We read in history texts about the conflicts between
Shawnee and white settlers. Like Eckert, other writers
and historians characterize the era through names like
Daniel Boone, Tecumseh, and Simon Kenton; however, we
rarely read about Marmaduke "Duke" Van Swearingen,
a white man who transcends the image of white settlers
at the time. Long before Kevin Costner became Dances
with Wolves in Hollywood, Marmaduke became Blue Jacket
in Southeast Ohio and led his adopted people to first
war then peace.
Marmaduke Van Swearingen was born on January 2, 1753,
on a thousand-acre farm in Fayette County, Pennsylvania,
according to a copy of his birth record at the Chillicothe
Historical Society in Ross County. His parents were
John and Katherine Stoll Swearingen, and he was the
fourth son of fourteen children. Growing up, Marmaduke
had a first hand account of the biased attitudes and
experiences of the white settlers. Marmaduke seemed
destined to breach the boundary between the settlers
and the Shawnee. He had an intense curiosity about the
Indian way of life. Their respect for the land and boldness
engrossed him. Marmaduke eventually trained himself
to become a Shawnee: he learned the Shawnee language
from an old trapper who lived among the Shawnee and
like many frontier youth, became fond of the wild. Unlike
most boys, Marmaduke sympathized with the plight of
the Native American and often expressed his desire to
live their free life when he reached manhood.
In 1769, while hunting in what is now West Virginia
with his younger brother Charles, the 17-year-old Marmaduke
encountered a Shawnee hunting party. His knowledge of
the Shawnee language was useful in avoiding a fight.
After talking for over an hour, it was arranged for
Charles to return home unharmed if Marmaduke willingly
accompanied the Shawnee to their tribe. There, he was
initiated into the Shawnee and given the name Blue Jacket,
derived from his blue shirt he was wearing that day.
Marmaduke never lived within the white world again;
instead, he became one of the most feared Shawnee warriors.
The Indian captive O.M. Spencer described Blue Jacket
as "the most noble in appearance of any Indian
I ever saw. His person, about six feet high, was finely
proportioned, stout, and muscular; his eyes large, bright,
and piercing; his forehead high and broad ... and his
countenance open and intelligent, expressive of firmness
and decision ..." Marmaduke fit so well within
the Shawnee nation, he was never identified as a white
man. His size, endurance, and intelligence helped him
withstand the severe tests of initiation into his Shawnee
tribe.
Blue Jacket's specific adopted tribe was the Kispokotha
tribe, the war sect of the Shawnee nation. The Kispoko
village had approximately 900 Shawnee and dwelt along
the Scioto just north of Chillicothe (Chalahgantha).
Continuously pushed westward, The Shawnee were in Southeast
Ohio when the first settlers arrived. Fiercely, they
defended their hunting ground.
Blue Jacket flourished within the Shawnee nation, contributing
in the councils and war campaigns from the beginning
of his tribal occupancy. Finally in the most ground
breaking event, he was named chief of his tribe.
His first major battle occurred on October 10, 1774,
at Point Pleasant though he was only in his early twenties.
Until 1795 Blue Jacket led his Shawnee people in a defensive
war against the invading white man. During this time,
his activities ranged from taking up the coat of a British
officer to various run-ins with the famous frontiersman,
Daniel Boone.
But despite his respect for Boone and others understanding
his Shawnee life, Blue Jacket's contempt for the American
invasion grew. At a governor's council he was quoted
as saying, "From all quarters we receive speeches
from the American, and no two are alike. We suppose
they intend to deceive us ..." The most remarkable
account of Blue Jacket's savageness as a warrior is
at the battle of St. Clair on November 4th, 1791, in
which he fought valiantly. Ironically, Blue Jacket killed
his own brother in the battle, Charles Van Swearingen.
This was Blue Jacket's younger brother, a captain of
the American forces, whom Blue Jacket saved the day
he was taken away by the Shawnee.
The same motive which led Blue Jacket to war, however,
eventually led him to seek a peace with the American
government. The good of his people was all important.
After a staggering defeat as the commander at the battle
of Fallen Timbers, Blue Jacket realized that American
occupancy in Ohio was inevitable. He became an emissary
to those tribes still hostile. He even took up the blue
coat of an American officer and helped orchestrate the
Treaty of Greenville in 1795, a bond between the Americans
and the Indian people that lasted fifteen years. He
then relinquished all leadership and retired to Bellefontaine,
Ohio, where he died on June 26, 1810.
Blue Jacket returned only once to his original adopted
home on the Scioto River. In 1803 a delegation of great
chiefs went to the Chillicothe capital at Adena. In
the course of the delegation, Blue Jacket met his distant
cousin Eleanor Swearingen, the wife of United States
Senator Thomas Worthington. Of course neither relative
recognized the other. But the incident illustrates the
different paths taken by two people of the same race,
opportunity, and family. Their lifestyles were determined
only by the diversity of their decisions.
Blue Jacket's unique path to greatness among the Shawnee
people is still remembered today. The spirit of Blue
Jacket and his life lives on in true frontiersmen today.
He stands as a reminder that one white man saw more
than just greed for land in 18th century Ohio. Blue
Jacket saw what was right and took action by giving
his lifetime to the Shawnee.
******************
For additional reading on Blue Jacket, please check
out these books:
Blue Jacket: War Chief of The Shawnees by Allan W. Eckert
The Frontiersmen by Allan W. Eckert
