Shabonee
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Shabonee (c. 1775-1859) was a chief of the Potawatomi and grandnephew of the Chief Pontiac.
The son of an Ottawa warrior who had fought with Pontiac during Pontiac's Rebellion, Shabonee himself would become a lieutenant under Shawnee chieftain Tecumseh and, during the War of 1812, later participated in the Battle of the Thames where Tecumseh was killed.
Embittered towards the British for their treatment following Tecumseh's death, Shabonee joined the Potawatomi where he was eventually chosen to serve as the tribe's peace chief. Encouraging friendlier relations towards the American in later years, Shabonee kept the Potowatomi out of the Black Hawk War.
Shabonee would warn settlers on several occasions of hostile tribes, including one incident where he rode from Princeton to Chicago, Illinois in one night to warn residents of an impending attack.
Shabonee died in Morris, Illinois in 1859 at the age of 84 and, in 1903, a large granite boulder was erected as a monument on his gravesite in Evergreen Cemetery.
[edit] References
- Grant, Bruce. The Concise Encyclopedia of the American Indian. New York: Wings Books, 2000. ISBN 0-517-69310-0
