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

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Q X?QX',R,X,S3Q' 'XX.N,N.N,.RY .X.X.X.k. . .. . . -. A AbZ'S'lQ.R.X1YJ! ,ASNAXV xRRX3Q-A' I X .Q s . . ....,,.. .,.. ,..k - . . - . . . . , lYhen Tecumseh had finished, Black-Hoof firmly shook his head. Tecumseh raised his hand in farewell and departed. Although his spirit was weakened and he saw his dreams of success beginning to crumble, he determined not to give up until he had visited the famous Mingo chief, Logan. This Mingo chief towered more than six feet in the air and weighed 200 pounds. His strong character was expressed in his still, quick eyes, his square jaw and firm mouth. He certainly had the lofty bearing of a true savage. How- ever, Logan had been intimate with the whites the greater part of his life, and at this time offered his services to Col. Johnson when the latter desired the removal of American women and children to Ft. Piqua. So again Tecumseh's proposition was frowned upon and he stalked slowly away. He madea last effort to unite the lYyandots and the Senecas but was finally denounced as a murderer near Tippecanoe and the courageous Indian sank into obscurity. One great chief could not so easily be influenced by another so the plans of the great Pontiac were never executed. ELEANOR XVHITE. The Face on the c'Indian Penny XVONDER if any of us high school pupils would be able to answer the follow- ing question if we were given it in a test. Do you know the name of the girl whose face appears on the so-called Indian penny? I even doubt if many or any of our honored and brilliant Senior Class could answer this question, if, perhaps it were given on one of their famous intelligence tests. I was once asked this question and as I was hopelessly unable to answer it, I was told to read a certain article found in the Pittsburgh Leader of about ten years ago. The article was very interesting and certainly changed my idea concerning the Indian penny. Most everyone today supposes the face to be that of an Indian maiden, but this is certainly a mistaken idea. It is said that in 1835 the government of the United States offered one thousand dollars for the most acceptable design which could be placed upon the new one cent coin, soon to be issued. About this same time some Indian chiefs, who were traveling from the north- west arrived, one day, at Philadelphia to inspect the mint. The chief engraver at that time was james Longacre, who very kindly invited them to his home. Mr. Longacre had a pretty ten year old daughter whose name was Sarah. During the evening, in order to please her, one of the chiefs removed his war bonnet and feathered helmet and placed it on Sarah's head. This sight was so striking that an artist, who was also the guest of Mr. Longacre, immediately sketched her and gave the picture to her father, who, knowing of the competition for a likeness to go upon the cent, determined to enter the sketch for the premium offered by the government. To his supreme delight and the happiness of his daughter the officials accepted it. Thus, the face of the child, Sarah Longacre, appeared on the new coins, which began to be issued in 1836. Because she wore the Indian head-dress, this copper coin is often called the Indian penny. THELMA THOMAS 99

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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

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,N-X w -- - x 14 xxwx Q P - ' . , . 1 as. is ' -1 f's.:xm':m:'rxrAzNxwxN:xwxxx' ' ' :Q iw HSD V W I X . A. ... . . ...N .......w..,..,....N........,. wWv.Wx..... . GEORGE C. DIETRICH srlfr. or SCHOOLS CHARLES H. BARNETT Board of Educatlon FRANK P. IRVIN PRESIDENT FRANK P. BROTHERTUN CLERK WM. H. KOESTER GEORGE WASHING 6