Egushawa
Encyclopedia
Egushawa also spelled Egouch-e-ouay, Agushaway, Agashawa, Negushwa, and many other variants, was a war chief and principal political chief of the Ottawa
tribe of North American Indians
. His name is loosely translated as "The Gatherer" or "Brings Together" (c.f. Ojibwe agwazhe'waa, "to quilt something(s); to blanket someone(s)"). As a leader in two wars against the United States
, Egushawa was one of the most influential Native Americans of the Great Lakes region
in the late eighteenth century.
to Alexis Masonville in 1774, not far from the British Army
outpost of Fort Detroit
. Nothing is known for certain about his life before that time. He was likely born in the Detroit River region, in what is now Michigan
or Ontario
. He came to prominence as a successor to Pontiac
, the famous Ottawa leader, to whom he may have been related. Egushawa may have fought against the British during the French and Indian War
(1754–1763) as an ally of the French.
(1775–1783) began, Egushawa was living in a village at the mouth of the Maumee River
, the location of the present-day Toledo, Ohio
. Egushawa supported the efforts of the British in Fort Detroit to recruit American Indians allies in order to attack U.S. settlements in Kentucky
. In April 1777, he traveled with British officials to Vincennes
to help forge an alliance with some of the Wabash tribes
. For his efforts, Henry Hamilton, British lieutenant governor at Detroit, awarded Egushawa a sword in June 1777.
Egushawa saw much action in the war. He accompanied St. Leger's expedition
in upstate New York, taking part in the bloody Battle of Oriskany
on 6 August 1777. In 1778, he was the main chief with Hamilton's expedition to recapture Vincennes after it had been taken by Colonel George Rogers Clark
of Virginia. Clark made a surprise return to Vincennes in 1779 and captured Hamilton
, but Egushawa escaped. In 1780, his war band accompanied Captain Henry Bird's invasion of Kentucky
, in which two American "stations" (fortified settlements) were captured.
In the 1783 peace treaty
which ended the Revolutionary War, the British ceded the land of their Native American allies to the United States. Without British military support, Native Americans were compelled to sign various peace treaties which ceded portions of the Northwest Territory
to the United States, culminating with the Treaty of Fort Harmar
in 1789. Egushawa opposed these treaties and did not consider them to be binding.
s of the Ohio Country
began to forge a confederacy to oppose U.S. occupation of the land ceded by the British. These efforts were clandestinely supported by the British, who had refused to abandon Fort Detroit and Fort Mackinac
as called for in the 1783 peace treaty. Egushawa was initially reluctant to take part in the Northwest Indian War
, but he joined the native confederacy after the defeat of an American army led by Josiah Harmar
in October 1790.
As a war chief, recruiter, and a diplomat to the British, Egushawa became one of the most prominent leaders in the war. In 1791, he probably led the Ottawa, Ojibwa
, and Potawatomi
contingent at the Battle of the Wabash
, the most severe defeat ever suffered by the United States at the hands of American Indians. In 1794, Egushawa was seriously wounded in the American Indian defeat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
, which brought an end to the war. It was the last time he saw combat.
Recuperating, he lived on the Maumee or Raisin Rivers. He continued to urge fellow American Indian leaders to support the British Crown. With the British distracted by European wars
, however, military support was not forthcoming, and so Egushawa agreed to negotiate a peace treaty with the Americans, one of the last chiefs to do so. He signed the Treaty of Greenville
on August 3, 1795, ceding much of present Ohio to the United States. He died near Detroit shortly thereafter, probably leaving no descendants.
Ottawa (tribe)
The Odawa or Ottawa, said to mean "traders," are a Native American and First Nations people. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe nation. Their original homelands are located on Manitoulin Island, near the northern shores of Lake Huron, on the Bruce Peninsula in...
tribe of North American Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. His name is loosely translated as "The Gatherer" or "Brings Together" (c.f. Ojibwe agwazhe'waa, "to quilt something(s); to blanket someone(s)"). As a leader in two wars against the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Egushawa was one of the most influential Native Americans of the Great Lakes region
Great Lakes region (North America)
The Great Lakes region of North America, occasionally known as the Third Coast or the Fresh Coast , includes the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario...
in the late eighteenth century.
Background
Egushawa first appears in historical records in 1774, when he signed an indenture granting an island in the Detroit RiverDetroit River
The Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river...
to Alexis Masonville in 1774, not far from the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
outpost of Fort Detroit
Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Détroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. The location of the former fort is now in the city of Detroit in the U.S...
. Nothing is known for certain about his life before that time. He was likely born in the Detroit River region, in what is now Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
or Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. He came to prominence as a successor to Pontiac
Chief Pontiac
Pontiac or Obwandiyag , was an Ottawa leader who became famous for his role in Pontiac's Rebellion , an American Indian struggle against the British military occupation of the Great Lakes region following the British victory in the French and Indian War. Historians disagree about Pontiac's...
, the famous Ottawa leader, to whom he may have been related. Egushawa may have fought against the British during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
(1754–1763) as an ally of the French.
American Revolution
When the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
(1775–1783) began, Egushawa was living in a village at the mouth of the Maumee River
Maumee River
The Maumee River is a river in northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana in the United States. It is formed at Fort Wayne, Indiana by the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers, and meanders northeastwardly for through an agricultural region of glacial moraines before flowing into the...
, the location of the present-day Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
. Egushawa supported the efforts of the British in Fort Detroit to recruit American Indians allies in order to attack U.S. settlements in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. In April 1777, he traveled with British officials to Vincennes
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
to help forge an alliance with some of the Wabash tribes
Wabash Confederacy
The Wabash Confederacy, also referred to as the Wabash Indians or the Wabash tribes, is a term used to describe a number of 18th century Native American villagers in the area of the Wabash River in what are now the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The Wabash Indians were primarily Weas...
. For his efforts, Henry Hamilton, British lieutenant governor at Detroit, awarded Egushawa a sword in June 1777.
Egushawa saw much action in the war. He accompanied St. Leger's expedition
Saratoga campaign
The Saratoga Campaign was an attempt by Great Britain to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War...
in upstate New York, taking part in the bloody Battle of Oriskany
Battle of Oriskany
The Battle of Oriskany, fought on August 6, 1777, was one of the bloodiest battles in the North American theater of the American Revolutionary War and a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign...
on 6 August 1777. In 1778, he was the main chief with Hamilton's expedition to recapture Vincennes after it had been taken by Colonel George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
of Virginia. Clark made a surprise return to Vincennes in 1779 and captured Hamilton
Battle of Vincennes
The Illinois campaign was a series of events in the American Revolutionary War in which a small force of Virginia militiamen led by George Rogers Clark seized control of several British posts in the Illinois country, in what is now the Midwestern United States...
, but Egushawa escaped. In 1780, his war band accompanied Captain Henry Bird's invasion of Kentucky
Bird's invasion of Kentucky
Bird's invasion of Kentucky during the American Revolutionary War was one phase of an extensive planned series of operations planned by the British in 1780, whereby the entire West, from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, was to be swept clear of both Spanish and colonial resistance.While Bird's...
, in which two American "stations" (fortified settlements) were captured.
In the 1783 peace treaty
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
which ended the Revolutionary War, the British ceded the land of their Native American allies to the United States. Without British military support, Native Americans were compelled to sign various peace treaties which ceded portions of the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
to the United States, culminating with the Treaty of Fort Harmar
Treaty of Fort Harmar
The Treaty of Fort Harmar was an agreement between the United States government and numerous Native American tribes with claims to the Ohio Country. it was signed at Fort Harmar, near present-day Marietta, Ohio, on January 9, 1789. Representatives of the Six Nations and other groups including the...
in 1789. Egushawa opposed these treaties and did not consider them to be binding.
Northwest Indian War
After the Revolutionary War, ShawneeShawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
s of the Ohio Country
Ohio Country
The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...
began to forge a confederacy to oppose U.S. occupation of the land ceded by the British. These efforts were clandestinely supported by the British, who had refused to abandon Fort Detroit and Fort Mackinac
Fort Mackinac
Fort Mackinac is a former American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century near Michilimackinac, Michigan, on Mackinac Island...
as called for in the 1783 peace treaty. Egushawa was initially reluctant to take part in the Northwest Indian War
Northwest Indian War
The Northwest Indian War , also known as Little Turtle's War and by various other names, was a war fought between the United States and a confederation of numerous American Indian tribes for control of the Northwest Territory...
, but he joined the native confederacy after the defeat of an American army led by Josiah Harmar
Josiah Harmar
Josiah Harmar was an officer in the United States Army during the American Revolution and the Northwest Indian War. He was the senior officer in the Army for seven years....
in October 1790.
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
, and Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
contingent at the Battle of the Wabash
St. Clair's Defeat
St. Clair's Defeat also known as the Battle of the Wabash, the Battle of Wabash River or the Battle of a Thousand Slain, was fought on November 4, 1791 in the Northwest Territory between the United States and the Western Confederacy of American Indians, as part of the Northwest Indian War...
, the most severe defeat ever suffered by the United States at the hands of American Indians. In 1794, Egushawa was seriously wounded in the American Indian defeat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
Battle of Fallen Timbers
The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indian tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy and the United States for control of the Northwest Territory...
, which brought an end to the war. It was the last time he saw combat.
Recuperating, he lived on the Maumee or Raisin Rivers. He continued to urge fellow American Indian leaders to support the British Crown. With the British distracted by European wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, however, military support was not forthcoming, and so Egushawa agreed to negotiate a peace treaty with the Americans, one of the last chiefs to do so. He signed the Treaty of Greenville
Treaty of Greenville
The Treaty of Greenville was signed at Fort Greenville , on August 3, 1795, between a coalition of Native Americans & Frontiers men, known as the Western Confederacy, and the United States following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It put an end to the Northwest Indian War...
on August 3, 1795, ceding much of present Ohio to the United States. He died near Detroit shortly thereafter, probably leaving no descendants.