USA > Ohio > A history of the state of Ohio, natural and civil > Part 9
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
[To all human appearance, this great valley is intended by its great, good, and wise Author, for a vast number of people in which to live, move about, and act, and eventually, to con - trol forever, the destinies of the most powerful nation on the globe. After the next census, will be the time to fix on the course which we and our posterity will forever pursue, in governing ourselves and the eastern people. Thus far we have been mere "hewers of wood, and drawers of water" for the east. As the wheel of time revolves, we, who are now at the bottom, shall be on its summit. We shall do ourselves justice, in due time, and be, what we must be, an overwhelm- ing majority of this nation.]
CIVIL AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
PERIOD FIRST.
THIS PERIOD EXTENDS FROM THE FIRST DISCOVERY AND NAVI- GATION OF LAKE ERIE, BY THE FRENCH, IN 1680, TO THE SETTLEMENT OF MARIETTA, APRIL 7TH, 1788. IT COMPRISES ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT YEARS.
THE first Europeans who visited this region, were the French. In 1680, La Salle, a Frenchman, started on an expedition, and passing up Lake Erie and Lakes St. Clair and Huron and cruising along Lake Michigan, disembarked near where fort Chicago now stands. He traversed the intermediate country between that place and the Illinois river. He descended that stream to its mouth. Descending the Mississippi, he arrived at length, at its mouth, after passing through many dangers and great hardships. Going home to France, he returned by sea, to the mouth of the Mississippi, and in endeavoring to pass through the country by land, to Canada, he lost his life, being murder- ed by one of his own party, somewhere in what is now the state of Illinois, as near as we can judge from his narrative .. From this period, forward, the French Missionaries, visited the valley of the Mississippi very frequently, and their government was engaged in sending persons among the Indians to concili- ate them; and military men were sent to examine the country, and select the most eligible sites for fortifications. Whoever looks at the map of the country traversed, will at once per- ceive with what prudence they executed their commissions. Quebec, Montreal, Oswego, Niagara river, Presque-Isle, De-
108
HISTORY OF OHIO.
troit, Mackinaw, the Straits of St. Mary, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, &c. &c. werc as well selected for military posts, as could possibly be done, even at this day, when this country is well settled and of course, well known.
The first vessel ever launched by Europeans, on the upper lakes, was the Griffin, built by La Salle, in 1680, and was lost on its return voyage from Chicago to Niagara river. After its de- parture it was never heard of, nor is the fate of any of its crew known. Not a white man dwelt on the borders of that lake, nor in the Western States. Sixty years had elapsed since the landing of the pilgrims on Plymouth rock. The western states were one vast wilderness, inhabited only by savages and wild animals. The contrast is consoling to all the friends of hu- man happiness.
The French intended to keep possession of the Canadas and of the whole valley of the Mississippi, which they claimed ei- ther by actual settlement, or by discovery; as well as by their treaties with the Indians, and confirmed to them, as they said, by the treaties of Aix La Chapelle &c. with the European governments. That they intended to erect a great and pow- erful State in the new world, is evident from the vast expenses they were at, in building forts at all the proper points of com- munication; from the great extent of their church establish- ment; their large endowments for colleges and other schools of learning. Their extreme anxiety, to keep possession of this vast territory is seen in every thing they did respecting it. Professor SILLIMAN in his "Tour between Hartford and Quebec," justly remarks, that "he knows nothing that has excited his surprise more in Canada, than the number, extent and variety of the French institutions, many of them, intrin- sically of the highest importance, and all of them, according to their views, possessing that character." "They are the more extraordinary," he remarks, " when we consider that the most of them are more than a century old, and at the time of their foundation, the colony was feeble and almost engaged in war. It would seem from these facts, as if the French contemplated the establishment of a permanent, and eventually, of a great
109
CIVIL AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
empire in America; and this is the more probable, as most of these institutions were founded during the ambitious, splendid and enterprising reign of Louis XIV." We add, that Louis XV., pursued the same policy towards his American empire as his predecessor had done. The Marquis Gallisonere, Gov- ernor General of new France, (as all this western country was called by them) in the year 1749, sent out an expedition, commanded by Louis Celeron, for the purpose of depositing medals at all important places, such as the mouths of the most considerable streams, and at remarkable places, such as the larg- est mounds, and other ancient works. Most of these medals, perhaps all, which were made of lead, containing " a proces ver- bal," drawn up by order of the Governor General, contained blanks to be filled up with the date of the time of depositing them, and the names of the places, rivers, or objects where they were deposited. I had, for a considerable time, in my possession, such a medal, which stated it to have been left at the mouth of Venango river, where that stream empties into the Belle riviere or river 'Oyo,' as the Ohio was called by them. This medal was a thin plate of lead, and the lettering was rudely done. It asserted the claims of Louis XV., to all the country wa- tered by the "riviere Oyo" and branches, and was deposited at the mouth of "Venango riviere," Aout 16th, 1749.
Such medals as the above were deposited in many places over the western country, and many ancient coins, belonging to the Greeks, Romans, Gauls, Germans, &c., were also left at many places. It is one hundred and fifty eight years since the Griffin sailed across Lake Erie.
The French began to erect a line of forts, for the purpose of connecting Canada with the valley of the Mississippi, as early as 1719, and continued to extend them into this country, until they had established them, at all the most important points. After erecting Fort DuQuesne at Pittsburgh, they es- tablished posts in the direction of the Potomac, but, the Eng- lish finally conquered Canada, and most of their western posts, all indeed, along lake Erie, and on the waters of the Ohio, fell with Canada and were surrendered at the peace of 1763. It was J
110
HISTORY OF OHIO.
this war, in which the Indians engaged, on the side of the French, against us, of which Logan speaks, in his address to Lord Dunmore. It was, indeed, a long and bloody war, in which, Louis XIV., XV. lost Canada, and all the country wa- tered by the Ohio river.
From 1764 up to 1774, there was no Indian war, on this frontier, between the whites and the Indians; and had it not been for some badly disposed, and bloody minded men, perhaps, those scenes of cruelty and bloodshed, which we are compell- ed to notice, though slightly, might possibly have been avoided altogether. But so it was, and our regrets, cannot alter the facts, which now form a portion of history, and having been acted on our territory, belong to Ohio's history.
LORD DUNMORE'S WAR OF 1774.
From the peace made with the Indians by Sir William John- ston, at the German Flatts, on the Mohawk river, in the 1764, until the spring of 1774, there was no Indian War on the Ohio river. On the 27th of April, 1774, Captain Cresap, at the head of a party of men, at Wheeling in Virginia, heard of two Indians and some of their families, being up the river hunting, not many miles off; Cresap and his party followed them, and killed them, without provocation, in cold blood and in pro- found peace! After committing these murders, on their return to Wheeling that night, in their bloody canoes, they heard of an Indian encampment down the river, at the mouth of Cap- tina creek, and they immediately went, attacked and murder- ed all these Indians. After these unprovoked and cruel mur- ders, a party under Daniel Greathouse, forty seven in num- ber, we believe, ascended the river above Wheeling, about forty miles, to Baker's station, which was opposite the mouth of Great Yellow creek. There keeping his men out of the sight of the Indians, Captain Greathouse, went over the river, to reconoitre the ground, and to ascertain how many Indians were there. He fell in with an Indian woman, who advised him, not to stay among them, as the Indians were drinking and angry. On re- ceiving this friendly advise, he returned over to Baker's block
111
LORD DUNMORE'S WAR.
house, and he induced the persons at the station, to entice over all the Indians, they could that day, and get them drunk. This diabolical stratagem succeeded, many of the Indians came over, got drunk and were slain by the party of Greathouse. Hearing the guns, two Indians came over to Baker's, to see what the firing of the guns meant. These were slain as soon as they landed. By this time, the Indians at their camp, suspecting what was going on at Baker's, sent over an armed force, but these were fired upon while on the river, and several of them were kill- ed. The survivors were compelled to return to their encamp- ment. A firing of guns then commenced across the river, but not one of the whites was even wounded. Among the murdered, was the woman who gave the captain the friendly advice; and they were all scalped, who were slain! Among the murdered, at Captina and Yellow creek, was the entire family of Logan, the friend of the whites.
Knowing that these cruel and unprovoked murders, would be speedily avenged by the Indians, all the whites along the whole western frontier, either left the country, instantly, or retired into their block houses and forts.
An express was sent to the governor of Virginia, at Williams- burgh, the seat of government, to inform him what had happen- ed. The colonial legislature were in session, and means were immediately used to commence a campaign against the Indians, and penetrate into the heart of their country on the Scioto river.
The plan of this campaign was soon determined on. Gen- eral Andrew Lewis was ordered to raise a military force, and rendezvous at fort Union, now in Greenbriar county, and from thence, descend the Great Kenhawa to its mouth, on the Ohio river.
The Earl of Dunmore intended to raise troops in Lower Virginia, and marching up the Potomac to Cumberland, in Maryland, cross the Alleghanies, until he struck the Mcnon- ghahela, thence, following that stream downwards, reach Pittsburgh, and from Fort Pitt, to descend the Ohio to Point Pleasant (as we now call it) and form a junction with Lewis,
112
HISTORY OF OHIO.
This was the original plan of operations, and, in accordance with it, General Lewis raised troops in Botetourte and Augus- ta counties, on the high grounds, near the head waters of the Shenandoah, James river, and Great Kenhawa. These coun- ties were then, on the very frontiers of the colonial govern- ment of Virginia in which so many celebrated springs exist, such as "The White Sulphur," "The Warm," "The Sweet Spring," &c., and in a country too, then occupied by sharpshoot- ers, hunters, and riflemen. Collecting from all parts of this country, two regiments of volunteers, at camp Union, now in Greenbriar county, General Lewis, on the 11th day of Septem- ber, 1774, marched forward, towards the point of his destination. His route lay wholly through a trackless forest. All his bag- gage, his provisions, and even his ammunition, had to be trans- ported on packhorses, that were clambering about among the tall cliffs, or winding their way through the danger- ous defiles, ascending or descending the lofty summits of the Alleghanies. The country at this time, in its aspect is one of the most romantic and wild in the whole Union. Its natural features are majestic and grand. Among these lofty summits and deep ravines, nature operates on a scale of gran- deur, simplicity and sublimity, scarcely ever equalled in any other region, and never surpassed in the world. At the time of this expedition, only one white man had ever passed along the dangerous defiles of this route. That man was Cap- tain Matthew Arbuckle, who was their pilot on this painful and slow march. During nineteen entire days, this gallant band pressed forward descending from the heights of the Alle- ghany mountains, to the mouth of the Kenhawa, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles. This march was more painful and difficult than Hannibal's, over the Alps. On the first day of October, 1774, Lewis reached the place of his destination, but no Earl Dunmore was there. Despatching two messen- gers in quest of Governor Dunmore, Lewis and his Virginians continued at Point Pleasant. On the 9th of October, three messengers from the Earl arrived at Lewis's camp, and inform- ed him that the Governor had changed his whole plan-that the Earl would not meet Lewis at Point Pleasant, but would
.
113
LORD DUNMORE'S WAR.
descend the Ohio to the mouth of the Hockhocking river-as- cend that, to the FALLS, and then strike off to the Pickaway towns, along the Scioto, whither Dunmore ordered Lewis to repair and meet him, as soon as possible, there to end this campaign. On the 10th of October, two of Lewis's soldiers were up the river Ohio, hunting, some two miles above the ar- my, when a large party of Indians attacked them. One hunt- ing soldier was instantly killed, but the other fled and safely arrived in the camp, and gave notice of the near approach of the enemy. General Lewis instantly gave orders for two de- tachments to meet and repel the enemy. Colonel Charles Lewis commanded the detachment of Botetourte militia, and Colonel Flemming commanded the other detachment, of Au- gusta militia. Rushing out of their camp, they met the ene- my, about four hundred yards from it. The enemy instantly fired upon our men, a whole volley of rifles, and furiously com- menced the battle. At the first onset, our men faltered, a moment, and began to retreat, but the reserve came up from the camp, and the enemy in turn, gave way, apparently, but in doing so, extended his line of battle from the Ohio to the Kenhawa, and by that means, completely hemmed in our men, in the angle formed by the junction of these rivers. There the enemy posted his warriors behind old logs, trees and drift wood, and fought with desperation, and without cessation, from the rising of the sun, when the battle commenced, until the sun sank below the horizon, when the enemy drew off his forces, and retired from the field of battle. In this desperate action we lost two Colonels, viz: Charles Lewis of the Bote- tourte volunteers, who was mortally wounded in the first fire of the enemy. He was enabled to just reach his tent, where he immediately expired, And Colonel Fields was also killed in battle. We lost in killed, five captains, viz: Buford, Mur- ray, Ward, Wilson, and McClenehan; three lieutenants: Al- len, Goldsby and Dillon, and many subalterns, besides seventy- five private soldiers who were killed in this hardly fought bat- tle. The wounded amounted to one hundred and forty officers
15 J*
114
HISTORY OF OHIO.
and soldiers, many of them severely, who afterwards died of their wounds. The loss of the enemy was never certainly known, but thirty-three of their dead bodies were found on or near the battle ground, and it was not doubted that the enemy had thrown many of his dead into the rivers, on both of which his warriors were posted, as we have seen. From the char- acter of our troops, being all sharpshooters, and backwoods- men, it is probable that the loss, in killed and wounded was about equal, on both sides. The numbers of the two armies, were probably about the same, judging from their extended line of battle, and the constant firing all day, along that line, from river to river. The next day after the battle, Lewis for- tified his encampment, (he should have done so before the ac- tion, as soon as he arrived there,) with logs on the outside of it, and by digging an entrenchment. Here, after burying his dead, he left his wounded men under a strong guard, and marched up the Ohio river, in obedience to his recent order from Governor Dunmore. Moving forward, through the dense forest along the Ohio bottoms, we leave him and his gallant band of patriotic western Virginians, until we have found the Earl of Dunmore, whom we left at Williamsburgh, the then seat of the colonial government.
The governor, after despatching Lewis into Botetourte and Augusta counties to raise two regiments of riflemen; himself raised about one thousand troops among the old Virginians, east of the Blue ridge, for this expedition. With these men, he marched, by the old route in which Washington and Brad- dock had passed the Alleghanies. He marched up the Poto- mac to Cumberland, thence across, the remaining mountains, to Fort Pitt. Here, procuring boats, he descended the Ohio river to Wheeling, where he rested sometime, that is, several days, and concluded, to change his whole plan. Instead of meeting Lewis, at Point Pleasant, he determined to descend the Ohio to the mouth of the Hockhocking, ascend that stream to its rapids, and then strike off, westwardly, and reach the ob- ject of his ultimate destination, which was the Shawneetown, at the southern end of Pickaway Plains. In accordance with
115
LORD DUNMORE'S WAR.
this new plan of operations, the Earl and his army in one hundred canoes of all sizes, and a few boats of larger dimen- sions, left Wheeling and descended the Ohio to the mouth of the Hockhocking. Here leaving his water craft, and a guard to protect his flotilla, he and his army followed up the Hock- hocking to near where the town of LOGAN now stands. Here he left the river, and passed over the summit between the Hockhocking and Scioto rivers, and reached the place of his destination. Within three miles of the Shawnee town, and a little east of south of it, Governor Dunmore encamped, in the woods, then, but now on the farm of George Wolf. Enclo- sing about twelve acres, with a strong breastwork of trees and logs, he named his camp CHARLOTTE, in honor of the then, young Queen of England. In the centre of this encampment a deep ditch was dug, the earth was thrown up, and logs were piled up, so as to render this spot of about one acre of ground, impregnable. In the centre of this citadel the Earl pitched his marquee for himself and the superior officers of his army.
The enemy sued for peace after the battle at Point Pleasant. Messengers met him, before he reached the place of his en- campment, desiring peace, and after his strong camp was completed, the enemy became more and more importunate, to effect an object so necessary to his very existence. Dunmore was determined to grant a peace, but he was also determined to prevent being taken by surprise. He therefore permitted only eighteen warriors to enter his outer gate, at a time, where all their arms had to be deposited with a strong guard there
constantly posted. When all things were arranged for the purpose, the council was opened by a powerful, and impressive speech, made by CORNPLANTER (not Cornstalk), who, in a tone of voice so loud, as to be heard over the whole encampment, of twelve acres of ground, by all the army, boldly charged the whites with being the sole cause of this bloody war. Logan, whose family had been all murdered, the preceding spring, partly on the Captina, and, partly at Baker's station, was in the Shawneetown, four miles south of where this is written. Though he would not attend on Dunmore's council, in person,
116
HISTORY OF OHIO.
yet, being urged by the Indians, who were anxious to be re- lieved from Dunmore's army, he sent his speech, in a belt of wampum, to be delivered to Earl Dunmore, by a faithful interpreter. Under an oak on the farm of Mr. Wolf, this splendid effort of heart stirring eloquence was faithfully deli- vered by the person who carried the wampum. The oak trec, under which it was delivered to Lord Dunmore, still stands in a field, seven miles from Circleville, in a southern direction. An interpreter delivered it, sentence by sentence, and it was written as it was delivered. Its authenticity is placed beyond the shadow of a doubt, and it of right belongs, and forever will belong to the History of Ohio.
LOGAN'S SPEECH.
I appeal to any white man to say, if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, aud he gave him not meat; if he came naked and cold, and I clothed him not. During the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle, in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my coun- trymen, as they passed me, pointing at me, said, 'Logan is the friend of the whites.' I had thoughts of living among you but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap,* last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There runs not one drop of my blood in the veins of any living crea- ture. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country I rejoice in the beams of peace. But, do not har- bor the thought, that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? not one.
The terms of peace, were soon agreed upon, and a peace was
* Logan was misinformed in part, as to the murder; it was not Captain Cresap, but Daniel Greathouse who murdered a part of his family, at Baker's station, as we have related.
.
117
LORD DUNMORE'S WAR.
made. Prisoners were exchanged, and Dunmore returned to Virginia by the route in which he came.
We now return to Lewis and his army, marching up the Ohio, on its southern shore, to the mouth of the Hockhocking. Having reached this point, Dunmore's flotilla of boats, perogues and canoes, ferried Lewis and his troops across the Ohio river, and having halted here long enough to take a hearty meal, out of the provisions, here left by Dunmore, they rushed forward up the Hockhocking, along in Dunmore's trail, and they were rapidly approaching Camp Charlotte. During this rapid movement, of Lewis, he was met by messenger after messenger, from the Governor, ordering him to retreat, not to march forward. To these messages, neither Lewis nor any of his men, paid any attention. In those days "Virginia nev- er tired." In addition to the exasperation which the loss of so many friends, in the late bloody action at the Point, had natu- rally produced in their minds; not a few of them had lost friends and relatives, who had been recently murdered by the Indians, at different places on the frontiers. They therefore pressed forward, determined on the destruction of the Picka- way towns, along the Scioto river; since, now, it was so entirely within their power. Lewis had now approached Camp Charlotte within a few miles, (on Thomas J. Winship's land,) where Dunmore and his principal officers, met Lewis, at the head of his troops. Here Dunmore in the presence of his officers, ordered Lewis and his army to retreat, and return to Point Pleasant. To this order, delivered in person, by the Governor, Lewis and his exasperated army, most reluctantly rendered obedience. Having sent Lewis back, Dunmore, tar- ried here, until his final arrangements were concluded with the Indians. What all those were, we neither know, nor have the means of certainly knowing, only by after events.
That Earl Dunmore, the last royal governor of Virginia, rendered himself excessively unpopular, by ordering Lewis back, is certain, and it hastened, his final abandonment of the colony, when he fled to a British fleet for protection, from his not very loving people. Whether his object, while at Camp
118
HISTORY OF OHIO.
Charlotte, was to make the Indians friendly to the British crown, and unfriendly to the colonists, in case of a war be- tween the two countries, which so soon followed this campaign, we can never know, with absolute certainty. We are well aware though, that GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON always did believe, that Dunmore's object was to engage the Indians to take up the tomahawk against the colonists, as soon as war ex- isted between the colonies and England. So believed Chief Justice Marshall, as we know, from his own lips.
Thus ended, this campaign of Earl Dunmore, in November, 1774, by which, a cessation of hostilities was obtained, and a few prisoners were exchanged, but this was all. The unpro- voked, cold blooded murders, at the mouth of Captina creek, and of the Indians who were encamped at the mouth of Great Yellow creek, within the now limits of Columbiana county, Ohio, produced this war, which in the end cost many lives, as well as much money.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.