USA > Ohio > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 20
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I will then inquire, of all the nations present, whether the United States are not acting the part of a tender father, to them and their children, in thus providing for them ; not only at present, but forever ?
The Miamies shall be at liberty, as usual, to employ themselves for private traders whenever their assistance may be required, and those people who have lived at that glo- rious gate (the Miami villages) may now rekindle their fires at that favorite spot, and henceforth, as in their happiest days, be at full liberty to receive from, and send to, all quarters, the speeches of their chiefs as usual-and here is the road the Miamies will remember. [A road belt.]
Now, all ye chiefs and warriors, of every nation present, open your ears, that you may clearly hear the articles of treaty, now in my hand, again read, and a second time ex- plained to you, that we may proceed to have them engrossed on parchment which may preserve them forever.
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.
[The articles of treaty were here a second time read, and explained by the General, who observed upon]
The article respecting hostages :
I did not expect any objections to this particular; for I see no reason why you should hesitate at leaving ten of your people with me, until the return of our people from among you. The promise of a mutual exchange of prisoners made last winter when we met at this place, you have not performed on your part: I have kept none of your flesh and blood; nor would General Washington, the Great Chief of the United States, suffer me so to do. The period will be short and those who remain shall be kindly treated.
On the Quiatanon reservation :
The Little Beaver has asked for Captain Prior, to reside as a trader at Ouiatanon; he shall reside at that place. But Captain Prior is a warrior, not a trader ; he shall have a few warriors with him to protect the trade and the Indians in that quarter.
On the reservation at Detroit:
Masass has asked, what will become of the French ? The United States consider the French and themselves as one people ; and it is partly for them, and their accommoda- tion that this reservation is made, whenever they become citizens thereof, as well as for the people of the Fifteen Fires.
On the gift of the Isle de Bois Blanc :
In addition to the cessions which the three fires have made with such cheerfulness, of the reservations in their country, Mash-i-pi-nash-i-wish has, in their name, made a vol- untary gift to the United States, of the Isle de Bois Blanc, in Lake Michigan. The Fifteen Fires aocept of this unasked-for grant from the Ottawas, Chippeways, and Pottawatta- mies, according to their intentions; and will always view it as an unequivocal mark of their sincere friendship.
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The Little Turtle yesterday expressed a wish that some of their former traders might be continued among them, as a part of the number to be licensed by the United States. This is very fair and reasonable, and a certain number will be licensed accordingly, when properly recommended as good and honest men.
Brothers! All you nations now present, listen ! You have now had, for a second time, the proposed articles of treaty read and explained to you. It is now time for the nego- tiation to draw to a conclusion. I shall, therefore, ask each nation, individually, if they approve of, and are prepared to sign, those articles, in their present form, that they may be immediately engrossed for that purpose. I shall begin with the Chippeways.
You Chippeways, do you approve of these articles of treaty, and are you prepared to sign them ?
[A unanimous answer]
Yes.
You, Ottawas, do you agree ?
ditto
Yes.
You, Pottawattamies ?
ditto
Yes.
You, Wyandots, do you agree?
ditto
Yes.
You, Delawares?
ditto
Yes.
You, Shawanees ?
`ditto
Yes.
You, Miamies, do you agree ?
ditto
Yes.
You, Weas?
ditto
Yes.
And you, Kickapoos, do you agree ?
ditto
Yes.
The treaty shall be engrossed; and as it will require two or three days to do it pro- perly, on parchment, we will now part, to meet on the 2d of August. In the interim, we will eat, drink, and rejoice, and thank the Great Spirit for the happy stage this good work has arrived at.
Council adjourned.
July 31st. The Red Pole, with eighty-eight Shawanees, and Tey- yagh-taw, with seven Wyandots, nine of the Six Nations, and ten Dela- wares, arrived from the vicinity of Detroit, and were received.
August 2d. In council. Present as before, with the addition of the Shawanees, Wyandots, etc., who arrived on the 31st ultimo. The Red Pole, a Shawanee chief, arose and spoke as follows :-
I am very happy to see you all, my brothers, here assembled. I am come late, but I come with a good heart. I am well pleased to hear of the good work you have agreed upon, with our elder brother, the Fifteen Fires, and thank you for the pity you have shown for our helpless women and children, whom we have left behind.
The General arose and spoke as follows :-
Younger brothers! I have received a letter from your ancient friends and brothers, the people called Quakers, with a message to all the nations here assembled. The Quakers are a people, whom I much love and esteem, for the goodness of heart, and sincere love of peace, with all nations. Listen then to their voice, and let it sink deep into your hearts.
ยท
Their present, you perceive, is small; but being designed with the benevolent view of promoting the peace and happiness of mankind, it becomes of important value. They wish it to be regarded merely as a token of their regard for you, and a testimony of their brotherly affection, and kind remembrance of you.
Younger brother! The articles of treaty are not yet completely engrossed ; they will be ready by eight o'clock to-morrow morning, when we will again meet here, read the treaty once more, and proceed to the act of mutually signing, and exchanging it. The Shawanees and Wyandots, who arrived the day before yesterday, will then hear what we have all agreed upon, and be equally convinced with all the others, of the liberality of the articles.
Blue Jacket, a Shawanee chief, arose and spoke as follows :-
Elder brother, and you my brothers present ! You see me now present myself, as a war chief, to lay down that commission, and place myself in the rear of my village chiefs, who, for the future, will command me. Remember, brothers, you have all buried your war-hatchets; your brothers, the Shawanees, now do the same good act- We must think of war no more.
Elder brother! You now see that all the chiefs and warriors around you, have joined in the good work of peace, which is now accomplished. We now request you to inform our elder brother, General Washington, of it, and of the cheerful unanimity which has marked their determinations. We wish you to inquire of him if it would be agreeable that two chiefs from each nation should pay him a visit, and take him by the hand; for your younger brothers have a strong desire to see that great man, and to enjoy the pleasure of conversing with him. [A blue string.]
The General thus replied :-
Brothers, the Shawanees, and all you other nations! I am confident the heart of the great chief, General Washington, will be rejoiced when he hears that you have unani- mously joined in the good work of peace. The instrument we will sign to-morrow shall be an everlasting record of the good action-one part of which I will immediately trans- mit to him. I will, with pleasure, make the inquiries you desire, and communicate the answer to you whenever I receive it.
Council adjourned.
August 3d. In council. Present as before. The General rose and spoke as follows :-
Younger brothers! When this council fire was first kindled, my commissions and authority for holding this treaty were read and explained to all then present; but as several chiefs had not at that time arrived, I shall now read them a second time for the perfect satisfaction of all.
[The General here again exhibited and explained his powers.]
That I have strictly performed my duty in fulfilling those instructions, and that they were manifestly calculated to establish the peace and happiness of all the Indian nations now present, will appear by the engrossed articles of treaty, unanimously agreed to, and now before us. They shall be read a third time, that all may be perfectly acquainted with them. Therefore listen.
[The engrossed articles were here read; the signing commenced and finished; and the General thus proceeded :- ]
Younger brothers! Having completed the signing of this treaty, one part of it shall be delivered to the Wyandots, who will preserve it as a sacred pledge of the establish - ment of our future friendship; the other, or counterpart, I will send to the great chief, General Washington. In addition, one copy on paper shall be delivered to each nation, for their frequent and particular information. We will now proceed to apportion the goods designed to be given to you, and I hope to be prepared for their delivery in a day or two. Some assistance must be afforded to the Chippeways, and other remote tribes, to facilitate the transportation of their proportions. We will, for the present, retire, and we will have a little drink this evening.
Mash-i-pi-nash-i-wish, chief of the Chippeways, arose and said :-
Elder brother! I now see that all is settled. It affords us a great deal of pleasure. I hope you feel equally gratified. I repeat our entire satisfaction, that all present may know it. We, the three fires, have never done you any harm. With the same good heart I met you here, I will depart and return home. You will find the truth of these words, when you come and live among us. You must not believe ill of me.
Elder brother! I hope you will listen with attention to my words, and have pity on me. I have a request to make of you. You know I have come a great distance to assist in this good work, and as it is now happily completed, I hope you will deliver to us our friend, whom you sent from hence into confinement. We would be grieved to leave him in durance behind us, for he has been friendly to us. This is the request of your bro- thers, the three fires.
Council adjourned.
August 7th. In Council. Present as before. The General arose, and spoke as follows :-
Brothers, all nations now present ! You have all smoked out of this calumet, when we first opened council at this place, except the Shawanees. I will therefore smoke with the Shawanees, and with some of the Wyandots who arrived late.
Listen, all you sachems, chiefs, and warriors! Lift up your eyes, and behold these instruments of writing, to which the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas, Chip- peways, Pottawattamies, Miamies, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kas- kaskias, have set their hands and seals, that they may be handed down to your children's
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[Here the General read the address of the people called Quakers, and the invoice of their present.]
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.
children, as a memorial of the happy peace thereby established. When your posterity shall hereafter view these records, they will be informed that you were the great people that accomplished this blessed work, to insure to them, peace and happiness forever. One of these I shall transmit to General Washington; the other, I shall deposit agree- ably to your own desires, with your uncles, the Wyandots. A true copy, on paper, shall now be given to each nation. This large belt, and this seal, will accompany the original instrument, and will declare its sacred and important value.
The next business will be the distribution of the goods and presents promised by tresty. To-morrow, the Wyandots shall receive their proportion; the other nations will be sent for in order, as they signed, as soon as we are ready to deliver them. It will make no difference to any, who is first served, or who last; all shall have their due pro- portion. I have only to recommend a just and equal distribution among your respective nations.
Independent of this general delivery and as a reward for the good disposition to peace, of some chiefs and nations, early evinced, I shall make some further presents, which must be considered as private property, to those who shall receive them, and as testimo- nies of particular regard. In return for the generous and unasked for present of the Chippeways, of the Isle de Bois Blanc, the Fifteen Fires will make them an acknowledg- ment to show that they will never be outdone in kindness.
I have to exhort you to take every measure to restrain your young men from the bad practice of stealing horses from those who are their friends. Some Frenchmen, who socompanied you to this place, have complained to me of having had their borses stolen since their arrival. This is ungrateful and disgraceful.
Be all now attentive ! This letter in my hand, informs me, that some very bad Indians indeed, regardless of the good work we have been engaged in, have barbarously surprised and murdered an innocent family, who thought themselves secure from harm, whilst nego- tiations for peace engaged your attention. This grieves me very much. By an article of the agreement entered into last winter, we were mutually to inform each other of any harm intended, which should come to our knowledge, and do our utmost to prevent it. And it is expressly stipulated in this treaty, that similar conduct shall be pursued by both parties ;- that for injuries done, no private or personal retaliation shall take place, but complaint shall be made by the party injured, to the other, etc.
I do, accordingly, at this time, complain to you of the bad conduct of those bad people, and desire you, who live nearest to them, to exert your powers to restrain their practices, and correct their lives. I fear if they are permitted to continue uncontrolled, much mischief will ensue. They are a small lawless banditti, who insult your authority, at the same time they injure the United States by their savage and inhuman practices. Our people, roused and provoked by their depredations and cruelties, will follow them into their country, to punish them as they merit ; and should they, in their pursuit, fall in with any of you or your people who are our sincere friends, they might not be able to distinguish one from the other, and would probably wreak their vengeance on their inno- cent brothers, and burt them, when they meant to chastise those guilty aggressors only.
Tarkee, chief of the Wyandots, arose and spoke as follows :-
Brothers, listen, and you also, brothers of the different nations present. The Great Spirit above, has appointed this day for us to complete all the good work, in which we have been engaged. You remember, that some time ago, our brother, the American, rose up and thanked the Great Spirit above, for conducting the good work so far as it then was; and he desired of us to know whether we would acknowledge him, the Fifteen United States, to be our father; but we have not yet returned him an answer. Now, this day the good work is completed. I inform you all, brother Indians, that we do now, and will henceforth, acknowledge the Fifteen United States of America to be our father, and you will all for the future look upon them as such-you must call them brothers no more. The Great Spirit has crowned them with success in all their undertakings.
Father! You see we all now acknowledge you to be our father. I take you by the hand, which I offer as a pledge of our sincerity, and of our happiness, in becoming your children.
Father! Listen to your children here assembled; be strong now, and take care of all your little ones. See what a number you have suddenly acquired. Be careful of them and do not suffer them to be imposed upon. Don't show favor to one to the injury of any. An impartial father, equally regards all his children ; as well those who are ordi- nary, as those who are more handsome; therefore, should any of your children come to you crying and in distress, have pity on them and relieve their wants.
Now, all my brothers present, you see that we have acknowledged and called on the United States, as our father. Be strong, brothers, and obedient to our father; ever listen to him when he speaks to you, and follow his advice. I now deliver this wampum in presence of you all, as a token of our being now the children of the Fifteen Fires. [A large string, blue and white.]
The General rose and said :-
Listen 1 all you nations, to what your uncle, the Wyandot, has said. [Tarkee's speech was here interpreted to each nation. ]
Listen ! all you nations present. I have hitherto addressed you as brothers; I now adopt you all, in the name of the President and Fifteen Great Fires of America, as their children, and you are so accordingly. The medals, which I shall have the honor to de- liver you, you will consider as presented by the hands of your father, the Fifteen Fires of America. These you will hand down to your children's children, in commemoration of this day-a day in which the United States of America gives peace to you, and all your nations, and receives you and them under the protecting wings of her eagle.
Council adjourned.
August 8th. In council. Present as before. The Sun, a Pottawat- tamie chief, arose and said :-
Father ! I now speak to acquaint you, and all present, that I am perfectly satisfied with all that has been doue in this council. You have told us to bring in our prisoners with- out delay. I have not one in my village-I never took any. You further told us if any of your people injured us you would punish them, and enjoined on us a similar conduct as it respected our offenders. .
Father! I have not the same authority over my people that you exercise over yours. They live dispersed, and it is difficult to reach them on all occasions. As you have now become our father, we are no longer objects of pity ; as your children, we shall be happy, while you continue to protect us. When the British adopted us as children, they made false promises, and left us to the mercy of the traders who took advantage of and much abused our ignorance and weakness. You have promised to send traders among us by whom we will not be abused; and we have promised to protect their lives and property. We are happy, father, and thank you for your kindness to your children. I now ask you to send a trader to my village, which is a day's walk below the Wea towns, on the Wabash. You said that you would send one of your officers, to command at those towns. We would wish you to send Captain Quiatanon (Prior), and should any meditated mis- chief come to my knowledge I will immediately acquaint him of it agreeably to our com- pact. All you children present have the articles of the treaty fully and indelibly im- pressed on their hearts, and should bad birds attempt to misconstrue or pervert them, we promise, sincerely, not to listen to their designing, artful songs.
Father! We, the Pottawattamies present, are in three classes: One from the river Huron, one from St. Joseph's, and that to which I belong, from the Wabash ; and as you intend to give the goods designed for us, in bulk, to that nation, I am afraid the division amongst ourselves will be attended with difficulty and discontent. I pray you, father, to make the division among us, and thus preserve proportion and harmony. [A belt. ]
The New Corn, a Pottawattamie chief, spoke as follows :--
My friend, when I first came here, I took you by the hand. You welcomed me, and asked me for my great war chiefs. I told you they were killed, and that none remained but me, who have the vanity to think myself a brave man and a great warrior. The Great Spirit has made me a great chief and endowed me with great powers. The heavens and earth are my heart, the rising sun my mouth, and thus favored, I propagate my own species. [This is the Nestor of the wilderness, possessed of all the garrulity of age. ] I know the people who have made and violated former treaties. I am too honor- able and too brave a man to be guilty of such conduct. I love and fear the Great Spirit. He now hears what I say. I dare not tell & lie.
Now, my friend, the Great Wind, do not deceive us in the manner that the French, the British, and Spaniards have heretofore done. The English have abused us much ; they have made us promises which they never fulfilled; they have proved to us how little they have ever had our happiness at heart; and we have severely suffered for placing our dependence on so faithless a people. Be you strong, and preserve your word inviolate; and reward those Frenchmen who have come so great a distance to assist us. My friend, I am old, but I shall never die; I shall always live in my children, and child- ren's children. [A string.]
Mash-i-pi-nash-i-wish, chief of the Chippeways, thus spoke :-
Father ! The good work being now completed, we are left without a subject to employ our conversation. You see your children, the Ottawas, Chippeways, and Pottawatta- mies, around you. Those at home will rejoice, when we inform them, that, for the future, they will enjoy the protection of a new father. Our happiness is great in being per- mitted to address you by that endearing appellation. Father, since we have been here, some mischief has been done. We are entirely ignorant of the perpetrators. It grieves me much and excites our anger and indignation. Time will discover to you, and to us, those wicked disturbers who richly merit punishment. I have to request you to license a trader to reside with your children at Ki-ka-na-ma-sung, where we shall pass the en- suing winter. I have never been guilty of stealing horses; nor shall I now commence the practice. But as I am an old man I would ask you for one to carry me home.
Wille-baw-kee-lund, a Delaware chief, spoke as follows :-
Father! Listen to a few words from the Delawares. This is the speech you gave us when you first came into this country ; and when we first met together in council. In this, you told us, we should live in peace and friendship with each other and join our hands firmly together. It seems they were badly bound; for the ties were soon broken. We know not exactly how, or when, they were destroyed. We will now renew them, in so strong a manner that they will last forever, and bury in oblivion all past misfortunes. Be strong in this good work and it will never fail. This belt was presented to us from brothers; and our king now shows it to you that you may recognize it.
Okia, a Pottawattamie chief, arose and spoke as follows :-
Father! I come from the river Huron, near Detroit. My fathers have long possessed that country. The other Pottawattamies present live on the St. Joseph's, and in that direction. All my old chiefs are dead; you therefore see young chiefs only from my. towns who are unaccustomed to speak in council. You told us you would deliver the presents in bulk to the Pottawattamie nation. In this case I am afraid my people will not get a due proportion, and I am too proud to complain to you, should they be unfairly distributed; therefore, as I live detached from the others and intend to return home with the Chippeways, by the way of Fort Defiance, I beg my father would let me have my pro- portion separately ; for we have many young women and children at home to whom I shall be very happy to deliver the presents of their father. I wish much to carry with
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me a copy of the treaty to show my people. Living so far from the rest of my name I can derive no advantage from the one you have given to our nation generally; and I should be ashamed and mortified to return without one. I would request a trader for my village, and would wish for Mr. La Chambre, with whom we are long acquainted. [A belt.]
Te-ta-boksh-ke, king of the Delawares, spoke as follows :-
Father! You have in your prison a man (Newman) who came in to us a year ago, and proved the preservation of many of our women and children, by the information he gave us: for this we cannot help feeling grateful. Now, your children, the Delawares, all beg of you to spare the life of this man as he has been instrumental in saving many of us from destruction. We hope, father, you will grant this first request of your children, the Delawares. [A string. ]
The General arose and spoke as follows :-
My children, the Pottawattamies! I wish you to endeavor to make among yourselves an amicable and fair division of the goods intended for you. It would be a very difficult task for me to perform with justice. You are acquainted with your own people and their numbers. I am not well enough informed on this head to make a true apportionment. I wish all the other nations to act in a similar manner, and to make a distribution to the satisfaction of their respective people. I wish each nation to appoint two confidential people from among themselves to receive the goods, and to give receipts to the store- keeper, who will thereby convince me of his having justly delivered them.
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