Life Among the Indians; or, Personal Reminiscences and Historical Incidents

Preface.
No living man, probably, has seen and known more of the Indians in the north-west than myself. During almost seventy years I have been among them, as it were ? have been acquainted with their principal men, studied their history, character, and manner of life. With me it has not been, as with most who have written about them, a mere matter of theory; for I have been among them, hunted and fished with them, ate; and lodged in their wigwams, and been subjected to all the labors, excitements, perils, and privations of life among them. In this long experience and observation, I have gathered up many things which I thought worthy of record. Some of them occurred in my experience as a missionary among them.

Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, were, the great battle-fields between barbarism and civilization in the west. My acquaintance extended
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over all these states; and there is scarcely a spot celebrated in Indian warfare which I have not visited again and again. Tales of Indian life and warfare were the entertainments of my childhood; the realities of these things were among the experiences of my manhood. Now, when the scene is nearly over with me on earth, I have gathered up these reminiscences of the past, to amuse and instruct the generations of a later age. Those who enjoy so goodly a heritage in this vast region, ought to know through what trials and perils their forefathers obtained it for them.

I have endeavored to connect the facts narrated in these pages, so as to give a condensed view of Indian history in the north-west. In the preparation of the work I am indebted to Flint, M'Donald, Drake, Schoolcraft, and others. Col. M'Donald's work was written at my suggestion, and a portion of the material was also furnished by me; consequently, I have felt free to draw upon it. The work of Mr. Flint is rich in the materials of history; but they are so entirely commingled and without system, as to detract much from its value. This work is also out of print; and I have gleaned from it some narrations of
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interest. But the great body of the matter has been gleaned from my own resources ? not a little of it, indeed, connected with my own experience.

Thus I send this work out, hoping that it embodies some historic elements and some practical lessons that may be useful to those who now live, and also to those who shall come after me.

THE AUTHOR.


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Chapter I. Removal to the North-Western Territory.
IN the spring of 1796, I emigrated to the North-Western territory, and commenced planting corn on the prairie, a little below where Chillicothe now stands. The country was then a dense wilderness. There was not even a "blazed path" connecting with Wheeling, Va., or Maysville, Ky.; nor was there a single inhabitant along all the route. Civilization now began to assert the supremacy of her claim to the uncultivated land over which the native savage and the wild beast had roamed for untold ages. This was, in reality, "life among the Indians;" and especially was it the commencement of a series of events in my personal history, as related to the Indians, which I design to record in this volume.
My father, after emigrating to Kentucky, purchased some land, and settled near the present town