Great Indian Chief of the West; Or, Life and Adventures of Black HawkDrake, Benjamin
History
Great Indian Chief of the West; Or, Life and Adventures of Black Hawk
Drake, Benjamin
Black Hawk War, 1832; Black Hawk, Sauk chief, 1767-1838; Fox Indians -- History; Keokuk, Sauk chief, 1780?-1848; Sauk Indians -- History
"The Miamies have their principal settlements on the forks of the
Wabash, thirty miles from fort Wayne; and at Mississineway, thirty miles
lower down. A band of them, under the name of Weas, have resided on the
Wabash, sixty miles above Vincennes; and another under the Turtle, on
Eel river, a branch of the Wabash, twenty miles north west of Fort
Wayne. By an artifice of the Little Turtle, these three bands were
passed on General Wayne as distinct tribes, and an annuity was granted
to each. The Eel river and Weas however to this day call themselves
Miamies, and are recognized as such by the Mississineway band. The
Miamies, Maumees, or Tewicktovies are the undoubted proprietors of all
that beautiful country which is watered by the Wabash and its branches;
and there is as little doubt, that their claim extended as far east as
the Sciota. They have no tradition of removing from any other quarter of
the country; whereas all the neighboring tribes, the Piankeshaws
excepted, who are a branch of the Miamies, are either intruders upon
them, or have been permitted to settle in their country. The Wyandots
emigrated first from Lake Ontario and subsequently from lake Huron, the
Delawares from Pennsylvania and Maryland, the Shawanies from Georgia,
the Kickapoos and Pottawatamies from the country between lake Michigan
and the Mississippi, and the Ottawas and Chippeways, from the peninsula
formed by lakes Michigan, Huron and St. Clair, and the strait connecting
the latter with Erie. The claims of the Miamies were bounded on the
north and west by those of the Illinois confederacy, consisting
originally of five tribes, called Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Peorians,
Michiganians, and Temorias speaking the Miami language, and no doubt
branches of that nation.
"When I was first appointed governor of Indiana Territory, these once
powerful tribes were reduced to about thirty warriors, of whom twenty
five were Kaskaskias, four Peorians, and a single Michiganian. There was
an individual lately alive at St. Louis, who saw the enumeration of them
made by the Jesuits in 1745, making the number of their warriors four
thousand. A furious war between them and the Sacs and Kickapoos reduced
them to that miserable remnant, which had taken refuge amongst the white
people of Kaskaskia and St. Genevieve. The Kickapoos had fixed their
principal village at Peoria, upon the south bank of the Illinois river,
whilst the Sacks remained masters of the country to the north."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account