"The Governor assured them that it was not his intention to purchase the land from the other tribes. That he had always said, and was ready now to confess that the land belonged to the Miamis and to no other tribe. That if the other tribes had been invited to the treaty, it was at their particular request (the Miamis). The Potawatomi had indeed taken higher ground than either the Governor or the Miamis expected. They claimed an equal right to the land in question with the Miamis, but what of this? Their claiming it gave them no right, and it was not the intention of the Governor to put anything in the treaty which would in the least alter their claim to their lands on the Wabash, as established by the Treaty of Grouseland, unless they chose to satisfy the Delawares with respect to their claim to the country watered by the White river. That even the whole compensation proposed to be given for the lands would be given to the Miamis if they insisted upon it, but that they knew the offense which this would give to the other tribes, and that it was always the Governor's intention so to draw the treaty that the Potawatomi and Delawares would be considered as participating in the advantages of the treaty as allies of the Miamis; not as having any rights to the land."
The Governor's resourcefulness saved the day. There was an instant change of sentiment and a brightening of the dark faces. The claim of the Miamis acknowledged; their savage pride appeased, and their title to the land verified, they were ready for the treaty. Pecan, the chief, informed the Governor that he might retire to the fort and that they would shortly wait upon him with good news. The treaty was immediately drafted, and on the same day signed and sealed by the headmen and chiefs without further dissent.
Thus was concluded the Treaty of Fort Wayne of September 30, 1809. The articles were fully considered and signed only after due deliberation of at least a fortnight. The terms were threshed out in open council, before the largest assembly of red men ever engaged in a treaty in the western country up to that time. No undue influence, fraud or coercion were brought to bear—every attempt at violence was promptly checked by the Governor—no resort was had to the evil influence of bribes or intoxicants. When agreed upon, it was executed without question.
CHAPTER XVII
RESULTS OF THE TREATY
—Harrison's political enemies at Vincennes rally against him in the open, and are defeated in the courts.
The Treaty of Fort Wayne having been consummated and certain disputes relative to horse-stealing and other depredations having been arranged between the two races, the Governor, on the fourth of October, 1809, set out on his return to Vincennes. He travelled on horseback, accompanied by his secretary and interpreter, passing through the Indian villages at the forks of the Wabash and striking the towns of the Miamis at the mouth of the Mississinewa. Here dwelt John B. Richardville, or Peshewah, a celebrated chief of that tribe, who was later chosen as principal sachem on the death of Little Turtle. Richardville had not been personally present at Fort Wayne, but he now received the Governor cordially, and gave his unqualified approval to the previous proceedings.
The day before his arrival at Peshewah's town, the Governor met with a singular experience, which not only served to illustrate the advancing ravages of liquor among the tribes but Harrison's intimate knowledge of Indian laws, customs and usages. On coming into the camp of Pecan, a Mississinewa chieftain, he discovered that one of the warriors had received a mortal wound in a "drunken frolic" of the preceding evening. The chiefs informed him that the slayer had not been apprehended, whereupon the Governor recommended that if the act "should appear to have proceeded from previous malice," that the offender should be punished, "but if it should appear to be altogether accident, to let him know it, and he would assist to make up the matter with the friends of the deceased." The payment of wergild or "blood-money" among the Indian tribes in compensation of the loss of life or limb, is strongly in accord with the ancient Saxon law, yet it seems to have prevailed as far back at least as the time of William Penn, for in one of his letters describing the aborigines of America, he says: "The justice they (the Indians) have is pecuniary; in case of any wrong or evil fact, be it murder itself, they atone by feasts and presents of their wampum, which is proportioned to the offense, or person injured, or of the sex they are of; for, in case they kill a woman, they pay double, and the reason they render, is that she can raise children, which men cannot do." Later on, at Vincennes, the Governor had another and similar experience which affords additional proof that the custom above mentioned was still prevalent. A Potawatomi chieftain from the prairies came in attended by some young men. He found there about one hundred and fifty of the Kickapoos, who were receiving their annuity, and he immediately made complaint to the Governor as follows: "My Father," said he, "it is now twelve moons since these people, the Kickapoos, killed my brother; I have never revenged it, but they have promised to cover up his blood, but they have not done it. I wish you to tell them, my father, to pay me for my brother, or some of them will lose their hair before they go from this." The Governor accordingly advised the chief of the Kickapoos to satisfy the Potawatomi. On the following day the latter again called upon the Governor, and said: "See there, my father," showing three blankets and some other articles, "see what these people have offered me for my brother, but my brother was not a hog that I should take three blankets for him," and he declared his intention of killing some of them unless they would satisfy him in the way he proposed. The Governor, upon inquiry, finding that the goods of the Kickapoos were all distributed, directed, on account of the United States, that a small addition be made to what he had received.