Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 111, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 October 1899 — Lost Child of the Miamis. [ARTICLE]

Lost Child of the Miamis.

In 1770, when a mere child, Frances Slocum was stolen from her parents by a roving Indian band at Wilkesbarre, Pa. She moved West with the ebbing tide of Indians and was finally adopted by a chief of the Miamis. Her parents searched far and near for their missing child, but were unable to locate her Tintll she had been adopted by the Miami tribe, and when overtures were made for her return she declared that the life in the Indian camp had such a fascination for her that she had no desire to return to civilization. She was extremely popular among the members of the tribe, and the village southwest of Wabash, Ind., where she made her home was known as the “white woman’s” village. As-she grew to womanhood, adopting the savage customs, attire and language, she married She-pan-can-nah. meaning the Deaf Man, the chief of the Osage village, and by him had four children, two sons and two daughters. She accompanied her husband to the Osage village and afterward to the Deaf Man’s village, and lived there long after the white man had invaded the wilderness and begun to clear up the dense forests. She-pah-can-nah died in 1833, and in 1847, fourteen years after, she died at the age ot 80, loved and respected by whites and Indians alike. Frances Slocum’s Indian name was Mah-cones-quah, or “Young Bear.” Her daughter, Ke-ke-kah-kushwa, became the wife of Capt. B. Brouillette, and died on March 13. 1847, aged 47. The other daughter was O-zah-was-shing-quah, who married Tah-co-nah, and he dying_ she became the bride of Wah-pah-pe-tah, and several of her children by the last mar-' riage live on the Indian land south of Wabash in abject poverty. She died in January, 1877, the last of Frances Slocum’s children.