Post by Matthew S. Schweitzer on Sept 20, 2003 9:02:52 GMT -5
On Riverside Drive in north Columbus, almost to the Delaware County border, there is a lone gravestone set back in a small stone enclosed plot bordering up against a huge new housing development. This tombstone bears a large inscription: LEATHERLIPS. This grave supposedly marks the final resting place of the great Wyandot chief She-ta-yah-ron-ya, know to the whites as Leatherlips. According to tradition, Leatherlips was exectued at this exact site on June 1, 1810 for practicising the forbidden art of witchcraft, but historians tend to agree that the real motive behind his killing was more political. Leatherlips had refused to join Tecumseh's pan-Indian confederacy which was building support to wage all-out war against the Americans in the Old Northwest on the eve of the War of 1812.
Leatherlips had been a signer of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 following the Battle of Fallen Timbers and had pledged himself and his tribe to live in peace with the white settlers who now were flooding into Ohio. He was well-known and liked by the local whites who had taken up residence at the settlements at Franklinton and Dublin and had lived up to his promise to live in peace. He had become a particularly close friend of early Dublin resident John Sells, who witnessed and later recorded the events which transpired on the banks of the Scioto River that day in June 1810. There, a contingent of Wyandot warriors, led by the powerful Chief Roundhead found Leatherlips encamped with his son. They had been sent to carry out the sentence of execution of the old Chief, who had so adamantly refused to raise the hatchet once again against the whites.
Here is the story in full, as recorded in Henry Howe's "Historical Collections of Ohio" published in 1846:
"In June, 1810, there was an old Wyandot Chief, named Leatherlips, executed in this county, and it is claimed for the sole reason that he was a friend of the white man and opposed to taking up armies against the whites. We take the account of this event from "Drakes Life of Tecumseh" where it is abridged from an article by Otway Curry, in the "Hesperian"
Gen. Harrison entertained the opinion that his death was the result of the prophet's command, and that the party who acted as executioners went directly from Tippecanoe to the banks of the Scioto, where the tragedy was enacted. Leatherlips was found encamped upon that stream, twelve miles above Columbus. The six Wyandots who put him to death were headed, it is supposed by the Chief Roundhead. An effort was made by some white men, who were present, to save the life of the accused, but without success. A council of two or three hours took place; the accusing party spoke with warmth and bitterness of feeling: Leatherlips was calm and dispassionate in his replies. The sentence of death, which had been previously been passed upon him was reaffirmed.
"The prisoner the walked slowly to his camp, partook of a dinner of jerked venison, washed and arrayed himself in his best apparel and afterwards painted his face. His dress was very rich -- his hair gray and his whole appearance graceful and commanding." When the hour for the execution had arrived, Leatherlips shook hands in silence with the spectators. "He then turned from his wigwam, and with a voice of surpassing strength and melody commenced the chant of the death song. He was followed closely by the Wyandot warriors, all timing with their slow and measured march the music of his wild and melancholy dirge. The white men were likewise all silent followers in that strange procession. At the distance of seventy or eighty yards from the camp, they came to a shallow grave, which, unknown to the white men, had been previously prepared by the Indians. Here the old man knelt down, and in an elevated but solemn tone of voice, addressed his prayer to the Great Spirit. As soon as he had finished, the captain of the Indians knelt beside him and prayed in a similar manner. Their prayers, of course, were spoken in the Wyandot tongue... After a few moments delay, the prisoner again sank down upon his knees and prayed, as he had done before. When he had ceased, he still continued in a kneeling position. All the rifles belonging to the party had been left at the wigwam. There was not a weapon of any kind to be seen at the place of execution, and the spectators were consequently unable to form any conjecture as to the mode of procedure which the executioners had determined on for the fulfillment of their purpose. Suddenly one of the warriors drew from beneath the skirts of his capote, a keen, bright tomahawk--walked rapidly up behind the chieftain--brandished the weapon on high for a single moment, and then struck with his whole strength. The blow descended directly upon the crown of the head, and the victim immediately fell prostrate. After he had lain awhile in the agonies of death, the Indian captain directed the attention of the white men to the drops of sweat which were gathering upon his face and neck; remarked with much apparent exultation, that it was conclusive proof of the sufferers guilt. Again the executioner advanced, and with the same weapon inflicted two or three additional and heavy blows. As soon as life was entirely extinct, the body was hastily buried, with all it's apparel and decorations, and the assemblage dispersed."
Gen. Harrison entertained the opinion that his death was the result of the prophet's command, and that the party who acted as executioners went directly from Tippecanoe to the banks of the Scioto, where the tragedy was enacted. Leatherlips was found encamped upon that stream, twelve miles above Columbus. The six Wyandots who put him to death were headed, it is supposed by the Chief Roundhead. An effort was made by some white men, who were present, to save the life of the accused, but without success. A council of two or three hours took place; the accusing party spoke with warmth and bitterness of feeling: Leatherlips was calm and dispassionate in his replies. The sentence of death, which had been previously been passed upon him was reaffirmed.
"The prisoner the walked slowly to his camp, partook of a dinner of jerked venison, washed and arrayed himself in his best apparel and afterwards painted his face. His dress was very rich -- his hair gray and his whole appearance graceful and commanding." When the hour for the execution had arrived, Leatherlips shook hands in silence with the spectators. "He then turned from his wigwam, and with a voice of surpassing strength and melody commenced the chant of the death song. He was followed closely by the Wyandot warriors, all timing with their slow and measured march the music of his wild and melancholy dirge. The white men were likewise all silent followers in that strange procession. At the distance of seventy or eighty yards from the camp, they came to a shallow grave, which, unknown to the white men, had been previously prepared by the Indians. Here the old man knelt down, and in an elevated but solemn tone of voice, addressed his prayer to the Great Spirit. As soon as he had finished, the captain of the Indians knelt beside him and prayed in a similar manner. Their prayers, of course, were spoken in the Wyandot tongue... After a few moments delay, the prisoner again sank down upon his knees and prayed, as he had done before. When he had ceased, he still continued in a kneeling position. All the rifles belonging to the party had been left at the wigwam. There was not a weapon of any kind to be seen at the place of execution, and the spectators were consequently unable to form any conjecture as to the mode of procedure which the executioners had determined on for the fulfillment of their purpose. Suddenly one of the warriors drew from beneath the skirts of his capote, a keen, bright tomahawk--walked rapidly up behind the chieftain--brandished the weapon on high for a single moment, and then struck with his whole strength. The blow descended directly upon the crown of the head, and the victim immediately fell prostrate. After he had lain awhile in the agonies of death, the Indian captain directed the attention of the white men to the drops of sweat which were gathering upon his face and neck; remarked with much apparent exultation, that it was conclusive proof of the sufferers guilt. Again the executioner advanced, and with the same weapon inflicted two or three additional and heavy blows. As soon as life was entirely extinct, the body was hastily buried, with all it's apparel and decorations, and the assemblage dispersed."
One of the white men who attempted to save the life of the old Chief was none other then his friend John Sells, who, according to legend, had offered his prized stallion to the warriors sent to carry out the execution in return for Leatherlips' life. The current monument was erected in 1887 by a Columbus social organization calling themselves the "Wyandot Club", intending to perpetuate the memory of the great Wyandot leader.
Interestingly, there is another bit of local legend surrounding the chief. Every year in May, Dublin hosts the Muirfiled Golf Tournament which is attended by thousands, and every year, like clockwork, it pours rain for the entire duration of the tournament, only to stop once the final round is over. Some Columbus residents claim that it is the curse of old Chief Leatherlips, unhappy that upscale whites have taken his ancerstral homeland and turned it into a putting green. Curse? or just bad weather? You be the judge.
