Chief Comas (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1809 – 1814) was a 19th-century

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

chieftain who, as one of several leaders of the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the ...

, was a war chieftain during the

Peoria War During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was the scene of fighting between Native Americans and United States soldiers and settlers. The Illinois Territory at that time included the areas of modern Illinois, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesot ...

. Although favoring peace with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

during

Tecumseh's War Tecumseh's War or Tecumseh's Rebellion was a conflict between the United States and Tecumseh's Confederacy, led by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh in the Indiana Territory. Although the war is often considered to have climaxed with William Henry Ha ...

, he and other Potawatomi chieftains were forced into war with the federal government.

Biography

One of the major chieftains living on the

, Comas is first recorded as head of the Indian village of Wappa on

Bureau Creek The Big Bureau Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 26, 2011 tributary of the Illinois River in north central Illinois. It rises approximately north of Mendo ...

. The village was one of the largest Potawatomi settlements in the region and located eight miles from the river on present-day

Tiskilwa, Illinois Tiskilwa is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 740 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. Exelon Wind, a division of Exelon Power, owns and operates the Illinois Wind Agri ...

. In 1809, he was one of several chieftains visited by

Joseph Trotier Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

who brought ''"assurances of peace and friendship"'' from Governor

Ninian Edwards Ninian Edwards (March 17, 1775July 20, 1833) was a founding political figure of the State of Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to until the territory was dissolved in 1818. He was then one of t ...

. As a token of friendship, Comas presented Trotier with a pair of large

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The com ...

horns and a

panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...

, which he had fashioned himself, as a gift for Governor Edwards. The following summer, he was one of several chieftains approached by

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 an ...

and other

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 ...

but sided with other chieftains, including his father-in-law

Black Partridge The black partridge (''Melanoperdix niger''), also known as the black wood partridge, is a small (up to 27 cm long) partridge with a thick bill, grey legs and dark brown iris. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Melanoperdix''. ...

, who wished to remain neutral during

. He later took part in the

, his village being the staging point for Black Partridge's raid against Fort Clark in the fall of 1813, and was one of thirteen chieftains sent to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

to negotiate peace. Escorted by Colonel

George Davenport Colonel George Davenport, born George William King (1783 – July 4, 1845), was a 19th-century English-American sailor, frontiersman, fur trader, merchant, postmaster, US Army soldier, Indian agent, and city planner. A prominent and well-known ...

, the peace delegation arrived in St. Louis where a peace treaty was concluded shortly thereafter. Among those in attendance at the signing of the peace treaty included

, Senachwine,

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term " raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

and Gomo.Matson, Nehemiah, Matson. ''French and Indians of Illinois River''. Princeton, Illinois: Republican Job Printing Establishment, 1874. (pg. 248)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comas (Potawatomi leader) Potawatomi people Native American leaders Native American people of the Indian Wars People from Bureau County, Illinois 19th-century Native Americans Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 18th-century Native Americans