History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 18

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761

USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan > Part 18

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).

In November, 1807, Governor Hull, of Michigan Ter- ritory, made a treaty with the Pottawattomies, Ottawas, Wyandots, and Chippewas, at Detroit, by which the coun- try lying in the southeastern part of the Territory, bounded on the west by the principal meridian and lying south of Saginaw Bay, was ceded to the United States.

In 1808 the Shawanese, under Tecumseh and his brother, the prophet, removed from Ohio to a tract of land granted them on the Tippecanoe River by the Pottawattomies and Kickapoos ; and from this point Tecumseh went forth to the various nations of the North and South in the interests of his great project.

It would appear, from a treaty made in November, 1808, by Governor Hull, at Brownstown, that the Pottawattomies were interested in lands lying along the Maumee and the southern coast of Lake Erie, for we find them at that date uniting with the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, and Sha-

* This statement would give the Pottawattomies over one thousand warriors.

From American State Papers, quoted in Albach's Annals of the West, pp. 640-41.

THE POTTAWATTOMIE INDIANS.

wanese in the cession of a strip of territory connecting the Maumee Valley with the Western Reserve in Northeastern Ohio.

With regard to the machinations of Tecumseh and the prophet, Gen. William H. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana Territory, on the 5th of July, 1809, in a letter to the Secretary of War, says,-

" The warlike and well-armed tribes of the Pottawattomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Delawares, and Miamis, I believe, neither had, nor would have joined in the combination ; and although the Kickapoos, whose warriors are better than those of any other tribe,-the remnant of the Wyandots excepted,-are much under the influence of the prophet, I am persuaded that they were never made acquainted with their in- tentions, if these were really hostile to the United States."

In the latter part of 1809, Harrison made additional purchases of lands along the Wabash River from the vari- ous nations interested, including the Pottawattomies.

These treaties and purchases were made with the Indians at Fort Wayne and Vincennes. They were protested against by Tecumseh in the following year.

At a council between Gen. Harrison and Tecumseh, held at Vincennes in 1810, a Pottawattomie chief made a speech, declaring that his nation had joined the Shawanese con- federacy and would stand by the principles enunciated by Tecumseh. From this circumstance it would appear that the Pottawattomies had finally been won over by Tecumseh and the prophet.

In 1811, Harrison was frequently in communication with the Pottawattomies, a portion of whom were inclined to be friendly.

In the fall of 1811, Harrison, finding the savages bent upon war, put his small army of about nine hundred men in motion from Vincennes, and on the morning of Novem- ber 7th, in that year, fought a desperate night-battle with the confederated Indians, under the prophet, in which the savages were defeated with severe loss, and their towns were destroyed the day following. In this battle a band of Pottawattomies were engaged, and lost several warriors and one of their principal chiefs. This chief was left on the field mortally wounded, but before his death he sent his advice to the different tribes, urging them to abandon the prophet and make peace .*

MASSACRE AT CHICAGO.

The declaration of war against Great Britain by the United States, in June, 1812, at once changed the whole aspect of affairs in the West; and the Indians, instead of making peace with the Americans, beholding, as they thought, their opportunity for driving the whites beyond the Ohio, at once attached themselves to the British cause. With the rest went the Pottawattomies, and the next ac- count of their movements succeeding the battle of Tippe- canoe is their capture and partial massacre of the garrison at Chicago, which, as we have seen, was situated on a tract

ceded to the United States at the treaty of Greenville, in 1795. A fort had been erected there by the government in 1804, and named Fort Dearborn, in honor of Gen .. Henry Dearborn, at one time commander-in-chief of the American army, and also Secretary of War.

The fort, at the breaking out of the war, was garrisoned by a force of seventy-five indifferent troops, under Capt. Heald, whose subordinates were Lieut. Helm, Ensign Ro- nan, and Dr. Voorhies, surgeon of the post. Winnemac, or Winneneg,t a friendly Pottawattomie chief, had brought dispatches from Gen. Hull, at Detroit, announcing the dec- laration of war, and instructing Capt. Heald, if practicable, to evacuate the fort and proceed to Fort Wayne or Detroit, as circumstances might determine. The general also or- dered the distribution of the government and agency prop- erty among the Indians.

Winnemac advised Capt. Heald to hold the post, and not attempt a retreat through the hostile country, now swarming with Pottawattomies, Winnebagoes, and others; or, if he must make the attempt, he urged that it be done at once, and that everything be left undisturbed in the fort, and possibly, while the Indians were busy plundering the stores, the garrison might make a safe retreat. But Capt. Heald would hear to the advice of neither Winnemac, his officers, nor Mr. Kinzie, the trader at the post.

During the days which elapsed between the arrival of Winnemac and the evacuation, an Indian runner arrived from Tecumseh, announcing the commencement of hostili- ties, the defeat of Van Horn, below Detroit, and urging the Western Indians to arm immediately, giving at the same time his opinion that Gen. Hull would soon be compelled to surrender. This warlike message stirred the Indians to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and from that moment, if not before, it was madness to attempt a retreat. A num- ber of the Pottawattomie chiefs were inclined to be friendly with the Americans, and especially with Mr. Kinzie's fam- ily ; but the great majority were for war, and could not be controlled. Winnemac was aware of all this, and hence his strenuous advice against evacuation.

On the 14th of August, Capt. Wells arrived from Fort Wayne, at the head of fifteen friendly Miamis. Mrs. Heald was his sister, and he had made a forced march through the wilderness to prevent, if possible, the exposure of the gar- rison and the women and children to certain destruction. But he arrived too late. The ammunition had been de- stroyed and the liquor poured out on the day preceding, by Capt. Heald's orders, and nothing remained but to attempt the march. The goods and blankets had been distributed among the Indians, but they were savagely angry when they found the liquor was destroyed, and could scarcely be re- strained from a general massacre.

Among the chiefs were several who, though they partook of the general feeling of hostility towards the Americans, yet had many friends among the soldiers and families at the post, and they exerted their utmost endeavors to allay the bloodthirsty feelings of their followers, but in vain.

Among these was Black Partridge, a distinguished chief, who came to the commander, after a second council

* During the war of 1812-15, or at least a portion of the time, the British authorities in Canada supported a blacksmithing establishment near Kalamazoo, for the benefit of the Pottawattomies and other In- dians. At this shop, according to Indian accounts, two men, an Eng- lishman and a Frenchman, worked at repairing for the Indians, and were paid by the British government. To the Indians the work was probably gratuitous.

t Called by the whites " Catfish."

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

of the Indians had decided upon the massacre, and said, " Father, I come to deliver up to you the medal I wear. It was given me by the Americans, and I have long worn it in token of our mutual friendship. But our young men are resolved to imbrue their hands in the blood of the whites. I cannot restrain them, and I will not wear a token of peace while I am compelled to act as an enemy."

The following paragraphs relating to the Chicago mas- sacre are from Albach's " Annals of the West":

"The fatal morning of the 15th of August arrived. The sun shone out in brightness as it rose from the glassy surface of the lake. The atmosphere was balmy, and could the minds of the party have been relieved from the most distressing apprehensions, they could have de- parted with exhilarating feelings.

" Early in the morning a message was received by Mr. Kinzie, from To-pe-nee-be, a friendly chief of the St. Joseph band ( Pottawattomies), informing him that the Pottawattomies who had promised to be an escort to the detachment designed mischief. Mr. Kinzie had placed his family under the protection of some friendly Indians. This party, in a boat, consisted of Mrs. Kinzie, four young children, a clerk of Mr. Kinzie's, two servants, and the boatmen, or voyageurs, with two In- dians as protectors. The boat was intended to pass along the southern end of Lake Michigan to St. Joseph. Mr. Kinzie and his eldest son, a youth, had agreed to accompany Capt. Heald and the troops, as he thought his influence over the Indians would enable him to restrain the fury of the savages, as they were much attached to him and his family.

"To-pe-nee-be urged him and his son to accompany his family in the boat, assuring him the hostile Indians would allow his boat to pass in safety to St. Joseph.

"The boat had scarcely reached the lake when another messenger from this friendly chief arrived to detain them where they were. The reader is left to imagine the feelings of the mother. She was a woman of uncommon energy and strength of character, yet her heart died within her as she folded her arms around her helpless infants. And when she heard the discharge of the guns, and the shrill, terrific war- whoop of the infuriated savages, and knew the party, and most prob- ably her beloved husband and first-born son, were doomed to destruc- tion, language has not the power to describe her agony.

" At nine o'clock the troops, with the baggage-wagons, left the fort with martial music, and in military array. Capt. Wells, at the head of his band of Miamis, led the advance, with his face blackened after the manner of the Indians. The troops, with the wagons containing the women and children, the sick and lame, followed, while at a little dis- tance behind were the Pottawattomies, about five hundred in number, who had pledged their honor to escort them in safety to Fort Wayne. The party took the road along the lake-shore.

" On reaching the point where a range of sand-hills commenced (within the present limits of Chicago city), the Pottawattomies defiled to the right into the prairie, to bring the sand-hills between them and the Americans." They had marched about a mile and a half from the fort, when Capt. Wells, who, with his Miamis, was in advance, rode furiously back, and exclaimed, 'They are about to attack us; form instantly and charge upon them !'

"The words were scarcely uttered when a volley of balls, from In- dian muskets behind the sand-hills, poured upon them. The troops were hastily formed in line of battle and charged up the bank. One man, a veteran soldier of seventy, fell as they mounted the bank. The battle became general. The Miamis fled at the outset, though Capt. Wells did his utmost to induce them to stand their ground. Their chief rode up to the Pottawattomies, charged them with treach- ery, and, brandishing his tomahawk, declared 'he would be the first to head a party of Americans and punish them.' He then turned his horse and galloped after his companions over the prairie.

"The American troops behaved most gallantly, and sold their lives dearly. Mrs. Helm, the wife of Lieut. Helm, who was in the action, behaved with astonishing presence of mind (as did all the other fe-

males), and furnished Mr. Kinzie with many thrilling facts, from which are made the following extracts :

"'Our horses pranced and bounded, and could hardly be restrained, as the balls whistled around them. I drew off a little and gazed upon my husband and father, who were yet unharmed. I felt that my hour was come, and endeavored to forget those I loved, and prepare myself for my approaching fate.

"' While I was thus engaged, the surgeon, Dr. V., came up ; he was badly wounded. His horse had been shot under him, and he had re- ceived a ball in his leg. Every muscle of his countenance was quiv- ering with the agony of terror. He said to me, "Do you think they will take our lives? I am badly wounded, but I think not mortally. Perhaps we might purchase our lives by promising them a large re- ward. Do you think there is any chance ?"

""" Dr. V.," said I, "do not let us waste the few moments that yet remain to us in such vain hopes. Our fate is inevitable. In a few moments we must appear before the bar of God. Let us endeavor to make what preparation is in our power." "Oh, I cannot die !" ex- claimed he. "I am not fit to die,-if I had but a short time to pre- pare,-death is awful!" I pointed to Ensign Ronan, who, though mortally wounded, and nearly down, was still fighting with despera- tion upon one knee.

""""Look at that man," said I, "at least he dies like a soldier !"

"'"Yes," replied the unfortunate man, with a convulsive gasp, " but he has no terrors of the future,-he is an unbeliever."

"' At this moment a young Indian raised his tomahawk at me. By springing aside I avoided the blow, which was aimed at my skull, but which alighted on my shoulder. I seized him around the neck, and while exerting my utmost efforts to get possession of his scalping- knife, which hung in a scabbard over his breast, I was dragged from his grasp by another and an older Indian.

"' This latter bore me, struggling and resisting, towards the lake. Notwithstanding the rapidity with which I was hurried along, I re- cognized, as I passed them, the lifeless remains of the unfortunate surgeon. Some murderous tomahawk had stretched him upon the very spot where I had last seen him.

"'I was immediately plunged into the water, and held there with a forcible hand, notwithstanding my resistance. I soon perceived, however, that the object of my captor was not to drown me, as he held me firmly in such a position as to place my head above the water. This reassured me, and regarding him attentively, I soon recognized, in spite of the paint with which he was disguised, the Black Par- tridge.

"' When the firing had somewhat subsided, my preserver bore me from the water and conducted me up the sand-banks. It was a burn- ing August morning, and walking through the sand, in my drenched condition, was inexpressibly painful and fatiguing. I stopped and took off my shoes, to free them from the sand, with which they were nearly filled, when a squaw seized and carried them off, and I was obliged to proceed without them. When we had gained the prairie I was met by my father, who told me that my husband was safe and but slightly wounded. They led me gently back towards the Chicago River, along the southern bank of which was the Pottawattomie en- campment. At one time I was placed upon a horse without a saddle, but soon finding the motion insupportable, I sprang off. Supported partly by my kind conductor and partly by another Indian, Pee-so- tum, who held dangling in his hand the scalp of Capt. Wells, I dragged my fainting steps to one of the wigwams.

"'The wife of Wau-bee-nee-mah, a chief from the Illinois River, was standing near, and seeing my exhausted condition, she seized a kettle, dipped up some water from a little stream that flowed near, threw into it some maple-sugar, and gave it to me to drink. This act of kindness, in the midst of so many atrocities, touched me most sensibly, but my attention was soon diverted to other objects. The fort had become a scene of plunder, to such as remained after the troops had marched out. The cattle had been shot down as they ran at large, and lay dead or dying around.

"' As the noise of the firing grew gradually less, and the stragglers from the victorious party dropped in, I received confirmation of what my father had hurriedly communicated in our rencontre on the lake- shore : namely, that the whites had surrendered, after the loss of about two-thirds of their number. They had stipulated for the pres- ervation of their lives and those of the remaining women and chil- dren, and for their delivery at some of the British posts, unless ran- somed by traders in the Indian country. It appeared that the wounded

* These sand-hills were scarcely worthy of the name ; they probably never exceeded the height of twenty feet. The high bank of the lake is generally meant in this account. The sand was drifted upon the top of the bank to a depth of several feet.

THE POTTAWATTOMIE INDIANS.

prisoners were not considered as included in the stipulation, and a horrible scene occurred upon their being brought into camp.

"' An old squaw, infuriated by the loss of friends or excited by the sanguinary scenes around her, seemed possessed by a demoniac ferocity. She seized a stable-fork, and assaulted one miserable victim, who lay groaning and writhing in the agony of his wounds, aggravated by the scorching beams of the sun. With a delicacy of feeling scarcely to have been expected under such circumstances, Wau-bee-nee-mah stretched a mat, across two poles, between me and this dreadful scene. I was thus spared, in some degree, a view of its horrors, although I could not entirely close my ears to the cries of the sufferer. The fol- lowing night five more of the wounded prisoners were tomahawked.'

"But why dwell upon this painful subject? Why describe the butchery of the children, twelve of whom, placed together in one bag- gage-wagon, fell beneath the merciless tomahawk of one young sav- age? This atrocious act was committed after the whites, twenty-seven in number, had surrendered. When Capt. Wells beheld it, he ex- claimed, ' Is that their game? Then I will kill, too !' So saying, he turned his horse's head and started for the Indian camp near the fort, where had been left their squaws and children.

"Several Indians pursued him, firing at him as he galloped along. He laid himself flat on the neck of his horse, loading and firing in that position. At length the balls of his pursuers took effect, killing his horse and severely wounding himself. At this moment he was met by Winneneg and Waubansee, who endeavored to save him from the savages who had now overtaken him ; but as they supported him along, after having disengaged him from his horse, he received his death-blow from one of the party (Pee-so-tumn), who stabbed him in the back.

"The heart of Capt. Wells was taken out and cut into pieces, and distributed among the tribes. His mutilated remains remained un- buried until next day, when Billy Caldwell gathered up his head in one place and mangled body in another, and buried them in the sand .*

"The family of Mr. Kinzie had been taken from the boat to their home by friendly Indians, and there strictly guarded. Soon after a very hostile party of the Pottawattomies arrived from the Wabash, and it required all the skill and bravery of Black Partridge, Wauban- see, and Billy Caldwell, who arrived at a critical moment, and other friendly Indians, to protect them. Runners had been sent by the hostile chiefs to all the Indian villages to apprise them of the in- tended evacuation of the fort, and of their plan of attacking the troops. In eager thirst to participate in such a scene of blood, but arrived too late to participate in the massacre, they were infuriated at their disappointment, and sought to glut their vengeance on the wounded and prisoners.

"On the third day after the massacre, the family of Mr. Kinzie, with the attachees of the establishment, under the care of François, a half-breed interpreter, were taken to St. Joseph in a boat, where they remained until the following November, under the protection of To- pe-ne-be and his band. They were then carried to Detroit, under the escort of Chandonnai and a friendly chief by the name of Kee- po-tah, and, with their servants, delivered up, as prisoners of war, to the British commanding officer.

"Of the other prisoners, Capt. Heald and Mrs. Heald were sent across the lake to St. Joseph the day after the battle. Capt. Heald had received two wounds and Mrs. Heald seven, the ball of one being cut from her arm by Mr. Kinzie, with a penknife, after the engage- ment.

" Mrs. Heald was ransomed on the battle-field by Chandonnai, a half-breed from St. Joseph, for a mule he had just taken and the promise of ten bottles of whisky.

"Capt. Heald was taken prisoner by an Indian from the Kankakee, who, seeing the wounded and enfeebled condition of Mrs. Heald, gen- erously released his prisoner that he might accompany his wife. But when this Indian returned to his village on the Kankakee, he found that his generosity had excited so much dissatisfaction in his band that he resolved to visit St. Joseph and reclaim his prisoner. News of his intention having reached To-pe-ne-bee, Kee-po-tah, Chandon- nai, and other friendly braves, they sent them in a bark canoe under

the charge of Robinson, a half-breed, along the eastern side of Lake Michigan, three hundred miles, to Mackinac, where they were de- livered over to the commanding officer.

"Lieut. Helm was wounded in the action and taken prisoner, and af- terwards taken by some friendly Indians to the Ausable, and from thence to St. Louis, and liberated from captivity through the agency of the late Thomas Forsyth, Esq. Mrs. Helm received a slight wound in the ankle ; had her horse shot from under her; and, after passing through the agonizing scenes described, went with the family of Mr. Kinzie to Detroit.

"The soldiers, with their wives and children, were dispersed among the different villages of the Pottawattomies upon the Illinois, Wabash, and Rock Rivers, and at Milwaukie. The larger portion were taken to Detroit and ransomed the following spring."

Thus ended this memorable episode, the most noted, per- haps, in the history of the Pottawattomies, at least so far as the whites were concerned. The whole affair thoroughly illustrated the prominent, and, in some respects, contra- dictory, characteristics of the Indian race. The same de- ceitful, wary, bloodthirsty elements ; the profuse promises of friendship and protection, while the runners were even then on their way to summon the different bands and tribes to the bloody banquet ; the same unrelenting and unquenchable thirst for slaughter, and the same inhuman disposition manifested towards the helpless wounded, and the innocent women and children. And in this instance they had no immediate reason for this bloody treatment of those whom chance and the unpardonable foolishness of the commanding officer had placed in their power. The In- dians had been well treated by every one at the post, and there was no reason for the outrage except the inherent bloodthirstiness of the race. There were a few individuals, principally chiefs, whose 'better natures revolted from the work ; but they were in a contemptible minority, and could do nothing.

In respect to cultivation and humanity, the Pottawatto- mies were no better and no worse than their congeners of other tribes and nations. They knew they were able to overpower the insignificant band which constituted the gar- rison, provided they could prevail upon them to evacuate the fort and expose themselves in open ground ; and to this end they pursued the same line of policy adopted by Pon- tiac, forty-nine years before, at Detroit,-that dictated by subterfuge and treachery. To-day, a half-dozen families, descendants of the fierce braves who so wantonly imbrued their hands in the blood of innocent women and children, dwell on the borders of the metropolis (whose half-million people outnumber all the Indians of North America com- bined), and in dumb helplessness eke out a scanty liveli- hood by peddling willow-baskets and the bead-work of the dusky squaws.

Of Capt. Heald there can be nothing said in extenuation of his foolish temerity, which cost the lives of three-score people, except that a blind subserviency to what he deemed a military duty seemed to overturn every reasoning faculty, and hurry him on to the inevitable consequences ; and the glaring fact will ever stand against him that he refused to listen to sound advice, and in a most criminal manner obsti- nately led his command to certain death or captivity.

In the attack upon Forts Wayne and Harrison, both within the limits of Indiana, in the same month, there is no doubt that the Pottawattomies acted a conspicuous part.

* Capt. David Wells had been taken prisoner in his childhood and had lived among the Miamis, where he married a daughter of Little Turtle, the great chief. He left the Indians and joined Gen. Wayne in 1794. His descendants still live in Maumee City.

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, was desperately and suc- cessfully defended against the combined savages-Shawa- nese, Pottawattomies, Kickapoos, and others-by Capt. Zachary Taylor, with eighteen men; and here a future President of the United States battled bravely with the fiery devils fresh from the massacre of Fort Dearborn.

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.

History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 18

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott Number of Pages: 761

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761