History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan, Part 5

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1457

USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan > Part 5

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The tribe to which Tecumseh, or Tecumtha, as some write it, be- longed, was the Shawnee, or Shawanee. The tradition of the nation held that they originally came from the Gulf of Mexico; that they wended their way up the Mississippi and the Ohio, and settled at or near the present site of Shawneetown, Ill., whence they removed to the upper Wabash. In the latter place, at any rate, they were found early in the 18th century, and were known as the " bravest of the brave." This tribe has uniformly been the bitter enemy of the white man, and in every contest with our people has exhibited a degree of skill and strategy that should characterize the most dangerous foe.

Tecumseh's notoriety and that of his brother, the Prophet, mutu- ally served to establish and strengthen each other. While the Prophet had unlimited power, spiritual and temporal, he distributed his greatness in all the departments of Indian life with a kind of fanaticism that magnetically aroused the religious and superstitious passions, not only of his own followers, but also of all the tribes in

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this part of the country; but Tecumseh concentrated his greatness upon the more practical and business affairs of military conquest. It is doubted whether he was really a sincere believer in the preten- sions of his fanatic brother; if he did not believe in the pretentious feature of them he had the shrewdness to keep his unbelief to him- self, knowing that religious fanaticism was one of the strongest im- pulses to reckless bravery.

During his sojourn in the Northwestern Territory, it was Tecum- seh's uppermost desire of life to confederate all the Indian tribes of the country together against the whites, to maintain their choice hunting-grounds. All his public policy converged toward this sin- gle end. In his vast scheme he comprised even all the Indians in the Gulf country,-all in America west of the Alleghany moun- tains. He held, as a subordinate principle, that the Great Spirit had given the Indian race all these hunting-grounds to keep in common, and that no Indian or tribe could cede any portion of the land to the whites without the consent of all the tribes. Hence, in all his councils with the whites he ever maintained that the treaties were null and void.

When he met Harrison at Vincennes in council the last time, and, as he was invited by that General to take a seat with him on the platform, he hesitated; Harrison insisted, saying that it was the "wish of their Great Father, the President of the United States, that he should do so." The chief paused a moment, raised his tall and commanding form to its greatest height, surveyed the troops and crowd around him, fixed his keen eyes upon Gov. Harrison, and then turning them to the sky above, and pointing toward heaven with his sinewy arm in a manner indicative of supreme contempt for the paternity assigned him, said in clarion tones: " My father? The sun is my father, the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline." He then stretched himself, with his war- riors, on the green sward. The effect was electrical, and for some moments there was perfect silence.

The Governor, then, through an interpreter, told him that he un- derstood he had some complaints to make and redress to ask, etc., and that he wished to investigate the matter and make restitution wherever it might be decided it should be done. As soon as the Governor was through with this introductory speech, the stately warrior arose, tall, athletic, manly, dignified and graceful, and with a voice at first low, but distinct and musical, commenced a reply. As he warmed up with his subject his clear tones might be heard,

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as if " trumpet-tongued," to the utmost limits of the assembly. The most perfect silence prevailed, except when his warriors gave their guttural assent to some eloquent recital of the red man's wrong and the white man's injustice. Tecumseh recited the wrongs which his race had suffered from the time of the massacre of the Moravian Indians to the present; said he did not know how he could ever again be the friend of the white man; that the Great* Spirit had given to the Indian all the land from the Miami to the Mississippi, and from the lakes to the Ohio, as a common property to all the tribes in these borders, and that the land could not and should not be sold without the consent of all; that all the tribes on the continent formed but one nation; that if the United States would not give up the lands they had bought of the Miamis and the other tribes, those united with him were determined to annihi- late those tribes; that they were determined to have no more chiefs, but in future to be governed by their warriors; that unless the whites ceased their encroachments upon Indian lands, the fate of the Indians was sealed; they had been driven from the banks of the Delaware across the Alleghanies, and their possessions on the Wabash and the Illinois were now to be taken from them; that in a few years they would not have ground enough to bury their war- riors on this side of the "Father of Waters;" that all would perish, all their possessions taken from them by fraud or force, unless they stopped the progress of the white man westward; that it must be a war of races in which one or the other must perish; that their tribes had been driven toward the setting sun like a galloping horse (ne-kat a-kush-e ka-top-o-lin-to).

The Shawnee language, in which this most eminent Indian states- man spoke, excelled all other aboriginal tongues in its musical ar- ticulation; and the effect of Tecumseh's oratory on this occasion can be more easily imagined than described. Gov. Harrison, although as brave a soldier and General as any American, was over- come by this speech. He well knew Tecumseh's power and influ- ence among all the tribes, knew his bravery, courage and determi- nation, and knew that he meant what he said. When Tecumseh was done speaking there was a stillness throughout the assembly which was really painful; not a whisper was heard, and all eyes were turned from the speaker toward Gov. Harrison, who after a few moments came to himself, and recollecting many of the absurd statements of the great Indian orator, began a reply which was more logical, if not so eloquent. The Shawnees were attentive un-

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til Harrison's interpreter began to translate his speech to the Mia- mis and Pottawatomies, when Tecumseh and his warriors sprang to their feet, brandishing their war-clubs and tomahawks. "Tell him," said Tecumseh, addressing the interpreter in Shawnee, " he lies." The interpreter undertook to convey this message to the Governor in smoother language, but Tecumseh noticed the effort and remonstrated, " No, no; tell him helies." The warriors began to grow more excited, when Secretary Gibson ordered the Ameri- can troops in arms to advance. This allayed the rising storm, and as soon as Tecumseh's "He lies " was literally interpreted to the Governor, the latter told Tecumseh through the interpreter to tell Tecumseh he would hold no further council with him.

Thus the assembly was broken up, and one can hardly imagine a more exciting scene. It would constitute the finest subject for a historical painting to adorn the rotunda of the capitol. The next day Tecumseh requested another interview with the Governor, which was granted on condition that he should make an apology to the Governor for his language the day before. This he made through the interpreter. Measures for defense and protection were taken, however, lest there should be another outbreak. Two com- panies of militia were ordered from the country, and the one in town added to them, while the Governor and his friends went into council fully armed and prepared for any contingency. On this oc- casion the conduct of Tecumseh was entirely different from that of the day before. Firm and intrepid, showing not the slightest fear or alarm, surrounded with a military force four times his own, he preserved the utmost composure and equanimity. No one would have supposed that he could have been the principal actor in the thrilling scene of the previous day. He claimed that half the Americans were in sympathy with him. He also said that whites had informed him that Gov. Harrison had purchased land from the Indians without any authority from the Government; that he, Harrison, had but two years more to remain in office, and that if he, Tecumseh, could prevail upon the Indians who sold the lands not to receive their annuities for that time, and the present Gover- nor displaced by a good man as his successor, the latter would re- store to the Indians all the lands purchased from them.

The Wyandots, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Ottawas and the Win- nebagoes, through their respective spokesmen, declared their adherence to the great Shawnee warrior and statesman. Gov. Harri- son then told them that he would send Tecumseh's speech to thePresi-

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dent of the United States and return the answer to the Indians as soon as it was received. Tecumseh then declared that he and his allies were determined that the old boundary line should continue; and that if the whites crossed it, it would be at their peril. Gov. Harrison re- plied that he would be equally plain with him and state that the President would never allow that the lands on the Wabash were the property of any other tribes than those who had occupied them since the white people first came to America; and as the title to the lands lately purchased was derived from those tribes by a fair purchase, he might rest assured that the right of the United States would be supported by the sword. "So be it," was the stern and haughty reply of the Shawnee chieftan, as he and his braves took leave of the Governor and wended their way in Indian file to their camping ground.

Thus ended the last conference on earth between the chivalrous Tecumseh and the hero of the battle of Tippecanoe. The bones of the first lie bleaching on the battle-field of the Thames, and those of the last in a mausoleum on the banks of the Ohio; each strug- gled for the mastery of his race, and each no doubt was equally honest and patriotic in his purposes. The weak yielded to the strong, the defenseless to the powerful, and the hunting-ground of the Shawnee is all occupied by his enemy.

Tecumseh, with four of his braves, immediately embarked in a birch canoe, descended the Wabash, and went on to the South to unite the tribes of that country in a general system of self-defense against the encroachment of the whites. His emblem was a dis- jointed snake, with the motto, "Join or die!" In union alone was strength.

Before Tecumseh left the Prophet's town at the mouth of the Tippecanoe river, on his excursion to the South, he had a definite understanding with his brother and the chieftains of the other tribes in the Wabash country, that they should preserve perfect peace with the whites until his arrangements were completed for a con- federacy of the tribes on both sides of the Ohio and on the Missis- sippi river; but it seems that while he was in the South engaged in his work of uniting the tribes of that country some of the North- ern tribes showed signs of fight and precipitated Harrison into that campaign which ended in the battle of Tippecanoe and the total route of the Indians. Tecumseh, on his return from the South, learning what had happened, was overcome with chagrin, disappoint- ment and anger, and accused his brother of duplicity and coward-

BOND.CHANDLER.CRIS

TECUMSEH.

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ice; indeed, it is said that he never forgave him to the day of his death. A short time afterward, on the breaking out of the war of Great Britain, he joined Proctor, at Malden, with a party of his warriors, and was killed at the battle of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813, by a Mr. Wheatty, as we are positively informed by Mr. A. J. James, now a resident of La Harpe township, Hancock county, Ill., whose father-in-law, John Pigman, of Coshocton county, Ohio, was an eye witness. Gen. Johnson has generally had the credit of killing Tecumseh.

OKEMOS.

"Old " Okemos, a nephew of Pontiac and once the chief of the Chippewas, was born at or near Knagg's Station, on the Shiawassee river, where the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railroad crosses that stream. The date is shrouded in mystery. At the time of his death he was said to be a centenarian. The earliest account we have of him is that he took the war-path in 1796. Judge Littlejohn, in his "Legends of the Northwest," introduces him to the reader in 1803. The battle of Sandusky, in which Okemos took an active part, was the great event of his life, and this it was that gave him his chieftainship and caused him to be revered by his tribe. Con- cerning that event he himself used to say:

"Myself and cousin, Man-a-to-corb-way, with 16 other braves enlisted under the British flag, formed a scouting or war party, left the upper Raisin, and made our rendezvous at Sandusky. One morning while lying in ambush near a road lately cut for the pas- sage of the American army and supply wagons, we saw 20 cavalry- men approaching us. Our ambush was located on a slight ridge, with brush directly in our front. We immediately decided to attack the Americans, although they outnumbered us. Our plan was first to fire and cripple them, and then make a dash with the tomahawk. We waited until they approached so near that we could count the buttons on their coats, when firing commenced. The cavalry-men with drawn sabers immediately charged upon the Indians. The plumes upon the hats of the cavalry-men looked like a flock of a thousand pigeons just hovering for a lighting."

Okemos and his cousin fought side by side, loading and firing while dodging from one cover to another. In less than ten minutes after the firing began the sound of a bugle was heard, and casting their eyes in the direction of the sound, they saw the road and woods filled with cavalry. The small party of Indians were immediately surrounded and every man cut down. All were left for dead on the field. Okemos and his cousin both had their skulls cloven and their bodies gashed in a fearful manner. The cavalry- men, before leaving the field, in order to be sure life was extinct, would lean forward from their horses and pierce the chests of the Indians, even into their lungs. The last that Okemos remembered was that after emptying one saddle, and springing toward another

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soldier with clubbed rifle raised to strike, his head felt as if it were pierced with red-hot iron, and he went down from a heavy saber-cut. All knowledge ceased from this time until many moons afterward, when he found himself being nursed by the squaws of his friends, who had found him on the battle-field two or three days afterward. The squaws thought all were dead, but upon moving the bodies of Okemos and his cousin, signs of life appeared, and they were taken to a place of safety and finally restored to partial health. Okemos never afterward took part in war, this battle having satisfied him that " white man was a heap powerful."

Shortly after his recovery he solicited Col. Godfroy to intercede with Gen. Cass, and he and other chiefs made a treaty with the Americans, which was faithfully kept.

The next we hear of the old chieftain, he had settled with his tribe on the banks of the Shiawassee, near the place of his birth, where for many years, up to 1837-'8, he was engaged in the peace- ful vocation of hunting, fishing and trading with the white man. About this time the small-pox broke out in his tribe, which, together with the influx of white settlers who destroyed their hunt- ing-grounds, scattered their bands. The plaintive, soft notes of the wooing young hunter's flute, made of red alder, and the sound of the tom-tom at council fires and village feasts were heard no more along the banks of our inland streams. Okemos became a mendi- cant, and many a hearty meal has the old Indian received from his friends among the whites. He was five feet four inches high, lithe, wiry, active, intelligent and possessed undoubted bravery ; but in con- versation he hesitated and mumbled his words. Previous to the breaking up of his band in 1837-'8, his usual dress consisted of a blanket coat with belt, steel pipe, hatchet, tomahawk and a, heavy, long, English hunting-knife stuck in his belt in front, with a large bone handle prominent outside the sheath. He painted his cheeks and forehead with vermilion, wore a shawl around his head turban fashion, and leggins. He died at his wigwam a few miles from Lansing, and was buried Dec. 5, 1858, at Shimnicon, an Indian settlement in Ionia county. His coffin was extremely rude, and in it were placed a pipe, tobacco, hunting-knife, bird's wings, pro- visions, etc. An ambrotype picture was taken of this eminent Indian in 1857, and has ever since been in the possession of O. A. Jenison at Lansing, from whom we obtain the above account.

HULL'S SURRENDER.

Now we have to record an unexplained mystery, which no his- torian of Michigan can omit, namely, the surrender of Detroit to the British by Gen. Hull, when his forces were not in action and were far more powerful than the enemy. He was either a coward or a traitor, or both. The commander of the British forces, Gen. Brock, triumphantly took possession of the fort, left a small garri- son under Col. Proctor, and returned to the seat of his government.

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In 12 days he had moved with a small army 250 miles against the enemy, effected the surrender of a strong fort and well equipped army of 2,300 effective men, and one of the Territories of the United States. Hull and the regular troops were taken to Mon- treal, and the militia were sent to their homes.

In the capitulation Gen. Hull also surrendered Fort Dearborn at Chicago, commanding Capt. Heald of that place to evacuate and retreat to Fort Wayne. In obedience to this order the Captain started from the fort with his forces; but no sooner were they out- side the walls than they were attacked by a large force of Indians, who took them prisoners and then proceeded to massacre them, killing 38 out of the 66 soldiers, even some of the women and children, two of the former and 12 of the latter. Capt. Wells, a white man who had been brought up among the Indians, but espoused the white man's cause, was killed in the massacre.

Jan. 3, 1814, Gen. Hull appeared before a court-martial at Albany, N. Y., where Gen. Dearborn was president. The accused made no objection to the constitution and jurisdiction of this court; its ses- sions were protracted and every facility was given the accused to make his defense. The three charges against him were treason, cowardice and neglect of duty. Hull was finally acquitted of the high crime of treason, but he was found guilty of the other charges and sentenced to be shot; but by reason of his services in the Revolution and his advanced age the court recommended him to the mercy of the President, who approved the finding of the court but remitted the execution of the sentence and dismissed Hull from the service. The accused wrote a long defense, in which he enumerates many things too tedious to relate here. Even before he was sent to Detroit he was rather opposed to the policy of the Government toward the British of Canada; and, besides, he had been kindly treated by British officers, who helped him across the frontier. Again, the general Government was unreasonably slow to inform the General of the declaration of war which had been made against Great Britain, and very slow to forward troops and supplies. Many things can be said on both sides; but historians generally approve the judgment of the court in his case, as well as of the executive clemency of the President.

PERRY'S VICTORY.

The lake communication of Michigan with the East, having been in the hands of the British since Hull's surrender, was cut off by Com. Perry, who obtained a signal naval victory over the British on Lake Erie Sept. 10, 1813. The Commodore built his fleet at Erie, Pa., under great disadvantages. The bar at the mouth of the harbor would not permit the vessels to pass out with their arma- ment on board. For some time after the fleet was ready to sail, the British commodore continued to hover off the harbor, well know- ing it must either remain there inactive or venture out with almost

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a certainty of defeat. During this blockade, Com. Perry had no alternative but to ride at anchor at Erie; but early in September the enemy relaxed his vigilance and withdrew to the upper end of the lake. Perry then slipped out beyond the bar and fitted his ves- sels for action. The British fleet opposed to Com. Perry consisted of the ships " Detroit," carrying 19 guns; the "Queen Charlotte," 17 guns; the schooner " Lady Prevost," 13 guns; the brig " Hun- ter," ten guns; the sloop "Little Belt," three guns; and the schooner "Chippewa," one gun and two swivels; and this fleet was commanded by a veteran officer of tried skill and valor.

At sunrise, Sept. 10, while at anchor at Put-in-Bay, the Commo- dore espied the enemy toward the head of the lake, and he imme- diately sailed up and commenced action. His flag vessel, the Lawrence, was engaged with the whole force of the enemy for nearly two hours before the wind permitted the other vessels to come in proper position to help. The crew of this vessel continued the fight until every one of them was either killed or wounded, all the rigging torn to pieces and every gun dismantled. Now comes the daring feat of the engagement which makes Perry a hero. He caused his boat to be lowered, in which he rowed to the Niagara amid the storm of shot and shell raging around him. This vessel he sailed through the enemy's fleet with a swelling breeze, pouring in her broadsides upon their ships and forcing them to surrender in rapid succession, until all were taken. The smaller vessels of his fleet helped in this action, among which was one commanded by the brave and faithful Capt. Elliott. This victory was one of the most decisive in all the annals of American history. It opened the lake to Gen. Wm. H. Harrison, who had been operating in Indiana and Ohio, and who now crossed with his army to Canada, where he had a short campaign, terminated by the battle of the Moravian towns, by which the enemy were driven from the north- western frontier. A detachment of his army occupied Detroit Sept. 29, 1813, and Oct. 18 an armistice was concluded with the Indians, thus restoring tranquillity to the Territory of Michigan. Soon afterward Gen. Harrison left Gen. Cass in command at Detroit and moved with the main body of his army down to the Niagara frontier.

Perry's brilliant success gave to the Americans the uncontrolled command of the lake, and Sept. 23 their fleet landed 1,200 men near Malden. Col. Proctor, however, had previously evac- uated that post, after setting fire to the fort and public store- houses. Com. Perry in the meantime passed up to Detroit with the " Ariel " to assist in the occupation of that town, while Capt. Elliott, with the "Lady Prevost," the "Scorpion," and the "Tigress," advanced into Lake St. Clair to intercept the enemy's stores. Thus Gen. Harrison, on his arrival at Detroit and Malden, found both places abandoned by the enemy, and was met by the Canadians asking for his protection. Tecumseh proposed to the British commander that they should hazard an engagement at Mal-

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den; but the latter foresaw that he should be exposed to the fire of the American fleet in that position, and therefore resolved to march to the Moravian towns upon the Thames, near St. Clair lake, above Detroit, and there try the chance of a battle. His force at this time consisted of about 900 regular troops, and 1,500 Indians commanded by Tecumseh. The American army amounted to about 2,700 men, of whom 120 were regulars, a considerable number of militia, about 30 Indians, and the remainder Kentucky riflemen, well mounted, and mainly young men, full of ardor, and burning with a desire to revenge the massacre of their friends and relatives at the River Raisin.

During the following winter there were no military movements, except an incursion into the interior of the upper province by Maj. Holmes, who was attacked near Stony creek, and maintained his ground with bravery.

CLOSE OF THE WAR.

The war with Great Britain was now (November, 1813) practi- cally closed, so far as the Northwest was concerned, but the post at Mackinaw yet remained in the hands of the enemy, and active steps were taken to dispossess the English of this point and drive them wholly from the domain of the United States. The first effort to start an expedition failed; but in the summer of 1814 a well- equipped force of two sloops of war, several schooners and 750 land militia, under the command of Com. Sinclair and Lieut .- Col. Croghan, started for the north. Contrary, however, to the advice of experienced men, the commanders concluded to visit St. Joseph first, and the British at Mackinaw heard of their coming and pre- pared themselves. The consequence was a failure to take the place. Major Holmes was killed, and the Winnebago Indians, from Green Bay, allies of the British, actually cut out the heart and livers from the American slain and cooked and ate them! Com. Sin- clair afterward made some arrangements to starve out the post, but his vessels were captured and the British then remained secure in the possession of the place until the treaty of peace the following winter.

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History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan, Part 5

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co. Number of Pages: 1457

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1457