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THE WYANDOTS.
The Wyandots1 belong to the Iroquoian Family of North American Indians. They are the descendants of the Tionnontates or Tobacco Nation of the Huron Confederacy. Their legends and folk-lore indicate that they are of extreme Northern origin as a tribe, and their history confirms this. The Hurons were visited by the Jesuits early in the seventeenth century. They lived then between Lake Simcoe and the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, in what is now the province of Ontario, Canada. The Tionnontates lived a little more to the south and east, in the Blue Mountains, about the southern shores of the Bay of Nottawassaga. They were called Petuns, or the Tobacco Nation, by the French, because they cultivated tobacco in sufficient amount to form a considerable commerce in its barter and exchange with other tribes.
In 1649 the Iroquois destroyed the Huron Confederacy. Of all the Huron Nations, the Tionnontates alone retained a tribal organization after this catastrophe. The fragments of the broken tribes fled northward along the Great Lakes, and were for years wanderers in those dreary wastes. As they increased in strength and became blended into a single tribe or people with the name Wyandot, they gathered about Mackinaw, and from thence began slowly to descend the Great Lakes, and stopped at Detroit. Here they were Pontiac's best and bravest warriors. In the wars between the
1.Read Parkman's "The Jesuits in North America," for the early history of the Wyandots and the Hurons.2(1)
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British and Americans they were on the side of the English until the war of 1812, when about half the tribe sided with the Americans. At the close of the war that portion of the tribe that had adhered to Great Britain settled permanently in Canada, and those who had espoused the cause of the United States remained about the western end of Lake Erie, in what is now Ohio and Michigan. Their Ohio lands were in what is now Wyandot County. Here Methodism was introduced among them and a Mission established.1 On March 17, 1842, they ceded their Ohio lands to the United States.2 They were the last of the tribes to relinquish their lands in Ohio.
In July, 1843, the Wyandots followed in the steps of the other tribes and moved beyond the Mississippi.3 Here in the "Indian Territory" they purchased the land in the fork of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers from the Delawares.4 They brought with them from Ohio a well organized Meth-
1 John Stewart arrived in the Wyandot country in November, 1816. He was a Methodist, but had not been authorized by his Church to preach. He preached, however, to the Wyandots with success through the winter of 1816-17. He went to Marietta, Ohio, in the following spring but returned, later. On August 7, 1819, Rev. J. B. Finley was appointed to an oversight of the work begun by Stewart, and the Mission was taken in charge by the Ohio Conference.
Read Finley's "History of the Wyandot Mission" (Cincinnati, 1840); and "History of American Missions" (Worcester, 1840), 540.
2 Revision of Indian Treaties, 1017.
3 "The Wyandots left for the far west in July, 1843, and numbered at that time about 700 souls."--Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio (Cincinnati, 1847), 549.
4 Among the many authorities confirming this, see "Laws of the United States of a Local or Temporary Character" (Washington, 1884), 849. The agreement between the Delawares and Wyandots is there set out. The Delawares donated to the Wyandots three sections of land and sold them thirty-six sections. For this land the Wyandots paid the Delawares $46,080.00. This agreement was sanctioned by Congress, July 25, 1848. The Wyandots had made a treaty with the Shawnees while yet in Ohio whereby they were to have a strip of land adjoining the State of Missouri running south from the mouth of the Kansas River in the Shawnee Reserve, but the Shawnees finally repudiated this treaty. The Wyandots complained that when the Shawnees and Delawares were homeless they had "spread a deer skin for them to sit down upon" and given them each a large tract of land--to the two tribes the greater portion of Ohio, in fact; and now that the Wyandots were without a home, the Shawnees would not even sell them one, and the Delawares exacted from them more than the true value of the land sold. I have the copy of the treaty retained by the Shawnees, but it in unsigned. It was given me by Charles Blue-Jacket, Head Chief of the Shawnees.
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odist Church, a Free Mason's Lodge, a civil government, and a code of written laws which provided for an elective Council of Chiefs, the punishment of crime and the maintenance of social and public order.
In 1855 the Wyandots accepted the allotment of their lands in severalty, and dissolved their tribal relations.1 A part of the tribe was dissatisfied with this action, and resumed their tribal relations.2 They purchased a tract of land in the Indian Territory from the "Cowskin Senacas," and there re-established their own government.3 Those living on this reservation number about 300. As a tribe they are poor, but many individuals are quite well to do. They are intelligent and industrious and are all self-supporting. The Government maintains a good school for them and it is well attended.
The Wyandots were always brave and humane warriors.4 They adopted persons captured in war;5 no instance is known of their burning and torturing a prisoner. The Wyandot tribe stood at the head of the Confederacy of the Northwestern tribes formed to oppose the settlement by white people of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio River. The tribes composing this Confederacy were all removed
1 Revision of Indian Treaties, 1020.
2 Id., 844.
3 Id., 839.
4 Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio (Cincinnati, 1847), 549: "The Wyandots were the bravest of Indian tribes, and had among their chiefs some men of high moral character. With all other tribes but the Wyandots, flight in battle, when meeting with unexpected resistance or obstacle, brought with it no disgrace. . . . With them, it was otherwise. Their youth were taught to consider anything that had the appearance of an acknowledgement of the superiority of the enemy as disgraceful. In the battle of the Miami Rapids, of thirteen chiefs of that tribe who were present, one only survived, and he badly wounded. Some time before this action, Gen. Wayne sent for Capt. Wells, and requested him to go to Sandusky and take a prisoner, for the purpose of obtaining information. Wells--who had been bred with the Indians, and was perfectly acquainted with their character--answered that he could take a prisoner, but not from Sandusky, because Wyandots would not be taken alive."
5 The Walker, Hicks, Brown, Zane, Armstrong, Driver, Mudeater, and other Wyandot families were all founded by captives who were adopted into the tribe.
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West of the Mississippi River. In October, 1848, a great Congress of these tribes was held near Fort Leavenworth. The ancient Council-fire was re-kindled and the Wyandot tribe confirmed in the honorable position so long held by it.1
1 Governor Walker's Journal, Oct., 1848.
THE WALKER FAMILY.
WILLIAM WALKER, SENIOR.
"The subject of this brief sketch was born in 1770, in or near Green Brier, some of his relatives say, Rockbridge County, Va. He was captured by a war party of the Delawares in the early part of the summer of 1781, being then eleven years of age. There was in the neighborhood a small stockade or temporary fort, to which the inhabitants fled for safety whenever an alarm was raised. The settlers, at the time this attack was made, were entirely off their guard; nothing calculated to excite their alarm had occurred for a long time, and all, old and young, male and female, were busily engaged in their fields. Young Walker and (I think) his Uncle were ploughing corn, the former riding the horse and the other holding the plough. When coming out at the ends of the rows and in the act of turning they were fired upon from behind the fence, wounding the man in both arms. The lad sprang from the horse and both fled towards the fort. He was captured before getting out of the field and the wounded man overtaken and killed within a few yards of the Fort. No attack was made upon the Fort, tho' there were only a few women and children in it. The invading party commenced a rapid retreat and after traveling four or five miles halted in a thick wood, from which a reconnoitering party returned to the invaded district. In the afternoon the party returned to the place of rendezvous laden with plunder and accompanied by another party of Delawares which the prisoner had not seen before, and to their mutual astonishment Aunt and nephew here met. Mrs. Cowan was captured in another part of the neighborhood by this second party. This was a distinct party, tho' they moved and travelled [sic] together. These two were the only prisoners they took.
"Then commenced the return march, which was attended with much fatigue and suffering, and to add to their distress, notwithstanding the country abounded with game, yet the warriors ware singularly unfor-(5)
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tunate in their bye hunts. They travelled [sic] several days on a very small allowance of dried meat, still urging their way as fast as they could consistently with the power of endurance of the prisoners; still fearing a pursuit and rescue. To their great joy the warriors killed a fat Buffalo just as they were camping.
"During their march to the Ohio River he availed himself of the opportunity of breaking to his aunt his intended attempt at an escape; but she promptly interposed her objections to so rash an act, which could not be otherwise than a failure, and which would, in all probability, bring upon them fatal consequences; pointing out to him the impossibility of successfully eluding pursuit and recapture, and the certainty of his perishing from hunger, even if he eluded recapture. Crossing the Ohio all hope of a rescue died within them. They ejaculated a long farewell to home, family, and dear friends; their hearts sickened and sank within them; but their cup of anguish was not yet full, for here the two parties separated. The Aunt and nephew bade adieu to each other. It was the last sad adieu--they never met again.
"The party having the young captive proceeded direct to the Indian settlements on the Sciota, where, resting a few days, proceeded to their villages on the Whetstone, now Delaware, Ohio, where he underwent the discipline of running the gauntlet; out of which, as he frequently stated, he came with very little bodily injury. He was then adopted into, as he said, 'a very good family and treated with kindness.' The clan to which he belonged seemed more inclined to the chase and other peaceful pursuits than 'following the war path.' How long he remained with his adopted relatives I am unable to determine,--four or five years, at least. While his party attended a council at Detroit, the subject under Consideration being the treaty concluded at Fort McIntosh the winter before, these Delawares there met with a large body of Wyandotts, among which was an adopted white man named Adam Brown, who, when a man grown, had been captured by the Wyandotts in Dunmore's war in Greenbrier County, adopted and was married, was influential and respected by the tribe. The youth attracted his attention and a conversation in English ensued, the latter not having entirely forgotten his native language. Brown, finding out where he was from, and knowing his family, determined upon ransoming him. Negotiations for this purpose were opened, but here
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an almost insurmountable obstacle presented itself. It was contrary to Indian customs and usages to sell an adopted person on account of the reputed ties of relationship. This, with the unwillingness of the family into which he was adopted to part with him, rendered the project a hopeless one. The influence of the Wyandott Chiefs and that of the Military Commandant were invoked. An official speech to be delivered to the Delawares by Skan-ho-nint (One bark canoe), was agreed upon. If this proved unavailing, the attempt was to be abandoned as fruitless. The points taken may be thus briefly stated: 'We Wyandotts are your uncles and you Delawares are our nephews. This you admit. Where, then, would be the violation of our law and custom if, all parties being agreed, an adopted nephew should choose to reside in the family of his uncle? This would be only an interchange of those social amenities which are proper among relations; there would be no purchase in the case; your uncle would be loath, indeed, to insult his nephews by an offer to purchase their adopted son. Our father, the Commander, who joins with us, promises, as an earnest of his good will towards his Delaware children for their compliance with his and your uncle's wishes, to make your hearts glad (with Rum) and bestow upon you, and especially upon the immediate family of the youth, valuable presents out of the King's Store house, such as Blankets, Cloths, guns, ammunition, &c.' (Here the Com'dt confirmed the promise.) After the delivery of the speech, time for deliberation was asked for and granted. Whether the argument was deemed conclusive against the objections, or the promised presents acted as a salve to their consciences, it is sufficient to state that the Delawares acceded to the proposition and next day the transfer was duly made. The subject of these negotiations knew but little about the details of these doings beyond the transfer, and being content to remain with his newly formed acquaintances, gave himself but little concern about them." 1
THE RANKIN FAMILY. James Rankin was born in Tyrone, Ireland. At an early age he engaged in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company,
1 This sketch is taken from Governor Walker's account of his father, in the William Walker Correspondence in the Draper Manuscript Collection in the Library of the Wisconsin State Historical Society.
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and was for many years high in position with that great corporation. He had charge of many important branches of their extensive business in the fur trade of the North. Having mastered the intricate details of the Indian trade, and acquired a sufficient sum to enable him to do so, he embarked in the business for himself. He was very successful in this venture, and in the course of time accumulated a large fortune. For many years Detroit was the point from which he directed his business.1
THE MONTOUR FAMILY. "About the year 1667 a French gentleman named Montour settled in Canada. By a Huron Indian woman he had three children--one son and two daughters. The son, Montour, lived with the Indians, and was wounded in the French service, in a fight with some Mohawks, near Fort La Motte, on Lake Champlain, in 1694. He deserted from the French, and lived with 'the farr Indians'--the Twightwees (Miamis) and Diondadies (Petuns or Wyandots). By his assistance Lord Cornbury prevailed on some of these tribes to visit and trade with the people of Albany in 1708. For his endeavors to alienate the 'upper nations' from the French, he was killed in 1709 by the troops under Lieutenant le Sieur de Joncaire, by orders of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, who wrote that he would have had him hanged, had it been possible to capture him alive.
"Of the two daughters of the Frenchman Montour, one became conspicuously known as Madame Montour. She was born in Canada about the year 1684, captured by some warriors of the Five Nations when she was but ten years old, taken to their country and brought up by them. It is probable that she lived with the Oneidas, as, on arriving at maturity, she was married to Carondawana, or the "Big Tree," otherwise Robert Hunter, a famous war-chief of that nation.
1 This is the best account I have been able to make up from documents in possession of Mrs. Lillian Walker Hale of Kansas City, Kansas, and some letters written to the "Wyandotte Gazette" in 1870. I feel that more should be said, but I have been unable, so far, to obtain the information necessary to make a more detailed statement. Mr. Rankin was a remarkable man in many respects, and was held in high esteem by the Wyandots.
JOEL WALKER.
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He was killed in the wars between the Iroquois and Catawbas, in the Carolinas, about the year 1729."So great became the influence of Madame Montour with the Indian tribes, and so proficient was she in their various languages, that she was for many years in the pay of the Colony of New York, and her influence was ardently sought by the Government of Canada. No important Council between the colonies and the Indian tribes was held without her being present. She lived at various places in the West, from the country of the Iroquois to that of the Miamis at the western extremity of Lake Erie. She had a sister, married to a Miami. Count Zinzendorf was the Bishop and head of the Moravian Church. In the fall of 1742 he visited the village of Madame Montour. "He preached therein French to large gatherings." It is said that she was deeply affected when she saw Zinzendorf and learned the object of his visit. "She had entirely forgotten the truths of the Gospel, and, in common with the French Indians, believed the story originated with the Jesuits, that the Saviour's birth-place was in France, and His crucifiers Englishmen."
Many strange things are told of this remarkable woman. It was persistently maintained that she was the daughter of a former governor of Canada. There was never any governor of Canada named Montour, and her ancestry is well established. It is not certainly known how many children she had. We have definite accounts of three. Her daughter was known as "French Margaret." It is reasonably certain that she had another daughter, who was "one of the converts of the Moravian Mission, at New Salem, Ohio, * * * and that she was a living polyglot of the tongues of the West, speaking English, French and six Indian languages." Her two sons were Andrew, alias Henry, and Louis. Andrew Montour's work is a part of the history of the exploration and settlement of the Ohio Valley and the Great West, and
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so important and extensive were his services that no account of them can be attempted here.1
I have been, as yet, unable to trace definitely the ancestry of Gov. William Walker to any particular descendant of the French gentleman, Montour. But that he is descended from this French gentleman there can scarcely be a question. This original Montour married a Huron woman, and his son lived with the "Diondadies" (Petuns or Wyandots). The Wyandots of history are the descendants of the Petuns, or "Tobacco Nation" of the Huron Confederacy. When the Wyandots lived in Wyandotte County, Kansas, there were still Montours belonging to and living with the tribe, and they were allotted their proportion of the land belonging to the Nation when the holdings were assigned in severalty. The name was erroneously written "Monture" by the allotting agent.
James Rankin married Mary Montour. She belonged to the Big Turtle Clan of the Wyandot tribe. They were married at Detroit. There is reason to believe that Mary Montour was the descendant of Catherine, a granddaughter of Madame Montour. This accords with the best information 1 have been able to obtain from the old people of the Wyandot tribe. By Indian law the child always belongs to the clan of the mother, and in the instance of so noted a name, it is more than probable that the name Montour was always retained by her children.
Mary Montour was born in 1756. After their marriage James Rankin became a Wyandot by adoption, and he spent most of his life from that time, with the Indians; but at the same time pushed forward his business of trader. He gave his children a good education, and for this purpose removed to Pennsylvania, in his last days, and there died.
1 The foregoing account of the Montours is taken and compiled from "Christopher Gist's Journals," by William M. Darlington.
© 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 for the NEGenWeb Project by Pam Rietsch, Ted & Carole Miller
