Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-11-13
DEATH OF HECUMSEH.
POINTS ON A QUESTION: THAT HAS
LONG BEEN IN DISPUTE.

rhs Clasn TAas IN OiA IsaAaa Wssrsss.
| nasss. Indiaa Hatss. Killed the Ceis-
br.asA Chisf-A Doeunsnt Eound Ansos
shs Late Richard Conners Papers.
| The following account Of the death
Of tho great Indian chieftain Tecu,nseh,
or Tecumthe, was found among the pa-
pers Of Richard ]. Conner. editor Of tho
| Peru Sentinel, who died in this city
July IS. 1895. It contains information
touching tho question that has hereto
fore been widely disputed. The death
Sf Mr.. Conner prevented the ful6llment
Of the task. says the Indianapolis News
my fathers family was captured by
the Indians about the year 1883. It may
have been earlier or q year or two later.
They were carried to Michigan. and
were afterward ransoned by some Mo-
| ravians, and the family settled about
four or fivo miles below the present site
| Of Mount Clemens, on the Clinton river,
! 2S miles north Of the city Of Detroit.
when captured, the family lived at
| place called Conner's Town, or Con-
ncr's Station. near what In now the east
line Of Coshocton county. o.. adjoin-
through tho Wilderness then covering
tho distance from eastern Ohio to the
Clinton river in Michigan was most
painful and fatiguing.
my father settled ON White river in
central Indiana in 1902. hut he had
made o trip to the Wabash in 1900. he
remained ut his trading post until tho
breaking out Of the war with Great
Britain in 1912. when he Joined the
forces under General Harrison Mt Fort
Mei9s, ON tho Maumec river, and with
his brother John acted as guide and in
terpreter for General Harrison. He was
sent BY tho general down the Wabash
TO tho Miamis. Rattawatomies and
Shawnees. to learn II possible their in
tentions and attitude In the approach
ing trouble with British forces. He
knew Tecumthe and his brother, the
Prophet. intimately. Tho Prophet often
befriended him, and wGs q trustworthy
friend. Ny father always spoke we'll Of
those Indians. Ho had many conversa-
tions with Tecumthe in regard to tho
attitude Of the Indian tribes under his
direction and his reasons for his adher-
ence TO the British cause, ard his Co
operation with that country in the war
that followed. Tecumthe complained
bitterly of the lack Of faith on the part
Of tho United States in regard to per-
formance If treaty stipulations and
contrasted it with tho policy as carried
out by Great Britain in its management
Of Indian affairs in Canada. He felt
that there was no security for the In
dian and clearly fofesaw that the time
was not distant when the Indian wou!d
possess little or 10 part Of the domain
no had inherited from his fathers.
"Tecunths seemed to be fully awnfe
that step by step tho tribes would b
pushed farther west or exterminaeed
by tho bitterness and hate Of tho white
man. With power warlike and az.
Rressive as Great Britain to back and
ally the Indian. ho hoped to put OF the
final day and possibly save o remnant
Of his people.
These. in part at lcast. were the
reasons that actuatcd him in that Won
derful crusade no was making. visiting
the tribes covering the country from
the lakes to Arkansas. My father said
he had q persuasive tongue and u power
to move his fellow savnSes rnre indeed.
and no never failed to rally the red man
Oh to tho war path. His nature was not
nut turally savage ono. and he often ex-
pressed abhorrcnce Of unnecessary blood
shed
"He declared that he would not toler-
ate crueltics or predatory warfare ON
peaceful, nOncombatant settlements Of
whitc people, but he ielt it his dnty to
rally the tribes and inflame them to .
point Of resistance and fair warfare
against tho government Of the United
States, which had for q hundred years
persistently pushed tho Indians from
their homes and the places which that
government had assigned to them with
solemn pledges that they should always
retain such as their future homes, and
that it would protect them from Tho
restless greed Of white pioneers.
my father was in command Of 300
friendly Indians at the battlc Of the
Thames, In Canada His command was
attached to Colonel Paul's regiment In
that battle His Indians did some good
service and contributed to the defeat Of
the British aud Indians.
"After tho battle, late in the after
noon, he was summoned to tho hcadQuar-
tors Of Colonel r. NJ. Johnston, who
the great chief Tecumthe was among
the slain In battle and requested my
father to take some Of his friendly In
dians and search the field and ascertain
II it wero indeed true. Ny father i'm
mediately took with him four or five
Delawares and began tho search. which
was successful When they found the
body, some of the Indians were not sure
that 10 was that Of Tecumthe. There
was . striking resemblance between the
two brothers, Tecumthe and the Prophet,
but ono Of them had . spot or defect on
ono Of his eyes. Ono Of tho Delawares
stopped down and pushed open the eyo-
lid, and il was at once known that the
dead man was indeed Teoumthe.
During the political campaign Of
1910 it was universally asserted by the
Democrats that Colonel johnson killed
Tecumthe.' Ny father often declared
that 1t could not be; that an old Indian
warrior and camp follower of the ex-
petition in Canada, named Wheatley,
was probably Tecumthe's slayer. He
was . bitter Indian hater and . crank
On thaA subject. He was not enrolled -
. soldier. but went to the battle ON his
own account he. too, was killed In tho
dght. Tecumthe was shot through the
breast, aud the wound plainly showed
that he came to his death from the
efIeots Of o ahot from Q small bure zine.
such - The frontiersmnn usually CO.
Yied. JOHN A. DEIBERf.
From . RFolesssooal 0eaAAp9oAt.
! Young Mother (whose baby had beeG
| NreiRhed hY the hufcherl-And h0Ss