Life of Tecumseh, and of His Brother the Prophet | Page 4

Augusta; and Adair, who refers to the war between the
Shawanoes and Cherokees, saw a body of the former in the wilderness,
who, after having wandered for some time in the woods, were then
returning to the Creek country. According to John Johnston,[A] a large
party of the Shawanoes, who originally lived north of the Ohio, had for
some cause emigrated as far south as the Suwanoe river, which empties
into the Gulf of Mexico. From thence they returned, under the direction
of a chief named Black Hoof, about the middle of the last century, to
Ohio. It is supposed that this tribe gave name to the Suwanoe river, in
1750, by which name the Cumberland was also known, when Doctor
Walker, (of Virginia) visited Kentucky.
[Footnote A: I Vol. Trans. Amer. Antiquarian Society.]
Of the causes which led the Shawanoes to abandon the south, but little
is known beyond what may be gleaned from their traditions.
Heckewelder, in his contributions to the American Philosophical
Society, says, "they were a restless people, delighting in wars, in which
they were constantly engaged with some of the surrounding nations. At
last their neighbors, tired of being continually harassed by them,
formed a league for their destruction. The Shawanoes finding
themselves thus dangerously situated, asked to be permitted to leave
the country, which was granted to them; and they immediately removed
to the Ohio. Here their main body settled, and then sent messengers to
their elder brother,[A] the Mohicans, requesting them to intercede for
them with their grandfather, the Lenni Lenape, to take them under his

protection. This the Mohicans willingly did, and even sent a body of
their own people to conduct their younger brother into the country of
the Delawares. The Shawanoes finding themselves safe under the
protection of their grandfather, did not choose to proceed to the
eastward, but many of them remained on the Ohio, some of whom
settled as far up that river as the long island, above which the French
afterwards built fort Duquesne, on the spot where Pittsburg now stands.
Those who proceeded farther, were accompanied by their chief, named
Gachgawatschiqua, and settled principally at and about the forks of the
Delaware, between that and the confluence of the Delaware and
Schuylkill; and some, even on the spot where Philadelphia now stands;
others were conducted by the Mohicans into their own country, where
they intermarried with them and became one people. When those
settled near the Delaware had multiplied, they returned to Wyoming on
the Susquehannah, where they resided for a great number of years."
[Footnote A: The Shawanoes call the Mohicans their elder brother, and
the Delawares their grandfather.]
Chapman, in his history of Wyoming, states, that after the Shawanoes
were driven from Georgia and Florida, they built a town at the mouth
of the Wabash, and established themselves in it. They then applied to
the Delawares for some territory on which to reside. When granted, a
council was held to consider the propriety of accepting the offer of the
Delawares. On this question the Shawanoes divided--part of them
remained on the Wabash,--the others, composing chiefly the Piqua tribe,
formed a settlement in the forks of the Delaware. Alter a time, a
disagreement arose between them and the Delawares, which induced
the former to remove to the valley of the Wyoming, on the
Susquehannah, on the west bank of which they built a town, and lived
in repose many years. Subsequently to the treaty held at Philadelphia,
in 1742, between the governor and the Six Nations, the Delawares were
driven from that part of Pennsylvania; and a portion of them also
removed to the Wyoming valley, then in possession of the Shawanoes,
and secured the quiet occupancy of a part of it; built a town on the east
bank of the river, which they called Waughwauwame, where they lived
for some time, on terms of amity with their new neighbors.
During the summer of 1742, count Zinzendorf of Saxony, came to
America on a religious mission, connected with the ancient church of

the United Brethren. Having heard of the Shawanoes at Wyoming, he
determined to make an effort to introduce Christianity among them. He
accordingly made them a visit, but did not meet with a cordial
reception. The Shawanoes supposed that the missionary was in pursuit
of their lands; and a party of them determined to assassinate him
privately, for fear of exciting other Indians to hostility. The attempt
upon his life was made, but strangely defeated. Chapman relates the
manner of it, which he obtained from a companion of the count, who
did not publish it in his memoirs, lest the United Brethren might
suppose that the subsequent conversion of the Shawanoes was the
result of their superstition. It is as follows:
"Zinzendorf was alone in