History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 5

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 649

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I > Part 5

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arrival there, a woman and four children, and took two other captives. Captain Brady, who with twenty men and the young Delaware chief. Nanoland, was on his way towards the Seneca country, fell in with seven of these In- dians about fifteen miles above Kittanning, at a point on the river now well known as Brady's Bend. Brady attacked them at break of day, killed their captain, and mortally wounded the most of them, but the Indians staunched their wounds so that they could not be traced, and the greater number succeeded in escaping. In the language of Col. Brodhead in a letter to Washington, "Brady retook six horses, two prisoners, the scalps, and all the plunder, which was considerable : and took six guns and every- thing else the Indians had, except their breech- clouts." The young Delaware chief, Nano- land, greatly distinguished' himself on this occasion.

Brodhead fixed the early part of August as the time for his movement against the Indians. The movement he intended as a diversion in favor of Sullivan, and also to cause as great destruction of Indian towns and fields as possi- błe. On July 17 he addressed a letter to Cols. Lochry, Shepherd, Stephenson and Evans, lieutenants of the counties of Westmoreland, Ohio, Yoghagania and Monongahela, to en- gage as many volunteers as possible for two or three weeks' service. In this letter he fixed the 5th day of August as the time to rendezvous at headquarters for the excursion. He directed Lieut .- Col. Bayard, who was in command at Fort Armstrong, and the commandants in other localities to forward troops to headquar- ters. Being nearly ready for his march, he on the 6th of August dispatched two soldiers with a letter to General Sullivan. They reached their destination, and delivered the letter to Gen. Sullivan ; and he from Catherinestown. at the head of Seneca Lake, wrote a reply which these adventurous men bore back through the wilderness and delivered to Col. Brodhead in September at Pittsburgh a few days after his return from the expedition. On August II, at the head of six hundred five men, militia and volunteers, and with one month's provisions, Brodhead set out from Pittsburgh. The ex- pedition proceeded up the river, passed the Kiskeminitas and Crooked creek, and forty- five miles above Pittsburgh, Fort Armstrong, where now stands, in the midst of an iron and coal country, the thriving town of Kittanning. Here a garrison had been retained, but Col. Brodhead moved fifteen miles farther to the Mahoning, a tributary of the Allegheny from the east. at the mouth of which was situated

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

an Indian village. After a detention of four days by excessive rains and the straying of some cattle, the stores were loaded upon pack-horses, and the expedition proceeded wholly by land. For miles above the Mahoning, the Allegheny is circuitous and crooked; to avoid following its winding course, and to shorten his march, Col. Brodhead chose a blind and rugged path that led more directly to the Indian country of the Upper Allegheny, by the way of the Indian town called Goshgoshunk, upon the river, near the mouth of its tributary, the Tionesta.

His march through the forests of Clarion and Venango counties was beset with many diffi- culties. Thorns, thick underwood and fallen timber obstructed his way. The obscure wil- derness path that he followed led up steep ascents and over ranges of lofty hills. Again the path would descend into some gloomy val- ley where the sunlight scarcely penetrated and was traversed by the Red Bank, the Clarion, or some dark rolling tributary. At Goshgoshunk the path crossed the Allegheny. Here had been three Munsey villages, where Rev. David Zeis- berger, a Moravian missionary, commenced in 1767 to teach the Indians. He and his coadju- tor. Dr. Gotlob Senseman, daily preached the Gospel to their red hearers. The missionaries brought with them several Moravian families, built a blockhouse, and established a regular mission there. Among the Indians, the magi- cians and old women violently opposed the Moravians. "They asserted that the corn was blasted : the deer and game began to retire from the woods ; no chestnuts and bilberries would grow-because the missionaries preached a strange doctrine, and the Indians were chang- ing in their way of life:" and Zeisberger was compelled to remove fifteen miles farther up the river to Lawanakana, near Hickory Town, where he gathered around him a little settle- ment, built a chapel and placed in it a bell, the first ever heard in Venango county ; and he here for two years prosecuted his holy pur- pose.

The expedition of Brodhead crossed the river at Goshgoshunk and pursued its march along the western shore. Beetling cliffs pressed close to the river's side, leaving a pas- sage much of the way no wider than an Indian trail. It was in one of these defiles that his advanced guard, consisting of fifteen white men and eight Delaware Indians, under Lieut. Hardian, saw thirty or forty Indian warriors descending the river in seven canoes. The In- dians at the same time discovered the troops and immediately landed. Lieut. Hardian dis- posed his men in a semi-circular form, and

they, with tomahawk in hand, began the attack with such courage and vigor that the Indians soon gave way and fled. Of the Indians, six or seven were killed, their bodies left upon the field ; several also were wounded. Their canoes and their contents, which included clothing and guns, fell into the hands of Col. Brodhead .. Of his force, three men only were slightly wounded, one of whom was the Delaware In- dian, Nanoland. The celebrated scout, Jona- than Zane, was also one of the wounded. This encounter probably occurred near Thompson's Island in Warren county, five miles below the mouth of the Broken Straw.

Col. Thomas Proctor in 1791 journeyed from Philadelphia upon a mission to the Western Indians to persuade them to peace. On his way he visited the Allegheny river, and was there joined by Cornplanter with a fleet of thirty canoes. On April II they arrived at an old Indian settlement called Hogstown (undoubt edly Goshgoshunk), and afterwards proceeded up the river to Hickory Town, (Lawanakana) On April 13 they set out from Hickory Towi and ascended the Allegheny ten miles to Log Trap creek. Col. Proctor states in his journa that he the next day, the 14th, "Proceeded u. the river to-day, took up our encampment nea the mouth of Casyoudang creek, it being th place where Col. Brodhead in 1779 had fough against the savages, and in which action Josep Nicholson, his interpreter, was wounded."

The day after this affair, Brodhead resume his march and arrived in the morning at th Indian town of Buckaloons, just below th mouth of the Broken Straw. The Indians wer driven from the village, and retreated to th hills in its rear. A breastwork of felled timbe and fascines was thrown up. The remains ( this stockade were plainly to be seen a fe years ago. It was situated about one-half mi above the mouth of the Broken Straw, on th west side of the road from Irvineton to Wa ren, upon a high bluff by the Allegheny, ar commanded an extensive view up and dow the river. A captain and garrison of forty me were left to guard the baggage and stores, ar the troops marched to Conawago, the Sene town that stood where the thriving village Warren is now situated. Conawago the found had been deserted for about eighte months. Brodhead, it is said, sent a force se eral miles up the Conewago, and found d serted villages there.

The country around the headwaters of t Allegheny, and much of Western New Yor was then a region unexplored by white me Col. Brodhead, however, ordered the force

BRODHEAD'S EXPEDITION

proceed upon an Indian path that appeared to have been for some time used. The expedi- tion advanced by this route up the right or west bank of the river. After a march of twenty miles without discovering other Indian signs than a few tracks of their scouts, upon arriving at the crest of a high hill, they saw the Allegheny, and the cornfields of the In- dians. On descending the hill, they came in sight of their towns, which had just been de- serted. These Indian villages and fields were situated above the modern village of Kinztia along the Allegheny for a distance of about eight miles, their northern limit being not far from the boundary line between the States of New York and Pennsylvania. Col. Brodhead estimated that there were in these Indian vil- lages as many as one hundred thirty unusually large houses, some of them sufficient to accom- modate three or four Indian families. Here was seen the natural superiority of the Six Nations over the other Indian races in the ad- Nance in civilization that they had made in this solated region, far away from civilizing influ- ences. Their houses were substantial, some of them constructed of logs, a part of round and thers of square timber, while others were frame buildings. Around them were exten- sve and highly cultivated fields of grain and vegetables. Col. Brodhead inferred that the whole of the Seneca and Munsey nations con- templated settling here. At the approach of the advanced guard to the first of these vil- ages, the Indians fled. Upon the arrival of the main body of troops, the work of destruc- tion was commenced, and continued for three lays without the least interruption from the Indians, they having retreated to the woods. Fight towns, deserted by their inhabitants, were first set in flames ; the corn was next cut lown and piled into heaps ; over five hundred icres, at the least estimate, were destroyed Three thousand dollars' worth of plunder was aken, which Col. Brodhead ordered sold for he benefit of the troops. At the Upper Seneca own was found a painted war-post or pagod. clothed in dog-skin, which was committed to he river. This place was called Youghroon- vago.

Col. Brodhead makes no mention of having dvanced beyond these Indian towns. Mrs. Mary Jemmison, who is usually accurate, states hat he ascended to Olean Point, destroying all he Indian villages on the Allegheny river. In attaraugus county there was at this time, at he mouth of Cold Spring creek, the village of The-na-shun-ga-tan; at the mouth of Little Valley creek, the village of Bucktooth; at the rc!

mouth of Great Valley creek, Killbuck's-town ; and in the town of Carrollton, Tu-ne-nu-gwan -all of which were destroyed, if any detach- ment of Col. Brodhead's command reached Olean Point. The latter place is situated upon the Allegheny river, in the southeast part of Cattaraugus county, and is distant less than thirty miles from Caneadea. an Indian town on the Genesee river, and less than sixty miles from the larger Indian towns destroyed by Gen. Sullivan.

Brodhead's expedition was in advance of that of Sullivan. About the time the former was completing the destruction of the Seneca towns on the Allegheny, the latter, having been joined by the troops of Gen. Clinton, was more than one hundred miles to the east, contesting the battle of Newton with the forces of Brant and Butler at Elmira ; and it was not until two weeks later that Sullivan had reached the heart of the Seneca country on the Genesee river and entered upon the destruction of the Indian towns and the corn and orchards. This early movement upon the part of Brodhead undoubt- edly served to divert the attention and distract the efforts of the Indians, and to aid Sullivan in his campaign. Brodhead could, it is proba- ble, have easily united his forces or a larger body of men to those of Gen. Sullivan, by pur- suing the Indian trail along the Allegheny to Olean, and thence to Caneadea and along the Genesee, to join with him in a movement upon Fort Niagara. Indeed, Brodhead wrote to Gen. Sullivan, October 10, 1779, that he shouldi have marched to Genesee, if he had not been disappointed in getting a sufficient number of shoes for his men.

Having completed the work of destruction at the upper Indian towns, the Americans be- gan their return. On their way they consigned to the flames Conawago and Buckaloons. The route chosen for their return march was the Venango road. According to a private letter they crossed Oil creek several times. Their attention was there attracted to the inflamma- ble oil issuing from the bottom and sides of its channels and from the adjacent springs, which they thought resembled British oil. The "Mas- sachusetts Magazine," published in the suc- ceeding year, 1780, referring to this expedition, states that in the northern part of Pennsyl- vania "there is a creek called Oil creek, which empties into the Allegheny river. It issues from a spring, on the top of which floats an oil similar to that called Barbadocs tar, and from which one may gather several gallons a day. The troops sent to guard the western posts halted at this spring, collected some of this oil,

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

and bathed their joints with it. This gave them great relief from the rheumatism with which they were afflicted. The water, of which the troops drank freely, operated as a gentle purge."

Leaving Oil creek, they arrived at French creek, formerly known as Riviere Aux Boeufs. The French first built a fort below its mouth, which they named Machault, after the French Minister of Marine. There Washington, when on his journey to Le Boeuf in December, 1753. liad an interview with the celebrated Captain Jancaire. The English afterwards built a fort a little higher up, which was called Fort Venango. About eight years after Brodhead's expedition. a fort was built by the United States upon the south bank of the creek, about one-half mile from its mouth, which was called Franklin, and from which the present town de- rives its name. Leaving Venango, Brodhead ascended French creek. The Indian path ex- tended up its eastern side to the site of Mead- ville, where it crossed the stream. Gen. Wash- ington had followed it twenty-six years before, when on his journey to Le Boeuf. About twenty miles from Venango, as estimated by Brodhead, he came to the Indian village of Maghinquechahocking, which was composed of thirty-five large houses; this town he burned. The distance from Venango indicated by Brodhead would fix its site not far from the mouth of Conneaut creek, the outlet ot Conneaut Lake, and about seven miles below Meadville. Substantial evidences of the precise location of this village have long since dis- appeared. Yet when the canal, where it leaves the aqueduct over French creek, near Mead- ville, was being constructed, there was found an Indian burial ground, and various Indian implements. In the graves were also found corroded copper ornaments, and it may be, that at or near where these relics were found, this ill-starred Indian village stood. With the destruction of Maghinquechahocking, the ob- jects of this expedition were accomplished, and Brodhead resumed his return march through the wilderness. It is related, that on this march, a young man named John Ward, was badly injured in Butler county, by a horse fall- ing upon a rock in a creek; hence the name, Slippery Rock, in that county. Col. Brodhead arrived at Fort Pitt on the 14th of September.

The campaign thus terminated was success- ful throughout. In thirty-three days over three hundred miles were traversed, many In- dian towns destroyed, and fields devastated, without the loss of a single man or beast ; one hundred sixty-five cabins were destroyed, one

hundred thirty of which were deserted upon the approach of the troops; the most of them were sufficiently large to accommodate three or four Indian families.

The enterprise and resolution of Col. Brod- head, and the enthusiasm, perseverance and endurance of his offices and men, enabled hini to overcome all obstacles. Considering the small force engaged and its considerable re- sults, it was more beneficial than the costly expedition that proceeded from the east under Sullivan. The conduct of all engaged in Col. Brodhead's campaign was evidently regarded as most creditable. The thanks of Congress were voted to him, and Gen. Washington, as appears by the following extract from General Orders, issued from his headquarters at More's House, to his army at West Point, said: "The activity, perseverance and firmness, which marked the conduct of Col. Brodhead, and that of all the officers and men of every de- scription in this expedition, do them great honor, and their services entitle them to thanks and to this testimonial of the General's acknowledgment."

Brodhead believed that the destruction of the towns and fields of the Indians would fill them with consternation, and promote the safety of the frontier. It had that effect, to some extent, for on his return to Pittsburgh, he found distant tribes ready to form friendly treaties with him. The chiefs of the Delawares were there; the principal chiefs of the Hurons and Wyandots also; and soon after came the king of the Maquichee branch of the Shaw- neese. On the 17th of September a council was held. Doonyoutat, the Wyandot chief, delivered a speech, presenting many belts of wampum. He professed friendship towards the United States, and promised to deliver up his prisoners, and that his people would assist the English no more. The Delawares (with the exception of the Munceys) were at peace with the United States and several of their warriors who had accompanied Col. Brodhead in his expedition pleaded the cause of the Maquichee clan of the Shawneese, whom they called their grandchildren. Keheleman, Kill- buck, and another Delaware chief, were the speakers. Col. Brodhead replied according to the Indian form, but expressed himself with great independence. He plainly told them that fair promises would not do; that they must give a practical exhibition of their friend- ship; that they must deliver up their prisoners ; 1.ill, scalp, and take as many English, or their Indian allies, as they had before Americans ; and on all occasions join the latter against their

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BRODHEAD'S EXPEDITION

cnemies. Peace was made on this basis. Host- ages were, however, required from the Wyan- dots to insure the faithful performance of its terms.

As the Indians had freely shed their blood during the war, and had suffered almost anni- hilation for their adherence to the cause of the King, the British authorities could not without gross ingratitude omit to provide for their re- lief. Large numbers had gathered around the fort and along the River Niagara, and during the winter fed from the British stores. To re- lieve themselves of this burden, the British government encouraged the Indians to estah- lish themselves at convenient places and obtain support by cultivating land. In May or June, 1780, they first permanently established them- selves upon Buffalo creek, near Buffalo, and in 1780 and 1781, a portion made the first set- tlement upon the Tonawanda and Cattaraugus creeks, while others settled along the Genesee and Allegheny rivers.

The British officers also incited the Indian warriors, who, exasperated and smarting under the chastisement administered by Sullivan and Brodhead, were assembled at Niagara in great numbers, to make warlike excursions along the borders. Seldom less than five hundred war- riors were on service at one time. Guy John- son wrote to Lord Germain from Niagara. July 26th, 1780, that "the Oneidas have joined the British, and that the remainder of the In- dians with the Rebels will soon join the Brit- ish, and thereby lay open the Rebel frontier near the Mohawk River." "The number of killed and prisoners (Americans) amounted carly in June to 156, and is now enlarged."

"The number of men of the Six Nations (ex- clusive of their people southward) is about 1600 ; above 1200 are warriors, and of the latter 835 are now on the service on the frontier. ' Accompanied by British officers, these war. riors committed cruelties along the frontier until the close of the war. They destroyed the towns of the friendly Oneidas; they in- vaded and overran the valley of the Mohawk, and made frequent descents upon the settle- ments along the borders of New York and Pennsylvania.

The English government, in the Treaty of Peace that closed the Revolution, required no stipulation in favor of the Indians, to the great indignation and disappointment of these allies. Yet a portion of them, including Brant and Red Jacket, subservient to British interests, favored confederating with the North Western Indians in the war against the United States that afterwards followed. Cornplanter and other influential chiefs, saw, however, the folly of contending against the growing States, and gave wiser counsels in favor of peace. In a treaty held at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1784, peace was made with the United States. About this time the British government granted to the Mohawks a tract of beautiful land along the Ouise or Grand river, in Upper Canada. The other nations of the Confederacy after- wards resided upon lands set apart for thent in the State of New York, portions of which, at different times, they subsequently ceded to that State, until there only remained to them the present diminished reservation.

With the Independence of the States, the prestige of the Six Nations departed.

CHAPTER VI. Later Indian Wars, Occupation and Treaties.

At the close of the Revolution, but twenty years before the first settler let the sunlight into the forests of the county, the extreme western boundary of settlement of New York was east of the center of the State, among the hills and headwaters of the Delaware and Mo- hawk. Otsego Lake and Oswego river were bordered by forests, but lately the scene of the fancied exploits of Uncas and Leather Stock- ing, forest heroes of the Indian romances of J. Fenimore Cooper. At this time all of the west- ern part of the State was a wilderness held by the hated Mingoes.

Such was the strength of the Indian tribes in the west that they were a constant menace. At length they assumed so threatening a tone that

Congress was compelled to wage war upon them, at first with unfortunate results. The disasters that attended the celebrated expedi- tion of Gen. Harmer against the Indians in 1790 encouraged their warriors to renewed acts ot hostility, and in the spring of 1791 the settle- ments along the Allegheny were repeatedly visited by them, and women and children often massacred or carried into captivity. Even Northwestern Pennsylvania suffered from their excursions. The defeat of St. Clair by the In- dians in November, 1791, rendered them still more bold and ferocious, and for a year there- after great alarm extended along the frontiers. Their hostile expeditions extended even to the borders of our county. James McMahan, after-

her

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

wards its first pioneer, in 1794 was surveying in Northwestern Pennsylvania. One of his chain bearers was shot and scalped by the Indians, as he and his men were returning to their camp near the mouth of the Broken Straw.

August 20th, 1794, Gen. Wayne defeated the Indians in a battle on the Maumee river. This victory put an end to their power for harm along the border. By a treaty made at Green- ville with the different tribes of western In- dians, July 30, 1795, the greater part of Ohio was ceded to the United States, and a long period of border war ended, and peace for the first time established in these western wilds. which had never before known any other con- dition than that of continued and savage strife.

Preparatory to the occupation of the soil by white men in the west, and quickly following the treaty of Greenville, sales of land in Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania were made on a large scale. We may trace the title to these tracts, as extensive as some of the kingdoms of Europe, through private companies, sometimes through individuals, until the sub-divided lands reached the actual settler.

It is interesting to know the history of the tenure by which the people of the county own the soil. France, by virtue of discoveries and explorations of La Salle, originally claimed the superior right to the soil of Chautauqua county. By the Treaty of Paris signed in 1763, she ceded all her rights to their territory to Eng- land. In 1691 the Province of Massachusetts Bay was incorporated by the English govern- ment. It included all of the territory of New England as far south as the northern boundary of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Previous to that year, King Charles had granted a charter to the colony of Connecticut, which included all the lands westward of Narragansett Bay to the Pacific ocean, and lying between the 4Ist parallel of north latitude and the northern boundary of Connecticut. As the northern boundary of Connecticut is in latitude 42° 2' north, and the greater part of the southern boundary of the State of New York, including that of Chautauqua county, is the 42nd parallel of latitude, a narrow strip of land two minutes wide, extending along and including about two miles of the southern border of the county, was claimed by the State of Connecticut. That State sold its right to this strip of land to cer- tain parties who erected one of the beautiful capital buildings of the State of Connecticut. as part consideration for the purchase price, and this unrelinquished but unprosecuted right to the southern border of our county is still

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 5

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc. Number of Pages: 649

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 649