USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in three volumes ; an encyclopedia of the state : with notes of a tour over it in 1886 contrasting the Ohio of 1846 with 1886-90, Vol. III > Part 9
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WILLIAMSBURG, VA., Feb. 4, 1775.
The following is said to be a message from Captain Logan, an Indian warrior, to Gov. Dunmore, after the battle in which Colonel Charles Lewis was slain, delivered at the treaty :
"I appeal to any white man to say that he ever entered Logan's cabin, but I gave him meat ; that he ever eame naked, but I clothed him.
"In the course of the last war, Logan re- mained in his eabin an advocate for peace. I had such an affection for the white people, that I was pointed at by the rest of my na- tion. I should have ever lived with them had it not been for Col. Cresap, who, last year, cut off, in cold blood, all the relations of Logan, not sparing my women and ehil- dren. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any human creature. This ealled upon me for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many, and fully glutted my revenge. I am glad there is a prospect of peace on account of the nation ; but I beg you will not entertain a thought that any thing I have said proceeds from fear. Logan dis- dains the thought. Ile will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? No one."
NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 1775. Extract of a letter from Va :
" I make no doubt the following specimen of Indian eloquenee and mistaken valor will please you, but you must make allowances for the unskilfulness of the interpreter.
"I appeal to any white man to say, if ever. he entered Logan's cabin hungry and I gave him not meat ; if ever he came cold or naked and I gave him not clothing.
"During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained in his tent an advocate for peace. Nay, such was my love for the whites, that those of my own country pointed at me as they passed by and said, 'Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to live with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, eut off all the relatives of Logan ; not sparing even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any human creature. 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 at the beams of peace. Yet, do not harbor 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 right hand translation is literally the same as the copy given in Jefferson's Notes, page 124, and is doubtless the version given out by himself at the time.
It was repeated throughout the North American colonies as a lesson of eloquence in the schools, and copied upon the pages of literary journals in Great Britain and the Continent. This brief effusion of mingled pride, courage and sorrow, elevated the character of the native American throughout the intelligent world ; and the
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place where it was delivered can never be forgotten so long as touching eloquence is admired by men.
Camp Charlotte was situated on the southwest quarter of section 12, town 10, range 21, upon a pleasant piece of ground in view of the Pickaway plains. It was without permanent defences, or, at least, there are no remains of intrench- ments, and is accessible on all sides. The creek in front formed no impediment to an approach from that quarter, and the country is level in the rear. Camp Lewis is said to be upon more defensible ground on the northeast quarter of section 30, same township and range. The two encampments have often been confounded with each other.
Before Lord Dunmore reached the vicinity of the Indian towns, he was met by a flag of truce, borne by a white man named Elliott, desiring a halt on the part of the troops, and requesting for the chief's an interpreter with whom they could communicate. To this his lordship, who, according to the Virginians, had an aversion to fighting, readily assented. They furthermore charged him with the design of forming an alliance with the con- federacy, to assist Great Britain against the colonies in the crisis of the revolution, which every one foresaw. He, however, moved for- ward to Camp Charlotte, which was estab- lished rather as a convenient council ground, than as a place of security or defence. The Virginia militia came here for the purpose of fighting, and their dissatisfaction and dis- appointment at the result amounted almost to mutiny. Lewis refused to obey the order for a halt, considering the enemy as already with his grasp, and of inferior numbers to his
own. Dunmore, as we have seen, went in person to enforce his orders, and it is said drew his sword upon Colonel Lewis, threaten- ing him with instant death if he persisted in further disobedience.
The troops were concentrated at Camp Charlotte, numbering about 2,500 men. 'T'he principal chiefs of the Scioto tribes had been assembled, and some days were spent in negotiations. A compaet or treaty was at length concluded, and four hostages put in possession of the governor to be taken to Virginia. We know very little of the precise terms of this treaty, nor even of the tribes who gave it their assent, It is said the Indians agreed to make the Ohio their boundary, and the whites stipulated not to pass beyond that river. An agreement was entered into for a talk at Pittsburg in the following spring, where a more full treaty was to be made ; but the revolutionary move- ments prevented.
When the army returned, they took the route by Fort Gower, at the mouth of . the Hocking, in what is now Athens county, where, on the 5th of November, and 10 days after the arrival of Lewis at Camp Charlotte, the officers held a meeting " for the purpose of considering the grievances of British America : an officer present addressed the meeting in the following words :"
Gentlemen :- Having now concluded the campaign, by the assistance of Providence, with honor and advantage to the colony and ourselves, it only remains that we should give our country the stronger assurance that we are ready at all times. to the utmost of our power, to maintain and defend her just rights and privileges. We have lived about three months in the woods, without any intelligence from Boston, or from the delegates at Phila- delphia. It is possible, from the groundless reports of designing men, that our country- men may be jealous of the use such a body would make of arms in their hands at this critical juncture. That werare a respectable body is certain, when it is considered that we can live weeks without bread or salt ; that we can sleep in the open air without any covering but that of the canopy of heaven ; and that we can march and shoot with any in the known world. Blessed with these talents, let us solemnly engage to one another. and our country in particular, that we will use them for no purpose but for the honor and advantage of America and of Virginia in
particular. It behooves us, then, for the satisfaction of our country, that we should give them our real sentiments by way of resolves, at this very alarming crisis.
Whereupon the meeting made choice of a committee to draw up and prepare resolves for their consideration ; who immediately withdrew, and after some time spent therein, reported that they had agreed to and pre- pared the following resolves, which were read, maturely considered, and agreed to nem. con. by the meeting, and ordered to be published in the Virginia Gazette:
Resolved, That we will bear the most faith- ful allegianee to his majesty King George the Third, while his majesty delights to reign over a brave and a free people ; that we will, at the expense of life and everything dear and valuable, exert ourselves in the support of the honor of his crown and the dignity of the British empire. But as the love of liberty and attachment to the real interests and just rights of America outweigh every other con- sideration, we resolve, that we will exert every power within ns for the defence of
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American liberty, and for the support of her just rights and privileges, not in any preci- pitous, riotous, or tummlinous manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen.
Resolved, That we entertain the greatest respect for his exeelleney the Rt. Hon. Lord Dumnore, who commanded the expedition
against the Shawanese, and who, we are confident, underwent the great fatigue of this singular campaign from no other motive than the true interests of the country.
Signed by order and in behalf of the whole corps.
BENJAMIN ASHBY, Clerk.
Notwithstanding the evidence above produced, derived from the American Archives, it is said that the troops, who had wished to give an efficient blow, reached Virginia highly dissatisfied with the governor and the treaty : the con- duct of the governor could not be well explained by them, "except by supposing him to act with reference to the expected contest with England and her colonies -a motive which the colonists regarded as little less than treasonable."-Perkins' Annals.
Of the feeling in camp towards Dunmore at the time of the treaty, we have some evidence in the statement of the late venerable Abrm. Thomas, one of the early settlers of Miami county, published in the Troy Times, in 1839.
We (Dunmore's army) lay at the mouth of the Hocking for some time. One day, as I was going down to the boats, I met Dunmore just leaving them. He expressed his fears that Gen. Lewis was attacked by the Indians. The men had noticed Dunmore for several days with his ear close to the water, but did not then suspeet the reason. He told me he thought he heard the roaring of guns upon the water, and requested me to put my ear to it, and although it was ten or twelve [28] miles distant, I distinetly heard the roar of musketry. The next day we took up the line of march for Chillicothe, up the Hockhock- ing. On the second or third day, some Indians came running into the eamp, beseech- ing Dunmore to stop Lewis's division, which had erossed the Ohio and was in full pursuit of the Indians ; to use their own words, " like so many devils, that would kill them all." This was the first certain information our men had of that battle. On the solicitation of the savages, Dumnore twice sent orders to cheek the progress of Lewis, but he refused to obey them, until Dunmore himself took command of the division and led them back to the Ohio. The troops were indignant at the
conduet of Dunmore, and believed his object was to give up both divisions of the army to the Indians. It was thought he knew the attack would be made at Point Pleasant about the time it took place, calulated on the defeat of Lewis, and led our army into the defiles of the Hocking, that they might the more easily become the prey of infuriated savages, flushed with reeent vietory. An incident occurred here, showing the state of feeling among the men. At the time the Indians who came into the camp were sitting with Dunmore in his tent, a backwoodsman passing observed them and stepped around the tent. When he thought he had them in range, he discharged his rifle through the canvass, with the inten- tion of killing the three at once. It was a close eut-it missed : the man escaped through the crowd and no one knew who did it. From this time until he left the camp, Dunmore tried to conciliate what he could by indulgence and talking ; but this would not have availed him had he not taken other pre- cautions, for many in the eamp believed him the enemy of their country and the betrayer of the army.
The chief, Cornstalk, whose town is shown on the map, was a man of true nobility of soul, and a brave warrior.
At the battle of Point Pleasant he com- manded the Indians with consummate skill, and if at any time his warriors were believed to waver, his voice could be heard above the din of battle, exclaiming in his native tongue, "Be strong ! Be strong !" When he re- turned to the Pickaway towns, after the battle, he called a conneil of the nation to eonsult what should be done, and upbraided them in not suffering him to make peace, as he desired, on the evening before the battle. " What," said he, "will you do now ? The Big Knife is coming on us, and we shall all be killed. Now you must fight or we are
done." But no one answering, he said, "'T'hen let us kill all our women and children, and go and fight until we die." But no answer was made, when, rising, he strnek his tomahawk in a post of the council house and exclaimed, "I'll go and make peace," to which all' the warriors grunted "Ongh ! ongh ! " and runners were instantly despatched to Dummore to solicit peace.
In the summer of 1777, he was atrociously murdered at Point Pleasant. As his mur- derers were approaching, his son Elinipsico trembled violently. " Ilis father encouraged him not to be afraid, for that the Great Man
THE LOGAN ELM.
The above is a view of the Logan Elm, commonly called the Treaty Elm, as photographed by J. H. Nugent of Chillicothe in 1876. It is on the farm of James Boggs, about six miles south of Circleville, two and a half miles east of the Scioto, and one mile west of the Scioto Valley Railroad.
Congo Creek is shown in the foreground. James Boggs stands on the left and Nelson Kellenberger on the right. The cabin on the left, it is said, was built in 1798 and was the residence of the Boggs family, and when taken down, about 1882, had been in use as a tool house. Dimensions of the tree are : girth, 20 feet, height, 79 feet, spread of branches, in diameter, 120 feet.
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above had sent him there to be killed and die with him. As the men advaneed to the door, the Cornstalk rose up and met them : they fired, and seven or eight bullets went through him. So fell the great Cornstalk warrior -- whose name was bestowed upon him by the consent of the nation, as their great strength
and support." Had he lived, it is believed that he would have been friendly with the Americans, as he had come over to visit the garrison at Point Pleasant to communicate the design of the Indians of uniting with the British. His grave is to be seen at Point Pleasant to the present day.
The last years of Logan were truly melancholy. He wandered about from tribe to tribe, a solitary and lonely man ; dejected and broken-hearted by the loss of his friends and the decay of his tribe, he resorted to the stimulus of strong drink to drown his sorrow. He was at last murdered, in Michigan, near Detroit. He was, at the time, sitting with his blanket over his head before a camp fire, his elbows resting on his knees and his head upon his hands, buried in profound reflection, when an Indian, who had taken some offence, stole behind him and buried his tomahawk in his brains. Thus perished the immortal Logan, the last of his race. These foregoing facts were given to me by Mr. Henry C. Brish, of Tiffin, who had been an Indian agent. He had them from the "Good Hunter," an aged Mingo chief and a familiar acquaintance of Logan.
In view of the question of authenticity of Logan's celebrated speech we ap- pend the following extract from Butterfield's History of the Girtys, published in 1890, by Robert Clarke & Co. :
"His lordship (Lord Dunmore) was met, before he reached the Indian villages by a messenger (a white man) from the enemy, anxious for an accommodation. Dunmore sent back the messenger with John Gibson and Simon Girty." (The latter was then a scout for Lord Dunmore and had not yet commenced his notorious renegade career.)
" The two soon brought an answer to his lordship from the Shawanese. Gibson, nearly twenty-six years after, in relating the affair, iguores the presence of Girty entirely. But his memory was certainly at fault, for a nun- ber of persons present afterward declared that he was accompanied by Girty.
" While negotiations were going forward, the Mingo chief, Logan, held himself aloof. 'Two or three days before the treaty,' says an eye-witness, 'when I was on the outguard, Simon Girty, who was passing by, stopped me and conversed ; he said he was going after Logan, but he did not like his business, for
he was a surly fellow. He, however, pro- ceeded on, and I saw him return on the day of the treaty and Logan was not with him. At this time a circle was formed and the treaty begun. I saw John Gibson on Girty's arrival, get up and go out of the circle and talk with Girty, after which he (Gibson) went into a tent, and soon after, returning into the circle, drew out of his pocket a piece of clean, new paper, on which was written, in his own handwriting, a speech for and in the name of Logan.' This was the famous speech about which there has been so much controversy. It is now well established that the version as first printed was substantially the words of Logan ; but it is equally certain that he (Logan), in attributing the murder of his relatives to Colonel Cresap, was mis- taken. Girty, from recollection, translated the 'speech' to Gibson, and the latter put it into excellent English, as he was abundantly capable of doing.
THE FAMED LOGAN ELM.
On the farm of the Boggs family, on the Pickaway Plains, stands the famed LOGAN ELM. It is on Congo creek, distant about six miles directly south of Cireleville, two and a half miles east of the Scioto, and one and a half miles west of the line of the Scioto Valley Railroad. According to the general tradition it was under this elm that Logan made his celebrated speech. It is a monster tree ; twenty feet in girth, seventy-nine feet in height and the circle overspread by its branches is one hundred and twenty feet in diameter.
The Boggs family settled on this spot about the year 1798. "The tradition," says the County History, "relates that Capt. Williamson, an officer under Lord Dunmore, recited to Capt. Jolm Boggs the circumstances connected with the treaty of the Indians, and described the place of meeting as being near Congo creek, about a mile below Camp Lewis, in a small piece of prairie of about thirty acres, in the middle of which was a mound. Logan was present and delivered the speech under an elm that stood a short distance southwest of said mound.
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Capt. Boggs had no difficulty subsequently in finding said tree from the descrip- tion given him by Williamson, and it has ever since been carefully preserved by members of the family, because of the historical associations that are believed to surround it."
The victory at Point Pleasant, as stated, broke the power of the Indians. The site of the battle is four miles above Gallipolis, on the Virginia side of the Ohio. In the fall of 1844, while travelling over Western Virginia collecting historical materials, I stayed over night in the cabin of a mountaineer, named Jesse Van Bibber, then an old man. I had sought him for information, because his family had been engaged in. the border wars. This old man sung to me, in pathetic tones, the song of that battle, sometimes called by them " The Shawanese Battle." I wrote it down from his lips, and published it in my works on Vir- ginia, and now reproduce it here ;
BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT.
Let us mind the tenth day of October, Seventy-four, which caused woe ; The Indian savages they did cover The pleasant banks of the Ohio.
The battle beginning in the morning- Throughout the day it lasted sore, Till the evening shades were returning down Upon the banks of the Ohio.
Judgment proceedes to execution- Let fame throughont all dangers go; Our heroes fonght with resolution, Upon the banks of the Ohio.
Seven score lay dead and wounded, Of champions that did face their foes ;
By which the heathen were confounded Upon the banks of the Ohio.
Colonel Lewis and some noble captains, Did down to death like Uriah go ; Alas ! their heads wound up in napkins Upon the banks of the Ohio.
Kings lamented their mighty fallen Upon the mountains of Gilboa ; And now we mourn for brave Hugh Allen Far from the banks of the Ohio.
Oh ! bless the mighty King of Heaven, For all his wondrous works below, Who hath to us the victory given Upon the banks of the Ohio.
Circleville in 1846 .- Circleville, the county-seat, is on the Ohio canal and Scioto river, twenty-six miles south of Columbus, and nineteen south of Chillicothe. It was laid out in 1810, as the seat of justice, by Daniel Dresbach, on land originally belonging to Zeigler & Watt, and the first lot sold on the 10th of September. The town is on the site of ancient fortifications, one of which, having been circu- lar, originated the name of the place. The old court-house, built in the form of an octagon, and destroyed in 1841, stood in the centre of the circle. Few, if any, vestiges remain of these forts, but we find them described at length in the Archeologia Americana, by Caleb Atwater, published in 1820. The description and accompanying cut are appended :
There are two forts, one being an exact circle, the other being an exact square. 'The former is surrounded by two walls, with a deep ditch between them ; the latter is en- compassed by one wall without any ditch. The former was sixty-nine feet in diameter, measuring from outside to outside of the cir- cular onter wall ; the latter is exactly fifty-five rods square, measuring the same way. The walls of the circular fort were at least twenty feet in height, measuring from the bottom of the ditch, before the town of Circleville was built. The inner wall was of clay, taken up probably in the northern part of the fort, where was a low place, which is still consider- ably lower than any other part of the work. The ontside wall was taken from the ditch which is between these walls, and is alluvial, consisting of pebbles, worn smooth in water,
and sand, to a very considerable depth, more than fifty feet at least. The outside of the walls is about five or six feet in height now ; on the inside the ditch is at present generally not more than fifteen feet. They are disap- pearing before us daily and will soon be gone. The walls of the square fort are at this time, where left standing, abont ten feet in height. There were eight gateways, or openings, lead- ing into the square fort and only one into the cirenlar fort. Before each of these openings was a mound of earth, perhaps four feet high, forty feet perhaps in diameter at the base, and twenty or npwards at the summit. These monnds, for two rods or more, are exactly in front of the gateways and were intended for the defence of these openings.
As this work is a perfect square, so the gateways and their watch-towers were equi-
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BIRDSEYE VIEW OF CIRCLEVILLE IN 1836, LOOKING SOUTH.
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Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.
WEST MAIN STREET, CIRCLEVILLE. The foreground was originally a part of the old circle, which in time was "squared."
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Reed & Bock, Photo., 1886.
VIEW IN CIRCLEVILLE. The County Court-House is shown on the left; the old circle was a few hundred yards distant, farther up the street.
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distant from each other. These mounds were in a perfectly straight line, and exactly par- allel with the wall. Those small mounds were at m, m, m, m, m, m, m. The black line nt d represents the ditch, and wo, wo, represent the two circular walls.
D [the reader is referred to the plate] shows the site of a once very remarkable ancient mound of earth, with a semi-circular pavement on its castern side, nearly fronting, as the plate represents, the only gateway leading into this fort. This mound is entirely
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ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS AT CIRCLEVILLE.
removed ; but the outline of the semi-cir- cular pavement may still be seen in many places, notwithstanding the dilapidations of time and those occasioned by the hand of man.
The earth in these walls was as nearly per- pendicular as it could be made to lie. This fort had originally but one gateway leading into it on its eastern side, and that was de- fended by a mound of earth several feet in height, at m, i. Near the centre of this work was a mound, with a semi-circular pavement on its eastern side, some of the remains of which may still be seen by an intelligent observer. The mound at m, i, has been entirely removed so as to make the street level, from where it once stood.
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B is a square fort adjoining the circular one, as ropresented by the plate, the area of which has been stated already. The wall which surrounds this work is generally now about 10 feet in height, where it has not been manufactured into brick. There are seven gateways leading into the fort, besides the
one which communicates with the square fortification-that is, one at each angle, and another in the wall, just half way between the angular ones. Before each of these gate- ways was a mound of earth of four or five feet in height, intended for the defence of these openings.
The extreme care of the authors of these works to protect and defend every part of the cirele is no where visible about this square fort. The former is defended by two high walls-the latter by one. The former has a deep ditch encircling it-this has none. The former could be entered at one place only- this at eight, and those about twenty feet broad. The present town of Circleville covers all the round and the western half of the square fort. These fortifications, where the town stands, will entirely disappear in a few years ; and I have used the only means within my power to perpetuate their memory, by the annexed drawing and this brief de- scription.
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