The Chicago Massacre of 1812: With Illustrations and Historical DocumentsKirkland, Joseph
History
The Chicago Massacre of 1812: With Illustrations and Historical Documents
Kirkland, Joseph
Chicago (Ill.) -- History; Fort Dearborn Massacre, Chicago, Ill., 1812
This was during the engagement near the sand-hills. When Captain
Wells, who was fighting near, beheld it, he exclaimed, "Is that
your game, butchering women and children? Then I will kill too!" So
saying, he turned his horse's head and started for the Indian camp
near the fort, where had been left their squaws and children. Several
Indians pursued him as he galloped along. He laid himself flat on the
neck of his horse, loading and firing in that position as he would
occasionally turn on his pursuers. At length their balls took effect,
killing his horse and severely wounding himself At this moment he was
met by Winnemeg and Wau-ban-see who endeavored to save him from the
savages who had now overtaken him. As they supported him along, after
having disengaged him from his horse, he received his death blow from
another Indian, Pee-so-tum, who stabbed him in the back.
When we observe the incongruities of this tale (not to speak of its
contradiction by Mrs. Heald's report) such as the witnessing by Captain
Wells of the wagon slaughter (at a time when we know he was far away
inland, fighting at the head of the troops); of his alleged dastardly
flight from the field toward the Indian camp a mile-and-a-half away,
with the avowed intention of killing the squaws and pappooses; his
being overtaken on horseback by pursuing enemies on foot; his being
held up by two Indians while a third stabbed him in the back, the third
being the very one who helped Mrs. Helm to reach the fort; we are only
glad to remember that the narrator did not mean to have us understand
that she witnessed the occurrences she relates. Internal evidence
leads us to suspect that the story came to her from the lips of lying
Indians, eager to magnify to Mr. Kinzie their deeds of valor and of
kindness, and perhaps justify their treatment of poor Wells, alive and
dead. Pee-so-tum may have killed and scalped Wells, but it surely was
not under such circumstances as those above set forth. Not even the
best friends of the Indian claim for him any appreciation of the virtue
of mere veracity. Personal faithfulness of the most touching character
he often showed. Even the keeping of promises, often at the cost of
great personal sacrifice, has been known as a striking and admirable
trait. But "truth for truth's sake" is beyond him--as it is, indeed,
beyond the great mass of mankind.
The Wau-Bun story of the experiences of the Kinzie family bears
evidences of authenticity and reasonable accuracy, as might be expected
from the fact that Mrs. John H. Kinzie probably got it directly from
her husband's mother, Mrs. John Kinzie, who was alive at the time when
it was first written.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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