the curse of chief leatherlips

Wyandot warrior

It's Leatherlips season at the manor. For those of you who are new readers of this blog, the Native American Wyandot Chief Leatherlips was executed 200 years ago today, June 1, 1810, on the banks of the Scioto River, in the general vicinity of Willow Manor. The chief was called "Leatherlips" because he was known to be trustworthy; his word was his bond. He was friendly with the white settlers in and around Dublin, Ohio, including the early resident Sells brothers, and was a local fixture at their new Black Horse Tavern. His Wyandot people relocated to Northwest Ohio, and were plagued by many mishaps, including disease. They blamed Leatherlips for their turn of unfortunate luck and returned to Dublin to escort him to their northern encampment. When he refused, his fellow Wyandots accused Leatherlips of witchcraft, and pronounced the sentence of death, executing him by tomahawk. This photo is of a Wyandot warrior, similar to how Leatherlips may have looked in his full tribal regalia; since he was killed in 1810, there are no photos of him in existence.

The Curse of Chief Leatherlips

This time of year is also our local Annual Muirfield Memorial PGA Golf Tournament. It is said that Jack Nicklaus built his course on sacred Wyandot Indian burial grounds, and that the tournament is cursed by Chief Leatherlips. It is certainly peculiar that every year, golfers and spectators are drenched with torrents of rain. Could it be that Central Ohio just gets a lot of rain this time of year? Possibly.

Bill Moose Crowfoot, 1930

Another Native American who was known to wander the area of the Scioto River banks in Dublin, Ohio, was Bill Moose Crowfoot, pictured here in head dress and beaded tunic, 1930. He is said to be the last of the Wyandots to live in Central Ohio. Born in Northwest Ohio in 1837, Crowfoot moved to the Columbus area with his family, when most of his tribe was displaced to Kansas and later Oklahoma. When we first moved to Willow Manor, there were three "Indian trees", sometimes called signal trees, in a line about 150 yards apart, the center one on our property. They were maples bent as saplings and secured with buckskin ties by the Wyandots, to mark a significant location. These maples grew into huge unusual "s" shaped trees. I've always wondered, exactly what was the significance of the trees in this particular location at the manor?

Some 20 years ago, when the area around the manor was very rural, my youngest son came into the kitchen one sunny June day. "Mommy, who's that old man outside in the overalls?" After investigating the area there was no one to be found. A few years later, also in the month of June, by the way, WT saw an old Native American looking man in overalls, standing near a stack of three large rocks we fondly call the Willow Manor Cairn. By the time he walked across the property to greet our visitor, he was gone.

The months of May and June are always hot spots for ghostly occurrences at the manor. A long time resident passed away here in the month of May, and sadly, a previous owner, died by his own hand at the manor in the month of June. This week has certainly been no exception; there's been lots of drawer openings, door slammings and loud nightly noises. But, the most unusual this week, so far, was a dead snake, it's head obviously crushed, strangely displayed on the rock wall outside the garage door. The Wyandot tribe was known to do the snake dance in order to bring on rain. Maybe Leatherlips was just gearing up for the Memorial Tournament, since it's been pouring rain all day. Did I just hear thunder?