flUROIS HISTORICAL SURVEY 
 
*-A 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/lostsisteramongmOOwing 
 
FRANCES SLOCUM 
 
 M a-con-a-quah 
 The White Rose of the Miami's' 
 
THE LOST SISTER 
 
 AMONG THE MIAMIS 
 
 BY 
 OTHO WINGER 
 
 Author of The Last of the Miamis, etc. 
 
 THE ELGIN PRESS 
 
 ELGIN, ILL. 
 
 1936 
 
Copyright 1936 by 
 
 OTHO WINGER 
 
 North Manchester, Indiana 
 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 By The Elgin Press, Elgin, Illinois 
 
TO MY GRANDDAUGHTERS 
 VIVIAN AND REVA 
 
 Who have often gone with me to the grave 
 
 of the Lost Sister and have listened with 
 
 great interest to the remarkable story of 
 
 her life 
 
0.0717 fUU 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. A Child Stolen by the Indians 9 
 
 II. The Long Search for the Lost Sister . . 15 
 
 III. A Strange Story From the Far West . . 23 
 
 IV. Finding the Lost Sister 31 
 
 V. The Slocum Sisters Visit Their Indian 
 Cousins 43 
 
 VI. Sad Days for Frances Slocum 57 
 
 VII. George Slocum Comes to Help His 
 Aunt 71 
 
 VIII. Aunt Frances Tells the Story of Her 
 
 Life 79 
 
 IX. They Raise the White Flag for Fran- 
 ces Slocum 107 
 
 X. Among the Miamis 119 
 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Frances Slocum 2 
 
 The Grave of the Lost Sister 5 
 
 The Mother's Last View of Little Frances . . 10 
 Ma-con-a-quah Tells Mr. Ewing Who She Is 24 
 
 Finding the Lost Sister 32 
 
 The Slocum Sisters Visit Their Aunt and 
 
 Indian Cousins 44 
 
 The Exile of Frances Slocum's Miami Friends 58 
 
 The Deaf Man's Village 72 
 
 The Course of Frances' Wanderings 80 
 
 They Raise the White Flag for Frances 
 
 Slocum 106 
 
 The Frances Slocum Trail 118 
 
 Land Cessions by the Miamis 120 
 
 Little Turtle 128 
 
 William Wells 130 
 
 John B. Richardville 132 
 
 Francis Godfroy 134 
 
 Francis LaFontaine and Wife 136 
 
 Me-shin-go-me-sia 138 
 
 Geo. R. Slocum and Wife 140 
 
 Daughters and Sons-in-Law of Frances Slo- 
 cum 142 
 
 Descendants of Frances Slocum 144-150 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 A CHILD STOLEN BY 
 THE INDIANS 
 
CHAPTER ONE 
 A Child Stolen by the Indians 
 
 A long time ago, in the Wyoming Valley along 
 the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, there 
 lived a five-year-old girl whose name was Fran- 
 ces Slocum. She had seven brothers and two 
 sisters. Her parents were Jonathan and Ruth 
 Slocum. They had brought their family from 
 the old home in Rhode Island a long way through 
 the forest to their new home. Many of their 
 neighbors also had moved here because of much 
 good farming land. 
 
 The year in which our story begins was 1778. 
 The Revolutionary War was going on. The 
 American colonists were trying to win their in- 
 dependence from the English government. The 
 Indians were helping the English fight the Ameri- 
 cans. During the summer of 1778 the Indians 
 and some of the English soldiers came into the 
 little Wyoming Valley and killed more than two 
 hundred men, women and children. 
 
 Most of the people who escaped fled to the 
 neighborhood fort for safety. Some of them 
 went back to their old homes in Connecticut. 
 Jonathan Slocum did not fear the Indians and re- 
 mained in his home with his family. He was a 
 Quaker. The Quakers and the Indians had been 
 
12 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 friends ever since William Penn, the Quaker, 
 treated the Indians so kindly. Jonathan Slocum 
 wore the broad-brimmed Quaker hat. The In- 
 dians knew that he was a Quaker and did not 
 molest him nor his family. 
 
 The oldest brother of Frances was Giles. 
 Though only eighteen years old he had gone with 
 the neighbors to fight the Indians and save their 
 homes. The Americans were defeated and Giles 
 came near being killed. His father being a 
 Quaker did not want him to fight. When the 
 Indians heard that Giles had fought against them, 
 they were angry. They did not know that he had 
 fought against his father's will. So they planned 
 revenge. 
 
 Everything was going well at the home of Jon- 
 athan Slocum on the morning of November 2, 
 1778. Mr. Slocum and his father-in-law, Isaac 
 Tripp, were working in the fields. Mrs. Slocum 
 was busy with her work about the house. Fran- 
 ces was playing with her three-year-old brother, 
 Joseph. Her older sister, Mary, was helping her 
 mother with the work. Two neighbor boys 
 named Kingsley were grinding a knife in the 
 yard. The older Kingsley boy, Nathan, wore a 
 soldier's suit. All would have been happy but for 
 the fact that so many of their friends had recently 
 been killed. No Indians had been seen for a long 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 13 
 
 time and the people thought they were all gone. 
 
 Suddenly a gun was heard. The mother was 
 horrified to see three Indians coming toward the 
 house. They had shot Nathan Kingsley and were 
 cutting off his scalp. The mother told the chil- 
 dren to hide. She took the baby and ran to hide 
 it in the thicket near by. Judith and Isaac fol- 
 lowed their mother to the thicket. Frances hid 
 under the stairway. But Mary took her little 
 brother, Joseph, and started towards the fort. An 
 Indian started after her, but seeing how brave she 
 was, laughed and let her go. 
 
 The Indians went into the house and looked 
 everywhere for sugar and other things they might 
 like. As they came down the stairway, one of 
 them saw the feet of little Frances at the closet 
 door. He pulled her out and took her into the 
 yard. Another Indian found her crippled 
 brother, Ebenezer, twelve years old. The third 
 Indian took Wareham Kingsley and all started 
 for the woods. 
 
 The mother seeing her children being carried 
 off by the Indians rushed from her hiding place to 
 help them. First she pointed to Ebenezer with his 
 crippled foot and said: "Why take him? He 
 can't walk. He will do thee no good." The In- 
 dian then saw that Ebenezer was crippled and let 
 him go. But one of them threw Frances over his 
 
14 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 shoulder and started off with her. The mother 
 pleaded but the hardhearted Indian paid no 
 attention. Little Frances cried and called for her 
 mother. With one hand holding out of her eyes 
 her beautiful auburn hair, and with the other 
 reaching for help, she cried, "Mother ! Mother !" 
 That was the last view the mother ever had of 
 little Frances. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE LONG SEARCH 
 
 FOR 
 THE LOST SISTER 
 
"They searched through many a forest wild 
 And swelling rivers crossed; 
 And yet the years brought on their wings 
 No tidings of the lost. 
 
 "Age sprinkled on their heads its frost; 
 They cherished still that name; 
 But from the forests of the west 
 No tale of Frances came." 
 
 —Todd. 
 
CHAPTER TWO 
 The Long Search for the Lost Sister 
 
 The news spread rapidly that Frances had been 
 stolen by the Indians. Mary, with her little 
 brother, soon reached the fort and told what had 
 happened. A company of soldiers came at once to 
 see about it. The father, grandfather, and older 
 brothers came from the fields. The mother was 
 wild with grief to think that her little Frances 
 was in the hands of angry Indians. They might 
 tomahawk her any moment. The brothers and 
 sisters were crying. Jonathan Slocum was usu- 
 ally brave and calm but this was too much for him 
 to bear calmly. He permitted the soldiers to help 
 him look for his stolen child. 
 
 With Indians around it was not safe for indi- 
 viduals to go very far into the woods. Groups of 
 soldiers and others searched everywhere in the 
 neighborhood of the Slocum home. The Indians 
 with their captives might be hidden somewhere in 
 the mountains. They might have taken to their 
 ponies and be far away by this time. But no trace 
 of them could be found. No tracks of Indian 
 ponies could be seen. As night came on all par- 
 ties returned, but Frances had not been found. 
 
 That night was a sad one for the Slocum fam- 
 ily. There were nine other children in the home 
 
18 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 but little Frances, because of her beauty and 
 cheerfulness, was the pet of the household. Now 
 to think of her being in the hands of Indians who 
 knew no pity when angry was enough to break 
 their hearts. Jonathan Slocum was a quiet 
 Quaker. He believed in God and silent prayer. 
 He sat through that long night, wondering why 
 it had happened, praying God to protect his child, 
 and thinking what to do next. 
 
 The next day the soldiers and neighbors 
 searched again but found no trace of Frances, 
 neither that day — nor the next — nor the next. 
 Because the war was on and the Indians were 
 fighting the Americans, it was not safe even for 
 soldiers to go far into the forests or mountains. 
 Since the Indians had turned against their best 
 friends, they might do anything at any time. Jon- 
 athan Slocum felt that he would have to trust his 
 lost child to the care of God. 
 
 As the days grew shorter and the nights grew 
 colder, Frances' mother thought much about her 
 lost child. If she were living would she be getting 
 anything to eat? Would the Indians treat her 
 kindly? Would she have enough to wear? A 
 few days before Frances was taken, her parents 
 had bought her a new pair of shoes. She was 
 barefooted when the Indians took her. Now the 
 little shoes reminded the mother every hour of her 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 19 
 
 lost child. She would often say: "Oh, if Fran- 
 ces just could have these little shoes !" 
 
 More sorrow was to come to the Slocum home. 
 Six weeks after Frances was taken, the Indians 
 came again. This time they went to the fields in- 
 stead of the house. They shot and killed Jona- 
 than Slocum and his father-in-law, Isaac Tripp. 
 They also wounded William, an older brother of 
 Frances, but he escaped to the fort. Again the 
 Indians fled before the soldiers could arrive. 
 Then they came no more. They had satisfied 
 their revenge in thinking wrongly that Jonathan 
 Slocum had not been true to them because Giles 
 had fought against them. The Indian, though 
 kind to friends, never forgives what he thinks is 
 an injury. 
 
 We will never know the grief and sorrow of 
 the Slocum home in the days that followed. Fath- 
 er and grandfather were dead. No word what- 
 ever came from Frances. Was she living or 
 dead? Where was she? The mother could be 
 reconciled to the death of her husband and her 
 father. She knew where they were buried. But 
 she could not be satisfied about Frances. Some- 
 how she believed that she was still living some- 
 where and that some time she would see her. 
 
 After three years this cruel war was over. The 
 Americans had won their independence. The 
 
20 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 English made peace. The Indians were more 
 peaceful. The older Slocum boys were now 
 young men. Their mother would have them go in 
 search for Frances. In 1784 Giles and William 
 went to Niagara Falls where there were many 
 whites and Indians. Many white people were 
 there who had been stolen, when children, by the 
 Indians and were now looking for their people. 
 But the brothers did not find their lost sister. 
 They offered large rewards for some word about 
 her, but they heard nothing. They returned home 
 much disappointed. 
 
 One day something happened that stirred the 
 Slocum home and all of the Wyoming Valley. 
 You will remember that when the Indians took 
 little Frances they took Wareham Kingsley also. 
 His friends had given him up as dead for they 
 thought the Indians would have killed him. Now 
 after many years he returned home and told his 
 story. He had been released from captivity. He 
 told how the Indians had taken him and Frances. 
 The first night they stayed in a deep cave not far 
 from their home. Then they traveled many days 
 to the Indian camp. They were together for some 
 time. Then they were separated and he saw 
 Frances no more. But he brought the good news 
 that the Indians were kind to Frances. They 
 would carry her when she was tired. They 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 21 
 
 would give her the best they had to eat. They 
 dressed her well and gave her a pair of pretty 
 Indian moccasins instead of her new shoes. They 
 seemed very fond of her because she had such 
 beautiful red hair. That, however, was years 
 ago, for he had spent years with the Indians. 
 What had become of Frances he did not know. 
 
 This bit of news caused Frances' mother to 
 believe all the more that Frances was living. In 
 1788 she would have her sons go far out to Ohio 
 which was then an Indian country. They made 
 the long trip but could not find their sister. The 
 next year she herself made a long and dangerous 
 trip to Niagara. There she saw many white chil- 
 dren who had been stolen, as Frances had been, 
 waiting for some of their friends to claim them. 
 Here Mrs. Slocum hoped to find Frances. She 
 found no one she could claim as her own. She 
 returned home disappointed. 
 
 Once more hope was to rise in the heart of this 
 sad mother. One day a young woman came to the 
 Slocum home. She said that she had been stolen 
 by the Indians when she was a child. She did not 
 know the names of her parents nor where she had 
 lived. She was now free from the Indians and 
 hoped that she might be the lost sister. Mrs. Slo- 
 cum received her kindly, but could find no reason 
 to believe that this woman was her lost child. 
 
22 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 The Slocum brothers heard of an old Indian 
 chief at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, who had married 
 a white woman. Making a long trip through the 
 wilderness to this frontier village, they found the 
 old chief and his white wife, but she was not their 
 sister. 
 
 Then they tried a new plan. They became 
 traders among the Indians. They drove some 
 cattle through the wilderness from Niagara to 
 Detroit. They offered the cattle and other mer- 
 chandise for trade or sale to the Indians. Their 
 object at all times was to get some word about 
 Frances. But the Indians could not, or would 
 not, give out any information. 
 
 So the years went by, but no word came from 
 Frances. The Slocum boys became men and were 
 very successful in business. The Slocum sisters 
 married well and were happy. On the Slocum 
 farm the city of Wilkes-Barre was laid out. The 
 mother had plenty of money, but she was never 
 happy. She always thought that Frances must be 
 alive and that some time she would see her. In 
 this hope she was to be disappointed. She lived 
 twenty-eight years after her child was stolen and 
 her husband and father were killed by the Indians. 
 She urged her sons and daughters that after her 
 death they should continue the search for their 
 lost sister. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A STRANGE STORY 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE FAR WEST 
 
to 
 
 o 
 
 c 
 
 3 
 
CHAPTER THREE 
 A Strange Story From the Far West 
 
 The incidents of this chapter occurred nearly 
 sixty years after Frances was stolen. If she were 
 alive she now would be an old woman. The broth- 
 ers and sisters living were all old men and women. 
 The mother had been dead thirty years and most 
 of the old neighbors were gone too. Most people 
 had forgotten the story about Frances. Her 
 brothers and sisters thought she was dead. They 
 had given up all hope of ever finding her. 
 
 The Indian wars were over. The red men had 
 given up the fight to keep the white men out of 
 their territory. Many people were moving from 
 Pennsylvania and other eastern states out to Indi- 
 ana and other western states. There were still 
 many Indians left in Indiana but they were soon 
 to be moved west of the Mississippi River. The 
 first white settlers in Indiana learned to know and 
 to like many of the Indians. 
 
 In 1835 at Logansport, Indiana, there was a 
 young man by the name of George Washington 
 Ewing. He was a merchant and a trader with 
 the Indians. He sold goods to them and would 
 purchase what they had to sell. He would often 
 go on horseback along the Wabash, Mississinewa 
 and Eel rivers where most of the Indians lived. 
 
26 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 One day he was out along the Mississinewa. 
 There were many Indian villages along this river. 
 He became so busy talking and trading with the 
 Indians that when night came he was seven miles 
 from Peru, the nearest town. There was a large 
 Indian trading post down the river, kept by a 
 friendly Indian, Francis Godfroy. Mr. Ewing 
 knew the Indians well and decided to ask to stay 
 all night at one of their cabins. He came to one 
 that was much better than the ordinary Indian 
 home. It was a double log house near a large 
 spring. A number of small buildings about made 
 the place look like a village. 
 
 When Mr. Ewing asked to stay all night he was 
 given a welcome. Two Indian women served him 
 a good supper. The husband of one of these 
 women talked to him quite friendly in the Miami 
 Indian language. The other young woman 
 seemed to be a widow with three little girls. The 
 person who interested Mr. Ewing most was an 
 old woman, the mother of the younger women. 
 She was treated with greatest kindness by every 
 member of the household. Mr. Ewing talked 
 with her in the language of the Miamis. She 
 could not talk English. Though she looked and 
 talked like an Indian, he began to wonder whether 
 she was not a white woman. 
 
 When it was time for the Indians to retire for 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 27 
 
 the night, the old woman asked her visitor to wait 
 awhile. She said that she wanted to tell him 
 something. She seemed very slow to begin. She 
 waited a long time. When she was certain that 
 all of the rest were asleep, she told Mr. Ewing a 
 most remarkable story. 
 
 She was not an Indian. She raised the shawl 
 from her arm. Where the sun and weather had 
 not touched her she was as white as any white 
 woman. She said that she had been stolen when 
 a child by the Indians. She did not remember 
 just where her home was but it was near the Sus- 
 quehanna River. All she remembered of her 
 father was that his name was Slocum, that he was 
 a Quaker and that he wore a broad-brimmed hat. 
 She had never seen nor heard of her folks after 
 she had been stolen. She had spent all of her life 
 with the Indians who had always treated her 
 kindly. She had married an Indian chief. They 
 had four children. Her husband and her two 
 boys were dead. Her oldest daughter had a hus- 
 band but no children. The youngest daughter, 
 who had three little girls, had been married twice. 
 The old woman had a good house, much land, and 
 plenty to make her happy. 
 
 Mr. Ewing listened with intense interest to this 
 remarkable story, asking her a question now and 
 then. She said that the reason she had not told 
 
28 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 her story before was because she feared her white 
 relatives would find her and take her away from 
 her Indian family. The only reason she told it 
 now was that she was sick and thought she would 
 not live long. She could not think of dying with- 
 out telling her story to some one. She asked Mr. 
 Ewing not to tell it while she was living. 
 
 The next day this young man returned to his 
 home in Logansport. He could not forget the 
 wonderful story that this old, white Indian 
 woman had told him. He could not keep it to 
 himself, so he told his mother. She told her son 
 that he must try and get this story back east 
 where some of the relatives of the old woman 
 might still be living. But to whom could he 
 write? Where could he write? Since the old 
 woman had told him that when a child she had 
 lived near the Susquehanna River, that helped 
 him to think. He wrote a letter to the postmaster 
 at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for that town was not 
 far from the Susquehanna. He told the post- 
 master the story of the old, white Indian woman 
 who said that her father's name was Slocum. He 
 asked the postmaster to try and get the informa- 
 tion to some people by that name. 
 
 The letter reached Lancaster all right. Mrs. 
 Mary Dickson was in the post office at that time 
 and read the letter. It seemed so strange that she 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 29 
 
 could not believe it. She laid the letter aside and 
 soon forgot about it. There it lay for two years. 
 Then a young man, John W. Forney, became 
 postmaster. He found this letter and read it. 
 He was interested in it. He published it in the 
 town paper, The Lancaster Intelligencer. People 
 read it and were interested. Slocum had become 
 a prominent name along the Susquehanna. Rev. 
 Samuel Bowman, a friend of the Slocums, sent a 
 copy of the paper to Joseph Slocum, who lived at 
 Wilkes-Barre. Joseph was the little brother 
 whom his sister, Mary, took to the fort the day 
 that the Indians stole Frances. That was nearly 
 sixty years ago. Could it be possible that this was 
 some real news about Frances? 
 
 Jonathan Slocum, son of Joseph, at once wrote 
 Mr. Ewing of Logansport to know whether the 
 old woman was still living, for this letter about 
 her was written two years before. They could 
 not expect a reply for some time, for letters trav- 
 eled slowly in those days. The Slocums, however, 
 had so much faith in this bit of news that they 
 began correspondence with one another to make 
 plans to find out whether the story was true. 
 Joseph wrote to his brother, Isaac, and to his sis- 
 ter, Mary, who now lived near Bellevue, Ohio, 
 telling them the news and suggesting that they 
 make further investigation. 
 
30 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 In less than three weeks, Jonathan Slocum, 
 namesake of his grandfather, received a long let- 
 ter from Logansport. Mr. Ewing said the old 
 woman was still living and was in better health 
 than she was two years ago. He gave rather a 
 full account of the family and conditions of the 
 old woman. From what Jonathan had written 
 him, Mr. Ewing had no doubts but that this 
 woman was the long lost sister. From what Mr. 
 Ewing wrote, the Slocums were convinced that 
 their lost sister was still living. There was much 
 excitement and interest among the Slocums and 
 in the Wyoming Valley. Preparations were at 
 once made for Joseph Slocum of Wilkes -Bar re, 
 his brother, Isaac, and his sister, Mary Towne, to 
 go in search once more for Frances. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 FINDING THE LOST SISTER 
 

 
 3 
 
 u 
 o 
 
 — — 
 
 CO 
 
CHAPTER FOUR 
 Finding the Lost Sister 
 
 A trip from Pennsylvania to Indiana today 
 seems easy by railroad or by auto. But one hun- 
 dred years ago there were no autos nor railroads. 
 Canals had been built in many places, but a trip 
 by the canals was long, slow and tiresome. The 
 only direct route was by horse, or by horse and 
 carriage, over very poor roads through the wil- 
 derness. This would be very hard for old people 
 like Joseph and Isaac Slocum, who were more 
 than sixty years old. Their sister, Mary Towne, 
 was nearly seventy. Joseph came out to Ohio 
 where the other two lived, and there they planned 
 the rest of the journey. Isaac went before on 
 horseback, while Joseph and Mary followed by 
 carriage. In a few days they all met at Peru. 
 
 Mary was too much worn out by the journey to 
 go with the brothers to see their Indian sister. 
 She remained at the Bearrs Hotel. Joseph and 
 Isaac, with an interpreter, Mr. Miller, rode on 
 horseback eight miles up the Mississinewa River 
 to where Mr. Ewing had met the old woman. 
 They were met by a half -Indian, Captain Brouil- 
 lette, who gave them a welcome to this Indian 
 home. The old woman received them coldly. She 
 could talk only in the Miami Indian language 
 
34 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 which Mr. Miller interpreted. She would not talk 
 much at all. She did not believe it when told that 
 these men thought she was their long lost sister. 
 She rather thought they were trying to deceive 
 her and rob her of her home. Joseph and Isaac 
 could not help expressing their emotions when 
 they believed that they had at last found Frances. 
 She was cold and indifferent. Was this old In- 
 dian woman really their sister, Frances? 
 
 The brothers said that they would know her by 
 one mark. Before Frances was stolen one of 
 them, while playing with her in their father's 
 blacksmith shop, struck her finger with a hammer 
 and cut off the end of it. Sure enough, this old 
 woman had a stub finger. She said that her 
 brother had cut it off before she was stolen. That 
 was proof enough, but there was still more. She 
 said that her father's name was Slocum, that he 
 was a Quaker, and wore a broad-brimmed hat. 
 She told how she was stolen. Her story agreed 
 with the story of how their sister, Frances, was 
 stolen. But it was difficult for them to convince 
 her that she was their sister. She had forgotten 
 her first name. "Was it Frances?" they asked 
 her. "Franca, Franca," she said with a smile. 
 This was the first sign of friendliness she showed. 
 She now welcomed them to her home as her 
 brothers. They had found their lost sister. 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 35 
 
 While the brothers were assured that this was 
 their sister, they could hardly understand how 
 she could be so changed. They were moved to 
 tears at the thought of finding her. She was cold 
 and showed little emotion. Could this old woman 
 who looked like an Indian, thought like an Indian, 
 talked and acted like an Indian be their sister who 
 was once the sweet-faced, auburn-haired Fran- 
 ces? They could not realize what sixty years of 
 living with the Indians had done for her. 
 
 Frances told her brothers something of the 
 story of her life. The Indians had always been 
 kind to her. An old Indian and his wife had 
 adopted her as their own child. Though she had 
 lived with them and wandered here and there with 
 them for years, she had been happy. She was so 
 young when she was stolen and so helpless that 
 she soon forgot her parents and her home. She 
 had worked hard all her life as all Indian women 
 did. When the Indians had plenty, she had her 
 share. When they did not have much to eat, she 
 went hungry with them. When they fled from the 
 white men, she fled with them. No doubt she had 
 often rejoiced when the Indians defeated the 
 whites. She knew the Indian was often cruel, but 
 she knew also that the white man could be just as 
 cruel. She herself was not cruel. 
 
36 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 After years of wandering in Pennsylvania, 
 Ohio, Michigan, Canada and Indiana, her foster 
 parents died. About that time she married an 
 Indian chief. They lived together at Fort Wayne 
 for a few years and then moved to the Osage Vil- 
 lage near the mouth of the Mississinewa. Her 
 husband was a war chief and a fighter. His name 
 was She-po-co-nah. When he became older he 
 lost his hearing. Since he could not lead the In- 
 dians in battle any longer, because he was deaf, 
 he and Frances left the Osage Village and came 
 up the river to this place. Here they built for 
 themselves a home. The Indians called her Ma- 
 con-a-quah. The name meant "Little Bear Wom- 
 an" because she was so strong. She did much 
 work in building this home. The Indians called it 
 the Deaf Man's Village, because her husband was 
 so deaf. 
 
 When found by her brothers, she had lived at 
 this place more than twenty years. She had had 
 four children, two boys and two girls. Her hus- 
 band and her two sons were dead and were buried 
 on the hill above her house. Her oldest daughter 
 was married to this Captain Brouillette. They 
 had no children. He was very kind to Frances 
 and directed the affairs of the farm very well. 
 Her youngest daughter had been married three 
 times and now had three little daughters. Her 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 37 
 
 husbands were all bad Indians, and all had been 
 killed in Indian fights. 
 
 After the brothers had learned this much about 
 the family, they more freely talked to their sister 
 and her family. The two daughters served a 
 good meal for their visitors. The brothers tried 
 to keep up the conversation with their sister 
 through the interpreter. 
 
 Surely, they thought, she would want to go 
 back home with them to their old home in Penn- 
 sylvania. Everyone would be so glad to see her. 
 She should share with them all they had. But 
 Frances said that she would not leave her Indian 
 family and friends. When her husband died she 
 had promised him that she would never leave the 
 Indians. They had always treated her well. She 
 had a good home, plenty of land, and much prop- 
 erty. Besides, she said, she would not know how 
 to act were she to leave her Indian home in the 
 woods and try to live where her brothers did. She 
 would be like a fish out of water. 
 
 Her brothers saw that their sister had spoken 
 much truth. But surely she would want to go 
 back just for a visit, to see where she had once 
 lived, where her parents were buried, and to see 
 many of her relatives. But here again their In- 
 dian sister said, "No." She would not know how 
 to act. Everything would be so different. She 
 
38 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 would get very homesick for her Indian home and 
 family. Something might happen that she could 
 not get back. She said she would be like an old 
 tree that would die if you removed it to another 
 place. Were she a young sapling as she was when 
 she was stolen, she might be taken to another place 
 and live. 
 
 The brothers made one more request. Their 
 sister, Mary, was older than any of them. She 
 was much worn out by the long journey and had 
 remained at Peru. Would Frances go with them 
 so that she could see Mary and all of them could 
 be together once more ? Here again she was cau- 
 tious. She said she would have to ask her friend 
 and adviser, Chief Francis Godf roy, who kept the 
 trading post three miles down the river. Some 
 one was sent to ask him his advice. 
 
 While waiting for the reply of Chief Godf roy, 
 the brothers had opportunity to walk about the 
 place. They saw that her home was much better 
 than most Indian homes. It was even better 
 than many pioneer white homes they had seen on 
 the way. They saw that she had many Indian 
 ponies, many hogs and some cattle. They noted 
 that the Indians had raised corn and many other 
 things to eat, such as pumpkins, squashes, and 
 beans. They raised chickens and geese. They 
 observed her home on the banks of the beautiful 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 39 
 
 river with the ridge of hills just beyond. Their 
 sister was indeed living like an Indian princess. 
 Her family and friends treated her like a princess. 
 The brothers could now understand why she was 
 happy and did not want to return with them. 
 
 Word soon came from Chief Godf roy advising 
 Frances to go with her brothers to Peru. So she, 
 her two daughters and her son-in-law went with 
 them. The visit that evening was brief. Mary, 
 like her brothers, was moved to tears to meet her 
 long lost sister, but Frances showed little emotion. 
 Since it was getting late in the day she was anx- 
 ious to go back home for the night, promising to 
 return with her family the next day. Her broth- 
 ers and sister could hardly realize how their sister 
 could be so cold when they were so glad at finding 
 her. But after all it was a great joy that they had 
 found her. 
 
 The next day was Sunday. True to the prom- 
 ise she had made, the Indian sister and her family 
 came riding into Peru in Indian fashion. They 
 had fat ponies and their saddles and bridles were 
 of the best. They came riding single file with 
 Ma-con-a-quah leading the way. She and her 
 daughters were riding astride like men. They 
 were good riders too. There were many decora- 
 tions on both the ponies and the riders that made 
 the whole look like a line of savages. This was 
 
40 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 Sunday to the Slocums from the east but their In- 
 dian relatives knew nothing about Sunday. 
 
 When they came to the hotel they were a little 
 quiet at first. The Indian knew how to be formal 
 at times and how to make much of an important 
 meeting. This was an important meeting to 
 them. The oldest daughter was carrying a good- 
 sized bundle wrapped in a clean white cloth. Be- 
 fore they could be friends, even to their relatives, 
 they must give something. This was the hind 
 quarter of a deer, carefully wrapped and ready to 
 present. The interpreter explained how it was a 
 token of friendship and kindness. Sister Mary 
 must receive it with due thanks. When all of this 
 was done, the Indian relatives dropped their for- 
 mality and were at ease with their friends. The 
 daughters were ready to talk as best they could 
 through the interpreter. 
 
 Frances and her family listened with much in- 
 terest to the story of their family and friends back 
 east. They heard the Slocums tell about the mur- 
 der of their father and grandfather and how their 
 mother lived and died hoping to find her lost 
 daughter. They learned about the long search 
 that had been made for Frances. It was with dif- 
 ficulty, however, that they were able to get Fran- 
 ces to tell of her captivity and her long life among 
 the Indians. She was still cautious, especially 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 41 
 
 when she saw her brothers taking down notes on 
 paper. Indians never wrote anything on paper. 
 She wondered what her brothers were doing. 
 
 Again the brothers urged her to return to the 
 east with them just for a visit. Again she re- 
 fused. She said she would not know how to act 
 back there. She would soon get homesick for her 
 family and Indian friends. She might get sick 
 and die there. She wanted to die out here in the 
 forest and be buried by her husband and sons. 
 Her daughters also objected, saying that their 
 mother would not be happy in any other place 
 than her forest home. She would be like a deer 
 out of the forest or a fish out of water. 
 
 Captain Brouillette told the Slocums how he 
 had tried in every way to make his mother-in-law 
 happy. He was not a drunkard, as many of the 
 Indians were. He was not shiftless and lazy. He 
 worked and managed that his family might have 
 plenty to eat and be happy. He had always been 
 kind to Frances and assured her brothers and sis- 
 ter that he would continue to take good care of 
 her. Frances assured them that her son-in-law 
 had told the truth. Her daughters and other 
 members of the family were good to her and did 
 the work. All she had to do was to help as she 
 felt like it and give such advice as she thought 
 best to give. She had a good family, a good home, 
 
42 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 much land, plenty to eat, and everything to make 
 her happy. While living and acting in many ways 
 like an Indian, yet she was living respectable and 
 upright. She was indeed living like an Indian 
 princess, the widow of a great chief. 
 
 Frances and her family remained at Peru three 
 days with her brothers and sister. They had the 
 best rooms that the Bearrs Hotel of that day could 
 provide. It was hard for these children of the 
 forest to stay in town long or live at a hotel. In 
 many ways Frances showed her Indian nature. 
 On one occasion the people of the town crowded 
 into the hotel until the air was no longer fresh. 
 Frances was tired and left the room. In a few 
 minutes her brother found her lying on the porch, 
 wrapped in her blanket, sound asleep. Neither 
 she nor her daughters would sleep in hotel beds 
 but would wrap themselves in their blankets and 
 sleep on the floor. During these three days the 
 brothers and sisters had many pleasant moments 
 together. They ate together, walked together, 
 and talked together as best they could through an 
 interpreter. But Frances soon tired of all this 
 and was anxious to return to her home. After 
 affectionate farewells she and her family returned 
 to their home on the beautiful Mississinewa, while 
 her brothers and sister returned to their eastern 
 homes. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE SLOCUM SISTERS VISIT THEIR 
 INDIAN COUSINS 
 
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CHAPTER FIVE 
 
 The Slocum Sisters Visit Their 
 Indian Cousins 
 
 When Joseph Slocum returned to his Pennsyl- 
 vania home he had much to tell about finding his 
 sister, Frances. Everybody was interested in this 
 strange story and wanted to know all about it. 
 He said he was going to make another visit soon 
 to see his sister and family. It was nearly two 
 more years before he could arrange to go. Then 
 his two daughters, Hannah and Harriet, asked to 
 go with him. He was glad to take them. We are 
 all glad that they went, for they saw many things 
 that their father would not have noticed. 
 
 It took them twenty days to make the trip from 
 their home at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to the 
 home of their relatives on the Mississinewa, near 
 Peru, Indiana. They had to travel by poor car- 
 riages and coaches over the worst kind of roads. 
 They went around through the state of New York 
 where they traveled on river boats, canal boats 
 and finally a large boat on Lake Erie. The last 
 part of their journey was on the new canal that 
 had been built from Fort Wayne to Peru. Hotel 
 accommodations were very poor. There was 
 much drinking and gambling at all of these places. 
 The Slocums did not take part in any such things. 
 
46 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 At Peru, Joseph Slocum secured a kind of lum- 
 ber wagon and a team of Indian ponies. The 
 driver was none too sober. So the eight-mile trip 
 up the Mississinewa was somewhat exciting. 
 They passed a number of Indian villages on the 
 way. They passed the trading post of the Indian 
 Chief, Francis Godf roy. Joseph had met him on 
 his first visit two years before. The chief seemed 
 glad to see him and would have welcomed Joseph 
 and his daughters as his guests, but they were 
 eager to go on and see their own Indian relatives. 
 
 When they were near the Deaf Man's Village, 
 Captain Brouillette met them. He rode a fine 
 Indian pony that was decorated with the very best 
 saddle, bridle and trimmings. He welcomed the 
 visitors and then rode forward to tell his family 
 that their eastern relatives were coming. 
 
 Joseph was glad to see his sister again and she 
 seemed just as glad to see him. She was no 
 longer reserved as on the first visit. She and her 
 daughters were happy and curious to see their 
 cousins from the east. They soon became ac- 
 quainted and all began talking as best they could 
 through the interpreter. They knew now that 
 they were of the same family and talked about 
 family resemblances. 
 
 Hannah and Harriet had to learn the names of 
 their cousins. All of them had Indian names that 
 
I AMONG THE MIAMIS 47 
 
 seemed odd enough to those who had never heard 
 them before. Aunt Frances' husband, who had 
 been dead six years, was known as Chief She-po- 
 co-nah. Frances had an Indian name all her own. 
 They called her Ma-con-a-quah, meaning Little 
 Bear Woman. She was not tall but she was very 
 strong. When younger, she could run races with 
 the swiftest Indians. She could break the wild- 
 est ponies to ride. Even now at sixty-six she was 
 strong enough to do much work. 
 
 The oldest daughter was called Ke-ke-nok-esh- 
 wa. The meaning of her name was "Cut-Fin- 
 ger." They called her that because she was the 
 daughter of the woman who had her finger cut 
 off. She had an English name, too. Her hus- 
 band was called Captain Brouillette. So Ke-ke- 
 nok-esh-wa was often called Nancy Brouillette. 
 The Indian name of Frances' younger daughter 
 was O-zah-shin-quah, meaning "Yellow Leaf." 
 She, too, had an English name, Jane. She had 
 been married three times to Indian husbands. 
 They were no good and had been killed in various 
 Indian fights. She had three little daughters. 
 Each had an Indian name, but it is easier to re- 
 member what the names of these little girls meant 
 in English, Corn Tassel, Blue Corn, and Young 
 Panther. In later years they were given Chris- 
 tian names, Eliza, Frances and Elizabeth. 
 
48 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 Nancy was rather large of stature. She was 
 good looking and goodnatured. She was inclined 
 to talk much. She had a good husband who 
 treated her and her mother well. She had had 
 one great sorrow in her life. Her only child was 
 a daughter who had been murdered by a drunken, 
 worthless Indian because she would not marry 
 him. At the time of this visit, Nancy was about 
 thirty-six years old. 
 
 Jane was not so tall but more heavy set like her 
 mother. She was not so talkative. No doubt her 
 unfortunate experiences with Indian husbands 
 had made her so. Her three little girls were in- 
 clined to be shy and silent. They, too, had had 
 sad experiences with drunken fathers. At this 
 time Jane was about twenty-four years old. Han- 
 nah and Harriet noticed that all of their women 
 relatives dressed well. They wore much jewelry. 
 During the visit there was much talk about each 
 other's dresses. No doubt there would have been 
 much more if they could have talked together 
 without an interpreter. 
 
 Captain Brouillette was half French and half 
 Indian. His French name was about as difficult 
 to pronounce as an Indian name. It sounds some- 
 thing like Bu-re-et. His Indian name was Te- 
 qua-ke-aw. He was tall, slender, and straight. 
 He had black eyes and jet black hair. His clothes 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 49 
 
 were very fine for an Indian. He wore a fine 
 broadcloth coat. A red shawl was tied around 
 his head, with the ends hanging down his back. 
 He wore a beautiful sash tied around his long 
 shirt. Blue leggings and moccasins gave him a 
 fine appearance. He was one of the most hand- 
 some men they had seen. 
 
 After they had become acquainted with one an- 
 other, the next part of the program was a good 
 meal together. It was made up of fried venison, 
 potatoes, shortcake and coffee. There was plenty 
 of maple sugar cakes for use. Aunt Frances sat 
 at the table with her brother and nieces. Nancy 
 served. A clean cotton cloth had been spread on 
 the table. The dishes were wiped clean before 
 being used. After dinner they were washed clean 
 and replaced on the shelves. They had good 
 plates and dishes and clever little cups and sauc- 
 ers. The floor was swept clean. Such care was 
 not common among Indians, but it pleased the 
 eastern relatives. Aunt Frances explained that 
 she remembered how her mother once was care- 
 ful with her house. She had taught her daugh- 
 ters that way, too. 
 
 The Indian cousins were eager to talk. In 
 order that they might have more time with their 
 visitors, they had an Indian squaw come in and 
 help with the supper. All conversations had to be 
 
50 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 made through an interpreter. Since Mr. Miller 
 had to return to Peru, Joseph secured the services 
 of a colored man as interpreter. It was interest- 
 ing to see white sisters talking to Indian cousins 
 by the help of a Negro interpreter. 
 
 Hannah and Harriet, in harmony with the cus- 
 tom of Pennsylvania women, brought their knit- 
 ting along. Aunt Frances was much interested 
 in this for she recalled how her mother used to 
 spin and reel yarn for knitting purposes. She 
 tried to show her daughters how it was done. The 
 Indian cousins were quite willing to take these 
 lessons in knitting. The Indian women them- 
 selves did some fine embroidery work. They liked 
 to work beads and other ornaments into cloth. 
 They had dresses richly embroidered with silver 
 brooches. Aunt Frances had a shawl that showed 
 much careful work. She and her daughters wore 
 much jewelry such as earrings, bracelets on the 
 arms and strings of beads around their necks. 
 
 Hannah and Harriet have given us a much bet- 
 ter description of Frances than others have done. 
 She was not large nor was she much bent for one 
 who had gone through the hardships she had 
 known. Her hair, once auburn, was now some- 
 what gray. She kept it tied up neatly in club 
 fashion. Her face was much wrinkled and long 
 exposure to weather caused it to look much like 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 51 
 
 that of an Indian. She had a scar on her left 
 cheek. This she had received at an Indian dance. 
 She dressed well. While on this visit Joseph 
 arranged with a noted artist, Mr. George Win- 
 ters, to paint a picture of Frances. 
 
 The first day of the visit was largely spent in 
 getting acquainted, talking about their families 
 and examining each other's clothes. They spent 
 much time at the tables where two good meals 
 were served. When time came to retire the vis- 
 itors received special attention. There were six 
 beds in the house, made of skins, blankets and 
 other goods of which there was a plenty. There 
 was but one pillow which was given to Joseph 
 because of his age. The daughters reported that 
 they slept very well though they were in a strange 
 land and in an Indian country. As for Frances 
 and her daughters, they had little use for beds 
 such as their eastern relatives were used to. They 
 could wrap up in their Indian blankets, lie down 
 on the floor and sleep well without mattress or 
 pillow. 
 
 Besides the rude beds, there was an ordinary 
 dining table, cupboards for the dishes, and a few 
 splint bottom chairs. There was a looking glass 
 of which the girls made much use. There were 
 many ornaments of Indian make about the walls. 
 There were also some Indian weapons of war. 
 
52 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 In the few days that the Slocums visited the 
 Deaf Man's Village, they had many opportunities 
 to observe the home and surroundings of their 
 relatives. The house was a double log cabin with 
 two large rooms and a porch between. There was 
 another small room built at one end of this house. 
 Frances explained that she thought of building a 
 better house but did not want to make the Indians 
 jealous. Near by her house was a large spring 
 from which flowed a large stream of water the 
 year around. There were other buildings about 
 where some of the stock was kept as well as corn 
 and hay to feed. 
 
 The two daughters of Frances owned 640 acres 
 of land that had been given them by the govern- 
 ment. Hannah reported that they counted fifty 
 or sixty ponies, one hundred head of hogs, seven- 
 teen head of cattle, and many geese and chickens. 
 They saw, too, that there was much corn and hay 
 to feed the stock during the winter. Captain 
 Brouillette was a good farmer for an Indian. 
 Although he was a successful hunter, he was one 
 of the first among the Indians to realize that the 
 Indian would have to depend upon something 
 besides hunting for a living. Besides food for 
 the stock there were squashes, beans and pump- 
 kins, potatoes and other food for the household. 
 With plenty of maple sugar for the winter and 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS S3 
 
 with plenty of wild game still in the forests there 
 was no danger of their Indian relatives going 
 hungry. Many of the Indians did not provide 
 ahead for the winter and suffered much hunger. 
 Out of annuities paid by the government, Frances 
 had saved some money. 
 
 During these few days Hannah and Harriet 
 became much in love with the place. Nancy and 
 Jane would often go with them to some of the 
 beautiful spots. The Mississinewa River flowed 
 right in front of their door. Just across the river 
 was a ridge of low hills covered with trees. An 
 early frost had caused the leaves to turn brown 
 and golden already. The corn and the pumpkins 
 were ripening in the fields. The whole scene pre- 
 sented a beautiful picture. It reminded the east- 
 ern Slocums of many such places in some parts of 
 Pennsylvania. They were happy to know that 
 their aunt and cousins had such a good, pleasant 
 home. 
 
 Joseph Slocum and Frances had many conver- 
 sations by the aid of the interpreter. He did not 
 try, as he had done on his first visit, to persuade 
 Frances to go back east with him. She, however, 
 asked him to come and live with her. She offered 
 him much land if he would do so. The coming of 
 the white men had made many problems for her. 
 But Joseph was old and had his home and family 
 
54 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 back east. He was satisfied to know how well his 
 sister was being cared for out west. Captain 
 Brouillette assured him that he would always take 
 good care of Aunt Frances. 
 
 Frances showed that she loved her home and 
 her Indian family. She went with her brother 
 and nieces to the little hill above her house where 
 her husband and sons were buried. She explained 
 how she expected to be buried there soon. They 
 would raise a white flag there so the Great Spirit 
 would not forget where they were buried. 
 
 When the time came for Joseph and his daugh- 
 ters to return home, Aunt Frances and her daugh- 
 ters went with them as far as Peru. It was 
 planned to make the trip on horseback. Since 
 Frances had only one sidesaddle, she waded the 
 river and walked a mile to borrow one so that 
 each of her nieces could have one. She and her 
 daughters used men's saddles and rode like men. 
 It was a pleasant trip for Flannah and Harriet to 
 ride down the river eight miles, in single file, as 
 the Indians ride. They forded the Mississinewa 
 twice and had more opportunity to see something 
 of its beauty. They forded the Wabash to get 
 into Peru. 
 
 The party spent the last night together in the 
 Bearrs Hotel. The cousins kept up their active 
 conversations as best they could through the inter- 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 55 
 
 preter. The Indian cousins seemed so glad that 
 their eastern relatives had come to visit them. 
 Joseph and Frances had some touching farewell 
 talks for they knew they would not likely see each 
 other again. Frances was quite different than 
 when her brothers and sister visited her two years 
 before. Now she was cheerful and free to talk. 
 She seemed so happy that her brother had come 
 again and had brought his daughters. Joseph was 
 happy to see his sister so changed. She seemed to 
 be recalling the days of her childhood and realized 
 her relationship to the Slocum family. The next 
 morning the brother and sister and cousins gave 
 each other an affectionate good-by. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 SAD DAYS FOR FRANCES SLOCUM 
 
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CHAPTER SIX 
 Sad Days for Frances Slocum 
 
 During the years that followed the discovery 
 of Frances Slocum and the visits of her relatives 
 from the east, many sad experiences came into her 
 life. The Indians had been completely defeated in 
 the wars with the white men. White settlers were 
 coming in great numbers and were crowding the 
 Indians back more and more. The white men 
 brought many sorrows to a people trying to adjust 
 themselves to new and untried ways. Frances 
 Slocum shared with her adopted people all of their 
 sorrows. 
 
 Many of her old friends to whom she had 
 looked for help were dying. One of these was 
 Francis Godf roy who died in May, 1840. He was 
 her trusted friend and adviser. He had been 
 elected by the Indian chiefs to take the place of 
 her own husband as war chief of the Miamis. 
 He had come to be known as a wise and powerful 
 leader of his people. 
 
 Francis Godf roy was half French, half Indian. 
 His mother was an Indian squaw. His father 
 was a Frenchman of the famous Godf roy family. 
 He could trace his ancestry back to the crusader 
 Godfroy, who was first to plant the flag of the 
 crusaders on the walls of Jerusalem in 1099. He 
 
60 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 was a large man, weighing more than three hun- 
 dred pounds. He was very brave. He led the 
 Indians in the attack on the army of Colonel 
 Campbell at the battle of the Mississinewa. While 
 he was a friend of the whites in many ways, he 
 did not think it was right for General Harrison to 
 send this army into the Indian country and attack 
 his friends. 
 
 Godfroy was one of the richest Indians in the 
 United States. His trading post on the Wabash 
 River, near the Mississinewa, was the greatest 
 center of business activity in all this part of the 
 country. He would purchase skins and whatever 
 else the Indians and early white settlers had to 
 sell. He would ship these things to New York 
 where he received a high price for them. In turn 
 he bought goods in New York to sell to the In- 
 dians and pioneer white men. Isaac and Joseph 
 Slocum both visited his trading post which was 
 called Mount Pleasant. It was made up of a num- 
 ber of log houses that enclosed a square. A thick 
 log wall filled up the space between the houses. 
 Within this place he always had much goods col- 
 lected. Here he entertained many of his friends 
 and fed many poor people. He was very generous 
 to his Indian friends for many of them were very 
 poor. 
 
 Godfroy had an important part in many treaties 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 61 
 
 with the Americans. He received much land and 
 much money from the American government. He 
 had much influence with the government and with 
 American officials. Frances Slocum often came 
 to him for help and advice. So when he died she 
 felt the loss very much. She did not know what 
 she and the Indians would do without his help and 
 protection. His death brought a great sorrow 
 into her life. 
 
 In 1841 the general chief of the Miamis, John 
 B. Richardville, died. He, too, was half French, 
 half Indian. He was a nephew of the great 
 Indian chief, Little Turtle. On his father's side 
 he was related to some of the bluest blood of 
 France. He succeeded his uncle as general chief 
 of the Miamis. He was a wise chief and had 
 much influence with both Indians and white men. 
 He was the richest Indian in the United States 
 and one of the richest men in Indiana at the time 
 of his death. He was a very successful merchant. 
 He owned thousands of acres of land from Fort 
 Wayne to Logansport. He once lived at the 
 Osage Village on the Mississinewa near Peru. 
 Frances Slocum lived there with her war-chief 
 husband at that time. wShe became well acquainted 
 with him and looked to him for advice and for 
 protection. His death caused her much grief and 
 much concern. 
 
62 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 About this time occurred the death of another 
 prominent chief, Me-toc-in-yah. He lived twelve 
 miles up the river from Deaf Man's Village, at 
 the mouth of what is now Jocinah Creek. Jocinah 
 is the name Me-toc-in-yah, changed somewhat. 
 The Me-toc-in-yah village was one of the largest 
 in Indiana. It was destroyed by the army of 
 Colonel Campbell on Dec. 17, 1812. It was re- 
 built and here the old chief lived and died. He 
 had the largest family and the largest village of 
 all the chiefs. He had great influence with the 
 Americans. He of all the chiefs was permitted to 
 keep his family together in Indiana when the 
 other Indians were sent west. Frances Slocum 
 knew him well. Their grandchildren intermar- 
 ried. His death meant another loss to her. 
 
 During her long life among the Indians, Fran- 
 ces Slocum had known the greatest Indian chiefs 
 of America. She had also become acquainted 
 with some of the greatest Americans of her day. 
 General William Henry Harrison, after becoming 
 President of the United States, told one of her 
 friends that he had seen her many times and knew 
 her well. John Tipton and Lewis Cass, prominent 
 men of that day, knew her well. As these old 
 friends, both Indians and white men, were passing 
 away, she felt the loss very keenly. 
 
 Frances Slocum had known many tragedies of 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 63 
 
 Indian life and many wrongdoings of the Indians. 
 They had killed many white people. But they 
 killed each other too. They were often just as 
 cruel to each other as they were to the white peo- 
 ple. On the other hand the whites were cruel to 
 the Indians. Frances never approved of any of 
 this. She did all she could to keep peace. No 
 doubt she often kept the Indians from going to 
 war, or made peace between the Indians. 
 
 She was well acquainted with one incident sim- 
 ilar to her own experience. During the war of 
 1812, after the army of Colonel Harrison had de- 
 stroyed the Me-toc-in-yah Village, the Indians of 
 the Mississinewa went south to get revenge. In 
 southern Indiana, near what is now Connersville, 
 there lived a white settler by the name of Moses 
 Thorpe. He lived on the banks of White Water 
 River. One evening in the spring of 1813, while 
 he was entertaining the Methodist preacher in his 
 home, his three little girls were playing along the 
 riverbank. Two of them came running in, say- 
 ing that their sister was being carried off by the 
 Indians. Mr. Thorpe ran to the river to find that 
 this was true. The Indians had taken his little 
 girl and were gone. Since it was now night, he 
 could do nothing more than wait till the next day. 
 
 On the morrow a company of men traced the 
 Indians to the Indian village near what is now 
 
64 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 Muncie. They dared not go farther. War was 
 going on and the woods were full of Indians. Mr. 
 Thorpe did not hear from his daughter for years. 
 After the war he visited the Indian villages in 
 northern Indiana and found her near the Me-toc- 
 in-yah village. She had been stolen by these Mis- 
 sissinewa Indians and raised at this village. 
 When she was old enough she was married to a 
 son of the old chief, Me-toc-in-yah. The Indian 
 name of her husband was Me-ta-kek-waw. The 
 whites later called him Captain Dixon. He and 
 his white wife built a home down the river from 
 the chief's village, near what is known as the 
 "hog-back" of the Mississinewa. Here her white 
 relatives found her but she would remain with her 
 Indian family. 
 
 Mrs. Dixon was brought up with the Indians 
 and did not have any schooling as the whites had. 
 When the white man, Jacob Sailors, taught the 
 first school in the country west of what is now 
 Lafontaine, Mrs. Dixon would send her son, 
 Charley, to school. Her husband was a good 
 Indian when sober, but when he was drunk he 
 was very mean. When she could no longer stand 
 this kind of a life, she walked down to the river 
 near "the hog-back." She was seen to take one 
 more look at her home. Perhaps she had 
 thoughts of her white friends in southern Indiana. 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 65 
 
 Then she leaped into the river and was drowned. 
 The beautiful Mississinewa became her grave. 
 It buried her sorrows as well as her body. She 
 has grandchildren living today. 
 
 Frances Slocum knew Mrs. Dixon and the 
 story of her life. It was similar to her own. But 
 while her own life with the Indians had been 
 happy, the life of Hannah Thorpe had been very 
 unhappy because of drink and its effect upon the 
 Indians. 
 
 Whisky and other intoxicating liquors were 
 the worst curse that ever came to the Indian. The 
 white man was the cause of it. The Indian knew 
 nothing of drunkenness until the white man 
 taught it to him. The white man sold the Indian 
 the whisky to make him drunk. The Indian was 
 like a child in that he had no control over his appe- 
 tite. He liked whisky and would give anything to 
 get it. When he received his money from the gov- 
 ernment, he would soon spend the last cent of it 
 for drink. Then he and his family would have to 
 go hungry. 
 
 Many an Indian who was good when sober 
 would become a brute when drunk. They would 
 fight and kill each other. Many an Indian was 
 killed by his friend. Some of the Indian chiefs 
 became victims of drink. 
 
 Little Turtle, the great Indian chief, said that 
 
66 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 drink had killed more Indians than all wars and 
 diseases put together. While he did all that he 
 could to keep his people from drinking whisky, he 
 also did all he could to keep the white men from 
 selling his Indians whisky. He went to the state 
 legislatures of Kentucky and Ohio and tried to 
 get them to pass a law against white men selling 
 Indians whisky. He went to the city of Washing- 
 ton and appealed to President Thomas Jefferson 
 for such a law. He went to Baltimore to ask the 
 Quakers to help him. In this he was only partly 
 successful. But he has earned the right to be 
 called the first prohibitionist in Indiana, and the 
 founder of one of the first temperance societies in 
 America. 
 
 Frances Slocum knew the awful results of 
 drink. Many of her best Indian friends had died 
 because of it. Her youngest daughter, O-zah- 
 shin-quah, had now been married four times. 
 None of her husbands amounted to very much, 
 and all but one had been killed, because of drink. 
 Though many of the Indian women drank, Ma- 
 con-a-quah never did. She did all that she could 
 to keep her family and others from drinking. The 
 results of drink made her very sad during her last 
 years. 
 
 Frances Slocum had long thought of building 
 a new house. She had saved the money to build 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 67 
 
 it. The one in which she had lived so long was 
 getting very old. It was down by the river on low 
 ground. She decided to build the new one farther 
 up the hill near the graves of her husband and 
 sons. There she had a much better view of her 
 farm home and the surrounding country. It was 
 not so much bigger than the old one, but it was 
 better arranged for farmers. There were places 
 to care for fruit and vegetables. But strange to 
 say this new home brought her little joy. Many 
 sorrows were coming into her life. Many of her 
 Indian friends were poor. Many of them were 
 being taken west. It made them jealous and bit- 
 ter to see Frances and her family living in a good, 
 new house, while they had lost their homes. 
 
 When Frances and her husband settled on the 
 Mississinewa all of northern Indiana belonged to 
 the Indians. It had been promised to them for- 
 ever by treaties with the white man. But when 
 more white men came they wanted more of the 
 Indian lands. Finally another treaty was made at 
 St. Mary's, Ohio, in 1818. The Miami Indians 
 gave up all of their lands in Indiana except nine 
 hundred square miles south of the Wabash River 
 between the mouth of the Salamonie at what is 
 now Lagro and the mouth of Eel River at what is 
 now Logansport. It was to belong to the Miami 
 Indians forever. This made, Frances, her hus- 
 
68 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 band and other Indians happy. While they could 
 not hunt over as much land as they did at one 
 time, they still had the beautiful Mississinewa and 
 much good land as their own. Frances and her 
 husband had a permanent home on the banks of 
 the Mississinewa and felt secure for the future. 
 
 The Indians, however, were soon to learn more 
 about the white man. When the white man said 
 "forever" it meant about twenty years for the 
 Indians. More white men came and more Indian 
 land was granted. All other Indians in Indiana 
 had to give up their lands and had moved on west 
 of the Mississippi. Finally the Miami Indians 
 had to give up their lands also. The treaties made 
 near Huntington at the Forks of the Wabash in 
 1838 and 1840 took away all of the Big Reserve, 
 as this territory of nine hundred miles was called, 
 except some special grants to certain Indians. 
 
 The Indian chiefs were well taken care of. 
 Much land was given to John B. Richardville and 
 Francis Godfroy and their families. The family 
 of old chief Me-toc-in-yah received ten square 
 miles up the Mississinewa. When Me-toc-in-yah 
 died, his son, Me-shin-go-me-sia, became the last 
 tribal chief of the Mianiis. This was the only 
 reserve left in Indiana that the Indians owned as 
 a tribe. All other grants of lands were to individ- 
 ual Indians. When Frances Slocum was first 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 69 
 
 adopted into the Miami tribe of Indians, they 
 claimed most of Indiana and the western part of 
 Ohio, more than fifty thousand square miles. 
 Now they had lost all to the white man except the 
 Me-shin-go-me-sia reserve of ten square miles 
 and what a few other Indians owned. 
 
 In 1838, one section of land, 640 acres, was 
 given to the two daughters of Frances. Her name 
 was not mentioned in the grant, but it was under- 
 stood that it was to be hers, too, as long as she 
 lived. Later when other Indians were driven 
 west, some cruel white men wanted to make Fran- 
 ces go too. This stirred up her friends. They 
 petitioned the United States Congress at Wash- 
 ington to permit Frances to remain in Indiana so 
 long as she lived. This was granted at once and 
 Frances was to have a home here during her nat- 
 ural life. 
 
 Frances Slocum was made very sad when so 
 many of her Indian friends were driven to the 
 west. The chiefs had made the treaties but most 
 of the Indians did not know what it would mean. 
 When the time came for them to leave their homes 
 they would not go. They had to be brought to- 
 gether by soldiers. They were hunted like wild 
 beasts. All that many of them could bring was a 
 little earth taken from the graves of their fathers. 
 The Indians loved their homes and their forests. 
 
70 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 It broke their hearts when they had to go. Some 
 were driven on foot like cattle all the way to Kan- 
 sas. Some were taken on canal boats. Many of 
 them died on the way. Many more died after they 
 arrived in that far-away land where they were 
 strangers. Many died trying to get back home. 
 
 As more white men came, Frances had more 
 troubles. Many of the white settlers were good 
 men and made friends with the Indians. But 
 other white men were not so friendly. They did 
 not think the Indians had any rights in the coun- 
 try. They looked upon Frances Slocum as an 
 Indian. They would steal her ponies and cattle, 
 and annoy her in many ways. 
 
 When her brother Joseph visited her she 
 wanted him to move to Indiana and live with her. 
 Then she wanted her brother, Isaac, in Ohio, to 
 come and live with her. But her brothers, like her- 
 self, were too old to change their places of living. 
 In 1845 a son of Isaac, George Slocum, visited his 
 aunt and her family in Indiana. Frances liked 
 George very much. He liked his aunt and his 
 Indian cousins. He was a young man of good 
 education. He was a Christian, too, and some- 
 times did preaching. He was eager to help his 
 Indian relatives become Christians. Aunt Fran- 
 ces asked him if he would not come and live with 
 them. He consented to do so. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 GEORGE SLOCUM COMES TO HELP 
 HIS AUNT 
 

 '-n 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
CHAPTER SEVEN 
 George Slocum Comes to Help His Aunt 
 
 George Slocum with his young wife and two 
 small daughters, arrived at the Deaf Man's Vil- 
 lage, November 20, 1846. Their trip from Belle- 
 vue, Ohio, had not been an easy one. Knowing 
 that they would have to live on a pioneer farm, 
 they had brought with them some necessary farm 
 implements and farm supplies to help them begin 
 their work. The roads were not much better than 
 when his father made the first trip nine years 
 before. They were many days on the road. The 
 journey was a tiresome one. While Ohio was not 
 yet much improved it was a great deal better than 
 Indiana at that time. 
 
 Aunt Frances and her daughters were very 
 glad to see George and his family. They had not 
 yet learned to talk English, so George and his 
 family would have to learn to talk Miami. For 
 the time being there had to be an interpreter. 
 Captain Brouillette had learned English and could 
 interpret for them. Every one at Deaf Man's 
 Village welcomed the newcomers for they felt the 
 need of them. Every day, almost, their problems 
 were becoming greater as the Indians were being 
 taken away and white men were coming to take 
 their places. 
 
74 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 One of the first things was to get acquainted. 
 George had been here a year before and knew 
 what to expect. His young wife had never lived 
 with Indians before. She had to do quite differ- 
 ently than she did in her comfortable home in 
 northern Ohio. But she was brave and willing to 
 learn. She always got along well with the 
 Indians. 
 
 The two little girls of Mr. and Mrs. George 
 Slocum attracted most attention. Their names 
 were Marian and Cordelia. Aunt Frances and 
 her daughters were quick to notice the auburn 
 hair of Cordelia and the light brown spot on her 
 forehead. She looked like Aunt Frances must 
 have looked when she was Cordelia's age. She 
 plainly resembled Aunt Frances now. She was 
 the only one around there who did. That gave 
 Aunt Frances and her daughters much joy. They 
 now knew that when Aunt Frances left them there 
 would be one who would resemble her and cause 
 her people to remember her. They began to call 
 Cordelia, "Mengiah," the Miami name for 
 "mother. " Though she was only a child they con- 
 tinued to do so. Cordelia from then on became a 
 great favorite with her Indian relatives. 
 
 George had no easy job to know what to do. 
 He would have to deal with both Indians and 
 white men. He at once found a good helper in 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 75 
 
 Captain Brouillette. We have heard much of him 
 in connection with former visits of the Slocums to 
 Deaf Man's Village. He continued to be the same 
 fine-spirited Indian. During these years he had 
 learned to talk English. In his relations with the 
 white men, he had many problems. He welcomed 
 George for he knew that he would now get some 
 help. 
 
 Another person had come into the family of 
 Frances Slocum. His Indian name was Waw- 
 pop-e-taw. His English name was Peter Bundy. 
 He had become the fifth husband of O-zah-shin- 
 quah. She had been married four times before 
 but none of her husbands amounted to much. 
 This had not only brought sorrow to her but to 
 Aunt Frances as well. O-zah-shin-quah had four 
 little daughters by her former husbands. These, 
 too, had known much sorrow. For a fifth time 
 O-zah-shin-quah tried a husband and this time she 
 was successful. Waw-pop-e-taw proved to be a 
 good husband and a good father to her children. 
 Like Brouillette, he had both French and Indian 
 blood. His father had been a French trader ; his 
 mother a Miami woman. 
 
 There were two others who gave Aunt Frances 
 and her family good help and who were of much 
 help to George. A young man, John Long, and 
 his wife had been in this neighborhood for two 
 
76 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 years. Mr. Long had been working for Frances 
 and Brouillette. He had come to know both the 
 Indians and the white men. He was a friend to 
 both. George Slocum often sought his advice. 
 
 For a few days after their arrival, George Slo- 
 cum and his family remained with Aunt Frances 
 and her family. Then he secured a farm about 
 two miles up the river. There he began the long, 
 hard work of building up a home in the wilder- 
 ness. Their first house was only a log cabin but 
 they looked forward to something better. They 
 had a fine location not far from the beautiful Mis- 
 sissinewa. They were near enough to help Aunt 
 Frances. They were cheered on by the thought of 
 the good they might do for their relatives and 
 other Indians and for the white pioneers too. 
 
 George Slocum and his wife both had a good 
 education for that day. Both of them were Chris- 
 tians and had Christian ideals. They had back of 
 them the fine history of a great family. They had 
 been brought up in the very best of homes. They 
 were out on the frontiers now where they would 
 have great opportunities to go about and do good. 
 While George was not an ordained preacher he 
 had done some teaching and was known to some 
 people as a preacher. He identified himself with 
 the Baptist church which was doing work among 
 the Indians. Soon there was a little group that 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 77 
 
 held regular Sunday services for the whites and 
 had hopes of doing something for the Indians. 
 
 One of the greatest difficulties that faced 
 George was the feeling between the Indians and 
 some of the white men. Most of the Indians had 
 been taken west. Some of the white men wanted 
 all of them taken away. They did not think that 
 the Indians had any rights they should respect. 
 On the other hand the Indian, not far removed 
 from a savage state, had some difficulty trying to 
 live like the white man. It was something new 
 that he had to learn. George found many oppor- 
 tunities to teach the Indian how to act. He had 
 some occasions to advise the white men to be 
 patient with the Indian and treat him right. 
 
 George had many conferences with Brouillette 
 and Frances about the management of the farm, 
 the sale and purchase of stock and other business 
 affairs. Captain Brouillette was ready to learn. 
 He was said to be the first Indian to cultivate his 
 corn with a plow. Most Indians let the squaws 
 raise the corn with a hoe. John Long helped him 
 to adopt better methods of farming. Frances* 
 home was a busy place where extensive farming 
 and stock raising were carried on. 
 
 Intemperance was the great evil of the day. 
 The Indians would drink and get drunk. Many 
 of them could not resist the appetite for drink. It 
 
78 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 was the white man who sold them drink and took 
 their money for this when it should have been 
 spent for something else. George Slocum used 
 his influence to keep the Indians from drinking. 
 He was able to get some of them to sign the pledge 
 that they would not drink. He tried to get some of 
 the white men not to sell the Indians drink. 
 
 George was disturbed about the little regard 
 the people had for Sunday. Frances and her fam- 
 ily, of course, did not know about Sunday. The 
 Indian religion did not have such a day. Many of 
 the pioneer whites who had known its meaning 
 seemed to forget it on the frontiers. They would 
 use it for something else than what George had 
 been used to. Many Sunday afternoons at the 
 Deaf Man's Village there were large gatherings 
 of white men and Indians. Horse racing, wres- 
 tling, jumping, horseshoe pitching and even gam- 
 bling were engaged in freely. 
 
 But in spite of all of this there were many hap- 
 py days. George and his family were often down 
 to see Aunt Frances. His little daughters played 
 with their Indian cousins, the daughters of O-zah- 
 shin-quah. Cordelia continued to be the favorite. 
 It seemed to be a pleasant thought that cheered 
 Aunt Frances to know after her death she would 
 be remembered by her family when they saw this 
 little girl. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 AUNT FRANCES TELLS THE STORY 
 OF HER LIFE 
 
CHAPTER EIGHT 
 Aunt Frances Tells the Story of Her Life 
 
 George Slocum was a student and learned rap- 
 idly about the Indians and much about his rela- 
 tives. He was learning the Miami language but 
 still had to have an interpreter. Captain Brouil- 
 lette had learned enough English to interpret 
 slowly. One rainy afternoon when all were to- 
 gether at the aunt's home, George ventured to ask 
 something he had not yet dared to do. 
 
 "Aunt Frances," said he, talking through 
 Brouillette, "I have never yet tired of hearing the 
 story of your life. When my father returned 
 from his first visit to your home, he told us about 
 it. It seemed like a story from a far-off land. 
 When my cousins returned from their visit to 
 you, they made it all the more interesting, for they 
 saw so much more than my father and older peo- 
 ple could see. All of this made me want to visit 
 you and learn the story from your own lips. Now 
 here we are in your own home and may I have 
 that privilege? Won't you tell me the story of 
 your life?" 
 
 Frances was not given to telling many people 
 about her past. For the most part she was willing 
 to have the past forgotten. Then too it seemed so 
 strange to her own family that she did not want to 
 
82 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 seem like a foreigner to them. But here was her 
 nephew who had made this long journey through 
 the forests to come and live near her that he might 
 in some way help her. She realized all this and 
 was ready to do most anything for his pleasure. 
 After declaring that she remembered very little 
 about her life and that what she did remember 
 was not interesting, she began her story slowly, 
 but spoke more freely as she told the story of the 
 later years of her life. George was so eager to 
 know all about it that he frequently interrupted 
 her with questions while her daughters would 
 sometimes supply what they thought their mother 
 was omitting. 
 
 "How much do you remember about your child- 
 hood before you came to live with the Indians?" 
 said George, by way of getting Aunt Frances 
 started. 
 
 "I first remember living far away in the east, 
 and our home was near the great sea water. We 
 lived in a large house, much larger than my house 
 here and people call this a large house. My father 
 was a Quaker and wore a broad-brimmed hat. He 
 worked hard. My mother was a large woman 
 and worked hard too. She would have all of us 
 work. I remember hearing father and mother 
 talk of moving far to the west. One day a man 
 came and talked with father. He must have 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 83 
 
 bought our home for he counted out much money, 
 heaps of money, paper money. 
 
 "After that I heard my mother talk much about 
 moving far away. She was afraid to go for she 
 had heard about the Indians. One day they 
 brought a great, big wagon to our home. It had a 
 big tent over it. They filled it with many things 
 from our home and then they put us children in. 
 Father drove the wagon. Mother would sit by 
 him part of the time and then she would be with 
 us. My brother rode a horse and drove the cattle. 
 I wanted to see as we went through the woods but 
 he would call me "red head" and tell me that I 
 should keep my head in or it would get bumped 
 against the trees. We would get out of the wagon 
 to eat and when evening came we would have 
 some time to play before we went to bed. We 
 spent many days going from the great sea water 
 to the large river near where we made our new 
 home." 
 
 "This big river was the Susquehanna," said 
 George. "Your old home was in Rhode Island. 
 Your new home was in the Valley of the Wyo- 
 ming, Pennsylvania. The town is called Wilkes- 
 Barre. That is where many of our people live 
 yet." 
 
 "I do not remember much about this place," 
 said Frances, "for we heard much about the Indi- 
 
84 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 ans and some white men who were helping them to 
 kill other white men and burn their homes. My 
 mother was afraid but my father was a Quaker 
 and he said the Indians were friends to the Quak- 
 ers and would not hurt us. But one day the Indi- 
 ans and the other white men came and killed many 
 people near our home and burned many homes not 
 far away. I remember how afraid my mother 
 was. My brother helped his white friends fight 
 the Indians. My father told him he should not 
 do that for the Indians would never forget it. 
 They would hold it against him. My father was a 
 Quaker and did not fear the Indians." 
 
 George, knowing that Aunt Frances was com- 
 ing to a most interesting part of her story, hesi- 
 tated to interrupt her, but felt that he should say 
 that the people of this Wyoming Valley, whose 
 friends were killed and whose homes were burned, 
 did not blame the Indians so much as the white 
 men who had encouraged them to kill and plunder. 
 
 Aunt Frances continued : "I well remember the 
 day when the Delaware Indians came to our 
 home. Father was in the field working. Mother 
 was in the house working. Two boys were grind- 
 ing a knife near our house. The older boy wore a 
 soldier's suit. The Indians shot and scalped him. 
 The rest of us ran and hid. My big sister took 
 my little brother and ran towards the fort. I hid 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 85 
 
 under the stairs. The Indians went through our 
 house and took some things. Then they saw my 
 feet and where I was hiding. They pulled me out 
 and started to leave with me and my crippled 
 brother. Then mother rushed to us and begged 
 that they should not take us. They left my crip- 
 pled brother but took me and another boy. My 
 mother cried. I cried. But an Indian carried me 
 on his shoulders and took me away. That was the 
 last I ever saw my mother. 
 
 "The Indians did not take us so far on that day. 
 They knew that my father and mother would 
 search for us. They came to a cave and there we 
 stayed all night. I was tired and I cried. The 
 Indians gave me sugar to eat. They were kind to 
 me. When I cried the Indian said 'Hush.' When 
 I cried some more he held up a big knife and said, 
 'Hush, or I kill/ Then I went to sleep. I was so 
 tired and so sad and so scared." 
 
 Aunt Frances would hesitate now and then. 
 This would give George a chance to explain. Here 
 he told how the people of Wilkes-Barre had found 
 the place where the Indians kept Frances the first 
 night. Instead of going up the river directly they 
 had fled east up the mountains, so as to avoid pur- 
 suers. Frances continued: 
 
 "The next morning the Indians were kind to 
 me. They gave me sugar and some cakes they 
 
86 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 had taken from our home. We went through the 
 woods. When I was tired an Indian would carry 
 me. They cooked something on a fire and gave us 
 to eat. They were soon far enough away that 
 they were not afraid of the white men from the 
 fort. They made a fire at night and here we slept. 
 We went many days through the forest and then 
 came to a large Indian village. I was so scared, 
 but here the Indians were kind to me too. They 
 seemed to like my red hair. The Indian women 
 knew I was lonesome for my mother. So they 
 held me as mother used to do. They made me 
 pretty moccasins. They had left my new shoes 
 in our home. Here I had plenty to eat. They 
 made a little cup for me to drink out of. Here I 
 saw some Indian boys and girls. At first I could 
 not understand what they said. But soon I began 
 to understand." 
 
 "Yes," said George, "we now know the way 
 you went. After the Indians left the cave on the 
 mountain they turned to the north on the old trail 
 and soon found the villages on the Susquehanna." 
 
 Aunt Frances added: "I remember how we 
 went part of the way in canoes. I had never been 
 in a canoe, and I thought it funny to sit in the 
 canoe and put my hand in the water while the 
 Indian rowed the boat." 
 
 "And that big Indian town," said George, 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 87 
 
 "where you first stopped was Tioga. We now call 
 it Athens. The Indians were going north up the 
 Susquehanna and towards Niagara Falls. They 
 wanted to get far away, for they heard that the 
 Americans were going to punish them for killing 
 people and stealing children." 
 
 Aunt Frances continued her story : "One morn- 
 ing two Indians who took me from our home came 
 and put me and the boy on a horse and we left this 
 village. We went a long way through the woods. 
 We spent many nights in Indian villages. Then 
 we came to a big Indian town. It was near a big 
 river and not so far away we could hear the big 
 water go 'boom.' Here were the most Indians I 
 had ever seen. I saw how the Indian women and 
 girls were dressed. I thought they looked pretty. 
 The Indian women looked at my hair a great deal. 
 It was so different from their hair. They tried to 
 talk to me, and soon I began to understand what 
 they were saying to me. 
 
 "One morning the Indians came and took away 
 the boy and I did not see him again. But I was 
 not so lonesome, for I was beginning to talk with 
 Indian boys and girls. Then a great Delaware 
 chief came and took me. The Indians called him 
 Tuck Horse. He too was kind to me. He and 
 his wife dressed my hair in the Indian way. They 
 painted my face and skin like the Indians. They 
 
88 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 did not want me to be a paleface any longer. They 
 put a wampum-bead dress on me. It was very 
 pretty. All this with my moccasins made me look 
 like an Indian. I thought I looked very fine. I 
 was happy now. We lived on a hill not so far 
 from a river. 
 
 "One day Tuck Horse said they would make a 
 real Indian out of me and that I should be his 
 daughter. He took me to the river and put me 
 in. That was to wash all the white blood away so 
 I could be a real Indian." 
 
 "Aunt Frances/' said George, "your story is 
 very interesting. But how could you be happy if 
 you knew that your mother was so sad and that 
 your friends were hunting for you?" 
 
 "But I did not know this," said Frances. "I 
 was sad at first. I cried. But it did not do any 
 good. The boy and the Indians were all I had to 
 talk with. Then they took the boy away. And 
 the Indians were kind to me. They were all the 
 friends I had to help me. I could not remember 
 the folks back home very much. I soon forgot 
 most of them. I had so much to do and see. 
 
 "We stayed here all winter. Many white men 
 were there too. They were bringing the Indians 
 guns and knives so they could go down and get 
 more scalps. I did sometimes wonder whether 
 they would get my father and brothers. In the 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 89 
 
 spring we started out through the woods. We 
 went for many, many days. We gathered berries 
 and got much other food. Sometimes we would 
 go down the river in a canoe. I thought it was 
 fun to let my hand be in the water when the canoe 
 was going. We came to a place they called San- 
 dusky. We stayed there some time. Here Tuck 
 Horse told us how cruel the white men were to 
 some good Indians who were not fighting the 
 whites. The whites had killed many Indians. 
 Tuck Horse said that Indians must fight the white 
 men, or they would drive us all out. When winter 
 came we went back to where we had been, near the 
 great falling water. There many Indians came 
 back from fighting the white men and brought 
 home many scalps. Other white men were help- 
 ing them. When white men fought each other, 
 the Indian would fight too." 
 
 "I do not wonder," said George, "that the 
 Indians were sad and mad when those cruel white 
 men killed the Christian Indians. The Moravians 
 had preached to them and many had become 
 Christians. The white men, without cause, killed 
 nearly one hundred Indians at Gnadenhutton 
 about the time you were at Sandusky. I have 
 been ashamed of my white race because of such 
 wickedness." 
 
 "The next spring," continued Frances, "we 
 
90 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 went towards the west along the big water, until 
 we came to a river that led on to another big 
 water. Here we lived for three winters and sum- 
 mers. There was war between the Americans 
 and the Indians and many of our villages had been 
 destroyed. So we lived along the river, hunting 
 and fishing. We raised some corn too. I learned 
 from the squaws how to dig the ground and plant 
 the corn. We raised much corn for winter and 
 then we had plenty to eat. When we did not raise 
 much corn, we often got very hungry, for hunting 
 was not always plenty. When the whites de- 
 stroyed our corn we nearly starved. Here I 
 learned about the Great Spirit, Mon-da-min, who 
 came down and made the corn grow so we could 
 be happy. The Indians told me about their God, 
 Man-i-to, who made the world and all that is 
 good. They told me also about the evil spirit, 
 Mas-ko-na-ko, who made the mosquito, the flies, 
 and all the sickness in the world. I remembered 
 that my mother used to tell me something like 
 that, only the names of the spirits were different." 
 
 "This river, along which you say you spent 
 three summers, must have been the Detroit River 
 near Detroit. There the British soldiers tried to 
 stir up the Indians against the Americans. " So 
 George interrupted his aunt. 
 
 "Yes/' said Frances, "the white men would 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 91 
 
 often try to get the Indians to fight on their side 
 against other white men. And sometimes the 
 Indians would be on one side or the other. But 
 after awhile there was peace among the whites 
 and the Indians were left alone for a time. 
 
 "My Indian father was friendly to many Indi- 
 ans and though he was a Delaware, we were in- 
 vited to go up the Maumee River to where two 
 other rivers join. They called the place Ke-ki-on- 
 ga. It was a great meeting place for the Indians. 
 The rivers run out in all directions and we could 
 go many places in our canoes. We did not have to 
 carry our canoes far across the land until we came 
 to another river that led into the Wau-bash-a. On 
 this river there were many hunters and traders 
 and they all went through Ke-ki-on-ga to sell 
 their furs and meats. Here at Ke-ki-on-ga we 
 stayed for many years." 
 
 "Did you not spend some time at the village of 
 Little Turtle?" asked George. "I have heard peo- 
 ple say that you did." 
 
 "I spent many days where Little Turtle lived 
 some miles from Ke-ki-on-ga. His village was on 
 a small river. The Indians called it Ke-na-po-co- 
 mo-co. The white people now call it Eel River. It 
 was a large village. Some white people who had 
 been captured were there. William Wells was 
 there. He, like myself, had been captured by the 
 
92 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 Indians when a child. The great chief, Little 
 Turtle, was fond of us. We both had red hair. 
 William Wells loved the chief's daughter, Sweet 
 Breeze, and married her." 
 
 "Tell us about your getting married," said 
 George. 
 
 "I was first married to a Delaware. My father 
 was a Delaware and thought I should marry a 
 Delaware. This Indian came and wanted me to 
 be his wife. He looked all right, but my father 
 was not sure that he would do. So he said, 'Do 
 you love this squaw?' 'Yes, I do/ said he. 'Then 
 take her and be good to her,' my father said. So 
 I went with him to his wigwam and tried to be a 
 good wife, but he was mean to me. So I went 
 back to my father, for I had a good home there. 
 Then my Delaware husband came and promised 
 me he would be very good to me, and I went with 
 him again. But he was still mean and I would 
 not stay with him any longer. I went back to my 
 Indian parents and stayed. He came once more 
 but my father drove him away. I never saw him 
 again. He must have gone to battle and been 
 killed. 
 
 "There came to be many wars about that time. 
 Little Turtle had become a great warrior and was 
 leading the Indians on to victory. The Great 
 Father, George Washington, wanted to take Ke- 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 93 
 
 ki-on-ga so the Indians could not so easily fight 
 the white men who were moving into Indian lands 
 far to the south. So the great father sent a man 
 they called Harmar with an army. When he came 
 to Ke-ki-on-ga, the Indians fled and the white men 
 burned much, much corn which we squaws had 
 raised for the winter. When we heard the white 
 man coming we squaws ran through the woods to 
 the Ke-na-po-co-mo-co and Little Turtle gathered 
 his warriors to fight the white men. 
 
 "The white men were defeated by our warriors 
 who returned with many scalps. The white men 
 fled back south but we knew they would come 
 again. Little Turtle and his warriors went 
 through the forests to meet the next army. It 
 was a much bigger army but again Little Turtle 
 and his braves routed them and brought home 
 many scalps. The Indians had a great feast when 
 they returned and the squaws had much for them 
 to eat." 
 
 "When we came through Fort Wayne," inter- 
 rupted George, "we were told about the fighting 
 between the Indians and the Americans. They 
 showed us where Harmar was defeated by Little 
 Turtle. We have heard how he defeated the army 
 of St. Clair at what is now Fort Recovery, Ohio. 
 That was the worst defeat the white man ever 
 received from the Indians. The Indians got sev- 
 
94 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 eral hundred scalps there. Did you not dislike to 
 see the scalps of white men and women?" 
 
 "Yes, I never liked scalps, but the white men 
 would do the same to the Indian if he could. Only 
 the white men did not take scalps but he would 
 kill squaws and papooses as well as braves. I 
 often felt bad about the fighting, but what could I 
 do? 
 
 "Then we heard that another army of white 
 men was coming. The great white father was 
 sending General Wayne against the Indians. Lit- 
 tle Turtle had heard much about him. He said he 
 was the general who never sleeps. He wanted the 
 whites and the Indians to make peace. But the 
 Indians would not. They thought they would con- 
 tinue to win, but Little Turtle told them they 
 could not. Then Captain Wells, the white boy 
 who had lived with the Indians so long and had 
 helped them in their battles, went over to Wayne 
 and helped him. The Indians were defeated and 
 ran back home. Wayne came to Ke-ki-on-ga and 
 built a white man's fort. They destroyed our 
 corn. I had fled with the squaws, other children 
 and the older people to the Ke-na-po-co-mo-co, 
 but we had nothing to eat. Little Turtle was 
 friendly to Wayne and we made peace. The great 
 general was kind to us. We returned to Ke-ki- 
 on-ga, which was now called Fort Wayne, and the 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 95 
 
 great general gave us much to eat. My Indian 
 father and mother were getting old and could not 
 hunt any more/' 
 
 "I am glad to hear you speak so kindly of Gen- 
 eral Wayne/' said George. "He is a native of our 
 own Pennsylvania. He was known as a very 
 great general before President Washington sent 
 him west to fight the Indians. I have read, too, 
 how he was very kind to the Indians at Greenville 
 when they met there to make peace.' ' 
 
 "Yes," said Captain Brouillette, who up to this 
 time was merely an interpreter in the conversa- 
 tion. "He was very courteous to our chiefs, but 
 still he demanded much of our hunting ground, 
 and that was only the beginning of what the white 
 man kept on taking until now we have no lands 
 and the poor Indians have nearly all gone west." 
 
 "But we must not interrupt Aunt Frances in 
 her story. It is that which we want to hear about 
 now. We will hear more of the Indians later," 
 said George. "Tell us about your life after the 
 Indians made peace with General Wayne. Were 
 you not married again about this time?" 
 
 "Yes, mother, tell them about how you and 
 father met each other and were married," said 
 Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah. So Aunt Frances continued 
 her story. 
 
 "After peace with General Wayne we remained 
 
96 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 at Ke-ki-on-ga, which was now called Fort 
 Wayne. Then my parents wanted to visit some 
 of the places in Ohio lands where we had been be- 
 fore. So we went to a number of places, some of 
 them where we had been before and some of them 
 where we had never been. We spent much time 
 near Piqua, on the River of the Miamis. There 
 were still some wars between the Indians. We 
 were near Fort Washington when the Indians de- 
 feated the white men. We spent much time along 
 many rivers. One day when my parents and I 
 were going down the river we came upon a place 
 where there had been much fighting and where 
 many were dead. We saw one young man who 
 was dressed like a chief. He was wounded badly. 
 We wanted to help him and did what we could to 
 heal his wounds. He stayed with us until he was 
 well. During this time he and I spent many hours 
 together. He was of the Miamis and my Indian 
 parents were of the Dela wares. I learned much 
 about his people. He told me how great they had 
 been. I came to love him but was slow to tell my 
 parents. They, too, thought much of him. He 
 had brought us much food from Fort Wayne in 
 the winter time. When he felt he must return to 
 his people my Indian father told him that he 
 would give me to him for his wife. This pleased 
 She-po-co-nah very much, for that was his name. 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 97 
 
 And so we were married according to Indian 
 fashion. Not much was said or done about it. 
 The agreement was made between She-po-co-nah 
 and my parents and we were married. 
 
 "We returned to Fort Wayne and lived there a 
 few years. During this time my Indian parents, 
 died and I was now alone with the Miamis. My 
 Delaware name was We-let-a-wash, but the Mia- 
 mis called me Ma-con-a-quah, because they said I 
 was a strong little bear woman. While here our 
 oldest daughter, Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah, was born. 
 We called her that because that is what some of 
 the Indians called me. You see Indians like to 
 name their children after something about their 
 parents, and since my brother had cut off the end 
 of my finger when I was small, they sometimes 
 called me "Cut Finger/' 
 
 "The whites were now becoming more common 
 about Fort Wayne. My husband was a great 
 warrior and wanted to get farther from the 
 whites. So we moved to the Mississinewa, to the 
 Osage Village, where my husband was a chief. 
 Osash had been chief here before. War was now 
 being carried on between the whites and Indians. 
 Then came General Harrison up this way with his 
 army. The great battle of Tippecanoe was fought 
 before Tecumseh got there to lead the Indians. 
 Tecumseh then came to our village and to the 
 
98 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 Godf roy trading post and here many Indians met 
 to hear him talk. He wanted all Indians to unite 
 with him and drive the white man from the Indian 
 hunting grounds. But the Miamis did not want 
 to fight the white man longer. The great Little 
 Turtle urged us to keep the peace we had made 
 with Wayne. She-po-co-nah did not want the 
 Indians to fight. Though he was brave and saw 
 the white man was rapidly taking our hunting 
 grounds, he said the Indian could not continue to 
 fight. My husband was getting older and he was 
 becoming deaf. He had been injured in battle and 
 lost his hearing. For that reason and because I 
 was tired of living with so many Indians we left 
 the big village and came up the Mississinewa to 
 this place near this large spring and here we built 
 our home. My husband told the Indians that he 
 was too old to lead them in their battles, so they 
 chose Godfroy, a noble man, to take his place. ,, 
 
 "I know you must be getting tired by this time, 
 but your story is more interesting told by you than 
 I have ever heard before. Would you prefer to 
 tell me the rest tomorrow evening?" 
 
 "O George, you do not know mother," said Ke- 
 ke-nok-esh-wa. "Her name is Ma-con-a-quah, 
 which means Little Bear Woman, because she is 
 so strong and can endure so much. She used to 
 go hunting with my father and never tire even 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 99 
 
 though the hunt was long and weary. She has 
 tamed the wildest ponies when no one else could 
 handle them. Even now they know that she is 
 mistress of the herd when she goes to salt and 
 feed that herd of more than one hundred ponies. 
 Few would dare to do what she does. She is yet 
 strong and will be glad to tell you all of the story 
 if you are not too tired to listen/' 
 
 With this little rest and encouraged by the 
 praise of her daughter, Aunt Frances continued : 
 "We lived for a time on the other side of the 
 Mississinewa where there was a spring but soon 
 moved to this side of the river because this spring 
 was so much better and stronger. Our first home 
 was down there closer to the river and nearer the 
 spring. That home was not so large as this but it 
 served as a home and a stopping place for many 
 travelers. Since my husband was getting older 
 and more deaf, he did not go to wars as he once 
 did and we were not molested by either whites or 
 Indians. We were permitted to live more in peace 
 and care for our family. Here our two boys were 
 born and near here they lie buried. It was a great 
 grief to us that we could have no sons to become 
 brave warriors. But when Ke-ke-nok-esh-wa 
 was ten years old, our youngest daughter, O-zah- 
 shin-quah, was born. We were very glad for her. 
 You have not heard her talk very much for she 
 
100 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 does not talk as much as Ke-ke-nok-esh-wah, and 
 then she has had so much trouble with her hus- 
 bands. You have heard that she had had four 
 husbands before she married Waw-pop-e-tah. All 
 of them are dead. Three of them were killed in 
 Indian fights. 
 
 "Since hunting was now not so good as once it 
 was in this country and since my husband was get- 
 ting older and could not hunt, we had to find some 
 other way to live. So we planted much corn, 
 raised squashes, and such like, and planted fruit 
 trees. We raised ponies too. Of course there is 
 still some game to hunt but not so much. Once 
 we went far to the south into what they called 
 Brown County, where the hills were many and 
 where big game still roamed. Ke-ke-nok-esh-wa 
 married, but her first husband was a bad Indian 
 too. Her beautiful daughter was poisoned by her 
 lover. That brought us sadness, but her present 
 husband, Brouillette, has made us happy. My 
 husband, She-po-co-nah, was always good to me 
 and helped me plan to make our home happy. I 
 remembered hearing my father and mother talk 
 about a home where there was plenty to eat, but 
 people must work and save to get it. We must 
 also be generous to others and divide or the Great 
 Spirit will not bless us. 
 
 " She-po-co-nah was now getting old and knew 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 101 
 
 he could not live long. He made me promise to 
 bury him near our boys and raise the white flag 
 over his grave. He made me promise that I would 
 not leave this place even if my white friends ever 
 found me. I promised him that I would not. We 
 buried him there where you see that flag and 
 where I want them to bury me. Brouillette took 
 my husband's place as a helper and is here with 
 me to this day. O-zah-shin-quah and her children 
 came to live with me too. All these have helped 
 me to be happy and have been very kind to me." 
 
 "Your story is most interesting, Aunt Frances, 
 but the most interesting of all is the story of how 
 my father, my uncle and my aunt, your brothers 
 and sister, found you here after you had been lost 
 to them for nearly sixty years. I have heard them 
 tell it, but I am so anxious to hear it from you," 
 said George. 
 
 "Well, if you have heard it, I will not need to 
 tell you much about it," said Frances. "I do not 
 know how you have heard it. You will have to 
 tell me some time. But I will tell you a few things 
 now. 
 
 "The Indians knew that I was a white woman. 
 My husband knew that I was. Some of the trad- 
 ers knew that I was, but they did not know where 
 I came from. I was not the only white woman 
 among the Indians and most of them did not pay 
 
102 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 much attention to me. I did want to tell my story 
 to some one for I did not want to die and no one 
 know where I had come from. I did want my 
 white relatives to know what had become of me 
 but I did not want them to come while I was liv- 
 ing and take me from my Indian friends and fam- 
 ily. When Mr. Ewing came to our home that 
 night I did not think I would live long. So I told 
 him my story and made him promise me not to tell 
 any one about it. I got better and lived on. Since 
 I did not hear about any white people finding it 
 out, I thought that he had forgotten it until your 
 father, your uncle, and aunt, my brothers and sis- 
 ter, came to visit me. 
 
 "You have heard that story and I need not tell 
 you all. I did not know them. And I was afraid 
 that they would take me away. Some of the 
 whites were talking about taking the Indians 
 away and taking me with them. When they 
 talked about my cut finger and told me that my 
 name was Frances, I felt sure they were my broth- 
 ers and sister. We had a good time here together. 
 And we had a good time for two days at Peru. I 
 was glad to have them visit me but I did not want 
 to go home with them. They promised me that 
 they would come again. I did not get to see my 
 sister, Mary, again. But my brother, Joseph, 
 came again and brought his two daughters, and 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 103 
 
 your father has visited me a number of times. 
 
 "Since the Great Spirit has willed that I live so 
 long, I have been very glad that my brothers could 
 help me. You know that again and again the 
 white man had made the Indian sign treaties, giv- 
 ing up much land, until at last they made the In- 
 dian sell all his lands and move to the far west. 
 They wanted to make me go, too. But your father 
 and other friends helped me and the great father 
 President at Washington has let me stay here till 
 this time. I am glad for that help and that I 
 could stay here but I have been so sorry for so 
 many of my friends who have had to go towards 
 the setting sun, never to return again. The poor 
 Indian must do what the white man tells him and 
 unless you have some help you lose all. The white 
 men who have been coming into this country have 
 caused us much grief. They have stolen our 
 ponies. They have threatened to drive us out, 
 even though we were promised this land forever. 
 So I asked my brother, Isaac, your father, if you 
 could not come and live near me and help me when 
 I had troubles. I was so glad that your father 
 was willing. I am so glad that you were willing 
 and are here. You shall be my son and share my 
 best things." 
 
 "You have been very kind, Aunt Frances, to tell 
 me so much of this interesting story. There are 
 
104 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 many questions that I would like to ask you but it 
 is getting late and I will do that some other time. 
 And I will also tell you how your family and 
 friends have searched for you." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THEY RAISE THE WHITE FLAG FOR 
 FRANCES SLOCUM 
 
, 
 
 5 
 
 o 
 
 •< 
 
 CO 3 
 
 si 
 
 
 5J 
 
 
CHAPTER NINE 
 
 They Raise the White Flag to 
 Frances Slocum 
 
 The coming of her nephew, George Slocum, 
 gave Frances much joy. Unlike her relatives who 
 had visited her formerly, George and his family 
 had come to stay. They purchased land of the 
 government and began building themselves a 
 home. Frances knew that they would remain 
 with her children after she was gone. She was 
 ready to go. 
 
 George was very much interested in the spirit- 
 ual welfare of his aunt and cousins. He was a 
 devout Christian and hoped that they would be- 
 come Christians also. He read to Aunt Frances 
 from the Bible. She seemed interested and real- 
 ized the benefits of the Christian religion. It 
 would be difficult for her to accept Christianity as 
 old as she was. She had forgotten the religion of 
 her parents. She had been taught the religion of 
 the Indian. Most of the troubles of the Indians 
 had come from white men who pretended to be 
 Christians. Frances could not understand this. 
 
 George talked to her about the future life. 
 Frances believed in a future life, just as the Indi- 
 ans believe in it. They looked forward to a spirit 
 world where the good should be happy. It would 
 
108 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 be a world where their greatest joy would be ful- 
 filled in having a happy hunting ground where 
 they could hunt always. And recently they 
 thought of it as a place where the white man 
 could not molest them further. 
 
 Frances believed in a Good Spirit who had 
 given them blessings while they lived and would 
 reward them when they went to the happy hunt- 
 ing ground. It was this Good Spirit that caused 
 the maple trees to give sweet water to the Indian 
 for making syrup and sugar. The same spirit 
 caused the corn to grow and bring forth good 
 ears. The Indian was very devoted to the Great 
 Spirit. He had a number of thanksgiving events 
 to express his thanks to the Great Spirit. In all 
 there were six of these events: When the sugar 
 water began to flow; when the ground and the 
 weather were ready to plant corn; when the ber- 
 ries were ripe ; when the green corn was ready to 
 use; when the corn was ready to harvest; and 
 when the new year came in. 
 
 At these thanksgiving times, the Indians had 
 great gatherings. They did not worship as Chris- 
 tians do. They expressed their thankfulness in 
 dancing. But the dance was quite different from 
 the white man's dance. Indians did not dance in 
 couples, but singly. Usually only the men danced 
 while the squaws looked on. But sometimes the 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 109 
 
 squaws themselves took part. These dances often 
 continued all night. The dance would be accom- 
 panied with a kind of singing, such as the Indian 
 knew. However, the Indian never was able to 
 sing beautifully as the white man thinks of it. No 
 doubt the Indian thought it was beautiful. He 
 seemed to be more concerned in making a joyful 
 noise such as would please the Great Spirit. They 
 would pound on a rude drum that would make a 
 kind of rhythmic noise. The dancing, yelling or 
 singing, the pounding on the drum did make a 
 great and joyful noise. 
 
 In the spring of 1847, about six months after 
 George arrived with his family, the Indians held 
 such a thanksgiving dance at the Deaf Man's 
 Village. The winter had been severe and about 
 the first of March this dance was held. Aunt 
 Frances attended it. She seemed to be very happy 
 and very grateful to the Great Spirit. She took 
 an active part in the dance. She forgot that she 
 was not young. She seemed to think that she was 
 young again. She became so enthusiastic that 
 she danced nearly all night with the Indians. 
 
 The exertions of the dance, and the cold and 
 dampness of the early spring were too much for 
 her, strong though she was. The next day she 
 had a fever. She continued to get worse. Her 
 family and friends became alarmed about her. 
 
110 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 They sent for George and his wife. They tried to 
 help her all they could. But Aunt Frances would 
 not receive help. She said that since most of her 
 family and people were gone she did not want to 
 live any longer. She talked to George about going 
 to the spirit world and seemed resigned and 
 happy. She talked to O-zah-shin-quah about her 
 property and made some requests of her. Her 
 oldest daughter was sick and could not talk to her. 
 Frances died on March 9, 1847, at the age of sev- 
 enty-four. ' •; •;.. 
 
 Frances Slocum had a Christian funeral. Her 
 family was willing that George should give direc- 
 tion in this. Joseph Davis and James Babcock, 
 two local preachers, conducted the funeral with 
 brief and simple services. There was something 
 of the Indian custom followed too. They had 
 made a coffin for her but it was too long. So her 
 daughter would have a brass kettle and a cream 
 pitcher placed in the foot of the coffin. The Indi- 
 ans generally buried some articles with their dead, 
 something that they thought their friends might 
 use in the other world. 
 
 According to her desire, Frances Slocum was 
 buried on the hill near her home. She was laid to 
 rest beside her Indian husband and her two sons. 
 She had often pointed to this spot and told her 
 friends here was where she wanted to rest. Her 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 111 
 
 wish was fulfilled. Here they buried her and here 
 they raised the pole with the white flag so the 
 Great Spirit would know where she was. 
 
 The funeral service came nearly being a double 
 one. The oldest daughter, Ke-ke-nok-esh-wa, the 
 wife of Captain Brouillette, was quite sick when 
 her mother died. She passed away four days 
 later. She was not buried as her mother for she 
 had a horror of the thought of being placed under 
 the ground. So, like many of the dead Indians, 
 she was placed in a box which was left sitting on 
 the ground not far from her mother's grave. 
 There it remained for many years until friends 
 buried the remains. 
 
 So far as Aunt Frances was concerned, the pole 
 with the white flag was all the marker that she 
 desired for her grave. The Indian did not care to 
 have his history in print nor his memory pre- 
 served in stone. So nothing of the kind was done 
 for Frances for many years. So far as her Indian 
 kin were concerned, or even her pioneer white 
 neighbors, they thought little about it and more 
 or less forgot her remarkable life. They were 
 too much taken up with the everyday needs and 
 affairs to think much of the remarkable story of 
 her life. But as the years went by and her east- 
 ern relatives became prominent, they began to 
 think more and more of her romantic life. 
 
112 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 In 1899 Hon. James F. Stutsman of Peru, Indi- 
 ana, wrote to many of the Slocums in the United 
 States urging them to erect a monument to their 
 famous relative. A monument committee was 
 soon formed and contributions solicited. On this 
 committee were prominent men and women of the 
 Slocum family from many places throughout the 
 United States — Detroit, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, 
 Minneapolis, Wilkes-Barre. A number of local 
 towns were represented on this committee. A 
 thousand dollars was raised, sufficient to erect a 
 substantial monument and enclose the cemetery 
 with an iron fence. 
 
 The inscriptions on this monument give the vis- 
 itor some principal facts and indicate what the 
 Slocums would have told about their distinguished 
 relative and her family. 
 
 On the east side of the monument are these 
 words: "Frances Slocum, a child of English de- 
 scent, was born in Warwick, R. I., March 4, 1773, 
 was carried into captivity from her father's house 
 at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Nov. 2nd, 1778, by Dela- 
 ware Indians, soon after the Wyoming Massacre. 
 Her brothers gave persistent search, but did not 
 find her until September 21st, 1837." 
 
 On the north side: "When inclined by a pub- 
 lished letter describing an aged white woman in 
 the Indian Village here, two brothers and a sister 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 113 
 
 visited this place; they identified her. She lived 
 here about 32 years with the Indian name 'Ma- 
 con-a-quah.' She died on this ridge March 9th, 
 1847, and was given a Christian burial." ' 
 
 On the south side: "She-po-co-nah, a Miami 
 Indian Chief, husband of Frances Slocum, 'Ma- 
 con-a-quah,' died here in 1833 (?) at an advanced 
 age. Their adult children were: 'Ke-ke-nok-esh- 
 wah,' wife of Rev. Jean Baptiste Brouillette, died 
 March 13, 1847, aged 47 years, leaving no chil- 
 dren. 
 
 " 'O-zah-shin-quah,' or Jane, wife of Rev. 
 Peter Bonda, died January 25, 1877, aged 62 
 years, leaving a husband and nine children." 
 
 On the west side of the monument: "Frances 
 Slocum became a stranger to her mother tongue. 
 She became a stranger to her brethren, and an 
 alien to her mother's children, through her cap- 
 tivity. (See Psalm LXIX, 8.) 
 
 "This monument was erected by the Slocums 
 and others who deemed it a pleasure to contribute, 
 and was unveiled by them with public ceremonies 
 May 17th, 1900." " 
 
 It was a small crowd of devoted friends who 
 laid Frances to rest on March 10, 1847. In har- 
 mony with her wish they raised the white flag on 
 a pole to mark her grave. That was all the marker 
 she ever expected. It was a large crowd of two 
 
114 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 thousand people who gathered on the same spot, 
 May 17, 1900, to unveil this beautiful monument 
 to one they delighted to honor. Prominent men 
 and women from all over the nation took part in 
 the ceremonies. Since then multiplied thousands 
 have visited her grave and have read the inscrip- 
 tions on the monument. And so they continue to 
 come each year. A prominent highway from 
 Marion to Peru through the Indian country 
 passes near the Frances Slocum Monument and is 
 known as "The Frances Slocum Trail." 
 
 Where once stood her father's house, near the 
 Susquehanna River, now stands the large and 
 flourishing city of Wilkes-Barre. In that city 
 two memorials have been erected to her memory. 
 At the entrance of the building of the Wyoming 
 Historical Society is a tablet with these words : 
 
 "In memory of Frances Slocum, 'Ma-con-a- 
 quah, The Lost Sister of Wyoming/ captured by 
 the Delaware Indians when five years old, Nov. 2, 
 1778, near the southwest corner of North Penn- 
 sylvania Avenue and East North Street, Wilkes- 
 Barre, Pa. She was the daughter of Jonathan 
 and Ruth Tripp Slocum, and was discovered liv- 
 ing near Peru, Indiana, by her relatives, Septem- 
 ber 22, 1837. She died March 9, 1847. Erected 
 by members of the Slocum family, November 2, 
 
 1906." 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 115 
 
 In Wilkes-Barre there is a Frances Slocum 
 Playground at the place where she was captured. 
 This was donated to the city of Wilkes-Barre by 
 George Slocum Bennett, grandson of Joseph Slo- 
 cum and a grandnephew of Frances Slocum. On 
 a schoolhouse near the place of her capture is a 
 tablet with this inscription: "Frances Slocum, 
 'Ma-con-a-quah,' was captured near this spot by 
 Delaware Indians, November 2, 1778." 
 
 And so friends and admirers have continued to 
 raise white flags to the memory of Frances Slo- 
 cum, the Lost Sister of the Wyoming, who spent 
 her life among the Indians. Her memory has 
 been preserved by many books and pamphlets that 
 tell the interesting story of her life. 
 
 Soon after her discovery a Rev. John Todd vis- 
 ited the Wyoming Valley. He became so inter- 
 ested that he wrote the story of her life. He wrote 
 some beautiful verses on certain parts of the 
 story. Other poems have been written by Caleb 
 Earl Wright, Mrs. E. L. Shermerhorn, Joseph 
 Minturn and others. 
 
 Interesting chapters have been written by many 
 authors who have written about Wilkes-Barre or 
 the Wyoming Valley. Among these authors 
 should be mentioned Charles Miner in the History 
 of Wyoming, 1845; George Peck in his book, 
 Wyoming, 1858; and Oscar Jewell Harvey in a 
 
116 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 more recent history of Wilkes-Barre, 1909. In 
 almost every book or booklet on Wilkes-Barre or 
 the Wyoming Valley, there is a paragraph or a 
 chapter about Frances Slocum. 
 
 In 1891, John F. Meginnis, newspaper editor 
 and historian, visited Indiana and the grave of 
 Frances Slocum. He was so impressed by the 
 story told him by the descendants of the lost sis- 
 ter from Pennsylvania that he resolved to write 
 another biography of her. His book, "Frances 
 Slocum, the Lost Sister of Wyoming/' is one of 
 the most interesting and authentic of all stories 
 written about her. 
 
 Members of the Slocum family have contrib- 
 uted to her memory. When Joseph Slocum made 
 his second visit to see his sister, he persuaded her 
 to permit the English artist, George Winters, 
 paint her picture. This painting is still preserved 
 and it has helped to preserve the likeness and 
 memory of Frances Slocum. 
 
 Dr. Chas. E. Slocum of Defiance, Ohio, has 
 written much about the Slocums in America. His 
 books include much about Frances. 
 
 In 1906, Martha Bennett Phelps, granddaugh- 
 ter of Joseph Slocum, wrote another biography, 
 "Frances Slocum, the Lost Sister of the Wyo- 
 ming." This book is made interesting and valu- 
 able by the many references and traditions that 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 117 
 
 have come down through the Slocum family about 
 their noted relative. It has a number of fine illus- 
 trations of Frances Slocum and her family. 
 These illustrations were taken from paintings 
 now in possession of the Wyoming Historical 
 Association of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 
 
 This little volume, "The Lost Sister Among the 
 Miamis," adds another flag to the memory of 
 Frances Slocum. I have taken information freely 
 from the authors I have just mentioned. To them 
 I am much indebted. I have also drawn freely 
 from my own experiences with descendants of the 
 Lost Sister. I used to visit in the home of an 
 older granddaughter of Frances, who remem- 
 bered her grandmother. I have had many con- 
 versations with a younger grandson who knew 
 most of the family traditions about his grand- 
 mother. In chapter eight I have drawn somewhat 
 freely on my imagination for the details of the 
 conversations, keeping close, however, to the vari- 
 ous records that we have of the story told by 
 Frances of her own life. I have taken most of 
 chapter ten from my booklet, The Last of the 
 Miamis. In that booklet I have given sources of 
 information and illustrations. Mr. J. Fred Bip- 
 pus has furnished many of the photographs for 
 the pictures. For most of the illustrations at the 
 introductions of the various chapters, I am in- 
 
118 
 
 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 debted to Miss Ada Louise Duckwall. To Miss 
 Alice Doner and Miss Gletha Mae Noffsinger I 
 am indebted for their reading the manuscript 
 and making important suggestions. 
 
 I have had a lifelong acquaintance with many 
 of the descendants of Frances Slocum. Many of 
 the younger generations do not know the story of 
 their noted ancestor. I have had the pleasure of 
 telling it to many of them, to members of my 
 own family and to many others. Both young and 
 old are always interested in the story of The Lost 
 Sister Among the Miamis. 
 
 Osage* 
 Village ' 
 Site 
 
 Rich Valle; 
 
 % 
 
 •emetery 
 
 Jrances 5locum o 
 Peoria^s^Jonument f£ 
 
 igro 
 
 Paradise Spriiufs! \£ 
 Treaty Grounds!? ^ 
 
 X«* ^v*P ' 3 
 
 '5 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^a^^ om erseij T>-a ij 
 IMPORTANT PLACES JTocum 
 ALONG THE MISSISSINEWA 
 
 1. Connors Trading" Post 
 
 2. Connor's Mill 
 
 3. Meshing*omesia Home Site 
 
 4. Metocinyah Village 
 ,5. Joaquin Miller Home Site 
 
 6. Waucoon Church and Cemetery 
 
 7. Vernon Cemetery 
 
 8. Red Bridge J 
 <?. The Seven Pillars 
 10. National Circus Headquarters 
 
 Jalap 
 
 Lafontaine 
 
 IndTada Village 
 ttjednound 
 
 5xW 
 
 The Mississinewa Reserve ■ 
 ten sections extending, <u^ 
 for ten miles along" the ( C 
 north side of the Miss-Cj 
 issinewa, the last Miami j +, 
 reserve east of the i « 
 Mississippi, granted to|/? 
 Meshingomesia and his *" -MAmr\Tk3 
 band 1838-1880. I^IAKIUJN 
 
 The Frances Slocum Trail 
 
CHAPTER X 
 AMONG THE MIAMIS 
 
Dearborn' 
 
 (Chicago) 
 
 Ft.Miami 
 
 Ceded to the United States 
 
 by the Potawatomies, by various* 
 treaties before 1836. The Miamis 
 jfave up ail claim to this land, at 
 the treaty at Wabash 1826. ^\* 
 
 Detroit <y 
 
 LAKE 
 ERIE 
 
 Htme of 
 
 Frances • 
 SJocumJ 
 
 ^/^"0 u i »-t »n •» 
 
 Th.Big 
 Reserve 
 
 f ratited to tke 
 Miami InVunj 
 UIS-llJl CrdtJ 
 by th» 'Miamis 
 to the U.S. in 
 IIJJ-IMO 
 
 fKekionrfa, Fort Wayne. 
 ceded to the U.S. 
 Jby the treaty of 
 •T'-VGreenviJIe ~ 17 IX 
 
 •C^^X* [The MitsTs* inewn Reserve, 
 J*Zt\ ^"""^./tan sections. 1140- 1U0 
 \ ^,- ) the last Miami Reserve 
 
 •> ^Sfr. Uast of the Mississippi. 
 
 Mississippi. 
 IFori Recovery 
 
 The New Purchase 
 Ceded to the United States 
 by the Miami Indians at 
 the treaty •! St. Ma 
 1818. 
 
 ary'j 
 
 Pi qua 
 •GreenvilleJ 
 
 Ceded to the 
 United States 
 
 »t *h« Treaty 
 of Greenville , 
 
 /Ceded to the United States 
 
 $F before the War of 111* at the 
 ' treaties of Grouseland near 
 
 Vincennes in 1IOS, and at £ . 
 
 Fort Wayne HO? toy the Miamis. 
 
 Eel Rivers, Weas, nankeshaws,; 
 
 Potawatomies and Delaware*. 7> 
 
 [Ft Washington- 
 (Cincinnati) 
 
 to 
 
 
 h 
 
 ^CESSIONS OFLAND 
 BY THE MIAMIS 
 TOTHEDNrffiDSMIES 
 
CHAPTER TEN 
 Among the Miamis 
 
 Frances Slocum spent most of her life among 
 the Miamis. To understand the historical im- 
 portance of this story, we must know something 
 about this great tribe of Indians. 
 
 The Miami Nation of Indians was at one time 
 one of the largest and one of the most powerful 
 tribes in North America. It was one of the 
 leading families of the great Algonquin race. 
 La Salle described them in this way: "The Mia- 
 mis are the most civilized of all nations of Indians 
 — neat of dress, splendid of bearing, haughty in 
 manner, holding all other tribes as inferiors. " 
 
 At one time they must have ruled a great in- 
 land empire. Their general chief, Little Turtle, 
 at the treaty of Greenville, said to General 
 Wayne : "The prints of my ancestors' houses are 
 everywhere to be seen in this region. It is well 
 known to all my brothers present that my fore- 
 fathers kindled the first fire at Detroit; from 
 thence they extended their line to the head waters 
 of the Scioto; from thence to its mouth; from 
 thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash 
 and from thence to Lake Michigan. I have now 
 informed you of the boundary of the Miami Na- 
 tion where the Great Spirit placed my forefathers 
 
122 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 a long time ago and charged them not to sell or 
 part with their land but preserve it to their pos- 
 terity." 
 
 A study of the map will show that Little Turtle 
 claimed for the Miamis an immense territory in- 
 cluding all of the present state of Indiana, the 
 west part of Ohio, and parts of Illinois and Mich- 
 igan. General William Henry Harrison, who 
 knew Indian history well, once wrote that the 
 Miamis were the greatest landowners in the 
 Northwest. The historian, Bancroft, wrote the 
 same thing about them. 
 
 Some early writers tell us that the Miami Con- 
 federacy was the most powerful in North Amer- 
 ica, rivaling that of the Iroquois Confederacy in 
 New York. It is said that at one time they could 
 place an army of five thousand warriors in the 
 field. They had great influence over other tribes. 
 Their ancient capital was Ke-ki-on-ga, where 
 Fort Wayne now stands. It was located near the 
 center of their great empire and commanded riv- 
 ers, trails and portages in all directions. Other 
 villages of friendly Indian tribes near by made 
 Ke-ki-on-ga a great Indian metropolis. 
 
 A Declining Nation 
 The Golden Age of the Miami Nation was in 
 the early part of the seventeenth century. Then 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 123 
 
 came a period of decline. The fierce Iroquois 
 from the east made inroad after inroad into 
 Miami territory. The Miamis were driven west 
 to seek alliance with western Indians. Under the 
 leadership of A-que-nack-que, father of Little 
 Turtle, and with the aid of western Indians, the 
 Miamis drove the Iroquois back east until they 
 came no more. Then the Miamis engaged in war 
 with their former allies. The powerful Sioux 
 Indians massacred many Miamis. The Potawat- 
 omies and Kickapoos united and badly defeated 
 the Miamis. Then other Indian tribes, driven 
 west by the white man, took possession of much of 
 the Miami territory. So it came to pass that Del- 
 awares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Wyandottes, Pota- 
 watomies, and other Indians laid claim to much 
 land that once belonged to the Maimis. 
 
 A Great Miami Chief 
 One of the most brilliant periods in the history 
 of the Miami Nation was brought about by their 
 great chief, Me-she-kin-no-quah, more commonly 
 known as The Little Turtle. He was the greatest 
 of all Miami chiefs and in the estimation of many 
 people the greatest Indian that ever lived. His 
 father, A-que-nack-que, was the great Miami 
 chief who made a treaty of peace and friendship 
 with the English at Lancaster, Pa., in 1748. The 
 
124 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 village of A-que-nack-que was on the banks of 
 Eel River, the Ke-na-po-co-mo-co, five miles east 
 of the present Columbia City, Indiana. Here 
 Little Turtle was born in 1751. 
 
 Little Turtle came to prominent notice when he 
 gathered a force of Miami Indians and massacred 
 the little army of LaBaume, who had dared to 
 invade Miami territory in search of plunder and 
 conquest. This was in 1780. During the next 
 ten years Little Turtle was active in leading his 
 Miami Indians south to attack the white settle- 
 ments along the Ohio and in Kentucky. He saw 
 that the white men were invading his fatherland 
 and he fought them in the only way he knew. 
 
 So serious were these attacks that when Wash- 
 ington became President one of his greatest prob- 
 lems was what to do with these Miami and other 
 Indians. He sent General Josiah Harmar with an 
 army to destroy Ke-ki-on-ga. While this army 
 destroyed the Indian wigwams and many Indian 
 supplies, yet Little Turtle won two decisive vic- 
 tories over sections of this army. The expedition 
 as a whole was a failure. Then Washington sent 
 General Arthur St. Clair with the largest army 
 that had been sent against the Indians since the 
 days of Braddock. But on November 4, 1791, at 
 what is now Fort Recovery, Ohio, Little Turtle, 
 leading an army made up of Miamis and other 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 125 
 
 tribes, overwhelmed the army of St. Clair and 
 massacred a large part of it. This was the great- 
 est defeat that ever befell an American army at 
 the hands of the Indians. No other Indian ever 
 won so many victories over the whites as did Lit- 
 tle Turtle. 
 
 President Washington now had a major prob- 
 lem in dealing with Little Turtle and his Miamis. 
 He chose General Anthony Wayne to lead the 
 next expedition against the Indians. Little Tur- 
 tle knew when he had met his superior. He ad- 
 vised his people to make peace, telling them that 
 the Americans now had a general "who never 
 sleeps. " But, advised differently by other chiefs, 
 the Indians would not listen to Little Turtle. 
 They were completely defeated by General Wayne 
 in the battle of Fallen Timbers on the Maumee, 
 near Toledo, August 20, 1794. 
 
 The leading Indian chiefs of the Northwest 
 Territory now accepted the invitation of General 
 Wayne to meet him at Greenville, Ohio, to hear 
 his terms of peace. Here Little Turtle showed 
 himself as great a statesman as he had been a gen- 
 eral. He did everything that he could to preserve 
 the lands north and west of the Ohio for his peo- 
 ple. When he could not move the American gen- 
 eral, he reluctantly signed the treaty, saying that 
 he had been the last to sign the treaty and that 
 
126 THE LOST SISTER 
 
 he would be the last to break it. And he never 
 did. He spent the last years of his life trying to 
 keep his people in peace with the United States. 
 
 The Loss of an Empire 
 By the treaty of Greenville the Miamis and 
 other Indians ceded to the United States three- 
 fourths of the present state of Ohio and a few 
 small tracts in Indiana. By the treaties made at 
 Fort Wayne and Vincennes in 1804 and 1809, 
 with General William Henry Harrison represent- 
 ing the United States, the Miamis and other In- 
 dian tribes ceded to the Americans the southern 
 third of what is now Indiana. Little Turtle had 
 agreed to these treaties. By so doing he lost 
 much prestige among his own people but he kept 
 the Miamis quiet while he lived. After his death 
 in 1812, the Miamis, disregarding the advice of 
 their great leader, joined Tecumseh and the Brit- 
 ish against the Americans. When the Americans 
 won, the Indians were destined to lose more terri- 
 tory. 
 
 At the treaty of St. Mary's in 1818, the Miamis 
 ceded to the United States all of their lands south 
 of the Wabash River except the Big Reserve and 
 a few smaller reserves. This land cession, called 
 the New Purchase, included about one-third of 
 the present state of Indiana. The Big Reserve, 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 127 
 
 as it was called, included nine hundred square 
 miles of land lying just south of the Wabash Riv- 
 er, extending from the mouth of the Salamonie 
 to the mouth of Eel River. It was to belong to 
 the Miamis "forever." 
 
 By the treaty of Paradise Springs at Wabash 
 in 1826, the Miamis gave up all claim to all lands 
 lying north of the Wabash. The Potawatomies 
 had long claimed this territory but were compelled 
 to cede their interests to the United States, receiv- 
 ing in exchange certain tracts of lands in Kansas 
 Territory. The Miamis soon learned that the 
 white man's "forever" was very short in dealing 
 with the Indians. By the treaties at the Forks of 
 the Wabash in 1838 and 1840 they were compelled 
 to give up all of the Big Reserve except the ten 
 sections granted to Meshingomesia's band and a 
 number of smaller reserves granted to individual 
 Indians who were either chiefs or closely related 
 to them. The rest of the Miamis were soon to be 
 taken to the lands west of the Mississippi, just as 
 other Indians had already been forced to go. 
 
 Frances Slocum was well acquainted with all 
 the Miami chiefs of that day. The following- 
 pages give pictures and sketches of these chiefs 
 and of members of her own family. She has more 
 than eighty living descendants today. 
 
I.ITTLE TURTLE 
 
 ME-SHE-KIN-NO-QUAH 
 The greatest of his tribe and race 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 129 
 
 Little Turtle 
 
 After Little Turtle made peace with the Amer- 
 icans at Greenville in 1795, he spent the remain- 
 ing years of his life in works of peace. With 
 William Wells as interpreter he visited President 
 George Washington in Philadelphia in the early 
 spring of 1797. Washington received him with 
 great courtesy and honored him by giving him a 
 handsome sword, a good gun, and a medal, and 
 had his picture painted by the noted artist, Gil- 
 bert Stuart. On that visit he was entertained by 
 the leading men of the nation. 
 
 Little Turtle learned of vaccination as a pre- 
 ventative for smallpox and introduced it among 
 his people to protect them from the ravages of 
 that terrible disease. He tried to introduce agri- 
 culture among the Indians that they might have 
 other means of living besides hunting. His great- 
 est efforts were against intemperance among his 
 people. He tried to persuade them to abstain 
 from drink. He made visits to state capitals and 
 to the national capital to get laws passed against 
 white men selling his Indians whisky. He had a 
 comfortable home built for him by the United 
 States government at the trading post on Eel 
 River. He often visited Fort Wayne and there 
 he died at the home of William Wells in July, 
 1812. 
 
WILLIAM WELLS 
 Foster son and son-in-law of Little Turtle 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 131 
 
 William Wells 
 
 Frances Slocum and William Wells spent many 
 days together as captive white children among the 
 Miami Indians at the Little Turtle Village on Eel 
 River, the Kenapocomoco. Both of them were 
 favorites among the Indians. 
 
 William Wells was captured by Little Turtle in 
 one of his raids in Kentucky. He was adopted by 
 the great chief. Later he married the chief's 
 daughter, Sweet Breeze. They have descendants 
 living today. He became the constant companion 
 and lieutenant of Little Turtle in his conflicts with 
 the Americans. He helped to defeat Harmar and 
 St. Clair. Then by agreement with Little Turtle 
 he visited his white relatives in Kentucky. He 
 joined General Wayne and helped him defeat the 
 Indians. He then returned to his foster-father 
 and father-in-law and was his constant compan- 
 ion and interpreter. Together they made trips to 
 eastern cities and to many places in the west. 
 Captain Wells acted as official interpreter in many 
 treaties between the United States and the In- 
 dians. He was killed while defending the inhabi- 
 tants of Fort Dearborn, Chicago, in that massa- 
 cre, August 15, 1812. Wells County, Indiana, 
 Wells Street in Chicago and many other places 
 are named after him. 
 
JOHN B. RICHARDVILLE 
 
 Pe-che-wa, 17 60- J 84 J 
 
 Nephew and successor of Little Turtle 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 133 
 
 John B. Richardville 
 
 After the death of Little Turtle, his nephew, 
 John B. Richardville, was chosen general chief of 
 the Miami Indians. His father was Joseph D. 
 Richardville of the French nobility. His mother 
 was Ta-cum-wah, the sister of Little Turtle. She 
 took much interest in her son. She was a keen 
 business woman and taught him how to succeed. 
 He became the richest Indian in the United 
 States. His quiet, gentlemanly ways won the 
 friendship and esteem of the white people. Acts 
 of heroism and his interest in his own people won 
 the confidence of the Indians. 
 
 Richardville signed the treaty of Greenville in 
 1795. In later treaties the United States govern- 
 ment was very friendly to him and granted him 
 much land and money. He owned land here and 
 there from Fort Wayne to Kokomo. Howard 
 County, Indiana, was first named Richardville 
 County in his honor. Russiaville, Indiana, still 
 bears his name. He owned the land where the 
 Osage Village was built. For a time he lived 
 there and came in close touch with Frances Slo- 
 cum and her husband. 
 
 Richardville had many children. A daughter 
 married Francis La Fontaine; a granddaughter 
 James Godfroy, a son of Chief Francis Godfroy. 
 There are many descendants living today. 
 
CHIEF FRANCIS GODFROY 
 
 1788-1840 
 
 Friend and adviser of Frances Slocum 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 135 
 
 Funeral Oration for Francis Godfroy 
 By Wa-pa-pin-cha or Geo. Hunt 
 
 "Brothers, the Great Spirit has again taken to 
 himself another of our once powerful and happy, 
 but now rapidly declining nation. The time was 
 when these forests were filled with red men. But 
 the same hand whose blighting touch has withered 
 the majestic frame that lies before us and caused 
 the noble spirit that animated his body to seek 
 another abode has in like manner dealt with his 
 fathers and with ours. And so it will deal with 
 us. Such occasions as this have become so com- 
 mon recently that we scarcely notice them longer. 
 But when the brave and generous are stricken, 
 our tears of sorrow flow freely. 
 
 "Our brother was brave and generous, and as a 
 tribute to his virtue and a reward for his good- 
 ness, the tears not only of his own people but also 
 of many of the white people flow freely. The poor 
 will weep at this event for at his tables they were 
 wont to feast and be happy. The weak will 
 mourn because his power was ever directed to 
 their protection. But he has left this earth of 
 vexation and sorrow and is now enjoying with 
 Pocahontas and with Logan the joys that the 
 Great Spirit has prepared for those who do well 
 and faithfully their duty. Brothers, let us follow 
 his example and practice his virtues." 
 
Chief Francis LaFontaine and wife 
 
 Their home at the forks of the Wabash 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 137 
 
 Francis La Fontaine 
 
 On the death of Chief Richardville in 1841, the 
 Indian chiefs met at the Forks of the Wabash to 
 elect a successor. There were three prominent 
 candidates : Francis La Fontaine, Me-shin-go-me- 
 sia and Brouillette. After a bitter controversy, 
 La Fontaine was chosen. He was the last general 
 chief ever elected by the Miamis. 
 
 La Fontaine was the grandson of a French 
 trader and a Miami woman. He married Cath- 
 erine, the beautiful daughter of Chief Richard- 
 ville. He was honest and much interested in the 
 welfare of the Indians. He moved to the Forks 
 of the Wabash not only to carry on trade but also 
 that he might better advise his people. He built 
 a fine home which is still standing. It was the 
 center of Indian trade and treaties for many 
 years. He was favorably known to both whites 
 and Indians for his fine qualities. He was a large 
 man weighing 350 pounds. When the Indians 
 were taken west he went with them to their new 
 home and tried to locate them well. On his way 
 home he was taken sick and died at La Fayette. 
 He is buried in the Catholic cemetery near Hunt- 
 ington. He left a large family and has many de- 
 scendants living today. La Fontaine, Indiana, 
 and many streets and places in Indiana cities are 
 named for him. 
 
ME-SHIN-GO-ME-SIA 
 
 The last tribal chief of the Miamis 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 139 
 
 Me-shin-go-me-sia 
 
 Me-shin-go-me-sia was the son and successor 
 of the old chief, Me-toc-in-yah. He was the last 
 tribal chief of the Miamis. In 1840 he and his 
 band received ten sections of land along the Mis- 
 sissinewa and held it for forty years. Of all of 
 the large domain once owned by the Miamis, this 
 was their last tribal possession. 
 
 Me-shin-go-me-sia became a warm friend of 
 the whites and a wise leader of his own people. 
 He often went to Washington to look after their 
 interests. He joined the Baptist church and was 
 a faithful member. When the state built a school- 
 house near his home, he urged the young Indians 
 to attend and get an education. He was per- 
 suaded to ask the government for citizenship and 
 for a division of the land. This was unfortunate 
 for the individual owners soon lost all in trade 
 with the white man. 
 
 He had a faithful wife, Takequah. They had 
 two sons, Pe-con-ga and Aw-taw-waw-tah. 
 Three grandsons married granddaughters of 
 Frances Slocum. There are many descendants 
 living today. Me-shin-go-me-sia and many of his 
 family are buried in the Indian cemetery near his 
 old home at the Indian Village. 
 
George Slocum 
 
 Mrs. George Slocum 
 
 
 The George Slocum homestead on the Frances Slocum 
 
 Trail. The barn was built by George Slocum before his 
 
 death in I860 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 141 
 
 George Remington Slocum 
 No one among the friends of Frances Slocum 
 did more for her than her nephew, George R. 
 Slocum. He was born near Bellevue, Ohio, in 
 1822, the son of Isaac and Elizabeth Patrick Slo- 
 cum. He was married in 1843 to Elizabeth 
 Ophelia Pierce. George and his wife both came 
 from excellent homes. Each had more than an 
 ordinary interest in education and religion. At 
 the urgent request of his Aunt Frances they 
 moved to Indiana, hoping to be of some help to 
 her and her family. While she lived they gave 
 much attention to her welfare. After her death 
 they continued to teach their Indian neighbors and 
 friends. Through them many became Christians. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Slocum brought with them to 
 Indiana their two small daughters, Marian and 
 Cordelia. Five more children were born to them. 
 They worked hard to build up their new home. 
 In 1860 George died after a brief illness. Mrs. 
 Slocum bravely carried on after his death rais- 
 ing her large family and helping her neighbors. 
 She gave her children more than an ordinary ed- 
 ucation. They have many descendants today. 
 Mrs. D. E. Poulsen of Converse, daughter of 
 Cordelia Slocum Murphy, has furnished these 
 pictures of her grandparents and much informa- 
 tion. 
 
Ke-fye-nolt-esh-wa, wife 
 of J. B. Brouillette 
 
 O-zah-shin-quah, wife of 
 Peter Bundy 
 
 J. B. Brouillette 
 
 Te-qua-ke-aw 
 
 1796-1867 
 
 Peter Bundy 
 
 Waw-pop-e-tah 
 
 1817-1897 
 
 Both became Christians and active preachers in the 
 Baptist church. 
 
AMONG THE MIAMIS 143 
 
 Daughters of Frances Slocum 
 Frances Slocum had two sons, but both of them 
 died young. So there was no one to carry on the 
 name of their father, She-po-co-nah. 
 
 Her oldest daughter, Ke-ke-nok-esh-wa, was 
 the wife of J. B. Brouillette. She was known to 
 the white people as Nancy Brouillette. She died 
 four days after her mother's death. She left no 
 descendants. 
 
 The youngest daughter of Frances was O-zah- 
 shin-quah. She was married five times. By her 
 first husband, Louison Godfroy, she had two 
 daughters. Eliza became the second wife of J. B. 
 Brouillette. Frances became the wife of William 
 Peconga. By her second husband, Wap-shin- 
 waw, O-zah-shin-quah had one daughter, Eliza- 
 beth, who became the second wife of Gabriel God- 
 froy. By her third husband, Takkonah, O-zah- 
 shin-quah had one son who died in infancy. By 
 her fourth husband, Mah-mah-mun-drah, she had 
 one daughter, Melvina, who became the wife of 
 Nelson Taw-a-taw. By her last husband, Peter 
 Bundy, she had four children: Hannah, wife of 
 Moses Mongozah, Rose Ann, wife of Robert 
 Peconga, Camillus and Judson. She has more 
 than eighty descendants living today. To the 
 white people she was known as Jane Bundy. She 
 died in January, 1877. 
 
Granddaughters of Frances Slocum. Frances (left), wife 
 of William Peconga. Elizabeth, wife of Gabriel 
 Godfroy 
 
 William Peconga Gabriel Godfroy 
 
 Each was a member of a great family. Each re- 
 ceived more than an ordinary education. Each would 
 have been chief had tribal relations continued among 
 the Indians. 
 
Camillus Bund}) 
 The last surviving grandchild of Frances Slocum. 
 He died January 25, J 935. 
 
 David Bundy and Daughter, 
 Phyllis 
 
 Mr. Bundy has been a mem- 
 ber of the Wabash Fire Depart- 
 ment for many years. He is a 
 son of Camillus Bundy. 
 
 Phyllis has been christened 
 "Little Ma-con-a-quah" in honor 
 of her great-great-grandmother. 
 
Judson Bundy and daughter, Mabel 
 
 Hannah Bund]), wife of Three generations: Mrs. Jose- 
 Moses Mongoza phine Witt, daughter and grand- 
 daughters 
 
Four Generations 
 Mrs. Melvina Tawataw, Mrs. Emma Walters, Mrs. Sadie 
 McCuire and her two daughters. 
 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. John Bundy (left). Mrs. Bund}) was 
 Nancy, daughter of J. B. Brouilette and Eliza, the oldest 
 daughter of Ozahshinquah. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Peconga. 
 
We have no picture of Chief She-po-co-nah, but rve 
 have, possibly, his likeness in his great-grandson, Frank 
 Godfroy (right), and in his great-great-grandson, Clar- 
 ence Godfroy. They are fine representatives of the 
 Miamis whom LaSalle pronounced the finest in appear- 
 ance of all Indian tribes. 
 
Descendants of Frances Slocum at her grave, September 
 15, 1935. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ross Bund]) at a Miami reunion. Mr. Bund]) 
 is a great-great-grandson of Frances Slocum. With them are 
 two friends of the Miamis, Hon. Hal Phelps (left), judge of 
 Miami County Circuit Court and Mr. Chas. More, engineer 
 of Fort Wayne. 
 
The Godfroy Cemetery 
 
 Here Chief Francis Godfroy and many of his fam- 
 ily are buried. Across the road where the barn is seen 
 stood his Mount Pleasant Trading Post. 
 
 The Indian Village Cemetery 
 
 Here M e-shin-go-me-sia and many of his family 
 are buried. In this old church he attended services for 
 many years.