A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I, Part 10

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1262

USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I > Part 10

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

· Baldwin Supra Cit., p. II.

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

the land from the east end of the lake to near the west and much of the land intervening to the Ohio river. But the common fate of their cognate tribes awaited them and in 1655 the Iroquois completely blotted them out. They were among the last of the nations that held out against the powerful confederacy, and with their downfall the Iroquois became masters of northeastern Ohio. The Cuyahoga was the international boundary between the Iroquois and the Hurons and "a considerable portion of northern Ohio, east of Sandusky seems to have continued to be even after the Revolution, a partly neutral ground, permanently occupied by no tribe, no doubt the bloody field of many small contests."6

From 1700 to the French and Indian war this seems to have been the con- dition of the Indians in our valley. According to a map prepared by Colonel Charles Whittlesey, during the period from the French war to the Revolution, the Iroquois occupied eastern Ohio from the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers, the Delawares the Muskingum valley, the Shawnees the Scioto valley. The two latter tribes were virtually the tenants of the all conquering Iroquois. To the west of the Cuyahoga along the lake were the Wyandot-Hurons and their allies.

Hulburt estimates the Indian population of Ohio as follows: "Counting four to a family there may have been twelve thousand Indians in the present Ohio in 1770, but as Ohio became the general fighting ground the northern and western nations hurried their warriors eastward to the border and in 1779 there were possibly ten thousand warriors alone within the confines of northern Ohio."7

The Eries in their final struggle with the Iroquois were reported to have had two thousand warriors in their fortification.8 Captain Hutchins estimated the Indian population of Ohio in 1787, at 7,000 .*

INDIAN TRAILS.

The state of Ohio is traversed by many trails made by the Indians on their hunting expeditions and when on the warpath. These trails have been traced by A. B. Hulburt in his book, "Red Men's Roads." They followed the highest points of land from valley to valley. There are two systems, one running east and west, forming the highways of Indian migration from the Alleghenies to the Mississippi valley; the other north and south, connecting the Great Lakes with the Ohio. There are three of the latter: one following the Maumee and connecting with the Wabash, the other leaving Lake Erie at the present site of Erie, Pennsylvania, and crossing the watershed to the headwaters of the Alle- gheny, and the third following the Cuyahoga river to the great bend in Summit county, near Old Portage, thence crossing the watershed, skirting Summit lake and leading into the Tuscarawas near the present town of Barberton. This path, called the Portage Path, is one of the oldest highways of the west. The Eries. used it for war on their southern enemies, the Cherokees, the Creeks and the Shawnees; it was, at one time, the western boundary of the Iroquois nation; was

€ Baldwin "The Iroquois in Ohio," Western Reserve Historical Society, Tract No. 40, p. 28.

7 Hulburt "Red Men's Roads," p. 13.

8 Jesuit Relations of 1660.

* Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," p. 154.

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

a part of the eastern boundary of the Indian territory by the treaty of Fort Mc- Intosh, 1785, and Fort Harmar, 1789. It was, likewise, used by the pioneers in the transmission of merchandise from Cleveland southward. It was first surveyed by Moses Warren in 1797, who found it eight miles, four chains and five and five-tenths links long. A description of this survey is recorded in Akron. A well kept roadway now follows the greater part of its length.

The Moravian, John Heckewelder, in his map of 1796, shows the Indian trails. The east and west trail in northern Ohio naturally followed the lake shore. It crossed the river near the foot of Superior street. The river trail southward forked at Tinker's creek and made a short cut to the famous trail that fol- lowed the summit of the watershed of northern Ohio from east to west. This was the great Indian highway, leading westward from the 'Alleghenies to the Cuyahoga, Sandusky and Detroit.

INDIAN TREATIES.

Both the French and the English negotiated with the Indians for the land west of the Alleghenies. The British claim was based on treaties and purchase from the invincible Iroquois. In 1684 Lord Howard, governor of Virginia, held a treaty with them at Albany. Governor Dongan of New York suggested that they place themselves under the protection of the British. This they did and made a deed of sale to an immense tract, extending south and east of the Illinois across Lake Huron into Canada. In 1726 a second formal deed placed them under British protection and conveyed their land in trust to them. In 1744, the Brit- ish claimed to have actually purchased portions of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.9 But partly through the agency of the hostile French and partly through the disregard of actual settlers for these treaties, an almost constant warfare and brigandage characterized the region.

When the United States gained its independence, the British attempted to urge upon us the validity of these treaties with the Six nations and to make the Ohio river the western boundary. But the American commissioners would not listen to this and so by the fixing of the Mississippi as our western boundary made the United States heir to the claims of the Iroquois to the western lands. In October, 1784, at Fort Stanwix (Rome), New York, a treaty was made with them, the United States being represented by Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee, and the Confederacy by Cornplanter, Red Jacket and other chiefs. The western boundary of the Six nations was fixed at the western boundary of Pennsylvania and the "Six nations shall and do yield to the United States all claim to the country west of the said boundary."

On the 21st of January, 1785, at Fort McIntosh (Beaver), Pennsylvania, the United States, represented by George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee, entered into a treaty with the chiefs of the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa tribes. The boundary affecting Cuyahoga county is de- scribed as follows: "The boundary line between the United States and the Wyandot and Delaware nations shall begin at the mouth of the river Cuyahoga and run thence up the said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas

9 See Pownall's "Administration of the Colonies."

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

branch of the Muskingum; then down the said branch to the forks at the cross- ing place above Fort Laurens; then westerly to the portage of the Big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French in 1752; then along the said portage to the Great Miami, or Ome river and down the southeast side of the same to its mouth; thence along the south shore of Lake Erie, to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, where it began."

A further treaty with the Wyandots, Delawares and Shawnees was made January 31, 1786, at the mouth of the Great Miami. The Wabash tribes re- fused to attend. January 9, 1789, at Fort Harmar, a treaty was made with the Iroquois, confirming the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and with the Wyandots, Dela- ware, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies and Sacs, confirming the treaty of Fort McIntosh. But the ink was hardly dry on the Fort Harmar treaties before its protestations of amity were proved ill founded and the years from 1790 to 1795 was one of bloody warfare in Ohio and the western country. This warfare, however, did not touch Lake Erie at the Cuyahoga. No English settlement had yet been made here. But no doubt the mouth of the Cuyahoga was the rendez- vous of many warriors during this distressing period.

The treaty of Greenville, August 10, 1795, terminated, for a time, these hostilities. This treaty was comprehensive and based upon those made at Fort Harmar. It recited the following boundary: "The general boundary lines be- tween the lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river and run thence up the same to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down that branch to the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence westwardly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami river running into the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Loramie's store, and where commences the portage be- tween the Miami of the Ohio and St. Mary's river, which is a branch of the Miami, which runs into Lake Erie; thence a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash; thence southwesterly in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky or Cuttana river."10

This was the Indian restriction when the Connecticut Land Company pur- chased the Reserve from the state of Connecticut. The state wisely assumed no liability as to the validity of any Indian claims that might be raised against the purchasers. The directors of the company forsaw what might happen and in their instructions to Moses Cleaveland, gave him authority "to make and enter into friendly negotiations with the natives who are on said land, or contiguous thereto, and may have any pretended claim to the same, and secure such friendly inter- course amongst them as will establish peace, quiet and safety to the survey and settlement of said lands, not ceded by the natives under the authority of the United States." When he reached Buffalo he began negotiations with the Six nations and on the 24th of June, 1796, he concluded a bargain with them. Seth Pease in his journal succinctly described it as follows: "The council began the 2Ist and ended Friday, following. The present made the Indians was five hun- dred pounds, New York currency in goods. This the western Indians received. To the eastern Indians they gave two beef cattle and one hundred gallons of

10 See Albach "Annals of the West," p. 657 ff.

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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

whiskey. The western also had provisions to help them home. The Indians had their keeping during the council."* Moses Cleaveland was a shrewd Yankee at a trade. The Indians' spokesman was Captain Brant, an adventurer who had been adopted by the tribe, and their great chief was Red Jacket.

Upon his arrival at Conneaut, General Cleaveland was asked by Paqua, the chief of the Massasagoes, for a conference, which he granted, July 7, 1796. In his diary is given an account of the council.11 The General in reply to their demands that he explain his intrusion, in diplomatic terms told of his friendship for them and of the title he claimed and naively cautioned them against indo- lence and drunkenness.

By gifts of trinkets and whiskey the natives were usually satisfied to have the surveys go on uninterruptedly. They did not, however, consider their claims extinguished until the final purchase was made, July 4, 1805. The following letter by Abraham Tappan of Unionville gives the details of this final treaty.12 "Cleveland was designated as the place for holding the treaty. The Indians to the west having claims to the land in question were invited to attend in council at that place. The Indians residing in western New York, having some claim to the land, sent a deputation of not far from thirty of their number to attend the treaty at Cleveland. They arrived at the place in June, accompanied by Jasper Parish, their interpreter. The treaty was to be held under the auspices of the United States government. Commissioners from the different parties interested in the treaty were promptly and in season at the contemplated treaty ground. * * For some cause the Indians living to the west and interested in the subject matter of the treaty refused to meet the Commissioners in coun- cil at Cleveland. And if we except the deputation from New York, few or no In- dians appeared at that place. After staying a few days at Cleveland, and being well assured that the Indians would not meet them in treaty there, the Commis- sioners proceeded westward; and after some delay, and a show of great reluc- tance on the part of the Indians, they finally succeeded in meeting them in coun- cil. The treaty was held at the Ogantz place near Sandusky City.13

"It is said by those who attended this treaty, that the Indians in parting with and making sale of the above land to the whites, did so with much reluctance, and after the treaty was signed many of them wept. On the day that the treaty was brought to a close, the specie, in payment of the purchase money, arrived on the treaty ground. The specie came from Pittsburg, and was conveyed by the way of Warren, Cleveland and the lake shore to the place where wanted. The treasure was entrusted to the care of Lyman Potter, Esquire, of Warren, who was attended by the following persons as an escort: Josiah W. Brown, John Lane, James Staunton, Jonathan Church, Lorenzo Carter and another person by the name of Clark, all resolute and well armed. The money and other property as presents to the Indians was distributed to them the next day after the signing of the treaty. The evening of the last day of the treaty, a barrel of whiskey was

* Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," p. 179.

11 Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," p. 182.

12 Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," p. 401.

18 Albach "Annals of the West," p. 798, says that the treaty was held at Fort Industry, on the Maumee.

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

dealt out to the Indians. The consequent results of such a proceeding were all experienced at this time."

A letter, written July 7, 1805, by William Dean from the "Sloop Contractor near Black River," to Judge Huntington, then running the mill at Newburg, describes this treasure: "Dear sir: On the 4th instant, we closed a treaty with the Indians for the unextinguished part of the Connecticut Reserve and on account of the United States ; for all the land south of it to the west line. Mr. Phelps and myself pay about $7,000 in cash and about $12,000 in six yearly pay- ments of $2,000 each. The government pays $13,760, that is the annual interest, to the Wyandots, Delawares, Munsees and to the Senecas on the land, forever. The expense of the treaty will be about $5,000, including rum, tobacco, bread, meat, presents, expenses of the seraglio, the commissioners, agents and contrac- tors. I write in haste, being extremely sorry I have not time to send you a copy of the treaty." 14

Gideon Granger, postmaster general, was present at this treaty. He was in- terested in lands near Cleveland on the west side of the Cuyahoga river. It was at this time that he made his famous prophecy at Cleveland that "within fifty years an extensive city will occupy these grounds, and vessels will sail directly from this port into the Atlantic ocean."15

The Indians continued to occupy portions of this land after the arrival of the settlers. They were usually kind and generous toward the pioneers. The Senecas, Ottawas, Delawares and Chippewas made Cleveland their trading head- quarters. They would come in the autumn, get their necessary supplies and then scatter for the winter's hunt southward along the Cuyahoga, Mahoning, Tus- carawas, Kilbuck and other rivers. In the spring they would return to Cleve- land with their furs and barter them away. Then they would go by canoe to Sandusky, where they cultivated small patches of beans, corn and potatoes.

The Senacas camped, while in Cleveland, in the river valley between Vine- yard and Superior lanes, and near the point where the lake trail crossed the river. The noted Indian chiefs at this time were Ogantz or Ogance, of the Ot- tawas, who was last seen in Sandusky in 1811; Sagamaw, a Chippewa, and Seneca, of the Seneca tribe. Seneca was a noble type of manhood. The pioneer records mention him with kindness and enthusiasm. He was last seen in Cleve- land in 1809, 16 and he was killed by a white man in Holmes county in 1816, in self- defense, it was claimed.

Gilman Bryant, who came to Cleveland in 1797, wrote in 1857, "The Indians scattered along the river from five to eight miles apart, as far as the falls. They hauled their canoes above high water mark and covered them with bark and went from three to five miles back into the woods. In the spring, after sugar making, they all packed their skins, sugar, bear's oil, honey and jerked venison to their crafts. They frequently had to make more canoes, either of wood or bark, as the increase of their furs, etc., required. They would descend the river in April,

14 Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," p. 400.

15 Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," p. 404.

16 Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," pp. 261-2 and 419.

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

from sixty to eighty families, and encamp on the west side of the river for eight or ten days, take a drunken scrape and have a feast."17

While the settlers of Cuyahoga county were never subjected to the bar- barous cruelties of Indian wars, there were occasional isolated instances of fric- tion with the red men. They could always be traced to the baneful influence of whiskey. The first murder in Cleveland was committed in 1803. The victim was also an Indian. Big Son, the brother of Seneca, in a drunken brawl, killed Menompsy, a medicine man, of the Chippewa, or Ottawa tribe. The medicine man had treated Big Son's wife, and she died. The murder was partly in re- venge. Through the diplomacy of Lorenzo Carter a clash between the Senecas and Chippewas and Ottawas was avoided.18

The first execution in Cleveland was that of an Indian, O'Mic, on June 24, 1812. He was found guilty of murdering two trappers, Buel and Gibbs, for their furs, near Sandusky. Of two accomplices in the crime, one shot himself when about to be captured and the other, a mere boy, was suffered to escape, only to be executed four years later in Huron county for the murder of two white men. O'Mic was hanged on a scaffold erected on the northwest corner of the square.19 His body was exhumed the night of his execution and his skeleton was for many years in possession of Dr. Long, and later of Dr. Isaac Town, of Hudson. *

After the war of 1812 the Indians quietly and gradually vanished from the Reserve. In September, 1823, General Cass and Duncan McArthur made a treaty on the Maumee with the Wyandots, Senecas, Delawares, Shawnees, Pot- tawattomies, Ottawas and Chippewas. All of these tribes, the meager remnants of former great clans, ceded to the United States all their land in Ohio. To the Senecas were granted thirty thousand acres on the Sandusky river in what is now Seneca county, and the following year ten thousand acres more were added to this "Seneca reservation." But the unfortunate Senecas enjoyed their lands only a few years. In 1831 they were ceded to the United States and all the Indians were transported to the west, the descendents of brave warriors sub- mitting meekly to their sad and undeserved fate.

CHAPTER VIII.

EARLY EXPLORERS AND TRADERS-THE MORAVIANS-EARLY MAPS.

Cleveland was not a frontier post like Detroit or St. Louis, frequented by the trapper and trader, garrisoned with soldiery, and with a history that links it almost to the days of chivalry. The town proper was planted in a wilder-

17 Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," p. 375.

18 For details see Whittlesey's "Early History," p. 91.

19 See details in Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland," p. 437.

* "Pioneer Medicine on the Western Reserve," Magazine of Western History, volume III, p. 286.

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

ness, struggled with the forests, and developed into importance within a few decades after the Revolution. Its surrounding farms were peopled in the won- derful onrush of immigrants that made of Ohio a state within fifteen years of the establishing of the Great Ordinance, and the town's rapid growth merely kept pace with the development of commerce and transportation. Our colonial history is therefore very brief.

It is not positively known who was the first white man to visit the Cuyahoga. The French explorers and traders and later the English pushed their way through the western forests, but they have left scanty records of having been here.

In 1682-3, the tireless La Salle performed one of the most daring and in- conceivable of his journeys, when he made his way by land in winter and early spring from Fort Crevecœur to Fort Frontenac, a distance of twelve hundred miles. The trail which he followed has been the subject of much conjecture. Two general routes were open to him; the one crossing into Canada near De- troit and traversing the peninsula between Lake Erie and Georgian bay, the other passing through Ohio. If he took the latter route he probably took the well known trail that follows the watershed about forty miles south of the lake, and crossed the Cuyahoga valley at old Portage. It is conceivable that he may have taken the trail that hugs the southern shore of the Lake. If he did he probably crossed the Cuyahoga about where Superior street ends. Many histo- rians including Parkman think that he followed the route through Ohio. On the other hand, the occupation of this country by the hostile Iroquois, would naturally lead him to cross at Detroit and traverse the country of the friendly Indians north of Lake Erie.

Whittlesey mentions a number of ax marks in ancient trees that he had ex- amined on the Reserve in the vicinity of Cleveland. Some of these were found in great trees that "must be considered a good record as far back as 1660." They were probably made by traders, French and English, and by Jesuit mis- sionaries, who were known to be in western New York as "early as 1656."1

In 1745 English traders were at Sandusky, or "St. Dusky," where they es- tablished a trading post on the north side of the bay. They were not suffered to remain, the French expelling them in 1748-49.2 It was at this period that George Croghan, a celebrated trader and frontiersman, had a post at the mouth of the Cuyahoga. He was the first trader to visit our river of whom we have definite record. Croghan was born in Ireland and came to Pennsylvania with his parents, settling on the Susquehanna near Harrisburg. He came to the Cuyahoga between 1745 and 1748. He had a remarkable faculty for getting along with the Indians, was appointed Indian agent, was a captain under Brad- dock, built Fort Aug-h-wick, in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, and became a deputy to Sir William Johnson. The French and Indian war reduced him to poverty but his masterful trading with the tribes soon regained him his fortune. In 1763 he was called to England to give information about the Indian boundary. On his way thither he was wrecked off the French coast. In 1766 he returned to the Allegheny river and two years later acquired one hundred and eighteen

1 "Early History of Cleveland," pp. 47-51.

2 Western Reserve Historical Society, Tract No. 6, p. I.

NATION DES PUANTS

WIE DE (CUIVRE

AL GOMMEQUINS (OTTAWAS)

GRAND LAG MICHICAN

SAULT

MER DOUCE

SAULT

HURONS

LAC ST LOUIS (ONTARIO )

SAULT

HIROCOIS (IROQUOIS

NEUTRAL NATION

---

ANTO RONONS (SENECAS)

A PORTION OF CHAMPLAIN'S MAP OF NEW FRANCE. 1634

a FORT ATTACKED BY CHAMPLAIN 1615.

CHAMPLAIN'S MAP 1634, THE FIRST MADE OF THE LAKE REGIONS

XSISSISAGOES.

LAKE ONTARIO,

A PORTION OF

OTS! KETO

FAL

OXNIAGARA FALLS.

FORT NIAGARA."WARDONES

N. AMERICAN COLONIES

VILLA GES OF POTAWATUMES,

BATTERY.

IN 1755.

PONTCHARTRAIN

DETROIT.

HURONS

R. AUX CEDRES. }

GAROUTONDUE/

PUBLISHED AT PHILADELPHIA.

SE DENIS RIV. SISSISAGGES.

UNDER THE INSPECTION OF

GOV THOS POWNALL .

INDIANS CROSS THE LAKE

THESE ISLANDS.

LAKE ERIE

THE CONFEDERATES FORMERLY OF S NOW OF 7 NATIONS.

CALLED BY THE FRENCH

IROQUOIS CONSIST OF

LINE

3º ONONDAGOES4" CAYUGAES SU CHENANDONES OR SENECAS 6 - TUSCARORAS

FORT.

OF THE

TOWNY

MINEAMI .R

WERE LATEL

RIFTS.

PURCHASE

S BRANCH.

SANDIK

BUILT /75 4

FRENCHNONSE

WYANDOTS.

PORTAGE

TOWN.

THREELEGS \ CHINGOEST

TOWN

YELLOW

FORT DUQUESNE.

TOWN

MUSKINGENUM.

LEAGUE.

ANCIENT

ENGUSH FORT. TAKEN 1752.

SCULPTURES.

PIQUAS

DELAWARES

FRENCH

AICHES ERO

TOWN.

MAROOUS.

Original in Western Reserve Historical Society

PART OF EVANS MAP. 1755

PAY. DAS

QU'TADAMG

MICHIGAN TEF

CARTE

.. / ......

DES LACS DU CANADA

Diese sur In Manierais de Depost

des l'artes, Pisos et Journaux de la Moruse

A sw le Journal du kỳ de Charlevoix

Tu N BELLIN Erypincel et IfyJregenphe

------

Impinado Devidamente da Menthos de Perio

From the original In Western Reserve Historical Society

BELLIN'S MAP. 1744

Along the southern shore of Lake Erie are the words, "This entire coast is almost un- known." And of northern Ohio, "This region was inhabited by the Eries or Nation du Chat, who have been destroyed by the Iroquois." The Cuyahoga is not shown.

The water shed between Lake Erie and the Ohio river, is shown as just south of the lake shore.

THESE PARTS ARE BY THE CUINFEDERATES

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume I, Part 10

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1262

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1262