USA > Ohio > Darke County > History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume I > Part 6
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Indians and their bounds fixed without further purchase of lands.
In October, 1784, the Six Nations held a treaty with the United States at Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York). These powerful tribes had aided the British materially during the recent war but had been somewhat weakened by the expedi- tion of General John Sullivan against them in 1779. Oliver Wolcott. Richard Butler and Arthur Lee represented the new government in the negotiations, while Cornplanter and Red Jacket took the chief part on behalf of the Indians. The latter desired to have a general council in which the principal tribes living northwest of the Ohio might participate but the govern- ment desired to deal directly with the Six Nations who had most actively aided the British in the late war. Red Jacket urged the assembled tribes with great spirit and eloquence to continue to fight the Americans. The saner counsel of the older chiefs finally prevailed, however, and a treaty was signed establishing peace with the hostile nations and securing them in the possession of the lands then actually occupied by them in return for the release of all prisoners then in their posses- sion and the relinquishment of all claim to the country west of an irregular line beginning near Niagara, extending to the intersection of the western boundary of Pensylvania by the Ohio river, thence down that river.
Red Jacket was dissatisfied with the terms of this compact and continued to spread disaffection among his tribesmen. Chief Brant, who was absent in Canada at the time of the treaty, was highly displeased when he heard some of its pro- visions. This courageous chief cherished the plan of forming a grand confederacy of all the prominent northwestern tribes, together with the Six Nations, probably expecting to be made the great chief of the united tribes. For this purpose he now went here and there in the upper lake region and held coun- cils with the tribes. Late in 1785 he made a trip to England, partly with the purpose, no doubt, of sounding that govern- ment concerning its attitude in case of a general uprising of the confederated tribes. He bore a captain's commission in the British army, and being intelligent, tactful and refined was received with marked favor by the people whose govern- ment he had so zealously served. From this time until the end of the Indian wars he played an important part in leading and influencing his people.
In January, 1785, a treaty was held at Fort McIntosh
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(Beaver, Pennsylvania), with the Wyandot, Delaware, Chip- pewa and Ottawa nations, at which these Indians agreed to relinquish their claim to lands lying east of the Cuyahoga river and south of a line running near the fortieth parallel to Lora- mie's store on the headwaters of the Miami, together with small tracts about Detroit and Michilimackinac, some 30,000,000 acres in all. These tribes, however, were to retain their right of hunting as far south as the Ohio river. With some modifications this treaty was the basis of later negotia- tions with the new government.
At Fort Finney (mouth of the Great Miami), the United States held a treaty with the Shawanese, Delawares and Wyandots in January, 1786. The Shawanese agreed to con- fine themselves between the Great Miami and Wabash, but paid small attention to carrying out its provisions. A very bad spirit was manifested at this treaty and the Wabash tribes, whose presence was especially desired, absented them- selves, probably being influenced by the British agents. The remoter Indians, however, did not cease their depredations. Two expeditions were accordingly sent against them; one in command of General Clark against the towns of the Wabash ; the other, under Colonel Logan, against the Shawanese be- tween the Miami and Scioto rivers. On account of the delay in the arrival of provisions, the discontent of the soldiers, and the desertion of a large body of troops, Clark's expedition was abandoned. Logan, however, destroyed several towns (in Logan county, Ohio), a lot of corn, and killed and cap- tured some of the enemy.
In December, 1786, a grand council of the tribes was held near the mouth of the Detroit river. Together they formu- lated an address to Congress expressing surprise that they had not been considered in the treaty of peace with Great Britain ; stated their desire for continued peace provided the United States did not encroach upon their lands beyond the Ohio; and recommended that the government make no treaties with separate Indian tribes or nations, but with the Confederation alone. This was the grand ultimatum delivered to the United States by the Confederated Tribes prior to the general war that came later and it shows the true points of contention between the Indians and the new government. Great Britain, through her Indian agent, Sir William Johnson, kept in close touch with the movements of her former allies and took advantage of every rupture with the new govern-
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ment to show her continued friendly attitude toward them.
During the course of the Revolution, Congress offered grants of land to volunteers in the American service, but Vir- ginia, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut claimed por- tions of the west by virtue of their old colonial charters, and purchase from the Indians.
After the close of the war and the reawakened interest in the western country, Congress decided to open up these west- ern lands for settlement, but was confronted by the conflicting claims of these states. The old colonial charters, given when the extent of North America was unknown, extended the grants of land "from sea to sea." The crown, however, claimed the country between the Alleghanies and Mississippi after the French and Indian War, and the United States after the Revolution, by virtue of conquest. Maryland, and other states having no western claims, contended that all such claims should be ceded to the United States government for the general welfare. A lengthy controversy ensued which threatened the stability of the Confederation, but the whole matter was settled satisfactorily in 1786 when Connecticut followed the example of the other states interested and com- pleted the cession of these western claims, excepting a tract between the forty-first parallel and Lake Erie, reserved by this state, and one between the Scioto and the Little Miami rivers, reserved by Virginia for her soldiers, together with a small tract at the falls of the Ohio.
In 1787, while the last Congress under the articles of con- federation was in session, a petition was presented by Dr. Manasseh Cutler in behalf of a company of New Englanders, organized to purchase lands and make a settlement north and west of the Ohio. In the meantime the famous "Ordinance of 1787," one of the wisest and farthest reaching charters ever given to any people, was passed. It provided for the organiza- tion and government of the "Territory Northwest of the River Ohio." Among its wise provisions were: the prohibition of slavery ; the promotion of education, morality and religion ; and the formation of not less than three, nor more than five states, as conditions suggested.
The grant of land asked for was made to the New England Company, and soon afterward John Cleves Symmes negoti- ated for the purchase of land between the Little and Great Miami rivers. In 1788, a company of emigrants, including many distinguished Revolutionary soldiers, floated down the
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Ohio from Pittsburg to the mouth of the Muskingum and founded Marietta, which became the capital of the new coun- try. Thus the initial step was taken and from this time a steady flow of emigration set in. In a few years Gallipolis, Manchester, Columbia and Fort Washington (Cincinnati) dotted the northern shore of the Ohio, and the soldiers of the Revolution, whose fortunes had been lost in the struggle for freedom, found a new home.
Thus was inaugurated a new era in the old northwest. New forces were being set in motion which were destined to change the current of the ancient order and set up in the matchless forests and sacred hunting grounds of this western country a new and better civilization. With Fort Washing- ton as a base, the new government was about to engage in a series of hazardous conflicts with a savage foe, goaded on and assisted by the subtle agents of the British at Detroit.
Only time could tell whether the Anglo-Saxon settlers were to be confined east of the mountains or spread indefinitely to the far west. The great White Chief Washington desired peace, but was schooled in the art of war, and directed a free, hardy and vigorous constituency who would brook no inter- ference from a vanquished adversary without severe and pro- tracted resistance. The battlefields of the Revolution had schooled a host of warriors who knew how to reckon with a stalwart foe and these were to show their mettle on many a new field of conflict.
MAJOR GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR
CHAPTER IV.
HARMAR AND ST. CLAIR.
Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor of the new North- west Territory, July 13, 1788, and immediately became ac- tively engaged in the great work entrusted to him. A Scotch- man by birth, he had emigrated to North America in 1755 and rendered valuable service with the British during the French and Indian war. Settling in Pennsylvania, he espoused the cause of the colonies during the course of the Revolution and was prominently engaged at Three Rivers, Trenton, Prince- ton, Hubbardstown and Ticonderoga. Washington and Lafayette were his warm friends and a large and prominent circle enjoyed his polished attainments. His adopted country appreciated his loyal service and distinguished talents, and in 1786 he was elected president of Congress. Thus equipped. he was soon to receive even greater honors and direct the ener- gies of an expanding people. On January 9, 1789, Governor St. Clair concluded two separate treaties of confirmation, one with the Five Nations, the Mohawks excepted ; the other with the Wyandots. Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawat- tomies and Sacs, at Fort Harmar, opposite Marietta, thus counteracting the formation of a grand Indian confederacy which had been agitated by some of the far-seeing chiefs of the various tribes. At the grand council of the northwestern tribes, held on the Maumee in the previous fall, the general sentiment was for peace. The Miamis, Shawanese, and tribes of the Wabash, however, failed to concur and desired to make the Ohio river the final boundary separating them from the Anglo-Saxon invaders. This sentiment was especially strong among the younger warriors who could scarcely be restrained by the wise counsels of the older chiefs. Many successful war parties were sent against the exposed settlements or waylaid the immigrants floating in open boats or upon rafts down the Ohio. The brutal atrocities committed by the Indians and the retaliatory raids of the rough settlers during this period are recited in the romantic and patriotic tales of the back- woodsmen, many of whom experienced extended captivity.
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Early in 1790, Governor St. Clair went to Fort Washington, Vincennes and Kaskaskia to set in motion the new govern- ment. . This was the signal to the British and Indians to co- operate in opposing the advance of the frontier settlements, and attacks were accordingly commenced. At this time the northwest tribes could probably rally some fifteen thousand effective warriors, about one-third of whom were openly hos- tile to the new government. They no longer depended upon the bow and arrow and other crude implements of earlier sav- age warfare, but had become expert in the use of firearms through association with the French and British in the recent wars. Their courage, discipline and power of endurance were good offsets to the intelligence and strength of the Americans. The Wabash tribes became especially aggressive and Major Hamtramck, of Vincennes, tried to pacify them, but in vain. Hearing of these movements, St. Clair hastened to Fort Washington, in July, consulted with General Josiah Harmar, a Revolutionary soldier, commanding the United States In- fantry, and decided to send an expedition against the hostile tribes. He requested the militia of western Pennsylvania, Vir- ginia and Kentucky to co-operate with the federal forces and notified the British commandant at Detroit that the proposed expedition was not directed against any British post but in- tended solely to punish the Indians who had been attacking the frontiers. A mixed force was assembled at Fort Wash- ington, which, when ready to move, was composed of three battalions of Kentucky militia, under Majors Hall, McMullen and Ray, with Lieutenant-Colonel Trotter in command; one battalion of Pennsylvania militia under Lieutenant-Colonel Truby and Major Paul; one battalion of mounted riflemen, commanded by Maj. James Fontaine, together with two bat- talions of regulars under Majors P. Wyllys and John Doughty, and a company of artillery commanded by Captain William Ferguson. The entire force numbered fourteen hundred and fifty-three, including many boys and infirm men who had been sent as substitutes and were unfit for the hard service before them. This army, being hastily assembled, was necessarily poorly equipped and disciplined, and, as usual where mixed troops are employed, jealousy soon arose betwen the militia and regulars. The season being late, it was impossible to properly drill and discipline the awkward and insubordinate troops-thus increasing the hazard of the projected campaign. Harmar, who had served with merit in the Revolution, was
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first in command, and Colonel John Hardin led the militia, subject to his orders. Major Ebenezer Denny was appointed aide-de-camp to Harmar; Mr. Stephen Ormsby, brigadier- major to the militia ; and Mr. John Bellie, quartermaster.
The militia advanced up the Mill Creek valley on September 26th, and the main army followed on the 30th. The forces were united on the 3d of October and took the trace made by George R. Clark up the Little Miami valley, passing near the present sites of Lebanon and Xenia, Ohio; crossing Mad river at old Piqua town (between Dayton and Springfield, Ohio) ; proceeding northwesterly and crossing the Great Miami above the present site of Piqua, Ohio; thence to the site of Loramie's store (Berlin, Ohio), across the old Indian and French port- age to the St. Mary's river(near St. Mary's, Ohio), and on toward the Miami villages ( Fort Wayne, Ind.). These towns comprised a large number of wigwams of the Miamis, Shaw- anese and Delawares, and some log huts formerly occupied by British traders. This was the center from which the hostile and renegade Indians had sent many war parties to harass the borders. The St. Joseph and St. Mary's branches meet here to form the Maumee river and along their banks were several sinall villages and the capital town of the confederacy sur- rounded by gardens, orchards and extensive cornfields which indicated long continued occupancy.
Learning of the approach of a large army the Indians hast- ened to desert these villages. General Harmar was apprised of their movements by a captive and accordingly sent forward a detachment of six hundred light troops under Colonel Har- din on the 14th to surprise the stragglers, which he failed to do. The main army arrived at the deserted villages about noon on the 17th having accomplished a march of nearly one hundred and seventy miles from Fort Washington. On the 18th Harmar sent Colonel Trotter with three hundred men, including militia and regulars, to reconnoiter the country and ascertain the location of the enemy. This detachment mmarched a few miles but soon returned, reporting the slaying of two Indians. Colonel Hardin, displeased with Trotter's failure to accomplish his orders, was next dispatched with the same detachment. The men were given two days' provisions and marched on the 19th with great reluctance. About a third of the militia deserted before attaining three miles and re- turned to camp. Some ten miles out the balance of the troops were surprised by a party of about one hundred of the enemy
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under the celebrated Miami chief, Little Turtle. The Indians commenced firing at a distance of about a hundred and fifty years and advanced, steadily driving the panic-stricken militia before them. Some few of the latter with about thirty of the regulars, however, stood firm and were cut to pieces.
The main army advanced from the Miami village to Chilli- cothe, a Shawanese town two miles east, and proceeded to burn all property in sight, including corn, beans, hay, cabins, etc. Five villages and the capital town, besides some twenty thousand bushels of corn in ears having been destroyed, the army took up an orderly retreat for Fort Washington on the 2Ist and marched eight miles. Thinking that the enemy would immediately return to the site of their destroyed vil- lages, Harmar sent back Major Wyllys with four hundred picked men, including sixty regulars, to surprise them. This detachment was in three divisions under Wyllys, Hall and McMullen. Major Hall was sent with part of the militia by a circuitous route to gain the enemy's rear, while the other troops were to engage them in front. On account of the im- prudence of some of Hall's men, this plan failed. The other militia now began the attack before the arrival of the regu- lars. Little Turtle, grasping the opportunity, threw his en- tire force first against the militia and then against the regu- lars with disastrous results. Most of the regulars were slain and the brunt of the fight fell on the remaining militia, who now fought desperately but were soon scattered and forced to retreat. The savages had lost heavily and did not pursue the retreating troops. When the main encampment was reached Hardin requested Harmar to send back the main army in order to finish the work on the site of the village. Harmar, it seems, had lost confidence in the militia, and, in view of the lack of forage and proper transportation facilities, refused this request. The Americans lost one hundred and eighty-three men including brave Major Wyllys and several valuable offi- cers on this expedition.
The shattered and dispirited army resumed its dreary re- treat toward Fort Washington on the 23d. Bad feeling de- veloped between Harmar and Hardin on account of the unsat- isfactory action of the troops. Both were court-martialed later and acquitted, but Harmar soon resigned his commission in the army and retired to private life.
The government seeing the inefficiency of its first attempt in dealing with the Indians, adopted stronger measures. It
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was decided to offer peace to the western Indians ; to organize expedieitions in the west against the villages of the Miamis, Shawanese and Weas, should they refuse to make peace; and to send a large force to build forts and take possession of the enemy's land. The British, who now seemed disposed to a peaceful settlement, urged Joseph Brant, the intelligent chief of the Mohawks and moving spirit of the Six Nations, to use his influence among his people for peace, thinking that the United States would allow the tribes to retain their posses- sions along the Maumee.
On the night of January 2, 1791, a band of savages stealthily massaered a number of friendly New England settlers at Big Bottom blockhouse on the Muskingum, forty-six miles above Marietta.
The government still hoped for peace, however, and in March sent Col. Thomas Proctor to placate the Senecas and proceed with their friendly chief, Cornplanter, to the council of the Miamis on the Maumee. In April, Col. Timothy Piek- ering was also sent to the Senecas on a like mission.
Soon after Harmar's expedition the frontier settlements of western Pennsylvania and along the Ohio river were again attacked and terror spread among the people south of the river. It is estimated that the population of the west at this time was between one hundred and fifty and two hundred thousand, scattered in groups; one in southwestern Pennsyl- vania; two in western Virginia, about Wheeling and the mouth of the Kanawha ; and one in Kentucky, below the Lick- ing river. These settlers had poured in from the eastern states as well as from several European countries since the close of the Revolution, being attracted largely by the great fertility of the land and the exceptional business opportunities. For the most part they had floated down the Ohio in crude flat boats, but many had come overland by Boone's celebrated wilderness road. To the hardships of their life in a new and exceedingly rough country were added the terrors of Indian attacks, inspired by the killing, wounding, and capturing of more than fifteen hundred men, women and children in Ken- tucky and vicinity, since the peace of 1783.
Delegates from several of the exposed counties of Virginia petitioned the governor, and the legislature of that state authorized him to make temporary provision for the protec- tion of the frontier until the United States government should take proper steps in the same direction. Charles Scott, who
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had served in the Revolution, was appointed brigadier-general of the militia of Kentucky, then a part of Virginia, and was ordered to raise a volunteer force to co-operate with several companies of rangers from the western counties, and proceed against the Wea villages on the Wabash (near Lafayette, Ind.). Scott chose two Revolutionary compatriots to accom- pany him on this raid-Col. James Wilkinson being placed second in command and Col. John Hardin in charge of the advance guard. The expedition was delayed until May 23, 1791, awaiting the return of Proctor, but, hearing nothing from him by that time. Scott crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Kentucky with some eight hundred mounted men and arrived at Ouiatenon ( Lafayette, Ind.), June 1st. Here he found a village of some seventy houses with a number of French inhabitants living in a state of civilization. The vil- lage was burned and a large quantity of corn and household goods destroyed. A detachment was sent on foot against Tip- pecanoe, the most important village, which it also destroyed. The army returned with several prisoners, reaching the Ohio in twelve days with the loss of only two men.
On August 1, 1791, Colonel Wilkinson was sent against the Indians of the Eel river with a command of five hundred and twenty-five mounted men. He encountered much difficulty in his march from Fort Washington on account of the boggy land. Arriving at the mouth of the Eel river he attacked the village located there, killed a few Indians and captured others. Proceeding to Tippecanoe and Ouiatenon, the army destroyed the corn which had been planted since Scott's raid. The army reached the rapids of the Ohio on the 21st, having marched some four hundred and fifty miles.
The results accomplished by these desultory raids were similar to those of Harmar's expedition and left the savages in an enraged state of mind ready for the intrigues of the British agents of Canada and the lake posts. Colonel Johnson of the British Indian service, especially encouraged the In- dians in the idea that the Americans had no valid claim to any of their lands beyond the line established at the treaty of Fort Stanwix after the French and Indian war. The actions of the Americans in assembling councils in various places for the apparent purpose of making peace and at the same time in- viting the Six Nations to espouse their cause against the west- ern tribes added to the confusion and gave the British agents a pretext to renew friendly relations with their old allies.
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The American peace commissioners who had been sent out in the spring carried on negotiations with the Six Nations. Colonel Pickering held a successful council with all except the Mohawks in June, 1791. Colonel Proctor and Cornplanter had tried to promote friendly relations with them in the spring, but Brant and Col. John Butler, of the British Indian service, had previously warned them against the American agents. A long conference was held at Buffalo, but Brant had been sent on to the council of the Miamis in the meantime and the In- dians would do nothing definite in his absence, inasmuch as the sentiment of their people was much divided. The British commandant at Fort Niagara refused to allow the use of a schooner to carry Proctor, Cornplanter and some friendly warriors across Lake Erie to Sandusky thus defeating the purpose of their mission. While Brant was inflaming the Miamis, Proctor returned to Fort Washington without hav- ing reached them with his message of peace.
Little Turtle, chief of the Miamis, a warrior of great intelli- gence, craft and courage, who led the attack against Harmar and who had great influence among the western tribes, to- gether with Blue Jacket, the great chief of the Shawanese, and Buckongehelas, chief of the Delawares, formed a confed- eracy of the northwestern savages to drive the white settlers beyond the Ohio. These chiefs, with the assistance of Simon Girty, Alexander McKee and Matthew Elliot, the renegades. headed a band of warriors whose discipline has probably never been equaled in Indian warfare. Nothing but a decisive blow by a large and well disciplined force could quell the up- rising being stirred up by these leaders. What the border states had attempted to do in a crude and spasmodic way the new government now decided to essay in an orderly and or- ganized manner. Accordingly Governor St. Clair, who had been appointed a major-general in the U. S. army March 4. 1791, and placed in chief command of the forces to be employed against the Indians was instructed to speedily assemble his forces. The object of the main expedition planned by the government was to establish a post at Ke-ki-on-gay, the Miami (Maumee) village (Fort Wayne) for the purpose of awing and curbing the Indians in that region, and preventing future hostilities. This village had been the seat of the pow- erful Miami nation from time immemorial and it was called by Little Turtle at the treaty of Greenville in 1795. "That glorious gate through which all the good words of our chiefs
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