Billy Caldwell (March 17, 1782 – September 28, 1841) was a Captain in the British Indian Department during the War of 1812, a fur trader, and in his later life a chief of the Potawatomi at Council Bluffs. He was also known as Sauganash, a variant spelling of Zhagnash meaning British or Canadian in the Potawatomi language.
Born in a Mohawk refugee camp near Fort Niagara, Billy was the son of William Caldwell, a Scots-Irish British officer during the American Revolutionary War, and a Mohawk woman, the daughter of a chief named 'Rising Sun'.Draper Mss. Vol. 17, Page 238. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"Billy Caldwell was son of a daughter of a Mohawk chief called the Rising Sun, born at Niagara" His name was not short for William. His half-brother, the eldest son of William Caldwell by his French Canadian wife, was named William Caldwell Jr, Billy was only ever called Billy.Draper Mss. Vol. 17, Page 230. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"Col. Caldwell's eldest son by his marriage with [?] Baby, born in 1784, he had named William, after himself, & the Indian son had been known only as Billy Caldwell, so named by his mother." Due to his Mohawk-speaking mother, English-speaking father, French-speaking step-mother (Suzanne the daughter of Jacques Baby), his later Potawatomi wives, and years of fur trading, he became multilingual. He did, however, lose the use of the Mohawk language, with which he had been raised in his youth, due to nonuse.Draper Mss. Vol. 17, Page 240. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"He conversed freely in English, French + Pottawattamie, but from non-use, had pretty much lost his early knowledge of the Mohawk language."
At seventeen Caldwell moved to Chicago to work as a clerk for John Kinzie and Thomas Forsyth. He remained with them for a few years before starting his own independent trade.Draper Mss. Vol. 17, Page 238. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"When about seventeen he went as a clerk to Forsythe & Kinzie at Chicago in the indian trade, & remained with them three or four years - then went into trade for himself among the Pottawattamies- located at Chicago & that region." When the War of 1812 broke out, he arrived alongside the Potawatomi to fight for the British.
After the war Caldwell returned to the Chicago area. Having gained the respect of many bands of Potawatomi, together with Alexander Robinson, he acted as a chief councilor on behalf of the prairie bands of the Potawatomi in numerous treaties with the U.S. Federal Government. He was involved in the Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien, the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, and others. For his work, the US granted him life annuities as well as a 1600-acre Half-Breed Tract, known as the Caldwell Reserve, along the North Branch of the Chicago River. These treaties, signed under innumerable pressures, sold their ancestral lands and acquiesced to their removal west of the Mississippi River. In 1835, Caldwell migrated with his people from the Chicago region west to Platte County, Missouri.
As a result of the Platte Purchase in 1836, Caldwell and his band were removed from Missouri to Iowa Territory, to the area of Trader's Point (Pointe aux Poules) on the east bank of the Missouri River. While living at Trader's Point, Caldwell led a band of approximately 2000 Potawatomi. Their settlement became known as Camp Caldwell. In 1841 Caldwell died; scholars believe it may have been because of cholera.
Early life and education Soon after the American Revolutionary War, Billy Caldwell, was born in 1782 (as documented through two autobiographical letters)Billy Caldwell to Francis Caldwell, Esq., March 17, 1834, Chicago. Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.
"You recollect this day will make the 52nd time that St. Patrick has gone over my head." [His birthday was St. Patricks day] near Fort Niagara to a Mohawk woman. His father was William Caldwell, a Scots-Irish immigrant who came to North America in 1773 and served as a Loyalist soldier in the war.Clifton, James A. Caldwell, Billy. Contained in 'Caldwell Papers' held by the Zhang Legacy Collections Center at Western Michigan University.
"Manuscript, apparently in the handwriting of Col. Wm. Caldwell begins as follows: 'l came to America in 1773 and joined Lord Dunmore as an officer. On an expedition against the Indians was wounded June the 9th 1774.' Continues to say he served in Butler's Rangers. He was ordered to Detroit. On 4th of June 1787(?)(sic) he marched against Col. Crawford. In August he fought at Blue Locks (sic) and was with an expedition in 1782. He was paymaster in the late war (evidently 1812). Continues: 'I served until the retreat of the right division of the army under Maj. Gen. Proctor. My sons, 3 of whom were officers of Militia and one Captain of Indian Department.' (the latter was Billy Caldwell)." Living first in Virginia, in 1774 his father had fought as an officer with Lord Dunmore and was wounded."William Caldwell", United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada, accessed 11 August 2011 After recovering, he went to Fort Niagara in New York, where he fought with Butler's Rangers against Patriot colonists in New York and Pennsylvania.
William Caldwell was likely away on an expedition when Billy was born. He was ordered to Detroit then went south to Kentucky culminating in the Battle of Blue Licks. It is not clear how much of a role William played in his son's early life. He resettled as a Loyalist in Upper Canada, where he was granted land by the British Crown. In addition to clearing land for his own farm, he helped develop the town of Amherstburg, in present-day Ontario.
In 1783, the senior Caldwell married Suzanne Baby (daughter of Jacques Baby), of French-Canadian descent. They had numerous children together, the half-siblings of Billy. When Billy was eleven, his father sent for him to be brought to Detroit. His mother accompanied him but did not stay long.Draper Mss. Vol. 17, Page 238. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"When eleven years old was brought to his father . . . His mother, who came with him, did not stay long before she returned." Billy was given a basic Anglo-Canadian education and became Catholic. He was called "naturally smart" and was popular as a result.Draper Mss. Vol. 17, Page 238. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"Billy went to school some- was naturally smart, & recd. many presents from whites in consequence."
Career At the age of 17, Billy Caldwell entered United States territory for the first time, to learn the fur trade business from Thomas Forsyth and John Kinzie. He kept his British loyalties and learned Potawatomi, an Algonquian language, for dealing with the several tribes of that language family near Lake Michigan. He acted as a trader until the outbreak of the War of 1812.
Caldwell was not at Chicago for the Battle of Fort Dearborn. He had gone south to Vincennes on behalf of Kinzie, who had just killed the translator Jean La Lime, in order to give a statement to Governor Harrison.Draper Mss. Vol. 21, pp. 282-3. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"Le Lime, a Frenchman, was the interpreter of the American garrison at Chicago just before the War of 1812. At an evening party of officers Le Lime drank too freely, & high words ensued between him & John Kinzie Sr. & in self defense, when attacked, he killed Le Lime. It was an unfortunate affair, & Kinzie employed Billy Caldwell to go on a mission to Gov. Harrison at Vincennes with a statement of the case, & Caldwell returned just after the Chicago massacre, & in time to save the Kinzie family. Kinzie had to retire awhile to Milwaukee, afraid of the Indians, for having killed Le Lime." According to the traditional account, likely a bit fictionalized in Juliette Magill Kinzie's 'Wau-bun, the Early Day in the Northwest', Caldwell arrived just in time to de-escalate the situation and deter young warriors from attacking the Kinzies.Kinzie, Juliette A. Wau-Bun, the Early Day in the North-West. Edited by Eleanor Lytle Kinzie Gordon. Chicago and New York: Rand, McNally & Company, 1901. p 187.
"Billy Caldwell for it was he, entered the parlor with a calm step, and without a trace of agitation in his manner. He deliberately took off his accoutrements and placed them with his rifle behind the door, then saluted the hostile savages.
'How now, my friends! A good-day to you. I was told there were enemies here, but I am glad to find only friends. Why have you blackened your faces? Is it that you are mourning for the friends you have lost in battle?' (purposely misunderstanding this token of evil designs.)
'Or is it that you are fasting? If so, ask our friend, here, and he will give you to eat. He is the Indian's friend, and never yet refused them what they had need of.'
Thus taken by surprise, the savages were ashamed to acknowledge their bloody purpose. They, therefore, said modestly that they came to beg of their friends some white cotton in which to wrap their dead before interring them. This was given to them, with some other presents, and they took their departure peaceably from the premises."
After the Battle of Fort Dearborn, Caldwell returned to Canada to enlist in the British service; he looked for his father's help to gain a commission. The senior Caldwell by then was a Lieutenant Colonel and had gained commissions for his sons by Suzanne. The regular army did not accept Billy Caldwell, but he was commissioned as a captain in the Indian Department. By then he had become influential among the Ojibwa, Odawa, and Potawatomi, tribes inhabiting the area around Lake Michigan, known as the Council of Three Fires.
After the Battle of the River Raisin, Billy was attempting to take a large Kentucky militaman prisoner after he had surrendered. The man thought he was to be killed and jumped on Caldwell and stabbed him in the neck, but Caldwell was saved by a friend before he could be slain. He blamed General Procter for permitting the massacre of unarmed Americans after the battle and called him a coward that was afraid to exercise authority.Draper Mss. Vol. 21, pp. 283. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
"Caldwell said he was at the Raisin fight- that a large heavy man jumped on & stabbed him through the neck- the American had surrendered himself as a prisoner, & Caldwell wished to save him- the man was too powerful for him, had not others interfered & saved him- taking off his antagonist & killed him [sic]. Wau-gosh, or the Fox, who saved Caldwell, lived on Wabash. He blamed Proctor for permitting the massacre of wounded & unresisting prisoners at the Raisin & declared that he was timid & cowardly & afraid to exercise authority."
In 1814, the Canadians appointed the senior Caldwell as Deputy Superintendent of Indians for the Western District, a position for which the younger Caldwell had competed as well. He was appointed second to his father.Gayford, Peter T., "Billy Caldwell: Updated History, Part 2 (Indian Affairs)" , Chicago History Journal, July 2011, accessed 11 August 2011 In 1815 Amherstburg, Ontario's Commandant, Reginald James, suspended Caldwell Sr. because of problems in supplying the Indians; he appointed Billy Caldwell as Superintendent. The Indian Department quickly found that he could not manage the work and "eased him out" the following year, in 1816.
After healing from his injury at the Raisin, Caldwell fought alongside Tecumseh and the British up until their defeat at the Battle of the Thames. He was disgusted that the British abandoned their indigenous allies when General Procter made an early retreat before the US forces, leaving Tecumseh and his forces to stand alone.Draper Mss. Vol. 21, pp. 283-4. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.