Miami

Little Turtle at the Treaty of Greenville

During the summer of 1795 Gen. Wayne met the Indians in a great peace council at Fort Greenville. Several hundred Indians from many tribes, led by their greatest chiefs, were present. But the greatest of all these chiefs was Little Turtle, the Eel River Miami Indian. Most eloquently and fervently did he plead the cause of his people. When it became apparent that Gen. Wayne would demand the cession to the United States of much of the present state of Ohio, Little Turtle made this memorable speech: “The prints of my ancestors’ houses are everywhere to be seen in this … Read more

Little Turtle as a Traveler

Little Turtle was really a great traveler for that day. Before he made peace with the white man he was familiar with every Indian trail in the Northwest Territory. From his home here on Eel River he made trips to almost every important Indian village. lie had gone as far northeast as Montreal and as far south as New Orleans. Beginning with the treaty of Greenville in 1795 he attended most all of the treaty meetings during the next fifteen years. He visited the capitals of Ohio and Kentucky and made at least three visits to the national capital. Shortly … Read more

KE-NA-PE-COM-A-QUA

We have yet to deal with some very important history on the lower course of the Kenapocomoco. Seven miles above the mouth of Eel River about half way between the villages of Hoover and Adamsboro there existed for a century or more one of the most important Miami Indian towns in Indiana. Its Indian name was Kena-pe-com-a-qua, which the reader will recognize as one form of our word Kenapocomoco, or Eel. When it was founded we do not know. The early settlers of Kentucky and southern Indiana knew of it as the place from which marauding bands of Indians would … Read more

Eel River Trail and Portage

The purpose of this booklet is not to revive a forgotten Indian name but to remind the readers of much history and many events of their own communities before the coming of the white man. It is only one hundred years since white men and women began to settle along Eel River. But generations, yes centuries before this time human beings lived along Eel River. Yes, more than a century before permanent white settlements began, French and British traders were carrying on an extensive trade with the Indians, and Eel River, the Kenapocomoco, was a great highway of trade and … Read more

Indian Villages in the Eel River Valley

Eel River Bog

Here we must pause to note a difference of opinion as to the exact location of the Turtle’s Village. Calvin Young in his very interesting book on Little Turtle has attempted to show that this village was in the northeast part of Whitley county, northwest of Blue River Lake, where Blue River divides that lake from what is known as Little Devil’s Lake. He produces good evidence to show that there was an ancient Indian village on that favorable spot. Blue River is a tributary of Eel River and that would harmonize the many references about the Turtle Village being … Read more

Pontiac’s War

Map of Pontiacs War

Early in the eighteenth century the French had commenced extending their influence among the tribes who inhabited the country bordering on the great western lakes. Always more successful than the other European settlers in conciliating the affections of the savages among whom they lived, they had obtained the hearty good will of nations little known to the English. The cordial familiarity of the race, and the terms of easy equality upon which they were content to share the rude huts of the Indians, ingratiated them more readily with their hosts, than a course of English reserve and formality could have … Read more

The Home of Little Turtle

Enlarged Map of Little Turtle's Country

The Home of Little Turtle looks into the history of the Miami Indians surrounding the Eel River, and provides a biography of the life of Chief Little Turtle.