The Potawatomi Indians were a kind and peaceful people with the exception of this one woman

Indian Tale from Lagrange County, Indiana

The Potawatomi Indians were a kind and peaceful people with the exception of this one woman.

This is related by eye-witnesses as having occurred on the east bank of Sweet Lake. Late one

 pleasant afternoon, while one of the squaws with along wooden paddle  was stirring a pot of

 hot mush, a little    Indian boy annoyed her to such a degree as to give her passion control of 

her better judgment. Snatching the mush- besmeared paddle from the pot, she severely chastised

 the little red boy. The effect of this hot mush poultice upon the little naked denizen of the forest 

can be better imagined than described. It created quite a commotion in the camp, and in a few

 minutes after the painful occurrence, the loud screams of the frantic little sufferer had

 brought a large assembly of both sexes, who became very much enraged and cried for

 summary vengeance on the cruel offender. Some were in favor of blows, while others, more

 merciful, suggested the application of a poultice of the hot mush. As the witnesses left

 previous to the settlement of the vexed question, it is not certainly known what disposition

 was made of the cruel female. 

57 gruesome tales of Indian capture and torture

A Funny Tale of a Pottawatomie Dinner 

   In October, 183l,  the late Gen. N. D. Grover, at that time Indian Agent, located at Logansport, in company with a young man from Baltimore—an Agent of the Government, in charge of a large amount of money—were en route for Chicago with a supply of change for the disbursing department the Northwestern Agency at that point. The route lay along the Indian trace, the only line of travel between those points. When about half way to Chicago, night was likely to overtake them before they could reach any regular stopping place for travelers.  
    Early in the evening. they reached the Wigwam of an old Indian chief well known to the General to be highly honorable and trustworthy. According to custom, they applied for accommodations for the night. Permission was readily granted, and the squaws set about preparing the evening meal for the guests.
      During the progress of the cooking, the young man .was seen to watch the operations with intense interest. though little attention was paid to it, supposing it was mere curiosity. He grew fidgety and pale, indicative of acute suffering. Though very hungry, he seemed afraid to touch the hominy that was cooked, and dished out in wooden bowls. Finally: the General, seeing the young man’s pallor and indisposition to eat, knowing he was hungry, asked him the cause of his sudden illness. Having, in the meantime, also noticed that the youth had been eyeing with fearful interest, the process of boiling something in a kettle near by, the General became some what alarmed as to his condition, lest some terrible malady had suddenly overtaken him. The young man answered his question by pointing to the kettle he had been watching so intently. Seeing something resembling a baby's hand thrown above the service by the boiling water every few moments, he whispered, almost breathlessly, with fear unmistakably impressed on his countenance, “ Cannibals! Cannibals! they are boiling a negro baby, and are going to eat it, and give to us to eat! Why, they are heathens, and eat one another: and we, too, will be murdered and eaten!" He continued to grow still more excited as the boiling went on, and stoutly insisted on leaving at once, before they were murdered.
   The General, observing his continued trepidation and discomfort, explained to him that what he saw in the kettle was only a skinned raccoon, that animal being often cooked and eaten by white people. This quieted him somewhat, but there was still a tremor about him that destroyed his appetite. The squaws soon discovered the cause of the young man's conduct, and manifested a good deal of merriment. Pointing to the kettle and then to their own hands, they would exclaim: " Muck-she-as-pin (black raccoon), seemingly much delighted with the young man's cause of fear eating a coon, supposing it to be a baby.

57 gruesome stories of Indian capture and torture