USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio, containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc., relating to its general and local history : with descriptions of its counties, principal towns, and villages > Part 81
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cut you all off. To-night the Indians will surround your army, and when that arrangement is fully made, you will hear some guns fire all around the ring. But there is a large swamp or very wet piece of ground on the east side of you, where there will be a vacancy ;, that gap you can learn by the firing, and in the night you had better march your men through and make your escape in an east direction."
Crawford accordingly in the night drew up his men and told them his intention. The men generally assenting, he then commenced his march east ; but the men soon got into confusion and lost their course. Consequently, the next day they were almost to a man cut off, and, as history tells us, Crawford taken prisoner. He was taken by a Delaware; consequently the Delawares claimed the right, agreeably to their rules, of disposing of the prisoner. There was a council held, and the decision was to burn him. He was taken to the main Delaware town, on a considerable creek, called Tymochtee, about eight miles from the mouth. Girty then supposed he could make a speculation by saving Crawford's life. He made a proposition to Capt. Pipe, the head chief of the Delawares, offering three hundred and fifty dollars for Crawford. The chief received it as a great insult, and promptly said to Girty, " Sir, do think I am a squaw ?" If you say one word more on the subject, I will make a stake for you, and burn you along with the white chief." Girty, knowing the Indian churacter, retired and said no more on the subject. But, in the meantime, Girty had sent runners to the Mohican creek and to Lower Sandusky, where there were some white traders, to come immediately and purchase Crawford-knowing that he could make a great speculation in case he could save Crawford's life. The traders came on, but too late. When they arrived, Crawford was tied to a stake, blacked, his ears cut off and part burnt- too much so to live had he been let loose. He asked Girty to get a gun and shoot him ; but Girty, knowing the rebuke he got the day before, dared not say one word.
Notwithstanding the above, the cruelty of Girty to Crawford at. the stake, is established by other sources than that of Dr. Knight. Col. Johnston informs us, that he has been told by Indians present on the occasion, that Girty was among the foremost in inflicting tor- tures upon their victim. This, however, does not materially conflict with the above, when we regard the motives of Girty in his be- half as having been mercenary.
By the treaty concluded at the foot of the Maumee rapids, Sept. 29th, 1817, Hon. Lewis Cass and Hon. Duncan M'Arthur, commis- sioners on the part of the United States, there was granted to the Wyandot tribe a reservation of twelve miles square in this county, the centre of which was Fort Ferree, at Upper Sandusky, and also a tract of one mile square on the Cranberry Swamp, on Broken Sword creek. At the same time was granted to the Delawares a tract of three miles square, adjoining the other, on the south. Their princi- pal chief was Capt. Pipe, son of the chief so officious in the burning of Crawford.
The Delawares ceded their reservation to the United States in 1829. The Wyandots ceded theirs by a treaty made at Upper Sandusky, March, 17th, 1842, they being the only Indians remaining in the state. The commissioner on the part of the United States was Col. John Johnston, who had then the honor of making the last Indian treaty in Ohio-a state, every foot of whose soil has been fairly purchased by treaties from its original possessors. The Wyandots left for the far west in July, 1843, and numbered at that time about 700 souls.
The Wyandots were the bravest of the Indian tribes, and had among their chiefs some men of high moral character.
With all other tribes but the Wyandots, flight in battle, when meeting with unexpected resistance or obstacle, brought with it no disgrace ..... With them, it was otherwise. Their
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youth were taught to consider anything that had the appearance of an acknowledgment of the superiority of the enemy as disgraceful. In the battle of the Miami rapids, of thirteen chiefs of that tribe who were present, one only survived, and he badly wounded. Some time before this action, Gen. Wayne sent for Capt. Wells, (see p. 323,) and requested him to go to Sandusky and take a prisoner, for the purpose of obtaining information. Wells- who had been bred with the Indians, and was perfectly acquainted with their character- answered that he could take a prisoner, but not from Sandusky, because Wyandots would not be taken alive .*
We annex a brief sketch of the Wyandot, or Huron tribe, as they were anciently called, in a letter from the Rev. Joseph Badger (see page 482) to John Frazier, Esq., of Cincinnati, dated Plain, Wood county, Aug. 25th, 1845.
Having been a resident missionary with the Wyandot Indians before the late war, and obtained the confidence of their chiefs in a familiar conversation with them ; and having a good interpreter, I requested them to give me a history of their ancestors as far back as they could. They began by giving a particular account of the country formerly owned by their ancestors. It was the north side of the river St. Lawrence, down to Coon lake, and from thence up the Utiwas. Their name for it was Cu,none,tot,tia. This name I heard applied to them, but knew not what it meant. The Senecas owned the opposite side of the river and the island on which Montreal now stands. They were both large tribes, consisting of many thousands. They were blood relations, and I found at this time they claimed each other as cousins.
A war originated between the two tribes in this way. A man of the Wyandots wanted a certain woman for his wife ; but she objected, and said he was no warrior : he had never taken any scalps. To accomplish his object, he raised a small war party, and in their scout, fell upon a party of Seneca hunters, killed and scalped a number of them. This procedure began a war between the nations, that lasted more than a century, which they supposed was fully a hundred winters before the French came to Quebec. They owned they were the first instigators in the war, and were generally beaten in the contest. Both tribes were greatly wasted in the war. They often made peace ; but the first opportunity the Senecas could get an advantage against them, they would destroy all they could, men, women and children. The Wyandots, finding they were in danger of being exterminated, concluded to leave their country, and go far to the west. With their canoes, the whole nation made their escape to the upper lakes, and settled in the vicinity of Green Bay, in several villages, but, after a few years, the Senecas made up a war-party and followed them to their new settlements, fell on one of their villages, killed a number and returned. Through this long period, they had no instruments of war but bows, arrows, and the war club.
Soon after this, the French came to Quebec, and began trading with Indians, and sup- plied them with fire-arms and utensils of various kinds. The Senecas having got supplied with guns, and learned the use of them, made out a second war-party against the Wyan- dots-came upon them in the night, fired into their huts and scared them exceedingly : they thought at first it was thunder and lightning. They did not succeed so well as they intended. After a few years, they made out a third party, and fell upon one of the Wyan- dot villages and took them nearly all ; but it so happened at this time, that nearly all the young men had gone to war with the Fox tribe, living on the Mississippi.
Those few that escaped the massacre by the Senecas, agreed to give up and go back with them and become one people, but requested of the Senecas to have two days to collect what they had and make ready their canoes, and join them on the morning of the third day at a certain point, where they had gone to wait for them and hold a great dance through the night. The Wyandots sent directly to the other two villages which the Sen- ecas had not disturbed, and got all their old men and women, and such as could fight, to consult on what measures to take. They came to the resolution to equip themselves in the best manner they could, and go down in perfect stillness so near the enemy as to hear them. They found them engaged in a dance, and feasting on two Wyandot men they had killed and roasted, as they said, for their beef; and as they danced, they shouted their vic- tory and told how good their Wyandot beef was. They continued their dance until the latter part of the night, and being pretty tired, they all laid down and soon fell into a sound sleep. A little before day, the Wyandot party fell on them and cut them all off; not one
* Discourse of General Wm. H. Harrison, in the Collections of the Historical Society of Ohio.
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was left to carry back the tidings. This ended the war for a great number of years. Soon after this, the Wyandots got guns from the French traders and began to grow formidable. The Indians, who owned the country where they had resided for a long time, proposed to them to go back to their own country. They agreed to return, and having proposed them- selves as a war-party, they returned-came down to where Detroit now stands, and agreed to settle in two villages, one at the place above mentioned, and the other where the British fort, Malden, now stands.'
But previously to making any settlement, they sent gut in canoes the best war-party they could make, to go down the lake some distance to see if there was an enemy on that side of the water. They went down to Long Point, landed, and sent three men across to see if they could make any discovery. They found a party of Senecas bending their course around the Point, and returned with the intelligence to their party. The head chief ordered his men in each canoe to strike fire, and offer some of their tobacco to the Great Spirit, and prepare for action. The chief had his son, a small boy, with him : he covered the boy in the bottom of his canoe. He determined to fight his enemy on the water. They put out into the open lake : the Senecas came on. Both parties took the best advantage they could, and fought with a determination to conquer or sink in the lake. At length the Wyandots saw the last man fall in the Seneca party ; but they had lost a great proportion of their , own men, and were so wounded and cut to pieces that they could take no advantage of the victory but only to gain the shore as soon as possible, and leave the enemy's canoes to float or sink among the waves. Thus ended the long war between the two tribes from that day to this.
Col. John Johnston relates, in his " Recollections," an interesting account of an Indian council, held at Upper Sandusky in 1818, on the occasion of the death of TARHE, or "the Crane," a celebrated chief of the Wyandots.
Twenty-eight years ago, on the death of the great chief of the Wyandots, I was invited to attend a general council of all the tribes of Ohio, the Delawares of Indiana, and the Senecas of New York, at Upper Sandusky. I found, on arriving at the place, a very large attendance. Among the chiefs was the noted leader and orator, Red Jacket, from Buffalo. The first business done was the speaker of the nation delivering an oration on the character of the deceased chief. Then followed what might be called a monody, or ceremony, of mourning and lamentation. Thus seats were arranged from end to end of a large council- house, about six feet apart. The head men and the aged took their seats facing each other, stooping down their heads almost touching. In that position they remained for several hours. Deep, heavy and long continued groans would commence at one end of the row of mourners, and so pass round until all had responded, and these repeated at intervals of a few minutes. The Indians were all washed, and had no paint or decorations of any kind upon their persons, their countenances and general deportment denoting the deepest mourn- ing. I had never witnessed any thing of the kind before, and was told this ceromony was not performed but on the decease of some great man. After the period of mourning and lamentation was over, the Indians proceeded to business. There were present the Wyan- dots, Shawanese, Delawares, Senecas, Ottawas and Mohawks. The business was entirely confined to their own affairs, and the main topic related to their lands and the claims of the respective tribes. It was evident, in the course of the discussion, that the presence of myself and people (there were some white men with me) was not acceptable to some of the parties, and allusions were made so direct to myself that I was constrained to notice them, by saying that I came there as the guest of the Wyandots by their special invitation ; that as the agent of the United States, I had a right to be there or any where else in the Indian country ; and that if any insult was offered to myself or my people, it would be resented and punished. Red Jacket was the principal speaker, and was intemperate and personal in his remarks. Accusations, pro and con, were made by the different parties, accusing each other of being foremost in selling lands to the United States. The Shawanese were par- ticularly marked out as more guilty than any other ; that they were the last coming into the Ohio country, and although they had no right but by permission of the other tribes, they were always the foremost in selling lands. This brought the Shawanese out, who retorted through their head chief, the Black Hoof, on the Senecas and Wyandots with pointed severity. The discussion was long continued, calling out some of the ablest speakers, and was distinguished for ability, cutting sarcasm and research-going far back into the history of the natives, their wars, alliances, negotiations, migrations, &c. I had attended many councils, treaties and gatherings of the Indians, but never in my life did I witness such an
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outpouring of native oratory and eloquence, of severe rebuke, taunting national and personal reproaches. The council broke up late, in great confusion, and in the worst possible feel- ing. A circumstance occurred towards the close, which more than anything else exhibited the bad feeling prevailing. In handing round the wampum belt, the emblem of amity, peace and good will, when presented to one of the chiefs, he would not touch it with his fingers, but passed it on a stick to the person next him. A greater indignity, agreeable to Indian etiquette, could not be offered. The next day appeared to be one of unusual anxiety and despondency among the Indians. They could be seen in groups everywhere near the council-house in deep consultation. They had acted foolishly-were sorry ; but the diffi- culty was, who would first present the olive branch. The council convened late and was very full ; silence prevailed for a long time ; at last the aged chief of the Shawanese, the Black Hoof, rose-a man of great influence, and a celebrated orator. He told the assem- bly they had acted like children, and not men, on yesterday ; that him and his people were sorry for the words that had been spoken, and which had done so much harm ; that he came into the council by the unanimous desire of his people present, to recall those foolish words, and did there take them back-handing strings of wampum, which passed round and was received by all with the greatest satisfaction. Several of the principal chiefs delivered speeches to the same effect, handing round wampum in turn, and in this manner the whole difficulty of the preceding day was settled, and to all appearance forgotten. The Indians . are very courteous and civil to each other, and it is a rare thing to see their assemblies dis- turbed by unwise or ill-timed remarks. I never witnessed it except on the occasion here alluded to ; and it is more than probable that the presence of myself and other white men contributed towards the unpleasant occurrence. I could not help but admire the genuine philosophy and good sense displayed by men whom we call savages in the transaction of their public business ; and how much we might profit in the halls of our legislatures by occasionally taking for our example the proceedings of the great Indian council at Sandusky.
Upper Sandusky, the county seat, is on the west bank of the San -. dusky, 63 miles north of Columbus. It was laid out in 1843, and now contains 1 Methodist church, 6 mercantile stores, 1 newspaper print- ing office and about 500 inhabitants. In the war of 1812, Gen. Har- rison built here Fort Feree, which stood about 50 rods NE. of the court house, on a bluff. It was a square stockade of about 2 acres in area, with block-houses at the corners, one of which is now stand- ing. One mile north of this, near the river, Gov. Meigs encamped, in August, 1813, with several thousand of the Ohio militia, then on their way to the relief of Fort Meigs. The place was called "the Grand Encampment." Receiving here the news of the raising of the siege of Fort Meigs, and the repulse of the British at Fort Stephenson, they prosecuted their march no farther, and were soon after dismissed.
Crane Town, 4 miles NE. of the court house, was the Indian town of Upper Sandusky. After the death of Tarhe, the Crane, in 1818, the Indians transferred their council-house to the present Upper San- dusky, gave it this name, and called the other Crane Town. Their old council-house stood about 1} miles N. of Crane Town. It was built principally of bark, and was about 100 feet long and 15 wide. Their last council-house, at the present Upper Sandusky, is yet standing near the river bank. It is a small frame structure, resem- bling an ordinary dwelling.
The Methodists sustained a mission among the Wyandots for many years. Previous to the establishment of the Methodists, a portion of the tribe had been for a long while under the religious instruction of the Catholics. The first Protestant who preached
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among them at Upper Sandusky was John Stewart, a mulatto, a member of the Methodist denomination, who came here of his own accord in 1816, and gained much influence over them. His efforts in their behalf paved the way for a regularly established mission a few years after, when the Rev. James B. Finley-at present chap- lain of the Ohio penitentiary-formed a church and established a school here. This was the first Indian mission formed by the Methodists in the Mississippi valley.
Wyandot Mission Church, at Upper Sandusky.
The mission church building was erected of blue limestone about the year 1824, from government funds, Rev. Mr. Finley having per- mission from Hon. John C. Calhoun, then secretary of war, to apply $1333 to this object. The church stands upon the outskirts of the town, in a small enclosure, surrounded by woods. Connected with the mission was a school-house, and a farm of one mile square.
The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the grave-yard, attached to the mission church.
BETWEEN-THE-LOGS,* died December, 1826, aged 50 years.
REV. JOHN STEWART, first missionary to the Wyandots ; died December 17th, 1833, aged 37 years.
SUM-MUN-DE-WAT, murdered December 4th, 1845, aged 46 years. Buried in Wood county, Ohio.
The remains of Sum-mun-de-wat were subsequently re-interred here. He was, at the time of his death, on a hunting excursion with his family in Hancock county. In the evening, three white men with axes entered their camp, and were hospitably entertained by their host. After having finished their suppers, the Indian, agreeable to his custom, kneeled and prayed in his own language, and then laid
* He was among the first converts under the labors of John Stewart, and afterward be- came the most celebrated preacher among the Wyandots.
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down with his wife to sleep. In the night, these miscreants wh had been so kindly treated, rose on them in their sleep, and mur- dered Sum-mun-de-wat and his wife with their axes, in the most brutal manner. They then robbed the camp and made off, but were apprehended and allowed to break jail. In speaking of this case, Col. Johnston says, that in a period of 53 years, since he first came to the west, he never knew of but one instance in which a white man was tried, convicted and executed for the murder of an Indian. This exception was brought about by his own agency in the prose- cution, sustained by the promptness of John C. Calhoun, then sec- retary of war, who manifested an interest in this affair, not often shown on similar occasions in the officers of our government.
Sum-mun-de-wat is frequently mentioned in the Rev. Mr. Finley's interesting history of the Wyandot mission, published by the Metho- dist book concern at Cincinnati. The following anecdote which he relates of this excellent chief, shows the simple and expressive lan- guage in which the christian Wyandots related their religious feel- ings.
" Sum-mun-de-wat amused me after he came home, by relating a circumstance that transpired one cold evening, just before sun-down. 'I met,' said he, ' on a small path, not far from my camp, a man who ask me if I could talk English.' I said, ' Little.' He ask me, ' How far is it to a house ?' I answer, ' I dont know-may be 10 miles-may be 8 miles.' ' Is there a path leading to it ?' 'No-by and by dis go out, (pointing to the path they were on,) den all woods. You go home me-sleep-me go show you to-mor- row.' Then he come my camp-so take horse-tie-give him some corn and brush-then my wife give him supper. He ask where I come. I say, ' Sandusky.' He say, ' You know Finley ?' ' Yes,' I say, 'he is my brother-my father.' Then he say, ' He is my brother.' Then I feel something in my heart burn. I say, ' You preacher ?' He say, ' Yes;' and I shook hands and say, ' My brother!' Then we try talk. Then I say, ' You sing and pray.' So he did. Then he say to me, 'Sing and pray.' So I did ; and I so much cry I cant pray. No go sleep-I cant-I wake-my heart full. All night I pray and praise God, for his send me preacher to sleep my camp. Next morning soon come, and he want to go. Then I go show him through the woods, until come to big road. Then he took me by hand and say, ' Farewell, brother ; by and by we meet up in heaven.' Then me cry, and my brother cry. We part-I go hunt. All day I cry, and no see deer jump up and run away. Then I go and pray by some log. My heart so full of joy, that I cannot walk much. I say, ' I cannot hunt.' Sometimes I sing-then I stop and clap my hands, and look up to God, my heavenly Father. Then the love come so fast in my heart, I can hardly stand. So I went home, and said, ' This is my happiest day.'"
The history of the mission relates an anecdote of Rohn-yen-ness another of the christian Indians. It seems that after the conflict of Poe (see page 106) with the Indians, the Wyandots determined on revenge.
Poe then lived on the west side of the Ohio river, at the mouth of Little Yellow creek They chose Rohn-yen-ness as a proper person to murder him, and then make his escape. He went to Poe's house, and was met with great friendship. Poe not having any suspicion of his design, the best in his house was furnished him. When the time' to retire to sleep came, he made a pallet on the floor for his Indian guest to sleep. He and his wife went to bed in the same room. Rohn-yen-ness said they both soon fell asleep. There being no person about the house but some children, this afforded him a fair opportunity to have executed his purpose ; but the kindness they had both shown him worked in his mind. He asked himself how he could get up and kill even an enemy, that had taken him in, and treated him so well-so much like a brother ? The more he thought about it, the worse he felt; but still, on the other hand, he was sent by his nation to avenge the death of two of its most valiant warriors ; and their ghosts would not be appeased until the blood of Poe
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was shed. There, he said, he lay in this conflict of mind until about midnight. The duty he owed to his nation, and the spirits of his departed friends, aroused him. He seized his knife and tomahawk, and crept to the bedside of his sleeping host. Again the kind- ness he had received from Poe stared him in the face; and he said, it is mean, it is un- worthy the character of an Indian warrior to kill even an enemy, who has so kindly treated him. He went back to his pallet, and slept until morning.
His kind host loaded him with blessings, and told him that they were once enemies, but now they had buried the hatchet and were brothers, and hoped they would always be so. Rohn-yen-ness, overwhelmed with a sense of the generous treatment he had received from his once powerful enemy, but now his kind friend, left him to join his party.
He said the more he reflected on what he had done, and the course he had pursued, the more he was convinced that he had done right. This once revengeful savage warrior, was overcome by the kindness of an evening, and all his plans frustrated.
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