Captain Pipe
Encyclopedia
Captain Pipe called Konieschquanoheel and also known as Hopocan, was an 18th-century chief
of the Algonquian
-speaking Lenape
(Delaware) and a member of the Wolf Clan. He was a warrior and succeeded his maternal uncle Custaloga as chief
by 1773.
Although Hopocan tried to stay neutral during the American Revolutionary War
, after many of his family were killed by Americans, he allied with the British. After the war, he moved his people into Ohio Country
, where he made treaties with the Continental Congress
to try to protect Lenape land, but settlers continued to encroach on his people. In 1812 he moved with his people westward into present-day Indiana
, where some accounts say he died.
Some say Hopocan was born about 1725; others put his birth at 1740. He was born into the Wolf Clan through his mother, for the Lenape base their clans on matrilineal descent. Little is known of his early years. He was probably born near the Susquehanna River
in Pennsylvania. His maternal uncle was Chief Custaloga
, whom he succeeded, according to the matrilineal descent rules. Captain Pipe likely spent his early years either at Custaloga's Town, along French Creek
in Mercer County
, or Custaloga's other main village, Cussewago, at the present site of Meadville
in Crawford County.
s at a conference held at Fort Pitt
, July 1759, by Hugh Mercer
, the agent of Sir William Johnston
, the chief British Indian agent in the Northeast. Mercer had brought together the Iroquois
, Lenape and Shawnee
, trying to secure their alliance during the Seven Years War with the French (known in the colonies as the French and Indian War
). Custaloga was known to have moved his band from French Creek into what is now Ohio. There is some evidence that he may have moved back to Pennsylvania to the Kuskuskies Towns, on the Shenango River
near present-day New Castle
. These four villages had been inhabited by Iroquois
Seneca, but by 1756 they were settled by Lenape displaced from further east during the French and Indian War
.
In 1762, when the Lenape gave the Moravian
missionary
Fredrick Christian Post permission to build a cabin on the Tuscarawas River
at present Bolivar, Ohio
, Hopocan was given the job of marking out the land he was to receive. In 1765 the warrior was recorded at another conference at Fort Pitt, at which about 600 chiefs and warriors, and many women and children were present. In 1768 he again met in a conference at Fort Pitt, held by George Croghan
, the sub-agent of Sir William Johnston, and gathering more than 1,000 Iroquois, Lenape, Shawnee, Wyandot and Mohegan
. By 1773, Captain Pipe succeeded Custaloga as chief.
, Captain Pipe tried to remain neutral; he refused to take up arms against the rebels even after General Edward Hand
killed his mother, brother, and a few of his children during a military campaign in 1778. Failing to distinguish among the Native American groups, Hand had attacked neutral Lenape while trying to reduce the Indian threat to settlers in the Ohio Country, because other tribes had allied with the British.
In 1778 Captain Pipe was with White Eyes
and Killbuck
when they signed the first treaty between the Continental Congress and Native people. Later that same year, General Lachlan McIntosh
, the American commander at Fort Pitt, requested permission from the Lenape to march through their territory to attack Fort Detroit
. Captain Pipe and other Lenape chiefs agreed, based on the Americans' building a fort to protect the Lenape from the British military and European-American settlers. In response, McIntosh had Fort Laurens
built near the Delaware villages in eastern Ohio, but he demanded their Ohio Country warriors assist the Americans in capturing Fort Detroit, and threatened them with extermination if they refused.
Believing that the Americans could not protect them from the British and their native allies, Captain Pipe and many other Lenape bands began to reach out to the British as allies. Also in 1778, Pipe and the members of his tribe who supported war, departed from the Tuscarawas and relocated on the Walhonding River
, about fifteen miles above the present site of Coshocton, Ohio
.
In 1781 Colonel Daniel Brodhead
attacked and destroyed this village, the last step in Pipe's move to ally with the British. Captain Pipe became the leader of those natives who supported the British and moved his people to the Tymochtee Creek near the Sandusky River
. This village was known as "Pipe's Town," and was located near present-day Crawford in Wyandot County
. He spent the remainder of the war trying to thwart American expansion into the Ohio Country.
In 1782, Pipe helped defeat the Crawford Expedition
, headed by William Crawford
. Seeking vengeance for the Gnadenhutten Massacre
, in which nearly 100 Lenape were killed, the warriors marked Crawford for death by painting his face black. They conducted ritual torture of Crawford before killing him, and he begged Simon Girty
, an American interpreter, to shoot him. Captured by the Seneca as a boy and assimilating with them, Girty knew he would likely be killed if he intervened in the ritual, but he was strongly criticized by settlers for his inaction.
(known by the Americans as the Northwest Territory
by then). By the 1810s and 1820s, Captain Pipe realized his people had little chance against the Americans and began to negotiate treaties with the government. The pioneer settlers continued to violate these agreements, moving onto land set aside for the Lenape.
In 1788 when settlers landed at what is now Marietta, Ohio
, they found Captain Pipe and about seventy warriors encamped in the area. At that time General Josiah Harmar
described him as a "manly old fellow, and much more of a gentleman than the generality of the frontier
people." By this time he was being called "Old Pipe." According to the most reliable accounts, Captain Pipe was then about forty-eight years of age (considered old in those years when life expectancy of both settlers and Indians was less than during the late twentieth century). During this time, he also resided at "Birds Run" and "Indian Camp", communities both still located on Ohio State Route 658, and "Flatridge", all about 10 miles NW of present-day Cambridge
. This was the location of many Lenape ceremonies, and their artifacts have been found at those locations. Captain Pipe was believed to have last visited around 1800.
It is believed that some time between 1793 and 1795, Hopocan' made his headquarters at Jerometown, Ohio. In his later years, he resided with his people on the upper branches of the Mohican River
, the head branches of the Black River
, the Vermillion River and the Cuyahoga River
, all in Ohio. In 1808-09 early white settlers to the area of what is now Jeromesville
in Ashland County
on the Jerome Fork of the Mohican River
, found Lenape people living at the old Mohican village of Johnstown. (This was about three-fourths of a mile southwest of the present-day Jeromesville). The home of Old Captain Pipe was located nearby, as reported in stories of the settlers and the remaining Lenape, who said he lived there until 1812.
In the spring of 1812, Old Captain Pipe and his people removed westward. Some reports say they lived near present-day Orestes
in Madison County, Indiana
, but others refute that. The Treaty of St. Mary's
in 1818 gave the tribes three years before having to be removed from Indiana to Kansas. They departed peacefully in 1821. Chief Pipe was said to have died around 1818 near Orestes and is supposedly buried there. Other reports claim that he removed to Canada and died there.
Captain Pipe had a son, also named Captain Pipe, who signed many treaties and moved with the Lenape to Kansas.
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
of the Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
-speaking Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
(Delaware) and a member of the Wolf Clan. He was a warrior and succeeded his maternal uncle Custaloga as chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
by 1773.
Although Hopocan tried to stay neutral during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, after many of his family were killed by Americans, he allied with the British. After the war, he moved his people into Ohio Country
Ohio Country
The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...
, where he made treaties with the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
to try to protect Lenape land, but settlers continued to encroach on his people. In 1812 he moved with his people westward into present-day Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, where some accounts say he died.
Early life and education
In Lenape culture people did not share their real names, because it could give spiritual power to enemies. In addition, they often were given other names, or nicknames, at different periods of their lives, sometimes to express life passages, such as reaching manhood. The real name of Captain Pipe was Konieschquanoheel (meaning "Maker of Daylight"). His public name was Hopocan (meaning tobacco pipe); because of the translated meaning, the Europeans called him Captain Pipe, which was what they used in historical records.Some say Hopocan was born about 1725; others put his birth at 1740. He was born into the Wolf Clan through his mother, for the Lenape base their clans on matrilineal descent. Little is known of his early years. He was probably born near the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
in Pennsylvania. His maternal uncle was Chief Custaloga
Custaloga
Custaloga or Packanke was a member of the Wolf Clan of the Delaware tribe. Captain Pipe was his nephew.-Biography:Little is known of the early life of Custaloga. He arrived in western Pennsylvania in the mid 18th century and built a sizeable village at the confluence of French Creek and North Deer...
, whom he succeeded, according to the matrilineal descent rules. Captain Pipe likely spent his early years either at Custaloga's Town, along French Creek
French Creek (Allegheny River)
French Creek is a tributary of the Allegheny River in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York in the United States.- Etymology :...
in Mercer County
Mercer County, Pennsylvania
Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 116,638. Its county seat is Mercer; Sharon is its largest city....
, or Custaloga's other main village, Cussewago, at the present site of Meadville
Meadville, Pennsylvania
Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city is generally considered part of the Pittsburgh Tri-State and is within 40 miles of Erie, Pennsylvania. It was the first permanent settlement in northwest Pennsylvania...
in Crawford County.
Career
He was given the public name or nickname of Hopocan (meaning tobacco pipe). Captain Pipe, as the colonists called him, is first noted in historical records in 1759 among the warriorWarrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
s at a conference held at Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)
Fort Pitt was a fort built at the location of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.-French and Indian War:The fort was built from 1759 to 1761 during the French and Indian War , next to the site of former Fort Duquesne, at the confluence the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River...
, July 1759, by Hugh Mercer
Hugh Mercer
Hugh Mercer was a soldier and physician. He initially served with British forces during the Seven Years War but later became a brigadier general in the Continental Army and a close friend to George Washington...
, the agent of Sir William Johnston
William Johnston
William Johnston may refer to:*William Johnston , U.S. Representative from Ohio*William Johnston , Irish politician and Orangeman...
, the chief British Indian agent in the Northeast. Mercer had brought together the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, Lenape and Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
, trying to secure their alliance during the Seven Years War with the French (known in the colonies as the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
). Custaloga was known to have moved his band from French Creek into what is now Ohio. There is some evidence that he may have moved back to Pennsylvania to the Kuskuskies Towns, on the Shenango River
Shenango River
The Shenango River is a principal tributary of the Beaver River, approximately 100 mi long, in western Pennsylvania in the United States. It also briefly flows through small portions of northeastern Ohio...
near present-day New Castle
New Castle, Pennsylvania
New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, northwest of Pittsburgh and near the Pennsylvania-Ohio border just east of Youngstown, Ohio; in 1910, the total population was 36,280; in 1920, 44,938; and in 1940, 47,638. The population has fallen to 26,309 according to the...
. These four villages had been inhabited by Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
Seneca, but by 1756 they were settled by Lenape displaced from further east during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
.
In 1762, when the Lenape gave the Moravian
Moravian
Moravian refers to:* a person or thing from Moravia * Moravians * Moravian language, disputed language or dialect of the Czech language* a member or adherent of the Moravian Church...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
Fredrick Christian Post permission to build a cabin on the Tuscarawas River
Tuscarawas River
The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States...
at present Bolivar, Ohio
Bolivar, Ohio
Bolivar is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 894 at the 2000 census. Bolivar is also home to Fort Laurens, the only American Revolutionary War-era fort in what is now Ohio.-History:...
, Hopocan was given the job of marking out the land he was to receive. In 1765 the warrior was recorded at another conference at Fort Pitt, at which about 600 chiefs and warriors, and many women and children were present. In 1768 he again met in a conference at Fort Pitt, held by George Croghan
George Croghan
George Croghan was an Irish-born Pennsylvania fur trader, Onondaga Council sachem, land speculator, British Indian agent in colonial America and, until accused of treason in 1777, Pittsburgh's president judge and Committee of Safety Chairman keeping the Ohio Indians neutral...
, the sub-agent of Sir William Johnston, and gathering more than 1,000 Iroquois, Lenape, Shawnee, Wyandot and Mohegan
Mohegan
The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in the eastern upper Thames River valley of Connecticut. Mohegan translates to "People of the Wolf". At the time of European contact, the Mohegan and Pequot were one people, historically living in the lower Connecticut region...
. By 1773, Captain Pipe succeeded Custaloga as chief.
The Revolutionary War
During the American RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, Captain Pipe tried to remain neutral; he refused to take up arms against the rebels even after General Edward Hand
Edward Hand
-Early life and career:Hand was born in Clyduff, King's County, Ireland January 10, 1742, and was baptised in Shinrone. His father was John Hand. Among his immediate neighbours were the Kearney family, ancestors of U.S. President Barack Obamba [1]...
killed his mother, brother, and a few of his children during a military campaign in 1778. Failing to distinguish among the Native American groups, Hand had attacked neutral Lenape while trying to reduce the Indian threat to settlers in the Ohio Country, because other tribes had allied with the British.
In 1778 Captain Pipe was with White Eyes
White Eyes
White Eyes, named Koquethagechton , was a leader of the Lenape people in the Ohio Country during the era of the American Revolution. Sometimes known as George White Eyes, his given name in Lenape was rendered in many spelling variations in colonial records...
and Killbuck
Killbuck
Killbuck A homosexual act performed on a southern redneck, unwillingly.http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Killbuck*Bemino , known as John Killbuck, Sr...
when they signed the first treaty between the Continental Congress and Native people. Later that same year, General Lachlan McIntosh
Lachlan McIntosh
Lachlan McIntosh was a British-born American military and political leader during the American Revolution and the early United States. In a 1777 duel, he shot dead Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.-Arrival in Georgia:Lachlan McIntosh was born near Raits, Badenoch,...
, the American commander at Fort Pitt, requested permission from the Lenape to march through their territory to attack Fort Detroit
Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Détroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. The location of the former fort is now in the city of Detroit in the U.S...
. Captain Pipe and other Lenape chiefs agreed, based on the Americans' building a fort to protect the Lenape from the British military and European-American settlers. In response, McIntosh had Fort Laurens
Fort Laurens
Fort Laurens was an American Revolutionary War fort in what is now the U.S. state of Ohio.-Overview:The fort was built by General Lachlan McIntosh, in 1778, on the west bank of the Tuscarawas River, now in Tuscarawas County near the town of Bolivar. The fort was intended to be a staging point for...
built near the Delaware villages in eastern Ohio, but he demanded their Ohio Country warriors assist the Americans in capturing Fort Detroit, and threatened them with extermination if they refused.
Believing that the Americans could not protect them from the British and their native allies, Captain Pipe and many other Lenape bands began to reach out to the British as allies. Also in 1778, Pipe and the members of his tribe who supported war, departed from the Tuscarawas and relocated on the Walhonding River
Walhonding River
The Walhonding River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 23.5 miles long, in east-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. It drains an area of 2,252 square miles .The Walhonding flows for its entire...
, about fifteen miles above the present site of Coshocton, Ohio
Coshocton, Ohio
Coshocton is a city in and the county seat of Coshocton County, Ohio, United States. The population of the city was 11,682 at the 2000 census. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet in Coshocton to form the Muskingum River....
.
In 1781 Colonel Daniel Brodhead
Daniel Brodhead
Daniel Brodhead may refer to:* Daniel Brodhead III, judge, first European to settle Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania* Daniel Brodhead IV, American military and political leader...
attacked and destroyed this village, the last step in Pipe's move to ally with the British. Captain Pipe became the leader of those natives who supported the British and moved his people to the Tymochtee Creek near the Sandusky River
Sandusky River
The Sandusky River is a tributary to Lake Erie in north-central Ohio in the United States. It is about long and flows into Lake Erie at Sandusky Bay.-Course:...
. This village was known as "Pipe's Town," and was located near present-day Crawford in Wyandot County
Wyandot County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,908 people, 8,882 households, and 6,270 families residing in the county. The population density was 56 people per square mile . There were 9,324 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile...
. He spent the remainder of the war trying to thwart American expansion into the Ohio Country.
In 1782, Pipe helped defeat the Crawford Expedition
Crawford expedition
The Crawford expedition, also known as the Sandusky expedition and Crawford's Defeat, was a 1782 campaign on the western front of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the final operations of the conflict...
, headed by William Crawford
William Crawford
William Crawford is the name of:* William Crawford , Scottish painter* William Crawford , Member of Parliament for Mid Durham, 1885–1890...
. Seeking vengeance for the Gnadenhutten Massacre
Gnadenhütten massacre
The Gnadenhutten massacre, also known as the Moravian massacre, was the killing on March 8, 1782, during the American Revolutionary War, of 96 Christian Lenape by colonial American militia from Pennsylvania. The militia attacked Lenape at the Moravian missionary village of Gnadenhütten, Ohio.The...
, in which nearly 100 Lenape were killed, the warriors marked Crawford for death by painting his face black. They conducted ritual torture of Crawford before killing him, and he begged Simon Girty
Simon Girty
Simon Girty was an American colonial of Scots-Irish ancestry who served as a liaison between the British and their Native American allies during the American Revolution...
, an American interpreter, to shoot him. Captured by the Seneca as a boy and assimilating with them, Girty knew he would likely be killed if he intervened in the ritual, but he was strongly criticized by settlers for his inaction.
After the Revolution
Captain Pipe continued to resist white settlement of the Ohio CountryOhio Country
The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...
(known by the Americans as the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
by then). By the 1810s and 1820s, Captain Pipe realized his people had little chance against the Americans and began to negotiate treaties with the government. The pioneer settlers continued to violate these agreements, moving onto land set aside for the Lenape.
In 1788 when settlers landed at what is now Marietta, Ohio
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Ohio, United States. During 1788, pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory. Marietta is located in southeastern Ohio at the mouth...
, they found Captain Pipe and about seventy warriors encamped in the area. At that time General Josiah Harmar
Josiah Harmar
Josiah Harmar was an officer in the United States Army during the American Revolution and the Northwest Indian War. He was the senior officer in the Army for seven years....
described him as a "manly old fellow, and much more of a gentleman than the generality of the frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
people." By this time he was being called "Old Pipe." According to the most reliable accounts, Captain Pipe was then about forty-eight years of age (considered old in those years when life expectancy of both settlers and Indians was less than during the late twentieth century). During this time, he also resided at "Birds Run" and "Indian Camp", communities both still located on Ohio State Route 658, and "Flatridge", all about 10 miles NW of present-day Cambridge
Cambridge, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,520 people, 4,924 households, and 2,954 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,055.1 people per square mile . There were 5,585 housing units of an average density of 996.3 per square mile...
. This was the location of many Lenape ceremonies, and their artifacts have been found at those locations. Captain Pipe was believed to have last visited around 1800.
It is believed that some time between 1793 and 1795, Hopocan' made his headquarters at Jerometown, Ohio. In his later years, he resided with his people on the upper branches of the Mohican River
Mohican River
The Mohican River is a principal tributary of the Walhonding River, about 40 miles long, in north-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Walhonding, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 999 square miles .The Mohican River is...
, the head branches of the Black River
Black River (Ohio)
The Black River is a tributary of Lake Erie, about 12 mi long, in northern Ohio in the United States. Via Lake Erie, the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, it is part of the watershed of the St. Lawrence River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean...
, the Vermillion River and the Cuyahoga River
Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river that caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s...
, all in Ohio. In 1808-09 early white settlers to the area of what is now Jeromesville
Jeromesville, Ohio
Jeromesville is a village in Ashland County, Ohio, United States. The population was 478 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Jeromesville is located at ....
in Ashland County
Ashland County, Ohio
Ashland County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States, and was formed in 1846 from parts of Huron, Lorain, Richland and Wayne Counties. As of the 2010 census, the population was 53,139. Its county seat is Ashland...
on the Jerome Fork of the Mohican River
Mohican River
The Mohican River is a principal tributary of the Walhonding River, about 40 miles long, in north-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Walhonding, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 999 square miles .The Mohican River is...
, found Lenape people living at the old Mohican village of Johnstown. (This was about three-fourths of a mile southwest of the present-day Jeromesville). The home of Old Captain Pipe was located nearby, as reported in stories of the settlers and the remaining Lenape, who said he lived there until 1812.
In the spring of 1812, Old Captain Pipe and his people removed westward. Some reports say they lived near present-day Orestes
Orestes, Indiana
Orestes is a town in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in Madison County, Indiana
Madison County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 133,358 people, 53,052 households, and 36,234 families residing in the county. The population density was 295 people per square mile . There were 56,939 housing units at an average density of 126 per square mile...
, but others refute that. The Treaty of St. Mary's
Treaty of St. Mary's
The Treaty of St. Mary's was signed on October 6, 1818 at Saint Mary's, Ohio between representatives of the United States and the Miami tribe and others living in their territory. The accord contained seven articles. Based on the terms of the accord, the Miami ceded to the United States...
in 1818 gave the tribes three years before having to be removed from Indiana to Kansas. They departed peacefully in 1821. Chief Pipe was said to have died around 1818 near Orestes and is supposedly buried there. Other reports claim that he removed to Canada and died there.
Captain Pipe had a son, also named Captain Pipe, who signed many treaties and moved with the Lenape to Kansas.
Further reading
- Barnholth, William I. Hopocan (Capt. Pipe) the Delaware Chieftain; Akron, Ohio, Summit County Historical Society, 1966.
- Hurt, R. Douglas. The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720-1830. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1996.
- McConnell, Michael and Robert S. Grumet ed., "Pisquetomen and Tamaqua: Mediating Peace in the Ohio Country", Northeastern Indian Lives, 1632-1816 (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996): 273-94.
- McConnell, Michael N. A Country Between:The Upper Ohio Valley and its Peoples, 1724-1774 (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1992).