History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
It would seem that after the treaty of 1682 a part of the Shawnees lived near Winchester, Va. , but that the principal band removed from their hunting-ground in Kentucky, on the Cumberland River, to the headwaters of one of the great rivers of South Carolina, perhaps the Congarec; and at a later day four hundred of them who had wandered in the woods for four years were found a little north of the head-waters of the Mobile River, on their way to the country of the Muscogees, or Creeks.
In the year 1684, La Salle, a, Frenchman, set out on a second expedition for the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi, but before he had effected his object he was murdered by the Indians. In 1694, M. Iberville set out on a voyage of the same character, and on the 14th of August a basket was found in the possession of some Indians containing a paper upon which the names of many individuals belonging to La Salle's expedition were written, and a letter addressed to M. D. Zanti, from which it was learned that he had descended to the sea with twenty Canadians and thirty Shawnee Indians from the river Wabash. This appears to have been on the first expedition of La Salle, which was of course prior to the one above mentioned, which was in the year 1684, but how long before is unknown. Thus it seems that previous to the year 1684 some of the Shawnees lived on the Wabash, but what became of the thirty Shawnees who accompanied La Salle we are not informed; it is thought, however, that they made their way into Florida or Texas, and never returned to the Wabash country. About 1678 seventy families of the Shawnees removed from South Carolina and settled on the Susquehanna River, in Pennsylvania. Others of the same tribe soon followed, so that the number of fighting men of this tribe in Pennsylvania in 1732 amounted to seven hundred, half of whom were from the South. This number, it is presumed, only included the band that had gone to South Carolina; but as it is evident that these seven hundred warriors did not include all the Shawnees, the remainder can be accounted for by another band, referred to by Cadwallader Colden, who, after remarking, in 1745, that the Shawnees were the most restless of all the Indian tribes, says that one tribe of them had gone to New Spain (now Florida). This band of four hundred and fifty, who were found north of the head-waters of the Mobile River, probably never returned to Pennsylvania, while the band which had lived near Winchester probably removed to the Alleghany, near Fort Duquesne, and afterwards to Cape Girardeau, between the Whitewater and Mississippi Rivers.
The Iroquois claimed sovereignty over the Shawnees, and drove them to the West, where they took active part in the various Indian wars that from time to time broke forth in vain attempts to stay the progress of white civilization. In 1731, rejecting the English missionaries, they negotiated with the French, and gave early aid to them in the final struggle; but in 1758 they were won over by the appearance of Gen. Forbes. After the fall of Canada they joined Pontiac, and were active in hostilities till subdued by Bouquet. In 1774 they participated in the battle of Point Pleasant, and in 1771 twice repulsed the attacks of Col. Bowman. They joined in the peace of 1786, but under English influence took part in the Miami war, in the campaigns against Gens. Harmar and St. Clair, till they were finally reduced by Gen. Wayne, and submitted under the treaty of Greenville in 1795. The main party were at this time on the Scioto, but some had crossed into Missouri, where the Spaniards gave them land. Another band moved South. In the war of 1812 some of the bands were won by the English. Urged by Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, they endeavored to unite all the Indians of the West against the Americans, but those in Ohio remained faithful. The Missouri band ceded their lands to the government in 1825, and the Ohio band in 1831. In 1854 the band of Shawnees proper in that part of the Indian Territory now included in Kansas numbered nine hundred, on a reservation of one million six hundred thousand acres; but by treaty the tribal relation was ended, and the lands were divided in severalty. Besides these, there were in 1872 ninety in the Quapaw agency, and six hundred and sixty-three in the Sac and Fox agency.
Of the region bordering on the Upper Potomac, however,
"there is no history," says a distinguished writer, "either written or oral, to enlighten us as to the events of an epoch earlier than about 1728.
" At that date there was located in the province of Maryland, at the junction of two streams known as the Cuhongaronta and the Caiuctucuc, an Indian town, which also bore the latter name. The town of Caiuctucuc was built on the ground lying between these streams, from their confluence to a point some distance up the river Cohongaronta, the greater portion of the town being located upon the site of the west side of the present city of Cumberland. Other towns were dotted along the river's bank for a distance of more than forty miles, the most easterly being the present site of Oldtown, Allegany Co., Md. A century ago the settlement at that point was called ' Shawanese Oldtown,' but of late years the explanatory prefix has been entirely dropped, and the place is now simply known as Oldtown. Other villages were scattered about between the Virginia and Pennsylvania lines, two of which were not far distant from Caiuctucuc. One of these was located in the narrow valley, three miles westward, on the banks of Braddock's Run, on what is now known as the Eckles' place, and within a few yards of the line of the present National read, just where it is crossed by the Eckhart Railroad. Within the memory of men now living there were many relics of this village in existence,
" The ground was heavily timbered throughout that valley, and a clearing of several acres had been made there, in which were still to be seen the remnants of the small huts used by the natives. Just across the ridge, in Cash Valley, was another village of the same character, and still another of greater dimensions was situated near the spot on which Cresaptown stands, probably a little nearer the river. The date of the decline and fall of the town of Caiuctucuc is left to conjecture, but it was abandoned prior to 1751, as is shown by the earliest map of this region, made in that year, which simply marks the territory in question as ' Abandoned Shawanese Lands,' and at that time ' many bands of Indians of other tribes, with scattered lodges, were found here by the hardy pioneers, whose venturesome spirits led them so far beyond the limits of civilization, while the Shawanese thickly peopled the hanks of the; Ohio and the Monongahela west of the Alleghanies.' " (Lowdermilk's "History of Cumberland.")
In its day and generation, however, Caiuctucuc was a town of respectable dimensions, built after the fashion of Indian villages in general. It was simply an aggregation of cabins or wigwams, constructed by fixing saplings in the ground in a circle and tying the flexible ends together at the top, so as to form a conical cage or frame-work, which was covered with skins or sheets of bark. A better style of house, such as the chiefs used, was constructed by inclosing an oblong space in the same manner. Holes were cut in the sides for windows, and an opening left at the top to allow the smoke to escape, the fireplace occupying the center part of the floor. Mats of grass or rushes were sometimes used to partition off an apartment. The mode of fortification was by inclosing the whole town, or a part of it, including the chief's house, with a strong and close stockade. Within this stockade was the council-fire, around which they gathered to discuss public matters or for religious ceremonies.
The land about the village was held in common, but to each family a portion was allotted for cultivation, the agricultural tasks devolving upon the women. Each family delivered a part of the crop to the chief, and it was placed in a general store-house to be used for the chief's subsistence, for the entertainment of guests, and as a reserve in case of scarcity or siege. They cultivated maize, beans, tobacco, and several varieties of the melon and gourd. The confederate tribes exercised common rights of forestry over the surrounding wilderness; but certain natural boundaries, such as rivers and streams, distinguished the territory of each from its neighbors.
The tribe was subject to its chief, who had absolute power over his people, and whose authority descended in the female line. When the chief died he was succeeded by his brother of the same mother, or failing a brother, by his sister's son; the alleged reason being that descent derived through the mother is certain, while that through the father was uncertain. This custom would seem to point to a time when conjugal fidelity was rarer among the women than the early writers represent it. Next to the chief, or " king," of the tribe was the werowance, or general, who had command of all expeditions, whether peaceful or hostile. Such warriors as had distinguished themselves in council or battle were honored with a title which the early travelers and historians give as cockarouse, and these, with the chief, the werowance, and a " medicine-man," or conjuror, formed the ordinary