Moluntha, also spelled Molunthe, Melonthe, and Malunthy (d. 1786), was a prominent civil chief of the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

people in the 1780s. He was murdered by a Kentucky soldier at the outset of the

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native American nations known today as the Northwestern ...

(1785–1795). Moluntha belonged to the

Mekoche Mekoche (or Mequachake, Shawnee: ''mecoce'') was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native American people, during the 18th century. The other four divisions were the Chalahgawtha, Kispoko, Pekowi, and Hathawekela. ...

division of the Shawnee tribe. In Moluntha's era, Shawnees lived in autonomous villages with no central government, but in the 1760s they began appointing a ceremonial leader from the Mekoche division to speak for them in negotiations with Europeans and Americans, who often mistook this leader as the Shawnee "principal chief" or "king." The first such ceremonial leader was Kisinoutha (also known as Hard Man or Kishshinottisthee). After Kisinoutha's death in 1780, Moluntha succeeded him as the Shawnee "principal chief" or ceremonial leader. After the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

(1775–1783), the United States claimed the lands north of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

by right of conquest. In January 1786, Moluntha and other Mekoche leaders reluctantly signed the

Treaty of Fort Finney Fort Finney was a fort built in Oct. 1785 at the mouth of the Great Miami River near the modern city of Cincinnati and named for Major Walter Finney who built the fort. The site was chosen to be midway between Falls of the Ohio and Limestone ( May ...

, surrendering most of Ohio to the Americans. The treaty failed to end the hostilities between the United States and the Natives of the Ohio Country, and most Shawnees rejected the treaty. After the treaty, Moluntha and other Shawnees sent a message to the British, their allies in the Revolutionary War, asking for help. "We have been cheated by the Americans, who are still striving to work our destruction, and without your assistance they may be able to accomplish their ends." In October 1786, General

Benjamin Logan Benjamin Logan (May 1, 1743 – December 11, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia, then Shelby County, Kentucky. As colonel of the Kentucky County, Virginia militia during the American Revolutionary War, he was se ...

led Kentucky militiamen on an expedition into Shawnee territory. On October 6, the Kentuckians attacked and burned seven Shawnee villages, killing ten warriors and taking thirty-two prisoners, mostly women and children. Among the prisoners was the elderly Moluntha, who was flying an American flag and holding a copy of the Treaty of Fort Finney as proof of his friendship to the United States.

Hugh McGary Hugh McGary (1744 – 1806) was an Irish-born American military officer and landowner who was the founder of McGary Station in present-day Oregon, Kentucky. Early life Hugh McGary was born in 1744 to John McGary and his wife Sarah in Ireland. The ...

, a Kentucky soldier who was still bitter about the defeat at the

Battle of Blue Licks The Battle of Blue Licks, fought on August 19, 1782, was one of the last battles of the American Revolutionary War. The battle occurred ten months after Lord Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, which had effectively ended the war in the east. O ...

in the Revolutionary War four years earlier, asked Moluntha if he had been at that battle. Moluntha had not been there, but apparently misunderstood the question and answered in the affirmative. McGary immediately killed Moluntha with a tomahawk and scalped him. McGary was later court-martialed, found guilty of murdering Moluntha, and suspended from the militia for one year. According to historian

Colin G. Calloway Colin Gordon Calloway (born 1953) is a British-American historian. Life He is the John Kimball, Jr. 1943 Professor of History and a professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. Awards and honors * 2004 Merle Curti Award * 2004 Cau ...

, "Any hope of real peace between the Shawnees and the Americans died with Moluntha." In 1810,

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

cited Moluntha's death as an example of why the Shawnees could not trust the United States.

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moluntha 1786 deaths Native Americans of the Northwest Indian War Native Americans in the American Revolution Native American leaders Shawnee people 18th-century Native Americans Murdered Native American people