Colonel Lewis portrait   Save
Ohio History Connection Archives/Library
Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Shawnee leader Qua-Ta-Wa-Pea, commonly referred to as Colonel Lewis, published in "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Qua-Ta-Wa-Pea, whose name means "The man on the water who sinks and rises again," was born at Pickaway Plains, Ohio. He lived for many years near Wapakoneta, Ohio. McKenney and Hall say in their book that Colonel Lewis' rise to chief was entirely accidental. An American government official mistook Qua-Ta-Wa-Pea for the chief and his tribe followed suit, believing that was the wish of the government. Eventually, Colonel Lewis moved to land west of the Mississippi that was given to the Shawnee by the American government, and there he died in 1826. Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785–1859) served as the U.S. Superintendent of Indian trade from 1816–1822 and superintendent of Indian affairs from 1824-1830. James Hall (1793–1868) was a lawyer, writer, and editor who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1833 until his death in 1868. Their book was illustrated with portraits from the Indian gallery in the Department of War in Washington, D.C. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02909
Subjects: Shawnee Tribe; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Places: Washington D.C.