Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 14

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149

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DANGERS OF EARLY TRAVEL. BY STEPHEN D. CONE.

Illustrative of the danger and difficulties which attended travel in this part of the country in the closing days of the revolu- tionary period and when the pioneers of the wilderness were opening the way for civili- zation over the vast plains, through the un- broken forests and. along the majestic riv- ers, the following is of much interest. It is reproduced as it appeared in volume I of "The Centinel of the Northwest Territory," of date November 16, 1793, the Centinel, as it was called in the somewhat primitive orthography of that day, being the first pa- per published in the Northwestern Terri- tory :

OHIO PACKET BOATS.

Two boats for the present will set out from Cincinnati for Pittsburg, and return to Cincinnati in the following manner, viz:

First boat will leave Cincinnati this morning, Saturday, November 16, 1793, at eight o'clock, and return to Cincinnati so as to be ready to sail again in four weeks from this date.

Second boat will leave Cincinnati on Satur- day, November 30, 1793, and return to Cincinnati in four weeks as above.

And so regularly each boat performing the voyage to and from Cincinnati to Pittsburg once in every four weeks.

Two boats, in addition to the above, will shortly be completed and regulated in such a manner that one boat of the four will set out weekly from Cincinnati to Pittsburg, and return in like manner.

The proprietor of these boats having maturely considered the many inconveniences and dangers incident to the common method hitherto adopted of navigating the Ohio, and being influenced by a love of philanthropy, and desire of being service- able to the public, has taken great pains to ren-

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der the accommodations on board the boats as agreeable and convenient as they could possibly be made.

No danger need be apprehended from the enemy as every person on board will be under cover, made proof against rifle or musket balls, and convenient port holes for firing out of. Each of the boats are armed with fixed pieces carrying a pound ball; also a number of good muskets and amply supplied with plenty of ammunition, strongly manned with choice hands and masters of approved knowledge.

A separate cabin from that designed for the men is partitioned off in each boat for accommo- dating ladies on their passage. Conveniences are constructed on board each boat, so as to render landing unnecessary, as it might, at times, be at- tended with danger.

Rules and regulations for maintaining order on board and for the good management of the boats and tables, accurately calculated for the rates of freightage, for passengers and carriage of letters to and from Cincinnati to Pittsburg, also a table of the exact time of the arrival and de- parture to and from the different places on the Ohio, between Cincinnati and Pittsburg, may be seen on board each boat, and at the printing office in Cincinnati. Passengers will be supplied with provisions and liquors of all kinds, of the first quality, at the most reasonable rates possible. Persons desirous of working their passage, will be admitted on finding themselves, subject, how- ever, to the same order and directions from the master of the boats, as the rest of the working hands of the boat's crew.

An office of insurance will be kept at Cin- cinnati, Limestone and Pittsburg where persons desirous of having their property insured may apply. The rates of insurance will be moderate.

For freight or passage apply at the insurance office, or to the master on board. JACOB MYERS. Cincinnati. November 16, 1793.

FORT DUNLAP-ITS ATTACK BY INDIANS IN 1791.

'BY STEPHEN D. CONE.

Scarcely ten miles below Hamilton on the banks of the Miami river, a little more than one hundred and thirteen years ago. there occurred an incident of our pioneer

annals that on account of its local character may be of interest to recount here. We speak of the Indian attack upon Dunlap's Station, later called Fort Dunlap, afterwards Colerain, located upon the east bank of the Miami, just below the iron bridge crossing that river on the Colerain turnpike at Venice. It was a stirring event in the history of the Miami valley. It oc- curred on the 9th. 10th and rith of Janu- ary. 1791.

Dunlap's Station was a military block house, erected for the protection of the set- tlement of pioneers who went out from the garrison at Fort Washington to clear and settle the lands along the Big Miami. It was the custom for those whose lands were in the same neighborhood to unite, as one party or family.

Judge Burnet says : "Each party erected a strong block house. near to which their cabins were put up, and the whole was en- closed by strong log pickets. This being done they commenced clearing their lands and preparing for planting their crops. Dur- ing the day. while they were at work. one person was placed as sentinel to warn them of their approaching danger. At sunset they retired to the block house and their cabins, taking everything of value within the pickets. In this manner they proceeded from day to day and from week to week, till their improvements were sufficiently ex- tensive to support their families. During this time they depended for subsistence on wild game obtained at some hazard, more than on the scant supplies which they were able to procure from the settlements on the river."

"In a short time these stations gave pro- tection and food to a large number of desti-

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tute families. After they were established the Indians became less annoying to the set- tlements on the Ohio, as part of their time was employed in watching the stations. They viewed these stations with great jeal- ousy, as they had the appearance of perma- nent military establishments intended to re- tain possession of the country. In that they were correct, and it was fortunate for the country that the Indians wanted either the skill or the means to demolish them."

Just such an establishment was Dunlap's Station. The fort was on the east side of the Big Miami, and was picketed on the three sides, while the fourth was protected by the deep water of the stream. A small detachment of United States troops, under the command of Lieutenant Kingsbury, oc- cupied the fort. It consisted of a corporal and eleven men, beside the commandant. Their names were Taylor. Neef. O'Neal, O'Leary. Lincoln, Grant. Strong. Sowers, Murphy. Abel. McVicar and Wiseman. There were on the north side of the fort Horn. McDonald. Barrott and Barket, with their families, and on the south side. White with his family. and McDonald, whose fam- ily was not at the station : all of whom were busy at their clearings during the day. but sought shelter in the fort in the evening.

The Indians numbered about three hun- dred and fifty and their leader was a rene- gade white man. infamously notorious as Simon Girty. There was present also a Shawnee chief of portly form, who was called Blue Jacket, who after the treaty of Greenville talked with our informant of the incidents of the event, and who settled at. and it is believed died at Fort Wayne.

ningham and Wallace, who were on an ex- ploring tour, encamped on the west bank of the Big Miami. On the 8th (Saturday), after roasting and eating some venison, they set out to explore and survey the Miami bot- toms opposite to, but in the neighborhood of, the fort. After having gone about sev- enty yards from camp, the Indian scouts fired a volley of eight or ten guns from their rear. Cunningham fell dead; Hunt's horse threw him, and he was made prisoner be- fore he could recover; Sloan was shot through the body, but sat on his horse and made off as fast as his horse could carry him, the loose horse (Hunt's) following him. Two Indians pursued him about a mile and a half, during which they shot at the pur- sued (Wallace) twice, but without effect. At the moment they fired the first shot, he tripped and fell; they exulted over him by hallowing wou-ouh; supposing they had gained their object-they would have got a first-rate rifle and scalp. He, however, over- took Sloan holding Hunt's horse, mounted him, and they made their way up the river and crossed over. Sloan now complained of faintness from his wound; he was told to thrust his shirt in the bullet holes. They left the river and directed their course for Fort Washington. On traveling about six miles, they fell into the trace from Dunlap's Station to Fort Washington. Here they held a council: the result was to go to the station and inform the inhabitants to be on their guard. They reached the station about sunset. This night it rained, froze, and snow fell from four to five inches deep. It was not apprehended that the Indians were infesting the station in such numbers: it was supposed that the party had been fallen

On the night of January 7, 1791, a sur- veying party consisting of Sloan. Hunt. Cun- upon by a few stragglers only upon a pred-

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atory excursion, and on the 9th (Sunday) Wallace, with five or six of the garrison, crossed over to the bottoms and buried the dead body of Cunningham, without molesta- tion, or seeing any evidence that there was a large hostile body in their neighborhood.

It was owing only to a lucky chance of vigilance, on the part of Lieutenant Kings- bury himself that the fort was not taken by complete surprise. With soldier-like gener- osity he had yielded his quarters to the wounded Sloan, and on Sunday night he occupied himself by entertaining with lively stories and jocose anecdotes his small com- mand, who were willing to forego their wonted repose and share in the forced vigi- lance of their commander. They had, how- ever, retired to bed. The sentinels, to be sure, were duly posted, but it was appre- hended that they had fallen into the arms of the dreamy god, since the alarm which it was theirs to give was first given by the commandant himself. He. towards the dawn of Monday morning, indicated his res- olution to the company, which had kept awake during the night in the block house, his purpose of seeking somewhere a place of repose. Leaving the block house for this purpose, in the space of less than five min- utes, he gave the alarm by clapping his hands and crying, "Indians! Indians !"

It indicates the security in which the garrison was, and how little they expected an attack, that all but the sentinels and the commandant were in bed. The alarm was received with incredulity, yet each man sprang to arms. It was found now, in the grey dawn of morning, that the small stock- ade was infested by a large body of savages. supposed at the time to number over five hundred. That number at least they

claimed in the parley which succeeded. The prisoner (Abner Hunt, of New Jersey ), who had been taken on Saturday was put forth as an interpreter, Girty, probably with some remnant of shame, not choosing to show himself. The surrender of the garrison was demanded-the terms promised were so equivocal that Lieutenant Kingsbury, like General Taylor on a subsequent similar occa- sion, was compelled to decline, as respect- fully as he could, compliance with the im- perious demand. The parley between Kingsbury, leaning over the pickets, and the prisoner Hunt, pinioned without and held by Girty, who was lying concealed behind a tree, lasted about an hour. This passed on the east side of the fort. Meanwhile the soldiers on the west side, as often as a savage would peep from the shelter of a dead log or tree, would crack at him with their mus- kets, and some undoubtedly were killed, for the remains of two were afterward discov- ered, while others were removed and buried by their savage associates. Girty, through his interpreter, complained. "What sort of a treaty is this, where you keep up a constant fire pending the parley?" The commandant turned around, and, with a soldierly oath, threatened instant death to the next one that fired a musket, but took care to add, sotto voce. "Kill the rascals, if you can !"

The end of the parley was succeeded by incessant volleys of musketry from the as- sailants, which lasted over two hours, when they retired to recruit, threatening to return in the evening to carry all by storm. The garrison was illy provided with ammunition, having only twenty-four rounds of cart- ridges per man, and no ordnance; none was therefore to be wasted; though the women, to remedy the scarcity of ammunition, cast

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their pewter plates and spoons into bullets. The enemy renewed the attack in the after- noon with musketry, and also by bows and arrows, firing brands within the stockade with the hope of firing the fort. The volleys were continued during the evening. inter- rupted by moments of parley through the prisoner Hunt, who earnestly begged on his own behalf the surrender of the garrison, because he was threatened with a death of horribly lingering torture. About midnight they retired to execute the threat. The pris- oner was nearly stripped naked, laid upon his back upon the ground, and pinioned by his wrists and ankles, his arms and legs out- stretched in a most painful manner. They then built a fire upon his naked abdomen. His groans were distinctly heard by the gar- rison during the remainder of that sad night, becoming fainter and fainter, till about daybreak, they finally ceased.

When morning dawned the Indians re- turned to the attack, and continued their fir- ing for a half hour or more. It was a crisis which tried the souls of the little garrison, as well as their valiant commander. The fort was completely infested by the Indians, and the attack most violent. They began the fight like they were certain of victory, and the garrison, while bravely repelling the attacks, considered itself in extreme danger. The Indians, however, finally despairing of success, and apprehensive of reinforcements arriving, abandoned the enterprise and with- drew.

The fort was entirely of wood, consisting of a few block houses and cabins, with a line of pickets, and was particularly exposed to the assaults, as the cabins, contrary to the usual and proper plan, presented the low edges of their roofs outside, some of them

being so low that it is stated a dog which had been shut out of the station leaped from a stump outside onto the roof of one of the cabins. During the siege the most active efforts of the assailants were directed to set- ting the roofs of the buildings on fire, both by fire-arrows and by carrying brands of fire. One Indian ran with a burning brand to a building which he had nearly reached when a volley stretched him lifeless. When the Indians retreated, as their tracks showed, they filed off, right and left from the fort.

The little garrison, though but a hand- ful compared with their assailants, displayed great bravery, in some instances amounting to rashness. During the firing they fre- quently exposed their persons above the tops of the pickets, mocking the savages and dar- ing them to come on. Women, as well as men, used every expedient in their power to provoke and irritate the enemy. They exhibited the caps of the soldiers above the pickets, as a mark to be shot at. Their ap- parent confidence in their security, when subjected to the gravest danger, may have had the tendency to induce the Indians to abandon the siege as soon as they did.

Accounts differ as to how word was re- ceived at Fort Washington of the attack. One account, that given by Judge Burnett, states that John S. Wallace. who had made his escape from the Indians on the 8th, was still in the fort. It is said that at ten o'clock at night during the attack of the Indians he made an effort to pass through the Indian lines and go to Cincinnati for the purpose of obtaining reinforcements from General Harmar. at Fort Washington, but finding the Indians encompassing him on every side, he was obliged to return. Fortunately the night happened to be very dark, and at three

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in the morning Wallace, accompanied by a soldier named William Wiseman, got into a canoe on the side of the fort next to the water's edge, and silently paddled across and landed on the opposite bank, from whence they took to the bushes, and made their way down the river and took the woods for Cincinnati. When about five or six miles out from that place they met a party of soldiers, under Gen. John S. Gano, from Columbia, and returned with them to the station.

crafty warrior who, behind a tree, was en- deavoring by several tricks to draw his fire and allow him an opportunity to escape. The commandant's declaration that he could 'induce no one to go, surprised him, and he volunteered to go provided the officer would parade the garrison in front of the block house and let them see him across the river. It is related that this was done, and in broad daylight (ten o'clock A. M.) amid the vol- leys of musketry of the Indian assailants, the young man. alone in the canoe, succeeded in setting himself across the river, and, re- gaining the opposite bank, he took his course with all speed down the stream, and after stripping off and making two attempts to wade, in vain, concluded he must make the best way to North Bend-but in the course of two or three hundred yards further he fortunately discovered the fording place.

which he was enabled to pass without find- ing it more than knee-deep. About three o'clock P. M. he reported himself to General Harmer, the commandant at Fort Washing- ton, with the news of the critical state of things at Dunlap's Station.

It is related that General Harmer dis- patched a message to Columbia, for re-en- forcements, which arrived at Fort Washing- ton that evening, or the next morning. A force of about fifty regulars and militia were dispatched on Wednesday morning, under Another account states that Lieutenant Kingsbury endeavored to induce several old veterans, by the promise of a reward, to go to Fort Washington to give the alarm and bring relief, but in vain. This was over- heard by a young stripling of eighteen years, who had been relieved just then from duty outside all night, but who was allowed the the command of Colonel Strong, which, guided by William Wiseman ( for that was the name of the young hero), reached the infested post soon after noon. The Indians, aware of the force advancing against them, speedily raised the siege and retreated up the river, the last raft crossing the stream as Colonel Strong came in sight. Finding it relief of watching through a port-hole a impossible to pursue them without the means of crossing the river, he returned to Cincinnati.

These accounts are probably both colored in the interest of the two men, Wallace and Wiseman. One seeks to make Wallace the hero. but mentions Wiseman as accompany- ing him on. the journey. The other gives Wiseman all the credit, and makes no men- tion of Wallace. Perhaps the most accurate account is that related by Thomas Irwin, who was one of the early pioneers of But- ler county, having settled near Blue Ball, and for fourteen years represented Butler county in the Ohio legislature. At the time of the attack on Fort Dunlap Mr. Irwin, who then lived in Cincinnati, states that a hunter by the name of Cox. afterward one of the first to take up lands in Union township. Butler county, happened to be out hunting in the neighborhood of Dunlap's Station,

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and hearing the firing of the guns suspected the cause and went to Cincinnati and in- formed the commandant at Columbia and Fort Washington. A volunteer force of thirty-eight men. of whom Irwin was one, turned out immediately. The same number of men were taken from the regulars, the whole being placed under the command of Captain Truman ; and about twenty volun- teers from Columbia, under command of Captain Gano, started before daylight the next morning for Dunlap's Station, all on horseback. for the relief of the place.

John Reily, afterwards clerk of the court of Butler county, and Patrick Moore, who also settled in Butler county, were in the party. and both rode white horses, and proceeded a short distance in advance, as a picket guard. or spies. to give notice if the enemy should appear. Samuel Davis, after- ward a resident of Wayne township, Butler county. was also one of the volunteers from Cincinnati on that occasion. When the party had proceeded about six miles, they met Wallace and Wiseman on their way to Fort Washington, to tell the news of the at- tack. Finding that the news had preceded them, they turned about and accompanied the relief party to the station. About ten o'clock the party arrived at the top of the hill. which overlooks the plain on which Dunlap's Station was situated, when it was discovered the Indians had abandoned the siege and gone. On arriving at the fort. it was found that the garrison. though in im- minent danger, had · sustained but little in- jury. On the first fire, the Indians fired into a building where the hand mill was kept, be- tween the logs which had not been chunked. by which they killed one man and wounded another. The body of Abner Hunt was found near the station shockingly mangled,

-his brains beaten out, two war clubs laid across his breast, and a blazing firebrand placed in his bowels.

Dunlap's Station was soon after aban- doned on account of its exposed danger to the excursions of the savage foe. Both the settlers and military left it, inasmuch as in the attack which we have been describing the Indians had destroyed the accumulations of the preceding season, and a scene of wild ruin and desolation was spread around. The houses of many, besides those whose names we have given, who had provided dwellings which they purposed to occupy in the spring. shared in the common conflagration and ruin. and the panic for a while retarded the settlement of a locality now among the most flourishing and peaceful in the state of Ohio.

FOUNDING OF FORT HAMILTON. BY DR. WILLIAM C. MILLER.

When the white man first cast his eye on this locality. it was covered with dense for- ests and inhabited by the Shawnee and Mi- ami tribes of the red men. La Salle, in 1660, first explored this region. In 1750 Christo- pher Gist and George Croghan. explorers. left Fort Duquesne. now Pittsburg. crossed the country to the Maumee, to the village of the Ottawas, held a council with the chiefs and secured their friendship and proceeded south to the village of the Piquas, and secured their friendship. They then separated. Croghan going to the Scioto, and Gist passed down the Miami and then up the Ohio to Pittsburg. In 1780, during the Rev- olutionary war. Colonel Bird, with a detach- ment of six hundred Indians and Canadians, with four pieces of artillery, left Canada, passed up the Maumee, over to Laramie creek. thence to the Miami, down the same,

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passed over the site of what eleven years later was Fort Hamilton, all the way a wil- derness, to the Ohio, up the Ohio to the Licking, reduced several American frontier stations, and returned by the same route with prisoners and plunder.

Peace with England being declared in 1783, and congress having provided land bounties to every soldier or his family, if slain by the enemy, General Putnam at once sent in a memorial to General Washington for a num- ber of such claims. He approved them, but owing to conflicting claims of the various original states to Ohio territory, nothing was done until 1780, when congress acquired the title to all lands northwest of the Ohio river. Thomas Hutchinson, a noted geographer, was appointed surveyor general, to proceed at once.

The Indians, although ceding the terri- tory, were bitterly oppsed to its survey and settlement. and became so hostile that noth- ing could be done until the spring of 1786. when military aid was secured from General Harmar, and hostilities on the part of the savages were somewhat abated, and work again begun in 1787. John Cleves Symmes in the meantime contracted with the gov- ernment for one million acres of land lying between the two Miamis. On the 15th of May. 1788, the contract was closed, and Judge Symmes at once appointed Israel Ludlow to survey it. Harassed by the Indi- ans, the occupation was all but pleasant.

From this time on a continuous flow of adventurous immigrants, coming down the Ohio in flat-bottomed boats, settled in these wilds. But so hazardous did this become, owing to the continued hostility of the Indi- ans, often successful and inflicting terrible

barbarities against the early settlers, that on April 18. 1790, General Harmar, with three hundred and ten Kentucky volunteers, marched to the Ohio, and again for the time secured safe navigation. Fort Washington in the meantime being established, an army of fourteen hundred men was organized in the fall and marched against the Indians.

They, however. were defeated in two successive encounters and lost over three hundred men. The frontiers became alarmed and panic-stricken. In 1791 congress or- dered an army of three thousand men, Gen- eral St. Clair commander, for the protection of the pioneers. On September 8th he left Fort Washington with twenty-three hun- dred men, with Gen. Richard Butler second in command. Colonel Darke leading the advance. On the 17th they reached a point twenty-five miles from Fort Washington. latitude thirty-nine degrees twenty-six min- utes, and longitude seven degrees twenty- nine minutes. Here they halted and erected the first chain of forts and named it Fort Hamilton. The circuit of the fort was about one thousand feet. through the whole extent of which a trench was dug three feet deep to set the pickets in, of which it required about two thousand to inclose it. The trees were tall and straight. and from nine to twelve inches in diameter. To secure this particular size they were compelled to go over considerable space of woodland. When found. they were felled, cleared of their branches and cut into lengths of about twenty feet. They were then carried or dragged by oxen to the ground. but the woods being so thick and incumbered by un- derbrush. they found the former to be the most expeditious method. Thus the labor of building the fort was entirely done by the

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Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 14

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1149

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149