Hoosier students will recall the Indiana History curriculum we had in fourth grade. To some the names, dates and places were boring. But it sparked in me a lifelong love of my state and its history. While my classmates idolized sports stars or celebrities the men and women who made Indiana and our nation what it is became my childhood heroes. To be truthful my home state is an interesting place filled with fascinating people and places, both past and present. Let's discover some together.
Frances Slocum/Maconaquah (Little Bear Woman)
Frances Slocum was born into a Quaker family living in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, on March 4, 1773. In July 1778, British forces and Seneca warriors destroyed Forty Fort killing more than three hundred American settlers. The Slocum family survived the battle, and felt their Quaker beliefs and friendly relations with the natives would protect them. However Frances was taken by Delaware Indians who had come to seek revenge on her father for allowing his son to fight Indians. The Indians thought they could trust Quakers because they did not believe in fighting. Frances was traded to an older, childless Miami couple for animal pelts. She was given the name Maconaquah, which means Little Bear Woman, after her new father, Big Bear. She adapted very well to her new life and was much loved by her new parents. She was known not only for her light skin and red hair, but also for excelling at the foot races and games on horseback earning the nickname Red Heart of the Miamis for her great courage. In 1790 she married a young Delaware brave named Tuck Horse. Maconaquah moved into a wigwam with Tuck Horse and his entire family. It was cramped, crowded, and allowed no privacy. Tuck Horse left on long hunting and war party trips. He spent all their earnings on whiskey and other frivolous trinkets. When Tuck Horse’s drinking led to domestic violence against Maconaquah in private and in public. In 1791 she went back to live with her parents who were outraged that anyone would treat Red Heart of the Miamis with such disrespect and cruelty. Her second marriage, sometime after 1794, was to a Miami warrior named She-pan-can-ah (Deaf Man).
After her father died Shepoconah, Maconaquah and her mother then moved to live along the banks of the Mississinewa River near Peru, Indiana. Shepoconah later became Chief of the Miami Indians in the area. Maconaquah gave birth four children. Although she was very influencial little more is known about Slocum's life among the Miami. Most of the recorded information focuses on her later years after she was reunited with her white relatives near Peru, Indiana. On learning about a woman who might be his long lost sister, Isaac Slocum came to Peru, Indiana in May 1838 and visited Maconaquah at Deaf Man’s Village. The two talked for hours through an interpreter. When his brother and sister, Joseph Slocum and Mary Town, arrived, the three visited Maconaquah again. She treated them with kindness, but was always quiet and unmoved. During the ensuing years, Maconaquah became reacquainted with her white family and grew attached to them. Yet she elected to remain among the Indians saying “I have a house and large lands, two daughters, a son-in-law, three grandchildren, and everything to make me comfortable; why should I go, and be like a fish out of water?”
Maconaquah Frances Slocum died at her home on March 9, 1847 at age 74, and was buried next to her husband and two small sons in the cemetery next to her cabin. In 1965 the graves were moved to Slocum Cemetery, in Wabash County, Indiana, when construction of the Mississinewa River dam would flood the site of Deaf Man’s village. Tributes to her include a thirty-mile long Frances Slocum Trail from Peru to Marion, Indiana and the Frances Slocum State Forest near Peru, Indiana. The log is checked periodically and any online logs without the corresponding signature on the physical log will be deleted. Not trying to be mean but that is how the game is played