Mingo Chief Logan

"Logan's Lament"

delivered in 1774, [Point Pleasant] Ohio Territory

 

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.]

I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace.

Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as I passed, and said, "Logan is a friend of the white man." I have even thought to live with you but for the injuries of one man, Colonel Cresap, who last spring in cold blood and unprovoked murdered the relatives of Logan, not even sparing his wife and children.

There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This has called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice in the beams of peace.

But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.


Audio Source: Deloria Jr., Vine and Junaluska, Arthur (Speakers). (1976). Great American Indian Speeches, Vol. 1 (Phonographic Disc). New York: Caedmon.

Image Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_%28Iroquois_leader%29#/media/File:Statue_of_Chief_Logan_the_Orator_%28Logan,_West_Virginia%29.jpg

Transcription Note: Text version above transcribed from the audio performance by Deloria

Further Info 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Logan

Page Updated: 4/8/23

U.S. Copyright Status: Text, Audio = Uncertain. Image = CC BY-SA 3.0 (image clarity and saturation enhancements)

Top 100 American Speeches

Online Speech Bank

© Copyright 2001-Present. 
American Rhetoric.
HTML transcription by Michael E. Eidenmuller.