Research notes: Moluntha and Logan’s Raid, 1786

Shawnee side

• Mekoche ceremonial leader from 1780; Americans mistook the role for ‘king’. Sources: WP MOL
• Signed Fort Finney reluctantly, Jan. 1786; most Shawnees rejected it; message to British: ‘We have been cheated by the Americans.’ Sources: WP MOL WP Finney
• Flew a US flag and held the treaty when he surrendered. Sources: WP MOL WP Raid

Kentucky side

• After raids and counter-raids along the Ohio, Kentucky militia launched a two-pronged 1786 campaign under Clark and Logan. Sources: WP Nwiw
• Logan led about 700 militia; McGary, bitter over Blue Licks, killed Moluntha; court-martialed and suspended one year. Sources: WP Mcgary WP MOL
• Ensign Ebenezer Denny: ‘none but old men, women and children… the men were literally murdered.’ Sources: WP Raid

Contested details

• Seven towns and Oct. 6 (Moluntha, McGary articles) vs. thirteen villages and Oct. 12 (Logan’s raid infobox). Sources: WP MOL WP Raid WP Mcgary
• Unpinned: the towns were in present Ohio, and the story centers on Moluntha, not the Limestone launch point.

Timeline

1. 1780 Moluntha becomes Mekoche speaker. Sources: WP MOL
2. 1786 Jan. 31: Treaty of Fort Finney. Sources: WP Finney
3. 1786 October: Logan’s raid; Moluntha killed. Sources: WP MOL WP Raid
4. 1810 Tecumseh cites Moluntha’s death. Sources: WP MOL

People

• Moluntha Mekoche Shawnee civil chief
• Benjamin Logan Kentucky militia commander
• Hugh McGary Militia officer who killed Moluntha
• Nonhelema Moluntha’s wife, captured
• George Rogers Clark Led the Wabash prong

Open questions

• Shawnee-authored accounts of the raid.
• Court-martial record of McGary (Talbert 1962 cites it).

Sources

Secondary sources

• “Moluntha.” Wikipedia (citing Sugden, Calloway, Lakomäki, Talbert). (opens in a new tab)
• “Logan’s raid.” Wikipedia (quotes Denny’s Military Journal, 1850). (opens in a new tab)
• “Hugh McGary.” Wikipedia. (opens in a new tab)
• “Fort Finney (Ohio).” Wikipedia. (opens in a new tab)
• “Northwest Indian War.” Wikipedia. (opens in a new tab)

Primary sources

• Ebenezer Denny, Military Journal of Major Ebenezer Denny (Philadelphia, 1850), as quoted in the Logan’s raid article.