KI-TCHI GI-OS-SE WAW-BE AN-NE-WE-OG. 



(The Big Hunt of the White Men.) 



SIMON POKAGON, LATE CHIEF OF THE POTTAWATTAMIES. 



A remarkable hunt by the early settlers 

 of Madina county, Ohio, took place Decem- 

 ber 24, 1818. It was described to me fre- 

 quently by members of my father's band 

 before I could speak a word of English. 

 They had taken part in the hunt by invita- 

 tion, from their white neighbors, and were 

 disgusted with the wholesale slaughter they 

 saw committed. While attending school at 

 Oberlin, 30 years after the hunt occurred, I 

 often talked with old men of the dominant 

 race, who corroborated the story. 



Notice was given that all settlers of 

 Madina county who wished to participate in 

 the hunt should meet the day before Christ- 

 mas on the borders of Hinkley township. 

 That township, 5 miles square, was then an 

 unbroken wilderness, though the surround- 

 ing country was fairly well settled. 



The morning named found 500 settlers 

 of all ages stationed 25 rods apart around 

 the border lines of Hinkley. Among them 

 was a man with long, grey hair and a 

 frowzy beard reaching to his waist. He 

 wore a coon skin cap, a vest of fawns' hide 

 and buckskin trousers, and was known to 

 his white friends as "Old Go-Lucky." He 

 proposed to the managers of the hunt to 

 deliver a barrel of whiskey at the spot 

 where the hunt closed and take in payment 

 all the wolves killed that day, thus be- 

 coming entitled to the bounty of $5 on each 

 scalp. His offer was at once accepted. 



The commanding officer took his position 

 at the Northwest corner of the township 

 and his order, "Forw r ard, march !" was 

 passed from mouth to mouth around the 20 

 miles of line. The lines moved slowly in- 

 ward, ringing cow bells, beating pans and 

 blowing horns, scanning every possible 

 cover for hidden game. 



The advance continued until the hunters 

 reached the section lines, one mile distant 

 from the starting points, and there halted 

 for further orders. Again the leader cried 

 "Forward, march !" and again the 4 col- 

 umns moved inward. The men w^ere then 

 about 8 rods apart. 



Sue-see (deer) began to make their ap- 

 pearance, and occasionally maw-in-gwan — 

 maw-kwa (wolves and bears) were seen. 

 Several deer were killed trying to break 

 through the lines. On reaching the center 

 section of the township a second halt was 



made ; the hunters standing 3 rods apart 

 and enclosing one square mile. In the mid- 

 dle of this section a circle >2 mile in diame- 

 ter, had, the day before, been blazed on the 

 trees. This circle was the slaughter pen. 



The order was passed to move forward 

 to the edge of the pen and there halt. With 

 the advance, began a constant firing on 

 some part of the line. Soon the hunters, 

 then only one rod apart, stood at the edge 

 of the circle. A few of the best and cool- 

 est hunters were sent into the pen to kill 

 the bears and wolves, that those animals 

 mi^ht not stampede the deer through the 

 lines. When they neared the center of the 

 pen, the deer, distracted with fear, attempt- 

 ed to break through the lines, and were 

 shot, falling like leaves before the wind. 



Then the order was given to close in. 

 Near the middle of the tract the hunters 

 were obliged to cross a frozen stream in 

 a deep gully. While they w 7 ere standing 

 there, shoulder to shoulder, a bear was 

 seen, half hidden in the brush. Several 

 shots were fired at him, but shooting was 

 stopped when it was found that the sur- 

 rounding hunters w r ere in more danger than 

 the bear. Several dogs were loosed, but the 

 bear cuffed them off and rushed on the 

 lines. The hunters stood their ground and 

 clubbed him with the butts of their guns. 

 He finally broke through, but as he did so, 

 a man threw himself on the poor brute and 

 cut his throat, in the way a hog is killed. 



At the completion of the hunt, all fire 

 arms were discharged and stacked, fires 

 were built" and preparations made for camp- 

 ing for the night. When the game was 

 brought in and counted it was found to 

 include 390 deer, 21 bears and 17 wolves, 

 besides numbers of lynxes, wildcats, wol- 

 verines, raccoons, etc. 



Before the count was finished "Old Go- 

 Lucky" appeared, driving a sled and astride 

 of the barrel of whiskey. The top of the 

 barrel was knocked in and its contents dis- 

 pensed to the crowd in tin dippers. The 

 17 wolf skins were delivered to the old 

 speculator, and he was the happiest man 

 on the ground. The night was spent in 

 drinking, feasting and singing. The Indians 

 present afterward declared that no war or 

 spirit dance was ever so noisy or tumul- 

 tuous as that orgy. 



Bobby — Does your pa wear tan shoes? 



Jimmie — No ; but he wears tan slippers. 



y — Exchange. 



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