The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1895-10-26

y
hrated Chief-,A Document Found Among
the Late Richard Conner's P~per~4
Tho following account Of the death
Of the great Indian chieftain Tecumseh.
or Tecumthe, was found among the pa
pers Of Richard ]. Conner. editor Of the
Peru Sentinel. who died in this city
July 25, 1898. 1t contains information
touching tho question that has hereto
fore been widely disputed. The death
Of Mr.. Conner prevented tho fulfillment
Of the task. says the Indianapolis News:
MY fathers family was captured by
the Indians about the year 1855. 1t may
have been earlier or year or two later.
They were carried to Michigan, and
were afterward ransomed by some Mo
ravians. and the family settled about
four or five miles below the present site
Of Mount Clemens, ON the Clinton rive,
20 miles north Of the city Of Detroit.
when captured, the family lived at
a place called Conner's Town, or Con-
ner's Station, near what is now the east
line Of COshocton county, O., adjOin-
| ing Pennsylvania. The long journey
through the wilderness then covering
| the distance from eastern Ohio to the
Clinton river in Michigan was most
painful and fatiguing.
My father settled on White river i'll
central Indiana in lS02. hut he had
made a trip to the Wabash in 1900. HS
remained at his trading post until the
breaking ont Of the war with Great
Britain in 1912. when no joined the
forces under General Harrison ut Fort
Meigs, on the Maumee river. and with
his brother John acted as guide and in
terpreter for General Harrison. He was
sent by the general down the Wabash
to the Miamis, Rattawatomies and
Shawnees. to learn il possible their in
tentions and attitude i'll the approach
ing trouble with British forces. He
knew Tecumthe and his brother, the
Prophet, intimately. The Prophet often
befriended him. and was a trustworthy
friend. My father always spoke we'll ~
these Indians. He had many cunversa
tons with Tecumths in regard to the
attitude Of the Indian tribes under his
direction and his reasons for his adher
operation with that country in the war
that followed. Tecumthe complained
bitterly of the lack of faith on the part
Of the United States in regard To per
formance Of treaty stipulations and
contrasted it with the 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 foresaw that the timc
possess little or no part u the domain
he had inherited from his fathers.
"Tecumthe seemed to be fully aware
that step by step the tribes would be
pushed farther west or exterminated
by the bitterness and hate of the white
man. With power warlike and ag-
gressive as Great Britain 10 back and
ally the Indian, he hoped to put of the
final day and possibly save "a remnan,
OF his people.
These, in part at least, were the
reasons that actuated him in that Won
derful crusade he was making, visiting
the tribes covering the country from
the lakes to Arkansas. Ny father sait
j he had a persuasive tongue and a power
5 to move his fellow savages rare indeed
, and he never failed to rally the red mar
4 on to the war path. His nature was not
naturally q savage one. and he often ex
pressed adherence Of unnecessary blood
she'd
He declared that he would not toler
ate cruelties or predatory warfare OF
peaceful, noncombatanr settlements o.
: white people, but he felt it his duty t.
: rally the tribes and infiame them to
point Of resistance and fair warfare
= against the government Of the United
States, which had for a hundred year.
persistently pushed the Indians from
> their homes and the places which tina
government had assigned to them witt
) solemn pledges that they should Away
! retain such as their future homes, anC
3 that it would protect them from tn,
restless greed Of white pioneers.
My father was N command Of 800
: friendly Indians at the battle Of th'
: Thames, in Canada His command wa
J! attached to Colonel Pauls regiment il
that battle. His Indians did some GOO
= service and contributed to the defeat o
9 the British and Indians.
II after the battle, late in the after
: noon. he was summoned to the headquar
g tiers Of Colonel K. VI. Johnston, VIII
!. stated to him that it was the rumor tina
the great chief Tecumthe was amonI
the slain in battle and requested IN,
), father to take some Of his friendly In
dians and search the field and ascertain
/ il it were indeed true. My father i'm
Q mediately took with him four or fiv
n Delawares and began the search. which
v was successful When they found tn
q body, some Of the Indians were not sur
It that it was tina. Of Tecumthe. Their
Il was q striking resemblance between tn
It two brothers. Tecumthe and the Prophet
Is but one Of them had spot or defect OF
Il one Of his eyes. One Of the Delaware
n stopped down and pushed open the eye
l. lid, and it was at once known that tn
It dead man was indeed TecUmthe.
Is During the political campaign o
1910 it was universally asserted by tn
a Democrats that Colonel johnson killet
h Tecumthe. Ny father often declare,
r that it could not be; that an old Indian
le warrior and camp follower Of tho ex
h petition in Canada. named Wheatley
is was probably Tecumthe's slayer HI
l. was bitter Indian hater and cranl
1t on that subject. He was not enrolled q
rs soldier, but went to the battle on hi
ii own account. He, too, was killed in tn
70 fight. Tecumthe was shot through tn
breast, and the wound plainly shove,