History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 8

Author: Miller, Charles Christian, 1856- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co
Number of Pages: 874

USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 8

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Tarhe continued to rule his people, now united under "The Wyandotte Confederacy of Indians," consisting of seven tribes, speaking five different languages. until old age took him as a rare prize, in 1818. A great funeral serv- ice was held in his honor after his death, chiefs from many tribes being present. There were Delawares, Senecas, Ottawas, Shawnees, Mohawks and Wyandottes present in large numbers. The principal orator and most noted chief present, was Red Jacket, from Buffalo. Col. John Johnson, U. S. Indian agent, was present, and tells us it was a most impressive ceremony. After this was concluded the chiefs present held a council lasting several days. This funeral ceremony and council following, was held at "Crane Town," the residence of Tarhe, about four miles northeast from the present court house in Upper Sandusky.

In 1843 the Wyandottes, after selling their

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

lands to the Government by treaty, made at Upper Sandusky, March 17, 1842, left for the far West, being the last Indians to leave Ohio. It was a sad sight-the leaving of their onee happy homes on the fertile plains of the San- dusky, the graves of their ancestors, and the traditions of their people. The old Wyandotte Mission Church and the Indian graveyard at Upper Sandusky are a shrine to which many hundreds of people journey each year.

The Wyandottes were the bravest of the Indian tribes. They had a language that was coarse, harsh and gutteral, but as a race they had many noble qualities, and among their chiefs were men of high moral attributes. General William Henry Harrison, in "Collee- tions of the Historical Society of Ohio," pays the following tribute to the Wyandottes :

"With all other tribes but the Wyandottes, flight in battle, when meeting with unexpected resistance or obstacle, brought with it no dis- grace. With them it was otherwise. Their 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 General Wayne sent for Captain Wells 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 San- dusky, because Wyandottes would not be taken alive." (Howe.)

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 adancement.

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 has vis- ited 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 high speed. In fact the Indian is naturally 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 cash- iers, state librarians and teachers of art.

AN INCIDENT

A most interesting ineident 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 ele- gant 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 Carlisle Indian School, and had donned the old attire "just to see how it felt."

The Indian is, likewise, a natural born ora- tor. It is said that Tecumseh's voice and ges-

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY

ture had wonderful power, and the natural sweetness of his tone was convincing. Many oratorical prizes have been taken by Indians.

The fame of the speech of Logan, the Mingo chief, is world-wide. It elevated the character of the native of the forest through- out 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 advocate 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 in- juries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, cut off all the relatives of Logan; not sparing even my women and children. 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 eloquence, pride and courage was delivered by Logan, the murder of whose family caused the Dunmore war, 1111- der the "Logan Elm," in Pickaway county, Ohio, six miles south of Circleville.

FROM JACOB'S LIFE OF CAPT. CRESAP-SECOND EDITION.

PUBLISHED IN CINCINNATI, 1866-GENERAL CLARK'S ACCOUNT

(The publisher deems it proper to introduce here, as bearing directly upon the subject-mat- ter of this book, the following letter from Gen. George Rogers Clark, in vindication of Capt. Cresap. It was addressed to Samuel Brown, Esq., and dated June 17, 1798.)

"The conduct of Cresap I am perfectly ac- quainted with. He was not the author of that murder (of Logan's family), but a family by the name of Great-house. This country was explored in 1773. A resolution was formed to make a settlement the spring following, and the mouth of the Little Kanawha appointed the place of general rendezvous, in order to descend the river from there in a body. Early in the spring the Indians had done some mis- chief. Reports from their towns were alarm- ing, which deterred many. About eighty or ninety men only met at the appointed rendez- vous, where we lay some days.

"A small party of hunters that lay about ten miles below us were fired upon by the Indians, whom the hunters beat back, and returned to camp. This and many other circumstances led us to believe that the Indians were deter- mined on war. The whole party was enrolled, and determined to execute their project of forming a settlement in Kentucky, as we had every necessary store that could be thought of. An Indian town called the Horsehead Bot- tom, on the Scioto and near its mouth, lay nearly in our way. The determination was to cross the country and surprise it. Who was to command, was the question. There were but few among us who had experience in In- dian warfare, and they were such that we did

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not care to be commanded by. We knew of Capt. Cresap being on the river about fifteen miles above us, with some hands, settling a plantation, and that he had concluded to fol- low us to Kentucky as soon as he had fixed there his people. We also knew that he had been experienced in a former war. He was proposed, and it was unanimously agreed to send for him to command the party. Messen- gers were dispatched, and in half an hour re- turned with Cresap. He had heard of our resolution by some of his hunters that had fallen in with ours, and had set out to come to uts.

"We now thought our army, as we called it, complete, and the destruction of the Indians sure. A council was called, and to our aston- ishment our intended commander-in-chief was the person that dissuaded us from the enter- prise. He said that appearances were very suspicious, but there was no certainty of a war : that if we made the attempt proposed he had no doubt of our success, but a war would at any rate be the result, and that we should be blamed for it, and perhaps justly ; but if we were determined to proceed, he would lay aside all considerations, send to his camp for his people, and share our fortunes. He was then asked what he would advise. His answer was, that we should return to Wheeling, as a con- venient post, to hear what was going forward ; that a few weeks would determine; as it was early in the spring, if we found the Indians were not disposed for war, we should have full time to return and make our establishment in Kentucky. This was adopted, and in two hours the whole were under way. As we as- cended the river we met Killbuch, an Indian chief, with a small party. We had a long conference with him, but reecived little satis- faction as to the disposition of the Indians. It was observed that Cresap did not come to this

conference, but kept on the opposite side of the river. He said that he was afraid to trust himself with the Indians; that Killbuch had frequently tried to waylay his father, to kill liim; that if he crossed that perhaps his forti- tude. might fail him, and that he might put Killbuch to death. On our arrival at Wheel- ing (the country being pretty well settled thereabouts) the whole of the inhabitants ap- peared to be alarmed. They flocked to our camp from every direction, and all that we could say could not keep them from under our wings. We offered to cover their neighbor- hood with our scouts until further informa- tion, if they would return to their plantations : but nothing would prevail. By this time we had got to be a formidable party. All the hunters, men without families, etc., in that quarter, had joined our party. Our arrival at Wheeling was soon known as Pittsburg. The whole of that country at that time being under the jurisdiction of Virginia, Dr. Connoly had been appointed by Dunmore captain com- mandant of the district, which was called West Augusta. He, learning of us, sent a message addressed to the party, letting us know that war was to be apprehended, and requesting that we would keep our position for a few days, as messages had been sent to the Indians. and a few days would determine the doubt. The answer he got was, that we had no incli- nation to quit our quarters for some time : that during our stay we should be careful that the enemy should not harrass the neighborhood that we lay in. But before this answer could reach Pittsburg he sent a second express, ad- dressed to Capt. Cresap, as the most influen- tial man among us, informing him that the messenger had returned from the Indians, that · the war was inevitable, and begging him to use his influence with the party to get them to cover the country by scouts until the inhab-

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY

itants could fortify themselves. The reception of this letter was the epoch of open hostilities with the Indians. A new post was planted, a council was called, and the letter read by Cresap, all the Indian traders being summoned on so important an occasion. Action was had, and war declared in the most solemn manner : and the same evening two scalps were brought into camp.

"The next day some canoes of Indians were discovered on the river, keeping the adven- tage of an island to cover themselves from our view. They were chased fifteen miles down the river, and driven ashore. A battle ensued -- a few were wounded on both sides-one In- dian only taken prisoner. On examining their canoes we found a considerable quantity of ammunition and other warlike stores. On our return to camp a resolution was adopted to march the next day and attack Logan's camp on the Ohio, about thirty miles above us. We did march about five miles, and then halted to take some refreshment. Here the impropriety of executing the projected enterprise was ar- gued. The conversation was brought forward by Cresap himself. It was generally agreed that those Indians had no hostile intentions, as they were hunting, and their party was com- posed of men, women and children, with all their stuff with them. This we knew, as I myself and others present had been in their camp about four weeks past, on our descend- ing the river from Pittsburg. In short, every person seemed to detest the resolution we had set out with. We returned in the evening, de- camped and took the road to Redstone.

"It was two days after this that Logan's family was killed. And from the manner in which it was done, it was viewed as a horrid murder. From Logan's hearing of Cresap be- ing at the head of this party on the river, it is no wonder that he supposed he had a hand in the destruction of his family.

"Since the reception of your letter I have procured the Notes on Virginia. They are now before me. The act was more barbarous than there related by Mr. Jefferson. Those Indians used to visit and to return visits with the neighboring whites, on the opposite side of the river. They were on a visit to a family of the name of Greathouse, at the time they were murdered by them and their associates.

"The war now raged in all its savage fury until the fall, when a treaty of peace was held at Camp Charlotte, within four miles of Chilli- cothe, the Indian capital of Ohio. Logan did not appear. I was acquainted with him, and wished to know the reason. The answer was, that he was like a mad dog; his bristles had been up, and were not yet quite fallen, but the good talk now going forward might allay them. Logan's speech to Dunmore now came forward, as related by Mr. Jefferson. It was thought to be clever, though the army knew it to be wrong as to Cresap; but it only produced a laugh in camp. I saw it displeased Capt. Cresap, and I told him he must be a very great man that the Indians palmed everything that happened on his shoulders. He smiled and said he had an inclination to tomahawk Great- house for the murder.

"What I have related is fact. I was inti- mate with Cresap. Logan, I was better ac- quainted with, at that time, than any other Indian in the Western country.

"I was perfectly acquainted with the con- duct of both parties. Logan was the author of the speech, as altered by Mr. Jefferson, and Cresap's conduct was as I have here related it."

THE INDIAN OF TODAY

Are the American Indians decreasing in number? By no means. Statistics from the twenty-five Indian reservations in the United States show a constant and healthy increase.

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The total Indian population in 1890 was 255,- 327; in 1900 it was 270,544, an increase of 15,217 in ten years. In 1909 the population had grown to 299,293, an increase of 18,749 in nine years.

In former years the Indians killed each other in tribal warfare, and doubtless many were swept away by famine and pestilence. Today they are cared for by the U. S. Govern- ment-protected by the strong arm of the law. The expenditures of the United States on ac- count of the Indians in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909, were $9,253,347, and the total expenditures from 1789 to 1909 inclusive have been $474,163,917.

The cost to the United States Government of Indian schools for 1909 was $4,008,825. The Government supports 109 boarding schools and 194 day schools and 59 mission schools supported by churches and religious societies.

The five civilized tribes of today-the Okla- homa, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminoles-number 101,469, and their num- bers are increasing rapidly.

Our government has made in the past many bad conditions for the Indians. The late General Sherman is quoted as saying that the U. S. Government never kept a single treaty it ever made with the Indians, and he was very near the truth. But today conditions are far different, and justice is more nearly granted to these original owners of the soil. The edu- cated Indian is slowly but surely winning for his race a high place among the nations of the earth. In the names of such Indians as Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman, the noted Sioux lecturer and writer ; Dr. Carlos Montezuma, a full-blooded Apache, distinguished physician and surgeon of Chicago; General Ely S. Par- ker, a full-blooded Seneca, the friend and sup- porter as well as military secretary of General

Grant; Simon Pokagon, son of the Potawato- mie chief who owned the land on which Chi- cago now stands and for whom Chicago citi- zens have erected a monument in Jackson Park-in these and many more the world rec- ognizes power and real worth.

The recent national congress of American Indians, held in Columbus, Ohio, October, 1911, gave every evidence the most critical could wish, that education is not by any means a failure when obtained by that once' wild member of the human family.

"Down the rivers, o'er the prairies, Came the warriors of the nations, Came the Delawares and Mohawks, Came the Choctaws and Comanches, Came the Mandans and Dacotahs, Came the Wyandottes and Ojibways, All the warriors drawn together By the signal of the peace pipe."

This meeting of "high brow" Indians at Co- lumbus was the first of its kind, and the most representative body of American Indians that ever met. The Congress was called for the purpose of organizing an

AMERICAN INDIAN ASSOCIATION

Which Has for Its Object the Uplifting and Advancement of the Red Race

The addresses, discussions and reports all contained arguments for the uplift of the In- dian-and not the least among them were the Indian women-many of whom are graduates from our own very best American colleges. No better argument for the education of the Indian can be given than a comparison of the face of the Bloodthirsty Geronimo and that of Rev. Sherman Coolidge, "Des-Che-Wah," a full-blooded Arapahoe, but educated, refined and a Christian.

Simon Pokagon, referred to above, began

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY

the study of English at fourteen, and he mas- tered it and also became very proficient in Latin and Greek. It is said no full blooded Indian ever acquired a more thorough knowl- edge of the English tongue. Read his noted article in a New York magazine, written in 1897 on the topic, "The Future of the Red Man," in which he said: "Often in the still- ness of the night, when all nature seems asleep about me, there comes a gentle rapping at the door of my heart. I open it and a voice in- quires, 'Pokagon, what of your people ? What will be their future?' My answer is: 'Mortal inan has not the power to draw aside the veil of unborn time to tell the future of his race. That gift belongs to the Divine alone. But it is given to him to closely judge the future by the present and the past." Have we any finer passage from our best English writers? Had our Government pursued the right, the just. the humane course with the Indian years ago. we might have had ten thousand other edu- cated Christian men and women among the Indians of today .*

One of the most noted Indian schools in the world is the famous Carlisle Indian School, located at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This school was organized, and opened November I, 1879, and has had a steady growth each year until it has at the present time 800 stu- dents coming from 55 different tribes. scat- tered 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 ex- pends $200,000 each year in maintaining the school. The Department of the Interior, through a regularly appointed agent. looks

after the educational 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 be- friended them, and especially Custer, when en- gaged in the bloody contest with Sitting Bull.

These schools have long since demonstrated the fact that the Indian youth, properly trained, will become a valuable American citi- zen, and we should be ever willing to make the necessary expenditures.

The Government in past years has done very poorly in its treatment of these aborigines. The rascally Indian agents have cheated and robbed them again and again. Often for per- sonal 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 tor- rid, arid desert. Of course they would fight ; who would not under the same conditions? Then the Government would send a vastly superior force against these "rebellious" tribes and the red man was doomed.

This is exactly what was done with old Victoria, 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.

*The story of the brave scouts under the intrepid Lewis Wetzel, Cold Spring Rescue, and the Wyandottes is told in a separate chapter of this work. (Editor.)

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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 following 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." (Capt. Jack 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 (Drunken) Mountains, Mexico, and was slain by Mexican soldiers, fighting manfully for his rights.

All this was unnecessary-a tragedy brought on by the villainy of a trusted agent of the government.

This chapter cannot be more fittingly closed than to quote in full Charles Sprague's master- piece, so often read by our fathers and grand- fathers, the prophecy of which, however, has not been fulfilled, as we have seen.

THE NORTHI AMERICAN INDIAN

"Not many generations ago, where you now sit, encircled with all that exalts and embel- lishes civilized life, the rank thistle nodded in the wind, and the wild fox dug his hole un- scared. Here lived and loved another race of beings. Beneath the same sun that rolls over your head, the Indian hunter pursued the pant- ing deer; gazing the same moon that smiles on you, the Indian lover wooed his dusky mate. Here the wigwam-blaze beamed on the tender and the helpless ; the council fire glared on the wise and the daring.

"Now they dipped their noble limbs in the sedgy lakes, and now they paddled their light canoe along your rocky shores. Here they warred; the echoing whoop, the bloody grap- ple, the defying death song, all were here; and when the tiger strife was over. here curled the smoke of peace. Here, too, they worshipped ; and from many a dark bosom went up a pure prayer to the Great Spirit. He had not written his laws for them on tables of stone, but he had traced them on the table of their hearts.

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History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 8

Author: Miller, Charles Christian, 1856- [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co Number of Pages: 874

Author: Miller, Charles Christian, 1856- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co
Number of Pages: 874