Chief of the Potawatomis

ABRAM B. BURNETT

(Nan-Wesh-Mah)

(Nov. 1812 - June 14, 1870)

(Above photos from Kansas State Historical Society. Copy and reuse restrictions apply.)

Copy and reuse of above photo is strictly prohibited.

Click here to visit site provided by Carol Yoho of Washburn University and Kansas Historical Society for more information on Abram B. Burnett

Click here to visit site provided by Shirley Willard of Fulton County Historical Society of Indiana for more information on Chief Burnett and the Trail of Death

Click here to see 1890 photo of Wis-Ki-Ge-Amatyuk documented under important Potawatomi leaders at Wisconsin Historical Society

(Above photo from Kansas State Historical Society. Copy and reuse restrictions apply.)

Chief Abram B. Burnett, born Nan-Wesh-Mah, was a full blooded Potawatomi Indian born in November, 1812 on the north side of the Tippecanoe River near a little placed called Muncie in the state of Indiana. As a young boy, he moved from Muncie up to the Potawatomi Village on the St. Joseph River between the mouth of the St. Joseph River and a little village called Niles in the state of Michigan. Soon, a young Nan-Wesh-Mah and his family would leave the Niles and move to Bertrandsville, Michigan, where his biological father, Chief Shau-Uque-Be, was killed. Nan-Wesh-Mah's biological mother, Cone-Zo-Quah, and his biological grandfather, Chief Chebaas, who was the father of his mother, then took him to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where the three of them took up residence with a young Nan-Wesh-Mah's mother, Cone-Zo-Quah's, first cousin, Abraham Burnett. Abraham Burnett was a son of Chebaas' sister, Kaukema (Cakimi) and her husband, William Burnett, a known trader. Abraham Burnett was known to have ran a trading post near the army fort. Nan-Wesh-Mah soon started attending Rev. Isaac McCoy's Mission School at Ft. Wayne about 1819 or 1820 and soon after at only 8 years of age in 1821, he would serve as Rev. Isaac McCoy's guide and important interpreter sitting in on important counsels with the Chiefs all throughout Indiana and Michigan.

Above: Early portrait of Ft. Wayne, Indiana

It is believed sometime between Nan-Wesh-Mah's young age of eight to thirteen years old his mother, Cone-Zo-Quah, had died. It was at this time Abraham Burnett, the biological cousin of a young Nan-Wesh-Mah's mother, would take him as a son. There was a ceremony of adoption by Abraham Burnett. And other than just saying he would adopt him, Abraham Burnett, George Cicot, Joseph Barron, the Interpreter, and a large number of other men would come and in the presence of Gen. Tipton, Abraham Burnett pointed to a young Nan-Wesh-Mah, and said to Nan-Wesh-Mah's grandfather, Chief Chebaas, "I am going to take him as my son." He then took a medal and hung it about his neck saying after he was going to send his new son, Nan-Wesh-Mah, to school. Abraham Burnett, Chief Chebaas, Gen. Tipton, and George Cicot, then took Nan-Wesh-Mah, who would then adopt his new father's name, Abraham Burnett, but throughout history would always be known as Abram B. Burnett.

Chief Abram B. Burnett was then sent to a school in Kentucky called the Choctaw Academy. This school was supervised by Richard M. Johnson, who later in his life would become the Vice President of the Unites States for four years in 1837. He was a strong supporter of the War of 1812 and organized the Kentucky Riflemen. His heroic fighting in support of General William Henry Harrison at the Battle of Thames advanced his political career. Richard M. Johnson was credited for killing the Indian war chief, Tecumseh, and wounded in the fight.

It was known that the Potawatomi tribe had paid for all or most of the costs each year for several Indian boys to attend a five year term. Most Indian children who had attended school were the sons of chiefs as the U.S. government had stressed the importance of school to the chiefs of the tribes as they knew their children would become the future leaders of their people and must learn the ways of the whites. Church and school would be establishments to help change the view of the true American Indian. "...Kill the Indian, leave the man..." After five years, Chief Abram B. Burnett came back to Ft. Wayne as he was enrolled for another five year term, but had attended less than a year before his adopted father, Abraham Burnett, had died in 1827. Abram B. Burnett (Nan-Wesh-Mah) would no longer attend school.

Abraham Burnett, adopted father of Abram B. Burnett (Nan-Wesh-Mah), was also known to have been in battles with his Potawatomi people before his passing. One expedition states: "Abraham Burnett was known to have been in command of a band of his Potawatomis and Kickapoos that attempted to ambush Gen. Harrison's army in 1811 in the southern part of the county where the bluffs and ravines extended down to the river opposite the vicinity of Perrysville." He was also known to have been dissatisfied with the United States handlings of treaties and sided with Tecumseh and the Prophet and played an aggressive role on the side of the Indian Confederacy in the battle of Tippecanoe. Chief Abram B. Burnett (Nan-Wesh-Mah) had noted that his adopted father, Abraham Burnett, had no known biological children and was never known to have ever been married.

Abram B. Burnett's biological grandfather, Chebaas, who was one of the hereditary principal chiefs of the Potawatomi Nation and biological brother to Chief Topinabee, had also died in 1827. He was known to have died in the home of his niece, Nancy Davis Burnett, sister of Abraham Burnett.

Chief Chebaas, Chief Topinabee, and Kaukema Burnett (wife of well-known trader, William Burnett), were three children born to the great Potawatomi sachem Nanaquiba of the St. Joseph territory. Chief Nanaquiba, a highly respected chief, was a leading force behind the Indian warriors tactics that helped the French, who were led by General Marquis De Montcalm, siege the attack against the British, led by Lieutenant Colonel George Munro, and capture Ft. William Henry in August of 1757. Historians agree that the battle constituted one of the bloodiest pages of Colonial American history.

Above: George Winters painted this scene of a council between Potawatomi leaders and U.S. government representatives in July 1837. The purpose of the meeting was to resolve and settle details for the impending removal of the Potawatomis from northern Indiana. The council was held about 20 miles from Logansport, Indiana.

Above: George Winters drawing of the 1838 removal of the Potawatomi Indians from Indiana to Kansas. Chief Abram B. Burnett was amongst many of his Potawatomis people during this removal as they were forced out of Indiana at gun point by the United States government.

The Potawatomis were forced to sign many treaties giving up their lands in Indiana, Illinois, and most in Michigan. An agreement called for another removal to the west of the Mississippi River by the year 1838. Many tribal members had already left before the year 1838. The 1838 removal from Indiana to Kansas became known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death as many on the 660 mile trek died. A total of 42 children and elderly were known to have lost their lives as 859 Potawatomis were forced at gunpoint by the U.S. soldiers and accompanied by priests.

Above: George Winters sketched the above scene as the Rt. Rev. Brute, Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, addressed the Potawatomis on the second day of their immigration from Indiana to Kansas, on September 16, 1838.

In the summer of 1838 Potawatomis settled on land in Marshall, Kosciusko, Fulton, Cass and surrounding counties. Fearing an uprising, white settlers wrote to Indiana Governor David Wallace, asking him to come investigate. He came and talked to various white people and decided that the Potawatomis must go. On his way back to Indianapolis, he stopped in Logansport on August 27 and appointed General John Tipton to be in charge of the removal. Tipton immediately put out the call for 100 volunteers. He instructed the armed men to meet him at Chippeway, which was William Polke’s trading post on the Tippecanoe River north of Rochester. Tipton went to Polke’s house and dated his letters: Chippeway, Aug. 28, 1838. Sitting in the Polke house now preserved at the Fulton County Historical Society grounds, Tipton wrote orders and letters late into the night and planned the capture of the Potawatomis. He rode a horse with his mounted militia to Twin Lakes on August 30, having sent out a notice to the Potawatomi to meet with him. They met in Menominee’s chapel and during the meeting, Tipton informed the Indians that they were prisoners and were going to go west in a couple of days. Chief Menominee objected and was “tied like a dog.” Tipton sent squads of soldiers in all directions to collect all Potawatomis within about a 30 to 50 mile radius.

Chief Menominee and two other chiefs, No-taw-kah and Pee-pin-oh-waw, were placed in a horse-drawn jail wagon and transported across Indiana. Chief Abram B. Burnett was also captured along with many of his tribe as they were rounded up to begin the long trek. 

Many of them had been baptized by Father Benjamin Marie Petit, a young priest from France, and they attended Mass in Logansport with Father Petit and Bishop Brute. The Bishop gave permission for Father Petit to accompany the Potawatomis so he went back to South Bend to pack his things and then caught up with them at Danville, Ill. General Tipton’s power expired at the state line so he turned the emigration over to William Polke, Rochester, Indiana, appointed to be federal conductor. Father Petit was placed in charge of the sick. Records indicate that Polke and Petit did all they could to help the suffering and dying but medicine in those days did not amount to much more than rest, tea and sugar. So many died along the trail that it became known as the Trail of Death. Father Petit said Mass every day and baptized the babies who died, in his own words, “who with their first step passed from earthly exit to the heavenly sojourn.

Father Petit wrote: “The order of the march was as follows: the United States flag, carried by a dragoon (soldier); then one of the principal officers, next the staff baggage carts, then the carriage, which during the whole trip was kept for the use of the Indian chiefs; then one or two chiefs on horseback led a line of 250 or 300 horses ridden by men, women, children in single file, after the manner of savages. On the flanks of the line at equal distance from each other were the dragoons and volunteers, hastening the stragglers, often with severe gestures and bitter words. After this cavalry came a file of 40 baggage wagons filled with luggage and Indians. The sick were lying in them, rudely jolted, under a canvas which, far from protecting them from the dust and heat, only deprived them of air, for they were as if buried under this burning canopy - several died thus.” One of the first things Father Petit did was to get the chiefs in the jail wagon released: “On my word the six chiefs who had till now been treated as prisoners of war were released and given the same kind of freedom which the rest of the tribe enjoyed.”

Across the great prairies of Illinois they marched, crossed the Mississippi River at Quincy, and they made their way though Missouri to enter Western Territory (Kansas) south of Independence, Missouri.

They arrived at Osawatomie, Kansas, on November 4, 1838, the end of the trail. There were supposed to be houses ready for them as winter was coming on, but no houses had been built for them. The Potawatomis were very upset and asked William Polke to stay with them so he said he would leave his son with them. Polke then went back to Indiana. Father Petit stayed with them for a few weeks, as he was sick with the fever too. After placing the Potawatomis in the spiritual hands of Jesuit Father Christian Hoecken at the Sugar Creek Mission in Kansas, Father Petit set out to St. Louis. He was accompanied by Chief Abram B. Burnett (Nan-wesh-mah), a full-blood Potawatomi who was the same age as Petit. Father Petit was very sick with sores all over his body. Burnett had to hold him on his horse part of the time. Petit died in St. Louis on Feb. 10, 1839. Burnett carried Petit’s chalice and other personal things to Vincennes to give to Bishop Brute. Petit was buried in St. Louis. In 1856 Father Edward Sorin, founder of Notre Dame University, took Father Petit’s body back to Indiana. Today Father Petit’s remains rest under the Log Chapel at the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana. Father Petit’s baptismal records and journals are in the University of Notre Dame Library. They were translated from French by H. Vernon Davis and Irving McKee of Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana, and published in the aforementioned book by the Indiana Historical Society.

It was noted by Chief Abram B. Burnett that many of his people were starving and when dying of thirst they were not always allowed to stop at creeks or rivers to drink. Documented always as an imposing figure amongst the Potawatomis and a man of high intelligence. He would become a great and important mediator and leader amongst his people. He was known to have signed a treaty along with his first wife, D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw), on April 11, 1836, signed his name as Nanwishma, his native name. The treaty was signed to be removed to the west within two years. In 1838 he would help lead the band of his people as a chief/mediator and interpreter on the Death March forced upon them by the U.S. government. Beginning at Twin Lakes, Indiana, September 4, 1838, the Death March would end on November 4, 1838, as they would arrive on a reserve in Osawatomi, Kansas.

Following is the treaty of April 11, 1836 to be removed within two years:

TREATY WITH THE POTAWATOMI

APRIL 11, 1836

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at a camp on Tippecanoe river, in the State of Indiana, between Abel C. Pepper commissioner on the part of the United States, and Pau-koo-shuck, Aub-ba-naub-ba's oldest son and the head men of Aub-ba-naub-ba's band of Potawattimie Indians, this eleventh day of April in the year, eighteen hundred and thirty-six.

ARTICLE 1.

The aforesaid Pau-koo-shuck and the head men of Aub-ba-naub-ba's band, hereby cede to the United States the thirty-six sections of land reserved for them by the second article of the Treaty between the United States and the Potawattimie Indians on Tippecanoe river on the twenty-sixth day of October, in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-two,

ARTICLE 2.

In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States stipulate to pay to the aforesaid band the sum of twenty-three thousand and forty dollars in specie, one half at the first payment of annuity, after the ratification of this Treaty, and the other half at the succeeding payment of annuity,

Page 458

ARTICLE 3.

The above-named Pau-koo-shuck and his band agree to remove to the country west of the Mississippi river, provided for the Potawattimie nation by the United States within two years,

ARTICLE 4.

[Stricken out by Senate.]

ARTICLE 5.

This Treaty, after the same shall be ratified by the President and Senate of the United States shall be binding upon both parties.

In testimony whereof, the said Abel C. Pepper, commissioner as aforesaid, and the said Pau-koo-shuck, and his band, have hereunto set their hands, this eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.

Abel C. Pepper,

Pau-koo-shuck, his x mark,

Taw-wah-quah, her x mark,

Shah-quaw-ko-shuck, Aub-ba-naub-ba's son, his x mark,

Mat-taw-mim, his x mark,

Si-nis-quah, her x mark,

Dah-moosh-ke-keaw, her x mark,

Nan-wish-ma, his x mark,

O-Sauk-kay, his x mark,

Ke-waw-o-nuck, his x mark,

Aun-tuine, his x mark,

Sin-ba-nim, his x mark,

Nees-se-ka-tah, his x mark,

Kaw-ke-me, her x mark,

Pe-waw-ko, her x mark,

O-ket-chee, her x mark,

Nan-cee, her x mark.

Witnesses:

E. O. Cicott, secretary,

Henry Ossem,

Thos. Robb,

Wm. Polke,

Joseph Bamont, principal interpreter,

Joseph Truckey,

George W. Ewing,

Cyrus Tober.

Before Chief Burnett and his People had travelled the Death March, he had fallen in love with his first wife, D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw), a wealthy Potawatomi woman of great beauty. She was much esteemed by the whites for her admirable qualities. She was known to have been quite desired by many men and was also known to have had somewhat of a romantic history. Many men courted  and wanted the heart of a young D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw). One story had documented that two chiefs in a desperate rivalry had fought and in doing so had inserted their tomahawks into each other's skulls. One of them survived for four days and while laying in his death bed he had sent for D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw). As she approached him at his death bed, to her surprise and unexpectedly, he attempted to kill her under the romantic hallucination that her spirit would accompany him on a sort of bridal tour to the spirit world. Feeble and dying, he failed of his deadly purpose, and she escaped with a slight gash in the forehead. Chief Burnett, taking an interest in the beautiful D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw) would follow his heart. He would protect her and was known to have taken her to his wigwam.

On June 5, 1838, three months before the Death March of September 4, 1838 from Indiana to Kansas, Chief Burnett and D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw) would be baptized and married by Priest Father Benjamin Petit. Chief Burnett was baptized as Abraham Joseph Burnett. D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw), first wife of Chief Burnett, died on October 19, 1842 in Sugar Creek, Kansas.

Above: An early to mid 1800s drawing of the Burnett's Mound in Topeka, KS, looking southwest. Before the arrival of Chief Abram B.  Burnett of the Potawatomis, this large mound was originally called Webster's Mound and possibly once known as Knox's Mound.

There has been many stories surrounding the mystical Burnett's Mound of Topeka, Kansas that have been handed down and told by spiritual and traditional ritual leaders of the Potawatomi tribe. Stories were told within traditional circles that a quick moving tornado swept harshly across the prairies killing seven Potawatomis; three children, three women, and one man. It was told within a traditional circle that Chief Burnett had them traditionally and respectfully buried upon the top of the two hundred and fifty foot mound. It is believed by ritual leaders that the seven Potawatomis that had perished to the tornado were of personal and direct family relations to the chief. "...The grass is moving, the trees are moving, the whole world is moving...," words to an old traditional Potawatomi song telling the story of the great tornado.

It was always told by Chief Burnett that the mound must not be disturbed because it was a sacred place watched over by the Great Spirit and those who have past on must always be respected. The people of Kansas believed that by respecting the Chief's wishes that the mound would protect the city of Topeka from the devastating power of tornadoes.

In 1961, Chief Burnett's mound was disturbed as a large portion of the mound was cut into and taken away to fit a five million gallon water tower tank. In the following years, building began to slowly progress around Burnett's Mound. June 8, 1966, a tornado of immense power would strike the city of Topeka, destroying all within its path. The F5 tornado was a half mile wide, as about 820 homes were destroyed and 3,000 damaged. Entire blocks were leveled to splinters in seconds. The tornado's violent winds had estimated at around 300 mph. Total cost was put at $100,000,000.00 making it at the time the costliest tornado in American history. Even to this day, with inflation factored in, the Topeka tornado still stands as one of the costliest on record. The tornado claimed 16 lives and injured over 500 people.

After Chief Burnett's marriage to D'Moosh-Kee-Kee-Awh (Dah-Moosh-Ke-Keaw) he would meet a young German woman named Mary Knofflock on one of his journeys to Washington. Soon after, they would be married in the year 1843, bearing many children: Joseph W., Mary J., Mary A., Catherine, Clara, and last born, Abraham Lincoln Burnett. Chief Burnett's second wife, Mary Knofflock Burnett, lived with him in a log cabin at the north side of Shunganunga Creek near the foot of the mound until the chief's death on June 14, 1870. She and their children would then move to Oklahoma amongst the Mission Citizen Potawatomis.

Above: Chief Burnett's cabin, Burnett's Mound, Topeka, Kansas.

Chief Abram B. Burnett was noted as a remarkable man, a fine person, and highly intelligent, who was honest and strictly upright and honorable. He was documented as an astonishing and incredible sight, standing a full 6' - 6'1" in height and a giant in weight and muscle weighing 450 lbs. In his later years it was known that his great weight made it exceedingly uncomfortable for him to get around as he weighed 496 lbs. at the time of his death. It was known by many that in life there was nothing the chief feared, especially no man. The only person he feared was his tiny German wife who would give him an earful when he came home drunk of whiskey. He was noted as the strongest and largest man in Kansas and was challenged by many in fun and would take to the challenges by lifting objects of incredible weight for the amusement of others. He was a man of strongly marked Indian features that was documented as a prominent figure among the Potawatomis as a mediator and leader in all counsels. Although he never said much, he brooded long and bitterly over the wrongs of his race and was known as a very superstitious Native Indian man who believed in the old ways of his people. He was a carrier of highly religious society bundles and principle pipes used traditionally amongst his Potawatomi tribe and family.

After his passing, it was decided that the religious objects remain in Kansas among the traditional Prairie Band, a band of Potawatomis at which one time lived among and shared a reservation alongside the Mission Band (the Potawatomis of the Forest). Before Chief Abram Burnett's death, there was a disagreement in the entire tribe on the subject of land. The Prairie Band refused to accept their land in severalty and severed their relations with the other bands. In 1862, all Potawatomis in Kansas that lived upon the one reserve made a treaty to dispose of the greater portion of their reservation. The Prairie Band were then given a reservation in common eleven miles square in Jackson County, Kansas, a part of the old home tract. It was provided that the other bands should or might become citizens of the United States and have their lands allotted to them. There was as surplus after the allotment and this went thru the usual process of graft in the final extinction of the Indian title. In 1868, the Mission Potawatomis secured a reservation in what is now Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was known that Chief Burnett never wanted to leave the Kansas home he had lived upon for 22 years as he remained upon his land of the Burnett Mound along the Shunganunga Creek. Other Potawatomis had decided their futures to Oklahoma and had began the preperations to their new home. Chief Burnett's family believed they would remain in Kansas upon his farm and land. But shortly after securing the Oklahoma reserve in 1868 a couple of years later, Chief Burnett would pass away in 1870. After his passing, his wife, Marie Knofflock, and children would sell their land and join the trek to Shawnee, Oklahoma, where the Burnett clan would grow. Chief Burnett himself always remained a Kansas Potawatomi reservation Indian as he was buried upon the land he was forced onto like all the other Potawatomis he had lived amongst in Kansas.  

Chief Burnett, during his settlings, became a successful farmer and stockman as he was a known horse trader in Kansas. During the Civil War, Chief Abram B. Burnett helped as a guide/scout for the Union Army, carrying an 1860 Austrian Lorenz musket. During this time his children had tended to a Maple Grove to make sugar. This grove provided a safe hiding place for food and valuables during the war. Chief Abram B. Burnett was known to have taken several trips to Washington, D.C. to meet and negotiate with government officials over the rights of his people for the benefit of their futures and was known to have been a close friend to U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln, as he was a steadfast friend to the Union. On November 11, 1864 during the Civil War, Chief Abram B. Burnett had his last child, Abraham Lincoln Burnett, named in honor of the President of the United States.

Above: 1860 Austrian Lorenz rifle-musket of Chief Abram B. Burnett. Gary Wis-Ki-Ge-Amatyuk Jr. of the Chief Burnett/Wahb-No-Sah Family is guardian/keeper of old rifle-musket.

Above: Gravestone of Chief Abram B. Burnett (Nan-Wesh-Mah), Chief of the Potawatomis. Topeka, Kansas, Burnett's Mound.

Chief Abram B. Burnett died June 14, 1870 at the age of 59 years old at his home of the Burnett Mound, Topeka, Kansas, where he is buried. His resting place today is a respected historical monument as his tribe and family had great involvement historically in the shaping of the United States. Chief Burnett's biological descendants still live on today, carrying on the traditions of their Neshnabek people.

~Gary Wis-Ki-Ge-Amatyuk Jr.

Chief Burnett and Wahb-No-Sah family

Prairie/Citizen Potawatomi/Anishinaabe~

This information has been documented with the Kansas, Indiana, and Wisconsin State Historical Societies. The historic oral stories of great importance have been handed down and gathered from traditional ritual leaders of the Potawatomi Indian tribe.

The religious objects of historic value that have been respectfully carried by the Burnett/Wis-Ki-Ge-Amatyuk family quietly for many generations continue to be traditionally protected within the tribe and family themselves. For the future protection of the important historical ritual objects still carried by the Burnett/Wis-Ki-Ge-Amatyuk clan, this family has been respectfully documented and in communication with the Smithsonian Institute of American Indian.