Piqua Central High School - Piquonian Yearbook (Piqua, OH)

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Q Y'.X'.Z?.Xi!K'.X' ' . .. . 1 'A TX pXZB'1'.1l'R'X'.iB1 .. '.- 'XfXiRlYF3T- ' 'VNNXAYX53 5 ....x ... . ,.... . k..x , . .. ., , , . ..X.,. . Piqua and the Indian HE history of Piqua dates back many years before the day when the white man first entered the old Buckeye State, for the present site of Piqua was a favorite one of the Red Skins, even before the Indian village of Pe-quaw CPiquaj was established. So great was their attachment to this section of the country that for many years after they were driven out of this territory, their scattered tribes would assemble to weep over the graves of their beloved kindred. The main tribe of these Red Men was called Miami, which signifies in the Indian language Mother. The Miami Indians believed themselves to be created out of the dust of the Miami Valley and to have been located near the present site of Piqua, since the beginning of time. There were many branches of this enormous tribe. One of these was the Twightwees who had their town near the mouth of the Loramie Creek, which is located a few miles north of our city. Other tribes who roamed this section of the country were the Ottawas, Objibways, Cherokees, Delawares and XVyandotes. In the eighteenth century there was a bitter fight between the French and the English to establish trade throughout this region. The French were success- ful in obtaining practically all the trade except that of the Twightwees. The Chief of that tribe, Old Britian , could not be induced to give up trading with the English. About 1747 a battle resulted and 'fOld Britian and his tribe were defeated at a place called Fort Pickawillainy, the last permanent settlement in this vicinity by the Miamis. This battle was the first of the French and Indian VVar. Later the Shawnees and many other tribes ventured into the Miami's territory and established many small villages along the Miami River. Many times this section was changed from the French to the English and from English to French. The right to it was settled finally in a pitched battle on the ground just east of the St. Mary's Pike and north of Swift Run, thus marking the last battle of the French and Indian war in 1763. Shortly after this the Shawnees took possession of the territory in the vicinity of Piqua, which is south of the present site of our city. Their first settlement was called Chillicothe, meaning head-town or the council-place. This was used as a headquarters, to plan wars against the white man of Kentucky. There the Shawnees were subdued and the town of Pe-quaw near Springfield was attacked. The straggling tribes, so defeated, downcast and discouraged, moved many miles north to the Great Miami and settled a short distance north of the present site of Piqua. This place was named Pe-quaw in commemoration of their earlier residence. The traditional origin of the name Piqua was told at one time to one of the pioneer settlers of Piqua by an old Indian Chief who was for many years a trader and member of the Shawnee tribe. This old Indian tradition runs that many years ago the tribe had all assembled for a thanksgiving and annual feast. All were seated around the fire which had gone low and showed signs of dying embers, when a slight puffing was observed and up from the grey ashes and half charred embers, sprang a full formed man. Many exclaimed in great surprise Otath- he-wagh-Pe-quaw -He has come out of the ashes. From that time on the place was called Pe-quaw. This refers to the location near the site on Mad River, but the later tribes carried the name along wherever they chanced to go. When the white man settled in this region he called our present city Washing- ton, but the name Piqua was so well established that it was difficult to change, so the town was called by the mysterious Indian name, Pe-quaw, which was later changed to Piqua by an act of legislation. EVELYN REES. 97

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.-'YI' Ns S RXXN Y X .X.XNC,k1 IZXXXIN. y X' C , . ' '. R ' X SIXXINSX. ' VYRXIQXXSQ H53 If W W X .X.. . x.x......,..x. . . ..... I xNNxxxx,x., N ., .t xNx,,,N . .... .. , , . .,. ..,, ...,,.xNN . Nx.xx . M Indian Names in Ohio HE Indian has not only given us many customs and many manners of dress, but he has also left behind him as he travelled, many a stray word of his language, which should make a great impression upon us. XYe should be more impressed by this, because we are so closely connected with Indian events. XYe are familiar with the names our of state, city, county, and river but these names bear no significance to us. XYe say Ohio, Piqua, and Miami figuratively not realizing what they really meant when originated. The word Ohio in the Indian language signified Beautiful River . Miami means Mother, while Piqua was given its name when a white man was burned at the stake, for Piqua in their language signified ashes If one would study the counties of Ohio he would be very much interested and surprised to find how many of them still bear their former Indian names. Ashtabula, which is the largest county in Ohio was named after the Ashtabula river which the Indians called fish river. The counties of Coshocton and Cuyahoga were Indian villages where the white people went to trade furs. Cuyahoga was named after the river which in the Indian language meant crooked If one would see the name of Geauga he would immediately realize it was an Indian name, but very few people know what this name really means. The natives gave us raccoon as the meaning of this word. Hocking county is another, named after a river. This was called Hocking because in the Indian language the word Hocking meant bottle. From a bird's-eye view this river has the exact shape of a bottle. XYe all know that Ottawa county was a great trading post and that is why the Indians gave it this name. The Indians have very peculiar names for some of our other counties. Erie is a common name but the meaning is very odd. The Indian called this territory of Erie fireland. Mahoning county derived its name from the river Mahoning which in the Indian days signified at the lick. XVe know that Muskingum is located near a river, but we do not all know why the Indians gave this territory the name of Muskingum? Since the meaning of this word is town on the river side , we can easily see why the natives gave the county this name. Pickaway is derived from the name of a Shawnee Indian tribe: this part of the state was where they had their famous hunting grounds. The cooling waters of the Sandusky river infIuenced the Indian to give the name of Sandusky to the locality surrounding the river. In the early days the Indians had a reservation in the county we now call Seneca. This county was named after the Seneca Indian tribe. The Moravian Indians had a mission in the territory we now call Tuscarawas which means open mouth. This was long before the white man settled in the valley. Many of our cities have at one time been Indian villages or trading posts. lVe are all familiar with Tippecanoe, Chillicothe, and Vllapakoneta, which are of course Indian names. Then too there are such cities as Chickasaw, YVauseon, and Ottawa, located in northern Ohio which received their names from the Indians. Many of our rivers such as Scioto, Miami, Cuyahoga and many others have the same names as the counties in which they are located. These were all given their names by the Indians. If we would stop to study the meanings of all these Indian names we should realize the real significance of them and should remember the red man that gave us these beautiful names. MARGUERITE KERNS. 96

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-A -' - . - 1 wx -xx::ws.ae.!xxx:x-.smrmz-xx'..' ,,.., MHS? . , . ..,. . . ... .X.X.xx,, . - . t - , ,x, x,,,.xXxx it N.,.. t Famous Indians of Qhio T was just dusk. The sturdy figure of an Indian Chief suddenly came into view over the top of a barren hill. The slow pace of the horse and the weary droop of the rider gave them the appearance of having traveled a great distance, but suddenly the Indian jerked himself erect and shading his eyes with his slim hand, gazed a second in the distance and then leaning over to the horse's ear gave a shrill cry and the trained animal leaped into a swift gallop toward a thin curl of smoke. The horse and rider tore into a circle of wildly dancing Indians, two of whom were in the act of killing a prisoner by torturing him with fire. Tecumseh, for that was the Chief's name, sprang from his horse, caught the cruel Indians, one by the throat and one by the hair and drew them to the ground, then snatching their weapons he brandished them wildly in the air and dared an Indian to attack the prisoner again. Tecumseh was chief of a band of Kiscopoke Indians, a branch of the Shawnee Tribe. As much as Tescumseh loved war and hated the white man he was never- theless like the other intelligent chiefs, such as Black-Hoof, in loathing the pract- ice of torturing and burning prisoners. However the restless spirit of the tribe soon became apparent in Tecumseh and he decided to take a small party and go westward for adventure. - One morning while hunting through the woods for meat Tecumseh was aroused by the war cry of some Indian tribe resounding over the hills. He ran swiftly to his horse and rode to the top of the nearest hill and signalled the other tribe by the usual signal of smoke. The next day found Tecumseh and his small party engaged with the Cherokees in a war with the whites under the leadership of Capt. Harrison. The result of this bloody war caused Tecumseh to become the terrible enemy of Harrison. The few remaining Kiscopokes journeyed on to the great Miami River where they rnet and finally joined the Delawares. One evening while the tribe were peacefully reclining around a dying camp fire one of the Delaware warriors started a discussion about the plans of the great Mingo chief, Pontiac. For some time Pontiac had hoped to check the blood- thirsty feeling of one tribe toward another, but had never been successful. Tecumseh listened quietly to the discussion and finally resolved to himself that he would attempt to execute the plans of Pontiac. Before sunrise the next morning he rode swiftly from camp and headed eastward toward the rising sun. In a short time he found himself in the territory of the XVyandots, whose cooperation was necessary as they were the holders of the 'Lgreat belt which had been the symbol of union in previous wars. The great infiuence of Tecumseh finally won the sympathy of the warlike tribes and he rode away to Profits Town where he solicited the Miamis and the Vlleas and then prepared to meet Black Hoof the great chief of the Shawnees. Black-Hoof, had bravely led the Shawnees in all the Ohio VVars until the Treaty of Greenville, but his spirit was broken during the battle at Fort Wayne when he realized the uselessness of fighting against the whites any longer. From that time on he preserved his infiuence for peace. He was the bearer of the celebrated letter of Thomas jefferson, written to the Shawnees with the governor's proposition to purchase the Shawnees' land. It was only through his great power and infiuence that the Indian Chiefs finally consented to touch the VVampum Belt which was the emblem of peace. So it was this Chief who stood in his tent with arms folded, quietly listening to the eloquent speech of Tecumseh concerning Pontiac's plans of consolidation. 98