History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 9

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096

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On the 18th, the army broke up its encamp- ment and started on its homeward march. Bouquet kept six principal Indians as hostages, and re- turned to the homes of the captives. The Indians kept their promises faithfully, and the next year representatives of all the Western tribes met Sir William Johnson, at the German Flats, and made

HISTORY OF OHIO.

a treaty of peace. A tract of land in the Indian country was eeded to the whites for the benefit of those who had suffered in the late war. The In- dians desired to make a treaty with Johnson, whereby the Alleghany River should be the west- ern boundary of the English, but he excused him- self on the ground of proper power.

Not long after this the Illinois settlements, too remote to know much of the struggle or of any of the great events that had convulsed an empire, and changed the destiny of a nation, were brought under the English rule. There were five villages at this date: Kaskaskia, Cahokia, St. Philip, Vin- cennes and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres, the military headquarters of these French posses- sions. They were under the control or command of M. de Abadie, at New Orleans. They had also extended explorations west of the Mississippi, and made a few settlements in what was Spanish terri- tory. The country had been, however, ceded to France, and in February, 1764, the country was formally taken possession of and the present eity of St. Louis laid out.

As soon as the French knew of the change of government, many of them went to the west side of the river, and took up their residence there. They were protected in their religion and civil rights by the terms of the treaty, but preferred the rule of their own King.

The British took possession of this country early in 1765. Gen. Gage sent Capt. Stirling, of the English Army, who arrived before summer, and to whom St. Ange, the nominal commandant, surren- dered the authority. The British, through a sue- cession of commanders, retained control of thecoun- try until defeated by George Rogers Clarke, and his "ragged Virginia militia."

After a short time, the French again ceded the country west of the Mississippi to Spain, and re- linquished forever their control of all the West in the New World.

The population of Western Louisiana, when the exchange of governments occurred, was estimated to be 13,538, of which 891 were in the Illinois country-as it was called-west of the Mississippi. East of the river, and before the French crossed into Spanish country, the population was estimated to be about 3,000. All these had grown into communities of a peculiar character. Indeed, that peculiarity, as has been observed, never changed until a gradual amalgamation with the American people effected it, and that took more than a cen- tury of time to accomplish.

The English now owned the Northwest. True, they did not yet occupy but a small part of it, but traders were again crossing the mountains, ex- plorers for lands were ou the Ohio, and families for settlement were beginning to look upon the West as their future home. Companies were again forming to purchase large tracts in the Ohio coun- try, and open them for emigration. One thing yet stood in the way-a definite boundary line. That line, however, was between the English and the Indians, and not, as had heretofore been the case, between rival European Powers. It was necessary to arrange some definite boundary before land com- panies, who were now actively pushing their claims, could safely survey and locate their lands.

Sir William Johnson, who had at previous times been instrumental in securing treaties, wrote re- peatedly to the Board of Trade, who controlled the greater part of the commercial transactions in the colonies -- and who were the first to exelaim against extending English settlements beyond a limit whereby they would need manufactures, and there- by become independent of the Mother Country- urging upon them, and through them the Crown, the necessity of a fixed boundary, else another Indian war was probable. The Indians found themselves gradually hemmed in by the growing power of the whites, and began to exhibit hostile feelings. The irritation became so great that in the summer of 1767, Gage wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania concerning it. The Governor communicated his letter to the General Assembly, who sent repre- sentatives to England, to urge the immediate set- tlement of the question. In compliance with these requests, and the letters of prominent citizens, Franklin among the number, instructions were sent to Johnson, ordering him to complete the purchase from the Six Nations, and settle all differences. He sent word to all the Western tribes to meet him at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1768. The con- ference was held on the 24th of that month, and was attended by colonial representatives, and by Indians from all parts of the Northwest. It was determined that the line should begin on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Cherokee (Tennessee), thence up the river to the Alleghany and on to Kittan- ning, and thence aeross to the Susquehanna. By this line, the whole country south of the Ohio and Alleghany, to which the Six Nations had any claim, was transferred. Part of this land was made to compensate twenty-two traders, whose goods had been stolen in 1763. The deeds made, were upon the express agreement that no claims should

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ever be based on the treaties of Lancaster, Logs- town, etc., and were signed by the chiefs of the Six Nations for themselves, their allies and dependents, and the Shawanees, Delawares, Mingoes of Ohio, and others; though the Shawanees and Delaware deputies did not sign them. On this treaty, in a great measure, rests the title by purchase to Ken- tucky, Western Virginia and Western Pennsylva- nia. The rights of the Cherokees were purchased by Col. Donaldson, either for the King, Virginia, or for himself, it is impossible to say which.

The grant of the northern confederacy was now made. The white man could go in and possess these lands, and know that an army would proteet him if necessary. Under such a guarantee, West- ern lands came rapidly into market. In addition to companies already in existence for the purchase of land, others, the most notable of these being the ' "Walpole" and the "Mississippi" Land Companies, were formed. This latter had among its organizers such men as Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington and Arthur Lee. Before any of these companies, some of whom ab- sorbed the Ohio Company, could do anything, the Revolution came on, and all land transactions were at an end. After its close, Congress would not sanction their claims, and they fell through. This did not deter settlers, however, from crossing the mountains, and settling in the Ohio country. In its most prominent citizens.

spite of troubles with the Indians-some of whom regarded the treaties with the Six Nations as un- lawful, and were disposed to complain at the rapid influx of whites-and the failure of the land com- panies, settlers came steadily during the decade from 1768 to 1778, so that by the close of that time, there was a large population south of the Ohio River; while scattered along the northern banks, extending many miles into the wilderness, were hardy adventurers, who were carving out homes in the magnificent forests everywhere cov- ering the country.

Among the foremost speculators in Western lands, was George Washington. As early as 1763, he employed Col. Crawford, afterward the leader in " Crawford's campaign," to purchase lands for him. In 1770, he crossed the mountains in company with several gentlemen, and examined the country along the Ohio, down which stream he passed to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, where he shot some buffalo, then plenty, camped out a few nights, and returned, fully convinced, it seems, that one day the West would be the best part of the New- World. He owned, altogether, nearly fifty thou- sand acres in the West, which he valued at $3.33 per acre. Had not the war of the Revolution just then broken out, he might have been a resident of the West, and would have been, of course, one of

CHAPTER V.

AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS-DUNMORE'S WAR-CAMPAIGN OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE- LAND TROUBLES-SPAIN IN THE REVOLUTION-MURDER OF THE MORAVIAN INDIANS.

M EANWHILE, Kentucky was filling with citizens, and though considerable trouble was experienced with the Indians, and the operations of Col. Richard Henderson and others, who made unlawful treaties with the Indians, yet Daniel Boone and his associates had established a commonwealth, and, in 1777, a county was formed, which, erelong, was divided into three. Louisville was laid out on land belonging to Tories, and an important start made in this part of the West. Emigrants came down the Ohio River, saw the northern shores were inviting, and sent back such accounts that the land north of the river rapidly grew in favor with Eastern people.

One of the most important Western characters, Col. (afterward Gen.) George Rogers Clarke, had had much to do in forming its character. He was born November 19, 1752, in Albemarle County, Va., and early came West. He had an unusually sagacious spirit, was an excellent sur- veyor and general, and took an active interest in all State and national affairs. He understood the animus of the Revolution, and was prepared to do his part. Col. Clarke was now meditating a move unequaled in its boldness, and one that had more to do with the success of America in the struggle for independence than at first appears. He saw through the whole plan of the British,

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who held all the outposts, Kaskaskia, Detroit, { of fear occurred about this time, which threatened Vincennes and Niagara, and determined to cireum- seriously to retard emigration. vent them and wrest the West from their power. The British hoped to encircle the Americans by these outposts, and also unite the Indians in a common war against them. That had been attempted by the French when the English con- quered them. Then the French had a powerful ally in the person of Pontiac, yet the brave front- iersmen held their homes in many places, though the Indians " drank the blood of many a Briton, scooping it up in the hollow of joined hands." Now the Briton had no Pontiac to lead the scat- tered tribes-tribes who now feared the unerring aim of a settler, and would not attack him openly- Clarke knew that the Delawares were divided in feeling and that the Shawanees were but imperfectly united in favor of England since the murder of their noted chiefs. He was convinced that, if the British could be driven from the Western posts, the natives could easily be awed into submission, or bribed into neutrality or friendship. They admired, from their savage views of valor, the side that became victorious. They cared little for the cause for which either side was fighting. Clarke sent out spies among them to ascertain the feasibility of his plans. The spies were gone from April 20 to June 22, and fully corroborated his views concerning the English policy and the feelings of the Indians and French.

Before proceeding in the narrative of this expe- dition, however, it will be well to notice a few acts transpiring north of the Ohio River, especially re- lating to the land treaties, as they were not without effect on the British policy. Many of the Indians north and south of the Ohio would not recognize the validity of the Fort Stanwix treaty, claiming the Iroquois had no right to the lands, despite their conquest. These discontented natives har- assed the emigrants in such a manner that many Indians were slain in retaliation. This, and the working of the French traders, who at all times were bitterly opposed to the English rule, filled the breasts of the natives with a malignant hate, which years of bloodshed could not wash out. The murder of several Indians by lawless whites fanned the coal into a blaze, and, by 1774, several retalia- tory murders occurred, committed by the natives in revenge for their fallen friends. The Indian slew any white man he found, as a revenge on some friend of his slain ; the frontiersman, acting on the same principle, made the borders extremely dan- gerous to invaders and invaded. Another cause

Pittsburgh had been claimed by both Pennsyl- vania and Virginia, and. in endeavoring to settle the dispute, Lord Dunmore's war followed. Dr. John Connelly, an ambitious, intriguing person, induced Lord Dunmore to assert the claims of Vir- ginia, in the name of the King. In attempting to carry out his intentions, he was arrested by Arthur St. Clair, representing the proprietors of Pennsyl- vania, who was at Pittsburgh at the time. Con- nelly was released on bail, but went at once to Staunton, where he was sworn in as a Justice of Peace. Returning, he gathered a force of one hundred and fifty men, suddenly took possession of Pittsburgh, refused to allow the magistrates to enter the Court House, or to exercise the functions of their offices, unless in conformity to his will. Connelly refused any terms offered by the Penn- sylvania deputies, kept possession of the place, acted very harshly toward the inhabitants, stirred up the neutral Indians, and, for a time, threatened to make the boundary line between the two colonies a very serious question. His actions led to hostile deeds by some Indians, when the whites, no doubt urged by him, murdered seven Indians at the mouth of the Captina River, and at the house of a settler named Baker, where the Indians were decoyed under promises of friendship and offers of rum. Among those murdered at the latter place, was the entire family of the famous Mingoe chief, Logan. This has been charged to Michael Cresap; but is untrue. Daniel Greathouse had command of the party, and though Cresap may have been among them, it is unjust to lay the blame at his feet. Both murders, at Captina and Yellow Creek, were cruel and unwarranted, and were, without doubt, the cause of the war that followed, though the root of the matter lay in Connelly's arbitrary actions, and in his needlessly alarming the Indians. Whatever may have been the facts in relation to the murder of Logan's family, they were of such a nature as to make all feel sure of an Indian war, and preparations were made for the conflict.

An army was gathered at Wheeling, which, some time in July, under command of Col. Mc- Donald, descended the Ohio to the mouth of Cap- tina Creek. They proposed to march against an Indian town on the Muskingum. The Indians sued for peace, but their pretensions being found spurious, their towns and crops were destroyed. The army then retreated to Williamsburg, having accomplished but little.

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The Delawares were anxious for peace; even the Mingoes, whose relatives had been slain at Yellow Creek, and Captina, were restrained; but Logan, who had been turned to an inveterate foe to the Americans, came suddenly upon the Monongahela settlements, took thirteen scalps in revenge for the loss of his family, returned home and expressed himself ready to treat with the Long Knives, the Virginians. Had Connelly acted properly at this juncture, the war might have been ended; but his actions only incensed both borderers and In- dians. So obnoxious did he become that Lord Dunmore lost faith in him, and severely repri- manded him.

To put a stop to the depredations of the Indians, two large bodies of troops were gathered in Vir- ginia, one under Gen. Andrew Lewis, and one under command of Dunmore himself. Before the armies could meet at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, their objective point, Lewis' army, which arrived first, was attacked by a furious band of Dela- wares, Shawanees, Iroquois and Wyandots. The conflict was bitterly prolonged by the Indians, who, under the leadership of Cornstalk, were deter- mined to make a decisive effort, and fought till late at night (October 10, 1774), and then only by a strategie move of Lewis' command-which re- sulted in the defeat of the Indians, compelling them to cross the Ohio-was the conflict ended. Mean- while, Dunmore's army came into the enemy's country, and, being joined by the remainder of Lewis' command, pressed forward intending to an- nihilate the Indian towns. Cornstalk and his chiefs, however, sued .for peace, and the conflict closed. Dunmore established a camp on Sippo Creek, where he held conferences with the natives and concluded the war. When he left the country, he stationed 100 men at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, a few more at Pittsburgh, and another corps at Wheeling, then called Fort Fincastle. Dunmore intended to return to Pittsburgh the next spring, meet the Indians and form a definite peace ; but the revolt of the colonies prevented. However, he opened several offices for the sale of lands in the West, some of which were in the limits of the Pennsylvania colony. This led to the old boundary dispute again; but before it could be settled, the Revolution began, and Lord Dunmore's, as well as almost all other land speculations in the West, were at an end.

In 1775 and 1776, the chief events transpiring in the West relate to the treaties with the Indians, and the endeavor on the part of the Americans to

have them remain neutral in the family quarrel now coming on, which they could not understand. The British, like the French, however, could not let them alone, and finally, as a retaliatory measure, Congress, under advice of Washington, won some of them over to the side of the colonies, getting their aid and holding them neutral. The colonies only offered them rewards for prisoners ; never, like the British, offering rewards for scalps. Under such rewards, the atrocities of the Indians in some quar- ters were simply horrible. The scalp was enough to get a reward, that was a mark of Indian valor, too, and hence, helpless innocence and decrepit old age were not spared. They stirred the minds of

the pioneers, who saw the protection of their fire- sides a vital point, and led the way to the scheme of Col. Clarke, who was now, as has been noted, the leading spirit in Kentucky. He saw through the scheme of the British, and determined, by a quick, decisive blow, to put an end to it, and to cripple their power in the West.

Among the acts stimulating Clarke, was the attack on Fort Henry, a garrison about one-half mile above Wheeling Creek, on the Ohio, by a renegade white man, Simon Girty, an agent in theemploy of the British, it is thought, and one of the worst wretches ever known on the frontier. When Girty attacked Fort Henry, he led his red allies in regu- lar military fashion, and attacked it without merey. The defenders were brave, and knew with whom they were contending. Great bravery was displayed by the women in the fort, one of whom, a Miss Zane, carried a keg of gunpowder from a cabin to the fort. Though repeatedly fired at by the sav- ages, she reached the fort in safety. After awhile, however, the effect of the frontiersmen's shots began to be felt, and the Indians sullenly withdrew. Re-enforcements coming, the fort was held, and Girty and his band were obliged to flee.

Clarke saw that if the British once got con- trol over the Western Indians the scene at Fort Henry would be repeated, and would not likely, in all cases, end in favor of the Americans. With- out communicating any of his designs, he left Har- rodsburg about the 1st of October, 1777, and reached the capital of Virginia by November 5. Still keeping his mind, he awaited a favorable op- portunity to broach his plans to those in power, and, in the meanwhile, carefully watched the exist- ing state of feeling. When the opportunity came, Clarke broached his plans to Patrick Henry, Gov- ernor of Virginia, who at once entered warmly into them, recognizing their great importance.

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Through his aid. Clarke pronred the necessary au- thority to prosecute his plans. and returned at once to Pittsburgh. He intended raising men about this post, but found them fearful of leaving their homes unprotected. However, he secured three companies, and, with these and a number of volun- tears, picked up on the way down the Ohio River, he fortified Corn Island, near the falls, and made ready for his expedition. He had some trouble in keeping his men, some of those from Kentucky refusing to aid in subduing stations out of their own country. He did not announce his real inten- tions till he had reached this point. Here Col. Bowman joined him with his Kentucky militia and, on the 24th of June, 1778, during a total eclipse of the sun, the party left the fort. Before his start, he learned of the capture of Burgoyne, and, when nearly down to Fort Massac, he met some of his spies, who informed him of the exag- gerated accounts of the ferocity of the Long Knives that the French had received from the British. By proper action on his part, Clarke saw both these items of information could be made very beneficial to him. Leaving the river near Fort Massac, he set out on the march to Kaskas- kia, through a hot summer's sun, over a country full of savage foes. They reached the town un- noticed, on the evening of July 4, and, before the astonished British and French knew it, they were all prisoners. M. Rocheblave, the English commander, was secured, but his wife adroitly con- cealed the papers belonging to the garrison. In the person of M. Gibault, the French priest, Clarke found a true friend. When the true character of the Virginians became apparent, the French were easily drawn to the American side, and the priest secured the surrender and allegiance of Cahokia through his personal influence. M. Gibault told him he would also seeure the post at St. Vincent's, which he did, returning from the mission about the 1st of August. During the interval, Clarke re- enlisted his men, formed his plans, sent his pris- oners to Kentucky, and was ready for future action when M. Gibault arrived. He sent Capt. Helm and a single soldier to Vincennes to hold that fort until he could put a garrison there. It is but proper to state that the English commander, Col. Hamilton, and his band of soldiers, were absent at Detroit when the priest secured the village on the " Quabache." When Hamilton returned, in the autumn, he was greatly surprised to see the Amer- ican flag floating from the ramparts of the fort, and when approaching the gate he was abruptly

halted by Capt. Helm, who stood with a lighted fuse n his hand by a cannon, answering Hamilton's demand to surrender with the imperative inquiry, . Upon what terms, sir?" "Upon the honors of' war," answered Hamilton, and he marched in greatly chagrined to see he had been halted by two men. The British commander sat quietly down, intending to go on down the river and sub- the Kentucky in the spring, in the mean time offering rewards for Americau scalps, and thereby gaining the epithet " Hair-buyer General." Clarke heard of his actions late in January, 1779, and. as he says, " I knew if I did not take him he would ake me," set out early in February with his troops ind marched across the marshy plains of Lower Illinois, reaching the Wabash post by the 22d of that month. The unerring aim of the Westerner was effectual. "They will shoot your eyes out," said Helm to the British troops. "There, I told you so," he further exclaimed, as a soldier vent- ured near a port-hole and received a shot directly in his eye. On the 24th the fort surrendered. The American flag waved again over its ramparts. The " Hair-buyer General" was sent a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement for his cruel acts. Clarke returned to Kaskaskia, perfected his plans to hold the Illinois settlements, went on to Kentucky, from where he sent word to the colonial authorities of the success of his expe- dition. Had he received the aid promised him, Detroit, in easy reach, would have fallen too, but Gen. Green, failing to send it as promised, the capt- ure of that important post was delayed.

Had Clarke failed, and Hamilton succeeded, the whole West would have been swept, from the Alle- ghanies to the Mississippi. But for this small army of fearless Virginians, the union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might have been effected, and the whole current of American history changed. America owes Clarke and his band more than it can ever pay. Clarke reported the capture of Kaskaskia and the Illinois country early after its surrender, and in October the county of Illinois was established, extending over an unlimited expanse of country, by the Virginia Legislature. John Todd was appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor. In November, Clarke and his men received the thanks of the same body, who, in after years, secured them a grant of land, which they selected on the right bank of the Ohio River, opposite Louisville. They expected here a city would rise one day, to be the peer of Louisville, then coming

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 9

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096