Chapter I: Front Matter

{Transcriber's Note: Quotation marks have been standardized to modern usage. Footnotes have been placed to immediately follow the paragraphs referencing them. Transcriber's notes are in curly braces; square brackets and parentheses indicate original content.}

INDIAN BIOGRAPHY;
OR,
AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
OF THOSE
INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BEEN DISTINGUISHED AMONG
THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVES
AS
ORATORS, WARRIORS, STATESMEN,
AND
OTHER REMARKABLE CHARACTERS.

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BY
B. B. THATCHER, ESQ.

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IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

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NEW-YORK:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER,
NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET,
AND FOR SALE BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOK SELLERS THROUGHOUT
THE UNITED STATES

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1832.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1831, by J. & J.
Harper, in the office of the Clerk of the Southern District of New
York.

CONTENTS.

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CHAP. I.--Notices of Indians who submitted to Massachusetts,
continued--The Squaw-Sachem of Medford--Her history, family,
&c.--Sagamore John and Sagamore James--Their intercourse with the
English--Anecdotes of them--Complaints, services, death and
character--Chickatabot, Sachem of Neponset--His war with the
Squaw-Sachem--Visits Boston several times--Appears in court against
Plastowe--Anecdotes of his Government--Indian policy of Massachusetts
compared with that of Plymouth--Anecdotes of Chickatabot--His death.

Page 9

CHAP. II.--Farther account of Master Weston's settlement, and the
movements of the Indians against him--Aspinet, the Nauset, supposed to
be engaged in that affair--His tribe and power--Provocations from the
English--Magnanimous revenge of the Sachem--His hospitality and
kindness--Friendly intercourse with Plymouth--Is visited by Governor
Bradford--By Captain Standish--Is suspected of hostility by Plymouth,
and pursued by Standish--His death--Career and character of Itanough,
the "Courteous Sachem of Cummaquid"--Is suspected and pursued--His
death.

94

CHAP. III.--Summary account of the Five Nations--Their early
history--Government--Conquests--Population--Territory--Intercourse with
the European Colonies--Their war with the Adirondacks--Adventures of
Piskaret--Their negotiations with the French, in 1684--Anecdotes of the
Onondaga Chief, Garangula--His speech at the Council, and effects of
it--Remarks on his character--History of the Five Nations continued to
the time of Adario--His exploits--Their object and results--War between
the Confederates and the French--Adventures of Black-Kettle.
34

CHAP. IV.--Five Nations continued--Remarks on their
oratory--Circumstances favorable to it--Account of a council of the
Confederates at Onondaga, in 1690--Anecdotes of various persons who
attended it--Speeches of Sadekanatie and other orators--Adarhahta--The
history and character of Decanesora--His speeches at the Albany council
of 1694--Style of his eloquence--His personal and political
character--Other speeches and negotiations--Anecdotes of Sadekanatie.

49

CHAP. V.--Account of the Ottawas--Their first Chief-Sachem known to the
English, Pontiac--His interview with Major Rogers--Protects that officer
and his troops--Saves Detroit from an army of Indians--Hostility of the
northern tribes to the English, after the conquest of Canada--Adventures
of Henry--Anecdotes of Minavavana--Supposed feelings of Pontiac towards
the English--His great project of combination.

70

CHAP. VI.--Pontiac's plan of campaign--He commences active
preparations--Council of the Ottawas--Grand Council of the Northern
tribes--Dream of the Delaware--Maxims promulgated by Pontiac--Estimate
of the number and force or his allies--Commencement of the
war--Surprisal of nine English posts--mode of surprisal--Artifice
adopted at Michilimackinac, and result--Reduction of Detroit undertaken
by Pontiac in person--His interview with the Commandant--His plan
discovered, and the surprise prevented--Letter from Detroit.

83

CHAP. VII.--Siege of Detroit maintained by Pontiac--The Commandant
meditates a retreat--The French propose a conference With Pontiac, which
takes place--The latter demands the surrender of the fort, which the
Commandant refuses--Vigorous renewal of hostilities--Advantages gained
by the Indian army--arrival of succor to the English--Battle of Bloody
Bridge--Pontiac at length raises the siege--Causes of it--The Indians
make peace--His subsequent career until his death--Anecdotes
illustrating his influence, energy, magnanimity, integrity and
genius--His authority as chieftain--His talents as an orator--His
traditionary fame.

98

CHAP. VIII.--Account of the Delawares--Their ancient great men, including
Tamenend--History during the Revolutionary War--Two Parties among
them--White-Eyes, leader of one, and Captain Pipe, of the
other--Manoeuvres, speeches, plots and counter-plots of these men, their
parties, and foreigners connected with both--Anecdotes--Death of
White-Eyes in 1780--Tribute of respect paid to his memory.

120

CHAP. IX.--Observations on the character of White-Eyes--Pipe's comment on
his death--The latter gains and sustains an ascendancy in the Delaware
nation--Glickhican, Netawatwees and Wingemund--Subsequent career of
Pipe--Joins the British and fights against the Americans--Grand Indian
council at Detroit--Pipe's spirited speech on that occasion--Makes
charges against the Missionaries, but fails to prove them--Remarks on
his habits, principles and talents.

136

CHAP. X.--State of several Southern tribes during the last century--The
English send deputies to the Cherokees, in 1756--Their lives threatened,
and saved by Attakullakulla--Account of that Chieftain and his
principles--The party opposed to him headed by Occonostota--War with the
Colonies in 1750 and two years following--Anecdotes of both these
Chiefs--Saloush, Fifton, and others--Several battles--Peace
concluded--Attakullakulla visits Charleston--His subsequent career, and
that of Occonostota--Remarks on their character.

150

CHAP. XI.--The Cayuga Chief, Logan--Some account of his father,
Shikellimus--Residence of Logan--His friendship for the whites
interrupted by their provocations--His family misfortunes--The Shawanee
Silver-Heels--Logan joins in a war of revenge against the
"Long-Knives"--Battle of the Kenhawa--Treaty of Peace with Governor
Dunmore--Logan's celebrated Speech--His history
completed--Buckongahelas, the Delaware head War-Chief--His intercourse
with the Christian Indians--Part which he takes in the
Revolution--Defeated by Wayne, in 1794--Anecdotes of him--Death and
character.

166

CHAP. XII.--Some account of the Shawanees, the tribe of
Tecumseh--Anecdotes illustrative of their character--Early history and
lineage of Tecumseh--His first adventures as a warrior--His habits and
principles--His brothers Kumshaka and Elskwatawa--The first open
movements of the latter, in 1806--He assumes the character of
Prophet--His doctrines--His mode of operation upon his countrymen--Other
Indian pretenders--Anecdote of a Shawanee Chief, at Fort Wayne--Tanner's
account of the ministry of the Elskwatawa's Agents--Concert traced
between them--Witchcraft-superstition--Anecdotes of Teteboxti, The
Crane, Leather-Lips, and others.

181

CHAP. XIII.--History of Tecumseh and the Prophet continued--The latter
encamps at Tippecanoe--Sends a message to Governor Harrison--Visits him
at Vincennes--Increase of his forces--Attention of the General
Government aroused--Tecumseh visits the Governor--His speech, and
journey southward--Battle of Tippecanoe, November, 1811--Consequences
of it--Indian Council at Mississiniway--Council at Malden--Speeches and
Anecdotes of the Crane, Walk-in-the-Water, Round-Head, and other
Chiefs--Sequel of the history of the two brothers--Final exertions of
Tecumseh--His death--Death of the Prophet.

202

CHAP. XIV.--Remarks on the character of Tecumseh and the Prophet--Their
facilities for co-operation--Difficulties the latter had to overcome--His
perseverance and ingenuity--Means by which he protected his
person--Anecdotes of the Battle of Tippecanoe--Frankness of Tecumseh in
disclosing his schemes--Causes of his hostility to the
Americans--Trespasses of the whites, and other abuses--Object of the
belligerent combination--Anecdotes of Tecumseh's first visit to
Vincennes, in 1810--His dignity, independence and courage--His ideas of
the British policy--His speech to General Proctor, and remarks on his
oratory--His humanity--His genius.

296

CHAP. XV.--Michikinaqwa, or the Little-Turtle--Early history--Engages in
a combination of the Indians against the United States--Blue-Jacket--The
Turtle defeats two detachments of American troops--Some account of the
North-Western war from 1791 to 1795--The Turtle defeated by General
Wayne--He becomes unpopular after the peace--Some of the charges against
him examined--Anecdotes of his intercourse with distinguished
Americans--His letter to General Harrison--His death in 1819--His
character.

243

CHAP. XVI.--The Seneca Chief, Red-Jacket--Circumstances under which he
succeeded Corn-Planter in his influence--Anecdotes of the
latter--Red-Jacket's earliest oratorical triumph--His speech at the
Treaty of Canandaigua--Account of Farmer's-Brother, and
Brandt--Red-Jacket's political and religious principles--Speech to Mr.
Alexander, in 1811--Speech to Mr. Richardson--Remarks on the causes of
his heathenism in the conduct of the whites--His military career--Speech
in favor of declaring war against the British, in 1812--Seneca
Manifesto--Red-Jacket's interview with Washington--His interview with
Lafayette--His Memorial to the New-York Legislature--Speech to a
Missionary in 1825--His deposition and restoration in 1827--Visits to
the Atlantic cities--Death and funeral obsequies--Anecdotes.

270

APPENDIX.

No. I. Genealogy of Uncas. 394 No. II. General Wayne's Correspondence with Major Campbell. 345 No. III. Corn-Planter's letter to the Governor of Pennsylvania. 309 No. IV. Speech of the same at Warren Court-House. 312 No. V. Obituary Notice of Brandt. 314 No. VI. Little-Farmer's letter to the Hon. W. Eustis. 314 No. VII. Crawford's letter to the Governor of Canada. 316

INDIAN BIOGRAPHY.

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