Chief Long Hair is a name given to the leader of a gang of bushwhackers who attacked, tortured and murdered settlers in the eastern and southern parts of Newton County around the time of the Civil War. His name is found in family stories, and no newspaper articles or legal documents have been found giving his real name. It isn't even clear if he was a Native American, or if his title came from being the leader of this lawless gang.
The gang tended to target isolated farms where they thought the owners had money or other valuables. Sometimes they would ride up to the house and ask the man of the family to go with them into the woods. That's what they did with John Tennison when they rode up to his farm in White Township April 14, 1861. John refused to go with them, saying if they were going to kill him, to do it there so his family didn't have to hunt for his body. They murdered him in front of his house.
It got so bad that men paired up when going out to plow their fields — one to plow, the other to keep guard. That is how James and John Blackwood of Cowell worked their fields. But one day, too many bushwhackers came upon them. Before they could defend themselves, they killed John outright and captured James, dragging him to his house, where they built a roaring fire. They took off his shoes and put his feet in the fire, torturing him to force him to tell where he had hidden his valuables. He died of his injuries.
There are no records of Chief Long Hair being brought to justice, but bushwhacking incidents stopped after about 1866.
Barbara LeRoy is the author of “Which Side Were They On?,” a 302 page book listing biographical sketches of the Newton Countians who were involved in the Civil War, available for sale either in the Bradley House Museum or by purchasing online at www.newtoncountyar.com. The book sells for $33.
