USA > Ohio > Darke County > History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume I > Part 4
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54
A large and rare specimen of the coffee berry tree formerly stood below Fort Jefferson on the farm now owned by C. D. Folkerth, northwest part of section 34, Neave township. For years it was a notable landmark standing at the fork of the old trails-St. Clair's trace and the one leading to Fort Black (New Madison). The top was finally shattered by the winds and the dismantled trunk was cut down a few years ago by Mr. Folkerth. It is said that the bole of this tree was about four feet across and that it was the largest specimen of this
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variety in the United States. In its full maturity it was photographed by representatives of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, Washington, D. C., and furnished an illustration in one of the institution's reports. It attracted wide attention among botanists and was viewed by many admirers. The berries, or beans, were dark brown, about the size of a coffee-berry, with extremely flinty shells and were carried in pods six or eight inches long resembling the pods of the honey locust tree.
A white oak trec was felled on the Kerst farm in the north- ern part of section 18. Neave township, one-half mile east of Baker's store, some sixty years ago, which measured about seven feet in diameter.
A burr oak about seven feet in diameter was felled in early days in Twin township. Such trees were encountered, most probably, in nearly cvcry section of the county, and cause a shade of regret to pass over the face of the old settlers still living as they recite the remarkable instances and think of the marketable value of such timber today-one such trec being worth an acre or two of fine farm land at the high prices of today. Where has all this fine timber gone? To answer this question one needs only to think of the settler's cabin. the big log burnings, the worm rail fence, the back log of the old fireplace, the corduroy road, the wooden bridge, the rail- way tie, the spoke, stave and head factory, the wagon factory. the saw mill and the foreign shipment. The time has come when the headwaters and bottoms of our streams as well as those all over the state might be reforested for the general welfare and we look forward to the time when communities will be forced to do by legal enactment what they have failed to do by private initiative.
Denizens of the Forest.
In such a wilderness as covered primitive Darke county. one would expect to find a great variety and quantity of wild animal life. The testimony of an early settler shows the character of the game and other animals of the forest: "There was always an abundance of deer, bear, wild turkeys, pheas- ants and squirrels, the latter too plentiful, as they would eat up much of the new corn in the fields. Of animals unclean. and such as were not used for food, there was an abundance. such as panthers, catamounts, wolves-the latter of which were very annoying to the settlers from their propensity to
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steal calves, pigs and sheep. Ground-hogs, opossums, por- cupines and wildcats abounded. Of the fur-bearing animals there were beaver, otter, mink, muskrats and raccoons. These fur animals were trapped and caught in great abundance, and were the only source from which the settlers got their cash. These furs could always be sold for money, and were largely used at the time in the manufacture of hats and caps.
"Besides these there were great flocks of wild geese, wild ducks and wild pigeons almost constantly to be seen during the summer season. From such abundance the settlers could always keep their tables well supplied with a variety of the choicest meats."
CHAPTER III.
THE OHIO COUNTRY.
The early history of Darke county is so closely interwoven with that of the Ohio valley that it is impossible to get a satis- factory knowledge of the one without a brief survey of the other.
Between Ft. Pitt, the strongest American outpost, and De- troit, the British capital of the old northwest, hostile demon- strations were enacted which disturbed the peace and threat- ened the stability of the early American government. Raids were constantly made on the new settlements south of the Ohio river, only shortly to be followed by retaliatory expe- ditions by the hardy backwoodsmen.
After the Revolution ended in the east it was found neces- sary to subdue the haughty red man, who had been exploited and encouraged by the British agents of the north since the end of the French war in 1763. Clark, Harmar, Wilkinson, St. Clair and Wayne were successively sent against them with varying fortunes, but final success.
Thus was enacted a drama of conquest, whose early scenes are laid in the valley of the Ohio and the region of the lower lakes, but whose final scenes appear in the valleys of the Maumee and Miami. We have noted the unmistakable signs of the early and extensive appearance of the red man in Darke county, and will now consider his character, his ethnic relations and note the effect of his contact with the rapidly advancing pioneer American settlements.
How long the various families and tribes of the North American Indians had occupied the tracts of land respectively claimed by them at the advent of the white man, it is impos- sible to say in the absence of any written records or authentic history. The legends of the tribes but add to the confusion of the historian and give little encouragement to the hope that a true account of their past wanderings and experiences shall ever be constructed. It is known, however, that some of the tribes made extensive migrations soon after the discov- ery of the continent by European explorers.
(4)
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It has ever been difficult for the staid and cultured Anglo- Saxon to understand and delineate the true character of the North American Indian. Some writers depict him as the red aristocrat of the forest, possessed of true virtue, chivalry and valor, while others would make him appear a fiend incarnate, delighting in rapine and brutal slaughter. Like all savage peoples his character was unsymmetrical, and manifested many crude and violent inconsistencies. Being children of nature, they reflected nature's changing moods; now dwell- ing peaceably in skin tepees or frail bark huts in their se- cluded forest homes; again making the wilderness ring with their hideous yells, as they danced in frenzied glee at the pros- pect of the fearful slaughter of their foes. To them the natural world was an enchanted fairyland whose spirits they wor- shipped or cajoled, according to their changing whims, and disease was an evil spirit to be driven out of the body by the weird maneuvers of the Medicine Man. Easily elated by suc- cess, they were just as readily dejected by defeat, causing them to waver in their various alliances as prompted by ex- pediency. As a means of personal decoration they loved to smear their sinewy bodies with colored clays or tint them with the juice of berries, and wear jangling trinkets and colored beads. Living a rude and simple life they knew no law but necessity, and no government save expediency. Their meat was the flesh of the deer, the buffalo and the wild game which they chased with craft and glee through the primeval forest. For a diversified diet they cultivated small areas of corn. beans, melons, etc., and gathered the nuts and wild fruits of the wood. The wife, or squaw, together with the children, cultivated the fields and did the drudgery incident to the care of the camp or village, while the brave or warrior roamed the forest in quest of game, warred with hostile tribes, con- structed the tepee, or hut, the swift gliding canoe, and the various implements of war and the chase. When not on the chase or fighting his hereditary foes, he loved to idle about the camp and engage in racing, wrestling, gambling, chant- ing and dancing, while incited by the frenzied yells of his fel- low abettors. In feasting. smoking, jesting and repartee he was a past master.
Lavish in hospitality and faithful to friends, he was, never- theless, the implacable persecutor of real or fancied enemies. Two remarkable traits seemed to lift him above the level of common savagery; his stoicism, which made him insensible
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to suffering, fatigue and physical exposure ; and his eloquence, which, aided by a well trained memory and keen intellect, was a marvel to the whites who met him in council. Freedom from conventional restraints and the beauty of his natural haunts contributed, no doubt, to the development of his ora- torical powers.
Belonging to one ethnic group the North American Indians, nevertheless, manifested distinct characteristics and were sep- arated into well-defined families and tribes, having distinct dialects, traditions and definite places of abode. Two great families occupied the basin of the Great Lakes and the valley of the Ohio river at the advent of the whites. The Algonquin family were the more numerous, and were represented by the larger number of tribes, the more prominent being the Otta- was, Chippewas and Pottawatomies in the upper lake region ; the ancient and powerful Miamis, with subject and related tribes, along the Maumee, the Wabash and the upper Miami river valleys; the active and warlike Shawanese in the valley of the Scioto and neighboring territory ; the Delawares in the valley of the Muskingum and upper Ohio. The wandering disposition of some of these tribes is shown by their various migrations.
The Shawanese had recently emigrated from the valleys of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, from which they had probably been driven by the hostility of the neighboring southern tribes. They were active, egotistic, restless and warlike and were destined to become more frequently en- gaged with the advancing frontiersmen than any other of the Ohio tribes.
The Delawares had emigrated from the Delaware and Sus- quehanna river region, on account of the encroachment of the whites and the hostility of their northern neighbors, the Five Nations, and are especially prominent in colonial his- tory because of their treaty with William Penn. Their peace- able disposition won for them the contempt of some of the more warlike tribes, who called them "women." Their con- duct in the Ohio country, however, proved them to be war- riors worthy of respect.
The Miamis had lived "from time immemorial" in their secluded abode, and their title to the lands claimed by them was probably more valid than that of any of the northwestern tribes. With their relatives, the Tawas, the Weas, the Piank- eshaws.and Eel river Indians, they formed a powerful nation.
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Their central and established location, together with intelli- gent leadership, gave them a decided prestige among their neighbors.
All of these prominent tribes had, no doubt, absorbed the scattered remnants of the New England and coast tribes which otherwise would have been exterminated.
The other great family of Indians, identified with the ter- ritory under consideration, was the Iroquoian. This family occupied the lands between the Ottawa river and the lower lakes, and a portion of the region below the latter. Their in- fluence, however, extended from Lake Champlain to the Mis- sissippi, and from the Ottawa to the Ohio. Several of the smaller tribes of this powerful family roamed over the Ohio country and made some large settlements. Five of the most powerful stationary neighboring tribes, the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas and Mohawks, formed a confederacy known originally as the Five Nations, and later, after being augmented by the Tuscaroras tribe from the Carolinas, the Six Nations. This confederation lived mainly in central New York from the Hudson river to the region south of Lake On- tario, having several palisaded towns of bark huts and con- siderable orchards and cultivated lands.
Within historic times they had practically exterminated the Eries, who dwelt westward along the southern shore of Lake Erie, and the Andastes, who lived to the south in the region of the Susquehanna, both belonging to the same family. They had also driven their brother tribe, the Huron Wyan- dots, from their ancient abode below the Ottawa river, caus- ing them to retire to the southwestern shore of Lake Erie. The Wyandots, however, ultimately became the leading n ?- tion among the Indians beyond the Ohio and were addressed as "uncle" by the other tribes. In their keeping was placed the Grand Calumet, or peace pipe, which entitled them to assem- ble the tribes in general council and open all deliberations.
The Five Nations came into contact with the Dutch and English traders at an early date and were supplied with fire- arms, which they used to advantage in awing and subduing the western tribes. Although their population probably never exceeded twenty-five thousand, they were intelligent, aggres- sive, eloquent and powerful, and continually waged war on the northwestern tribes, whose lands they claimed by right of conquest. But for the timely appearance of the Euro- peans, they would probably have subdued or exterminated the
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separate and poorly organized tribes of the wandering Algon- quins, and thus have formed a powerful savage nation. It seems improbable, however, that they would ever have es- tablished a permanent and prosperous nation, worthy the re- spect of civilized peoples.
While these children of the forest dwelt in this delightful land of virgin rivers, lakes, prairies and woods, unmolested save by their own kindred, the white man planted settle- ments along the Atlantic seaboard and commenced a cam- paign of conquest and expansion that was not to cease until practically the whole continent had come into his possession.
Centuries of civilization had prepared the Anglo-Saxon for a new abode where he might have sufficient room and re- sources to work out the destinies of a new and mightier na- tion than the world had ever known. His conquest was to be not merely a matter of might, but of fitness and greater service to the expanding race of man. Where a few wander- ing tribes had long made a precarious living, millions of a civlized people were soon to subdue the forces of primitive nature, establish the institutions of a higher life and raise a new standard for all the races of the world.
In the carrying out of this great enterprise two powerful nations, who had met on many a field of battle in their home land, were to try their strength on new fields, in rough places. and prove which was to be chosen for the high and responsi- ble destiny of leading and shaping a mighty nation, yet un- born.
The circumstances which caused the English to settle on the James river in 1607 and on Cape Cod Bay in 1620, and the French on the St. Lawrence in 1608, scarcely seemed to fore- shadow the tremendous results that were to follow in less than two centuries. Thus two active forces were located on con- verging lines, and were to meet and come in deadly conflict beyond the apparent barrier of the Alleghany mountains. The hardy English, inheriting the vigor of their northern ances- tors and inured to the rigors of the British Isles, settled the coast from Maine to the Carolinas, laid the foundations of an enduring civilization and depended largely upon the labor of their own hands for subsistence. They subdued the red man or drove him away, and gradually advanced the frontier westward. Desiring to extend the Catholic church and the domain of France, the French took possession of the valley of the St. Lawrence, establishing a strong base on the rock of
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Quebec. From this advantageous center their missionaries, fired with zeal to convert the savages, and their explorers, anxious to find new lands, followed up the watercourses of the St. Lawrence, crossed the upper lakes in their birch-bark canoes and passed over the divide by easy portages to the headwaters of the branches of the Ohio and Mississippi, and finally reached the Father of Waters.
The most direct route from Quebec to the northern lakes was by way of the Ottawa river and Lake Nipissing to Geor- gian bay. This fact, together with the hostility of the Iro- quois, who dwelt along the lower lakes, led the French to establish posts at Kaskaskia, Vincennes and other remote western points, several years before Cadillac fortified De- troit, the most strategic point on the lakes, in 1701. For the same reason the territory now comprised in Ohio, with the exception of the Maumee vallcy and some lake points, was the last explored by the French.
The early enmity of the Iroquois, incurred by Champlain. was later taken advantage of by the British through the of- fices of their invaluable agent, Sir Wm. Johnson, and became a powerful factor in directing the fortune of the contending whites in the Ohio country. On account of location and for- tuitous circumstances, the northwestern tribes were destined to align themselves largely with the French in opposing the expansion of the English settlements beyond the Alleghany mountains.
The early water routes explored by the French were sin- ply those which the northwestern Indians had used from tinie immemorial. They led from the Great Lakes to the Missis- sippi and Ohio rivers by the most direct and convenient tribu- tary streams and were traveled by means of canoes made of birch-bark, the skins of animals, or some light wood. These canoes were carried by the voyagers across the shortest port- ages between the headwaters of the approaching streams and launched at well-known landing-places, thus providing the simplest, swiftest and most effective means of travel known to primitive man.
By gaining the friendship of the northwestern tribes the French explorers soon learned their best routes and were en- abled to make rough maps of their country to be kept for fu- ture reference and to support their later claims of discovery.
The more prominent routes established were: From Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, (1) by way of Green Bay, the
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Fox and Wisconsin rivers; (2) by the Des Plaines and Illi- nois rivers; and (3) by the St. Joseph's and Kankakee; from Lake Michigan to the Ohio by way of tht St. Joseph's and Wabash rivers; and from Lake Erie to the Ohio by way of the Maumee and Wabash rivers. Other well-known routes connected the Maumee and Great Miami, the Sandusky and Scioto, and the Cuyahoga and Muskingum. For these early and important explorations we are indebted to the zealous and intrepid Catholic missionaries and daring French adven- turers, such as LaSalle, Marquette, Joliet, Nicollet, Henne- pin, Brule, and others who faithfully served their country and their cause and left a record that shall long add luster to their names.
The Indian mind seems peculiarly susceptible to the elabor- ate forms and ceremonies of the Catholic church, which ever appeal forcibly to the outward senses and objectify the teachings intended to be inculcated. Thus the spiritual labors of the missionaries were not in vain from the standpoint of the church and. in addition, helped to cultivate a friendly dis- position toward the French traders who soon followed.
The Frenchman is naturally volatile, versatile and viva- cious, making him responsive to change and excitement or ad- venture. The wild, free, and changeable life of the savage appealed forcibly to the trader, who scon learned his dialects, married his women, adopted his customs, and finally won his affection and confidence. The influence exercised by this class is indicated by the freedom with which they penetrated to the western plains and planted a chain of trading posts reach- ing from the region of the Hudson Bay to the far south. They supplied the natives with the things which they desired in the way of fancy blankets, coarse, bright cloths, guns, ammuni- tion, knives, hatchets, kettles, beads, tobacco, intoxicating liquors, etc. Whatever may have been France's ulterior mo- tive in searching out these lands, her early representatives seemed content to establish posts on small tracts and live peaceably among the natives, caring only for the profit to be derived from their extensive trade.
In due course of time, however, the French established fortified posts at Frontenac on the northeast shore of Lake Ontario, at Niagara, at Presque Isle (Erie, Pa.), at Detroit. at Mackinac, and at Sault Ste. Marie, thus guarding the en- trances to the Great Lakes and strengthening their prestige in the vast lake region. They also established palisaded trading
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posts on the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan, at Quiatanon on the Wabast, at the Miami villages on the Maumee (Ft. Miamis) at Saudusky, and at other advantageous centers.
The English and Dutch also tried to plant posts on the upper lakes, but with small success. They impressed the In- dians as being cold, unsympathetic, and avaricious, with an ill-concealed and excessive lust for their diminishing lands. However, the Anglo-Saxon possessed a stubborn determina- tion, industrious and conservative habits, and a system of fair and business-like dealing which were finally to turn the tide of savage sentiment in his favor and win respect and alliance.
The question of boundaries between the French and Eng- lish in America had not been definitely settled at the close of King George's War in 1748.
The colonial frontiersmen, however, were steadily ad- vancing westward and were climbing the eastern slopes of the Alleghanies and looking wistfully at the fertile lands beyond. They were largely the hardy Scotch-Irish whose ancestors had come over early in the seventeenth century, settled the Alleghany mountain ranges and were now pushing forward and making considerable settlements southwest of the moun- tains. They were extremely hardy, aggressive, thrifty and prolific and formed an effective barrier between the eastern white settlers and the retreating Red Man. The country south of the Ohio was now being explored and the Ohio company was formed to traffic with the Indians.
In 1749 the French Governor of Canada sent Celeron de Bienville to take formal possession of the country drained by the upper Ohio river. With a motley following of some two hundred French officers and Canadian woodsmen he crossed Lake Ontario, skirted the southern shore of Lake Erie, crossed the portage to Lake Chautauqua, and followed the Indian path to the headwaters of the Alleghany: Here their birch bark canoes were launched again and the party proceeded on its spectacular journey down the Alleghany and the Ohio as far as the mouth of the Great Miami, thence up that stream and across the well worn carrying place to the St. Mary's branch of the Miami of the Lakes (Maumee), and thus on to Lake Erie and back to Quebec.
English traders were found at several of the prominent In- dian villages along the route. These were admonished to dis- continue trespassing on territory claimed by the French, and the Indians who showed partiality to the English were
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threatened with summary treatment should they continue to trade with hem.
Thus was completed the eastern end of the great circuit which comprised the valley of the St. Lawrence, the lake re- gion, the upper Mississippi, and the Ohio basins and gave tangible form to the extensive claims of the French to this im- mense territory.
The outposts of the English colonists were already being firmly established within striking distance of the coveted and disputed lands beyond the Ohio and the hardy backwoodsmen chafed at the prospect of being arbitrarily prohibited from settling in this fertile country.
In the fall of 1750 the Ohio Company sent Christopher Gist, an experienced explorer. from the Yadkin country of North Carolina, to explore the lands along the Ohio as far as the falls (Louisville). At the Indian village at the mouth of the Muskingum he was joined by Gorge Croghan, the veteran trader, and Andrew Montour, an interpreter. Early in 1751 these intrepid woodsmen proceeded to the Delaware and Shawanese villages of the Scioto, and, finding them well dis- posed, made arrangements for a friendly conference at Logs- town (on the north bank of the Ohio, seventeen miles below the present site of Pittsburg, Pa.) in the spring. The explor- ing party now struck across country to the upper waters of the Great Miami. At the mouth of the Pickawillany (Loramie Creek) where they arrived February 17th, they found an ex- tensive settlement of Miami Indians under chief Old Britain, who had recently moved from the Wabash in order to get in touch with the English traders. A strong stockade had been erected here in the previous fall and considerable business was being transacted by the fifty or sixty white traders who had cabins here. A friendly council was held at this place and numerous valuable presents were given to the Indians, who thereupon promised to favor the English in the way of trade. Gist and his party then returned to the Scioto and proceeded down the Ohio to their destination, returning homeward through the beautiful Kentucky country in the spring.
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