Indian Chiefs left their mark on Kentucky
From Pieces of the Past, by Jim Reis
Cornstalk was the name settlers gave an Indian leader. His real name was Wynepuechsika, and according to Frederick J Dockstader in Great North American Indians the chief was a Shawnee born in western Pennsylvania about 1720. Cornstalk moved with his family into southern Ohio about 1730. The move was part of the migration of the Shawnee, who along with the Miami tribe, became the main adversaries of early Kentucky settlers.
The settlers viewed the Shawnee and Miami as savages who raided isolated farms and ambushed hunting parties. The Indians saw the settlers as aggressors who brought disease, destroyed hunting grounds, often from speculators or Indians who did not own the land they were selling.
Cornstalk fought against the British during the French and Indian War and later joined Pontiac in an unsuccessful attempt to unite tribes in the Midwest against the encroachment of settlers. In 1774 Cornstalk led 1000 warriors against the Virginia militia in a battle near Point Pleasant West Virginia. He was defeated and signed a peace treaty relinquishing the Shawnee claim to Kentucky.
In 1777 Cornstalk, his son Elinipsico, and Red Hawk, traveled to Point Pleasant on a peace mission. However, the visit coincided with the murder of a settler by another group of Indians and Cornstalk and his companions were executed out of revenge. The deaths outraged the Shawnees. Eighteen years of fighting followed with the Indians finally being defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the Treaty of Greenville was signed August 3, 1795.
At monument to Cornstalk was erected in the courthouse yard at Point Pleasant in 1896.
Little Turtle was born in 1752 in a village along the Eel River near what is Ft. Wayne. Accounts spell his name in different ways-Michikinikwa and Mishekunnoghwuah are two versions. Little Turtle's father was a Miami but his mother was Mahican. According to the custom of the time, Little Turtle considered was considered a Mahican, but his leadership ability prompted the Miami to make him a chief.
As a young man he participated in the defeat of American General Josiah Harmar in a battle along the Miami River in 1790. The next year he defeated another American Army led by General Arthur St. Clair at St. Mary's Ohio. In that battle the Americans outnumbered the Indians 2000 to 1500 but 593 Americans were killed compared to 150 Indians. When a new army under General Anthony Wayne moved against the Miamis and their allies in 1793, Little Turtle felt it was time to talk peace not war.
Little Turtle felt Wayne was a worthy adversary. His estimate proved accurate. Wayne defeated them at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near Toledo in 1794. A peace treaty was signed at Greensville and the Indians were forced to give up their claims to most of Ohio. That eliminated Ohio as a major base for Indian raids into Kentucky.
In 1797 Little Turtle was invited to visit George Washington in Philadelphia and sir for a portrait. He died July 14, 1812 at Ft. Wayne and was buried there with full military honors from the US Government.
Tecumseh was born about 1768 one of eight children of the Shawnee chief Puckeshinwa. He refused to sign the Greenville Treaty because it gave up rights to most of Ohio. He and his followers moved into Indiana and began visiting neighboring villages. He goal was to unite all Indians east of the Rocky Mountains.
William Henry Harrison, governor of the Northwest Territories was campaigning to buy Indian land and realized the threat Tecumseh posed. He launched a surprise attack on Tecumseh's main village at Tippecanoe in November 1811. Tecumseh reorganized his followers and joined the British against the Americans during the War of 1812. The British gave him the title of brigadier general in charge of Indian allies. He was killed in Ontario in the battle of Thomas River October 5, 1813.
Blue Jacket was born Marmaduke Van Swearingen, a son of a Virginia farmer. He left home at 17 and was adopted by the Shawnee. He Shawnee name was Weyapiersenwah. Blue Jacket participated under the command of Little Turtle in the defeat of General Harmer. He was one of the top leaders when the Shawnee were defeated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Blue Jacket attended and signed the peace treaty at Greenville, Ohio and the treaty at Ft. Industry. Ohio July 4, 1805.
Simon Girty was born in Pennsylvania in 1741. His father, an Irish immigrant was killed in a drunken brawl with an Indian. His step-father was burned at the stake by Indians, and he and his brothers James and George were captured and grew up among the Indians. In the days before the Revolutionary War, Girty served as a soldier, interpreter and guide for the British. When the war began he joined the American Army, but changed sides in 1778 and became a British agent among the Indians.
Girty helped lead a raid by Indians, Canadian militia and British soldiers down the Licking River in 1782. The followed the river to what is Falmouth and camped there. They moved on and sacked Ruddle's Station, south of Cynthiana, and Bryan's Station near Lexington. He also participated in the Battle of Blue Licks in Robertson County. Those tracking the invaders were ambushed there. He was still serving as a British agent during the War of 1812. He died in Canada in 1818.