USA > Ohio > Ashtabula County > History of Ashtabula County, Ohio > Part 7
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The first nation which fell before the conquering savages was the Eries, who occupied the territory nearest them. The story runs that, about the year 1650, the Eries and the Iroquois met in bloody conflict in the neighborhood of Buffalo, aud that the forumer were completely vanquished. Whatever became of the nation is now unknown, for no fragment of them has been recognized among all the wandering tribes of the west. Were they incorporated into the same con- federaey, and, becoming mingled with their conquerors, lost their separate exist- ence ? Or did they escape in scattered and fugitive bands, and become absorbed with the other tribes of the great west ? It is singular that such perfect oblivion could pass over a people who lived so recently ou this soil, and that no one should know what was their fate. They are, however, a lost tribe,-lost to history, and lost to the land on which they dwelt. Not a record of them remains. The name they borc rests upon the beautiful lake near which they lived, but it rests in silence, its peaceful waves not even whispering the story of their fate.
Such has been the strange history of the land in which we dwell. Successive races have found their abode here, but they have perished by the hand of savages like themselves, and no one knows their destiny. The silent vestiges found on these hill-sides-their weapons of warfare and their buried bodies-speak to us of their existence. The corn-fields in many a fertile valley, the burial-grounds beside the beautiful rivers, the occasional pit where they entrapped their game. and the many signs of their encampmeuts, still convince us that they were a numerous and powerful people. Whatever may have been the race who erected the muounds and earthworks, it seems probable the burying-places were those of this lost people, and that the skeletous which are now looked upon are the ex- humed members of the race which has given its name to the lake where was their residence. The blue waters may moau their departure, the forests sigh out their requiem, but their joys and sorrows are buried in the soil made sacred by their bodies. No tale of slaughter and no deed of cruelty can ever fix to their name. It is well that these residents of this county had departed before the adveut of the white man, for then there had doubtless been a tale of treachery and eruelty and dark deeds which would have east a eloud over their memory. As it is, how- ever, the record of this people who sleep on this soil where now we dwell is unstained by any tale of warfare. The same air of peace which gathers over the waters which bear their naure also gathers over their memory ; and their name may ever continue to stir associatious of the beautiful, the peaceful, and the true.
The tribe which conquered the original possessors of this soil soou beeame themselves its occupants, and before many years the name of the Eries disappeared from the land. For many years the whole of this wild territory embraced in the State of Ohio was known as the hunting-ground of the powerful Iroquois ; and the Senecas, which were the westernmost of the confederate tribes, were known to be its oceupants. It has becu stated, however, that the Ashtabula river itself was the dividing line between this tribe and others who were allowed to dwell beyond them. The maps which were published about the year 1750 designate the region indeed as the hunting-lands of the Iroquois ; but it is related that the Wyandots were by permission allowed to occupy the western part of the territory. A path is marked across this whole territory, from the region east of Lake Erie to a dis- tant point on the Mississippi river, which is definitely stated to be the path which the Iroquois took in their attaeks upon the Illinois and the western tribes. The deep forests became again neutral territory. This time a subjugated people, the remnant of the great Huron nation which had been so recently exterminated, was placed as a barrier against their enemies at the west. Thus did the Iroquois occupy the land in comparative security for many years. At last the incursions
₱ Partly contributed by Rev. S. D. Peet.
21
HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
of the whites became too great even for this powerful people. By degrees the chiefs sold the lands to the conquerors, and their treaties designated the boun- daries of the new territory. The treaty by which the land was ceded where this county lies, and of which it forms a part, was made by the Iroquois, in the year 1726, at a council held at Albany. By virtue of this treaty, the whole territory west of Lake Erie, and a strip of land, sixty miles in width, along Lakes Ontario and Erie to the Cuyahoga river, was surrendered. The treaty of 1726 is the first in which this region is mentioned. The recognition of the river and lake at so early a date helps us to carry the history of this county, then the hunting-field of the red man, at least fifty years farther back than the date at which it is next mentioncd. Up to 1684 no map had been published which described the continent correctly, or even contained a mention of many of the rivers in it. Indeed, it was as late as 1676 before the southern shore of Lake Erie had been visited or the Ohio river had been explored. Such had been the fear of the warlike Iroquois, even among the French explorers and missionaries, that they had avoided this side of the lake, and had confined themselves to the Ottawa river and the northern lakes. The great west had been explored by these hardy and heroic men ; the great river, the Father of Waters, had been navigated from the falls of St. Anthony to its mouth ; the Wisconsin and the Illinois had been explored and described, and forts and missions erected on them, long before this region had been visited. Now, however, the ceding of the territory became the means of its occupation. The French at once became jealous of the aggres- sions of the English, and by right of discovery, and by virtue of treaties which they themselves had made with the western tribes, they also laid claim to all this territory lying west of the Allegheny river. The French government at once sent out officers who should lay claim to the land, and plates inscribed with the French coat of arms were buried in various localities to prove their claim. Forts were also erected at various advantageous points, as at Presque Isle, now Erie ; at Venango, near Franklin ; at the mouth of French creek ; and at Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh.
This led to the embassy of George Washington into the wilderness, and for the first time the streams and forests and borders of eastern Ohio and western Penn- sylvania became the object of attention. The solitude of the forest had, how- ever, been broken. The eyes of the world had been fixed upon this locality. The streams and portages had become the lines of communication. Transports of soldiers, arms, and provisions had been conducted through the wilderness at no great distance to the east and south of this locality.
Ashtabula County remained an unbroken wilderness through the French and Indian war which followed ; and even the treaty of 1763, by which it in common with the great west was ceded to the English, did not affect its solitary state. So, too, during the Revolutionary struggle, the deep forests remained untouched, and only the wild Indian tribes, who were still haunting the frontiers, made it their resort. Yet the course of events was such that it was inevitable that it must come into notice and become occupied by the white settler. Unlike other points to the east or west, such as Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, or even Erie, its nearer neighbor, the county was not traversed by the ordinary routes of the early exploring or military expeditions, so that its history may be supposed to have begun later.
From the French war to the treaty of Greenville, a period of more than thirty years, this whole territory had been distracted by Indian depredations, and it is said that over five thousand persons were killed or captured west of the Alle- ghenies. Yet in all this time the number of Indian warriors was far less than was supposed, and all combined did not equal the number which had been slain. According to estimates made by Colonel C. Whittlesey, in his historical sketch of Ohio, the whole number of warriors did not exceed two thousand three hundred and fifty ; of this number the Senecas and the Iroquois, who occupied this region, did not exceed two hundred warriors. This estimate may be too small. Against these savage forces eleven military expeditions had been sent, and seven regu- lar engagements had takeu place, and about twelve hundred soldiers had been killed. After the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, all the disturbances ceased. What Indians there were lingering here were only the scattered members of the different tribes. This county was a half-way point between the reservations of the six tribes in New York and their territory on the Sandusky. The Ottawas also, and Chippewas, who really belonged far to the west and north, occasionally made the dense forests the scene of their hunting expeditions. The tribe, how- ever, which was the most numerous was that of Massasaugas, a people who be- longed to the Delawares, but who had been permitted by the Iroquois to leave their haunts on the Ohio and occupy this region. They were a harmless people, evidently intimidated by the conquests which had been gained over them. Years ago the Iroquois had subdued the whole Delaware race, or, to use their own ex- pressive language, had "eaten them up" and " made women of them ;" that is to say, they were obliged to give up all warlike expeditions and to live at peace.
Thus they lost their warlike propensities, and now dwelt wherever they were per- mitted to stay. This was the people with which the white settiers first came in contact. They had their village or encampments at Conneaut and in the township of Wayne. The remains of their camps are still found in various localities. One is on the bank of the Pymatuning and the southeast corner of Wayne, situated on the east side of the river.
Other traces of Indian encampments are found in the south part of the county. One in the town of Andover, not far from the Pymatuning, covered nearly an acre of ground, and the land is still very rich where the Indian village stood. Near this encampment many stone implements have been fouud. A nest of leaf- shaped flint implements, consisting of two hundred aud fifty pieces, has been found buried in a swamp, and partly covered with sand to mark the spot. It is stated that traces of former occupation were found in the township of Wayne, on the very spot where the first log church built by the whites formerly stood. In tilling the soil, after the destruction of the house, there was discovered an immense quan- tity of the bones of deer, bears, and other wild animals.
INDIAN DANCES.
The Massasauga tribe was very religious, and punctually observed their ancient feasts. They are described by the first settlers as occasionally holding dances aud pow-wows for heathen worship on the site of the old fort. Some of these were performed with great solemnity. One has been described by Joshua Fobes as fol- lows : " They arrange themselves in circular form around a large fire, one of them with a sort of drum, beating on it to mark the time, while the rest, stooping for- ward, kept up a sort of jumping dance, with much prolonged activity, all the time singing the words ' He-up-a-he-oh-a, He-up-a-he-oh-a' in a monotonous manner."
THE DANCE OF THE MOON.
One of their modes of worshiping the Great Spirit was described to Mr. Joel Blakeslee by a lady, one of the first settlers in Williamsfield, who often visited the Indian camp, and in the night season witnessed the solemn ceremony. She de- scribes it as follows : " When the hour arrived the worshipers arranged them- selves in two lines, one of males, the other of females. Three or four Indians, drummers, sitting on the ground with their single-headed drums and single drum- stick, struck up the solemn tones, accompanied with the voice. At that, all parties in both lines commenced an active and regular motion to and fro towards one another and back again, all keeping exact time with their feet to the drum, while their voices, united in solemn tones, chanted aloud the following notes :
--
0
Weter-weter
we - hah, Weter weter,
we
hah.
Weter weter,
we
hah wah.
.....
How - we - ah, how we ah
hah. How we
ah,
how we
ah
hah
wah.
High-tonne-ah, high tonne ah hah wah; High tonne ah, we
ah hah
wah.
" This tune, expressed in a plaintive voice and accompanied by the melancholy sounds of the drums and the measured tread of the dancers, gave an air of solemnity to the whole. To witness one of these exhibitions of a savage worship at midnight, by moonlight or torchlight, in the otherwise silent hours of night when all nature was hushed in soft and deep repose, was indeed impressive."
This company of Massasauga Indians consisted of twenty or twenty-five families ; they lived by hunting till about the time of the arrival of the whites. Friendly intercourse was kept up between them and the settlers, and through the efforts made in their behalf they soon became more civil, turned their attention to culti- vating lands and raising corn and cattle.
INDIAN TRADING.
It is told of them that, notwithstanding the efforts made in their behalf, the Indians played a trick with some of their benefactors, which showed their inherent treachery. Good old Father Wakeman engaged to let them have an excellent piece of ground for corn-land, consisting of about five acres. He prepared the ground in good season and style, expecting that the Indians would work upon the halves. The Indians came and were punctual to their contract, and about the time the corn was to be gathered, Mr. Wakeman was so well pleased that he told his wife to prepare a good dinner for the whole gang, as he would give them a good feast for their faithfulness. Just at this time one of Mr. Wakeman's friends came and asked him " what had become of his corn." Mr. Wakeman started over the ridge
0
22
HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
which lay between his house and corn-field; but when he arrived at the top, behold, not a stalk remained! It had been cut up close to the ground, nothing remaining but the roots. Wakeman then direeted his course to the Indian camp, where he found the Indians, old and young, feasting on roasted eorn. They had carried the whole erop on their backs, going a considerable distance around through the woods to prevent discovery, and had taken it to the eamp. Mr. Wakeman coneluded the next time to till his own land. These Indians afterwards joined the British in the war with the Americans in 1812, and did not again appear in this vicinity.
OTHER INDIANS.
Other Indians who were found in the county at the time of its first settle- went were members of the different tribes from the east and the west. It appears that the township of Windsor was the chief resort of these wild hunters. It is stated that at one time there were over four hundred gathered there, engaged in hunting and fishing. Among them the Ottawas, Chippewas, Cayugas, and Tona- wandas, and others. Their manner of life was the eommou one of savages. Dressed in blankets, and living in wigwams, which were construeted from the poles eut from the forest, and covered with mats or with bark and boughs, they led a mere wild life, as near to nature as it is possible for a man to live. For their lodging at night the skins of animals served as beds, and they slept crowded thiek within the walls of their rude huts. They neither tilled the soil nor wove their own garments, and subsisted on the wild fruits of the forest and products of the chase. They differed somewhat in their religious eustoms, but all seemed to be worshipers of some divinity, and believed in the immortality of the soul. Their ideas of the future were varied : some of them seemed to imagine that after death the spirit would go to a land where the water abounded with fish and the streams never froze; where the forests were full of game, and none to molest them in their happy hunting-grounds.
We close this chapter on the Indian tribes that onee inhabited this region, with the following account of the manner in which the Eries were subdued and driven from the soil by their powerful enemies,-the fierce and warlike Iroquois. The narrative is Indian traditionary history, and was published in the Buffalo Com- mercial, of July, 1845, accompanied with the following statement : " Its aecuraey may be implicitly relied upon, every detail having been taken from the lips of Blacksnake, and other venerable chiefs of the Senecas aud Tonawandas, who still cherish the traditions of the fathers. Near the mission-house, on the reser- vation adjoining the eity, ean be seen a small mound, evidently artificial, that is said to contain the remains of the unfortunate Eries slain in their last great battle. The Indians hereabouts believe that a small remnant of the Eries still exist beyond the Mississippi. The small tribe known as the Quapaws, in that region, are also believed to be the remains of the Kankwas, the allies of the Eries." Notwithstanding the above, we must bear in mind that the account here given is furnished by the traditiouary history of the Iroquois, and may be colored to their advantage to some extent.
DESTRUCTION OF THE ERIES.
The Eries were the most powerful and warlike of all the Indian tribes. They resided south of the great lake (Erie), at the foot of which stands the eity of Buffalo, the Indian name for which was Tu-shu-way.
When the Eries heard of the confederation which was formed between the Mohawks, who resided in the valley of that name, the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, who lived, for the most part, upon the shores and the outlets of the lakes bearing their names respectively (called by the French the Iroquois nation), they imagined it must be for some mischievous purpose. Although confident of their superiority over any one of the tribes inhabiting the countries within the bounds of their knowledge, they dreaded the power of such combined forces.
In order to satisfy themselves in regard to the character, disposition, and power of those they considered their mutual enemies, the Erics resorted to the following incans : They sent a friendly message to the Senecas, who were their nearest neighbors, inviting them to select one hundred of their most active, athletie young men to play a game of ball against the same number to be selected by the Eries, for a wager which should be considered worthy the occasion and the character of the great nation in whose behalf the offer was made.
The message was received and entertained in the mnost respectful manner. A council of the " Five Nations" was called. and the proposition fully discussed, and a messenger in due time dispatched with the decision of the eouneil, respeet- fully declining the challenge. This emboldened the Erics, and the next year the offer was renewed, and, after being again considered, again formally deelined. This was far from satisfying the proud lords of the great lake, and the challenge was renewed the third time.
The blood of the young Iroquois eould no longer be restrained. They im-
portuned the old men to allow them to accept the challenge. The wise counsels which had hitherto prevailed at last gave way, and the challenge was accepted.
Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm with which each tribe sent forth its chosen champions for the contest. The only difficulty seemed to be to make a selection where all were so worthy. After mueh delay one hundred of the flower of all the tribes were finally designated, and the day of their departure was fixed. An experienced chief was chosen as the leader of the party, whose orders the young men were strietly enjoined to obey. A grand couneil was called, and in the presence of the assembled multitude the party was charged in the most solemn manner to observe a paeifie course of eonduet towards their competitors and the nation whose guests they were to become, and to allow no provocation, however great, to be resented by any act of aggression on their part, but in all respeets to aequit themselves worthy the representatives of a great and powerful people, anxious to eultivate peace and friendship with all their ueighbors. Under these solemn injunetions the party took up its line of march for Tu-shu-way. When the chosen band had arrived in the vieinity of the point of their destination, a messenger was sent forward to notify the Eries of their arrival, and the next day was set apart for their grand entree.
The elegant and athletie forms ; the tasteful, yet not eumbrous, dress ; the dig- nified, noble bearing of the chief, and, more than all, the modest demeanor of the young warriors of the Iroquois party, won the admiration of all beholders. They brought no arms; each one bore a bat, used to throw or strike a ball, tastefully ornamented, being a hickory stick about five feet long, bent over at the end, and a thong netting wove into the bow. After a day of repose and refreshment, all things were arranged for the contest. The chief of the Iroquois brought forward and deposited upon the ground a large pile of elegantly wrought belts of wampum, costly jewels, silver bands, beautifully ornamented moccasins, and other articles of great value in the eyes of the sons of the forest, as the stake or wager on the part of his people. These were carefully matched by the Eries with articles of equal value, article with artiele tied together, and again deposited on the pile.
The game began, and, although contested with desperation and great skill by the Eries, was won by the Iroquois, who bore off the prize in triumph. Thus ended the first day.
The Iroquois having now accomplished the objeet of their visit, proposed to take their leave, but the chief of the Eries, addressing himself to their leaders, said their young men, though fairly beaten in the game of ball, would not be satis- fied unless they could have a foot-raee, and proposed to mateh ten of their number against an equal number of the Iroquois party, which was assented to, and the Iroquois were again vietorious.
The Kaukwas who resided on the Eighteen-Mile ereek, being present as the friends and allies of the Eries, now invited the Iroquois party to visit them before they returned home, and thither the whole party repaired. The chief of the Eries, as a last trial of the courage and prowess of his guests, proposed to seleet ten men, to be matehed with an equal number of the Iroquois party, to wrestle, and that the vietor should dispatch his adversary on the spot by braining him with a toma- hawk aud bearing off his scalp as a trophy. This sanguinary proposition was not at all pleasing to the Iroquois ; they, however, coneluded to accept the challenge, with the determination, should they be victorious, not to execute the bloody part of the proposition. The champions were accordingly chosen. A Seneca was the first to step into the ring, and threw his adversary, amid the shouts of the mul- titude. He stepped back and declined to execute his vietim, who lay passive at his feet. As quiek as thought the chief of the Eries seized the tomahawk, and, at a single blow, scattered the brains of his vanquished warrior over the ground. His body was dragged away, and another champion of the Eries presented him- self. He was quickly thrown by his more powerful antagonist of the Iroquois party, and as quickly dispatched by the infuriated chief. A third met the same fate.
The chief of the Iroquois party, seeing the terrible excitement which agitated the multitude, gave a signal to retreat. Every man obeyed the signal, and in an instant they were out of sight. In two hours they arrived at Tu-shu-way, gathered up the trophies of their victories, and were on their way home.
This visit of the hundred warriors of the Five Nations and its results only served to iuerease the jealousy of the Eries, and to convinee them that they had powerful rivals to contend with. It was no part of their policy to cultivate friendship, and strengthen their own power by cultivating peace with other tribes. They knew no way of seeuring peace to themselves but by exterminating all who might oppose them. But the combination of several powerful tribes, any of whom might be almost an equal mateh for them, and of whose personal prowess they had seeu such an exhibition, inspired the Eries with the most anxious forebodings. To . cope with them collectively they saw was impossible. Their only hope, therefore, was in being able by a vigorous and sudden movewent to destroy them in detail. With this view a powerful party was immediately organized to attack the Senecas who resided at the foot of Seneca lake (the preseut site of Geneva ), and along the
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