"Dear Brother Elliott, - Although my acquaintance with you is somewhat limited, yet, my field of labor for four years past, having been among the Wyandot Indians, where you yourself once lived and labored, and knowing from what I have seen from your own pen that you are somewhat fond of 'reminiscences,' I take the liberty of sending you a few incidents pertaining to the removal of these Indians from the place where they dwelt in the days of your acquaintance with them to their new homes in the West.
You are aware that for years past untiring
efforts have been made, from some cause, by the Government of the United
States, to extinguish their title to a small piece of land, reserved by
them at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. When they were at first visited by the Commissioners
appointed by the General Government to treat with them, they met them kindly,
but told them frankly that it was not their wish to leave their present
dwelling places, and seek for homes in any other place; that the whites
had already got all their lands except a little spot, and that they wished
to keep, and to keep quietly. They were told that it would be to their
interest to sell and go to the West; that there they would have game in
plenty; an abundance of land would be secured to them by the Government;
and that they would never more be interrupted. Warpole inquired of one
of the Commissioners, whether there were not great waters toward the setting
sun, as well as toward its rising? The Commis-sioner replied that there
were. 'Well,' said the old chief, 'are there not white folks getting in
on that side of us too, as well as on the other?' '0 yes,' was the reply,
'there are a few.' 'Well, now I know,' said the Indian, 'that the disposition
of white folks is to crowd; and if we try to get away from them by going
where they tell us, they will still crowd up; some will crowd on one side,
and some on the other, until they crowd us all out; unless we could fly
up and live in the air, and feed on nothing, there would soon be left no
place for us.' When the efforts of one Commissioner proved unavailing,
another would be sent, and he succeeded by another, and another, until
the Indians began to give up the idea of ever living in quiet. At length
Warpole himself became an advocate for selling, thinking to get an opportunity
of resting for awhile, even if that rest should not be permanent. I do
not wish to indulge the thought for a moment, that the Government to which
I belong, and feel so warm an attachment, would design to do them wrong;
but still I do know that the Indians feel that they have been 'crowded.'
In proof of this, at the time the vote was taken, when the treaty was finally
agreed to, I noticed that several voted in its favor who had always been
on the other side. Among others, I inquired of one how he came to change
his mind, and do so differently to what he had always done before. 'Well
now,' said he, 'I tell you . Suppose you have horse. Man come: say sell
me your horse. You say, no; I like my horse very well: no want to sell
him. Pretty soon he come again: he say, come now, you better sell
me your horse. You say, no: go away: I no want to sell my horse at all:
I wish you no say any more about it. But he keep coming sixteen year, and
you can no make him stop any how you can fix it. You say, Yes, take my
horse, and go off, so I be troubled about it no more.' The treaty, however,
which has been affected by Colonel John Johnston, in behalf of the United
States Government, is undoubtedly the best one for the Indians that has
ever been made with them, or any other nation, since the Government began
to extinguish Indian titles. Many of the whites seem to feel inclined to
find fault that the Indians are to receive forever, or so long as they
remain a people, the sum of seventeen thousand, five hundred dollars annually,
and five hun-dred for school purposes. Such persons, however, should remember
that the land last sold, if valued at two dollars and fifty cents per acre,
would bring all that the Government pays to and for them, and would also
leave an amount to produce, at an interest of five percent, more than enough
to pay all the annuity created by their last treaty; and for the balance
of their annuity, land enough was purchased from them at less than three
and a half cents per acre to constitute a principal, the interest of which,
at five percent, would pay it. And now if there are any among the fault-finding
part of the community who will do better to the Government than the Indians
have done, they are greater friends to it than I think they are.
Their principle is that the majority should
rule; and when they found that the major part were in favor of a treaty,
the remainder submitted in a manner worthy of imitation.
A solicitude on different subjects was manifested
by them, and amongst others was a due respect for the remains of their
deceased friends. They provided tombstones for their friends and the principal
men of their nation, and placed them in the burying ground. Two of the
deceased preachers, however, had not been buried there. One of them was
Summunduwatt. Now I know that the mere mention of his name thrills through
your bosom in a manner not easily described. What a man he was! Though
uneducated, he was a philosopher, a statesman, a patriot, and a Christian.
He was one of nature's children, cast in her finest mold, and was, moreover,
renewed by grace. Bold in appearance, and undaunted in courage, he was
uncompromising with everything except what he believed to be exactly right.
One instance of his firmness I will give; in it, however, he departed from
their accustomed rule of being governed by the majority, and brought upon
himself, from many, the charge of obstinacy. How much he may have merited
it, I leave for yourself, after hearing the testimony, to make up the verdict.
Their old council house had gone to decay; an annuity was to be paid them;
the money was on hand, and a place was to be provided where the business
could be attended to. This generally occupied from one to two weeks. Application
was made to the trustees of the meeting house to know whether it could
be procured for that purpose or not, informing them that it should be well
taken care of, injured in no way, and left clean and neat, when they had
finished their business. The application and promise produced the desired
effect on the minds of all the trustees, except Summunduwatt. He told them
that he knew enough about payments to be aware that a parcel of traders
would be always present; that whiskey peddlers would be swarming around;
that many of the people would be drunk; and that it would be impossible
to keep the house and the graveyard from being abused; and, consequently,
for his part, he could not give consent for them to have it. They told
him he could do as he pleased: they had the consent of the majority; and
that was all they asked, 'well,' said he, 'you cannot have it.' 'Now depend
on it, for Summun-duwatt says you cannot have it.' Seeing him so determined,
an officer went to the missionary and told their wants, and stated that
care would be taken of the house. The missionary, being sick at the time,
gave his consent. They then told Summunduwatt that it was useless for him
to say anymore: the preacher had given consent, and it was folly for him
to refuse. He told them they might as well find a place somewhere else
first as last, for they should not have it. On Sabbath they had meeting
as usual, and on Monday payment was to commence. The traders had already
erected their tents, and everything was ready to go into operation in the
morning. In the morning, however, when the Government officers came, they
found the house was closed, every window fastened down, the doors firmly
secured, and Summunduwatt himself within. They demanded entrance, but were
told that they had been notified in time that the house could not be had.
They got the sheriff to lay his commands on him, and he bade him open the
house. But Sum-munduwatt told him he did not know him. He remained in the
house from Sabbath until Tuesday, and finally told them if they entered
it, they would have to enter over his dead body, and the blood of Summunduwatt
would stain the sacred place, to testify in the sight of Heaven that he
had withstood its desecration. [The government agents
then left the church grounds and found another place for distribution of
the annuities!] This undaunted man, who had served as chief
to the nation, and as a steward, leader, and preacher in the Church was
[later oni inhumanly murdered, butchered by white men, while asleep, merely
for the sake of plunder, and body was buried in the woods at a distance
from his home. He was too well beloved by his brethren and acquaintances
for them to suffer him to remain so far from the graves of his friends,
and therefore was removed to the grave yard, which they had secured with
a handsome board fence. Over him a neat stone was erected to tell where
and how he died. His remains were re-interred, to rest in peace until the
trump of Gabriel shall summon him and his murderers to meet at the bar
of God. The other was John Steward, their first missionary, well beloved,
and long remembered. His remains were likewise removed and on the last
Sabbath they spent at Upper Sandusky, and his funeral service was preached
again."