Wanagapeth
Wanagapeth ("Sweet Breeze"), (?)-1808 was the eldest daughter of Chief Michikinikwa, known as Little Turtle. She married Apekonit, or Capt. William Wells.[1]
William Wells was captured and adopted into the Miami tribe. He had a wife and child who were captured in 1791 and presumed dead. William took Wanagapeth as his second wife, forging a strong family bond between Wells and Turtle that would last until their deaths.
Wanagapeth and Wells had three daughters and one son. Their son, William Wayne Wells, or Wapemongah, graduated fourth in his class at West Point in 1821 and rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He died in 1832 and had no children.[2] One daughter, Ann, married but also had no children. Daughters Rebecca and Mary both have descendants living today.[3]
Little Turtle biographer Harvey Lewis Carter estimates that Sweet Breeze died during the Winter of 1805-1806, because after that year her children moved to Kentucky to live with their uncle, Samuel Wells.[4]
Wanagapeth's father, Mihšihkinaahkwa (known as Chief Little Turtle) fought against Washington in 1791, because the Americans had failed to follow their treaty rules. The treaty stated that Americans would not disturb the land of the Native Americans, and the Native Americans would not disturb them if they did that. But, American settlers failed to do this. So, Washington sent an army under General Arthur St. Clair against the Miami tribe (Chief Little Turtle and Wanagapeth's tribe). The Native Americans celebrated a victory, after killing more than 600 U.S. soldiers. St. Clair retreated, and the Miami tribe was victorious.
In 1794, Native Americans demanded that settlers who were living north of the Ohio River leave the area. In response, George Washington again sent an army, this time under General Anthony Wayne, a revolutionary war general. But, this time, the Miami tribe didn't want to fight anymore, but nobody listened. In August 1794, Wayne's army defeated more than 1,000 Native Americans under Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) in The Battle of Fallen Timbers, near present day Toledo, Ohio. This defeat for the Native Americans crushed their dreams for keeping their land. In the Treaty of Greenville (1795), Native American leaders agreed to surrender most of the land in what is now Ohio.
References
- Carter, pg 87 fn 20, estimates they were married late 1791, based on their life's circumstances.
- Carter, 251
- Carter, 250-252
- Carter, 200
- Carter, Harvey Lewis. The Life and Times of Little Turtle: First Sagamore of the Wabash. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987. ISBN 0-252-01318-2.