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Chapter III. The Wea, 1710-1805
In early eighteenth-century sources references begin to occur to the Wea, the second group of Miami-Wea-Piankashaw peoples with whom we are concerned in this Report.
In 1702 the Wea, as indicated in Chapter I, were at Chicago, but by 1708 they had removed to the Wabash River.1 Except for brief periods the Wabash River region was to be the Weas' home for over a century, from 1708 until after the War of 1812.
1710-1759. Active exploration of the Maumee-Wabash drainage began in 1710, when Philippe de Regault, Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, permitted a Detroit settler to search "the heights of Ouabache" (either the Forke of the Wabash or present Terre Haute, Indiana) for a nonexistent silver mine.2
Early references to the Weas on the Wabash refer mainly to Wea hostility toward the Iroquois, Illinois, and other groups. In 1711 Vaudreuil gave the Iroquois three prisoners taken by the Weas.3 During the summer of 1713, 400 Weas attacked the Illinois of Starved Rock, near present Ottawa, La Salle County, Illinois, killing 18 or 19 Illinois Indians.4 In the winter of 1714-1715, as part of its anti-Fox campaign, the
1. See pp.
11-12, 14,
this Report.
2. Historical Collections of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, vol. 33, pp. 481, 531-532; Dft. Ex. 82. See Chapter 7, this Report for possible location of "the heights of Wabash."
3. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, vol. 9, p. 860; Dft. Ex. 83.
4. Krauskopf, The French in Indiana, pp. 47-49; Dft. Ex. 70.
81 |
Canadian government negotiated a peace between the Weas and Miamis on one hand, and the Illinois Indians on the other.5
During the summer of 1715 the Wea were to furnish at least 200 men, from a total population which must have been in excess of 1600 souls, for a projected attack on the Fox Indian villages. However for several reasons, including fear of a rumored Iroquois attack and a devastating epidemic of measles6 only a few Weas left their village on the Wabash to join the main attacking force, and these few soon returned, having gone no farther than Chicago.7
In that same summer of 1715 the Wea requested a French officer and a missionary, Claude de Ramezay, Intendant and Acting-Governor of New France, recommended that this request be allowed, hoping that the Wea could be persuaded to return and live at Chicago where they would not be affected by any possible British influence.8 By 1717 the Weas' request had been fulfilled. A French ensign was sent to them that year and a captain was to be sent in the spring of 1718 to command the Wea post, near present-day Lafayette, Indiana.9
5. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 16, pp.
303-304, 312-313; Dft. Ex. 64.
6. The recorded death toll in this epidemic was 15-20 persons per day. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 16, p. 323; Dft. Ex. 64.
7. Ibid., vol. 16, pp. 322-324; Dft. Ex. 64.
8. Ibid., vol. 16, p. 326; Dft. Ex. 64.
9. Ibid., vol. 16, p. 345; Dft. Ex. 64., Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 18, p. 159; Dft. Ex. 79. See also p. 84, this Report, and Dunn, True Indian Stories, pp. 293, 295-296; Dft. Ex. 145.
82 |
This Wea post, according to a memoir by Jacques Charles Sabrevois de Bleury, commandant at Detroit, was on the Wabash River, where the Wea or "Ouyatanons" had, in 1718,
five villages, all built close together. One is called ouyatanons, another peangnichias [Piankashaw], another peticotias [Pepicokea], and another Les gros; as for the last, I do not remember its name. But they are all ouyatanons. They speak like The miamis [on the Maumee River], and are their brothers; and indeed all the miamis have the same customs and style of dress. They number fully one thousand or twelve hundred men [4000-4800 souls in all] . . . . Their [the Wea] village is Situated on a high Elevation. They have more than two Leagues [5 miles] of fields, where they raise Their indian corn, pumpkins, and melons; and from that Elevation one sees nothing but prairies, stretching farther than the eye can reach, and abounding in buffalo.10
Sabrevois reiterated French concern over the accessibility of the Wea to the English and the Iroquois, and stated that it would not be difficult to persuade the Wea to return to Chicago.11
It was this same year (1718) that the younger Sieur de Vincennes, Fran?is Margane de la Valterie, who was to play such an important role in the movements and location of the Wabash River Miami-Wea-Piankashaw-speaking groups during the late 1720's was sent as commandant to the Wea post.12
In the fall of 1719 the Wea promised the Governor of Canada that they would remove to the Kankakee River and a year
10. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 16, p. 376;
Dft. Ex.
64.
11. Ibid., vol. 16, p. 373; Dft. Ex. 64.
12. Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 18, p. 174; Dft. Ex. 79.
83 |
later 50 Wea did move to this river.13 However the majority of the Wea refused to leave their Wabash River village, and by the following year (1721) the few who had moved to the Kankakee "abandoned the place on finding that the rest of the [Wea] nation would not come."14
Three years later (1723) it was rumored that the Wea were leaving their village on the Wabash
|
|
to go to establish
themselves at their |
However there is no documentary evidence that this move occurred.
In his 1726 memoir,- Perier, Governor of Louisiana, located the Wea "near
the upper part of the Wabash." However, Perier remarked that the Wea were
to be relocated near a projected post on the lower Wabash, which was to be
administered from Louisiana. The Wea were
|
|
to protect the post and to
watch the |
It was suggested by Canadian officials that Sieur de Vincennes, commandant of
the Ouiatanon post, should command the projected post since he could "set
the Miamis in action better than anyone else."17 As we shall
see, Vincennes was given command
13. Collections . . . Wisconsin, vol. 16, pp. 382,
394;
Dft. Ex.
64.
14. Ibid., vol. 16, p. 399; Dft. Dft. Ex. 64.
15. Mereness, Travels, p. 75; Dft. Ex. 85.
16. English Translation of Margry, vol. 6, p. 659; Dft. Ex. 61.
17. Idem.
84 |
of the new post (known later by his name and now present Vincennes, Indiana) and at least one Miami-Wea-Piankashaw speaking group (the Piankashaw) removed to the new location.
Also in 1726 Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, formerly Governor of Louisiana, reported that
The Miamis [speakers of the Miami language] are separated into three villages. The first, which retains the name of Miamis at the village of the Crane, is established on the river of the same name [Maumee] which has its source in the same latitude as the Wabash and which empties into the lakes of Canada. The second which is called the village of the Weas and in which there are more than four hundred men [1600 souls],is two hundred leagues [500 miles] up the Wabash18 on the left [north bank] as one goes upstream, and several leagues lower down is the new village of Mercata or Piankashaw19 where there are at least one hundred and fifty men [600 souls]. The voyageurs of Canada come there to trade and obtain many peltries from them of which the English are very jealous.20
In late 1729 or early 1730, the Sieur de Vincennes left the Wea post at
Ouiatanon, to withdraw down the Wabash to the French province of Louisiana.
Some of the Indians dependent on the Wea post went with him to his new post at
present-day
18. During the French period "Ouabache" (Wabash) was used not only
for the present Wabash River, but also for the present-day Ohio River, from the
mouth of the Wabash to the Mississippi. The Wea village on the Wabash was at
present-day Lafayette, Indiana.
19. Probably at the mouth of Vermilion River. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 17, p. 56; Dft. Ex. 64. Krauskopf, The French in Indiana p. 151; Dft. Ex. 70.
20. Rowland and Sanders, Mississippi Provincial Archives, French Dominion, vol. 3, p. 534; Dft. Ex. 107.
85 |
Vincennes, Indiana.21 Who the Indians were who went with Vincennes is not stated, but we conclude they were Piankashaws since in 1734 and 1737 explicit references are made to the fact that the Piankashaws were settled near Vincennes' fort. In 1737 most of the Piankashaws abandoned Vincennes and removed up the Wabash to the old Piankashaw village at Vermilion River.22
In 1730 the Wea took part in the French-led, pan-Indian attack on the Fox. Earlier they had promised to help the Fox against possible attacks by the Potawatomi, Mascouten, and Kickapoo, and also to assist the Fox in their travels eastward to join the Iroquois. However, at the insistence of the French the Wea engaged in a running battle somewhere southeast of Starved Rock and west of the Wabash River, between a party of Fox and a combined force of Illinois, Mascouten, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Piankashaw, and Wea.23
Besides warring on the Fox, the Wea were also induced by the French to attack the Chickasaw, a southeastern group. From 1731 to 1737 the Wea made almost yearly raids on Chickasaw
21. Indiana Historical Society, Publications, vol. 18, pp. 178-179; Dft. Ex. 79.
Historical Collections of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, vol. 34,
p. 71;
Dft. Ex.
82.
22. Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 3, pp. 310-313, 330; Dft. Ex. 79.
23. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 17, pp. 109-118; Dft. Ex. 64.
86 |
villages.24 The Chickasaw retaliated at least once; in the fall of 1732 they attacked a party of Frenchmen on the Ohio River, approximately 30-40 miles below the mouth of the Wabash.25 These French-instigated Wea-Chickasaw hostilities continued at least until 1742. In a speech that year to the Governor of Canada the Wea stated: "My Father, we weep, we are heartbroken because the Chicachas [Chickasaw] killed us last Spring."26 The Governor replied by urging the Indians to continue their attacks on the Chickasaws.27
An epidemic of serious proportions broke out during this period of Wea-Chickasaw hostilities. In 1733 "small-Pox and a Malignant Fever" caused "great ravanges" among the Wea. At least 150 Wea died in this epidemic.28
In 1734 rumors were afloat that the Wea were about to abandon their village. According to one source they planned to
24. Ibid., vol. 17, pp. 161,
175,
179, 181, 214,
264;
Dft. Ex.
64. Historical Collections of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society,
vol. 34, pp.
100, 108; Dft. Ex. 82.
Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 3, pp.
301, 304, 307;
Dft. Ex.
79. Rowland and Sanders, Mississippi Provincial Archives, French Dominion,
vol. 3, p. 666;
Dft. Ex.
107.
25. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 17, p. 181; Dft. Ex. 64. Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 3, p. 306; Dft. Ex. 79.
26. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 17, p. 380; Dft. Ex. 64.
27. Ibid., vol, 17, pp. 383-387; Dft. Ex. 64.
28. Ibid., vol. 17, pp. 172-173, 175, 181; Dft. Ex. 64. Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 18, p. 146; Dft. Ex. 79.
87 |
move nearer to the English in the fall of 1734.29 Subsequent accounts show that this move did not take place.
According to an anonymous 1736 list the Wea, Piankashaw, and Pepicokea were "the same Nation, though in different villages" and could "place under arms three hundred and fifty men."30 Another memoir written a decade later located three French posts for the various Miami-Piankashaw-Wea speaking groups: a) the post of the "Great Weas" (Ouiatanon) which had 20 European residents; b) the Miami post near present-day Fort Wayne; c) the Piankashaw post at present-day Vincennes.31
In the early 1740's native population at Ouiatanon wad augmented by the arrival of at least eight cabins of Mascoutens and an unspecified number of Kickapoos, who had previously been settled among the Miamis.32
The competition between France and Britain for control of the Indian trade in the Ohio Valley region had become a serious matter by the late 1740's. During the uprising of Nicholas the Huron at Detorit some of the Miami migrated to the present state
29. Rowland and Sanders, Mississippi Provincial Archives, French Dominion, vol.
1, p. 265;
Dft. Ex.
107.
30. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, vol. 9, p. 1057; Dft. Ex. 83.
31. Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 3, p. 327; Dft. Ex. 79.
32. Ibid., vol. 3, pp. 311-312; Dft. Ex. 79. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 17, pp. 335-336, 382-383; Dft. Ex. 64. Extracts in English, August 30, 1744; Dft. Ex. 146.
88 |
of Ohio at the instigation, indirect if not direct, of British traders.33 In 1747 a deputation of Weas from Ouiatanon was on its way to Montreal. However, upon hearing the news of a Huron attack on several French traders at Detroit, the deputation returned home. Fifty Wea went to the St. Joseph River post ''to express the pain they felt at the treachery of the Hurons at Detroit" and to declare that they were "ready to attack" the Hurons.34
Within two years however, Wea allegiance to the French was only lukewarm. During the winter of 1749-1750 messages were circulated from La Demoiselle, leader of a pro-British Miami faction on the Great Miami River at Pickawillany (present Piqua, Ohio), to the Wea, as well as to two Miami groups and to the Potawatomi of the St. Joseph River of Michigan. All of above-mentioned groups promised La Demoiselle that they would carry their furs to the British on the Great Miami River. In addition it was rumored that a "party of Wea" was to settle on the Great Miami.35 Later in the spring of 1750 some Wea participated in a conference at Pickawillany between the Miami and Piankashaw (and probably some Shawnee, Iroquois, and Huron as well) and the English.36
33. For a more detailed discussion of this point see pp. 28
- 38,
this Report.
34. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 17, p. 483; Dft. Ex. 64. Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, vol. 29, pp. 32-33; Dft. Ex. 67.
35. Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, vol. 29, pp. 149, 154, 164-165, 169; Dft. Ex. 67.
36. Ibid., vol. 29, pp. 169-170, 190, 207-208; Dft. Ex. 67.
89 |
Not all of the Weas were pro-British, however. In May, 1750, Les Grands Ongles, a Wea chief, in council with the French commandant of Fort Miami at present Fort Wayne, Indiana, declared his fidelity and that of his band, which numbered 80 men (ca. 320 souls). But during the council he also reported the deflection to the British of Le Comte's band of Wea, amounting to 100 men or ca. 400 souls.37
In the following year the British gained more influence over the Wabash Valley Indians.38 In February, 1751, 20 Wea and Piankashaw men were at La Demoiselle's village, at Pickawillany on the Great Miami. On February 22, the Wea and Piankashaw chiefs, Takintoa, Molsinoughko, and Nynickonowca signed a "treaty and Alliance of Friendship" with George Croghan and Andrew Montour40 on "behalf of the Government of Pennsylvania."41 Neither Croghan nor Montour had been authorized to treat with
37. Ibid., vol. 29, pp.
207-209, 211; Dft. Ex. 67.
38. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. 18, pp. 90-93; Dft. Ex. 64.
39. George Croghan was a Pennsylvania trader and representative of this Province. He had a post at Pickawillany, La Demoiselle's village on the Great Miami River, which was burned in 1752 by a French war party. Subsequently Croghan was employed as Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department under Sir William Johnson, Superintendent.
40. Andrew Montour was a half-breed Iroquois, serving at this time as Croghan's interpreter.
41. Mulkearn, ed., George Mercer Papers, pp. 138-139; Dft. Ex. 108. The Wea and Piankashaw delegates preserved their copy of this Treaty; eleven years later (1762) representatives of both groups appeared at Fort Pitt and requested that it be renewed (Stevens, et al, Papers of Col. Henry Bouquet, series 21648, pt, 1, pp. 152, 155; Dft. Ex. 111. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 71, p. 426; Dft. Ex. 110.)
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