Delaware Indians

As British colonists immigrated to North America, the Delawares fled westward away from the land-hungry Europeans. While trying to escape the British colonists, the Delawares encountered the Iroquois Indians, who struggled with the Delawares and drove them further west. Some Delaware Indians came to live in eastern Ohio along the Muskingum River, while others resided in northwestern Ohio along the Auglaize River. Once in Ohio, the Delawares grew into a powerful tribe that often resisted the further advances of the Iroquois.

Upon arriving in the Ohio Country, the Delawares formed alliances with Frenchmen engaged in the fur trade. The French provided the natives with European cookware and guns, as well as alcohol, in return for furs. This alliance would prove to be temporary at best, as French and English colonists struggled for control of the Ohio Country beginning in the 1740s. As one European power gained control of the area the Delawares chose to ally themselves with the stronger party. This was the case until the Treaty of Paris (1763) ended the French and Indian War. As a result of this war, the French abandoned all of their North American colonies to England. The Delawares thereafter remained loyal to the British and the American colonists until the American Revolution.

During the Revolution, the Delawares became a divided people. Many attempted to remain neutral in the conflict, especially those who had adopted Christianity and lived in Moravian Church missions at Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhutten in what is now eastern Ohio. Other Delawares supported the English, who had replaced the French traders at the end of the French and Indian War. These natives thanked England for the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited colonists from settling any further west than the Appalachian Mountains. They feared that if the Americans were victorious, the Delawares would be driven from their lands. Despite the Delawares' fears, many Americans hoped that they could count on the tribe as allies. As the war progressed, however, not all Americans trusted them. In 1782, a group of Pennsylvania militiamen, falsely believing the natives were responsible for several raids, killed almost one hundred Christian Delawares in what became known as the Gnadenhutten Massacre. Although these Delawares were friendly to the Americans, they suffered due to the fears of some of their white neighbors.

Following the American victory in the Revolution, the Delawares struggled against whites as they moved onto the natives' territory. In 1794, General Anthony Wayne defeated the Delawares and other Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The natives surrendered most of their Ohio lands with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville in 1795.

In 1829, the United States forced the Delawares to relinquish their remaining land in Ohio and move west of the Mississippi River.

Miami Indians

The Miamis were allies of the French until British traders moved into the Ohio Country, around 1740. The French forced the British out of Ohio, and the Miamis allied themselves with the French again until the British victory in the French and Indian War. As French trading posts turned into British forts, many Miami Indians moved to present-day Indiana to avoid further battles with the more powerful British. During the American Revolution, the Miamis, who were especially fearful of additional white settlers moving into the Ohio Country, fought with the British against the Americans. After the defeat of the British, the Miami Indians continued to fight the Americans.

Little Turtle was a great leader of the Miamis. He helped to lead a force of Miamis and other Indians to victory over two American armies. They defeated the army of General Josiah Harmar in 1790 (Harmar's Defeat) and the army of General Arthur St. Clair in 1791 (St. Clair's Defeat).

General Anthony Wayne finally defeated the Miamis and other Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. They surrendered most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville. In 1818, the United States forced the Miami Indians to give up their last reservation in Ohio. Most of these people settled in Indiana, but the United States removed some of them to Kansas during the 1850s, while others were permitted to remain in Indiana.

Captain William Crawford led an attack against a Mingo village on the Scioto River near what is now downtown Columbus, Ohio, at the close of Lord Dunmore's War in 1774. By the 1800s, the Mingo Indians had villages along the Sandusky River as well as at Lewistown. The Mingos began to live with other tribes, hoping that together they would be able to stop the westward expansion of white settlers. Some Mingo Indians lived with the Miami Indians, while others lived with the Shawnee Indians. In 1831, the United States forced the Mingos to sell their land, and the natives moved to reservations in the West.

Logan was a famous leader of the Mingo Indians.

Ottawa
Passage 1 - Ottawa Indians

Political alliances were complicated and changed with the times. Some Ottawas were allies of the French until British traders moved into the Ohio Country in the early 1700s. Many Ottawas moved into northern Ohio so that they could participate in the fur trade with the British. These natives lived in villages along the Cuyahoga, Maumee, and Sandusky Rivers, but the British were not content just to trade. Unlike the French, the British wanted to build forts and towns.

Pontiac was a famous leader of the Ottawa Indians. In 1763, he led a number of Indian tribes in an attempt to drive the British from their lands. They destroyed nine out of eleven British forts in the Great Lakes region. The Indians could not defeat the strong British forts at Detroit (Fort Detroit) and Pittsburgh (Fort Pitt). Pontiac�s Rebellion came to an end after Colonel Henry Bouquet led a large army from Fort Pitt into Ohio to force the Indians to make peace.

During the American Revolution, the Ottawas fought for the British against the Americans. When the British surrendered to the Americans, the English turned their backs on their Indian allies. The Ottawas continued to fight the Americans.

General Anthony Wayne defeated the Ottawas and other Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. They surrendered most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville (1795).

In 1833 the United States forced the Ottawas to give up their few remaining lands in Ohio. The United States government sent them to a reservation in Kansas.

Shawnee
Passage 1 - Shawnee Indians

The Shawnee Indians were living in the Ohio Valley as early as the late 1600s. The Iroquois Indians were unwilling to share these rich hunting grounds and drove the Shawnees away. Some went to Illinois; others went to Pennsylvania, Maryland or Georgia. As the power of the Iroquois weakened, the Shawnee Indians moved back into Ohio from the south and the east. They settled in the lower Scioto River valley.

The Shawnees spoke one of the languages of the Algonquian Indians, and so they are related to the Delaware Indians, the Miami Indians, and the Ottawa Indians. The Shawnees had a special friendship with the Wyandot Indians. They referred to the Wyandots as their �uncles.�

The Shawnee Indians were allies of the French until British traders moved into the Ohio Country circa 1740. The French pushed the British out of Ohio and the Shawnees became allies of the French again until the British victory in the French and Indian War. As French trading posts turned into British forts, the Ohio Indians, including the Shawnees, fought the British and their colonists. A Shawnee leader named Cornstalk led the Shawnees against British colonists during Lord Dunmore's War in 1774. During the American Revolution, the Shawnees fought alongside the British against the Americans. The Shawnees believed that England would prevent the colonists from encroaching further upon the natives' land. After the war the Indians continued to fight the Americans.

The Shawnees were fierce warriors. They were among the more feared and respected of Ohio's Indians.

General Anthony Wayne defeated the Shawnees and other Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Shawnees surrendered most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville.

Many of the Shawnees moved into the Indiana Territory. Some of these people, however, hoped to reclaim their Ohio lands. Chief among them was Tecumseh, who hoped to unite together all native tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains against the Americans. Due to the advanced technology of the whites and the Indians' failure to put aside their traditional differences, Tecumseh's efforts at confederation failed. General William Henry Harrison defeated the Shawnees and their allies at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Other Shawnees, like Black Hoof, assimilated to white customs, in the hope that the whites would allow the natives to continue to live on the land if the Indians adopted white customs.

Between 1831 and 1833, the United States forced the Shawnees to give up their land claims in Ohio. The American government sent the natives to reservations in Oklahoma and Kansas.

The Shawnees divided themselves into different clans. The principal leader of the Shawnees could only come from one clan. The name of this clan was �Chillicothe.� When a village was called Chillicothe, it meant that it was home to the principal chief -- the �capitol city� of the Shawnees. Chillicothe was also the name of Ohio's first state capitol.

Wyandot
Passage 1 - Wyandot Indians

Portrait of Bill Moose Crowfoot in head dress and beaded tunic, 1930. He is regarded to have been the last of the Wyandot Indians who lived in Central Ohio. He was born in 1837 in northwest Ohio and moved to the Columbus area with his family when most of his tribe was displaced to Kansas and later to Oklahoma. He was known to have wandered the area around the Olentangy and Scioto rivers. He later lived in a small shack at the corner of Indianola and Morse Roads.

The Wyandot Indians originally lived in southern Ontario. They were also called Hurons. But they called themselves "wendat" which in time became "Wyandot" or "Wyandotte." They were related to the Iroquois Indians. But in the years before European settlement, the Iroquois Confederacy attacked them and drove them from their homeland. Some came to live in northern Ohio. They built their main villages in Wyandot, Marion, and Crawford Counties, but they lived across northern Ohio and as far south as Ross County.

The Wyandots had a special friendship with the Shawnee Indians. They referred to the Shawnee tribe as their "nephew" or "younger brother." Other Indian tribes could be allies one day and enemies the next. Political alliances changed with the times.

The Wyandots were allies of the French until British traders moved into the Ohio Country circa 1740. The French pushed the British out of Ohio, and the Wyandots became allies of the French again until the British victory in the French and Indian War. But as French trading posts turned into British forts, the Ohio Indians banded together to fight the British in Pontiac's Rebellion in 1764. During the American Revolution the Wyandots fought for the British against the Americans. When the British surrendered, the Indians were left to fight the Americans on their own.

The Wyandots were fierce warriors. Colonel William Crawford led an expedition against the Wyandot town at Upper Sandusky in 1782. His army was defeated. The Indians captured Crawford and burned him at the stake.

General Anthony Wayne once ordered Captain William Wells to go to the Indian town at Upper Sandusky and bring in a prisoner who could tell them about the Indian's plans. Captain Wells replied that he "could bring in a prisoner, but not from Sandusky, because there were none but Wyandots at Sandusky and they would not be taken alive."

General Anthony Wayne finally defeated the Wyandots and other Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. They surrendered most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville.