" The Shawanoes ran up to the muzzles of the
English guns, disputing every foot of ground. Both sides knew
well what they were fighting for--the rich land held in a
semicircle by the Beautiful River.
Shortly before sundown the Indians, mistaking a flank movement by
Shelby's contingent for the arrival of reinforcements, retreated
across the Ohio. Many of their most noted warriors had fallen and
among them the Shawano chief, Puck-e-shin-wa, father of a famous
son, Tecumseh.* Yet they were unwilling to accept defeat. When
they heard that Dunmore was now marching overland to cut them off
from their towns, their fury blazed anew. "Shall we first kill
all our women and children and then fight till we ourselves are
slain?" Cornstalk, in irony, demanded of them; "No? Then I will
go and make peace."
* Thwaites, "Documentary History of Dunmore's War."
By the treaty compacted between the chiefs and Lord Dunmore, the
Indians gave up all claim to the lands south of the Ohio, even
for hunting, and agreed to allow boats to pass unmolested. In
this treaty the Mingos refused to join, and a detachment of
Dunmore's troops made a punitive expedition to their towns. Some
discord arose between Dunmore and Lewis's frontier forces
because, since the Shawanoes had made peace, the Governor would
not allow the frontiersmen to destroy the Shawano towns.
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