles square might have been partly within it. It was described as situated at the village of " Match-e-be-nash-e-wish," at the head of the "Kekalama- zoo" River .* Numerous grants of small tracts were also made by the treaty to individuals who were favorites of the Indians, usually either half-bloods or white men mar- ried to squaws. These were in the counties west of Hills- dalc.
In consideration of this cession, the United States agreed to pay the Ottawas a thousand dollars a year forever, be- sides fifteen hundred dollars a year for fifteen years, to sup- port a blacksmith, teacher, and farmer. To the Pottawat- tamies the government agreed to pay five thousand dollars annually for twenty years, besides a thousand dollars per year to support a blacksmith and teacher. These were some of the first provisions made by the government for the purpose of civilizing the Indians.
Such was the treaty which gave the title of the land of Hillsdale County to the United States, and, consequently, constitutes the basis of all the land-titles in that county.
* This is rather an indefinite expression, as the " Kekalamazoo" River, now called the Kalamazoo, has several head-water branches, and as the Indians retained the reservation but a short time, the earliest set- tlers have no recollection of it. It was probably in Jackson County.
5
34
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The southern line of the ceded tract was originally claimed by Michigan as being the southern line of the county, but in the contention with Ohio, fourteen or fifteen years after the making of the treaty of Chicago, -of which mention will be made farther on,-the county and State boundary was located two or three miles north of the treaty line. As the Grand River heads in the northeast corner of this county, a small fraction of Somerset town- ship may have been left out of the cession, as the line runs west to the source of Grand River, and thence down that stream to the lake; but as the land north of the line was also ceded soon after, it made no practical difference.
Below we give the names of the Pottawattamie chiefs and warriors who signed the treaty of Chicago, both to show the original title of Hillsdale County land (for the Ottawas and Chippewas were merely allies of the real owners,-at least so far as the land in this vicinity was concerned), and also to show what sort of names our pre- decessors indulged in.
The list is headed by the veteran Topenibee, after whom came the following : Meteay, Chebonsee, Loinson, Weesaw, Keepotaw, Schayank, Keebee, Schomang, Wawwemick- emack, Nayoncheemon, Kongee, Sheeshawgau, Ayshcam, Meeksaymank, Moytenway, Shawwennemetay, Francois, Mauksee, Waymego, Maudauming, Quayguee, Aapenhaw- bee, Matchaweeyaas, Matchapoggish, Mongau, Puggagaus, Sescobennish, Cheegwamackgwago, Wawsebbau, Peech- eeco, Quonquoitaw, Reannish, Wynemaig, Onmuckemeck, Kawaysin, Ameckkose, Osseemeet, Shawkoto, Noshaywee- quat, Meegunn, Maesheketeumon, Keenotoge, Wabawne- shen, Shawwawnayse, Atchweemuckquee, Pishsheebangay, Wawbassay, Meggesseese, Saygawkoomick, Shawwayno, Sheeshawgun, Totomee, Ashkuwee, Shayankkeebee, Awbe- tonee.
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