Lives Of Famous Indian Chiefs - free ebook by Norman B. (Norman Barton) Wood

COPIOUSLY AND SPLENDIDLY ILLUSTRATED, IN PART, BY OUR SPECIAL ARTIST.

Historian, Lecturer, and Author of "The White Side of a Black Subject" (out of print after twelve editions) and "A New Negro for a New Century," which has reached a circulation of nearly a hundred thousand copies. canoe PUBLISHED BY...

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AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY

Brady Block, Aurora, Ill. Copyrighted in 1906 by American Indian Historical Publishing Co., Aurora, Illinois. All rights of every kind reserved. seal PRINTING AND BINDING BY THE HENRY O. SHEPARD CO. ENGRAVING BY THE INLAND-WALTON CO. CHICAGO....

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PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Who has observed closely and recorded justly the character of the Red Man, and who, in the words of Chief Quanah Parker, "is the Indian's President as well as the white man's," this volume is respectfully dedicated by...

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INTRODUCTION.

We do not propose to apologize for writing this book, for the reasons that those who approve would not consider it necessary and those who oppose would not accept the apology. Therefore, we can only offer the same explanation as that made twenty-four centuries ago by the "Father of History" when he said: "To rescue from oblivion the noble deeds of those who have gone before, I, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, write this chronicle." We deem it well, however, to mention a few of the many reasons which

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Cofachiqui, the Indian Princess. A True Story of De Soto and His Cavaliers.

Cofachiqui seems to have been the name of a populous and wealthy Indian province visited by Hernando De Soto and his army of adventurers and cavaliers in their wanderings in search of gold. They also applied this name to the beautiful and intelligent young queen or princess who ruled the Indians of this and a confederation of neighboring tribes. It is impossible to trace the route traversed by De Soto, as it was at times an aimless wandering through what is now the States of Florida, Georgia, an

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POWHATAN, OR WAH-UN-SO-NA-COOK.

When the English colonists first landed in Virginia, in 1607, they found the country occupied by three large tribes of natives known by the general names Mannahoack, Monacans and Powhatans. Of these the two former might be called highland or mountain Indians, because they occupied the hill country east of the Alleghany ridge, while the Powhatan nation inhabited the lowland region extending from the seacoast westward to the falls of the rivers and from the Patuxent southward to Carolina. Mr. Jeff

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MASSASOIT. THE FRIEND OF THE PURITANS.

"Welcome, Englishmen!" A terrific peal of thunder from a cloudless sky would not have astonished the Plymouth Fathers as did these startling words. It was March 16, 1621, a remarkably pleasant day, and they had assembled in town meeting to plan and discuss ways and means for the best interests of the colony. So engrossed were they with the matter under consideration they did not notice the approach of a solitary Indian as he stalked boldly through the street of this village until he advanced tow

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KING PHILIP, OR METACOMET. THE LAST OF THE WAMPANOAGS.

The "great and good Massasoit" was gathered to his fathers in the year 1661, but to the last remained firm in his fidelity to the English. Near the close of his life he took his two sons, Wamsutta and Pometaeom, or Metacomet, to Plymouth and requested the Governor in token of friendship to give them English names. They were very bright, attractive young men of fine physical developments. The Governor related to the aged sachem the history of Philip and Alexander, the renowned Kings of Macedon, a

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PONTIAC, THE RED NAPOLEON. HEAD CHIEF OF THE OTTAWAS; AND ORGANIZER OF THE FIRST GREAT INDIAN CONFEDERATION.

It has been said that the history of the United States began with the triumph of the English on the heights of Abraham, resulting in the immediate fall of Quebec and the inevitable surrender of all Canada. This memorable event took place September 13, 1759, and from New Hampshire to Georgia the American colonists welcomed the news with exuberant rejoicings. But their joy was premature and of short duration, for though the French had been subdued, and were suing for peace, their Indian allies, un

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LOGAN, OR TAL-GA-YEE-TA, THE CAYUGA (MINGO) CHIEF. ORATOR AND FRIEND OF THE WHITE MAN. ALSO, A BRIEF SKETCH OF CORNSTALK.

This unfortunate chief is better known to the world by the eloquent and pathetic speech, which he has left as a record of his misfortunes and sorrows, than by his exploits in war. His father, Shikellimus, was a Cayuga chief, whose house was on the borders of Cayuga Lake, in New York. He was a personal friend of the benevolent James Logan, the intimate friend of William Penn and the founder of the Logonian Library, at Philadelphia. The name of the second son was probably derived from this person.

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CAPTAIN JOSEPH BRANT, OR THAYENDANEGEA, PRINCIPAL SACHEM OF THE MOHAWKS, AND HEAD CHIEF OF THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERATION.

This remarkable man was born on the banks of the Ohio in 1742. His father, who bore the unpronounceable and unspellable name of Tehowaghwengaraghkwin, was a subordinate chief of the Wolf totem or clan of the Mohawk tribe. There were two other rival clans among the Mohawks, known as the Tortoise or Turtle, and the Bear, while among the entire Iroquois confederation there were eight, the other five being the Crane, Snipe, Hawk, Beaver and Deer clans. The following interesting legend is told of the

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RED JACKET, OR SA-GO-YE-WAT-HA, "THE KEEPER AWAKE"—THE INDIAN DEMOSTHENES—CHIEF OF THE SENECAS.

The subject of this sketch was certainly the greatest orator of the Six Nations, and it is doubtful if his equal was ever known among all the American Indians. His birth is supposed to have taken place about the year 1750, under a great tree which formerly stood near the spring of water at Canoga point on the west shore of Cayuga Lake, in Western New York. His parents were of the Seneca tribe, the most western of the Iroquois confederation, and lived at Can-e-de-sa-ga, a large Indian village on

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LITTLE TURTLE, OR MICHIKINIQUA. WAR-CHIEF OF THE MIAMIS, AND CONQUEROR OF HARMAR AND ST. CLAIR.

Judged from his success on the field of battle and his sagacity in council, Little Turtle deserves to rank among the four greatest American Indians, the other three being Pontiac, Tecumseh and Chief Joseph. Indeed, when it is remembered that "nothing succeeds like success," and that he alone of all the Indian commanders had three victories to his credit (for the defeat of the whites at Blue Lick, in Kentucky, is also conceded to him), he might be regarded as in some respects the greatest America

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TECUMSEH, OR "THE SHOOTING STAR." FAMOUS SHAWNEE WAR-CHIEF—ORGANIZER OF SECOND GREAT INDIAN CONFEDERATION AND GENERAL IN THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE WAR OF 1812.

Judged from whatever standpoint you will, the subject of this sketch was certainly one of the greatest, if not the very greatest American Indian. The name Tecumseh means "The Shooting Star," and it was very appropriate, and seems to have been prophetical of his meteoric career and brilliant genius, to say nothing of his numerous journeys to distant tribes, which were accomplished with incredible speed. This great chief was born at the old Indian town of Piqua, Ohio, on the Mad River, in 1768. Hi

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BLACK HAWK, OR MA-KA-TAI-ME SHE-KIA-KIAK, AND HIS WAR.

Great warriors among the Indians, like those of the favored white race, learned from those who preceded them. We have seen that King Philip united the tribes of New England against their common enemy, the whites, in the first great Indian war, and his example was copied in turn by Pontiac and Tecumseh. Black Hawk led a band of his own warriors and fought under Tecumseh in the war of 1812, and must have gained much inspiration as well as a knowledge of the most effectual methods of fighting the A

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SHABBONA, THE WHITE MAN'S FRIEND—THE CELEBRATED POTTAWATOMIE CHIEF.

"Is Saul also among the prophets?" Is Shabbona classed among the famous Indian chiefs? He who was only chief of a small band or village? Yes, and for the best of reasons. "Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 'Tis only noble to be good; Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood." However, we will tell the story of his life, and let the reader judge whether he is rightly classified. According to his own statement he was born in an Ottawa village about the beginning of the R

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SITTING BULL, OR TATANKA YOTANKA, THE GREAT SIOUX CHIEF AND MEDICINE MAN.

The Sioux or Dakota Indians were first seen by the French explorers in 1640, near the head waters of the Mississippi River. The Algonquins called them Nadowessioux, whence the name gradually became shortened into Sioux. This was the largest family or confederation in the Northwest and was divided into a number of tribes, known as the Santee, Sisseton, Wahpeton, Yankton, Yanktonnais, Teton, Brule, Ogalalla and Unepapa. These are all Sioux proper, and still number nearly thirty thousand tall, well

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CHIEF JOSEPH, OF THE NEZ PERCES, OR HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKT.

THUNDER ROLLING IN THE MOUNTAINS—THE MODERN XENOPHON. This remarkable man, and greatest Indian since Tecumseh, was born, according to his own statement, in eastern Oregon, in the year 1841. In the North American Review, of April, 1879, is an article dictated by Joseph, in which he states that his tribe was originally called the Chute-pa-lu, and gives the origin of the name Nez Perces (nose pierced), as applied to them, as follows: "We did not know there were other people besides the Indian until

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GERONIMO, OR GO-YAT-THLAY, THE YAWNER,

THE RENOWNED APACHE WARRIOR AND MEDICINE MAN. With the possible exception of the Sioux, the Apaches were the most formidable of all our Western Indian tribes. Indeed it is conceded that in cunning, ferocity and endurance they have never had an equal on this continent, or a superior on this globe. General Crook, who was an acknowledged authority, has seen an Apache lope for fifteen hundred feet up the side of a mountain without showing any sign of fatigue, there being neither an increase of respi

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QUANAH PARKER, HEAD CHIEF OF THE COMANCHES

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTIVITY OF HIS MOTHER, CYNTHIA ANNE PARKER, KNOWN AS "THE WHITE COMANCHE." Up to this point we have refrained from writing the biography of half-breed Indians, lest people should imagine their greatness was due to the infusion of the blood of the superior white race. But the story of Quanah Parker is so interesting, and he has such a remarkable personality in many ways, that we have decided to make an exception in his case. Then, too, as will be seen, his mother, Cynth

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A SHEAF OF GOOD INDIAN STORIES FROM HISTORY.

I. AN INDIAN STRATAGEM. During the Revolutionary War, a regiment of soldiers was stationed upon the confines of an extensive savanna in Georgia. Its particular office was to guard every avenue of approach to the main army. The sentinels, whose posts penetrated into the woods, were supplied from the ranks; but they were perpetually surprised upon their posts by the Indians and borne off their stations, without communicating any alarm or being heard of afterward. One morning, the sentinels having

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XI. RICH INDIAN MAID.

ANNIE DILLION, A LITTLE KIOWA GIRL, WHO IS HEIRESS TO MORE THAN $1,000,000—SAVES A RICH CATTLEMAN'S LIFE AND HE FITTINGLY REWARDED HER—PRETTY AND INTELLIGENT. Because she proved true to her white friend in his time of need, Annie Trueheart Dillion, a little Kiowa maiden, fourteen years old, has become the richest Indian girl in all the West. Annie is the daughter of Chief Black Wolf and is heiress to the entire fortune of $1,000,000 and more left by John Dillion, a rich cattleman. Dillion was bo

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XII. MONUMENTS ERECTED TO SOME OF THE FAMOUS INDIANS.

Will M. Clemens, in writing recently for a Chicago paper, says: "In the United States to-day are nine monuments erected by white men to perpetuate the memory of famous Indians, and the nine great warriors of the early wilderness thus remembered are Miantonomoh, Uncas, Keokuk, Leatherlips, Seattle, Red Jacket, Cornstalk, Tomo-Chi-Chi and Pokagon. "Miantonomoh, famous sachem of the Narragansetts, was one of the first Indian chiefs of whom early English settlers of Connecticut and Rhode Island had

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XIII. PISKARET, THE HERO OF THE ADIRONDACKS.

The Iroquois, or "Romans of the West," called also Mingoes and Massawomeks, had a formidable rival in a powerful tribe known as the Adirondacks, whose home was on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence. When the French settled Canada, in 1603, they found the Iroquois living where Montreal now stands, and engaged, even then, in a war with the Adirondacks. As the French wanted the country occupied by the Iroquois they promptly made common cause with the Adirondacks, and their united forces drove th

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XIV. GEN. ELY S. PARKER.

Was a full-blooded Seneca Indian, born on the Tonawanda reservation in New York, in 1820. He was chief of the Seneca tribe and head of the Iroquois Confederation. His Indian name was Do-No-Hoh-Ga-Wa, which means "Keeper of the Western Gate." General Parker was educated at Ellicottsville, where he studied the profession of civil engineering. He also studied law and was admitted to the New York bar, but never practiced. He lived for a time in Galena, Illinois, where he was a friend of General Gran

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XV. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOCTOR EASTMAN.

Charles Alexander Eastman, whose Indian name is Ohiyesa, "The Winner," was born in Minnesota about 1858. His father was a full-blood Sioux of a leading family, by the name of Many Lightnings, and his mother a half-blood, called in Indian The Goddess, or in English Nancy Eastman. She died soon after the birth of Ohiyesa, who was carefully reared by his paternal grandmother. When he was four years old the so-called "Minnesota massacre" broke up his family and drove the uncle and grandmother, with

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XVI. DR. CARLOS MONTEZUMA.

Is a full-blood Apache Indian. In the year 1872, when he was five years old, he was captured by the Pimas and brought to their camp, where he was offered for sale, a horse being the price asked. A traveling photographer, Mr. Charles Gentile, who happened to be in the Pima camp taking photographs, became interested in the boy and offered $30, the price of a horse, which the Indians accepted. He brought the boy East, and sent him to the public schools of Brooklyn, Boston and Chicago, and finally,

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INDIAN ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS, HUMOROUS AND OTHERWISE.

A Gentleman who wished to make a present of oranges to a lady, sent them with a letter, by his Indian servant. The letter told how many were sent. On the way the fragrant smell of the fruit proved too great a temptation for the Indian boy. His mouth fairly watered for a taste, but having seen his master read and write letters, he was possessed with the idea that the paper he carried would tell on him if he touched the oranges. He therefore put the letter carefully under a stone, and then, going

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WHENCE CAME THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA?

Many and varied are the answers to this interrogation, like Gaul, they are divided into three parts, or classes, the impossible and absurd, the possible, and the probable. Most of the writers on this subject seem to have evolved out of their inner consciences or imaginations a fine-spun theory, and then to have marshaled all the evidence possible in support of it. Should there be other facts which do not support their theory, so much the worse for those facts. Wherever it is possible they are to

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