USA > Ohio > Allen County > History of Allen County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part One > Part 6
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
The school boy, as well as the adult reader, will ever remember "St. Clair's Defeat," rather than St. Clair's many victories and splendid services.
TECUMSEH.
In all the annals of Indian warfare and life there is no name more prominent than that of the manly, honest, noble chief, Tecumseh.
He was born, says tradition, near the pres- ent site of Springfield, Ohio, in 1768. The tribe from which he sprang was a branch of the very powerful, and widely distributed, Lenni Lenape, or Delaware race. Long ago this branch had settled in the South, whence their name Shawnees, or "Southerners."
These Shawnees became involved in bitter wars with the Creeks and Yamosees of Georgia and Florida. In consequence they drifted north to the rich valleys of the Ohio, the Mia- mis, the Wabash and the Maumee. They had many large villages in these valleys, and in one of these villages Tecumseh was born. His mother was a Cherokee woman, and it is said gave birth to triplets-Tecumseh, his cele- brated brother, the Prophet, and a third brother of whom nothing is definitely known. The father was killed at the battle of Kanawha, October, 1774, when Lord Dunmore defeated Chief Cornstalk.
Tecumseh believed the whites were wrong- fully encroaching upon the Indians' lands, and, like Pontiac, he sought to organize all the Western Indians into a confederacy against the white settlers. To protect these settlers, Gen- eral Harrison, Governor of the Northwest Ter- ritory, who had ordered the Indians to go West, marched an army against them, and at the vil- lage of the Prophet, at the mouth of the Tippe-
canoe, he defeated the Indians with great loss. Tecumseh was not in the battle. He had gone South, and when he returned and had learned what his brother, the Prophet, had done, he became very angry. He had expressly urged the Indians not to risk a battle then, but the Prophet, who had great influence, had planned the night attack upon Harrison after, asking Harrison to meet him in a "talk" the next day. This conduct of his brother so enraged Tecum- seh that he "seized him by his long hair and shook him till his teeth rattled, declaring that he had destroyed all his schemes, and that he ought to be killed" This battle was fought November 7, 1811. The War of 1812 now broke out, and Tecumseh and his faithful band of Shawnees allied themselves with the Brit- ish. He rendered most valiant service in the battles of Raisin River and Maguaga. Also at Fort Malden and Fort Meigs. For valiant serv- ice the British raised him to the rank of brig- adier general. On the 5th of October, 1813, this warrior chief was killed in the battle of the. Thames, Canada.
Tecumseh was the most gifted American Indian. He would have been a great man in any age, and in any country. He had the rare gift of natural eloquence and such a high ideal of manly, noble conduct that he would never torture a prisoner, or permit it to be done. He put to shame the conduct of his superior officer, General Proctor, when he dashed into a party of his warriors at the siege of Fort Meigs, who were torturing some white prisoners, and, hurl- ing them right and left, he turned to General Proctor and demanded why he allowed such murderous conduct. Proctor replied, "I cannot restrain your warriors." Tecumseh then thun- dered back, "You are not fit to command ; go home and put on petticoats."
He had great powers as an artist, and could draw a map in relief on bark, which the best English engineers pronounced equal to their own best work. He was born to command, and had far more ability as a general than Proctor. His lofty ideas of honesty and honor have en- deared him to the American people, and they have placed his name all over the country, and it was one of the given names of the great gen-
45
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
eral who led the march "from Atlanta to the Sea."
While it is not really known who killed the great warrior, the following taken from Knapp's "History of the Maumee Valley" will be of marked interest :---
State of Michigan, County of Monroe, ss.
James Knaggs deposeth and saith, as follows :
I was attached to a company of mounted men called Rangers, at the battle of the Thames in Upper Canada, in the year 1813. During the battle we charged into the swamp, where several of our horses mired down, and an order was given to retire to the hard ground in our rear, which we did. The Indians in front, believing that we were retreating, immediately advanced upon us, with Tecumseh at their head. I distinctly heard his voice, with which I was perfectly familiar. He yelled like a tiger, and urged on his braves to the attack. We were then but a few yards apart. We halted on the hard ground, and continued our fire. After a few minutes of very severe fighting, I discovered Colonel Johnson lying near, on the ground, with one leg con- fined by the body of his white mare, which had been killed, and had fallen upon him. My friend Medard Labadie was with me. We went up to the Colonel, with whom we were previously acquainted, and found him badly wounded, lying on his side, with one of his pistols lying in his hand. I saw Tecumseh at the same time, lying on his face, dead, and about fifteen or twenty feet from the Colonel. He was stretched at full length, and was shot through the body, I think near the heart. The ball went out through his back. He held his toma- hawk in his right hand (it had a brass pipe on the head of it), his arm was extended as if striking, and the edge of the tomahawk was stuck in the ground. Tecumseh was dressed in red speckled leggings, and a fringed hunting shirt; he lay stretched directly towards Colonel Johnson. When we went up to the Colonel, we offered to help him. He replied with great animation, "Knaggs, let me lay here, and push on and take Proctor." How- ever, we liberated him from his dead horse, took his blanket from his saddle, placed him in it, and bore him off the field. I had known Tecumseh from my boy- hood; we were boys together. There was no other Indian killed immediately around where Colonel John- son or Tecumseh lay, though there were many near the creek, a few rods back of where Tecumseh fell. I had no doubt then, and have none now, that Tecumseh fell by the hand of Colonel Johnson.
JAMES KNAGGS.
Sworn to, before me, this 22d day of September, 1853. B. F. H. WITHERELL, Notary Public.
"The secretary of the State Historical So- ciety of Wisconsin, Mr. Draper, adds the fol- lowing to the disposition of Mr. Knaggs :
"'Colonel Johnson was invariably modest about claiming the honor of having slain Te- cumseh. When I paid him a visit, at his resi- dence at the Great Crossings, in Kentucky, in 1844, while collecting facts and materials il- lustrative of the career of Clark, Boone, Ken- ton and other Western pioneers, he exhibited to me the horse pistols he used in the battle of the Thames, and modestly remarked, "that with them he shot the chief who had confronted and wounded him in the engagement."'
"Alluding to Captain Knaggs' statement, The Louisville Journal remarked: 'A new witness has appeared in the newspapers testify- ing to facts which tend to show that Col. R. M. Johnson killed Tecumseh. The colonel was. certainly brave enough to meet and kill a dozen Indians, and if he didn't kill Tecumseh, he no doubt would have done it if he had had a chance. He himself was often interrogated upon the subject and his reply upon at least one occasion was capital: 'They say I killed him; how could I tell ? I was in too much of a hurry, when he was advancing upon me, to ask him his name, or inquire after the health of his fam- ily. I fired as quick as convenient, and he fell. If it had been Tecumseh or the Prophet, it would have been all the same.' "
"Shortly after the foregoing publication, Mr. Witherell communicated the following to a Detroit journal :
" 'Captain Knaggs, who is spoken of in that communication, is a highly respectable citizen of Monroe, and was one of the most active and useful partisans in service during the War of 1812. Almost innumerable and miraculous were his "hairbreadth 'scapes" from the sav- ages.
"'He related to me, when I last saw him, several anecdotes of Tecumseh, which will il- lustrate his character. Among others, he states that while the enemy was in full possession of the country, Tecumseh, with a large band of his warriors, visited the Raisin. The inhabi- tants along that river had been stripped of near- ly every means of subsistence. Old Mr. Rivard,
46
HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
who was lame and unable to labor to procure a living for himself and family, had contrived to keep out of sight of the wandering bands of savages a pair of oxen, with which his son was able to procure a scanty support for the family. It so happened that, while at labor. with the ·oxen, Tecumseh, who had come over from Mal- den, met him in the road, and walking up to him, said : "My friend, I must have those oxen. My young men are very hungry ; they have had nothing to eat. We must have the oxen."
"'Young Rivard remonstrated. He told the chief that if he took the oxen his father would starve to death.
"' "Well," said Tecumseh, "we are the con- querors, and every thing we want is ours. I must have the oxen ; my people must not starve; but I will not be so mean as to rob you of them. I will pay you one hundred dollars for them, and that is far more than they are worth; but we must have them."
" 'Tecumseh got a white man to write an or- der on the British Indian agent, Colonel Elliott, who was on the river some distance below, for the money. The oxen were killed, large fires built, and the forest warriors were soon feast- ing on their flesh. Young Rivard took the or- der to Colonel Elliott, who promptly refused to pay it. The young man, with a sorrowful heart returned with the answer to Tecumseh, who said, "He won't pay it, will he? Stay all night and tomorrow we will go and see." On the next morning he took young Rivard, and went down to see the Colonel. On meeting him, he said, "Do you refuse to pay for the oxen I bought ?" "Yes," said the Colonel, and he re- iterated the reason for refusal. "I bought them," said the chief, "for my young men were very hungry. I promised to pay for them, and they shall be paid for. I have always heard that white nations went to war with each other, and not with peaceful individuals ; that they did not rob and plunder poor people. I will not." "Well," said the Colonel, "I will not pay for them." "You can do as you please," said the chief, "but before Tecumseh and his warriors came to fight the battles of the great King they . had enough to eat, for which they had only to thank the Master of Life and their good rifles.
Their hunting grounds supplied them with food enough, to them they can return." This threat produced a change in the Colonel's mind. The defection of the great chief, he well knew, would immediately withdraw all the nations of the red men from the British service; and without them they were nearly powerless on the frontier. "Well," said the Colonel, "if I must pay, I will." "Give me hard money," said Tecumseh, "not rag money" (army bills). The Colonel then counted out a hundred dollars in coin and gave them to him. The chief handed the money to young Rivard, and then said to the Colonel, "Give me one dollar. more." It was given; and handing that also to Rivard, he said, "Take that ; it will pay for the time you have lost in getting your money."
"'How many white warriors have such notions of justice?
" 'Before the commencement of the war, when his hunting parties approached the white settlements, horses and cattle were occasionally stolen ; but notice to the chief failed not to pro- duce instant redress.
" 'The character of Tecumseh was that of a gallant and intrepid warrior, an honest and honorable man, and his memory is respected by all our old citizens who personally knew him.'
"The following letter from the venerable General Combs, of Kentucky, who bore so gallant a part in the defense of the Ohio and the Maumee Valley, has both local and general interest :
Editor Historical Record :
You ask me for a description of the celebrated In- dian warrior, Tecumseh, from my personal observation. I answer that I never saw the great chief but once, and then under rather exciting circumstances, but I have a vivid recollection of him from his appearance, and from intercourse with his personal friends, I am possessed of accurate knowledge of his character.
I was, as you know, one of the prisoners taken at what is known as Dudley's defeat on the banks of the Maumee River, opposite Fort Meigs, early in May, 1813. Tecumseh had fallen upon our rear, and we were compelled to surrender. We were marched down to the old Fort Miami or Maumee, in squads, where a terrible scene awaited us.
The Indians, fully armed with guns, war clubs and
C
FORT WASHINGTON (CINCINNATI) (From a sketch by Maj. Jonathan Heart, U. S. A., drawn in 1791)
SIMON KENTON
DEATH OF TECUMSEH (Courtesy of the Jones Bros. Pub. (0)
49
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
tomahawks-to say nothing of scalping knives-had formed themselves into two lines in front of the gate- way between which all of us were bound to pass. Many were killed or wounded in running the gauntlet. Shortly after the prisoners had entered, the Indians rushed over the walls and again surrounded us, and raised the war- whoop, at the same time making unmistakable demon- strations of violence. We all expected to be massacred, and the small British guard around us were utterly un- able to afford protection. They called loudly for Gen- eral Proctor and Colonel Elliott to come to our relief. At this critical moment Tecumseh came rushing in, deeply excited, and denounced the murderers of prison- ers as cowards. Thus our lives were spared and we went down to the fleet at the mouth of Swan Creek (now Toledo), and from that place across the end of the lake to Huron and paroled.
I shall never forget the noble countenance, gallant bearing and sonorous voice of that remarkable man, while addressing his warriors in our behalf.
He was then between forty and forty-five years of age. His frame was vigorous and robust, but he was not fat, weighing about one hundred and seventy pounds. Five feet ten inches was his height. He had a high, projecting forehead, and broad, open counten- ance; and there was something noble and commanding in all his actions. He was brave, humane and generous, and never allowed a prisoner to be massacred if he could prevent it. At Fort Miami he saved the lives of all of us who liad survived running the gauntlet. He after- wards released seven Shawnees belonging to my com- mand, and sent them home on parole. Tecumseh was a Shawnee. His name signified in their language, Shooting Star. At the time when I saw him he held the commission of a brigadier general in the British Army. I am satisfied that he deserved all that was said of him by General Cass and Governor Harrison, pre- vious to his death. LESLIE COMBS.
Lexington, Ky., October, 1871.
THE INDIAN OF TO-DAY.
Of all the mighty chiefs who led their bands of warriors unmolested over the plains and fer- tile valleys of North America, only one remains alive. That one is Geronimo, the "Human Tiger." Of all chiefs he was the most treach- erou's and fiendish. His crimes and butcher- ies are without number and he yet lives and enjoys good health. He is the last of his race, this old war chief of the White Mountain Apaches. He is about 90 years old. Many thousands of our people have seen him at one
of the World's Fairs. Geronimo is without doubt the most wicked Indian alive and he has cost the lives of hundreds of white men.
After Victoria, the Warm Springs chief, was killed in 1881, Geronimo became a leader and in Mexico and Arizona he kept more than. 2,000 United States troops at bay for over a year. He was finally captured and is now liv- ing a life of indolence and assumed piety. He- has learned to write his name in English, and is kept busy writing it at 25 cents a signature.
It is well that this type of the red man is. passing. When Geronimo was at the height of his power, he constantly sought human life and taught his people to love only the war-path .. It is said he never forgave and never forgot.
The other great chiefs have all gone to the "happy hunting ground."
Chief Joseph, the "Napoleon" of the Nez Perces, died in peace about one year ago. He was the greatest general of his race, and was. deserving of far better treatment than he re- ceived at the hands of the United States gov- ernment. He may be compared with Tecum- seh, the great Shawnee chief of 100 years be- ·fore.
The Mexican troops killed old Victoria in a desperate fight in the Beratcha (Drunken) Mountains in Mexico. Sitting Bull, the hero of the terrible Custer massacre, was killed by the Indian police. Sitting Bull was not in the battle of the Little Big Horn at all, but he got all the notoriety for it. He was only a Sioux Medicine-man, but he became a leader of his people and a terror to all border life.
Red Cloud died peacefully at Pine Ridge Agency about two years ago, and the friendly Sioux Chieftain, Spotted Tail, spent his last years in peace with the whites. The kindness of the people at Fort Laramie during the sick- ness and after the death of his daughter so softened the heart of the old chief against the whites that he became very friendly and help- ful. He aided Custer in his fight in 1876 against the hostile Sioux, who were led by Sit- ting Bull.
Thus have the great Indian leaders passed to the council of their forefathers, and thus will they all leave us, unless they can adapt
50
HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
themselves to civilized ways of living, and of work.
The government is doing a good work in educating the Indian of today, and there may be found at Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kan- sas, about 600 Indian boys and girls. They are making rapid and substantial advancement.
The Indian loves music, and can learn very readily to produce it. The bands of the Car- lisle Indian School and Haskell Institute are famous, and they are widely known in foreign countries. The Haskell Institute Band is at present in Europe. Their music is of high grade.
The Indian learns rapidly, and he has taken a high place in athletics. Soxalexis, the In- dian, was one of the world's greatest baseball players, and as a sprinter he never had an equal. He was "wined and dined" by society until the Indian's innate love of "fire-water" caused his ruin. On the gridiron the Indian holds a high place. His playing is marked by intelligence and great speed. In fact the Indian is natur- ally an athlete, but education does not change him in this respect. Education only gives the Indian greater confidence and skill in his work. Graduates of these Indian schools are holding good positions, such as bank cashiers, State li- brarians and teachers of art.
A most interesting incident relating to the educated Indian comes to us from the far West. An educated gentleman was hunting in the Rocky Mountains when suddenly he found himself face to face with an Indian in full war paint and arms, seated on a log in an open spot in a densely wooded ravine. The hunter fully expected an immediate attack, but was greatly surprised as well as relieved, when the painted monarch of the forest addressed him in elegant English, bidding him accept a seat by his side. The Indian held an open book in his hand, A COPY OF "HOMER," which he had been reading while resting himself from the fatigue of the chase. He proved to be a graduate of the Car- lisle Indian School, and had donned the old at- tire. "just to see how it felt."
The Indian is, likewise, a natural born ora- tor. It is said that Tecumseh's voice and ges- ture had wonderful power, and the natural sweetness of his tone was convincing.
The fame of the speech of Logan, the Mingo chief, is world-wide. It elevated the character of the native of the forest throughout the world, and it will be remembered "so long as touching eloquence is admired by men."
LOGAN'S SPEECH.
"I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and I gave him not meat; if ever he came cold or naked and I gave him not clothing.
"During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained in his tent an ad- vocate of peace. Nay, such was my love for the white, that those of my own country pointed at me as they passed by and said, 'Logan is the friend of the white men.' I had even thought to live with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, cut off all the relatives of Lo- gan; not sparing even my women and chil- dren. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any human creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace, yet, do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
This noted piece of eloquent sorrow, pride and courage was delivered by Logan, the mur- der of whose family caused the Dunmore War, under the "Logan Elm," in Pickaway County, Ohio, six miles south of Circleville.
One of the most noted Indian schools in the world is the famous Carlisle Indian School, lo- cated at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This school was organized, and opened November 1, 1879, and has had a steady growth each year until it has at the present time Soo students coming from 55 different tribes, scattered all over the United States.
The government has spent on the Haskell Institute more than half a million dollars, for buildings and grounds, and it willingly expends $200,000 each year in maintaining the school. The Department of the Interior, through a regularly appointed agent, looks after the edu-
5I
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
cational interests of the Indian, and the work is well done. A large number of unselfish and devoted teachers have given their lives to the service of the Indian youth, and not a few of these teachers are of Ohio birth, among whom might be named Mr. and Mrs. George G. Davis, who for a number of years have so successfully conducted the school at the Rosebud Agency, South Dakota. It will be remembered that it was at this place, in 1881, that Crow Dog shot and killed the great Sioux Chieftain, Spotted Tail, who was at peace with the whites, and who had befriended them, and especially Custer, when engaged in the bloody contest with Sit- ting Bull.
These schools have long since demonstrated the fact that the Indian youth, properly trained, will become a valuable American citizen, and surely we should be ever willing to make the necessary expenditures.
The government, in past years, has done very poorly in its treatment of these abor- igines. The rascally Indian agents have cheated and robbed them, again and again. Often for personal gain have these agents recommended to the government that whole tribes be removed from the hunting grounds of their fathers, fertile as the valley of the Po, into some torrid, arid desert. Of course they would fight; who would not under the same conditions? Then the government would send a vastly superior, force against this "rebellious" tribe, and the red man was doomed.
This is exactly what was done with old Vic- toria, chief of the Warm Spring Indians. He had been living as a farmer chief in the fertile valley at the foot of the San Mateo Mountains, in New Mexico, raising cattle, hogs and sheep and learning from Duncan, the farmer, how to cultivate the soil.
A thieving Indian agent at San Carlos, Arizona, wanted this tribe sent to him that he might rob them as he was robbing those tribes already under his control. Acting on his urgent advice, the government had twice sent this peaceful tribe from their beautiful and fertile home into Arizona, to a hot and barren land.
Twice they had gone back to their old home,
and on being again ordered to return to Ari- zona, old Victoria and his little band of 85 warriors took to the mountains. "Andy" Kelly, an interpreter and trader, was sent to Victoria, to ask him to wait until the officer in charge of the troops sent against him could get an answer by telegraph from Washington. The old leader, burning with indignation at the treatment he was receiving, gave the fol- lowing reply to Kelly: "Me wait. Me no want fight. Big Chief make long tongue"- the telegraph-"say me stay reservation, me no fight. Me want stay my old home. If Great Father make long tongue say all right, me come in. But if long tongue say me go San Carlos, me fight all time, and you no more come back with white flag. You come back, me kill you, too." (Crawford.)
When the scout, who had been sent 100 miles to the nearest telegraph station, was seen by Victoria, returning on his jaded pony, and no answer, came from "long tongue" saying "me stay here," Victoria began to fight for his rights. For two long years he successfully fought the United States troops, and in that time he and his little band of warriors killed more than 600 men, women and children. He was finally entrapped in the Beratcha (Drunk- en) Mountains, Mexico, and was slain by Mex- ican soldiers, fighting manfully for his rights.
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.