History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 35

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854

USA > Ohio > Coshocton County > History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881 > Part 35

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When the Revolutionary War broke out, it was a matter of the utmost importance to the eolo- nists to secure at least the neutrality of the In- dian tribes, and efforts were accordingly made. Two treaties were made at Pittsburgh in suc- cessive years-1775 and 1776-binding to neu- trality the Delawares and some of the imme- diately adjacent nations.

Atthe opening of 1777, the hatchet sent from Detroit (the British headquarters), was accepted by the Shawnees, Wyandots and Mingoes. Ru- mor had it that it was also to be sent to the Dela- wares, and if they declined it they were to be treated as cominon enemies, and at once attacked by the British and their Indian allies. The famous chief Cornstalk himself came to Gos- chachgunk, reporting that despite his efforts the Shawnees were for war, parties were already out, and amunition was being forwarded for their use from Detroit. Even a portion of the Delawares

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

had been already pledged to take up arms. At this crisis-so threatening to the colonists-a general couneil of the Delawares met at the capital, on the 9th of March, 1777. Some of the young warriors appeared with plumes and war paint. After earnest discussion and eloquent speeches, especially from White Eyes, it was re- solved to decline the hatchet should it be offered. Three times during that summer it was tendered and as often declined. Despite the taunts of their own race-against even a faction of their own nation-rejecting bribes and spurning threats, the people stood, month after month, as a mighty wall of protection to the western colo- nists. Looking to the plainly discernible natural consequences of a different decision in that grand couneil, it is not without reason that the claim may be made, that one of the grandest victories for the colonists in the American Revo- lutionary war was won at the Delaware capital, at the forks of the Muskingum. Subsequently, indeed, by the machinations of renegades like Simon Girty (who was several times at the capital), and the taunts of the tribes, a part of the nation was led to join the British Indians. In 1778, the rightful authorities of the nation made a complete treaty of alliance with the commissioners of the United States, therein pro- viding for carrying out a cherished project of White Eyes, that the Delaware nation should be represented in the Colonial Congress, and be- come, as a Christian Indian State, one of the United States. By the neighboring tribes the Delawares were often taunted with being unduly gentle-" women "-and were always remarked upon as having too many captives; making exer- tions to secure as such those commonly appointed by other Indians to the tomahawk or stake.

Killbnek, aided by the other Christain Indians, for a time held the nation very much in hand; but by 1780 Captain Pipe got the ascendaney at Gosehachgunk, and put the people on the side of the British, setting up a new town in the Seneca country. Killbuck and those who sided with him went over fully to the colonists, and left the forks, never to return. In 1795 their country, of which Coshocton county forms the central part, became by treaty the possession of the United States. Until after the war of 1812, a few strag-

gling members of the nation, especially the Gna- denhutten ones, moved about in the country, hunting, disposing of pelts, or possibly visiting the graves of their ancestors. Fragments of the nation are yet recognized in Canada and in the Indian Territory, but its power was broken and the scepter had departed when it was turned away from its loved haunts in the Tuscarawas and Walhonding valleys.

By the treaty of September 29, 1817, the Dela- wares were decded a reservation on the south of the Wyandot reservation, both in Marion and Wyandot counties. When this wasdone, Captain Pipe, son of " Ok Captain Pipe," was the principal Delaware chief. The Delaware Indians remained on their reservation until about 1829, when they ceded it to the United States for $3,000, and were moved, as before stated, west of the Mississippi. The Wyandots ceded theirs in March, 1842, and left for the far west in July of the next year. AAt that date they numbered about 700 souls, and were the last Indian tribe to relinquish its claims to the soil of Ohio.

CHAPTER XX.

BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION.

The causes which led to the Expedition-The Pontiae War- Bouquet ordered to the relief of Fort Pitt-HIis march from Fort Pitt-Incidents of the March-Indian Trails-March down the Tnsearawas-Council with the Chiefs-Bouquel's Camp at the Forks of the Muskingum-The Treaty of Pence -The Recovery ol Prisoners-Sketch of Colonel Bouquet's Life.

H 1OR a full understanding of this great mili- tary campaign, which had its terminus in this county, it is necessary to review, briefly, the causes which rendered it necessary.

In 1763, the vast region from the Alleghenies to the Rocky mountains, was mostly in posses- sion of the French. Their forts, missions, trad- ing posts-the centers, in some cases, of little colonies-were scattered throughout the valley of the Mississippi and on the borders of all the great lakes. They had gained a controlling influence over the Indians, and by the right of discovery and colonization, they regarded the country as their own.

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

When Wolf and Amherst conquered Canada, the vast but frail fabric of French empire in the west crumbled to the dust.

To the Indian tribes occupying this terri- tory, the change was nothing but disaster. They had hekl, in a certain sense, the balance of power between the two rival colonies of France and England. Both had bid for their friendship, and both competed for trade with them, but the French had been the more successful, their influ- ence among the Indians was great, and they had generally gained their good will.

The English came among them, erected forts, generally claimed the country, but where they came in contact with the Indians only jealousy and hatred were engendered. This feeling con- tinued until it culminated in the great Indian war known as "Pontiac's War." The tribes leagued together to drive the English into the sea. At one fell swoop all the small posts of the interior were captured from the English, and the frontiers swept by fire. The two great forts, De- troit and Fort Pitt, alone withstoo I the assailants, and these were reduced to extremity.

Pontiac, himself, beleaguered Detroit, while the Delawares, Shawanese and Wyandots, who occu- pied territory now embraced in Ohio, laid siege, in their barbarous way, to Fort Pitt. Other bands of the same tribes meanwhile ravaged the frontiers of Pennsylvania, burning houses, mur- dering settlers, and producing indescribable dis- tress and consternation.

This is the point where the history of Bouquet's expeditions properly begins. He was then in command at Philadelphia, and was ordered to march at once to the relief of the garrison at Fort Pitt. It was a desperate and difficult under- taking, but Colonel Bouquet was an experienced officer, a man of science, courage and sense, and proved himself in every way equal to the emer- geney.

Of the difficulties he encountered in collecting his troops; of their long march over the Alle- gheny mountains; of the tierce and bloody bat- tle of Bushy Run : of Bouquet's arrival at Fort Pitt and relief of that sorely beleaguered garri- son, August 10, 1763, it is not within the province of this chapter to speak in detail.

With this introduction the reader will be able

to understand more clearly the details of the campaign of 1764, into the territory embraced within the limits of this county.

The Indians, disheartened by their overwhelm- ing defeat at Bushy Run, and despairing of sue- cess against Fort Pitt, now it was so heavily rein- forced, retired sullenly to their homes beyond the Ohio, leaving the country between it and the settlements free from their ravages. Communi- cation now being rendered safe, the fugitive set- tlers were able to return to their friends, or take possession again of their abandoned cabins. By comparing notes they were soon able to make out an accurate list of those who were missing-either killed or prisoners among the various tribes- when it was found to contain the names of more than 200 men, women and children. Fathers mourned their daughters slain, or subject to a captivity worse than death ; husbands their wives left mangled in the forest, or forced into the em- braces of their savage captors-some with babes at their breast, and some whose offspring would first see the light in the red man's wigwam -and loud were the cries that went up on every side for vengeance.

Boquet wished to follow up his success and march at once into the heart of the enemy's coun- try, and wring from the hostile tribes, by force of arms, a treaty of peace which should forever put an end to these scenes of rapine and murder. But his force was too small to attempt this, while the season was too far advanced to leave time to organize another expedition before winter. He therefore determined to remain at the fort till spring, and then assemble an army sufficiently large te crush all opposition, and finish what he had so successfully begun.

Acting under instructions, he matured during the winter all his plans, and soon as spring opened set on foot measures by which an army strong enough to render resistance hopeless should be placed under his command.

In the meantime the Indians had obtained powder from the French, and as soon as the snow melted recommenced their ravages along the frontier, killing, scalping and taking prison- ers men, women and children.

Bouquet could muster scarcely 500 men of the regular army - most of them Highlanders of the

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4th and 6th regiments-but Pennsylvania, at her own expense, furnished 1,000 militia, and Vir- ginia a corps of volunteers. With this imposing force he was directed to march against the Dela- wares, Mohicans and Mingoes; while Col. Brad- street, from Detroit, should advance into the ter- ritory of the Wyandots, Ottawas and Chippewas; and thus, by one great simultaneous movement, crush those warlike tribes. Bouquet's route, how- ever, was without any water communication whatever, but lay directly through the heart of an unbroken wilderness. The expedition, from beginning to end, was to be carried on without boats, wagons, or artillery, and without a post to fall back upon in case of disaster. The army was to be an isolated thing, a self-supporting ma- chine.

Although the preparations commenced carly in the spring, difficulties and delays occurred in carrying them forward, so that the troops, that were ordered to assemble at Carlisle, did not get ready to march till the 5th of August. Four days after, they were drawn up on parade, and addressed in a patriotic speech by the Governor of the State. This ceremony being finished, they turned their steps toward the wilderness, followed by the cheers of the people. Passing over the bloody field of Bushy Run, which still bore marks of the sharp conflict that took place there the year before, they pushed on, unmo- lested by the Indians, and entered Fort Pitt on the 13th of September.

In the mean time a company of Delawares visited the fort, and informed Bouquet that Col- onel Bradstreet had formed a treaty of peace with them and the Shawnees.

Bouquet gave no credit to the story, and went on with his preparations. To set the matter at rest, however, he offered to send an express to Detroit, if they would furnish guides and safe- conduct, saying he would give it ten days to go and ten to return. This they agreed to; but unwilling to trust their word alone, he retained ten of their number as hostages, whom he de- elared he would shoot if the express came to any harm. Soon after other Indians arrived, and en- deavored to persuade him not to advance till the express should return. Suspecting that their motive was to delay him till the season was too

far advaneed to move at all, he turned a deaf car to their solicitations, saying that the express could meet him on his march ; and if it was true, as they said, that peace was concluded, they would receive no harm from him. So, on the 3:1 of October, under a bright autumnal sky, the imposing little army of 1,500 men defiled out of the fort, and taking the great Indian trail westward boldly entered the wilderness. The long train of pack-horses, and immense droves of sheep and cattle that accompanied it, gave to it the appearance of a huge caravan, slowly threading its way amidst the endless colonades of the forest. Only one woman was allowed to each corps, and two for general hospital.

This expedition, even in early history, was a novel one ; for following no water-course, it struck directly into the trackless forest, with no definite point in view, and no fixed limit to its advance. It was intended to overawe by its magnitude-to move, as an exhibition of awful power, into the very heart of the red man's dominions. Expect- ing to be shut up in the forest at least a month, and receive in that time no supplies from with- out, it had to carry along an immense quantity of provisions. Meat, of course, could not be pre- served, and so the frontier settlements were exhausted of sheep and oxen to move on with it for its support. These necessarily caused its march to be slow and methodical. A corps of Virginia volunteers went in advance, preceded by three scouting parties-one of which kept the path, while the other two moved in a line abreast, on either side, to explore the woods. Under cover of these the axe companies, guarded by two companies of light infantry, cut two parallel paths, one each side of the main path, for the troops, pack-horses, and cattle that were to fol- low. First marched the Highlanders, in column two-deep, in the center path, and in the side paths in single file abreast-the men six feet apart ; and behind them the corps of reserve, and the second battalion of Pennsylvania militia. Then came the officers and pack-horses, followed by the vast droves of cattle, filling the forest with their loud complainings. A company of light horse walked slowly after these, and the rear-guard closed the long array. No talking was allowed, and no music cheered the way. When the order to halt passed

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

along the line, the whole were to face outward, and the moment the signal of attack sounded, to form a hollow square, into the center of which pack-horses, ammunition, and cattle were to be hurried, followed by the light horse.

In this order the unwieldy caravan struggled on through the forest, neither extremity of which could be seen from the center, it being lost amidst the thickly clustering trunks and foliage in the distance.

The first day the expedition made only three miles. The · next, after marching two miles, it came to the Ohio, and moved down its gravelly beach six miles and a half, when it again struck into the forest, and making seven miles, en- camped. The sheep and cattle. which kept up an incessant bleating and lowing that could be heard more than a mile, were placed far in the rear at night and strongly guarded.

Tuesday, October 5, the march led across a level country, covered with stately timber and with but little underbrush; so that paths were easily cut, and the army made ten miles before camp- ing. The next day it again struck the Ohio, but followed it only half a mile when it turned ab- ruptly off, and crossing a high ridge over which the cattle were urged with great difficulty, found itself on the banks of the Big Beaver creek. The stream was deep for fording, with a rough rocky bottom and high steep banks. The current was, moreover, strong and rapid ; so that, although the soldiers waded across without material difficulty, they had great trouble in getting the cattle safely over. The sheep were compelled to swim, and being borne down by the rapid current landed, bleating, in scattered squads, along the steep banks, and were collected together again only af- ter a long effort. Keeping down the stream they at length reached its mouth, where they found some deserted Indian huts, which the Indians with them said had been abandoned the year be- fore, after the battle of Bushy Run. Two miles farther on they came upon the skull of a child stuck on a pole.

There was a large number of men in the army who had wives, children and friends prisoners among the Indians, and who had accompanied the expedition for the purpose of recovering them. To these the skull of this little child

brought sad reflections. Some one among theni was perhaps its father, while the thought that it might stand as an index to tell the fate of all that had been captured made cach one shudder. As they looked on it, bleached by the winds and rain, the anxious heart asked questions it dared not answer.

The next day was Sunday, but the camp broke up at the usual hour and the army resumed its slow march. During the day it crossed a high ridge, from the top of which one of those won- drous scenes found nowhere but in the American wilderness burst on their view. A limitless ex- panse of forest stretched away till it met the western heavens, broken only here and there by a dark gash or sean, showing where, deep down amidst the trees, a river was pursuing its solitary way to the Ohio, or an occasional glimpse of the Ohio itself, as in its winding course it came in the line of vision." In one direction the tree tops would extend, miles upon miles, a vast flooring of foliage, level as the bosom of a lake, and then break into green billows that went rolling gently against the cloudless horizon. In another, lofty ridges rose, crowned with majestic trees, at the base of which swamps of dark fir trees, refusing the bright beams of the October sun, that flooded the rest of the wilderness, made a pleasing con- trast of light and shade. The magnificent scene was new to officers and men, and they gazed on it in rapture and wonder.

Keeping on their course, they came, two days after, to a point where the Indian path they had been following so long divided-the two branches leading off at a wide angle. The trees at the forks were covered with hieroglyphics, describ- ing the various battles the Indians had fought, and telling the number of scalps they had taken, etc.

This point was in the southern part of the present county of Columbiana. The trails were both plainly marked and much traveled. The right hand trail took a general course northwest toward Sandusky, and led to that place and on to Detroit; the course of the left hand trail was gon- erally southwest, and passed through the counties of Carroll and Tuscarawas, striking the Tusca- rawas river in the latter county, down which it fol- lowed, on the south side, to Coshocton, and cross-

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

ing the Muskingum a few miles below the site of Coshocton, continued down the west side of the Muskingum to Dresden, where it crossed the Wakatomika and entered Licking county, passing across that county to the present reservoir, con- tinued on southwest to the Indian towns on the Scioto.

Col. Bouquet took the right hand trail, which he followed until he reached the Tuscarawas river when he left it and turned southward along that stream.

The path selected by the army was so over- grown with bushes that every foot of the way had to be cleared with the axe. It led through low, soft ground, and was frequently erossed by narrow, sluggish rivulets, so deep and miry that the paek-horses could not be forced across them. After several attempts to do so, in which the an- imals became so thoroughly imbedded in the mud that they had to be lifted out with main force, they halted, while the artificers cut down trees and poles and made bridges. This was the hardest day's toil to which they had been subjected, and with their utmost efforts they were able to accomplish but five nules. On Thursday the 11th, the forest was open, and so clear of undergrowth that they made seventeen miles. Friday, the 12th, the path led along the banks of Yellow creek, through a beautiful country of rich bottom land, on which the Pennsylvanians and Virginians looked with covetous eyes, and made a note for future reference. The next day they crossed it, and ascending a swell of land, marched two miles in view of one of the love- liest prospeets the sun ever shown upon. There had been two or three frosty nights, which had changed the whole aspect of the forest. Where, a few days before, an ocean of green had rolled away, there now was spread a boundless carpet, decorated with an endless variety of the gayest colors, and lighted up by the mellow rays of an October sun. Long strips of yellow, vast masses of green, waving lines of red, wandering away and losing themselves in the blue of the distant sky-immense spaces sprinkled with every im- aginable hue, now separated elear and distinct as if by a painter's brush, and now shading grad- ually into each other, or mingling in inextrica- ble, beautiful confusion, combined to form a

scene that appeared more like a wondrous vision suddenly unrolled before them than this dull earth. A cloudless sky and the dreamy haze of Indian summer, overarching and enrobing all this beauty and splendor, completed the picture and left nothing for the imagination to suggest.

At length they descended to a small river, which they followed till it joined the main branch of the Muskingum (Tusearawas), where a scene of a very different character greeted them. A little below and above the forks the shores had been cultivated and lined with Indian houses. The place was called " Tuscaroras," and for beauty of situation could not well be surpassed. The high, luxuriant banks, the placid rivers meeting and flowing on together, the green fields sprinkled with huts and bordered with the rich autumnal foliage, all basking in the mellow October light, and so out of the way there in the wilderness,com- bined to form a sweet picture, and was doubly lovely to them after having been so long shut up in the forest.

They reached this beautiful spot Saturday afternoon, October 13, and the next day being Sunday they remained in camp, and men and cattle were allowed a day of rest. The latter revived under the smell of green grass once more, and roaming over the fields, gave a still more civilized aspect to the quiet scene.

During the day the two messengers that had been sent to Detroit came into eamp, accompa- nied by Indian guides. The report they brought showed the wisdom of Bouquet in refusing to de- lay his march till their return. They had not been allowed to pursue their journey, but were held close prisoners by the Delawares until the arrival of the army, when, alarmed for their own safety, they released them and made them bearers of a petition for peace.

The next day, Monday, the army moved two miles farther down the Tuscarawas, and eneamped on a high bank, where the stream was 300 feet wide, within the present limits of Tuscarawas county, where it remained in camp about a week On Tuesday, six chiefs came into eamp, saying that all the rest were eight miles off, waiting to make peace. Bouquet told them he would be ready to receive them next day. In the mean- time, he ordered a large bower to be built a short

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distance from camp, while sentinels were posted in every direction to prevent surprise, in case treachery was meditated.

The next day, the 17th, he paraded the High- landers and Virginia volunteers, and escorted by the light horse, led them to the bower, where he disposed them in the most imposing manner, so as to impress the chiefs in the approaching inter- view. The latter, as they emerged from the for- est, were conducted with great ceremony to the bower, which they entered with their accustomed gravity; and without saying a word, quietly seated themselves and commenced smoking. When they had finished, they laid aside their pipes, and drew from their pouches strings of wampum. The council being thus opened, they made a long address, in which they were profuse in their professions of peace, laying the whole blame of the war on the young men, whom they said they could not control. Bouquet, not wishing to appear eager to come to a settlement, replied that he would give his answer the next day; and the council broke up. The next day, however, a pouring storm prevented a meeting of the coun- cil till the day following. Bouquet's answer was long and conciliatory, but the gist of it was he would make peace on one condition, and no other -that the Indians should give up all the prison- ers in their possession within ten days.

The Indians present at this council were Kiy- ash-uta, chief of the Senecas, with fifteen war- riors; Custaloga, chief of the Wolf tribe of Del- awares, and Beaver, chief of the Turkey tribe of the Delawares, with twenty warriors; and Keissi- nautehtha, as chief of the Shawanese, with six warriors.

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History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 35

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 854

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854