Logan, the Mingo Chief [pp. 90-94]

LIOGAN, THE MINGO CHIEF.
Original.
LOGAN, THE MINGO CHIEF.
BY JOHN M[ DONALD, OF POPLAR RIDGE.
THE biography of man is always interesting, because, like the phases of the moon, he is always
changing. When we examine the history of the animal tribes we find them unchangeable in their habits.
But man varies according to the circumstances by which
he is surrounded.
The newspapers hereabouts have recently awakened
considerable inquiry concerning the character and death
of the illustrious Logan, a chief of the Mingo tribe of
Indians. I have concluded that a sketch of this great
man's life would be acceptable to your readers. It is
thought the Ladies' Repository would be the proper
place to record the character of this brave and highly
gifted son of Ohio. Believing that the people of the west
have inflicted wrongs upon the red men, it is but just
to perpetuate the names of at least some of the highly
gifted sons of the forest, among whom the name of Logan stands pre-eminent. The lamented B. Drake has
done justice to theshades of Black Hawk and Tecumseh.
It is my purpose to throw in my humble mite to commemorate the deeds of the brave, the eloqueut Logan.
By the order of Providence the toils of the ladies are
confined to the domestic sphere, such as nurturing children, attending to their education, and preparing them
for the interesting drama which is being enacted on our
planet. The males are exposed to the heat of the summer, and the frosts of winter. They fell the trees,
raise cabins, clear the ground, turn up the furrow, provide subsistence, protect the domicil, and defend their
country from invasion. When danger of any kind is
present, the brave man instinctively steps in between
woman and peril. He would be her sword and buckler, and defend her at the sacrifice of his life. The female heart, being made up of sympathy and gratitude,
esteems or loves her brave defender.
The character and acts of Logan are only partially
known at this distance of time; but in the little which
has been handed down, he stands unrivaled in the
lists of savage fame. His dauntless intrepidity in the
field of battle was only equaled by his humanity and
benevolence in peace, and his wisdom and eloquence in
council.
Up to the year 1774, the Mingo tribe of Indians had
their residence on the northwest bank of the river Ohio,
at a place now known as the Mingo Bottom, three miles
below where Steubenville has since arisen. There, in
all probability, was the birth-place of Logan. Since
the Mingoes retired, or rather were driven from that
place, they have had no separate existence as a tribe or
clan. They merged in the neighboring tribes, and lost
their individuality. Indians who are now sixty, seventy, or eighty years of age, must, with solemn melancholy, reflect on the rapid innovations made upon them
by the whites-their country wrested from them, and
occupied by strangers, and they pushed off so fast and
so frequently that they lost their own identity. Even
the names of their tribes are lost. If this was only a
dream, it would be a most painful one; but when all is
reality, how melancholy must be the reflection to the
high-souled red man, who never brooks degradation,
that he is thrust out from his home and the graves of
his fathers!
"Logan was the son of Shikellemus. For magnanimity in war, and greatness of soul in peace, few in
any nation ever surpassed him. He took no part in
the French wars which ended in 1760, except that of
peace-maker, and was always acknowledged the friend
of the white people, until the year 1774, when his
brother and several others of his family were murdered
in the manner here related. In the spring of 1774
some Indians robbed the people on the Ohio, who were
employed in exploring the lands to prepare for settlement. These land-jobbers were alarmed at the hostile
carriage of the Indians, as they considered it, and collected at a place called Wheeling Creek, the site on
which Wheeling is now built, and learning that there
were two Indians on the river a little above them, one
Captain Michael Cresup belonging to the exploring
party, proposed to fall upon and kill them. His advice
although opposed at first was followed; and a party,
led by Cresup, proceeded and killed the two Indians.
The same day, it being reported that some Indians had
been discovered below Wheeling upon the river, Cresup and his party immediately marched to the place.
At first they appeared friendly, and suffered the Indians to pass by unmolested and seat themselves lower
down the river, at the mouth of Grave Creek. Cresup
soon followed, attacked, and killed several of them,
having one of his own men wounded by the fire of the
Indians. Here some of the family of Logan were
slain. The circumstances of the crime were exceedingly aggravating, inasmuch as the whites pretended
no provocation by these Indians.
"Soon after this, other monsters in human shape, at
whose head were Daniel Greathouse and one Tomlinson, committal a horrid murder upon a number of Indians, about thirty miles above Wheeling. Greathouse
resided about the same place, but on the opposite side
of the river from the Indian encampment. A party
of thirty-two men was collected for this object, who
secreted themselves, while Greathouse, under pretense
of friendship, crossed the river, and visited them to ascertain their strength, which, on counting them, he
found too numerous for his force in an open attack.
These Indians, having heard of the late murder of their
relations, had determined to be avenged of the whites,
and Greathouse did not know the danger he was in until a squaw advised him of it in a friendly caution:' Go
home! go home!' said she. The sad requital this poor
woman met with will presently appear. The wretch
invited the Indians to come over the river and drink
rum with him. This was a part of his plot to separate
them that they might be more easily destroyed. The
opportunity soon offered. A number being collected
at a tavern in the white settlement, and considerably
intoxicated, were fallen upon and all murdered except
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