On July 9th, 1813, a soldier in Hosbrook’s at Fort Amanda returned from St. Marys with news that a white man had been “killd 2 miles from St. Mary by the Indian, tomahawk,d & scalp,d.” Turns out the incident was only partially true. A man had been killed near St. Marys, but the incident took place the previous fall and the victim was an Indian, not a white man. In a strange twist of events, at the same time this rumor was spreading, the man who killed the Indian the previous year had himself just been murdered.
Vengeance Is Mine Sayeth the Indian
The incident took place the first week of July
1813. An Indian and a white man traveling together had just left Ft. Amanda on
their way to Wapakoneta. Somewhere along the way the white man bragged about
how he had shot and killed a Shawanee Indian near Ft. Loramies the previous
fall. Little did he know, the Indian he was traveling with was a close relative
of the man he had killed. In an act of revenge, somewhere between Ft. Amanda
and Wapakoneta, the Indian killed the white man.
Kain Goes to Wapak to Arrest the Murderer
When news of the murder reached Ft. Amanda,
Major Kain, immediately assembled a group of soldiers and started for
Wapakoneta. Meanwhile, the Indian who killed the white man had been openly
bragging about the killing to others in the tribe.
When Major Kain and his men arrived at Wapakoneta Kain demanded that the
murderer be turned over to him.
An Honor Killing
The 73 year old great warrior chief year Catecahassa (Blackhoof) tried to reason with Kain, telling him that he and the other chiefs had talked with the accused man who told them the white man he’d killed had killed his relative the previous fall and he felt it was his duty to avenge his death.
Undaunted, Kain continued with his threats about holding the chiefs personally
accountable for the murder if the guilty man wasn't handed over to him. The
longer the conversation went on, the more agitated Blackhoof and the other
tribal leaders became. Blackhoof pointed out to Major Kain that large numbers
of Indians had been killed by whites since the beginning of the war, yet no one
was ever held accountable and now a white has been killed and the Army was
making unjustified demands and threatening them.
Taken into "Close Keeping" (Jailed)
In no mood to argue, Kain told Blackhoof that a
large military force was on its way to Piqua and if the murderer wasn’t turned
over to authorities, the army would come to Wapakoneta and destroy the entire
village and everyone in it. In a difiant tone, Blackhoof told Kain that if that
happened, they would fight to the end and die like men, rather than be
subjected to such injustice.
Kain returned to Amanda where he wrote a letter to the Indian Agent John
Johnston at Piqua with details of the situation. He sent it on by courier.
Johnston informed Indian agent B. F. Stickney who then informed General
Harrison of the details. Stickney’s letter stated that Major Kain took the 4
Indian chiefs into “close keeping.”
The following letter was from Indian Agent B. F. Stickney to General Harrison July 18, 1813
Three Indians came in today from the west, who inform that some 7 or 8 days ago, a white man and a Shawanoe Indian, were passing from Fort Amanda to Wappancannatta in company, and that the Indian killed the White man. That the Commanding officer at Amanda immediately took into Close Keeping four of the Shawnoe Chiefs - (Black Hoof was one of them) and declared he should hold them answerable for the murder, unless the murderer was given up. This, those who remained in the village refused to do. The Indian confessed he had killed the man, and assigned as his reason for so doing, that the white man on the way, had told him that he (the white man) was the person who wounded the Shawanoe at Loremy last fall, who died of his wound, and that he (the Shawanoe) was a near relation of his, and that he considered it his duty to kill him (the white man) as just revenge for killing his friend. It was said that on this ground the Shawanoe refuse to give up the murderer; and adding that a number of cases of Indians being killed and wounded by our people since the War had commenced, and that little or not notice has been taken of it, and therefore such a demand upon them now, was highly unjust. The Indians were further told that a Military force was coming on, who would be at Piqua, in a certain number of days. If the murderer should be given up before that time, it would be well otherwise, they would fall upon them, and destroy the whole of them. The answer was that we will defend ourselves as long as we can, and when that can not be done any longer, we will die like men - we will not submit to such injustice.
An express had gone to Mr. Johnston when the last came from Wappancannatta but no return from him. This has produced much commotion among all our Indians.
I have the honour to be Your very Obedient Servant
(signed) B. F. Stickney Indian Agent.
Personal Thought:
Stickney pointed out in his letter that Blackhoof and the other chiefs were "took
into close keeping," and those who remained in the
village....". In closing, Stickney wrote, "This has produced
much commotion among all our Indians." The key phrases, "close
keeping, "those who remained in the village, and "much commotion
among all our Indians", leads me to believe that Kain took Blackhoof and
the others into custody and brought them back to Amanda as prisoners. Arresting
Blackhoof, an old fighter and hero among his tribe would certainly have
infuriated others. (note, not just the Indians at Wapakoneta, it infuriated
"all our Indians."
Saturday the 10th July Very cold for the season
Around noon Lt. Davis returned from his three week furlough and brought
Schillinger a letter from his brother-in-law Capt. John Armstrong and news that
all was well at home. Later that same day, Mr. Kercheval returned from Ft.
Jennings.
Francis Duchouquet Comes to Amanda
Sunday the 11th Cool & pleasant
Shawnee interpreter Frenchman, Francis Duchouquet came to the fort with a
group of Indians from Wapakoneta to get provisions including 800 rations of
meat for the tribe in Wapakoneta. A short time later Sgt. Wheelan and a
private soldier from Ft. Jennings came to Ft. Amanda by boat to take some flour
back to Ft. Jennings.
Major Crisis Averted?
Wensday the 14th Thunder showers
Around noon on July 14, 1813, Mr. Benagh, the forts wagon master returned from
St. Marys and brought back news that the Shawnee chiefs had held a council to
discuss what they should do about surrendering the Indian accused of murdering
the white man a couple weeks earlier. Apparently cooler heads prevailed and
either the accused agreed to turn him himself in, or the chiefs decided they
would hand him over to authorities is unknown, however the agreement was that
he would be taken into custody that evening. The outcome is unknown.
Post War Years
With the British defeat, the War Department changed its method
of procuring land from the Native Americans in the north. Rather than gaining
land through treaties, it would be done by removal. Black Hoof tried for as
long as possible to keep his band of 300 Shawnee in northwest Ohio, but the
Indian Removal Act of 1830 was the death knell. Even though they could show
that they were good farmers and that their children attended the Society of
Friends School for the Shawnee and even though they had the support of
Secretary of War Lewis Cass, it was to no avail.
The removal process (which began with a dubiously negotiated
treaty in 1831) ended in the Shawnee removal to Kansas in 1832. Black Hoof
stayed in Wapakoneta and died there just three months after his people moved
west.
Black Hoof is buried near St. John’s Ohio. His monument shown
here is located in Black Hoof Memorial Park/St. John’s Cemetery at the
intersection of U.S. Route 33 and Ohio State Route 65.
