Piankashaw Locations (ca. 1783-ca. 1795), pp. 166- 169
/pg. 166/
The Indians who had taken part in Putnam's treaty did not even attempt to take part in this save for two, who in June l793 were on their way home from their visit to Philadelphia and were persuaded to attend it by some Seneca Indians while "the Indians of the Wabash" were waiting for transportation from Pittsburgh to Fort Washington (See Dft. Ex. A-7, pp. 349, 350; Craig, Dft. Ex. A-167, A-168, A-169) It is unlikely that either of these participants in the abortive 1793 meeting was a Piankashaw, since one of the two "Wabash" Indians seems to have been Gomo, a Potawatomi chief, (Craig, Dft. Ex. A-168, A-169) and further, there was no suitable Piankashaw representative in the surviving group to attend--of the Piankashaws who had gone to Philadelphia only one, a war chief, spoke formally as a spokesman for that group was mentioned above and he did so only because the village chief who should have spoken had died during the trip. The remaining Indians continued home; they were sent forward from Hobson's Choice, Wayne's headquarters near Fort Washington, on August 1, 1793, (Wayne, Dft. Ex. A-341) and arrived at Vincennes on August 25. (Pasteur, Dft. Ex. A-287)
Some Piankashaws were living in southern Illinois in the vicinity of Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi in the winter of 1793 and in 1794, were associating with Shawnees there, and were, to some extent, under Spanish influence. (See. e.g., Peyroux, Dft. Ex. A-38, p. 56; Lorimier, Dft. Ex. A-38, pp. 60, 63, 64, 69, 70) In December 1793 some Piankashaws must have been living on the western side of the Mississippi River, since they and the Shawnees were told by Spanish officials to arrest a
/pg. 167/
man from the Illinois settlements if he should be found on the Spanish side of the river. (Peyroux, Dft. Ex. A-38, pp. 56-57)
In January of 1794 two Piankashaws informed Pasteur that the Spanish were circulating rumors and war belts among the Kickapoos and other Indians of the Wabash and that the Miami Indians also were sending them invitations to join the still hostile northern Indians. Pasteur felt that the Wabash Indians were not as committed to peace as could be desired and called a council to try to secure them firmly for the United States. (Pasteur, Dft. Ex. A-288) Perhaps the [act that their treaty with Putnam had not been ratified, together with the lack of success of the treaty with the northern Indians and Wayne's obvious preparations to wage war on the recalcitrant groups, made the Indians of the Wabash wary. Apparently Piankashaws were not at Pasteur's meeting although some Weas, Kickapoos, and Potawatomis were. (Idem., Clark, Dft. Ex. A-288, pp. 11-12) By the end of April 1794 the Lt. Governor of Canada, J. G. Simcoe, reported that
The Indiana on the Wabash have quitted the lower parts of that River, and by their approximation to Detroit (should not Mr. Wayne advance) the benefits of their Trade will return into the accustomed channel. This movement has exceedingly alarmed the Settlers at Vincennes. (Simcoe, Dft. Ex. A-83, pp. 659-660)[see footnote 51]
This statement apparently was based on information from the British agent Col. Alexander McKee, located at the Rapids of the Maumee, and on a speech of the "Shawanese, Delawares, Miamis, Mingoes, &ca
/pg. 168/
together with Deputies from the Wabash Nations" made earlier that month to Captain Elliot at the Glaize in which the Indians promised to set out against the Americans and hoped the British would give them supplies. (Simcoe, Dft. Ex. A-83, p. 656) The "Deputies from the Wabash Nations" consisted of "Kicapoes, Outatanous [Weas] and Piankishaws." They "expressed their sorrow for having listened" to the Americans, begged "the Confederacy of the [northern Indians] to take Pity on them and receive them again among them as Brothers." They were "readmitted" into "the Confederacy" provided that they assembled their warriors to be used against the Americans. The "Kickapoe chief" promised to do so, but no mention is made of the reaction of the Weas and Piankashaws to this proposal. (McKee, Dft. Ex. A-83, pp. 697-698) From these circumstances it seems that Pasteur's council did not have lasting effects; the British, on the other hand, were not certain they could rely on the Indians either. (See, e.g., Dorchester, Dft. Ex. A-83, pp. 654-655, 657; McKee, Dft. Ex. A-83, p. 696)
A second council held by Pasteur at Vincennes in June did have several Piankashaws in attendance but also amounted to nothing. (Pasteur, Dft. Ex. A-289)
Early in August 1794 Pasteur wrote to Wayne that Wayne's preparations for war and his successes against the hostile Indians
appeared to be pleasing to the Saques, & Fox, Indians, but it seems to have the contrary effect on those of the Wabash. -- (Pasteur, Dft. Ex. A-290)
/pg. 169/
Pasteur was convinced that
a greate part of the Warriors on the Wabash go to war occasionally, & leave their old men, women, & children, to be fed from this post [Fort Knox at Vincennes], & immediately on their return, they have the audacity to call on the Commanding Officer here for support. (Idem)
To Judge from McKee's report (mentioned above) these warriors probably included some Piankashaws.
Wayne gained a decisive victory over the northern Indians in the middle of August 1794. This event finally forced the northwestern Indians to accept peace on terms set by the United States (Dft. Ex. A-7, pp. 487 495, 524-529, 547-550, 559-560) in the Treaty of Greenville of August 3, 1795, after a long series of council meetings conducted by Wayne. (Dft. Ex. A-7, pp. 564-583) Wayne had invited all of the Indians who lived on the Wabash to attend this treaty, (Wayne, Dft. Ex. A-342) in addition to the northern ones. No Piankashaws are mentioned as attending the council at Vincennes where this invitation was issued; "Pasteur, Dft. Ex. A-291) and, although Wayne wrote on June 17 that some Piankashaw chiefs had arrived at Greenville, (Wayne, Dft. Ex. A-71, p. 427) apparently no Piankashaws took part in the deliberations. Wea chiefs A-ma-cun-sa or Little Beaver, A-coo-la-tha or Little Fox, and Francis signed it on behalf of the Weas and the Piankashaws (7 Stat. 54). The Piankashaws were, however, included among the Indian groups - to receive annuities by the treaty. The amounts of the annuities varied for different groups of Indians, and the Piankashaws, along with the Weas, Kickapoos, Eel River Miamis, and Kaskaskias, were to be
/pg. 170/
given a permanent annuity of $500. (7 Stat. 51). In September of 1796 a Piankashaw chief, Ne-sue-kaun-nau or "Troi-face," signed a receipt for the first delivery of it. (Dft. Ex. A-294)
From the note appended of corrections or additions made in the treaty (7 Stat. 54 and Dft. Ex. A-385) it seems possible that the inclusion of the Piankashaws in the annuities was an afterthought, and that Piankashaws may not have been present at the treaty. A statement made by William Henry Harrison, in 1803, when he was Governor of Indiana Territory, claims that no Piankashaw or Kaskaskia chiefs were present at the treaty since
They did not think it necessary to go as one of them had never been at war with the United States and the other had made peace three years before. (Harrison, Dft. Ex. A-51 )
Harrison had been Wayne's aide-de-camp during the negotiations of the Treaty of Greeneville.
Footnote 51: See also Elliott, Dft. Ex. A-8, p. 1689; which indicates that some of the Indians may have gone to the Spanish on the Mississippi as well as to the British at Detroit.[return to text]
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