Original Description:
How to play:
The 8 Indians pictured on the game board were important characters in Ohio’s history. Try to identify them using the clues provided. There are 7 clues for each Indian and the first one is always free. You can get more clues by clicking the "New Clue" button, but each new clue costs 100 points. You start the game with 4 spear points. Each time you click on the wrong Indian you lose 500 points and one spear point. Each time you click on the correct Indian you receive 1000 points and another spear point. You can accumulate up to 8 spear points. The game ends when you have identified all 8 Indians or you run out of spear points. The object is to finish with as many points as possible.
Hint: You can go to the "Biographies" section on this page while you are playing the game to look for information about the Indians.
Blue Jacket:
Less is known about the Shawnee chief, Blue Jacket, than about any other Native American who played an important role in Ohio’s history. For that reason, some versions of his life story have become almost mythical. Some writers claim that Blue Jacket was actually a white man who was captured by the Shawnees when he was a child. They believe that he adapted so well to Indian life that the Shawnees made him a chief. Such stories may make interesting drama, but there is little hard evidence to support them.
Blue Jacket was probably born around 1745, but it is not known where. His Indian name was Weyapiersenwah. Little else is known about his life until the 1790s.
In 1790, President Washington sent an army into the Ohio country to stop Indian attacks on whites. Josiah Harmar was the leader of the army. Under the leadership of the Miami chief, Little Turtle, the Indians planned a series of ambushes and retreats that drew Harmar’s forces away from their supply base. Finally, the Indians attacked the Americans along the Maumee River and easily defeated them.
In 1791, Washington sent a larger force, led by Arthur St. Clair, into Ohio. Once again, Little Turtle confused the American troops. A surprise attack killed nearly 600 Americans and injured 300 more. That battle was the greatest single defeat of U.S. forces by Indians in American history.
Washington sent an even larger army, led by General Anthony Wayne, into Ohio. Wayne spent two years training his troops before moving against the Indians. Little Turtle sensed that his forces could not defeat the large, well-trained American army. He advised the Indians to make peace. When the other chiefs disagreed, Blue Jacket was chosen to lead the Indians into battle. Wayne’s troops met the Indian forces on August 20, 1794, near the Maumee River. As Little Turtle had feared, the Battle of Fallen Timbers was a serious defeat for the Indians.
The American victory made it clear to the Indian leaders that they must now make peace with the whites. The following summer Wayne called for meetings to take place at Fort Greenville, in western Ohio. On August 3, 1795, Blue Jacket and many other chiefs signed the Treaty of Greenville. The Indians who signed that treaty gave up more than half of what is now Ohio.
Blue Jacket also signed the Treaty of Fort Industry in 1805. It is assumed that he died shortly thereafter, as there is no other mention of him in the historical record.
Cornstalk:
The Shawnee leader, Cornstalk, was born in western Pennsylvania about 1720. His Indian name was Wynepuechsika. In 1730, he moved with his family to Ohio. They settled near the Scioto River. As a young man he grew to be a respected speaker and leader of the Chillicothe division of the Shawnee tribe.
As a Shawnee leader, Cornstalk fought with the French against the British during the French and Indian War of 1754-1763. After the French were defeated, he fought in Pontiac’s War against the British by leading raids on frontier settlers.
In 1763, the British government told the American colonists that all land west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Indians. Many whites though, ignored the line dividing the colonies from Indian lands. As they moved onto Indian land, fighting increased along the frontier. In 1774, Virginia’s colonial governor, Lord Dunmore, sent an army into Indian Territory to stop Indian attacks on whites. His troops were ambushed and defeated along the Kentucky River. Dunmore then sent an army of 1,500 Virginia militiamen into the area. Cornstalk led a force of Shawnee, Mingo, Miami, Wyandot, Delaware and Ottawa warriors against the Virginians in the Battle of Point Pleasant. Both sides suffered heavy losses during the long fight, but as the day ended the Indians retreated. In the autumn, the whites and Indians met near Chillicothe for peace talks. There, Cornstalk signed a treaty promising that whites would not be attacked south of the Ohio River.
The treaty signed at Chillicothe was supposed to bring peace to the region, but Indians and whites continued to clash. As the fighting worsened, Cornstalk and a small group of Indians traveled to Point Pleasant in 1777. They wanted to discuss ways of keeping the peace. The colonials, now at war with Great Britain, were not interested in peace talks. Instead, they put Cornstalk and his party in jail and held them as hostages. They hoped that holding Cornstalk would keep the Shawnees from fighting for the British. On November 10, a small group of militiamen stormed the jail and murdered Cornstalk and his son in revenge for the death of a white man who was killed by other Indians. Thus ended the life of the great Shawnee warrior and chief, Cornstalk.
Little Turtle:
Michikinikwa, or Little Turtle, was born near Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1752. His mother belonged to the Mahican tribe and his father was a Miami chief. As a young warrior he was friendly to the British as they fought against French and American forces for control of the Ohio country. In 1780, he earned some fame among his people for defending his village from a French attack.
When the American Revolution ended in the East, fighting in the West between Indians and Americans increased. Before the Revolution, the British had recognized Indian ownership of the land north of the Ohio River. Following the war, ownership once again became an issue. Several states in the East claimed that they owned the Indian lands. Some whites moving into the area viewed the land as free for the taking. The result was a long series of skirmishes between American and Indian raiding parties throughout the 1780s. During that period, the Indians were able to defend their lands because the frontiersmen received little military aid from the states back east. Events changed in 1789 when the states joined together to form a national government.
In 1790, President Washington sent an army into the Ohio country to stop Indian attacks on whites. Josiah Harmar was the leader of the army. By this time, Little Turtle had become the war chief of the Miamis and their friends, the Shawnee, Delaware, and Wyandots. Little Turtle planned a series of ambushes and retreats that drew Harmar’s forces away from their supply base. Finally, the Indians attacked the Americans along the Maumee River and easily defeated them.
In 1791, Washington sent a larger force, led by Arthur St. Clair, into Ohio. Once again, Little Turtle confused the American troops. A surprise attack killed nearly 600 Americans and injured 300 more. That battle was the greatest single defeat of U.S. forces by Indians in American history.
Washington sent an even larger force, led by General Anthony Wayne, into Ohio. Wayne spent two years training his troops before moving against the Indians. Little Turtle sensed that his forces could not defeat the large, well-trained American army. He advised the Indians to make peace. When the other chiefs disagreed, Little Turtle gave up his position as war chief of all of the tribes. Instead, Little Turtle led a small group of Miamis into battle. Wayne’s troops met the Indian forces on August 20, 1794, near the Maumee River. As Little Turtle had feared, the Battle of Fallen Timbers was a serious defeat for the Indians.
The American victory made it clear to the Indian leaders that they must now make peace with the whites. The following summer Wayne called for meetings to take place at Fort Greenville, in western Ohio. On August 3, 1795, Little Turtle and many other chiefs signed the Treaty of Greenville. The Indians who signed that treaty gave up more than half of what is now Ohio.
Little Turtle never went into battle again. For the rest of his life he favored peace with the whites. In his later years he made several trips to eastern cities. On one of those trips he met George Washington in Philadelphia.
When the Shawnee, Tecumseh, tried to get all Indians to unite against the Americans, he could not persuade Little Turtle to support him. Like many Indians, Little Turtle came to accept the whites and even to adopt some of their ways. Little Turtle died at Fort Wayne, Indiana, on July 14, 1812.
Logan:
Logan was born in Pennsylvania about 1725. During his life, he was also known as Logan the Mingo and James Logan. His mother was a Cuyaga and his father was an important Iroquois leader. Logan was a member of the Mingo tribe. Mingo was the name given to the Iroquois Indians living in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Logan’s Indian name was Tachnechdorus. His more common name came from his friendship with a Quaker named James Logan. Like many Iroquois, Logan was friendly with the whites.
By 1770, Logan had moved his family to Ohio. He had also become a leader of the Mingo people. He remained friendly with the whites until a group of settlers murdered his wife and family in 1774. Logan then sought revenge in a series of raids throughout the frontier. He also joined the Shawnee chief Cornstalk against the British in Lord Dunmore’s War. When the Indian forces were defeated at the Battle of Point Pleasant, Cornstalk knew that the Indians must make peace. A meeting was held at Chillicothe, which Logan refused to attend. Instead he sent a message that was read and later reprinted in newspapers throughout the colonies. Logan’s statement, which follows, has since been cited as one of the finest examples of Native American literature.
I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan’s cabin hungry and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen pointed as I passed and said, ‘Logan is a friend of the white man.’ I had even thought to have lived with you but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relatives of Logan, not even sparing his wives and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature.
This calls on me for revenge, I have sought it; I have killed many; I have grown glutted by my vengeance. For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace; but do not harbor any thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.
Cresap was later found innocent of the murders and Logan continued his raids on the frontier throughout the American Revolution. In 1780, Logan was murdered by another Indian (possibly his nephew) near Detroit. The once mighty Mingo leader died a bitter man due to his tragic personal losses and because he was unable to stop the whites from taking Indian lands.
Pontiac:
It is believed that the Ottawa chief, Pontiac, was born in northwest Ohio about 1720. His mother was a Chippewa and his father was an Ottawa. He was raised as an Ottawa in his father’s village. As an Ottawa, he no doubt traded with French fur-traders in the Great Lakes region. Little else is known about his early years.
By 1755, Pontiac had become a chief. He fought with the French against the British in the French and Indian War. When the French were defeated they were forced to leave the Great Lakes area. Pontiac hoped that the Indians could start trading with the British who moved into the French trading posts. He soon learned, however, that the British were less generous than the French had been. They also showed less respect for the Indians. Worse yet, many of the British were more interested in land than trade. Pontiac decided that the British needed to be driven back to the East. He formed a plan to unite all Indian tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains into one military force strong enough to defeat the British.
Pontiac sent messages and traveled throughout Indian country to gain support for his idea. He found that many tribes including the Delawares, Hurons, Illinois, Kickapoos, Miamis, Potawatomies, Senecas and Shawnees, in addition to his own Ottawas and Chippewas, liked his idea. Following a final council in April of 1763, warfare began.
Across the frontier the Indians were highly successful. They captured a large number of British forts and killed many of their enemies. However, Pontiac had planned on French aid. The French broke their promises and never gave Pontiac the help he needed. As a result, the Indians were never able to capture the two major British strongholds in the west, Fort Pitt and Fort Detroit. As winter neared, the warriors became concerned about feeding their families. When Pontiac received word from the French in October that they were sending no aid, the siege of Fort Detroit ended. Fighting continued on a smaller scale for several years, but in 1766 Pontiac signed a peace treaty at Oswego. That treaty pardoned him and allowed him to return to his village on the Maumee River.
After Pontiac’s War, the British government told the American colonists that the land west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Indians and was not open to white settlement. Unfortunately, many whites ignored the line dividing the colonies from Indian lands. As they moved onto Indian land, fighting increased along the frontier. This time Pontiac favored peace over war. As a result, younger warriors drove him from his own village. In 1769, an Illinois Indian named Black Dog murdered Pontiac while he was on a trading trip to Cahokia, Illinois. It is widely believed that the British paid Black Dog to kill Pontiac because they feared that he might try again to unite the Indians of the Northwest. Although Pontiac never achieved his dream of a united Indian nation, it lived on to be used by future Indian leaders including Little Turtle and Tecumseh.
The Prophet:
The Prophet was born as Lauliwasikau, in March 1778, at Old Piqua, on the Mad River near present-day Springfield, Ohio. He was one of eight children in his family. His father was an important Shawnee chief and his mother was a part-Creek, Cherokee woman.
Lauliwasikau led an aimless life until 1805 when he claimed to have a deeply moving vision. He said that he had visited the spirit world. The master of life told him that he should reject all white customs, including liquor, and return to the purified ways of the Indian. Following this vision, he took the name Tenskwatawa, meaning "The Open Door," or "The Prophet."
As The Prophet, he encouraged Indians to return to the life of their forefathers and to stop fighting with each other. He also claimed to have the power to cure diseases and to protect Indians from death in battle. When he correctly predicted an eclipse of the sun on June 16, 1806, his fame as a prophet spread.
In 1808, The Prophet and his brother, Tecumseh, moved from Ohio. They started a town where the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers meet in Indiana. It was named Tippecanoe, but also was called Prophetstown. Indians from different tribes came together at Tippecanoe to share the brothers’ dream of one Indian nation.
The idea of a mass Indian uprising worried the Americans living on the frontier. In 1811, while Tecumseh was away on a trip, William Henry Harrison marched on Prophetstown with about 1,000 militiamen. Tecumseh had warned his brother to avoid fighting with the Americans while he was gone. The Prophet ignored Tecumseh’s warning and ordered a surprise attack on Harrison’s troops. That was just what Harrison had hoped for. His troops were ready for the attack. When the Indians discovered that The Prophet’s magic would not protect them from American bullets they retreated into the wilderness. Tippecanoe was left unguarded. Harrison burned it and all of the Indians’ supplies. The Battle of Tippecanoe was only a minor military victory for the Americans. Yet, it destroyed the brothers’ dream of one Indian nation. With his magic exposed as fake, The Prophet lost most of his followers and moved to Canada.
The Prophet returned to Ohio in 1826 for one year before being forced to relocate with the other Shawnees west of the Mississippi River. He lived in Missouri for a short time before moving to Kansas where he died in 1837.
Tarhe:
Tarhe was born near Detroit in 1742. He was a member of the Porcupine clan of the Ohio Hurons. Ohio Hurons are also called Wyandots. Tarhe was often referred to as "the Crane." Some say that this name came from his Indian name meaning "the tree" or "at the tree." Others say that it came from his French name Chef Grue, referring to his tall, slender build.
As a young man Tarhe fought to stop the white invasion of Indian lands. In 1763, the British government told the American colonists that all land west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Indians. Many whites, though, ignored the line dividing the colonies from Indian lands. As they moved onto Indian land, fighting increased along the frontier. In 1774, Virginia’s colonial governor, Lord Dunmore, sent an army into Indian Territory to stop Indian attacks on whites. His troops were ambushed and defeated along the Kentucky River. Dunmore then sent an army of 1,500 Virginia militiamen into the area. Tarhe was part of a force of Wyandot, Shawnee, Mingo, Miami, Delaware and Ottawa warriors that fought the Virginians along the Ohio River in the Battle of Point Pleasant. Both sides suffered heavy losses during the long fight, but as the day ended the Indians retreated. In the autumn, the whites and Indians met near Chillicothe for peace talks. In the peace treaty that followed, some Indian leaders promised that whites would not be attacked south of the Ohio River.
Twenty years later, Tarhe was one of thirteen chiefs who led an Indian force in the Battle of Fallen Timbers against the American troops of General Anthony Wayne. Once again the Indians were defeated. This defeat convinced Tarhe that there was no hope of stopping American settlement north of the Ohio River. Thus, he agreed to sign the Treaty of Greenville on August 3, 1795. The Indians who signed that treaty gave up more than half of what is now Ohio.
In 1811, the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, tried to unite all Indians against the whites. Tarhe felt that the Indians could never defeat the Americans. Thus, he advised the Wyandots not to join with Tecumseh. When the British and Americans went to war a second time in 1812, Tarhe led his warriors against the British, even though he was 70 years old. Sadly, they fought in the Battle of the Thames in 1813, in which Tecumseh was killed fighting for the other side.
Following the War of 1812, Tarhe settled at Crane Town near Upper Sandusky. He died there in November 1818, at the age of 76. Although he died favoring peace with the whites, he was one of only a few Indians whose lives had spanned the three major periods of warfare between whites and Indians in the Ohio country.
Tecumseh:
It is believed that Tecumseh was born in March 1768 at Old Piqua, on the Mad River, near present-day Springfield, Ohio. He was one of eight children in his family. His father was an important Shawnee chief and his mother was a part-Creek, Cherokee woman.
Tecumseh grew up during a period of great change on the frontier. The Shawnee and other tribes had been fighting with the British in the Great Lakes region since the end of the French and Indian War. They went to war in 1774 when the colonial governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, sent an army of militiamen into Indian Territory. Dunmore’s army defeated an Indian force, under the leadership of the Shawnee chief Cornstalk, at the Battle of Point Pleasant. Tecumseh suffered a personal loss, as his father was killed at that battle.
A treaty signed at Chillicothe after the Battle of Point Pleasant brought peace to the frontier. When the American Revolution began in 1776, both the British and the colonials pressured Indians for support. Seeking to maintain peace in the region, Cornstalk travelled to Point Pleasant in 1777. The Americans were not interested in peace talks. Instead, they put Cornstalk in jail and held him hostage. They hoped that holding Cornstalk would keep the Shawnees from fighting for the British. On November 10, a small group of militiamen stormed the jail and murdered Cornstalk in revenge for the death of a white man who was killed by other Indians. That act turned Tecumseh and the Shawnees against the Americans.
By his early twenties Tecumseh had become a Shawnee leader. He had fought in the defeats of two American armies under the command of Josiah Harmar and Arthur St. Clair. He also was present when General Anthony Wayne’s troops defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.
The American victory made it clear to many Indian leaders that they must make peace with the whites. The following summer American and Indian leaders met at Fort Greenville, in western Ohio. On August 3, 1795, many chiefs signed the Treaty of Fort Greenville. Those who signed the treaty gave up more than half of Ohio. Tecumseh, however, refused to sign. He felt that Indian land belonged to all Indians. No tribe or individual chief could give it away to the whites in a treaty. Tecumseh believed that individual land ownership was a white idea. Indians had always been free to roam the land as they chose. They were limited only by the use of other Indians at any given time. This concept of group ownership led Tecumseh to the conclusion that all Indians had a right and an obligation to protect their lands from whites. It seemed only natural to Tecumseh that all Indians should unite as one nation to drive back the whites. Tecumseh dreamed of an Indian nation west of the Appalachian Mountains stretching from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1808, Tecumseh and his brother, The Prophet, moved from Ohio. They started a town where the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers meet in Indiana. It was named Tippecanoe, but also was called Prophetstown. Indians from different tribes came together at Tippecanoe to share the brothers’ dream of one Indian nation. Tecumseh made several trips to locations as far away as Iowa and the Gulf of Mexico to rally support for his ideas.
The idea of a mass Indian uprising worried the Americans living on the frontier. In 1811, while Tecumseh was away on a trip, William Henry Harrison marched on Prophetstown with about 1,000 militiamen. Tecumseh had warned his brother to avoid fighting with the Americans while he was gone. The Prophet ignored Tecumseh’s warning and ordered a surprise attack on Harrison’s troops. That was just what Harrison had hoped for. His troops were ready for the attack. The Prophet had convinced the Indian warriors that his magic would protect them from American bullets. When the Indians discovered that this was untrue, they retreated into the wilderness. Tippecanoe was left unguarded. Harrison burned it and all of the Indians’ supplies. The Battle of Tippecanoe was only a minor military victory for the Americans. Yet, it destroyed Tecumseh’s dream of one Indian nation. With his supplies gone, his village burned to the ground and his brother exposed as a fake, Tecumseh had little chance of convincing other tribes to unite and follow him into battle.
Tecumseh had one last hope for his dream of a unified Indian nation when the United States and Great Britain went to war in 1812. If the Indians could help defeat the Americans, perhaps the British would reward them by returning their homelands. It was not to be. The different tribes could not agree on which side to support. Tecumseh and those who followed him fought valiantly for the British during the war. Finally, on October 5, 1813, the British and Indian forces were soundly defeated at the Battle of the Thames near Detroit. In that battle Tecumseh was killed at the age of 44. His unfulfilled goal of a unified Indian nation, however, lived on to become the dream of future Indian leaders.