(Chief Little Turtle)

Chief Little Turtle was one of the most feared and respected leaders during the frontier wars of the 1780s and 1790s when Fort Wayne was born. Known to his people as Meshekinnoquah, Little Turtle is thought to have been born in 1752 in a village along the Eel River a few miles northeast of Columbia City.

Little Turtle rose to prominence as a warrior in 1780. As war chief of the Miami nation, he led them in defeat of the united States irregulars of Colonel LaBalme who attacked the Miami town of Kekionga (present-day Fort Wayne). In 1790, when the U.S. Army under General Josiah Harmar was sent by President Washington to destroy the Indian towns at the Three Rivers, Little Turtle assembled warriors from the region and defeated General Harmar's troops at the Battle of Kekionga on October 22, 1790. In 1791, at the present-day site of Fort Recovery, Ohio, the Indians under Little Turtle again defeated U.S. Army troops, this time under territorial governor General Arthur St. Clair, in the Army's worst defeat ever at the hands of native peoples. When General Anthony Wayne finally defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, Little Turtle participated in the battle with the Indian confederacy, but not as the leader.

After his military career, Little Turtle was a diplomat for his people. He was a principal negotator for the Indians at the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 and made four trips to the nation's capital, meeting with Presidents George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson (twice). He sought help from the Society of Friends (Quakers) to bring new farming methods to the Indians and sought federal assistance to end the illegal liquor traffic.

Little Turtle died on July 14, 1812, and was laid to rest with full U.S. military honors in the Miami burial grounds.

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Chief Little Turtle
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