Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 1, Part 12

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1020

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on their way the smoldering ruins of Fort Ve- nango. Other forts were attacked throughout the Western country, but Fort Detroit and Fort Pitt held firm. It is computed that in four months two thousand men, women and children had been murdered or captured. For five months the siege continued at Detroit.

The monotony of the siege was varied by a number of sorties, in which the savages and the whites met with varying success. Pontiac's principal hope of success had been in assistance from the French. He was unable to realize for many months that peace between the French and English was a lasting one and that the former nation had been banished from its old realm east of the Mississippi. As time went on however, and he received no assistance and finally assur- ances that he could not expect any assistance from the French, it became apparent to him that his cause was lost for the present at least. French messengers came to him from the French commandant at Fort Chartres, the principal post of the French in the Illinois country, and upon receipt of the information carried by them Pon- tiac made a virtue of necessity and withdrew from the siege. Ilis course was towards the Maumee, where he hoped to stir up the Indians and renew the war in the spring.

Fort Pitt itself was relieved bv an army from Philadelphia under Colonel Bouquet, after one of the most decisive battles ever fought with the Indians in America. This battle of Bushy Run as it was called, which took place on July 6, 1763, was won by a stratagem worthy of the savages themselves. Bouquet at the very mo- ment when his troops were yielding to fatigue and despair, under the pretense of a retreat, drew his assailants into an ambush. The Indians were cut to pieces and so completely overawed that the prestige of Bouquet's name became irresist- ible.

CHAPTER V.

THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. BOUQUET TO CLARK.'

BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION-THE RETURN OF THE CAPTIVES-CROGHAN ON THE OHIO-THE LAND COMPANIES-THE TREATY OF FORT STANWIX-DUNMORE'S WAR-LOGAN-THE QUEBEC ACT -THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR-GEORGE ROGERS CLARK-THE SPANISH CLAIMS-THE . MAS- SACRE OF THE MORAVIANS-THE BURNING OF CRAWFORD-BLUE LICKS-CLARK ON THE MIAMIS -THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR.

In order to assure the English possession of the Northwest two expeditions were sent out in 1764, one under Colonel Bradstreet and the other under Colonel Bouquet. Bradstreet had been very successful in the carly days of the war when he was in charge of a flotilla of whale boats on Lake Ontario. In 1758 he had captured Fort Frontenac. This capture included a large num- ber of guns, provisions and goods and nine ves- sels in the harbor with their entire armament .. It involved the loss of the lake to the French and the- cutting off of supplies for Niagara and Duquesne and was one of the most important elements in the final success of the English. As a result of this success Bradstreet had won much renown and unfortunately much confidence in himself. When therefore he was given command of a large. force sufficient to give the Indians an effective chastisement he felt satisfied that he would reap the glory of closing the war. A part of his plan was to enlist a contingent of French Canadians which should help to convince the Indians of the hopelessness of a French de- fection. When therefore he passed up Lake Erie from Niagara in July he was in the proper frame of mind to be approached by treacherous Indians. He was soon met near Presqu' Isic by some strange Indians claiming to be peace commissioners sent by Delawares and Shaw- anees. These' savages had planned to quiet

Bradstreet by a treaty of any sort which should enable their confederates a little further south to gain time for further assaults upon the border. He was completely duped and on August 12th entered into a preliminary treaty by which the Indians pretended to cede the existing posts and to grant sites for any others which the English might desire to build. The savages also agreed to deliver up all prisoners and in fact to do most anything which Bradstreet might desire. He was completely misled and his expedition was rendered useless as a result. Not only was this so but he sent a messenger to Colonel Bouquet informing him that peace had been concluded.

BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION.

Bouquet fortunately was not so casily de- ceived and he marched directly across the coun- try from Fort Pitt to the Muskingum with two battalions of regular troops and about seven hun- dred provincials. The prestige of his victory at Bushy Run had attracted to him the most expert woodsmen of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The march westward was like a picnic. It was through a beautiful country in the fall of the year and at the approach the Indians fled or hid themselves so that there was no sign of an enemy to interfere with their comfort. Not a single shot was fired on the entire march to the

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Muskingum. On October 16th, after a wilder- less journcy of two weeks, Bouquet was met by [x Indians who said that they came as am- assadors to sue for peace and on the following ay a meeting was had with the representatives f the Senecas, Delawares and Shawanees. The ndians endeavored to throw the blame of their onduct upon their Western nations and the rash- ess of their young men. According to custom n answer was deferred until the next day and o intimation was given as to the conclusion eached by Bouquet. The severity of the ycather and Bouquet's desire to leave them in uspense postponed the next meeting until the oth. At this meeting Bouquet assailed them with great determination and bitterness. He old them that their excuses were weak and rivolous and recapitulated the instances of their ormer perfidy. He called to their mind their hurders of traders and their attack upon Fort Pitt and murders of the King's messengers ever acred among all nations, their treacherous at- ack upon the frontiers, their breach of faith n the case of the treaty with Bradstreet. In this hstance too they had failed to return their pris- mers despite their promises and they had re- cived each time considerable presents but had lever complied with their engagements.

"I am now to tell you, therefore, that we will' je no longer imposed upon by your promises. This army shall not leave your country till you tave fully complied with every condition that is o precede my treaty with you.

"I have brought with me the relations of the people you have massacred, or taken prisoners. They are impatient for revenge; and it is with great difficulty that I can protect you against heir just resentment, which is only restrained by the assurances given them, that no peace hall ever be concluded till you have given us ull satisfaction.

"Your former allies, the Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandots, and others, have made their peace with IS. The Six Nations have joined us against 1011. We now surround you, having possession of all the waters of the Ohio, the Mississippi, the viamis, and the Lakes. All the French living 11 those parts are now subjects to the King of Great Britain, .and dare no longer assist you.

; therefore in our power totally to extirpate rou from being a people. But the English are merciful and generous nation, averse to shed he- blood, even of their most cruel enemies ; ind if it were possible that you convince us that ou sincerely repent of your past perfidy, and

that we could depend on your good behavior for the future, you might yet hope for mercy and peace. If I find that you faithfully execute the following preliminary conditions, I will not treat you with the severity you deserve.

"I give you twelve days from this date to deliver into my hands at Wakatamake, all the prisoners in your possession, without any excep- tion, Englishmen, Frenchmen, women and chil- dren; whether adopted in your tribes, married, or living amongst you under any denomination and pretence whatsoever, together with all ne- groes. And you are to furnish the said prisoners with clothing, provisions, and horses, to carry them to Fort Pitt.

"When you have fully complied with these conditions, you shall then know on what terms you may obtain the peace you sue for." (Olden Time, Vol. I, p. 247.)

THE RETURN OF TIIE CAPTIVES.

It may be well imagined that this speech made an impression on the minds of the savages, who were thoroughly cowed by the firm and de- termined spirit of Bouquet and the consciousness of their own wrong doing. The Delawares de- livered a number of their prisoners forthwith and made promises as to the others. The Shaw- anees were not present at this conference. and Bouquet determined to march further into their country to give them full knowledge of his strength and determination. When they had reached the center of the Indian country within a mile of the forks of the Muskingum, they pro- ceeded to erect a camp wherein to receive the captives. In addition to the fortifications for protection, three houses with separate apart- ments were built for the expected captives, and proper officers appointed to take charge of them with a matron to attend the women and children so that the camp had the appearance of a little town. The Shawanees held back and Bouquet insisted that they should be punctual, and added : "As their Nation had expressed some uneasiness at our not shaking hands with them, they were to know that the English never took their ene- mies by the hand before peace was finally con-, cluded."

Here on the 9th and 12th of November, was enacted a scene the like of which is probably not known to history. After the exchange of many speeches accompanied by many strings and belts of wampum, the prisoners were sur- rendered.

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

"The scene I mean was, the arrival of the pris- oners in the camp; where were to be seen fathers and mothers recognizing and clasping their once lost babes; husbands hanging around the necks of their newly recovered wives; sisters and brothers unexpectedly meeting together after long separations, scarce able to speak the same language, or for some time to be sure that they were children of the same Parents! In all these interviews, joy and rapture inexpressible were seen, while feelings of a very different nature were painted in the looks of others; flying from place to place in eager enquiries after relatives not found! trembling to receive an answer to their questions! distracted with doubts, hopes and fears, on obtaining no account of those they sought for! or stiffened into living monuments of horror and woe, on learning their unhappy fate !

"The Indians, too, as if wholly forgetting their usual savageness, bore a capital part in height- ening this most affecting scene. They delivered up their beloved captives with the utmost re- luctance ; shed torrents of tears over them, recommending them to the care and protection of the commanding officer. Their regard to them continued all the time they remained in camp. They visited them from day to day ; and brought them what corn, skins, horses, and other matters, they had bestowed on them, while in their fam- ilies ; accompanied with other presents, and all the marks of most sincere and tender affection." (Olden Time, Vol. I, p. 255.)

Some of the Indians even solicited leave to ac- company their former captives to Fort Pitt and one young Mingo claiming a young Virginia girl as his wife insisted on following her to the frontier at the risk of being killed by the rela- tives of the prisoners who had been slain by his race. Strangely enough some of the captives did not wish to return. "The Shawanees were obliged to bind several of their prisoners and force them along to the camp; and some women, who had been delivered up, afterward found means to escape and run back to the Indian toins. . Some, who could not make their escape, clung to their savage acquaintance at parting, and continued many days in bitter lamentations, even refusing sustenance." (id., p. 257.)

The army with the captives reached Fort Pitt at the end of November, ending an expedition regarded as the most effective campaign in the military history of America, with the possible exception of that of General Wayne. Bouquet received the thanks of the assemblies of both

the Pennsylvania and Virginia people for his services and the honor of appointment by the King, to the position of brigadier-general. His death the following year at Pensacola terminated a life of brilliant service as a soldier in many of the armies of Europe as well as America, but of keen disappointment in his life's desire, because of unrequited affection. Mr. King sug- gests that as a subject for speculation, what would have been the effect upon subsequent events had Great Britain kept in her service two such officers as Bouquet and Sir William John- son, both of whoin died just prior to the Revolu- tion.

CROGHAN ON THE OHIO.

In the following year, 1765, Sir William John- son, the Indian commissioner, sent Croghan down the Ohio to take control for the King over the Indians in that neighborhood. He was accom- panied by a number of Mingoes, Delawares and Shawanees. He notes in his journal that the Shawanee town, which formerly stood at the mouth of the Scioto, which he and Gist had vis- ited in the winter of 1750 and 1751 had all been carried away (except three or four houses) by a great flood in the Scioto. On the 20th of May, he passed the Little Miami River, and on the next day the Great Miami, finding the country on both sides level. The following is the record in his journal :

"29th --- We came to the Little Miame River, having proceeded sixty miles last night.

"30th-We passed the great Miame River, about thirty miles from the little river of that name, and in the evening arrived at the place where Elephant's bones are found, where we en- camped, intending to take a view of the place next morning. This day we came about sev- enty miles. The country on both sides level, and rich bottoms well watered.

"31st-Early in the morning we went to the great Lick, where those bones are only found, about four miles from the river, on the southeast side. In our way we passed through a fine tim- bered clear wood; we came into a large road which the buffalos have beaten, spacious enough for two wagons to go abreast, and leading straight into the Lick. It appears that there are vast quantities of these bones lying five or six feet under ground, which we discovered in the bank, at the edge of the Lick. We found here two tusks above six feet long; we carried one, with some other bones, to our boats, and set off. This day we proceeded down the river about

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eighty miles, through a country much the same as already described, since .we passed the Scioto. In this day's journey we passed the mouth of the River Kentucky, or Holsten's River." (Oldcn Time, Vol. I, p. 407.)

From this point they went to the mouth of the Wabash where he encamped, sending mes- sages to the Illinois Indians. Here they were attacked by a band of Kickapoos and Mascoutens and made captive. They were carried up to Post Vincent, on the east side of the Wabash, the modern Vincennes and from this point to Fort Quiatanon, the site of Lafayette. Here the Miami chiefs exposed to Croghan's captors the enormity of their offense in making pris- oner Sir William Johnson's deputy, which re- sulted in his immediate release. Croghan re- sumed his journey through the country of the Miamis, finally reaching Detroit, where he had conferences with the various Indian chiefs, in- cluding those from the Big Miami. On this trip he met with Pontiac who took his hand and followed him to Detroit where he joined in the peace conference there.

The result of Croghan's trip was to confirm the British possession of the Northwest for many years. Detroit as the headquarters of the British was a center of control over all the Indians in the territory (almost as far down as the Ohio River) lying west of the Muskingum. Near the old liaunts of Demoiselle at Piquatown was about the only serious thorn in the flesh of the Eng- lish. Here Peter Loramie, a hostile Frenchman, established a trading station in the year 1769 on the western branch of the Big Miami. . This place known as Loramie's Store, Loramie's Fork and Loramie's Station became a center of discontent among the Indians who were there supplied with ammunition and arms as well as reasons for creating dissension.

THE LAND COMPANIES.

The disturbing influences at this time were the land companies. The King's proclamation for- bidding further sales of lands to the west of the mountains was subject to the one exception, the King's special license. This special license was thic loophole through which came the flood of settlers striving with the Indians for thic pos- session of their lands. A number of companies had been formed for the purpose of availing themselves of this great wealth of land. In ad- dition to the Ohio Company, which had been inactive during the war, there were the com-

panies of Virginia, known as the Loyal Com- pany, and the Greenbricr Company, which had bcen formed prior to the war. They, as well as other associations, began the struggle for the proper grants from the crown. To make a grant effective it must be accompanied by a cession of title by the Indians. Sir William Johnson him- self accepted a gift of forty thousand acres of land in New York from the Mohawks. Another important company in which were interested Sir William Johnson and Governor Franklin of New Jersey was the Walpole Company, named after a London banker, who was at its head. Its most active promoter was Benjamin Franklin, then in London as the agent of Pennsylvania. He had writted to his son, "I like the project of a colony in the Illinois country and will for- ward it to my utmost here." To bring it in public notice a pamphlet was issued at London in 1763 entitled "The Advantages of a Settlement upon the Ohio."

Franklin himself submitted to the King in council a plan which had been drawn up by Sir William Johnson and his deputy, Croghan. In March, 1764, Croghan, who was in London for the purpose, urged upon the Board of Trade and Plantations the possibility of fixing a line of division between the colonists and the Indians in the West. His linc was to run from the hicads of the river Delaware to the mouth of the Ohio.

Lord Hillsborough, who was at the head of the board, was very much opposed to any ex- tension of colonization. He fcared that if the Ohio lands should be opened to settlement the whole of Ireland would go there and used, in support of his fear, the fact that so many Scotch Irish were already on the frontier. Another difficulty was the fact that these colonies were 'so far from the sea coast which would drive the colonists into manufacturing, which would injure the British trade. Another objection was that a colony beyond the mountains might become too independent for the home government and would propagate ideas of independence among the other colonists. The uncertainty of the at- . titude of the Indians was used as a strong argu- ment and to overcome this Sir William Johnson procceded to invite a conference with the Six Nations. Jolinson never lost the idea of the Iroquois contest of the Western country. His influence with the Six Nations was so great that lie felt that he could negotiate on more favor- able terms with them than with any other Indians

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

and color of title was, after all, all that he cared for.

THE TREATY OF FORT STANWIX.

The place appointed for the conference was Fort Stanwix, now Rome, N. Y. Sir William arrived at this point on September 20, 1768, ac- companied by two hundred boats of merchandise with presents. In his party were Croghan, Daniel Claus, Guy Johnson, Governor Franklin and Lieutenant-Governor Penn, with commis- sioners from Pennsylvania and Virginia. The great gathering of Delawares and Senecas in the Shawanee country on the Scioto in March, 1765, and the constant interruption of the English traders on the Ohio by the Indians had so fright- ened the State of Pennsylvania as to induce them to vote a large sum of money to be used as gifts for the savages. The latter complained that when they went to hunt in their own lands it made them tired to be obliged to climb the fences of the white men, who had driven away their deer and cut down their trees. The Pennsyl- vania money had been used by Sir William to quiet the complaining Indians and preparing them for negotiations. Croghan had taken an important part in the distribution.

The Indians were very slow in gathering. A sachem had died among the Senecas and this re- quired proper attention. The Delawares and Shawanees had been exchanging belts for the last time with the French and Spanish on the Mississippi. By October 24th, there were thirty- two hundred Indians in attendance. Johnson provided lavishly for their wants and entertained them in most elaborate style; the feasting and talking continued for seven weeks. At this time Johnson estimated that the Iroquois numbered ten thousand persons of whom two thousand were warriors. The allies could make up another two thousand, including three hundred Shawa- nees from the Ohio country, six hundred Dela- wares from the Susquehanna and two hundred Wyandots from Sandusky. The Ottawa con- federacy, which included the Twightwees and the Miamis, and which were unfriendly, were sup- posed to'be double the numbers just given. John- son reckoned them at eight thousand warriors, three thousand of whom were on the Detroit River. These figures are now regarded as very much exaggerated.

The actual negotiations extended about a week. Johnson opened the conference with a proposal to buy the lands of the Indians. The conference then adjourned, acording to the custom, to pon-

der over the proposal as to which they had been fully informed for weeks. Upon reassembling they calmly suggested a line from Lake Cham- plain across the heads of the Susquehanna. This Johnson promptly told them was ridiculous. They finally offered the line of the Ohio River at the mouth of the Tennessee to Kittanning on the Allegheny, thence to Shamokin on the Sus- quehanna and up that river and its eastern branches and to Oswego (Lake Ontario).

The conclusion was reached on November 5, 1768. The Iroquois chiefs signed with the colo- nial delegates; the other Indians present agreed, but were not allowed to sign on the fictitious idea that they were dependent upon the Iroquois. Of course this action did no more than vest the lands in the crown. They could be opened for set- tlement by royal grant alone. Johnson took great pains in his closing speech to refer to the matter as having been concluded by the Indians of their own free will and exhorted them to be faithful to their agreement. The speaker for the Indians, an Onondaga, replied, that they were deeply in- terested in the matter and would notify the Indi- ans at the Ohio of their conclusion, at a public meeting to be held in the Shawance country, where these nations held their councils, and trusted that they would be able to get their con- sent.

At a conference which Croghan had held with the Shawances, Senecas and Delawares at Fort Pitt in May, 1768, he had taken great pains to make no allusion to any new boundary. The Shawances at that conference, in Croghan's presence and in the presence of the deputies of the Six Nations, had said that the country along the Ohio belonged to the tribes living there and insisted that the Pennsylvanian commissioners should stop their traders from encroaching upon them until they had been consulted.

As a matter of fact, Johnson, in agreeing to this line, had exceeded his instructions. Lord Hillsborough had proposed a boundary which stopped at the mouth of the great Kan- awha instead of the Tennessee, recogniz- ing the claim of the Cheroques or Cherokees to the west of that line. This line, however, was an impossible one, as it involved the admission by the Iroquois that they did not control this territory. They insisted upon surrendering this land to show their authority over the Cherokees and other Indians. Johnson preferred to go be- yond his instructions to angering the Six Na- tions. This line, of course, was an interference -

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

THE CITY HALL.

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with the claim of the Virginians and figured largely in the subsequent contests with them. If the Indians owned this territory and were able to cede it at Fort Stanwix, the Virginians could have no claim to it.

The Walpole Company asked for territory on the east side of the Ohio from a point opposite the Scioto up to the Pennsylvania line, to be bounded on the south by a line from the Cum- berland Gap northwesterly to the confluence of New River with the Greenbrier and thence to the Alleghanies; this would have cut Virginia out of the Kanawha Valley. Other claimants relied upon the military bounty lands promised by the proclamation of 1763 and upon Governor Dinwiddie's promise of a grant of two thousand acres to the officers and soldiers who went out under Washington against the French. These claimants were represented by Washington him- self, who addressed letters to the governors, Bote- tourt and Dunmore, and obtained large grants for his men in the Kanawha Valley. Other claimants were mere squatters who had settled on eat River and on the Monongahela. All these 1

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 1, Part 12

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1020

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1020