Lewis Wetzel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lewis Wetzel was a frontiersman and Indian fighter who roamed the hills of what is now the state of West Virginia and Ohio. He was born in 1763.
Lewis was the son of a German emigrant named John Wetzel who was later killed by Indians and Mary Bonnet, daughter of Jean Jacques Bonnet of Friedrichstahl, Baden, Germany. The Indians gave him the nickname "Deathwind" because of his sharp shooting. Zane Grey, the great Western novelist, wrote about Wetzel in his books Spirit Of The Border, "Betty Zane", and "The Last Trail". Lewis died in Mississippi. Legend says that Lewis and Clark even asked him to join their expedition but he declined.
The Wetzel family and the Bonnet family moved to the Wheeling Creek area in what is now the northern panhandle of West Virginia in 1770. The Weztel family settled on a section far upstream from the Ohio River in a fairly isolated location.
Lewis and his younger brother Jacob were captured in 1777 by a small party of indians, but managed to escape. Lewis was shot across the chest during the initial capture. Lewis and Jacob managed to return to the location of what is now Wheeling, West Virginia, which was then called Fort Henry. Lewis played an active part in the defense of that fort in the first siege of Fort Henry a couple weeks after his escape.
Lewis later participated in some military campaigns against the Indian tribes in the Ohio region. He preferred to operate alone and was often in disciplinary problems while serving with the militia. Lewis was implicated in the deaths of several peaceful indians, which lead him to being charged with murder by Colonel Josiah Harmar for the murder of a friendly Indian in the region of Fort Harmar near present day Marietta, Ohio in 1788. Lewis escaped before his trial. He eventually moved to New Orleans, where he spent several years in prison for counterfeiting.
Accounts vary as to his time after that. Some accounts state he died in 1808 at the residence of his cousin Philip Sykes. Some accounts state he married a Spanish woman and lived to an old age. The 1808 account was probably correct as a skeleton matching the description of Lewis and which was buried along with a rifle and other equipment as legend stated Lewis was interred with was located at the former farm of Philip Sykes. This skeleton was reinterred in McCreary Cemetery Marshall County, West Virginia.
His most famous trick was his ability to load his gun while sprinting. He was said to be around six feet tall, striking, and very athletic. It is also said he grew his hair out almost to the ground. He was said to have done this in order to taunt the Indians. He is also known to have scalped the Indians whom he killed.
Lewis had an implacable hatred of the Indians. His guerilla warfare skills were among the highest of his era and has been argued by some to have been the best ever from an American. He was said to have been a good fiddle player and good with children.
