CHAPTER V
A MAN OF MARK AMONG THE DELAWARES
STORY OF TAMMANY, WHITE EYES AND CAPTAIN PIPE
AMMANY was the most famous of the Delaware Indian chiefs. He died toward the close of the eighteenth century. His reputation is that of a mighty warrior, a lofty patriot, and the greatest statesman ever born among his people. Such were his perfections that his countrymen believed he talked with the Great Spirit. In 1776, when Colonel George Morgan, of Princeton, New Jersey, was sent to the western Indians by Congress, he was so liked by the Delawares that they called him "Tammany," "in honor and remembrance of their ancient chief, and as the greatest mark of respect which they could show to that gentleman, who they said had the same address, affability and meekness as their honored chief."
When the first whites visited this country, the Lenni-Lenapes or Delaware Indians, one of the most important members of the Algonquin family, occupied the valleys of the Delaware and Schuykill. They were so powerful that they impressed themselves upon all the tribes from the Hudson to the Chesapeake. This power lasted till the rise of the Iroquois, or Six Nations of New York, the greatest confederation that ever existed among the American race. It soon crushed the Delawares, who lost in a sense their independence. At an assemblage near Lancaster, in 1774, the Iroquois forbade the Delawares to sell their lands without the permission of their masters, who even called them "squaws," and looked upon them with undisguised contempt.
About the middle of the eighteenth century, the Delawares removed to the banks of the Susquehanna. They learned the principles of non-resistance from William Penn and the missionary Zinzendorf, for which they suffered much at the hands of the English and the Iroquois. The former charged that they were under French influence, while the Iroquois, angered at their neutrality, despoiled them without mercy and expressed contempt for the tribe.
The Delawares produced two remarkable chiefs, of opposing views. One wanted peace, and the other wished war. Each had hundreds of friends, and the tribe was broken up by quarrels, which often resulted in bloodshed.
The leader of the peace party had a hard Indian name, but was dubbed "Captain White Eyes" by the Americans. Whether this was due to any peculiarity of his organs of vision, we have not been able to learn. It may have been on account of his peace principles, which were as open as those of the Friends. He was the leading chief of the Turtle clan in Ohio, and his bitterest enemies never denied his lofty honor, pure life, and unselfish patriotism.
When the Revolution broke out, the British authorities used every effort to win the Delawares over to their side. Congress strove equally hard to hold them neutral. Thus two opposing factions faced each other. White Eyes was the sleepless champion of peace, and Captain Pipe of war to the knife. Both had ingenuity, tact, and strong will. Captain Pipe, on his part, could count upon the natural, revengeful temper of his countrymen. They had many wrongs to brood over, and the Indian dearly loves war. White Eyes admitted the wrongs his people had suffered, but insisted that the true interests of the Delawares forbade them to take the side of either of the opponents. If they did, they were sure to suffer, and many of their bravest men would be slain. There was no difference between the British and Americans; one was as likely to prove as good or ill a neighbor as the other.