House Built for Little Turtle's Granddaughter: Wolcott Tour Steeped in History

The special Sunday Event at this year's Drums Along the Maumee will be a tour of the Wolcott House Museum Complex. The land where this house sits will tell you of the history of this place. I visited the site recently to discus plans for our exhibit and subsequent tour with Chuck Jacobs, executive director of the Maumee Valley Historical Society. When I arrived, he was walking the grounds, collecting bits of pottery and stones. The house was built in 1827 for the daughter of William Wells, Mary, who was the granddaughter of the famous Miami Chief Little Turtle.

As you may know, Little Turtle led his braves in the attack on St. Clair's army in 1790. It stands today as the worst defeat of an American force with 632 men killed. In contrast, Gen. Custer lost about half that number at Little Big Horn. Although strong in battle, Little Turtle realized the only way for his people to survive was to make peace with the White Man. Little Turtle was also William Wells adopted father. Wells had been kidnapped at the age of 12 by the Miamis. Wells was brought up as one of the tribe, as was the custom. He led 300 warriors against St. Clair, but after the battle had a change of heart and left his adopted family. He then joined Gen. Wayne as a scout and traveled the very land that his granddaughter would later live on.

After Fallen Timbers and the Treaty of Greenville, Wells became an Indian agent for William Henry Harrison. Again he sought out his adopted father. He acted as interpreter for Little Turtle during his trips east to meet with government officials. Little Turtle met with three presidents -- George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

As you can see, the history of Wells, the Native Americans, our new country and the battles for territory are all interrelated. Wells walked the grounds of the Wolcott House. The Battle of Fallen Timbers rolled over this site as well. Sometimes, you can trip over history. One place you can do that is the Wolcott House.