USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 7
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 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
berries, with occasional delicacies from the finny tribes.
In this lonely spot he kept the maiden for many months, while Wolf had given her up as forever lost.
While hunting in the lovely springtime on the southern slope of a hill, Wolf saw the ca- noe at the mouth of the cave and at once solved the problem. He guided his own canoe to the mouth of the cave, entered and there dealt a terrible blow on the perfidious Tor- toise, slumbering by the side of his unwilling bride. The stroke, made in the dim light of the cavern, was not fatal, and Tortoise es- caped through the upper opening, closed it with a huge stone and made good his escape.
The lovers were now themselves impris- oned; it was death to remain, and it seemed sure death to go over the cataract, for they could not row up that swift running stream. They resolved to die by the falls, and, with a prayer to the great Spirit, they dashed over the crest in their light canoe. The frail vessel struck propitiously upon the boiling waters of the gulf. Down the stream and on they glided, and lived and loved for two generations. "In the line of their descent, tradition says, came Brant, the Mohawk sachem, the strong Wolf of this nation."
Brant had two brothers, and a beautiful sister, who became the wife of Colonel Jolin- son, an Englishman of great wealth and power. Brant's own father died and his mother married an Indian who was called by the English, Brant, and thus the stepson was called by his father's name. His sister, Mollie Brant, used influence with her husband, Col. Johnson, to further the interests of her brother Joseph, who was sent by Col. Johnson to school at Lebanon, Conn., where he was placed under an excellent teacher, Rev. Eleazer Wheelock. Young Joseph Brant ad-
64
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
vanced very rapidly, mastering the English readily. Aaron Burr, one of Brant's close friends, said he spoke and wrote the English perfectly and without an accent. He was of great value as an Indian interpreter and was often sent on long and dangerous journeys to the wild tribes of the West.
He soon became the leader of the Mohawks and directed them in many bloody and success- ful combats. He visited England in 1775 and was greatly impressed by the number and kindness of the English. He was won over completely to the side of the English in the approaching contest with the colonists. The distinguished poet, Campbell, in his noted work, "Gertrude of Wyoming," alludes to him as "the monster Brant." He was not, how- ever, a member of the murderous band of In- dians at Wyoming. He had many good traits and often saved his helpless victims from harm. He was an enthusiastic Freemason and in the very midst of an Indian massacre, he rescued Major Wood, who had given him the Masonic sign of distress. It is generally sup- posed that he was present as the leader of 150 Mohawks, at St. Clair's defeat, though this is not fully proven. He had many powerful friends, among them Aaron Burr, and Theo- dosia Burr, who received him kindly and gave a large dinner party for him in New York City. He died in 1807 at the age of sixty-four years. He was faithful to the Mohawk people and to the English, from whom he obtained funds for the erection of a schoolhouse and a church. This latter was built at Grand River and was the first church in Upper Can- ada. He sleeps today by the side of that church under a monument said to have cost $50,000. The monument bears this inscrip- tion : "This monument is erected to the mem- ory of Thay-en-da-ne-gea, or Capt. Joseph Brant, principal chief and warrior of the Six
Nations Indians, by his fellow subjects, ad- mirers of his fidelity and attachment to the British crown."
CORNSTALK
Sachem of the Shawnees and King of the Northern Confederacy, the Eloquent Friend of Logan
A brief account of Dunmore's war has been given in Chapter II. It will be remembered that one division of that army was at Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha under General Andrew Lewis. On the morn- ing of October 10, 1774. the brave and heroic Cornstalk led his band of a thousand warriors against the wing of the army, and a' "Greek meet Greek" contest raged all day, and into the night. It was like a series of duals, a "man-to-man" contest. This battle was purely an American affair-the, American white man against the American red man. Cornstalk was a masterful man. His presence encouraged the warriors ; his shrill voice called out in his native tongue, "Be Strong! Be Strong!" They fought for twelve hours, when darkness put an end to the fight. The Indians made a safe retreat across the Ohio, and the white men were too much exhausted to follow them. Cornstalk conducted the battle so skill- fully that not a single chief of importance was killed, and their total loss was not more than half as many as that of the whites.
After this battle Cornstalk led his chief war- riors to Lord Dunmore's camp in Pickaway county, and, being unable to get his warriors to continue the fight, he said he would be their leader in peace. Cornstalk was the spokesman in the council with Lord Dunmore. His great eloquence, dignity and unbroken courage pre- sented a scene of proud defiance. Logan re- mained away from this meeting, saying he was a warrior and not a counselor. Cornstalk
GERONIMO
65
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
made a manly effort for better terms, but gracefully accepted the conclusions of the treaty, viz : that the Indians were to surrender all the white prisoners and stolen horses in their possession, to release all claims to lands south of the Ohio, and to give hostages for their good faith. This chieftain, Cornstalk, so impressed the Virginians that they ranked his eloquence with that of their own great orators, Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry.
Wherever you find Cornstalk you will find a noble, manly Indian.
HIS DEATHI
He came into the garrison at Point Pleas- ant, in the summer of 1777, to tell them that he had urged his people to keep the terms of the treaty, but his young men insisted upon going to war again, and then he added, in an open and honest way, that, if they did, he would go with them. Thereupon he and three others, including his son, Ellinipsico, were held as hostages in the fort. While thus held the Indians killed a member of a company of rangers near this fort. Under their Captain, John Hall, an attack upon the Indians in the fort was led, and Cornstalk, drawing his blanket about him, calmly awaited death, say- ing to his son, "The Great Spirit has seen fit that we should die together, and has sent you to that end. It is well and let us submit." Like the Romans of old he then faced his as- sassins and fell dead with seven bullets in his body. There was no excuse for this murder and it remains to this day a lasting shame to the American troops. Had he lived, he would undoubtedly have been friendly with the Americans, for his visit to Point Pleasant was to inform the garrison that the Indians were planning an attack upon them and that they were forming an alliance with the British.
The final resting-place of Cornstalk-whose name was conferred upon him by the consent of his nation as their great strength and sup- port, may be seen today at Point Pleasant, where an enduring monument was reared in his memory 120 years after the great battle- one of the greatest in all Indian warfare-and where he was infamously murdered by the whites three years later. "There never lias been and never can be, any excuse or palliation for his murder." "Thus perished the mighty Cornstalk, a sachem of the Shawnees, and King of the Northern Confederacy, in 1774, a chief remarkable for many great and good qualities. He was disposed to be at all times a friend of the white man, as he was ever the advocate of honorable peace. But when his country's wrongs 'called aloud for battle.' he became the thunderbolt of war, and made her oppressors feel the might of his uplifted arm. His noble bearing, his generous and disinter- ested attachment to the colonies when the thunder of Britishi cannon was reverberating through the land, his anxiety to preserve the frontier of Ohio and Virginia from desolation and death, the object of his visit to Point Pleasant-all conspired to win for him the es- teem and respect of others while the untimely and perfidious manner of his death caused a deep and lasting regret to pervade the bosoms, even of the enemies of his race and excited the just indignation of all toward his inhuman and barbarous murderers."
"CHRONICLES," BY WITHERS GERONIMO
Of all the mighty chiefs who recently led their bands of warriors unmolested over the plains and fertile valleys of North America, not one remains alive. The last to die was Geronimo, the "Human Tiger." Of all chiefs he was the most treacherous and fiendish. His crimes and butcheries are without number. He
66
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
was the last of his race, this old war chief of the White Mountain Apaches. Many thou- sands of our people have seen him at one of the World's Fairs.
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 lived a life of indolence and assumed piety. 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.
Geronimo was called "The Worst Indian that ever Lived." The famous Apache chief, Geronimo, was finally captured by death Feb- ruary 17, 1909. He was born in 1829, being eighty years old at the time of his death. When a young man, some strolling bands of Mexicans murdered one of his wives and his children, while he was away on a hunting ex- pedition. Thereupon he gave up his peaceful pursuit of farming in the mountain valleys and went upon the war path declaring ever after that he hated all white men. He cost the United States government a million dollars to capture him, which capture was finally made by General Miles, in 1886. It cost the lives of 500 American soldiers, and no one will ever know how many lives he took in writing his blood-red page of history. A civil engineer, Herman Ehreenberg, kept accurate count of his murders for a time, and he says 425 vic- tims fell before the scalping knives of Geron- imo's braves from 1856 to and including 1862.
For more than 25 years Geronimo was held a pensioner, rather than a prisoner, around va- rious forts in Alabama, Florida and Arizona, drawing $35 per month as a "government scout." He was frequently loaned out to
"World's Fairs," "Wild West Shows," and other exhibitions, as a leading card. The Ed- itor saw him at the "Pan-American Fair," at Buffalo, and remembers distinctly the effort put forth when he wrote his name on a card, which was bought for a shilling. The effort was so great that the great chief thrust his tongue out as he printed each letter of the word G-e-r-o-n-i-m-o. His last days were spent in puttering around Fort Sill, in Okla- homa and adding to his income by selling his autograph.
In 1905 Prof. S. M. Barrett, superintendent of education of Lawton, Oklahoma, assisted by superintendent J. M. Greenwood, of Kan- sas City, secured the promise of Geronimo- then 76 years old-to tell the story of his own life, and his consent to allow the same to be published. This was only obtained by prom- ise of pay to Geronimo. As Geronimo was a prisoner of war, it was necessary to get the consent of the U. S. Government to allow him to tell the story of his life. This consent was quickly granted by President Roosevelt, who read the book in manuscript and to whom Ger- onimo dedicated it. The work was begun and finished at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where Geron- imo was held a prisoner of war for many years. The book was sent from the press Sep- tember, 1906, and is a most absorbing auto- biography of the last of the great Indian chiefs, having 216 pages under the title, "Ger- onimo's Story of His Life." It is the other side-the Indian's side-of a long and bloody contest of more than twenty years between red man and white man-a story of carnage and of heroism, of love and of hate.
He was once a man of wonderful energy and determination. General Miles thus de- scribes him. "He rode into our camp and dis- mounted, a prisoner. He was one of the brightest, most resolute, determined men I
Comtesy of American Book Co.
SENECA LONG HOUSE
Courtesy of Julit Bach MeMaster
TRADING CANOE
l'omtesy of American Book l'v.
SCENE IN INDIAN LIFE
-
McMaster's History of United States
WESTERN INDIAN'S TRAVELING
69
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
ever met, with the sharpest, clearest dark eyes. Every movement showed power and energy." He once, in his prime, ran forty miles in a single day, rode 500 miles on one stretch, as fast as he could change horses, and wore out the columns that finally captured him, until three sets of officers were needed to finish the chase, and not more than one-third of the troopers that started were in at the finish. He harried the Southwest for 25 years from his retreat in the Gila country, with his band of Chiracahua Apaches." General Miles said he was the worst Indian that ever lived, and many a white man is living today who would have gladly leveled Geronimo to earth for the evil he wrought.
He embraced Christianity and became a Methodist, but his sincerity was seriously questioned by the people of Arizona. How- ever, he paid no attention to the scoffers but jogged along the trail into the next world, confident that he had been forgiven for the sins of his youth. He died of pneumonia, while a prisoner at Ft. Sill. The other great chiefs have all gone to the "happy hunting ground."
Chief Joseph, the "Napoleon of the Nez Perces," died in peace a few years 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 lifc.
Red Cloud died peacefully at Pine Ridge Agency about eight 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 themselves to civilized ways of living and of work. This they seem to be doing.
TARHE, CHIEF OF THE WYANDOTTES
The inhabitants of Fairfield county today are, perhaps, more interested in the Wyan- dottes than in any other Indian tribe. These fierce and warlike Indians were the original owners of the soil that is now Fairfield county. At the coming of the first white man from Marietta, about 1789, there were not less than 500 members of this tribe living in Fairfield county. Their great chief was Tarle, a man of power and of many noble qualities, whose name was given to the chief town of the Wyandotte tribe, Tarhe. This town had, in 1790, at least one hundred wigwams and was located on the north branch of the Hocking, to the southeast of the Lancaster of today, and occupying the grounds now owned by the Hocking Valley and Pennsylvania Railroad companies. This Indian town was well gov- erned and the chief Tarhe ("The Crane" in English), was highly respected by his tribe, and, as the years went on, by the white inhab-
70
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
itants as well. He seems to have had many of the qualities of the noble Tecumseh and much of his ability. He had a rare sense of reverence, and, according to the Quakers, or "Friends," who knew and loved him well. He put all his hope and confidence in the Great Spirit. "I hope the Great Spirit," said Chief Tarhe, to the Friends from Baltimore, Md., "will have compassion on us; it is He who made this world and all of us who live in it. that we might dwell together as friends and brethren. He is the master of the world He has made; we cannot resist His power; and when it is His will that our existence should terminate, it becomes our duty to submit with resignation." Who, among the white race ever expressed a simple faith in the Supreme Being more beautifully ?
The Wyandottes had the most friendly rela- tions with the Quakers, or Society of Friends, and the latter often gave them most efficient aid, sending missionaries to them from Balti- more, Md., a distance of almost 600 miles. These Wyandottes welcomed the Quakers and opened to them their wigwams and their fire- sides.
It affords the Editor great pleasure to offer here the speech of Tarhe, made in 1798, and sent to the Friends at Baltimore. This speech, like that of Logan, is pathetic ; yet it offers an interesting picture of the heart and soul of this deeply injured people. as well as the power of Indian oratory.
SPEECH DELIVERED BY TARHE (THE CRANE). PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE WYANDOTTE NA- TION OF INDIANS IN BEIIALF OF THE WHOLE OF SAID NATION, THE STH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1798.
Brethren, Quakers! You remember that we once met at a certain place, and when we had
there met, a great many good things were said and much friendship was professed between 11S.
Brethren! You told us at that time, you not only took us by the hand, but that you held us fast by the arm, that you then formed a chain of friendship; you said it was not a chain of iron, but that it was a chain of pre- cious metal-a chain of silver that would never get rusty, and that this chain would bind us in brotherly affection forever.
Brethren! You told us that this chain of friendship would bind us together so fast, that we should never part :- it is our sincere wish that this chain may never be broken; no, not ever by the efforts of the Evil Spirit himself.
Brethren! These are only a few words that I recollect of a great many that were said at that time. We have no records or place of se- curity for our speeches, as you have, nor can we write as you do; our belts of wampum are our only records. But if you examine your old books and papers, you will there find writ- ten all that passed between your forefathers and ours (The chief is believed to refer to the treaties between William Penn and the In- dians. Editor).
Brethren, Listen! The Wyandotte nation, your brethren, are happy to hear that you have not forgotten what our grandfathers agreed on at that time. We have often heard that you are a good and faithful people. ever ready to do justice, and to do good to all mien. whether they be white or black; therefore, we love you the more sincerely, because of the goodness of your hearts, which has been talked of among our nations long since.
Brethren, My Brethren! The Wyandottes are happy to be informed that some of you ex- press a wish to pay us a visit ; when you do come forward for that purpose, we will then show you a belt of wampum, with a piece of
71
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
written parchment affixed thereto. When you see that belt of wampum and shall have read the writing on the parchment, you no doubt will then perfectly know us and will consider us brethren, united by a chain which can never be broken while memory lasts.
Brethren, Listen! As I have mentioned be- fore, so let us proceed ; we are much pleased to hear that you still hold in remembrance our nephews, the Delaware nation. The promises and obligations made between your grand- fathers and ours, included our two nations, the Wyandottes and Delawares, in the chain of friendship and brotherly love, considering us as one and the same people; which chain we pray the Great Spirit will never permit to be divided.
Brethren, Listen! By strictly adhering to the treaty of brotherly love, which our grand- fathers, who now exist no more, formed for us and our future generations, we will the more peacefully and quietly wander upon the earth, on which the Great Spirit, the master of life and of all things, was pleased to plant us : our women and children will also walk the longer, as well as our young men and old peo- ple upon the earth.
Brethren, listen! You have informed us that you intend to visit us, that even in our tents and cabins you will take us by the hand. You, brethren, cannot admit a doubt that we would be very happy to see you; but it will be necessary to acquaint you that, as the season is now far advanced and the cold weather ap- proaching fast, it would be a difficult task for our brethren to find our places of abode, as during the winter we will all be scattered abroad for the purposes of hunting in the wil- derness ; but in the beginning of June you will find us all at home in our cabins and tents ready to see you.
Brethren, listen! It is but proper to pro-
pose to you at this time, that when you do come forward to see us, you will pass by my place of residence at Sandusky. I will then take you not only by the hand, but by the arn, and will conduct you safe to the grand council fire of our great Sasteretsy, where all good things are transacted, and where nothing bad is permitted to appear.
When in the grand council of our Saster- etsy, we will then sit down together in peace and friendship, as brethren are accustomed to do, after a long absence and remind each other and talk of those times and things that were done between our good grandfathers, when they first met upon our lands on this great Is- land.
Brethren! May the Great Spirit, the mas- ter of light and life, so dispose the hearts and minds of all our nations and people, that the calamities of war may never be felt or known by any of them-that our roads and paths may never be stained with the blood of our young warriors, and that our helpless women and children may live in peace and happiness.
Delivered on a large belt and ten strings of white wampum, in behalf of the Wyandotte and Delaware nations.
(Signed ) TARHE (THE CRANE),
SKAHONWAT-SKA-HON-WAT,
ADAM BROWN,
MAI-I-RM, OR WALK-IN-THE-WATER.
Very near the present site of Royalton, the Wyandottes had another town, presided over by a chief called Tobey, in whose honor the town was called Tobeytown. Tobey was an inferior chief, and was ruled by Tarhe, who was at that time (about 1790) the principal chief of the Wyandottes, as stated above.
It will be interesting here to note the man- ner of government among the Wyandottes, as
72
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
described by Jefferson :- "A kind of patriar- chal confederacy, every town or settlement has a chief; the several towns that com- pose a tribe have a chief who presides over them, and the several tribes composing a na- tion or confederacy, have a chief who presides over the whole nation. Their chiefs are gen- erally men advanced in years, and distin- guished by their prudence and abilities in council. The matters which merely regard a town or family are settled by the chief and principal men of the town; those which regard a tribe, such as the appointment of military chiefs, and settling of differences between dif- ferent towns and families, are regulated at a meeting or council of the chiefs from the sev- eral towns ; and those matters which regard a whole nation, such as making war, concluding peace, or forming alliance with the neighbor- ing nations, are deliberated on and determined in a national council composed of the chiefs of the different tribes, attended by the head war- riors and chiefs of the town."
The Wyandottes have a long and noble his- tory. Our earliest record of them is by the French who, in 1535, found them living along the St. Lawrence. Back of that date all is oblivion. We know, however, that at some period during the first quarter of the sixteenth century, a separation, following a quarrel, took place between the Wyandottes and the Senecas, along the St. Lawrence, and the Wyandottes moved westward to the Niagara. Here they stopped, in all probability awed by the mighty cataract. Later on part of the tribe went to the north, and Lake Huron, around which they made their home, was named from them, for by some the Wyan- dottes were called Hurons, but their proper name was Wyandotte. Later in the seventh century, they moved to the Detroit river, and settled on the Canadian side. Here they
learned that the Senecas were planning to re- new their hostilities against them, and, being fewer in number, the Wyandottes scattered, and ventured southward through the vast wil- derness of the Ohio, and even beyond. This was between 1710 and 1721. In this way they came into what is now Fairfield county, and here they made their home, until about 1795, when they began to migrate again, but this time northward toward the Sandusky country. Chief Tarhe (often spelt Tarhie) must have gone to this part of Ohio (Upper Sandusky) about that time, for Philip Evan Thomas, and his party of Quakers, sent out from Baltimore in 1799, found Chief Tarhe, the Crane, as the head of the Wyandottes, at his chief town, now Upper Sandusky, extending nine or ten miles on both sides of the Sandusky river, and containing about one thousand people. The visit of Mr. Thomas and his party of seven was in response to the invitation contained in the famous speech of Tarhe printed above.
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.