Description: This illustration of the Brush Creek tablet comes from "History of Muskingum County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Pioneers" by J. F. Everhart, 1882. The Brush Creek Tablet is a flat, sandstone slab measuring 14 inches long by 12 inches wide and four inches thick. It was discovered during the excavation of the Brush Creek Mound (south of Zanesville) between 1879 and 1880 by John F. Everhart and the Brush Creek Historical Association. When first discovered, it appeared to be a stone with several circular depressions. Such artifacts are called cupstones, or pitted stones, and the depressions appear to have been used for cracking nuts or grinding paint pigments. Two months after the artifact was discovered, Everhart announced that the stone was inscribed with “hieroglyphics” - “chiefly Greek, commingled with Phoenician and Etruscan.” He reported that the tablet was buried alongside an eight-foot-tall female skeleton and claimed that this proved “there were giants in those days.” The Brush Creek Tablet was shown to be a fraud when J. P. Egan brought a lawsuit against Everhart for failing to pay him the money he was promised for helping to excavate the mound and for making a map for the "History of Muskingum County." During the court proceedings, Marshall Cooper, another member of the excavation team, testified that he had been promised $15.00 to carve the inscription on the tablet and to give it “the appearance of ancient work.” The Brush Creek Tablet is an example of the many such frauds created during the 1800s, such as the Newark Holy Stones, when the question of who built the ancient mounds of the Ohio Valley had not yet been answered. Many people at that time believed that the American Indians were not capable of building the mounds and therefore they must have been built by a lost race. By the end of the 1800s, however, archaeologists had proven that the ancestors of American Indians had, indeed, built the mounds. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: 977_191Ev27_BrushCreek
Subjects: Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Archaeological fraud; Forgeries; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio;
Places: Muskingum County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting titled "Chippeway Squaw" published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. This lithograph shows a Chippeway woman, or Ojibwe (alternate spellings include Chippewa and Ojibwa), carrying her baby on her back in a cradleboard. The term "squaw" is an English word borrowed from the Algonquian word for woman. However, "squaw" has historically been used in a diminutive manner or as a racial epithet for an American Indian woman. Today, and throughout its history of being used by non-native peoples, "squaw" is offensive for many American Indians. Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v1_p198_ChippewayWoman
Subjects: American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian women; Ohio Women; Mothers and children
Places: Washington D.C.
 

Description: The last Wyandots leave Ohio on the Miami and Erie Canal. From "Pathways of Progress, A Short History of Ohio" by David Bowman, 1943. The Wyandot Indians originally lived in southern Ontario. They were also called Hurons. But they called themselves "wendat" which in time became "Wyandot" or "Wyandotte." They were related to the Iroquois Indians, but in the years before European settlement, the Iroquois Confederacy attacked them and drove them from their homeland. Some came to live in northern Ohio. They built their main villages in Wyandot, Marion, and Crawford Counties, but they lived across northern Ohio and as far south as Ross County. During the American Revolution, the Wyandots fought for the British against the Americans, who they saw as encroaching on their land. When the British surrendered, the Indians were left to fight the Americans on their own. General Anthony Wayne finally defeated the Wyandots and other Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. They surrendered most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville. In 1842, the Wyandots gave up their claim to their reservation at Upper Sandusky. In 1843 the United States government sent the Indians off to a reservation in Kansas. They were the last Indian tribe to leave Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04018
Subjects: American Indians in Ohio; Wyandot Indians--History; American Indian history and society
Places: Upper Sandusky (Ohio); Wyandot County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Red Jacket, Chief of the Wolf Clan of the Seneca Tribe, published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Red Jacket, or Sagoyewatha, allied with the British and fought in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), and was nicknamed Red Jacket after the British honored him with an embroidered red jacket for his service. Red Jacket died in 1830. Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v1_p005_RedJacket
Subjects: Seneca Tribe; Iroquois Confederacy; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Places: Washington D.C.
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Kiontwogky, also called Cornplanter or John O'Bail III (alternate spellings include O'Beel or Abeel), chief of the Seneca Tribe, published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Around 1732, Cornplanter was born to a Gah-hon-no-nah, a Seneca woman, and Johannes Abeel Jr., a Dutch fur trader. Cornplanter fought in alliance with the British during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). He also served as a diplomat between the United States and American Indian nations after the Revolutionary War, participated in post-war negotiations, and signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. He replaced Red Jacket as chief in 1791. Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v1_p174_KiOnTwogKy
Subjects: Seneca Tribe; Iroquois Confederacy; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Places: Washington D.C.
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Lappawinsoe, chief of the Lenape (Delaware) Tribe, published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Lappawinsoe is most commonly known for his involvement in the Walking Purchase Agreement, a treaty agreement between the Lenape and Thomas Penn, son of Pennsylvania colony's founder William Penn, in which the Lenape were unfairly forced to relinquish 1,200,000 acres of their land in 1737. Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v1_p405_LapPaWinSoe
Subjects: Lenape (Delaware) Tribe; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indians in Ohio; American Indian tribal leaders
Places: Washington D.C.
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Makataimeshekiakiak (or Makataimeshekiakiah), commonly referred to as Black Hawk, war chief of the Sauk Tribe, published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Black Hawk (1767-1838) earned his title of war chief for his military success in leading warriors in raids and battles. He fought as a British ally in the War of 1812, and in 1832 famously led a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos across the Mississippi River into Illinois to resettle land that had been previously ceded to the United States, in what would be called Black Hawk's War, although it appears military confrontation may not have been his original intention. Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v2_p059_MaKaTaiMeSheKiaKiah
Subjects: Sauk Tribe; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; War of 1812
Places: Washington D.C.
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Me Te A, chief of the Potawatomi Tribe, published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Me Te A's village was on the St. Joseph River near modern Cedarville, Indiana. Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v2_p207_MeTeA
Subjects: Potawatomi Tribe; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders
Places: Washington D.C.
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea, published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Joseph Brant (1743-1807) was born to Peter and Margaret (Owandah) Tehonwaghkwangearahkwa in the Ohio Country where they were traveling at the time, although sources differ as to the exact location of his birth. It is believed to have been either along the Cuyahoga River near present-day Cleveland, or at a point along the Ohio River or its headwaters. After his father's death, Brant's mother remarried a Mohawk sachem named Brant. Brant's father was good friends with the wealthy British Superintendent for Northern Indian Affairs, William Johnson, who later funded Joseph's education and connected Brant with important political leaders. Brant allied with the British during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v2_p214_Thayendanegea
Subjects: Mohawk Tribe; Iroquois Confederacy; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders
Places: Washington D.C.
 

Description: Oliver Hazard Perry portrait, from Ben Lossings' "Fieldbook of the War of 1812." The Battle of Lake Erie, the decisive American victory over the British fleet in the War of 1812, took place on September 10, 1813. Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry led the American fleet and wrote in a report to General William Henry Harrison the famous phrase, "We have met the enemy and they are ours: two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." A month later, the British and American Indian forces were defeated at the Battle of the Thames near London, Ontario (Canada), ending the war. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04027
Subjects: Ohio -- History -- War of 1812; Ohio History--Military Ohio
Places: Lake Erie
 

Description: Canine bear teeth with pearl inlays from the Ohio Hopewell culture, 100 BC-500 AD. Excavated from Burial 35, Mound 25, Hopewell Group, Ross County, ca. 1922-1925. The object is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. The Hopewell Mound Group, the type site for the Hopewell Culture, is located along the North Fork of Paint Creek in Union Township, Ross County, Ohio. When first surveyed in the mid-1800s the mound and earthwork complex, once referred to as the Clark Works, contained at least 38 mounds of various sizes within a 111-acre, somewhat “D”-shaped walled enclosure. An attached segmented square enclosed an additional 18 acres. The most notable mound in the group is referred to as Mound 25, a three-part conjoined mound that once measured 35 feet high by 500 feet long and 180 feet wide at the base. It was this mound more than any other that was the source of many of the iconic artifacts that defined the Hopewell Culture (100 BC-AD 400). The Hopewell Mound Group was extensively investigated in the early 1890s by Warren Moorehead to collect material for the 1892 World’s Columbian Exposition. This material is now housed in the Chicago Field Museum. In the 1920s Henry Shetrone of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) also did extensive field work there, assembling an impressive collection of materials for the museum. Today the Hopewell Mound Group and several other related Ross County earthwork complexes are overseen by the National Park Service as the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. The Hopewell Mound Group is one of seven Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthwork sites presently under consideration by the United States Department of the Interior for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00260
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Artifacts
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Eagle effigy boatstone, constructed of pipestone and river pearl, from the Ohio Hopewell culture, Middle Woodland period, 200 BC-400 AD. Excavated from the Hopewell Group, Ross County, ca. 1922-1925. The object is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. The Hopewell Mound Group, the type site for the Hopewell Culture, is located along the North Fork of Paint Creek in Union Township, Ross County, Ohio. When first surveyed in the mid-1800s the mound and earthwork complex, once referred to as the Clark Works, contained at least 38 mounds of various sizes within a 111-acre, somewhat “D”-shaped walled enclosure. An attached segmented square enclosed an additional 18 acres. The most notable mound in the group is referred to as Mound 25, a three-part conjoined mound that once measured 35 feet high by 500 feet long and 180 feet wide at the base. It was this mound more than any other that was the source of many of the iconic artifacts that defined the Hopewell Culture (100 BC-AD 400). The Hopewell Mound Group was extensively investigated in the early 1890s by Warren Moorehead to collect material for the 1892 World’s Columbian Exposition. This material is now housed in the Chicago Field Museum. In the 1920s Henry Shetrone of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) also did extensive field work there, assembling an impressive collection of materials for the museum. Today the Hopewell Mound Group and several other related Ross County earthwork complexes are overseen by the National Park Service as the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. The Hopewell Mound Group is one of seven Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthwork sites presently under consideration by the United States Department of the Interior for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00262
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Artifacts
Places: Ross County (Ohio)