Page 164
THE RED MEN OF IOWA.
find a band of them with the Winnebagoes hovering about Fort Dearborn, where Chicago is now situated. They appear to have taken a prominent part with the Winnebagoes in the horrible massacre which attended the evacuation of that post. It was a party of this tribe that undertook to escort that unfortunate garrison away from the abandoned fort, but it does not appear that they rendered any efficient assistance in their defense when the bloody attack was made.
The Pottawattamies were originally situated along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, but they extended themselves to White River in Indiana on the south, to Detroit on the east, and to Rock River on the west. They were the first to interpose an effectual barrier to the victorious career of the Iroquois. They were remarkable for their stature, symmetry, and fine personal appearance.
Although, as we have said, they had assumed separate sovereignty, yet there was an intimate union existing between them and the Ottawas and Chippewas, but it was not strictly a confederacy. Their languages were so nearly the same that they could understand each other readily. For important business their chiefs met together, and had but one council-fire.
One of the chiefs of the Pottawattamies who acquired some notoriety in connection with the memorable but melancholy event at Chicago, in 1812, was Wau-bun-see, who, it is said, advised against the attack made by the Winnebagoes and some of his own tribe. Nevertheless, he is described as having been a man of a most ferocious character, especially when under the influence of liquor, which was not infrequent, if it could be obtained. He had the
Page 165
THE POTTAWATTAMIES.
reputation of being a brave and successful warrior. It is related that on one occasion two of his wives engaged in a dispute about some trivial matter. One of them reported to Wau-bun-see that the other had abused his children. He directed that the accused come before him. When, in obedience to the summons, she appeared, he told her to lie down upon the ground, and then ordered the woman who was the accuser to tomahawk her. The order was instantly obeyed. "Now," said Wau-bun-see, "let the crows eat her." This chief subsequently united with his tribe in the sale of their lands east of the Mississippi, and emigrated west with them in 1838.
As early as 1789 the Pottawattamies were a party to a treaty concluded between the United States and certain other tribes, at Fort Harmar, on the Muskingum. In the fourteenth article of that treaty it was provided that the United States "do also receive into their friendship and protection the nations of the Pottawattamies and Sacs; and do hereby establish a league of peace and amity between them respectively."
The Pottawattamies, with the Chippewas (Ojibwas) and Ottawas, of Illinois and western Michigan, in August, 1821, attended a council at Chicago, with commissioners on the part of the United States. The most conspicuous Indian orator on this occasion was a Pottawattamie from the Wabash, named Metea. He was tall and slender, but his person was somewhat disfigured by a withered arm. His eyes were black and sparkling, his flow of language ready, and his voice clear and musical. The council was engaged two weeks is discussion, when the treaty was signed on the 20th, by which these tribes ceded to the
