Captain Logan

Captain Logan ( – November 25, 1812), also known as Spemica Lawba ("High Horn"), James Logan, or simply Logan, was a Shawnee warrior who lived in present-day Ohio. Although he opposed the expansion of the United States into Shawnee lands, following the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, he became one of many Shawnees who sought to preserve Shawnee independence by maintaining peaceful relations with the United States. When the War of 1812 reached Ohio, Logan served as a scout and guide for the American military.

Logan was killed in a skirmish with British-allied Native Americans, and was buried with military honors by the Americans, making Logan "the foremost Indian hero on the American side" of the War of 1812.

Early life

Logan was born Spemica Lawba ("High Horn") in the Ohio Country in or around 1776. His birth name has also been spelled "Spemicalawba," "Spamagelabe," and "Spemeaalapah."

He belonged to the Mekoche division of the Shawnee tribe. According to Logan's friend John Allen, Logan was of mixed-blood, and his Native mother, ( based on family history book, The Renick's of Greenbrier, Moluntha aka Joshua Renick was his father and Nonhelema, Chief Cornstalk's daughter, "The Grenadier Squaw," was his mother, see paintings city signs for both ), was related to Tecumseh. Indian agent John Johnston, who also knew Logan, said Logan was not related by blood to Tecumseh. During his captivity, Spemica Lawba leaned to speak some English, and took the name "Logan" after Benjamin Logan, who had apparently befriended the boy.

War of 1812 Captain Logan on his deathbed, with his friend Major Martin D. Hardin, depicted in a 1953 illustration Although Tecumseh's band of Shawnees allied with the British during the War of 1812, most Shawnees did not. In June 1812, as the war approached, Logan served as a guide for American General William Hull as Hull marched his men through Ohio toward Detroit. In July 1812, Logan visited Fort Malden in Upper Canada in an unsuccessful attempt to convince Tecumseh to abandon the British alliance.

Thanks in no small part to Tecumseh's efforts, General Hull's expedition to Detroit ended with his surrender in August 1812, which left American outposts like Fort Wayne exposed to counterattack. Indian agent John Johnston, stationed in Piqua, Ohio, recruited Logan to go to Fort Wayne and bring twenty-five women and children back to Piqua. and Bright Horn, were captured by a mounted party led by Winamac, a Potawatomi war chief. After being escorted for several miles, the men tried to escape, and gunfire was exchanged. Winamec was killed and Logan was hit in the abdomen. He returned to Winchester's camp, mortally wounded. He asked his friend Martin D. Hardin to make sure his children "were educated and raised as whites."

Legacy In honor of his service, the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs granted Captain Logan's surviving children 640 acres on the east side of the Auglaize River, in present-day Auglaize County, Ohio. In 1848, this area became Logan Township, named for Captain Logan. In 1828, Logansport, Indiana, was named for him.

Allan W. Eckert's 1983 novel Johnny Logan: Shawnee Spy is based on Spemica Lawba, although Eckert called his main character "Johnny." John Logan was the name of a different Shawnee who fought on the opposite side of the War of 1812. He was a young Shawnee interpreter who fought alongside Tecumseh, and was killed in the Battle of Brownstown on August 5, 1812. A member of Blue Jacket's band, he was not related to Captain Logan.