Wyandotte Indians

The Wyandotte Nation is a rarity in Native North American history in that there was a specific date to their creation. Originally, there were the Tionontati Nation and the Attignawantan Indian Nations that lived in southern Ontario and upper Michigan. Although these were 2 distinct Nations, they spoke similar languages and had similar cultures. They also were hated by the Iroquois Confederacy (the confederacy was made up of Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida and the Cayuga). This Iroquois Confederacy made war with the two independent Nations, driving them from their land during a conflict called The Beaver Wars.

Facing extinction at the hands of the Iroquois and through disease, the two Nations came together as one in 1650, calling themselves the Wendat. They were also called Hurons by the French which in French meant head of the wild boar, referring to the roached hair of the warriors that resembled the bristles on a boar's head. The Wyandottes never accepted that term. They called themselves "Wendat" which meant islanders or dwellers on a peninsula. In time Wendat became Wyandot or more properly Wyandotte.

Still hunted by the Iroquois, the Wyandotte sought a peace with them and in 1700 this was achieved. In 1701 the Wyandotte were invited to help protect Fort Detroit by a Frenchman name Antoine Cadillac. The Wyandottes settled in around the Detroit area and eventually migrated into the Ohio territory, and Upper Sandusky area became their center with villages running through what is now Wyandot, Marion, and Crawford Counties, but they lived generally across northern Ohio, and as far south as Ross County.

During the American Revolution, the Wyandottes sided, or more correctly were being paid by the British, as did many of the other Native Americans in northwestern Ohio, to fight against the Americans.

Towards the end of the Revolution, an American expedition, led by Colonel William Crawford came up from around Cincinnati to seek out and destroy the Wyandotte and Delaware Indians living around the Sandusky River area. During the battle, which lasted several days, the American forces held their own. However, as their supplies began to run short, the decision was made to withdraw. At the same time, the Wyandottes received reinforcements by British rangers and a band of Shawnee. Bolstering their number, the combined forces surrounded Crawford's men. During the confusion, a number of troops were captured, but Crawford was not among them. He and several others became separated from the main force and were later captured.

When it was discovered that some of Crawford's men may have been involved in a Moravian Missionary massacre earlier, the Wyandotte's decided to exact a Crawford was ultimately tortured and finally executed by being burned alive at the stake.

In 1795 after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, in which all but one of the Wyandotte Chiefs fighting in the battle were killed by American forces under General Anthony Wayne. Tarhe survived the battle and though severely wounded, he signed the Treaty of Greenville.

After the Treaty of Greenville, Chief's Tarhe and Leather Lips both decided it was better for the Wyandottes to seek a path of co-existence with the Americans, rather than trying to continue the fight against them. One notable exception to this co-existence was the Wyandotte Chief Stiahta (Roundhead) and his brother John Battise, who both sided with the Shawnee leader Tecumseh in his efforts to unite as many Native Americans as possible against the United States. Stiahta and his brother both became enforcers for Tecumseh. After the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville, Tecumseh vowed death to all of the signers of the treaty if they didn't recant. To that end, Stiahta, under the guise of a fake trial issued a death warrant against the aging Wyandotte Chief Leather Lips and that warrant was carried out in 1810 at his small camp in Delaware County just south of where the Columbus Zoo is now located.

When war once again broke out between the British and the United States, Tecumseh sought a decisive defeat against the Americans by joining forces with the British. Although the war ended in an essential tie between the two countries, the Native American's were dealt a crushing defeat when Tecumseh and Roundhead were both killed toward end of the war. With their demise, so came the demise of the efforts to unite the Native Americans.

After the War of 1812, a period of relative peace existed between the Wyandottes and Americans. In 1820 a flour mill was built near Upper Sandusky to help serve the Wyandotte farmers. In 1824 the Wyandotte Mission Church was built and became the first North American Methodist mission.

Many Wyandotte's remained in Ohio until they were forced out of Ohio by the United States Government in 1842 when they were forced to give up their claim for set aside lands at Upper Sandusky and falsely promised better lands further west. In 1843 the United States government sent the remaining Wyandottes off to a reservation in Kansas. They were the last Indian Nation to leave Ohio.

One notable exception to the removal of all the Wyandottes was Bill Moose Crowfoot who was born in 1837. When the majority of the Wyandottes left for Kansas, Crowfoot's family along with several other families moved south from their original home near Upper Sandusky. This small band took up residence just north of Columbus in the area between the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers that had been a traditional Wyandotte village in years prior to when Lucas Sullivant first arrived in the area. .

Bill Moose became a notable figure around Columbus during the late 1800s and early 1900s. For a time he was a member of the Sells Brothers Circus that traveled through the US, Canada and Australia.

When his traveling days came to an end, Bill came back to the land where he grew up and built a small shack just north of Columbus near what is today the intersection of Indianola and Morse Roads.

Bill always welcomed guests to his little house and was happy to pose for photographs wearing his headdress and blanket. He lived off telling stories, posing for pictures and selling trinkets to visitors. As his health began to fail, Bill spent the last 7 years in the Franklin County Home. Bill Moose Crowfoot is buried along the Scioto River just north of Upper Arlington on US33 between Fishinger and Henderson Roads.

Bill Moose Crowfoot became known as the last of the Wyandots when he died in 1937.