USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 22
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ARTICLE 2. The United States agree to purchase any just claim which the Kickapoos may have to any part of the country hereby ceded below Pine Creek.
ARTICLE 3. The United States agree to pay to the Potta- wottomies a perpetual annuity of two thousand five hundred dol- lars in silver, one-half of which shall be paid at Detroit, and the other half at Chicago; and all annuities which, by any former treaty, the United States have engaged to pay to the Pottawotto- mies, shall be hereafter paid in silver.
ARTICLE 4. The United States agree to grant to the persons named in the annexed schedule and their heirs the quantity of land therein stipulated to be granted ; but the land so granted shall never be conveyed by either of the said persons, or their heirs, un- less by the consent of the President of the United States.
Proclaimed January 15, 1819.
SCHEDULE REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING TREATY.
There shall be granted to James Burnett, Isaac Burnett, Ja- cob Burnett, and Abraham Burnett two sections of land each ; which said James, John, Isaac, Jacob, Abraham, Rebecca and Nan- cy are children of Cakimi, a Pottawottomie woman, sister of To- pinibe, principal chief of the nation ; and six of the sections herein granted shall be located from the mouth of the Tippecanoe River, down the Wabash River, and the other six (five) sections shall be located at the mouth of the Flint River.
There shall be granted to Perig, a Pottawottomie chief, one section of land on the Flint River, where he now lives. There shall also be granted to Mary Chatalie, daughter of Neebosh, a Pottawottomie chief, one section of land, to be located below the mouth of Pine River.
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WEAS.
Articles of a treaty made and concluded at St. Mary's on the 2d of October, 1818, between the United States of America, by their commissioners, Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass, and Ben- jamin Park, and the Wea tribe of Indians.
ARTICLE I. The said Wea tribe of Indians agree to cede to the United States all the land claimed and owned by the said tribe within the limits of the States of Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois.
ARTICLE 2. The said Wea tribe of Indians reserve to them- selves the following described tract of land, viz: Beginning at the mouth of Raccoon Creek; thence, by the present boundary-line, seven miles; thence northeasterly seven miles to a point seven miles from the Wabash River; thence to the Wabash River by a line parallel to the present boundary-line aforesaid ; and thence by the Wabash River to the place of beginning: to be holden by the said tribe as Indian reservations are usually held.
ARTICLE 3. The United States agree to grant to Christmas Dageny and Mary Shields, formerly Mary Dageny, children of Mechinquamesha, sister of Jacco, a chief of the said tribe, and their heirs, one section of land each ; but the land hereby granted shall not be conveyed or transferred to any person or persons by the grantees aforesaid, or their heirs, or either of them, but with the consent of the President of the United States.
ARTICLE 4. The said Wea tribe of Indians accede to and sanction the cession of land made by the Kickapoo tribe of In- dians in the second article of a treaty concluded between the United States and the said Kickapoo tribe on the ninth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and nine, (proclaimed March 8, 1810).
ARTICLE 5. In consideration of the cession made in the fore- going articles of this treaty, the United States agree to pay to the said Wea tribe of Indians one thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars annually in addition to the sum of one thousand one hun- dred and fifty dollars (the amount of their former annuity), mak- ing a sum total of three thousand dollars; to be paid in silver by the United States annually to the said tribe, on the reservation described by the second article of this treaty.
Proclaimed January 7, 1819.
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WEAS (SECOND TREATY).
A treaty made and concluded, October 2d, 1818, by Benjamin Parke, a commissioner for that purpose on the part of the United States, of the one part, and the chiefs, warriors, and head-men of the Wea tribe of Indians, of the other part.
ARTICLE I. The chiefs, warriors, and head-men of the said tribe agree to cede, and they do hereby cede and relinquish, to the United States all the land reserved by the second article of the treaty between the United States and the said tribe is concluded at Saint Mary's on the second day of October, eighteen hundred and eighteen, (preceding treaty).
ARTICLE 2. The sum of five thousand dollars in money and goods which is now paid and delivered by the United States, the receipt whereof the chiefs, warriors, and head-men of the said tribe do hereby acknowledge, is considered by the parties a full compensation for the cession and relinquishment above men- tioned.
ARTICLE 3. As it is contemplated by the said tribe to remove from the Wabash, it is agreed that the annuity secured to the Weas by the treaty of Saint Mary's above mentioned shall here- after be paid to them at Kaskaskia, in the State of Illinois.
ARTICLE 4. This treaty, as soon as it is ratified by the Presi- dent and Senate of the United States, to be binding on the con- tracting parties.
Proclaimed January 8, 1821.
Although the business of the treaties did not commence until the 20th of September, the chiefs and warriors of the Indian na- tions of western and northwestern Ohio began to assemble at St. Marys in the latter part of August, and by the 12th of September, the representatives of seven Indian nations were encamped along the west side of the St. Mary's river from old Fort St. Mary's to the cemetery, north of the present village of St. Marys. The boarding houses, trading houses, and soldiers' barracks were lo- cated at intermediate points between the two forts. The commis- sioners were accompanied by the Governors of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and were escorted by a troop of Kentucky cavalry. The public dignitaries and their secretaries were entertained at the boarding houses of old Charley Murray and the Edsalls. The
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traveling traders were early on the ground, with every conceivable variety of goods calculated to please the fancies of the Indians.
Within the month that the Indians were encamped in front of the forts many thousand dollars worth of furs were given in ex- change for rifles, powder, lead, knives, hatchets, gaudy colored calicos, blankets and tobacco. Aside from the business transac- tions, for which they were assembled, they spent their leisure hours in sports of various kinds. Pony races were of daily occur- rence, and were the cause of many a fight around the camp-fires at night. Among the notable amusements was the Indian ball. game, which, in many respects, resembled the modern game of foot-ball. The officers and attendants never tired of witnessing the- game.
The following description, condensed from Catlin's account. of a ball-play among the Choctaw Indians, represents well the games played on the flat in front of the forts :
"The ball, used in the game, was made of white willow wood, and ornamented with curious designs drawn upon it with a hot iron. The ball-sticks or raquets, were long and slender, with a small hoop at the end of each. Each player carried two of these sticks, one in each hand. The dress of the players was very simple, being reduced to a waist-cloth, a tail made of white horse- hair or quills, and a mane of dyed horse-hair around the neck. The belt by which the tail was sustained was highly ornamented, and the player painted as brilliantly as he liked, but no other article of clothing was allowed, not even moccasins on the feet.
"On the evening preceding the play the two parties repaired to the ground where the goals had been set up about two hundred yards apart, and there perforined the ball-play dance by torchlight. Exactly in the middle between the goals, where the ball was to be started, sat four old medicine men, singing and beating drums. while the players clustered around their respective goals, singing at the top of their voices, and rattling their ball-sticks together. All the bets were made at this time, the articles staked, such as knives, blankets, guns, cooking utensils, tobacco, and even horses - the articles being placed in the custody of the stake-holders, who held them in charge until after the conclusion of the game on the following day.
"About nine o'clock on the day appointed, the four medicine men, with the ball in their custody, seated themselves midway be-
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tween the goals. At a given signal, the ball was flung high in the air, and as it fell, the two opposing sets of players converged upon it. As there were often a large number of players on each side,. it may be imagined that the scene was a most animated one.
"In the desperate struggles for the ball that ensued, large numbers ran together, and leaping actually over each other's heads. and darting between their adversaries' legs, tripping, and throw- ing, and foiling each other in every possible manner, and every voice raised to its highest key, in shrill yelps and barks; there were rapid successions of feats and incidents that amazed the spec- tators beyond conception of any one who has not had the oppor- tunity to witness them."
Of the many other diversions indulged in by the Indians, footraces and wrestling matches were the most popular. Among the Indians of great physical strength and agility, no one sur- passed Kalositah, who measured over six feet in stature and weighed over two hundred pounds. Judge McCulloch, in de- scribing him, says that "he was the most perfect specimen of physical manhood he had ever looked upon, and was confident he could out-jump or throw down any man in the Northwest." Pending the negotiations a grand hopping match occurred, in which Kalositah distanced all competitors by clearing fifty feet at two hops and a jump. "At another time a wrestling match was arranged between Tom Wilson, a noted wrestler, and the Indian, Kalositah bet his wrought silk belt against the Judge's silk neck- tie that he could throw Wilson.
"The contestants took holds, and Kalositah allowed his an- tagonist to exert his utmost before himself taking the aggressive. Wilson employed every art and energy, but all in vain ; the Indian appeared planted and could not be moved. At length Kalositah said, 'Now me,' and lifting Wilson, laid him upon the ground as he would a child. A second trial ended with the same result, and Wilson gave up the contest. At the conclusion, Kalositah returned the necktie to Judge McCulloch, saying that it was too easily won. At another time a Kentucky negro, noted for his great strength, was pitted against the Indian. The contest was sharp and de- cisive. The 'Now me' of the Indian was uttered sooner than it was in the contest with Wilson. The negro was thrown to the ground with great violence. Arising from the ground in a great passion, he was thrown a second time. Again arising from the
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ground he threatened to whip the Indian, but fighting was not permitted.
In after years (1832) he wrestled with John Norris at West Liberty. Norris was a soldier of the war of 1812, and a great braggart. The Indian appeared at the town on a challenge re- ceived from Norris. On the day appointed, a large crowd for those times, was present to witness the contest. A ring was formed, and after a few preliminaries, the contest began; but a few moments elapsed before it became apparent that Norris had made a grave mistake. "It was scarcely worth the name, being brief and decisive. With his irresistible 'grape-vine twist,' Kalosi- tah snapped a leg of his antagonist as if it had been a pipe-stem. The friends of Norris interposed, crying 'You have broken his leg, Kalositah; you have broken his leg.' The imperturbable In- dian only replied, 'Leg must be rotten,' and left Norris to be borne from the field."
The Indian nations at the St. Mary's Treaty were well pro- vided with provisions during the negotiations. Droves of cattle and hogs, corn meal, salt and sugar were furnished by the Gen- eral Government. Upon these articles and the game brought in by the Indian hunters they fared sumptuously every day. In addi- tion to these supplies, smugglers, located in retreats known only to the Indians, furnished them with fire-water, that was the cause of many sanguinary contentions.
The conclusion of these treaties was a great historical event. It was the last great assemblage of Indian nations in Ohio.
CHAPTER XI.
THE SHAWNEES.
The history of these "Arabs of the wilderness" is wrapt in obscurity. From tradition we learn that they originally occupied the southeastern portion of North America, and that they sub- sequently moved northward and occupied the valley of the Cum- berland River. Here they lived in savage grandeur until the Iroquois took the war path in 1655, when they were called upon to defend their hunting grounds. In this war they were defeated and expelled from the country. They fled to the south, and located in the Carolinas and Florida. In the course of a few years, however, the remnants of the tribe were collected, and all joined in the enterprise of repossessing their former hunting grounds. Instead of regaining possession of the valley by force of arms, they resorted to diplomacy. A council of reconciliation was held, in which permission was given them to move westward into the country of the Miamis and Wyandots.
By permission, therefore, they eventually occupied a large territory, including the Scioto river in Ohio, and the Wabash river in Indiana, with the intervening region. The ownership of this vast region was rightfully vested in other Indian nations. The question of ownership was raised by the Miami and Wyan- dot nations at each of the treaties held after their defeat by General Wayne. Whatever right of property that any Indian nation may have had in the lands occupied by the Shawnees, was extinguished, when their lands were ceded to the United States. In the assignment of the reservations, by the United States commissioners, the Shawnees received an equal recogni- tion with the other Indian nations.
In the treaty held with the Wyandots, at Upper Sandusky in 1841, the United States government proposed to give them lands in Indian Territory in exchange for their reservation. They signified their willingness to accept the proposition, on con- dition that they should receive a tract of land six miles wide off the east end of the lands belonging to the Shawnees. In justi-
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fication of the proviso, they claimed "that many years before that time, the Shawnees were destitute of a home, and that the Wyandots gave them one, and did many kind actions for them, and now was their time to repay them."
When the proposition was laid before the Shawnees, it was met with such violent opposition, that the commissioner declined to entertain the proviso. 'After a series of conferences in which there were many heated discussions, the Wyandots decided to eliminate the proviso, and accepted the proposition of the gov- ernment.
After the advent of the Shawnees into the Ohio country, the twelve tribes composing the nation, mingled with the other Indian nations inhabiting the territory between the Muskingum and Wabash rivers, living in peace with the Miamis, Ottowas, Senecas and Delawares, until white settlers began to appear along the Ohio and in other portions of the valley. "They were accustomed to boast of their superiority over other Indian nations. Their arrogant pride and warlike ferocity made them one of the most formidable of all the nations with which the white settlers had to contend in the Ohio valley. They murdered old and young, male and female, without pity and without remorse. They rejoiced in battle and carnage, in deception, stratagem, and faithlessness."
The next notable event in the history of the Shawnees, occurred in 1782, when George Rogers Clark invaded and ·destroyed their towns on Mad River, and burned Loramie's store on Pickawillany creek. "Soon after Clark's campaign, the Miamis and their allies left this part of the country, and retired to the Miami of the Lake, at or near Fort Wayne, and never returned." The Shawnees took their place, and gave names to towns in the Miami and Maumee valleys. Tribes under the leadership of Blue Jacket and Blackhoof settled at Wapakoneta. Other tribes settled at St. Mary's, Lewistown, and at the mouth of the Auglaize river. From these points expeditions were sent south to harass the settlements along the Ohio river, and in Ken- tucky. Skulking bands of Shawnees infested the Ohio river from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, attacking flat-boats in their descent down the river, leading their crews captive to Chilli- cothe and other towns where the bands resided, to be tortured and murdered. We have no data from which to make an esti-
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mate of the number of captives taken by these death-dealing marauders. From the accounts at our command, we judge the number to have been large. From the fact that a noted council house was located at Wapakoneta ; and further, that Wapakoneta was the residing place of such chiefs as Blackhoof, Blue Jacket, Corn-stalk, and Captain Johnny, it is highly probable that a large number of captives ran the gantlet and were tortured and murdered at this place. Frequent incursions were made into Kentucky and western Pennsylvania to steal horses and secure whatever plunder they chanced to find.
Reference has already been made in a preceding chapter to a letter of Judge Symmes to the Hon. Jonathan Dayton, in which he gives an account of the report of Isaac Freeman, whom he had sent to the Shawnee tribes on a friendly mission, and to ascertain their number and future intentions with regard to the settlements at Cincinnati. Freeman's report was very alarm- ing. He visited the Indian villages on Mad river, and proceeded as far north as Wapakoneta. "Whilst Mr. Freeman was at Wapakoneta he was lodged at the house of Blue Jacket, and while there he saw the pack-horses come to Blue-Jacket's house loaded with five hundredweight of powder, and lead equivalent, with one hundred muskets; this share he saw deposited at the house of Blue Jacket. He says the like quantity was sent from Detroit to every chief through all the towns. Freeman saw the same dividend deposited at a second chief's house, (Blackhoof was probably the chief to whom he referred), in the same town with Blue Jacket. On the arrival of these stores from Detroit, British colors were displayed on the house-top of each chief."
From this report we learn that the British were clandes- tinely furnishing the Indians with the munitions of war that were used against Harmar and St. Clair in the two succeeding years. During the two years preceding Harmar's campaign, large invoices of goods were distributed among the Shawnee tribes. Pack-horse trains and boats on the Auglaize river deliv- ered the goods at Wapakoneta, from which point they were dis- tributed to the different tribes. The carrying trade was con- conducted by English and French traders, who had formerly carried on a lucrative trade with the Indians, but who were now
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in a more remunerative service, in acting as agents of the Brit- ish government.
The years. 1789 and .1790 were years of great excitement among the Ohio Indians. The misrepresentations of the British agents, and the harangues of the Girtys and influential chiefs wrought the natives up to such exertions that they defeated Harmar and St. Clair.
One hundred and fifty Shawnee warriors left Wapakoneta, between midnight and one o'clock, on the morning of the 4th of November,' 1791, for Recovery. They arrived at Recovery whilst the battle was in progress. The soldiers in St. Clair's army were apprised of the arrival of the Shawnees by the cheers of the Indians leading the attack. The Shawnee warriors returned to Wapakoneta, rich with the spoils of war. Souve- nirs, consisting of cannon-balls, and other objects found on the battle-ground, are still, occasionally, found near where their habitations were located. The Shawnees were very much elated with their victories over Harmar and St. Clair, and held them- selves in readiness to enter upon the aggressive measures pro- posed by the British. Blue Jacket, in the mean time took up his residence at Blue Jacket's town at the mouth of the Auglaize river, where he could be in touch with the British agents. Here he lived in a style becoming to a chief of his distinction. For a description of his residence, and personal appearance, see Spen- cer's account of his visit to Blue Jacket's house, page 112. Being commander-in-chief of the allied Indian forces, he was very much discouraged by his defeat at the Fallen Timbers, and imme- diately afterward returned to Wapakoneta.
The defeat was a sore disappointment to the Shawnee tribes and Wyandots. The Shawnee loss was felt severely, but it was not nearly so great as the loss of the Wyandots. They lost all their chiefs, and a large number of their warriors.
When the Indian tribes began to present themselves at Greenville in 1795 to treat for peace, the Shawnees were obstinate, and held back for a time, and came in very slowly. "On the 24th of June, a boy, who had been a captive among them, (having been lately retaken,) confidently asserted that the Shawnees would not make peace. But one month after, July 23d, Blue Jacket made his appearance, and it was duly noticed by a gentleman at the time, who kept a journal of important matters at Greenville.
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He then adds, "Deputations from all the late hostile tribes north. of the Ohio are, consequently, now at this place." When Blue' Jacket met General Wayne he apologized for his tardiness, and' gave the most solemn assurance of his sincerity.
For the speeches of Blue Jacket and the other Indian chiefs at the Greenville Treaty, the reader is referred to Judge Bur- nett's notes.
At the close of the Greenville treaty the embers of the council fire were raked together, and covered, and the three Shawnee chiefs, Blackhoof, Blue Jacket and Red Pole, with their attendant warriors returned to their respective tribes. "The treaty was a triumph equal to the battle that preceded it. The dignity and heroic manner with which Wayne conducted the proceedings throughout were worthy of the occasion. The Shaw- nee chiefs came to the council sore and haughty, but after a short intercourse with Wayne, they could not repress a mag- netic response to the grip of the hand, and the frankness and sympathy which he showed them. This strong personal regard so grew upon them that at parting with the General they assured him that they now understood the treaty, and were fully con- vinced that it was wisely and benevolently calculated to promote their interest, and that it was their determined purpose to adhere to it. None of the chiefs who signed it took up arms afterward against the United States."
The Shawnees returned to their old time vocations, hunting, trapping, and the cultivation of the soil. The French and Brit- ish traders resumed their business, which, for a time, had been suspended on account of the war. The trade in scalps of white people ceased. No more people ran the gantlet, or were tortureď® at the stake. The close of the Greenville treaty was the beginning of a new era in the history of the Shawnee nation. The address prepared at a yearly meeting of the Friends of Philadelphia, and read to the Indians on the 2d of August by General Wayne, had a greater effect on their minds than was generally supposed at the time. Soon after the treaty a correspondence between the Shawnees and the Friends of Philadelphia was commenced, and continued until 1802, when a deputation of Shawnees, of which the chief, Blackhoof, was one, and several Delaware chiefs in' company with him on their way to Washington City on business,.
16 HAC
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visited Philadelphia, to renew their acquaintance with their old friends, the Quakers.
The accounts of this visit state that the chiefs were treated with great kindness, and that they were furnished with a con- siderable amount of money and goods. adapted to their wants.
The year following the visit of the deputation, the Society of Friends sent missionaries to the Shawnees to teach them agriculture and instruct them in the principles of Christianity. The labors of these missionaries were continued until the war of 1812, when their labors were suspended until the return of peace, at which time they were resumed.
Henry Harvey, in his History of the Shawnee Indians, states that "About this time (1819) the Friends erected, for the Shawnees, at its own expense, and with the consent of the govern- ment, a grist-mill and saw-mill, on the Auglaize river, at Wa- paughkonetta, and made other improvements at that place, such as a dwelling-house for a superintendent and family, who were sent out to reside among the Indians, to take charge of the mills, and to endeavor to assist and encourage them in commencing the improvement of their land. From the knowledge they soon acquired in the arts of agriculture, they learned to raise corn, beans, pumpkins, etc. The corn they had ground at the mill, free of toll, which their women soon learned to bake into bread, which they found much better and easier done than their former method of pounding into hominy.
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