V.
INDIAN BORDER WARS.
In
the early settlement of this part of the great northwest there was a great deal
of trouble between the Indians and the white people that settled in among the
Indians for the purpose of eventually driving them out and occupying their
lands. This naturally created bad blood among the Indians, and they determined
to resist the encroachments of the white intruders to the last extremity.
A
few miles south of Maxinkuckee lake, on the north bank of Eel river, about six
miles from the point where that river enters into the Wabash, near where
Logansport has since been built, was a large Indian village known as
Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua, whose inhabitants were of the Shawnee and Pottawattomie
tribes, whose principal chief was the Shawnee Prophet and his brother, the
famous Tecumseh, who were at that time temporarily located at what was known as
"Prophet's Town," near the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash
rivers, several miles below. That was a few years after the close of the war of
1812. Traders and explorers and those looking for homes were finding their way
into this section of the unexplored west, and quite a number of pioneers had
pitched their tents, or erected log cabins, and settled down to the realities
of life among the Indians in the wilderness.
The
Indians were not very friendly at best toward the white settlers and especially
were they opposed to these intruders taking possession of the watercourses
leading to the southwest. The few white settlers that were attempting to make a
settlement at that time were continually harassed and annoyed by these vicious
warriors, and they had no assurance when they went to bed at night in their,
little cabin home that their scalps would not be taken off before morning.
These depredations and petty annoyances were kept up so continually from this
village that the government
38 HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
decided
to send a regiment of troops, then doing service at various points along the
river Ohio, for the purpose of quieting the disturbances. Accordingly about
five hundred men under Capt. Wilkenson moved some time in June 1791, for the
scene of the outbreaks. According to the report of the expedition, after many
days hard marching through the wilderness the little army reached the Wabash
river at the very point for which the commander had aimed at the commencement
of his march-a very remark- able circumstance, as finding one's way through the
tangled wilderness of this part of the country at that time was like attempting
to navigate the boundless ocean without compass or rudder.
Here
the little army crossed the Wabash River, and, following the trail a
north-by-east course a distance of three miles, Eel River was reached. While
reconnoitering it was discovered that the Indians had taken the alarm and were
flying in every direction from the village.
A
general charge was ordered. The men forced their way over every obstacle, and
plunged through the river with great bravery. The Indians were unable to make
the slightest resistance. Six warriors and, in the" hurry and confusion of
the charge, two squaws and a child were killed. Thirty-four prisoners were
taken with a loss on the part of the whites of two men killed and one wounded.
"I found the village," says Capt. Wilkenson in the report of the
battle, "scattered along the Eel River for full three miles, on an uneven,
scrubby oak barrens, intersected alternately by bogs almost impassable, and
impervious thickets of plum, hazel and blackjacks. I encamped in the
town-Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua-that evening, and the next morning I cut up the corn
scarcely in the milk, burned the cabins, mounted my young warriors, squaws and papooses
in the best manner in my power, and, leaving two Indian squaws and a child with
a short talk, took up the line of march for a Kick-a-poo town, on the Wabash,
where disturbances had been reported. Not being able to discover any path in
the direct course of the Kickapoo town, I marched by the road leading to the
Tippecanoe, in the hope of finding some diverging trail, which might favor my
design. I camped that night about six miles, from Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua, and
marched next morning at 4 o'clock. My course continued west until 9 o'clock,
when I turned to the northwest on a small hunting path, and at a short distance
I launched into the boundless prairies of the west, with the intention to
pursue that course until I could find a road which leads from the
Pottawattomies of Lake Michigan 1mmedlately to the town I sought. With this
view I pushed forward through bog after bog, to the saddle skirts in mud and
water; and after persevering for eight hours I found myself environed on all
sides by morasses which forbade my advancing, and at the same time rendered it
difficult for me to extricate my little army. The way by which we had entered
was so much beaten and softened by the horses that it was almost impossible to
return by that route, and my guides pronounced the morass in front impassable.
A chain of thin groves extending in the direction of the Wabash at this time
presented itself to the left. It was necessary I should gain the groves, and
for this purpose I dismounted, went forward, and, leading my horse through a
bog to the armpits in mud and water, with great difficulty and fatigue I
accomplished my object; and changing my course to southwest I regained the
Tippecanoe road and
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 39
encamped
on it at 7 o'clock, after a march of thirty miles, which broke down several of
my horses. "I was in motion next morning at 4 o'clock, and reached the
Tippecanoe village by noon, and found that it had just been abandoned. After
the destruction of this town last June the Indians had returned and cultivated
their corn, which I found in high perfection. To refresh my horses and give
time to cut down the corn, I determined to halt until next morning. In the
course of a day I had discovered some murmurings and discontent among the men
and reluctance to advance further into the enemy's country. This induced me to
call for a state of the horses and provisions, when, to my surprise and
mortification, 220 horses were returned lame and tired, with barely five days
provisions for the men. Under these discouraging circumstances was compelled to
abandon my designs and return to the Ohio River, where I arrived on the 21st of
August, after a march by actual computation of 451 miles."
Precisely
over what territory Capt, Wilkenson's little army traveled in their skirmish
after the Indians in this region cannot be ascertained to a certainty, but it
is quite certain that it struck the "boundless prairie," it was in
the neighborhood of Kewanna and Bruce's lake in Fulton county, and also in the
region west of Maxinkuckee lake southwest of the now town of Culver in Marshall
County, as there was said to be a village or retreat there on a spot which was
so completely surrounded with bogs and marshes as to be almost inaccessible.
The
Indian trail the captain was trying to find, leading from Lake Michigan to the
Kickapoo town, came by way of South Bend, Sumption's prairie, thence by way of
Potato and Pine creek, near Knott's mill in Polk township, Mal-shall county;
thence in the direction of the old La Porte road to the west of Plymouth and
near the old brewery; thence along the west bank of Yellow river to the village
at Twin lakes; thence through the Burr Oak flats near Culver and west of the
lake by way of the Kewanna prairie and Bruce's lake, and so on to Logansport
and Winamac. There were several other trails, but this was the one he was
trying to find.
After
the Indian Wars Had Ceased,
About
the time the territory embraced in what is now northern Indiana first began to
be settled, the regular, or more properly the irregular Indian wars and
outbreaks in the Northwest Territory, of which this region was a part, bad
practically ceased, and most of the warriors had gone west to assist their
tribes in resisting further encroachments of the whites upon what they believed
to be their inalienable rights. Those that were left here were mostly old men,
women and children, sick and crippled and otherwise helpless, among whom were a
number of chiefs who had charge of the remnants of the bands that inhabited the
various villages scattered promiscuously .all over the county.
Noted
Indian Chiefs.
Among the more or less distinguished Indians
having or assuming authority, who remained here until the last, and who were
well remembered by the older settlers of the county, were Au-be-nau-bee,
Nas-wau-gee, Ben-ak, Pe-ash-way, Ni-go, Marshall and others. Most of these had
seen a good
40 HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
deal
of service, and had endured many hardships and privations before they were
finally overcome and compelled to surrender to the advancing march of
civilization.
Some
of them had been active participants with the Shawnee Prophet, under whose
spiritual guidance the noted battle of Tippecanoe had been fought, and his
brother, the famous Te-cum-seh. Prior to this midnight fight these chiefs and
many of their followers frequently made pilgrimages from the different camps
about Maxinkuckee lake and the Tippecanoe to what was known as "Prophet's
Town," near where the Tippecanoe river enters into the Wabash: The town
had been established by the Prophet and his brother, Te-cum-seh, and the
inhabitants were governed by religious fanaticism that had been worked up by
the Prophet, who claimed supernatural powers. He was the John Alexander Dowie
of his day among the Indians. His town was the center and capital of the
religion he preached. Here the Great Spirit was supposed to dwell and here were
performed the strange and mysterious rites with which the new worship was
carried on. Hideous dances, midnight orgies, and self-inflicted tortures and
the dark ceremonies of Indian magic occupied the time of the frenzied savages.
The Prophet pretended to be in constant communication with the Great Spirit and
to be instructed by Him to make known to the Indians that he could give
celestial rewards for all who would become his followers, and he boldly laid
claim to the power of foretelling future events, curing sick- ness, preventing
death on the battlefield, and working all sorts of miracles; and to demonstrate
the power, it is stated as a historical fact that he announced that on a
certain day he would cause the sun to be darkened. By some means he had learned
that there would be a total eclipse of the sun at a certain hour of a certain
day. As the sun was darkened, as he predicted, his ignorant and superstitious
followers were ever after easily controlled by him and his brother, Te-cum-seh,
and the final outcome was the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811, which
practically ended the Indian warfare in this part of the Northwest Territory.
To the thousands of converts who had adopted the religion of the Prophet this
sacred town was as Jerusalem to the Jews, or Mecca to the Mahommedans.
But
Te-cum-seh was in every way superior to his brother, the Prophet, and had he
been at home at the time of the battle of Tippecanoe (he was absent in Kentucky
at the time) his good judgment would probably have prevented his brother, the
Prophet, from precipitating a battle with Gen. Harrison at that time after
having pledged his word of honor that he would not do so, at least until
another conference could be held the next day.
Te-cum-seh
is described as a perfect Apollo in form, his face oval, his nose straight and
handsome, and his mouth regular and beautiful; his eyes were hazel, clear and
pleasant in conversation, but like balls of fire when excited by anger or
enthusiasm. His beating is said to have been of a noble and lofty spirit, a true
king of the forest. He was temperate in his habits, loving truth and honor
better than life. His mind was of a high order, and he possessed a genius,
which must have made him eminent in any age or country. Like many other
warriors he had failed, yet like them he was great in defeat! His brother, the
Prophet, had only one eye, and possessed a countenance of which every line
revealed craft and deceptiveness.