CHIEF SENACHWINE AND THE WHEELER FAMILY |
IN 1831, JUST BEFORE THE REMOVAL OF THE POTAWATOMI FROM ILLINOIS, CHIEF SENACHWINE RODE INTO HIS CAMP AND FELL OFF HIS HORSE, DYING THERE IN THE COMPANY OF HIS TRIBESMEN. HE HAD BEEN TRAVELING TRYING TO FIND SUPPORT IN HIS QUEST TO SAVE SENACHWINE VALLEY AS HIS PEOPLE'S HOMELAND. THE CHIEF WAS BURIED ON THE TOP OF THE ANCIENT BURIAL GROUNDS, SITTING UP SO AS TO BE ABLE TO WATCH OVER HIS VALLEY. NEXT TO HIS BURIAL THEY PLACED A RED FLAG TO MARK IT. HIS SON BECAME CHIEF AND LED THE PEOPLE TO THEIR NEW HOME IN MAYETTA, KANSAS. THIS HILLTOP, WITH THE BURIAL MOUNDS OF 6 DIFFERENT CIVILIZATIONS BURIED ON TOP OF ANOTHER, STRETCHES FOR 3/4 OF A MILE ON THIS BLUFF ALONG SENACHWINE CREEK, BORDERING LAKE SENACHWINE, IN PUTNAM COUNTY JUST NORTH OF PEORIA COUNTY. THE LAND THAT THE TRIBE HAD MADE HOME WAS AWARDED TO A SETTLER FOR HIS SERVICE IN THE WAR OF 1812. WHEN THE FAMILY MOVED TO THEIR NEW LAND, ON THE HILL ABOVE WHERE THEIR HOME WAS BUILT, THEY SPOTTED A WOODEN FLAGPOLE WITH A RED LEATHER FLAG ATTACHED TO IT. CLIMBING THE HILL TO INVESTIGATE, THEY FOUND A FRESH BURIAL IN A LONG STRING OF BURIAL MOUNDS. NEXT TO THIS BURIAL WAS A SMALL HOUSE-LIKE STRUCTURE. (THIS WAS BUILT NEXT TO THE BURIAL AND FILLED WITH OFFERINGS, SO THAT THE DECEASED'S SPIRIT WOULD INHABIT THE HOUSE AND LEAVE THE LIVING ALONE, A POTAWATOMI FUNERAL PRACTICE). THE SETTLER COMMERCIALIZED THE SITE FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, BUT THE LAND WAS THEN SOLD TO THE WHEELER FAMILY. THE WHEELERS TOOK A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO THE SACRED SITE, AND RESTORED THE BURIAL BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL STATE, AND THE ELDER LLOYD WHEELER WROTE INTO HIS WILL A CONDITION THAT THE BURIAL GROUNDS MUST NEVER BE DISTURBED. THIS FAMILY, THE WHEELERS, HAVE CARRIED ON PRESERVING THIS SACRED GROUND, AND HAVE TOILED LONG HOURS MAINTAINING AND IMPROVING THE SITE FOR VISITORS, WHILE NOT COMMERCIALIZING IT IN ANY WAY. THEY ARE FINE PEOPLE WITH AN INHERITED SENSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SPIRIT OF THOSE WHO WERE THE PREVIOUS CARETAKERS OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER VALLEY. OUR THANKS TO THE WHEELER FAMILY, SPECIFICALLY TO MRS. LESLIE WHEELER, HER SON BOB WHEELER, HER GRANDSON BOB JR. AND HER NEPHEW, GEORGE WHEELER.
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