University of Virginia Library

SHAWNESE.

But little can be said of this Indian tribe save that it was known
as a wandering nation.

At times in their history they occupied territory in almost all
sections of the country east of the Mississippi river and south of
the Lakes, but at the time when this tribe gave trouble to our
ancestors their homes were on the Wabash and Miami rivers, where
they built many villages. Their principal town, called "Piquo," was
the birthplace of the great Tecumseh.

This tribe had a tradition respecting their origin. They believed
their fathers crossed the ocean from the East under the guidance of
a leader of the Turtle tribe, one of their original subdivisions, and
that they walked into the sea, the waters of which parted, and thus
passed over on the bottom to this land.

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This tribe of Indians were responsible for many of the murders
and outrages suffered by the early settlers on the Clinch and many
times on the Holston, the Indians coming by the trails through
Cumberland Gap and the trails coming into Tazewell county previously
described.

The population of this tribe in 1735 did not, according to Adair,
exceed four hundred and fifty souls.

This tribe of Indians assisted the British in the wars of 1776
and 1812, and in the latter struggle did effective service for their
British allies.

In 1817 they ceded their lands in Ohio to the United States and
were soon confined to a small reservation west of the Mississippi
river.