USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 7
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Three years following Gen. Anthony Wayne's treaty with the Indians at Greenville, Ohio, in 1795, which treaty established the line already referred to from the Kentucky river through Ft. Recovery to Canada, General St. Clair, in a proclamation, extended Hamilton county west to this line. Thus did Knox lose what is now Dearborn county and it became a part of Hamil- ton county, so remaining until April 30, 1802. A special provision had, how- ever, been made by General St. Clair to the effect that when the territory of Ohio should be admitted into the Union its westerly boundary should begin at the confluence of the Big Miami and Ohio rivers and follow the tracery of the Miami northward. This ruling saved Dearborn county from being a part of the state of Ohio.
DEARBORN BOUNDARY LINES.
From April 30, 1802, to January 24, 1803, there was no organization of any character in Dearborn county. In order to clear up this situation, it was attached to Clark county and remained so until March 7, 1803. On the latter date, by a proclamation of Gen. William Henry Harrison, governor of Indi ana Territory, the county of Dearborn was formed and named in honor of Maj .- Gen. Henry Dearborn, at that time secretary of war under President Jefferson. Thus what is now Dearborn county passed successively through history. first as part of Virginia, then Botetourt county, then Illinois, Knox. Hamilton, nine months of no authoritative government. then part of Clark county. and finally Dearborn.
The bounding line between Jefferson and Dearborn counties, estab-
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lished by act of November 23, 1810, commenced on the Ohio river at the mouth of Log Lick, now in Switzerland county; thence to the old Indian boundary ; thence with said boundary to the northeast corner of the Grousland purchase. A portion of this territory was taken from Jefferson and attached to Dearborn by act of 1814, and later, December 27, 1816, a portion of this addition was taken away to form a part of Ripley county. Franklin county was detached from Dearborn in 1811, when the present northern boundary line of the county was established.
In 1814 the line between sections 19 and 30, township 4, range 3 west, was extended east to the Ohio river and now forms the north boundary of Switzerland county. By act of January 7, 1845, all that part of Dearborn county south of Laughery creek was detached from Dearborn and added to Ohio county, thus leaving Dearborn county with its present boundary lines.
CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
During the early period of many changes, the subjection of the great Northwest Territory was prosecuted by the determined pioneers under the able leadership of such men as George Rogers Clark, Benjamin Logan, Arthur St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, William Henry Harrison, Charles Scott, Daniel Boone, James Wilkinson, Josiah Harmar, Simon Kenton and others.
The first expedition of import in the territory of Indiana against the Indians was the unsuccessful one that George Rogers Clark prosecuted against the Wabash Indians in 1786. Depredations in Kentucky had been numerous, and in many instances atrocious, and the stealthy Indians always made their escape good by crossing the Ohio into Indiana after plundering. burning and scalping. Chief among these bands were members of the Miami and Wabash tribes. The treaty at Ft. Finney had failed in its effort to secure a lasting peace and, driven by the seriousness of the situation, Congress ordered two companies to descend the Ohio to the falls and on June 30, 1786, ordered the raising of militia in Kentucky for the invasion of the country of the hostile tribes. This expedition was organized into two parties, one under Clark and the other under Col. Benjamin Logan. Clark was directed to march against the strongholds in the headwaters of the Wabash, and Logan was ordered to subjugate the tribes along the upper Wabash.
Colonel Logan proceeded from Maysville, Kentucky, with about five hundred mounted riflemen, crossed the Ohio and struck directly into the heart of the country he was to conquer. He succeeded in destroying several villages and taking upwards of seventy prisoners and killing about twenty.
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Such good fortune, however, did not attend the efforts of General Clark. Accompanied by one thousand men, he moved from Louisville to Vin- cennes, arriving there in October. Supplies for his army had been sent thither by water and low river stages held up the transports in many places. causing delay, embarrassment and downright hunger. The men were put on half rations and they promptly became dissatisfied and bordered on mutiny. After waiting ten days, the provisions arrived, and it was found that the long exposure of the meat to the hot weather had spoiled it, and the men were left with rations for three days' subsistence. With a two hundred-mile march ahead, General Clark was in a quandary. He persuaded. cajoled and pleaded. but, one day later, three hundred men, together with some officers of high rank, mounted their horses and turned back for their homes. Open mutiny now prevailed and even the tears of the leader were of no avail. There was no alternative but to immediately abandon the expedition. So, with the rem- nant of his hungry men, they struggled back to the falls, chagrined at his failure. It was the last expedition ever undertaken by the most brilliant and versatile leader of his day, and, to his credit let it be said, the only one with such an ending.
Restless tribes of Indians continued to commit acts of savagery along the western frontier, and in January, 1791, President Washington took the matter in hand and directed a communication to Congress, stating that an- other campaign against the Wabash Indians was necessary. He outlined the plan by saying that the strength of the tribe was about one thousand one hun- dred, and to this, in war time, would be added about one thousand from other tribes. The President took the stand that a move in the winter time was imperative because, if left to their own devices, they would collect strength during the winter for fresh attacks on settlements in the spring.
Acting on this statement, Congress authorized the President to raise an army of three thousand men, to be placed under the command of General St. Clair, who was appointed a major-general, and also a corps of Kentucky volunteers for the purpose of a rapid march and an immediate attack on the Wabash. This corps was placed under the command of Gen. Charles Scott.
With a force of eight hundred mounted sharpshooters, General Scott, on May 23, 1791, crossed the Ohio just above the mouth of the Kentucky river and plunged into the Indiana wilderness with all the speed possible. On June I they reached the Wabash river and came within sight of two Indian villages. The Indians, who had been apprised of the coming of the enemy, were making their escape in canoes when discovered, and were killed by the
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accurate fire of the Kentuckians. Across the river were two Kickapoo villages and from these, Indians returned the fire. but two companies succeeded in crossing the river and driving them from their homes. The following day another strong village was encountered and was taken, the Indians losing heavily in men killed and taken. On the day following they continued their march and overtook Col. James Wilkinson. with three hundred and sixty men. Together, they marched on a large Tippecanoe village, which they cap- tured and destroyed, taking great quantities of provisions. Continuing their march, they arrived at the Ohio river on June 11 without having lost a single man, and having had only four wounded. But they had done what they set out to do.
The remarkable success of General Scott fired the Kentucky board of war with the resolve to undertake another like movement without delay. On the recommendation of General St. Clair, the command was given to Col. James Wilkinson and, with five hundred and twenty-five men at his back, he set out to destroy the Eel river towns. They left Cincinnati on August 1. 1791. taking provisions for thirty days. A long detour by way of Ft. Wayne was taken in order to mislead the enemy by avoiding the beaten paths leading to the hunting grounds of southeastern Indiana, which was their objective point. After they had traveled northward for three days and made about seventy miles, they turned their course northwestward and on August 7 reached the Wabash river, near the mouth of Eel river. Here the men made a furious charge on a village and, taking the Indians completely by surprise, captured the village, killed six and took thirty-four. Colonel Wilk- inson then led his men into the open prairie, where Kickapoo villages were thickly sprinkled, but made another detour and made for the Tippecanoe village, which he had helped destroy in June. Here it was found that the Indians had replanted corn and beans. These were cut down again. About this time Colonel Wilkinson began to hear sounds of discontent among his men and a quiet inquiry developed the startling fact that two hundred and seventy horses were lame and scarcely fit for service, and that provisions were running low and would hardly last five days. Therefore he was compelled to give up returning against the Kickapoo towns, but satisfied himself with the destruction of one good-sized Kickapoo village and the destruction of much growing crops. Then the jaded army turned its face toward Kentucky and arrived at the falls on August 21, having traversed the path made by General Scott on his June expedition. The movement, while not entirely suc- cessful, was not without a considerable measure of success. The men had
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covered four hundred and fifty-one miles in twenty-one days, and were the objects of much praise from their commander for their untiring service. Many prisoners were taken, among whom were sons and sisters of the king of the Ouiatenon nation. In every attack the men were given stringent orders to spare women and children. This rule obtained in every expedition sent out against hostile tribes, but occasionally, through an inadvertence, the de- fenceless ones. were made victims. In the first village the army of Colonel Wilkinson attacked, two Indian women and one child were killed during the hurry and confusion. It was the only marring feature of the raid.
One of the oldest and most important of the Miami tribes was at the town situated at the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary, where they meet to form the Maumee. This particular neighborhood was more thickly populated with Indians than any in Indiana. The sagacity and far-seeing alertness of President Washington quickly saw what a strategic location this spot was for a fortification of some magnitude. A plan was inaugurated for making a campaign with the Miami tribes in that locality with the end in view of establishing a strong fortification there and connecting it with Ft. Washington at Cincinnati by a chain of intermediate stations.
HARMAR'S EXPEDITION.
The first of these campaigns was given into the hands of Gen. Josiah Harmar. He left Cincinnati in September, 1790, and was misdirected by guides, so that he took a route far longer than was necessary. All in all, he had probably the worst army ever led out of Ft. Washington. Of the one thousand three hundred men in his command, nearly all of them were raw troops, inexperienced, badly armed and poorly equipped. The camp utensils and all other appurtenances were of poor quality and were not numerous. A great number of the men were unused to the discharge of fire-arms, and at the first sight of Indians they dropped their arms and fled in confusion. On October 13 the army reached a point about thirty miles from Ft. Wayne. Here Col. John Hardin, with six hundred militiamen, and one company of regulars, were sent forward to surprise the enemy and keep them in their forts until the main body with artillery could come up. To their surprise, however, the villages were found to be deserted. On the 17th the main body arrived and five or six towns were destroyed and about twenty thousand bushels of corn in the ear cut down. On the 21st the army started back to Cincinnati. .
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The following day, Colonel Hardin convinced General Harmar that an- other attempt ought to be made against villages just destroyed on the theory that the Indians might have since returned to secure what salvage they could. He took a detachment of three hundred and forty militiamen and sixty regulars. The Indians were there, but they were prepared and they fought bravely and with savage ferocity. The troops were defeated, many of the militiamen and most of the regulars being killed. Broken in spirit by this reverse and by dissensions among his officers, Harmar arrived in Cin- cinnati. The expedition is known as Harmar's defeat. But it was a distinct success in so far that it accomplished its purpose, namely, not the intimida- tion of the hostile Miami tribes, but the destruction of the villages. The In- dians looked upon the expedition as a dismal failure and almost an utter rout and they followed up their belief by growing bolder and striking more fre- quently at frontier towns. Looking to carrying out a regular plan of pillage and destruction, Little Turtle, chief of the Miamis, Blue Jacket, chief of the Shawnees, and Buckongahelas, chief of the Delawares, formed a coalition to drive the whites beyond the Ohio.
ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT.
General St. Clair, himself, organized and led an expedition in 1791. The war department had ordered him to prepare for a quick march against the strong village at the head of the Maumee in order to establish a military post there and to locate proper places along the march from Cincinnati for auxiliary posts. He was to take up and put through the work attempted by General Harmar the year previous. The war department urged the founding of the post at the Maumee at all hazards, considering it to be the most strategic point in the northern Indian country.
On November 3, General St. Clair arrived at the banks of a creek which he supposed to be St. Mary's river, one of the tributaries of the Maumee. Afterward it was found to be a branch of the Wabash. He encamped there for the night, and early the next morning was taken by surprise by ambushed savages and the army met with a crushing defeat. Of upwards of one thou- sand five hundred men actually engaged in the battle, more than half of them were either killed or wounded. This defeat was the most disastrous suffered vet by whites at the hands of the Indians, and it served to discourage and dis- hearten the pioneers of the Northwest Territory. For a time following, it was thought that further efforts in the direction of subjecting the Indians in that section would be abandoned. The battle which occurred on the old Indian line in Mercer county marks the spot of Ft. Recovery.
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BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS.
However, the gloom which prevailed after the great failure of General St. Clair, soon was dispelled by drastic action by the federal government. It was readily seen that a hurried or makeshift campaign was of no avail against a foe that fought with all the treacherous tricks known to the savage. This time a force was organized under Gen. Anthony Wayne and in about three years he had them drilled, disciplined and completely equipped. His army numbered more than three thousand men when he set out in the summer of 1794. Carefully feeling his way northward, Wayne led his men around the pitfalls encountered by the leaders of other campaigns. On August 20, 1794, he threw his entire army against the Indians at Maumee Rapids, in Wood county, Ohio, and won the decisive victory which has since been known as Fallen Timbers, and sometimes the Maumee battle. The Indians had gone forth with full strength from their Indiana villages to meet the advanc- ing army. If they had remained at home the battle would have taken place on Indiana soil. The victory brought with it an end to the long and bloody Indian wars, and a treaty of peace was entered into which was not violated. only in minor instances, until the battle of Tippecanoe, in November, 1811.
The space devoted to recounting these Indian wars is justified by the far-reaching importance of the engagements. Settlers from the Eastern states had brought their families to this new country and, in most cases, were unable to properly defend themselves from the brutal attacks of the Indians. They depended upon the armies of their country for protection and, although the quality of the armies sent in such crises was not always good enough to withstand the savage in battle, yet the fact that the expeditions were sent out for that purpose had its effect. The movement begun and com- pleted successfully by General Wayne was the only one that was well planned and well executed. Consequently, more depends on the result of that action.
The victory of General Wayne at Fallen Timbers paved the way for the opening of the great Middle West. It brought home to the savage red man the cold fact that he had met his master and that he must retire. Civilization began in this region immediately after that battle was won and the peace pact agreed upon. As soon as the news of the victory had spread over the Eastern states and the significance of it became apparent, a rush was started that from that time to this has never ceased. The westward movement of population began then and has never stopped. Settlers poured into Ohio. Indiana and Kentucky.
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CHAPTER V.
BATTLE OF LAUGHERY AND TREATY OF FT. FINNEY.
The accounts of Indian engagements already delineated deal, in their effect, with the general upbuilding of the Middle West, which accordingly affected Dearborn county. But there were two events that happened at the very doors of the present borders of Dearborn county that were significant to an extent hardly measured by the historians of the day. They were the treaty with the Indians at Ft. Finney, on January 31, 1786, and the disas- trous defeat of Col. Archibald Laughery and his men at the mouth of the creek bearing his name. With the latter we will treat first.
Col. George Rogers Clark had long concerned himself with a campaign against Detroit. After the fall of Vincennes he was forced to abandon it, but he began at once, although an inquiry dated at the falls of the Ohio, Novem- ber 16, 1779, to ascertain the strength of the post and the difficulty of getting there, the number of men necessary, etc., to reduce it. This inquiry secured information from frontier settlements that caused him to set out for Virginia, where, in 1780, he secured the approval of Governor Thomas Jefferson for the proposed movement against Detroit. Governor Jefferson laid the matter before General Washington and the latter replied in a letter dated at New Windsor, December 28, 1780, stating, in part: "I have ever been of the opinion that the reduction of Detroit would be the only certain means of giving peace and security to the whole western frontier, and I have conse- quently kept my eye open upon that object; but such has been the reduced state of our continental force, and such the low ebb of our funds, especially of late, that I have never had it in my power to make the attempt. I shall think it a most happy circumstance, should your state, with the aid of conti- nental stores which you require, be able to accomplish it. I am so well con- vinced of the general public utility with which the expedition, if successful, will be attended, that I do not hesitate a moment in giving directions to the commandant at Ft. Pitt to deliver to Colonel Clark the articles which you request, or so many of them as he may be able to furnish. I have also directed him to form such a detachment of continental troops as he can safely spare, and put them under the command of Colonel Clark. There is a continental company of artillery at Ft. Pitt, which I have likewise ordered upon the ex-
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pedition, should it be prosecuted. The officers of this company will be com- petent to the management of the mortar and howitzers. *
* * In pursuance of this unmistakable conviction on the part of General Washington and Governor Jefferson, the two foremost men of the day, ar- rangements were perfected for the mobilization of upwards of two thousand drilled men and the getting together of provisions sufficient to make the expe- dition a success. Governor Jefferson, acting on a suggestion from General Washington, secured permission from Baron Steuben for Col. John Gibson, one of his most capable leaders, to join Clark's men to act as officer in charge in case of an accident befalling Clark. Gibson was detailed to proceed to Bal- timore and personally superintend the transportation of powder to Ft. Pitt.
This was the zenith of the enthusiastic preparations. The great require- ments of the War of the Revolution, which was rapidly drawing to a crisis, and with the end practically in sight, the ardor of those who saw the project through such roseate views a little while before, now came to look at it in an entirely different manner. In February, 1781, an effort was made to draft militia for the expedition, but it met with dismal failure. Next came the trouble with worthless paper money, with which Clark was supposed to defray the expenses of recruiting and equipping an army. But he bore up under these vexing disappointments with a fortitude that was peculiar to him throughout his .military career. He went to Ft. Pitt, fully expecting to find Colonel Broadhead, who was in charge, ready to offer the services of Colonel Gibson and his men. Here he was again disappointed.
Here he again faced the herculean task of raising a company or two of volunteers. The draft was of no avail, persuasion was almost useless, and there was no law in force by which an emergency for the good of public wel- fare could be conjured up to operate in the time of need. Yet the people generally agreed that the proposed movement was a good thing, and should by all means be prosecuted. However, when confronted by the stern reality of going to the front, they stood behind the fact that they had to go only if they wanted to go. And most of them didn't.
Several months were put in at this sort of work and the result achieved was enough to deter any man of weaker purpose than George Rogers Clark. He persevered and, on August 4, 1781, we find him writing to Governor. Jefferson from Wheeling, stating that he had abandoned the plan he had of mobilizing a large force and would proceed down the river with what men he had, numbering about four hundred. These consisted of Crockett's regi- ment, Craig's artillery and volunteers. Part of the men which General Clark
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expected to join him at Wheeling, which was then called Ft. Henry, were those under the command of Col. Archibald Laughery, and were recruited largely in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania.
In the command of Colonel Laughery were a company of volunteer rifle- men raised by Capt. Robert Orr, two companies of rangers under Capts. Samuel Shannon and Thomas Stockley, and a company of horse under the leadership of Capt. William Campbell. These companies were not full, be- cause when they embarked there were only one hundred and seven men in the party. This force, which was intended to join Clark's troops at Wheeling, was forced to take to boats and pursue a hurried journey in the hope of over- taking General Clark.
General Clark's original intention was to rendezvous at the mouth of the Great Miami and proceed up that river with his expedition, but subsequently he changed his plan and ordered Colonel Laughery to follow him to the falls of the Ohio. Colonel Laughery's force was brought together at Carnahan's block house, from which place they proceeded on July 24, for Ft. Henry, by way of Pittsburgh. On arriving at Wheeling, he found that Clark had started down the river about twelve hours before and had left instructions for him to follow with all speed. Then a delay in preparing transports was expe- rienced and it was ten days later before they set out to join General Clark.
When Colonel Laughery arrived at the mouth of the Kanawha he ex- pected to find Clark waiting for him, but was disappointed, finding only a letter directing him to follow and stating that threatened desertion among his men caused him to give up the plan of waiting. Provisions were running low and there was no store from which to replenish them save by overtaking Clark. The low stage of the river and the unfamiliarity with the channel prevented a rapid descent of the river. So, instead of gaining on Clark's men, Colonel Laughery lost ground every day of the voyage. In great despair, Captain Shannon and four men were dispatched in a small boat to overtake General Clark. But they had not proceeded far when they were captured by the band of Indians that had been following both Clark's and Laughery's progress down .the stream. With Captain Shannon was captured a letter from Colonel Laughery to General Clark, telling of the pitiable plight of his (Laughery's) men. 'About the same time, Colonel Laughery arrested nineteen deserters from Clark's army, whom he afterwards released because he could not feed them, and they immediately joined the Indians. The savages, thus fully in- formed of the strength and purpose of the whites, began to assemble with more confidence and prepared to strike when the chance should come. They had not long to wait.
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