USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana: containing a history of the townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies, etc., etc. > Part 4
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Setting out from Vincennes on April 5, 1790, the first Indian village he arrived at was called Kicka- pougoi, inhabited by a tribe then peaceably disposed toward the whites. The second village he found was at the river Vermillion, and inhabited by the Pian- keshaws, who looked upon the Miamis as their elder brethren, and could not give an answer to the mes- sage until they had consulted that nation. On the 11th of April Gamelin arrived at a tribe of the Kick-
apoos, who also regarded the Miamis as their elder brethren. On the 18th he arrived at Eel River. The village of Eel River Indians stood about six miles above the junction of that stream with the Wabash. The chief of this tribe was absent, and no answer to the message could be obtained. On the 23d of April he arrived at the great village of the Miamis, at the site of Fort Wayne. The chief of the Miamis at this time was called LeGris. At this place were both French and English traders. While Gamelin re- mained five Pottawattomies arrived with two negro men, whom they sold to the English traders. Blue Jacket, the great warrior chief of the Shawnees, was at the Miami town. Both LeGris and Blue Jacket were disposed to insist that the Ohio River should be made the Indian boundary, and the report of Gamelin was unfavorable for the maintenance of peace.
INDIANS DEMAND THE OHIO FOR THEIR BOUNDARY.
The Indians of the Wabash and Maumee were hostile to the formation of the earlier settlements northwest of the Ohio, and made incursions upon the whites along the Ohio in what is now the State of Ohio, and often passed into Kentucky on expeditions of plunder and murder. These Indians were united in claiming that the whites had no rights to any lands northwest of the Ohio; that the treaty of Fort Stan- wix in 1768 made the Ohio River the boundary, and they refused to regard the treaties of Fort Mackin- tosh in 1785, and Fort Harmar in 1789, as binding, because not satisfied by all the tribes.
In 1793 President Washington instructed the Commissioners appointed by him to negotiate a treaty of peace with the Northwestern Indians, to use every effort to obtain a confirmation of the boundary line established at Fort Harmar, and to offer in payment $50,000 in hand, and an annuity of $10,000 forever. The Indians refused the money, claimed that the treaties already made were void because not sanc- tioned by all the tribes, demanded that the Ohio River should be considered the boundary, and that every white settlement should be removed from the Northwest Territory. The paper containing these views of the Indians was signed by the chiefs of the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Mingoes, Pottawattomies, Ottawas, Connoys, Chippewas and Munsees.
. The Commissioners explained to them that the United States Government had sold large tracts of land northwest of the Ohio, and that the white set- tlements and improvements were numerous, and had cost much money and labor, and could not be given up; but the Government was willing to pay a larger sum in money and goods than had been given at any one time for Indian lands since the whites first set
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
their feet on this continent. The Indians gave as their final reply :
" Money is of no value to us, and to most of us is unknown. As no consideration whatever can induce us to sell the lands on which we get sustenance for our women and children, we hope we may be allowed to point out a mode by which your settlers may be easily removed, and peace thereby obtained.
" We know these settlers are poor, or they never would have ventured to live in a country which has been in continual trouble since they crossed the Ohio. Divide, therefore, this large sum of money which you have offered to us among these people. Give to each, also, a proportion of what you say you will give to us annually over and above this large sum of money, and, we are persuaded, they will most readily accept it in lieu of the land you sold them. If you add, also, the great sums you must expend in raising and paying armies with a view to force us to yield you our country, you will certainly have more than sufficient for the purpose of repaying these settlers for all their labor and their improvements.
"We shall bo persuaded that you mean to do us justice if you agree that the Ohio shall remain the boundary line between us. If you will not consent thereto, our further meeting will be altogether nn- necessary."
The Commissioners on the part of the Government said "That they had already explicitly declared to them that it was now impossible to make the Ohio River the line between their lands and the lands of the United States. Your answer amounts to a decla- ration that you will agree to no other boundary than the Ohio. The negotiation is therefore at an end."
Nothing remained for the Government but a vig- orous prosecution of the war. The Indians were defeated by Gen. Wayne in August, 1794, and in August, 1795, a treaty of peace was ratified by all the tribes. The treaty of Greenville was the first one since that of Fort Stanwix, which was regarded as binding upon the Indian confederacy. It was observed by them in good faith, and there was no further war between the red men and the whites until the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
COL. LOCHRY'S DISASTROUS DEFEAT.
One of the most disastrous battles which took place on the soil of Indiana was the surprise and defeat of Col. Archibald Lochry by the Indians, on August 24, 1781. Lochry was the County Lieutenant of West- moreland County, Penn., and was requested by Col. George Rogers Clark, to raise a military force in the summer of 1781, and to join him in a movement then contemplated against the Indian tribes of the North- west. Col. Lochry raised a force of 107 mounted men,
and on the 25th of July set out for Fort Henry, at Wheeling, where they expected to join Col. Clark. When they arrived at Wheeling they found that Clark had proceeded down the river, leaving directions for Lochry to follow him. They passed down the river, and on August 24 reached the month of a creek which empties into the Ohio about ten miles below the Great Miami. This stream has since been named Lochry's Creek. Here was an attractive spot, and the Colonel ordered the boats to land on the north side of the Ohio. The horses were turned loose to feed, while some of the men were sent out to cut grass for the horses on their way to Louisville. One of the party had killed a buffalo, and all, except a few, who were cutting grass or guarding the horses, were engaged round the fires, which they had kindlod for cooking a meal. Suddenly they were assailed by a volley of rifles from a large party of Indians. The men seized their guns and defended themselves, until their am- munition was exhausted, and then took to their boats, when they were fired upon by another party of Indi- ans in canoes. The result was the death of Lochry, and forty-one of his men. The whole detachment were either killed or taken prisoners; not one escaped. Some were killed after being taken prisoners. The pris- oners were takon to Canada, and were not set at lib- erty until after the peace of 1783. Col. Lochry's party was composed of the best men of the Pennsyl- vania frontiers.
TREATY OF FORT FINNEY.
Congress resolved in March, 1785, to hold a treaty with the Indians of the Wabash and other parts of Indiana at Vincennes on June 20, 1785. The place of meeting was afterward changed to the mouth of the Great Miami, where a temporary work of defense was erected and named Fort Finney. The representa- tives of the United States were George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler and Samuel H. Parsons. Various circumstances caused the time of the negotiations to be changed to the winter of 1785-86. The Wabash Indians refused to attend, on account of a growing spirit of hostility. Some chiefs and warriors of the Shawnees and a few Delawares and Wyandots finally met the Commissioners, and after some time spent in negotiations, the treaty of Fort Finney was signed on January 31, 1786. The United States stockade pending the deliberations, mustered seventy men. There were present some 300 of the finest warriors of the Shawnees. By the treaty the United States were acknowledged to be the sole and absolute sovereigns of all the territory ceded to them by the treaty with Great Britain in 1784. Hunting grounds lying chiefly in Indiana were allotted the Shawnees as fol- lows :
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
" The United States do allot to the Shawnee nation, lands within said territory to live and hunt upon, beginning at the south line of the lands' allot- ted to the Wyandots aud Delaware nations, at the place where the main branch of the Great Miami, which falls into the Ohio, intersects said line; then down the river Miami to the fort of that river next below the old fort which was taken by the French in one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two; thence due west to the river De La Panse; then down that river to the river Wabash; beyond which lines none of the citizens of the United States shall settle, nor disturb the Shawnees in their settlement possession."
The treaty failed entirely in securing peace, as the tribes more distant than the Shawnees were in no way disposed to cease their incursions.
GEN. OLARK'S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE WABASH INDIANS.
The first important expedition which passed over the Territory of Indiana against the Indians was the unsuccessful one of George Rogers Clark against the Wabash Indians in 1786. Many depredations had been committed in Kentucky by marauding bands crossing the Ohio, plundering, burning and scalping. The bands were chiefly from the Miamis and the Wa- bash. Congress having failed in its efforts to secure peace with the Indians by the treaty at Fort Finney, ordered two companies down the Ohio to the Falls and on June 30, 1786, authorized the raising of mili' tia in Kentucky for the invasion of the country of the hostile tribes. The expedition was organized into two parties, one under Gen. Clark to march against the upper Wabash country; the other under Col. Benjam- in Logan was to proceed against the villages on the head- waters of the Great Miami.
Col. Logan, with 400 or 500 mounted rifle-men, crossed the Ohio near Maysville, Ky., and passing northward succeeded in destroying some Indian vil- lages in what is now Logan County, Ohio, killing about twenty savages and taking about seventy pris- oners.
Gen. Clark was not so successful. With about 1,000 men he marched from the Falls of the Ohio for Vincennes and arrived near that place in October. His supplies were to be forwarded to that place by boats. Nine boats had been freighted with stores to descend the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash and then to as. cend to Vincennes. The low state of the water re- tarded the arrival of the boats. The army lay en- camped awaiting the arrival of provisions. Day after day passed. One thousand hungry men consume much food. The men were put on short allowance. Many became restless and mutinous. At last, after waiting nine days, the boats arrived. But to their disappoint. ment the meat was found to be spoiled by the hot
weather. There were sound rations only for three days, and there was a march before them of 200 miles- The mutinous spirit became more apparent. Gen. Clark urged an immediate and rapid advance. The Kentucky volunteers were re-enforced by a number of the inhabitants of Vincennes and the army started on its march up the Wabash. On reaching the mouth of the Vermillion it was found that the Indians had de- serted their villages on that stream. Disappointment, hunger and fatigue now led to open mutiny and 300 men with some officers of high rank mounted their horses and left for their homes. Neither the com- mands, the entreaties nor the tears of the command- ing General could avail. Nothing was left to Clark but the abandonment of the expedition. With the remainder of his half-starved men, the unfortunate commander worked his way back to the Falls, covered with shame and confusion. This was the last expedi- tion of the brilliant military genius, George Rogers Clark and the first one which resulted unfortunately.
GEN. CHARLES SCOTT'S EXPEDITION.
In January, 1791, President Washington laid be- fore Congress his views of the proper measures for protecting the western settlements from Indian depre- dations. He expressed a very decided opinion that another campaign against the Wabash Indians was indispensable. These tribes were estimated at 1,100 warriors, to which were to be added 1,000 belonging to more distant tribes. The President held that, although winter imposed peace at that time, unless the attention of the tribes was directed to their own country, they would spread desolation over the frontier on the open- ing of spring. Congress authorized the President to raise an army of 3,000 men, to be placed under the command of Gov. St. Clair, who was appointed a Major-General, and also a corps of Kentucky volun- teers for the purpose of a rapid march and immediate attack on the Wabash. This corps was placed under the command of Gen. Charles Scott.
On the 23d of May, 1791, Gen. Scott, with a force of about 800 mounted men, crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Kentucky and commenced his march for the Wea towns. They pressed forward with the utmost celerity, but the rain fell in torrents and wore down their horses and injured their provisions. The country was intersected and made rough by four branches of the White River and other smaller streams, many of them having steep and muddy banks. On the 31st of May they had made 135 miles from the Ohio. On June 1, at a distance of 150 miles from the Ohio, they came in sight of two small villages on their left, at a distance of two and four miles respectively, the main town being about five miles in front. The General sent a detachment
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
under Col. Hardin to attack the villages on the left, while he pressed forward rapidly toward the main town in front. When the main army arrived at an eminence overlooking the villages on the Wabash, the enemy were discovered in great confusion cross- ing the river in canoes, having been apprised of the approach of the whites by one of their warriors who had seen them on the preceding day. All the sav- ages in five canoes were destroyed by a well-directed fire. The Wabash, at that point, was too high to be forded, and the Indians kept up a vigorous fire from the Kickapoo towns on the opposite bank. Two com- panies passed down the river and crossed over and drove the enemy from the Kickapoo village. In the, meantime, Col. Hardin successfully executed the order to take the villages on the left. He also dis- covered a third and stronger village which he also captured, and joined his commander before sunset, having killed six warriors and taken fifty-two pris. oners. The next day Col. Wilkinson, with 360 men, marched to the Tippecanoe village, which he took and destroyed, together with a large quantity of corn, peltry and furniture. On the same day, the Wea and Kickapoo towns were burned, and the gal- lant army reached the Ohio on the 14th of June, hav- ing accomplished the great object of their expedition without the loss of a single man killed and only four wounded, and having killed thirty-two of the savages and taken fifty-two prisoners. The General testified that not a single act of inhumanity had marked the conduct of his men.
COL. JAMES WILKINSON'S EXPEDITION.
The expedition of Gen. Scott having been suc- cessful, on the recommendation of Gen. St. Clair, the Kentucky Board of War resolved to organize another without loss of time to destroy the Eel River towns. This expedition was placed under the command of Col. James Wilkinson. . On July 20 Col. Wilkinson reported to Gov. St. Clair at Fort Washington with 525 men well mounted and equipped. The march began from Cincinnati on August 1. They took with them provisions for thirty days. Instead of taking the direct course toward the Eel River villages, in order to mislead the enemy, the army directed its course toward the site of Fort Wayne. The hunting grounds of the Indians in the southwest part of In- diana, and the most common paths traveled by them were thus avoided. For three days the northwardly course was pursued. After about seventy miles from Cincinnati had been made, their course was turned north westward. On the 6th they captured a Dela- ware living on the Maumee. On the 7th the army reached the Wabash near the mouth of Eel River.
The troops crossed the river and charged upon the town. The enemy being completely surprised, was unable to make the least resistance; six of their war- riors were killed and thirty-four prisoners taken. Unfortunately in the hurry and confusion of the charge, two Indian women and one child were killed. A white captive in the village was released. The whites lost but two men killed and one wounded. The next day the corn was cut down and the cabins burned. Col. Wilkinson then took up his march toward the Kickapoo towns in the prairie, by way of the Tippecanoe village. Reaching the latter place, which had been destroyed by Gen. Scott in the pre- ceding June, it was found that the Indians had replanted their corn and beans. These were again cut down. While at this place the commander learned of some murmuring and discontent among his men, growing out of a reluctance to proceed further in the enemy's country. This induced him to examine the state of the horses and provisions, when he learned to his mortification that 270 horses were lame and jaded, and barely five days' provisions left for the men. Most reluctantly was the Colonel compelled to abandon his design against the Kicka- poos of the prairie. He, however, marched against a village of the same tribe, about three leagues west. This town, consisting of about thirty houses, was destroyed, with a considerable quantity of corn in the milk. On their homeward march the army fell into Gen. Scott's homeward trace, and arrived at the Falls of the Ohio on August 21. The men were mostly Kentucky volunteers, and great praise was awarded by the commander to the whole detachment. Their entire march from Cincinnati to the Indian towns, and then to the Falls, was by accurate computation 451 miles, and was accomplished in twenty-one days. Among the prisoners taken by Col. Wilkinson were the sons and sisters of the king of Ouiatenon nation.
GEN. JOSIAH HARMAR'S EXPEDITION.
The largest and most important expeditions against the Indians of the Northwest Territory were directed against the Miami towns at and near the junction of the St. Mary and St. Joseph, where they form the Maumee. The region about the site of Fort Wayne was probably more thickly populated with savages than any other in Indiana. The junction of the rivers was the site of an old and important town of the Miami tribe. The importance as a strategic point of the site of Fort Wayne struck Washington's sagacious mind, and one of the objects of the cam- paigns on the Maumee was to establish here a fort which was to be connected by intermediate stations with Fort Washington at Cincinnati.
Joseph Caldwell
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
The first of these campaigns was under the com- mand of Gen. Josiah Harmar. He marched from Cincinnati in September, 1790, by a circuitous route, which he was told by guides was the shortest and best to the head of the Maumee. He had in all about 1,300 men, three-fourths of whoin were raw militia, badly armed and equipped. They were badly supplied with axes and camp-kettles; their arms were largely out of repair and almost useless; many muskets being brought in without locks with the expectation of being repaired in camp. Many of the inilitia were substitutes unused to fire-arms, who at the first sight of the Indians threw down their arms and ran. On October 13, the army being within about thirty miles of the site of Fort Wayne, Col. John Harding, with 600 militia men and one com- pany of regulars, was sent forward to surprise the enemy and keep them in their forts until the main body with artillery would come up. On reaching the villages, however, they were found deserted. On the 17th the main body arrived, and five or six towns were destroyed and about 20,000 bushels of corn in the ear cut down. On the 21st the army started on its homeward march. Unfortunately, on the next day it was resolved that Col. Harding, with a detachment of 340 militia and sixty regulars, should return to the burned villages on the supposition that the In- dians had returned thither. They succeeded in find- ing the Indians early the next morning. A severe engagement ensued; the savages fought with bravery. The troops were defeated, many of the militia and most of the regulars being killed. Dispirited by this misfortune and dissensions among his officers, Har- mar returned to Cincinnati. The expedition is known as Harmar's defeat. In its purpose of intim- idating the Indians it was entirely unsuccessful, but in its object of destroying the Miami villages it was completely successful; the towns were taken and 300 houses and wigwams burned without the loss of an American soldier. The subsequent efforts to defeat the savages in battle were unsuccessful. The Indians looked upon the expedition as a failure and defeat, and it was followed by vigorous efforts on their part to harass and break up the American settlements. To carry out their purposes more effectually, Little Turtle, chief of the Miamis, Blue Jacket, chief of the Shawnees, and Buckongahelas, chief of the Del- awares, engaged in forming a confederacy strong enough to drive the whites beyond the Ohio.
ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT.
The unfortunate expedition of Gen. St. Clair was organized during the year 1791. He was instructed by the War Department to march for the village at the head of the Maumee in order to establish a strong and permanent military post at that place, and to establish such posts of communication between that place and Fort Washington as he should judge proper. "The establishment of such a post" said the Secre- tary of War, " is considered as an important object of the campaign, and is to take place at all events." On September 17 St. Clair, with abont 2,300 men, marched from Ludlow's Station, near Cincinnati. On November 3 the army arrived at a creek running to the southwest, and which was supposed to be the St. Mary's, one of the principal branches of the Maumee, but was afterward found to be a branch of the Wabash. Early on the morning of November 4, the army was surprised and met with a most disastrous defeat. Of the 1,500 men engaged in the battle more than half were either killed or wounded. It was the greatest calamity to the disheartened and greatly harassed pioneers of the Northwest Territory, and the most dis- astrous defeat of the Americans by the Indians. The battle occurred near the Indiana line in Mercer County, Ohio, the battle-field being afterward known as Fort Recovery.
WAYNE'S VICTORY.
Immediately after the defeat the Federal Govern- ment took steps to raise another large army to oper- ate against 'the hostile tribes. Nearly three years passed, however, before the confederated hostile tribes were met by Gen. Anthony Wayne, whose army num - bered more than 3,000 men, well disciplined and finely officered, 1,600 being mounted volunteer troops from Kentucky commanded by Gen. Charles Scott, of that State. Wayne's decisive victory occurred August 20, 1794, near the Maumee rapids in Wood County, Ohio. The battle is known as the battle of the Fallen Timbers, though sometimes called the battle of the Manmee. Had not the Indians apprised of the approach of the armies of St. Clair and Wayne gone forth from their principal villages to meet them, the disastrous defeat of the one and the decisive victory of the other would have taken place on the soil of Indiana and not of Ohio. Cessation of the long and bloody Indian war followed Wayne's victory, and a peace was secured which continued unbroken until the battle of Tippecanoe sixteen years later.
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
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CHAPTER III.
PIONEER HISTORY.
THIE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION UPON, AND FIRST SETTLEMENT OF TIIE WHITEWATER VALLEY-POSITION OF THE LANDS OF THE COUNTY-JOHN AND WILLIAM CONNER AND OTHER EARLY SETTLERS-PIONEER LIFE- FRIENDLY AND HOSTILE INDIANS.
X Y ENERALLY speaking, from the east and south upward marched the van of civilization to the fertile valleys and beautiful hills of the Whitewater country, explorers and immigrants coming from the direction of the Miami country, Cincinnati, Harrison and Lawrenceburg.
John Cleves Symmes had landed at North Bend on the Ohio early in the year 1789, and in 1795 several families had settled on the site of Lawrence- burg, and a small settlement had been made at Arm- strong's Station, in Clark County. Cincinnati was laid out in 1789; Hamilton, at Fort Hamilton in 1794; Dayton in 1795 and in the spring of the following year permanent settlements commenced.
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