confederacy. toith the their final Accomacs, on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, have ANALYSIS. also been considered a part of this nation. 'Powhatan 1. The great was the great chief of this confederacy, at the time of the chief the first settlement of Virginia. Soon after his death the In- 2. Their wars dians made an attempt, in 1622, to destroy the infant whites, and colony, in which they nearly succeeded, but were finally subjugation. defeated. In 1644 they made another effort, which terminated in a similar manner; and in 1676, during "Bacon's Rebellion," their total subjugation was effected. that time they had lands reserved to them, but they have gradually dwindled away, and it is believed that not a single individual now remains who speaks the Powhatan language. From 3. Their sub sequent history. tribes south of the Pono hatans. 'South of the Powhatans, on the sea-coast, were several 4 Algonquin petty Algonquin tribes, whose history is little known. The principal were the Corees, and Cheraws, or Coramines, in the vicinity of Cape Fear River, which was probably the southern limit of the Algonquin speech. When POWHATAN was first known to the English, he was about sixty years of age, of a grave aspect, tall, and well proportioned-exceedingly vigorous-and capable of sustaining great hardships. His authority extended over many nations or tribes, most of which he had conquered. The English at first erroneously supposed that his was the name of the country; but the error has prevailed, and his people have ever since been called the Powhatans. Aecording to the law of succession in his nation, his dominions did not fall to his children, but first to his brothers, then to his sisters, the eldest having precedency. He usually kept a guard of forty or fifty warriors around him, especially when he slept; but after the English came into the country he increased the number of his guard to about two hundred. Powhatan at first practiced much deception towards the English, and his plans for their destruction manifested great cunning and sagacity. But he found in Captain Smith an adversary even more wily than himself, and failing in all his plans to overreach him, he finally concluded to live in peace with the English, especially after the friendship of the two people had been cemented by the marriage of his favorite daughter Pocahontas. When Pocahontas accompanied her husband to England, Powhatan sent with her one of his favorite counsellors, whom he instructed to learn the state of the country-to note the number of the people and, if he saw Captain Smith, to make him show him the God of the English, and the king and queen. When he arrived at Plymouth, he began, accordingly, to number the people, by cutting in a stick, a notch for every person whom he saw. But he was soon obliged to abandon his reckoning. On his return, being questioned by Powhatan about the numbers of the English, he gave the following well known answer, "Count the stars in the sky, the leaves on the trees, and the sands upon the sea-shore, for such is the number of the people of England." Of the descendants of Pocahontas, the following is believed to be a correct account.-The son of Pocahontas, whose name was Thomas Rolfe, was educated in London by his uncle, Mr. Henry Rolfe. He afterwards came to America, where he became a gentleman of considerable Aistinction, and possessed an ample fortune. He left an only daughter, who having married Colonel Robert Bolling, died leaving an only son, Major John Bolling, who was the father of Colonel John Bolling and several daughters; one of whom married Colonel Richard Randolph, from whom were descended the distinguished John Randolph, and those bearing that name in Virginia at this day.-(Drake's Ind. Hist.) SHAWNEES. "The history of the Shawnees previous to the year 1680 is involved in much obscurity, and the dif. ferent notices of them are difficult to be reconciled. "Their Early his tory of the 6. Their ort ginal seats. Sharonees. persion. ANALYSIS. original seats, according to the French accounts, were between the Ohio and the Cumberland River, but it is supposed that they were driven away by the Chickasas and 1. Their dis the Cherokees early in the seventeenth century. 'Thence some of them penetrated as far east as the country of the Susquehannocks, while others crossed the Ohio and occu2 War with pied the country on and adjacent to the Sciota. 'Here tions, and they joined the neighboring tribes, the Eries and the Antheir defeat. dastes, in the war against the Five Nations; but, with their allies, they were defeated and dispersed in 1672. Soon after, a considerable portion of them formed a settlement in the vicinity of the Catawba country, but being driven away by the Catawbas, they found an asylum in the Creek country. the Five Na 3. Their set tlements among the Catawbas, and Creeks. 4. The Pennsylvania 5. Their removal west of the Alle "The Pennsylvania Shawnees, although not reduced to Shawnees. the humiliating state in which the Delawares were found, acknowledged the sovereignty of the Five Nations. "They preceded the Delawares in removing west of the Alleghanies, and received from the Wyandots the country about the Sciota, where their kindred had formerly resided, and who now returned from the Creek country and joined them. ghantes. 6. Their con duct during and Indian War. a See p. 23, account of Pontiac. 7. Their hos against the tilities western settlements. "The Shawnees were among the most active allies of the French the French during the "French and Indian war;" and even after its termination, by the conquest of Canada, in connection with the Delawares they continued hostilities, which were terminated only after the successful campaign of General Bouquet in 1763. The first permanent settlements of the Americans beyond the Alleghanies were immediately followed by a new war with the Shawnees, which ended in their defeat, in a severe engagement at the mouth of the Kanhawa, in 1774. They took an active part against the Americans during the war of the Revolution, and also during the following Indian war, which was during and terminated by the treaty of Greenville in 1795. A part The war of the of them also, under Tecumseh, fought against the AmeriDuring the cans during the second war with England. Most of the second war. tribe are now located west of the Mississippi. The numpresent local- ber of these, in 1840, was estimated at fifteen hundred b See pp. 32, 33, Cornstalk and Logan. 8. Their conduct subsequent to Revolution. 10 Their ities and numbers. souls. CORNSTALK was a noted Shawnee chief and warrior, who, although generally friendly to the Americans, and at all times the advocate of honorable peace, united with Logan in the war of 1774, which was terminated by the great battle of Point Pleasant, on the Kanhawa, in October of the same year. During that battle the voice of Cornstalk was often heard above the din of strife, calling on his men in these words, "Be strong! be strong!" Ilis advice had been against hazarding a battle, but when the other chiefs had decided against him, he said his warriors should fight, and if any one should flinch in the contest, or attempt to run away, he would kill him with his own hand. And he made good his word. For when some of his warriors began to waver, he is said to have sunk his tomahawk into the head of one who was cowardly endeavoring to escape from the conflict. After the battle, which was unfortunate to the Indians, Cornstalk himself went to the camp of the whites to solicit peace. This chief was remarkable for many great and noble qualities, and it is said that his powers of oratory were unsurpassed by those of any chief of his time. His death was most melancholy and deplorable. He was barbarously murdered by some infuriated soldiers, while he was a hostage at the fort at Point Pleasant, to which place he had gone voluntarily, for the purpose of preserving peace between the whites and some of the tribes that were desirous of continuing the war. As he saw the murderers approaching, and was made acquainted with their object, turning to his son, who had just come to visit him, he said, "My son, the Great Spirit has seen fit that we should die together, and has sent you to that end. It is his will, and let us submit." Turning towards the murderers he met them with composure-fell-and died without a struggle. His son was shot upon the seat on which he was sitting when his fate was ørst disclosed to him. While our histories record with all possible minuteness, the details of Indian barbarities, how seldom do they set forth, in their true light, those "wrongs of the Indian" that made him the implacable foe of the white man. TECUMSEH, another celebrated chief of the Shawnee nation, whose name is as familiar to the American people as that of Philip of Mount Hope, or Pontiac, and which signifies a tiger crouching for his prey, was born about the year 1770, on the banks of the Sciota, near the present Chilicothe. His father was killed in the battle of Kanhawa, in 1774. The superior talents of Tecumseh, then a young chief, had made him conspicuous in the western war which terminated in the treaty of Greenville in 1795, and he appears soon after, In conjunction with his brother the Prophet, to have formed the plan of a confederacy of all the western tribes for the purpose of resisting the encroachments of the whites, and driving them back upon their Atlantic settlements. In this plan the Prophet was first distinguished, and it was some time before it was discovered that Tecumseh was the principal actor. Tecumseh addressed himself to the prejudices and superstitions of the Indians-to their love of country-their thirst for war-and their feelings of revenge; and to every passion that could unite and influence them against the whites. He thus acquired, by perseverance, by assuming arts of popularity, by dispatching his rivals under charges of witchcraft, and by a fortunate juncture of circumstances, a powerful influence over his countrymen, which served to keep the frontiers in constant alarm many years before the war actually commenced. In 1807 messengers were sent to the tribes of Lake Superior, with speeches and the usual formalities, urging them to repair immediately to the rendezvous of the Prophet. They were told that the world was approaching its end; that that distant part of the country would soon be without light, and the inhabitants would be left to grope their way in total darkness, and that the only spot where they would be able to distinguish objects, was the Prophet's station, on the Wabash. Many cogent arguments were also used to induce them to refrain from the use of civilized manufactures, to resume the bow, to obtain fire by the ancient method, to reject the use of ardent spirits, and to live as in primitive times, before they were corrupted by the arts of the white man. Numerous bands of the credulous Indians, obeying this summons, departed for the Prophet's station, and the whole southern shore of Lake Superior was depopulated. Much suffering was occasioned, and numbers of the Indians died by the way; yet in 1808 the Prophet had collected around him more than a thousand warriors from different tribes-designed as the nucleus of a mighty nation. It was not so easy a matter, however, to keep these motley bands together, and they soon began to stray away to their former hunting grounds, and the plan of the brothers was partially defeated. In 1809, during the absence of Tecumseh, General Harrison, by direction of the government, held a treaty with several tribes, and purchased of them a large and valuable tract of land on the Wabash. When Tecumseh, on his return, was informed of this treaty, his indignation knew no bounds. Another council was called, when Tecumseh clearly and undisguisedly marked out the policy he was determined to pursue. He denied the right of a few tribes to sell their lands-said the Great Spirit had given the country to his red children in common, for a perpetual inheritance-that one tribe had no right to sell to another, much less to strangers, unless all the tribes joined in the treaty. "The Americans," said he, “have driven us from the seacoast-they will shortly push us into the lake, and we are determined to make a stand where we are." He declared that he should adhere to the old boundary, and that unless the landa purchased should be given up, and the whites should agree never to make another treaty, without the consent of all the tribes, his unalterable resolution was war. Several chiefs of different tribes,-Wyandots, Kickapoos, Potowatomies, Ottawas, and Winnebagoes, then arose, each declaring his determination to stand by Tecumseh, whom they had chosen their leader. When asked, finally, if it were his determination to make war unless his terms were complied with, he said, "It is my determination; nor will I give rest to my feet, until I have united all the red men in the like resolution." When Harrison told him there was no probability that the President would surrender the lands purchased, he said, "Well, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough into the head of your great chief to induce him to direct you to give up the land. It is true, he is so far off he will not be injured by the war He may sit still in his town, and drink his wine, whilst you and I will have to fight it out." The following circumstance, characteristic of the spirit which actuated the haughty chief, occurred during the council. After Tecumseh had made a speech to General Harrison, and was about to seat himself, it was observed that no chair had been placed for him. One was immediately ordered by the General, and as the interpreter handed it to him he said, "Your father requests you to take a chair." "My father?" said Tecumseh, with great indignity of expression, "The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother, and on her bosom will I repose;" and wrapping his mantle around him, he seated himself, in the Indian manner, upon the ground. The exertions of Tecumseh, in preparing for the war which followed, were commensurate with the vastness of his plans; and it is believed that he visited, in person, all the tribes from Lake Superior to Georgia.-The details of that war have been given in another part of this work. (See p. 32.) It is believed that Tecumseh never exercised cruelty to prisoners. In a talk which he had with Governor Harrison, just before hostilities commenced, the latter expressed a wish, that, if war must follow, no unnecessary cruelties should be allowed on either side; to which Tecumseh cordially assented. It is known that, at one time, when a body of the Americans were defeated, Tecumseh exerted himself to put a stop to the massacre of the soldiers, and that, meeting with a Chippewa chief, who would not desist by persuasion nor threats, he buried his tomahawk in his head. When Tecumseh fell, the spirit of independence, which for a while had animated the western tribes, seemed to perish with him; and it is not probable that a chief will ever again arise, to unite them in another confederacy equally powerful. ANALYSIS. 1. Miamis shaios, and claimed by them. MIAMIS AND PINCKISHAWS. "The Pinckishaws are not mentioned by the French missionaries, who probably conand Pinct sidered them as part of the Miamis. The territory claimed the territory by these two tribes extended from the Maumee River of Lake Erie to the high lands which separate the waters of the Wabash from those of the Kaskaskias River. The Miamis occupied the northern, and the Pinckishaws the 2. Their rela- southern portion of this territory. The Miamis were tions with called Twightees by the Five Nations, against whom they carried on a sanguinary war, in alliance with the French. a with the "They have been one of the most active western tribes in the Indian wars against the United States. "They have ceded most of their lands, and, including the Pinckishaws, were said to number, in 1840, about two thousand souls. the Five Na tions. United States. 4. Their lands and numbers. LITTLE TURTLE was a distinguished chief of the Miamis during the western Indian wars which followed the American Revolution. He was the son of a Miami chief and Mohegan woman, and as, according to the Indian law, the condition of the woman adheres to the offspring, he was not a chief by birth, but was raised to that standing by his superior talents. Possessing great influence with the western tribes, as one of their leaders, he fought the armies of General Harmar, St. Clair, and General Wayne, and, at least in one of the battles, disastrous defeat of St. Clair, he had the chief command. It is said, however, that he was t not for fighting General Wayne at the rapids of the Maumee, and that in a council held the night before the battle he argued as follows: "We have beaten the enemy twice under separate commanders. We cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps: the night and the day are alike to him. And during all the time that he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace." The other chiefs, however, decided against him, and he did his duty in the day of battle: but the result proved his anticipations correct. From his irresistible fury in battle the Indians sometimes called him the Big-Wind, or Tornado; and also Sukurhgock, or the Black Snake, because they said he possessed all the art and cunning of that reptile. But he is said to have been as humane as he was courageous, and that "there have been few individuals among the aborigines who have done so much to abolish the rites of human sacrifice." When Little Turtle became convinced that all resistance to the whites was vain, he induced his nation to consent to peace, and to adopt agricultural pursuits. In 1797 he visited Philadelphia, where the celebrated traveler Volney became acquainted with him. He gives us some interesting information concerning the character of this noted chief. Little Turtle also became acquainted, in Philadelphia, with the renowned Polish patriot Kosciusko; who was so well pleased with him, that on parting, he presented the chief a pair of beautiful pistols, and an elegant and valuable robe made of sea-otter skin. Little Turtle died at Fort Wayne, in the summer of 1812. 1 The numhers, and tribes, of the Illinois In dians. Their his tory. apoos. ILLINOIS. The Illinois, formerly the most numerous ANALYSIS. of the western Algonquins, numbering, when first known, ten or twelve thousand souls, consisted of five tribes; the Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Tamaronas, Peorias, and Mitchiga. mias; the last, a foreign tribe from the west side of the Mississippi, but admitted into the confederacy. "The Illinois, being divided among themselves, were ultimately almost exterminated by the surrounding hostile tribes, and the Iroquois; and when, in 1818, they ceded all their lands to the United States, their numbers were reduced to about three hundred souls. KICKAPOOS. The Kickapoos claimed all the country 3. The Kicknorth of the mouth of the Illinois, and between that river and the Wabash, the southern part of their territory having been obtained by conquest from the Illinois. In 1819 they made a final cession of all their lands to the United States. SACS AND FOXES. "The Sacs,* and the Foxes or Outa- 4. Identity of gamies, are but one nation, speaking the same language. Fores. "They were first discovered by the French, on Fox River, 5. Their oriat the southern extremity of Green Bay, somewhat farther east than the territory which a portion of them have occupied until recently. The Foxes were particularly hostile to the French, and in 1712, in conjunction with some other tribes, they attacked the French fort at De. a See p. troit, then defended by only twenty men. The French were however relieved by the Ottawas, Hurons, Potowatomies, and other friendly tribes, and a great part of the besieging force was either destroyed or captured. • Or Sawks. the Sacs and ginal seats. Their hos the French. |