Lewis Wetzel

Lewis Wetzel (1763

In 1778, Lewis, then 13, and his brother Jacob, 11, were tending the family's corn field during a raid by Wyandot Native Americans, and taken prisoner but managed to escape two days later. A bullet grazed Lewis's breastbone before his capture, but his captors were able to staunch the bleeding and lead the boys away. The boys managed to return to Fort Henry (modern Wheeling, West Virginia), which the Wetzel men also helped defend in September 1782.^[2] Wetzel grew to some six feet tall, and became striking and very athletic, but some considered him socially inept, in part because he never cut his hair, which grew extremely long and was held in a ponytail as often also done by Native Americans. He rationalized it as expecting he would be scalped as he had scalped many. His varied skills in what is now known as guerrilla warfare became famous.^[5]

In 1781, Col. Daniel Brodhead reached the main Turtle clan village of Gekelmukpechunk, now known as Newcomerstown, Ohio. He requested a peaceful discussion between the main chiefs of the village and three were sent to meet him. He hoped to secure the villagers' allegiance and enlist new warriors into his campaign. However, Lewis Wetzel’s younger brother Martin attacked one of the peaceful chiefs with a tomahawk from behind, killing him just as they had crossed the river. Fearing massive losses and an unplanned battle, Brodhead retreated and instead refocused his troops on their initial goal of reaching Coshocton.^[4]

In June 1786, four of the Wetzel men were returning by canoe from a hunting trip when they were attacked by tribesmen. Although Lewis Wetzel managed to canoe beyond musket range (and was not wounded), his father John and brother George died before reaching Baker's Station,^[6] though his brother Martin survived his wound.^[2][7] At some point, the young man vowed to avenge his family.^[8]

Wetzel later participated in several military campaigns against Native American tribes in the Ohio region, and claimed to have taken 27 or 37 Native American scalps. He preferred to operate alone; military procedure did not suit him even while serving with the militia. He became renowned for an ability to load his rifle while sprinting (perhaps by using smaller shot than other frontiersman as well as for always holding a few bullets in his mouth), and which probably saved his life several times during raids although lead poisoning would have ongoing mental and physical effects.^{[9][10][4][11]}

Lewis Wetzel was implicated in the deaths of several friendly Native Americans, and he may have knived others to death as they slept. The most famous incident turning public opinion against him involved the Seneca Chief Tegunteh (whom American soldiers called "George Washington" for his upright character), who had traveled to

Death and legacy

Accounts about his final years vary. He had no known children, although several of his siblings had children, and some were named in his honor. Most likely Lewis Wetzel died in 1808 in Natchez, Mississippi, at the residence of his cousin Philip Sykes, since a skeleton matching Wetzel's description including the long hair was exhumed along with a rifle and other equipment at Sykes' former farm. The remains were reinterred in the McCreary Cemetery in Marshall County, West Virginia. Some believe Wetzel married a Spanish woman, settled along the Brazos River and died in 1839.^[14]

Another Lewis Wetzel (1825–1862) of Point Pleasant, West Virginia (judge and newspaper editor) was one of the founders of the state of West Virginia, but murdered by another pro-Union founder, John Hall.^[19] Martin Wetzel's direct descendant,

Among places in West Virginia, Wetzel County, West Virginia, is named for him or his family, as is the Lewis Wetzel Wildlife Management Area. West Virginia has erected historical markers commemorating the Wetzel family near Limestone in Marshall County^[20] and specifically mentions Lewis Wetzel on the markers for Fort Beeler^[21] and Terra Alta^[22] in Preston County. An Ohio historical marker notes Lewis Wetzel's involvement in the Broadhead Massacre of peaceful Indians at the Moravian mission.^[23] The Western novelist Zane Grey wrote about Wetzel in his books Betty Zane, The Spirit of the Border, and The Last Trail. More recently, Allan W. Eckert recounts Wetzel's exploits in That Dark and Bloody River.

References