ANOTHER INDIAN SKULL DUG UP IN LAWTON PARK LOT While spading his garden at 634 Lawton place, Friday, Dr. George W. Gillie dug up the skull of an old Indian, which makes the fourteenth to be uncovered on the same lot in the past few years. The skull dug, up by Dr. Gillie was crushed almost flat and beside it lay a copper kettle, knives and trinkets and a big bottle.
It is the general opinion that this particular plot of ground was at one time used as an Indian burying ground. All of the skulls found 80 far have been dug up on the rear of the lot, and no doubt there are many more in the center of it.
634 Lawton place is now the Chief Little Turtle Lawton Place Burial Grounds.
On this date in 1912, Chief Little Turtle's grave was discovered in present day Fort Wayne Indiana almost 100 years to the day of his death (July 14, 1812). A contractor building a house on what is present day Lawton Place near downtown, discovered a Miami grave that would be identified as the Chiefs (part of the identification came from the dress sword buried with the remains which was the dress sword President George Washington had given the Chief). That area of Fort Wayne was originally burial grounds for the city of Kekionga and eventually would become the farm of William Wells. Because William Wells was killed at Fort Dearborn (present day Chicago) in August of 1812 and his farm along with everything around fort Wayne would be burned in the Siege of Fort Wayne in August of 1812, Little Turtle's grave would be lost to history until this day.
The local Historical Society placed two plaques at the site when it was made into a small park in 1959/60. See Little Turtle Memorial at City of Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation. Local WFFT TV posted UPDATE: Little Turtle Memorial Park August 13, 2014 on vandalism and maintenance issues.
October 15, 2019 - SoundWalkofficially released its first experience in FW at the Little Turtle Memorial! Download the app, bring headphones & visit the burial place of Chief Mihšihkinaahkwa. Hear the voices and stories of local people of the Miami Tribe and deepen your understanding of what it means to be from FW. Download link: www.soundwalkapp.com. Posted by SoundWalk on Facebook. See our SoundWalk section.
We are excited to share that our Voices of the Myaamiaki SoundWalk Experience has reached full capacity! Thank you to all who have shown tremendous interest! For those who weren’t able to RSVP, the SoundWalk Experience is available on the app from any location. Along with that, the Experience will still be accessible at the Chief Little Turtle Memorial following today’s event! We thank you all for your support, see you soon!
Hear more from Claudia, and other people of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, at the live premiere of the Voices of the Myaamiaki SoundWalk, an immersive sonic exploration. All on the SoundWalk App at the Chief Little Turtle Memorial this Sunday from 3-5pm. Space is limited, for more details and to RSVP, please visit: pbsfortwayne.org/iconicamerica #PBS #PBSFortWayne #myaamia #IconicAmericaPBS #fortwayne
Hear more from Claudia, and other people of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, at the live premiere of the Voices of the Myaamiaki SoundWalk, an immersive sonic exploration.
Page 190THE LITTLE TURTLE TABLET. A small tablet marked "Little Turtle, 1751-1812" was placed by Jacob M. Stouder In the rear of the residence property of Dr. George W. Gillie, No. 634 Lawton Place, to mark the spot where Chief Little Turtle is believed to have been buried.
ACCOUNT BY J. M. STOUDER. July 4, 1912, will hereafter be memorable to the citizens of Fort Wayne and Allen county. On that day Albert and Charles Loch ner uncovered the grave of Little Turtle, the great Miami war chief. The brothers had contracted to build a house for Dr. George W. Gillie on Lawton place, and in digging the cellar uncovered several Indian graves. Noticing that whatever was in the graves was appropriated by the laborers, the contractors called off the crew and with the assistance of Dr. George W. Gillie dug the drain in which the grave of Little Turtle was found. The finders had no idea of the identity of the body. The skull was carefully kept and presented to Dr. M. W. Ivins, dentist at 1118 Rivermet avenue, who had requested the Lochner brothers to save a good specimen for him. The balance of the remains were scattered and carried away by the curious as mementos. Copied from 3-page article Stouder, J. M. (1912). The Grave of Little Turtle, The Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History, Vol. 8, No. 3 (SEPTEMBER, 1912), pp. 119-121 (3 pages) Published by: Indiana University Press at jstor.org. Also at Indiana Magazine of History. Retrieved from Stouder, J. M. (1912). The Grave of Little Turtle. Indiana Magazine of History. Volume 8, Issue 3, September 1912. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/5813. At Indiana Magazine of History journal in the archives at Indiana University Scholarworks. Discussed in an April 29, 2022 post with photos of local historical markers on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.
An interesting advertising video showing local landmark markers and more called A Hallmark Moment in Fort Wayne History Today's episode features local history with the telling of Chief Little Turtle & The Battle of Kekionga. See where the battle occurred in modern day landmarks and how these events eventually led to Fort Wayne being established in 1794. Posted March 8, 2022 by Hallmark Home Mortgage-NMLS#53441 on Facebook.
