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The Emergence and Decline of the Delaware Indian Nation in Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Country, 1730--1795

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The Emergence and Decline of the Delaware Indian Nation in Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Country, 1730--1795 View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The Research Repository @ WVU (West Virginia University) Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2005 The emergence and decline of the Delaware Indian nation in western Pennsylvania and the Ohio country, 1730--1795 Richard S. Grimes West Virginia University Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Grimes, Richard S., "The emergence and decline of the Delaware Indian nation in western Pennsylvania and the Ohio country, 1730--1795" (2005). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 4150. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/4150 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Emergence and Decline of the Delaware Indian Nation in Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Country, 1730-1795 Richard S. Grimes Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Mary Lou Lustig, Ph.D., Chair Kenneth A. Fones-Wolf, Ph.D. Michal A. McMahon, Ph.D. James H. Merrell, Ph.D. John C. Super, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2005 Keywords: Delaware Indians, Lenape Indians, Western Pennsylvania frontier, Ohio Country, Six Nations of Iroquois, John Heckewelder, David Zeisberger Abstract “The Emergence and Decline of the Delaware Indian Nation in Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Country, 1730-1795” Richard S. Grimes Many past and current generations of historians, anthropologists, and literary writers have acknowledged the existence of a Delaware Indian nation. They, however, have failed to thoroughly understand or address the historical and cultural dynamics that contributed to both the formation and quick decline of this Indian nation. This multidisciplinary study includes the oral traditions and oratory of Delaware Indians, the observances of Moravian missionaries and colonial-revolutionary officials, and contemporary anthropological and historical sources, to construct the building of the Delaware nation during the eighteenth century. Once decentralized and living in the Delaware River watershed, three phratries or animal tribes (Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf) of Delawares, in response to their unfair treatment at the hands of the Pennsylvania-Iroquois alliance of 1732, moved west to the Allegheny Valley of western Pennsylvania and eventually across the Ohio River into the Muskingum River valley. Western Delawares developed a sense of common cause and weathered the turmoil of imperial conflict between the French and British during the Seven Years’ War in western Pennsylvania. A regional identity was greatly enhanced when western Delawares by 1765 separated themselves politically from their eastern kin who remained on the Susquehanna. This dissertation also considers the creation of a National Council or Lupwaaeenoawuk, the influence of Moravian missionaries, and the importance of visionary leaders, such as Tamaqua, White Eyes, and Captain Pipe--three important factors, imperative to the story of Delaware centralization and nationhood in the Ohio. The stability of a lasting political Delaware nation, however, was undermined by the stress of factionalism in the Great Council as the American Revolution divided Delaware leaders in 1780. This study will also examine the processes, which led to the fractured state of the Delawares after Washington’s Indian War in the Old Northwest Territory and the subsequent Treaty of Greenville that followed in 1795. The story of the Delawares from 1730-1795 demonstrates a dramatic and arduous struggle for autonomy, identity, and political union. In the end, however, the Delaware nation became weakened and broken, driven from the Ohio and forced to migrate west once again. ii Acknowledgements There are many people who I acknowledge for their support and inspiration, as I struggled to put together this doctoral dissertation. First of all, a grateful thanks to Holly Mayer of Duquesne University. In 1996, Dr. Mayer served as my adviser as I wrote my Master’s thesis on the reciprocal relationship between Cheyenne warriors and their society during the nineteenth century. She showed me how to organize, focus, and present my thoughts--all skills that would be essential when I tackled my dissertation on the emergence of the Delaware Indian nation. Dr. Mayer, together with the history faculty at Duquesne, taught me a great deal about the discipline of research and writing as I prepared to enter my doctoral study at West Virginia University. My time as a student and teacher at West Virginia University has been most rewarding. I thank the history faculty there for serving as exemplars of professionalism, as teachers, researchers, and writers. Ken Fones-Wolf, Michal McMahon, and John Super were invaluable as my committee members. Their criticisms were always positive and greatly added to the scope of the final dissertation. With deep admiration, I consider myself fortunate to call them my friends and colleagues. Dr. McMahon especially, during his seminar courses, taught me how to write with analytical sophistication but also with purpose and clarity. These were indeed hard lessons, but a gratifying struggle when I met his standards as a writer and thinker. I would also like to thank Raymond Whritenour, the compiler of A Delaware- English Lexicon. He helped me work out the cogs regarding Delaware social structure, organization, and terminology. Raymond also presented assertive arguments regarding his defense of the Moravian missionaries David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder as critical sources for Delaware Indian history. I highly acknowledge the contributions of James H. Merrell of Vassar College as my outside reader. I met James Merrell at Duquesne University’s History Forum in October of 1999. I asked him if he would serve on my dissertation committee. He responded that he would participate on the condition that he would take an active part in the process and not to merely “rubber stamp” the dissertation. He was true to his word. Dr. Merrell spent part of a summer and part of his Christmas break to edit two of my iii drafts. His comments, critiques, and questions deeply challenged me and helped me to reevaluate the focus and purpose of my study on Delaware Indians. He forced me to consider and to establish in what ways my study broke new ground or offered new perspectives to Delaware Indian or American Indian history, in general. James Merrell’s concern for this dissertation, and gracious, yet firm input made the work both extremely difficult and frustrating during the long procedure, but rewarding as I got closer to the mark. Most importantly, this study would not have been possible without Mary Lou Lustig of West Virginia University. Dr. Lustig served and honored me by being my dissertation adviser for the past six years. She displayed confidence in my ability as a student and showed personal interest in the topic. Her enthusiasm and support were vital as I worked through the process. I laid out the embryonic structure of the dissertation with Dr. Lustig in her Colonial and American Revolution seminar courses. She patiently encouraged me at times when it seemed impossible to complete the dissertation, yet remained firm in her expectations of high academic standards. Mary Lou Lustig, as my teacher and my friend, made the writing experience one that I will never forget. Lastly I would like to thank my friends and family for their continually support as I researched, wrote, and revised this dissertation over the past four years. Special thanks to my mother, Elizabeth Grimes, who knew me and dealt with me when I was a very poor and unmotivated high school student, and my daughter Emily Sarah, who has been a ray of sunshine in my life since the first day she came into the world. Both served as inspirations as I strove to reach my goals. I would like to give my love and thanks to my wife Ginny. For over a decade, she has patiently, as a guiding force, helped me to believe in myself throughout my schooling, studying, and research. She listened to my ideas as I was working them out, typed much of the preliminary drafts, and heard my complaints when the computer was not doing what I wanted it to do. Without my wife and best friend Ginny, I would not have made the painful and long transition from a blue-collar worker on a grueling night turn shift, to a historian and teacher. To her I dedicate my doctoral dissertation. iv Table of Contents Abstract: ii Acknowledgements: iii Introduction: “A powerful nation with a very large train of connexions and allies . .” 1 Chapter 1: “We Conquer’d you; we made Women of you”: The Six Nation-Pennsylvania Chain of Friendship and the Western Migration of the Delawares, 1730-1750 13 Chapter II: “They Assumed a tone of defiance”: The Military Ascension of Western Delawares, 1750-1756 42 Chapter III: “on behalf of all our Nation”: The Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf Tribes During the Seven Years’ War and the Age of Pontiac 67 Chapter IV: White Eyes, The Great Council, and the United Brethren: Peacemakers on the Muskingum, 1770-1776 99 Chapter V: The Delawares and the American Revolution 124 Chapter VI: “A nation .
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