History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 35

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr.
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 826

USA > Ohio > Licking County > History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present > Part 35

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paint cups are not common in this county; in fact, they are quite rare, but one being known to exist, that in the collection of Dr. Craig, of Mansfield, Ohio.

The comparative rarity of aboriginal smoking pipes is easily explained by the fact that they were not discarded, as were weapons, when those by whom they were fashioned entered upon the iron age. The advances of the whites in no way less- ened the demand for pipes, nor did the whites substitute a better implement. The pipes were retained and used until worn out or broken, save the few that were buried with their dead owners.

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What was the ultimate fate of these can only be conjectured. In very few instances does an Indian

grave contain a pipe. If the practice of burying the pipe with its owner was common, it is probable

STONE AND CLAY PIPES.

that the graves were opened and robbed of this coveted article by members of the same or some other tribes.

It only remains to notice the "flints," in addi- tion to which a few other archaeological relics of minor importance are found about the country, but none of sufficient import to merit mention, or to throw additional light on the lost tribes of Amer- ica. Arrow and spear heads and other similar pieces of flaked flints are the most abundant of any aboriginal relics in the United States. They are chiefly made of hard and brittle siliceous ma-

terials; are easily damaged in hitting any object at which they are aimed, hence many of them bear marks of , violent use. Perfect specimens are, however, by no means rare. The art of arrow making survives to the present day among certain Indian tribes, from whom is learned the art prac- ticed that produces them.

A classification of arrow heads is not within the scope of this work; indeed, it is rarely attempted by archaeologists. The styles are almost as nu- merous as their makers. In general, they are all the same in outline, mostly leaf-shaped, varying

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PERFORATORS-FLINT.

ARROW AND SPEAR HEADS.

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according to the taste of their makers. The ac- companying cut exhibits a few of the common forms, though the number is infinite. They may have been chipped-probably most were-and some may have been ground. Spear heads ex- hibit as large a variety as arrow heads. Like arrow heads, spear heads were inserted in wooden handles of various lengths, though in many tribes they were fastened by thongs of untanned leather or sinews.

Their modes of manufacture were generally the same. Sometimes tribes contained "arrow mak- ers," whose business was to make these implements selling them to, or exchanging them with, their neighbors for wampum or peltry. When, the In- dian desired an arrow head, he could buy one of

the "arrow maker" or make one himself. The common method was to take a chipping imple- ment, generally made of the pointed rods of a deer horn, from eight to sixteen inches in length, or of slender, short pieces of the same material, bound with sinews to wooden sticks resembling arrow shafts. The "arrow maker" held in his left hand the flake of flint or obsidian on which he intended to operate, and pressing the point of the tool against its edge, detached scale after scale, with much ingenuity, until the flake assumed the desired form.

NOTE .- For more particular information regarding the works of the Mound Builders, located in different parts of this county, the reader is referred to the history of the different townships in which such works are located.

CHAPTER XXII.

INDIANS.

CHARACTERISTICS-TERRITORY OCCUPIED BY THE DIFFERENT TRIBES-BOUNDARIES OF THE DELAWARE AND WYANDOT RESERVATION-INDIAN VILLAGES IN LICKING COUNTY-STRENGTH OF THE WYANDOTS AND SHAWNEES-TRAILS -HISTORY OF THE SHAWNEES, WYANDOTS, OTTAWAS AND DELAWARES-MANNERS, CUSTOMS, FEASTS, ETC .- MAKING SUGAR-AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS-DOMESTIC LIFE-RELIGION-THEIR REMOVAL FROM OHIO.

"Through the land where we for ages Laid our bravest, dearest dead, Grinds the savage white man's ploughshare, Grinding sires bones for bread."

-Joaquin Miller.

THE next inhabitants in the form of a human being to occupy the territory now embraced in Licking county, after the Mound Builders, were the American Indians. At least such is the gen- erally received opinion, though whether the In- dians and Mound Builders were not cotempora- neous is, perhaps, an open question. The Indian history, as well as that of the Mound Builders, is a good deal involved in obscurity, and much of it largely dependent on tradition, yet much of it is authentic and reliable. The Indians themselves, however, can be allowed very little, if any, credit for this preservation of their history; it is almost, or entirely, owing to white occupation' that they have any history at all.

The day is not far distant when the Indian race, as a race, will become extinct. Supposing that this extinction had occurred before white occupa- tion of this country, what would the world know of the Indian race? Where are their monuments? Where are their works that would perpetuate their memory? In what particular spot on this great earth have they left a single indelible footprint or imperishable mark to tell of their existence? Not so with the Mound Builders. They left works of an imperishable nature, and from these something of their history may be learned, even though personally they do not appear to exist anywhere. They were evidently workers, and much superior to the Indian, ·viewed from a civilized standpoint.

Colonel Charles Whittlesey's map of the In- dians of Ohio gives this territory to the Delawares, except the western tier of townships, which are lo- cated in the Shawnee country; it does not appear,

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however, that the Delawares occupied it to any great extent. It was used as a hunting ground by the Wyandots and Shawnees.

During the latter half of the last century the Shawnees occupied the Scioto country, and some- times spread themselves more or less over this sec- tion; but the Wyandots (also called the Hurons) and the Delawares mainly occupied the country between the Muskingum and Scioto rivers.

In 1785, by the treaty of Fort McIntosh, it was stipulated that the boundary line between the United States and the Delaware and Wyandot na- tions, should "begin at the mouth of the Cuya- hoga river and run thence up said river to the por- tage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of Muskingum, thence down said branch to the forks (at the present town of Bolivar), thence westerly to the portage of the Big Miami, thence along said portage to the great Miami of the lakes (Maumee river), and down said river to its mouth; thence along the southern shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, the place of beginning." By this treaty, as will be seen, they ceded a large territory, including Licking county, to the United States. It is certain, however, that many of them continued to occupy this territory many years after the date of the above treaty, which they found lit- tle difficulty in doing, as there were then no white settlers to dispute the possession with them.

To the Shawnees was assigned, by the treaty of Fort Finney, in 1786, the country between the Big Miami and Wabash rivers. They also relinquished all claims to whatever territory they had in Ohio, but some of them also lingered here, even within the limits of this county, until the close of the century, or later.

Previous to 1800 there were several Indian vil- lages within the limits of the county. One of these was called "Raccoon town," and was situated on the Raccoon bottom, near Johnstown. This was a Wyandot village, and, in 1807, their posses- sions were purchased by Charles and George Green, who thereafter occupied these lands. An- other was on the Bowling Green, near the Licking river, five miles below Newark. They also had some huts, wigwams, and some small villages on. the Licking bottoms, which they occupied tempo- rarily, a mile or two below the junction of the

North and South forks, as well as at some other points. A few Shawnees camped for a time on Shawnee run, near or on the farm of Mr. P. N. O'Bannon, which circumstance gave name to the stream. One of the Indian tribes called the North fork "Pataskala," and the main stream be- low was, also, so called; but one or more of the Indian tribes also called the latter Lick-Licking. The latter name is supposed to have been given it from the fact of there being in early times some "salt licks," as they were called, upon or near its banks, which were much resorted to by deer and buffalo, and, subsequent to the settlement of the country, by domestic animals. Hunters were very successful, in early times, at these licks, in securing venison. The Indians in this territory were peace- ably disposed toward the whites, and there is no record of any murders or outrages committed by them after the permanent settlement of the county. The shooting of a scout in the eastern part of the county, and the stealing of some horses from the first settlers by the Indians, is fully described in the chapter on the pioneers.

Mr. Hutchins, the United States geographer, estimated the number of the Wyandots and Shaw- nees, in 1764, at eight hundred warriors-three hundred of the former and five hundred of the latter.

It appears these nations occupied this territory in limited numbers, only as a hunting ground, and that it was out of the line of all their great trails. One of their main trails-a "trunk line" as it were-crossed the Muskingum river in the vicinity of Zanesville, passing a little south of west across Perry and Fairfield counties, but wholly south of Licking. A branch trail, however, diverged from this main trail, crossed the Muskingum in the vicinity of the present site of Dresden, and strik- ing Licking county, about where Licking river passes out of it, on the east, passed up that river to the vicinity of Bowling Green, where it crossed, and bore southwest to the "Big" and "Little" lakes, or what is now the reservoir. This reservoir was a favorite resort for the purpose of fishing. This trail passed on from the reservoir to King Beaverstown, near Pickerington, or Lithopolis, in Fairfield county, near the head-waters of the Hock- Hocking.

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A brief history of these nations, their habits and customs, may be appropriate here.

Speaking of the Shawanees or Shawanoes, Col- orel Johnston, a most excellent authority on such subjects, says:

"We can trace their history to the time of their residence on the tide-waters of Florida, and, as well as the Delawares, they aver that they originally came from west of the Mississippi. Blackhoof, who died at Wapaghkonnetta, at the advanced age of one hundred and five years, and who, in his day, was a very influential chief among the Indians, told me that he remem- bered, when a boy, bathing in the salt waters of Florida ; also that his people firmly believed white, or civilized, people had been in the country before them, having found in many instan- ces the marks of iron tools upon the trees and stumps."

Shawanoese means "the south," or the "people from the south."* After the peace of 1763, the Miamis removed from the Big Miami river and a body of Shawnees established themselves at Lower and Upper Piqua, which became their principal headquarters in Ohio. They remained here until driven off by the Kentuckians, when they crossed over to the St. Mary's and to Wapaghkonnetta. The Upper Piqua is said to have contained at one period over four thousand Shawnees. They were very warlike and brave, and often were quite for- midable enemies.

In the French war, which ended in 1763, a bloody battle was fought near the site of Colonel Johnston's residence, at Upper Piqua. At that time the Miamis had their towns here, which on ancient maps are marked as "Tewightewee towns." The Miamis, Ottawas, Wyandots, and other north- ern tribes adhering to the French, made a stand here, assisted by the French. The Delawares, Shawnees, Munseys, parts of the Senecas, residing in Pennsylvania, Cherokees, Catawbas, and other tribes, adhering to the English, with English traders, attacked the French and Indians. The latter had built a fort in which to protect and de- fend themselves, and were able to withstand the siege, which lasted more than a week. Not long after this contest the Miamis retired to the Miami of the lake, at and near Fort Wayne, and never returned. The Shawnees took their place, and gave names to many towns in this part of Ohio.

The northern part of Ohio belonged in ancient times to the Eries, who were exterminated by the

* Howe's Collections.

Five Nations in some of their wars .. The Wyan- dots, who, at the time the French missionaries came to America were dwelling in the peninsula of Michigan, were allowed by the Five Nations to occupy the land of the Eries, and thus came to dwell in Ohio. From Howe's Historical Collec- tions, it is ascertained that the Wyandots once oc- cupied the north site of the St. Lawrence river, down to Coon lake, and from thence up the Uti- was. The Senecas owned the opposite side of the river, and the island upon which Montreal now stands. Both were large tribes, consisting of many thousands, and were blood relations, claiming each other as cousins.

A war originated between the two tribes in the following manner: A Wyandot brave wanted a certain woman for his wife ; she objected; said he was no warrior, as he had never taken any scalps. He then raised a party of warriors and they fell upon a small party of Senecas, killing and scalping a number of them. It is presumed the Wyandot brave secured his wife, but this created a war be- tween the tribes which lasted more than a hundred years, and until both nations were much weakened, and the Wyandots nearly exterminated. The lat- ter were compelled to leave the country, and took up their residence on the peninsula of Michigan, as before stated. They were often compelled to fight their old enemies even in this far off region, as war parties of Senecas frequently went there for that purpose. A peace was finally ar- ranged, and the remnant of Wyandots came to reside in Ohio. The Ottawas, another conquered tribe, and one allowed existence only by paying a kind of tribute to their conquerors, the Iroquois, were also part occupants of this same part of Ohio. This nation produced the renowned chief, Pontiac, who was the cause of such wide-spread desolation in the west. The Ottawas were often known as "Canada Indians" among the early settlers. Their principal settlements were on the Maumee, along the lake shore, on the Huron and Black rivers, and on the streams flowing into them. These Indians were distinguished for their cunning and artifice, and were devoid of the attributes of a true warrior. They were often employed as emis- saries, their known diplomacy and artifice being well adapted for such business. The Wyandots,

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on the other hand, were a bold, warlike people. General Harrison says of them: "They were true warriors, and neither fatigue, famine, loss, or any of the ills of war could daunt their courage. They were our most formidable and stubborn ene- mies among the aborigines in the war of 1812." They, like all tribes in the west, were often in- fluenced by British rum and British gold, and found, in the end, as their chiefs so aptly expressed it, that they were "only tools in the hands of a supe- rior power, who cared nothing for them, only to further their own selfish ends."

Many of the Indians of all these tribes were friendly to all whites until the breaking out of the war with Great Britain, when they left the country to join the forces of the king, and destroy the whites who occupied their country. They consid- ered them then their enemies, and acted accord- ingly on all occasions, save where personal friend- ship, so strong in the Indian, developed itself, and in many instances, saved the lives of those in dan- ger. Instances of this kind are frequently given, which appear in the narrative as they occurred.

The manners, customs, feasts, war parties and daily life of these sons of the forest, form interest- ing chapters in aboriginal history. It will be well to notice such in these pages, as far as space per- mits. The character of the Indians was largely the result of their lives. They judged and lived by what the senses dictated. They had names and words for what they could hear, see, feel, taste and smell. They had no conceptions of abstract ideas until they learned such from the whites. Hence their language was very symbolical. They could see the sun in his brightness, they could feel his heat ; hence they compared the actions of a good man to the glory of the sun, and his fervent energy to the heat of that body. The moon in her brightness, the wind in its fury, the clouds in their majesty, or in their slow, graceful motion through a lazy atmosphere; the grace and flight of the deer; the strength and fury of the bear; the rush or ripple of water as it coursed along the bed of a river, all gave them words whose expressive- ness are a wonder and marvel to this day. They looked on the beautiful river that borders the southern shores of our State and exclaimed "O-he-zo!" beautiful; on the placid waters of the

stream bordering the western line of Indiana and ejaculated, "Wa-ba"-a summer cloud moving swiftly; on the river flowing into Lake Erie and said, "Cuy-o-ga" (Cuyahoga), crooked; and so on through their entire vocabulary, each name ex- pressive of a meaning, full and admirably adapted to the object. At one time in the history of the Indians in the south, one tribe was driven from the homes of its ancestors, and in their flight they came to the green banks of a beautiful river. The spot was charmingly beautiful, and the chief, thrusting his spear into the earth, cried in a loud voice, "Al-a-ba-ma"-here we rest. A river and State now perpetuate the name and story.

The Indians in Ohio, the tribes already men- tioned, had learned a few things from their inter- course with the whites on the borders of Western Pennsylvania, when they were first seen by the pioneers of Licking county. Their cabins or wig- wams were of two kinds-circular and parallelo- gram. The former, the true wigwam, was in use among the Ottawas when the whites came to their country. It was made of a number of straight poles driven firmly into the ground, their upper ends being drawn closely together; this formed a kind of skeleton tent. The squaws plaited mats of thongs, bark or grass, in such a manner as to render them impervious to water. These were spread on the poles, beginning at the bottom, and extending upward. A small hole was left for the egress of smoke from the fire kindled in the center of the wigwam. Around this fire, mats or skins were spread, on which the Indians slept at night, and on which they sat during the day. For a door, they lifted one end of the mat, and crept in, letting it fall down behind them. These tents were warm and dry, and generally quite free from smoke. Their fuel was nearly always split by the squaws in the fall of the year, and kept dry by placing it under an inverted birch-bark canoe. These wigwams were easily moved about from place to place, the labor of their destruction and construction being always performed by the squaws -the beasts of burden among all savage nations. The wigwam was very light, and easily carried about. It resembled the tents of to-day in shape, and was often superior in points of comfort and protection.

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The cabins were more substantial affairs, and were built of poles, about the thickness of a small sized telegraph pole, but were of various sizes, and commonly, about twelve by fifteen feet in length. These poles were laid one on the other, similar to the logs in a cabin, save that, until the Indians learned that notching the point of contact near the end, from the whites, they were held by two stakes being driven in the angles formed in the corners, and fastened at the top by a hickory or bark withe, or by a thong of buckskin. The pen was raised to the height of from four to six feet, when an arched roof was made over it by driving at each end a strong post, with a fork at the upper end, which stood a convenient height above the top- most log or pole. A stout pole was laid on the forks, and on this was laid a small pole reach- ing down to the wall. On these rafters, small lath were tied, and over the whole pieces of linn bark were thrown. These were cut from the tree, often of great length, and from six to twelve inches in width. They were then cut into proper lengths to cover the cabin. At the ends of the cabin split timbers were set up, so that the entire cabin was inclosed except a small aperture at one end, left for a door. This was covered by a deer or bear skin. At the top of the cabin an opening was left for the smoke to escape, for all Indians built their fires on the ground in the center of the cabin or wigwam, around which they spread skins and mats on which to recline and sleep. The cracks be- tween the logs were filled with moss gathered from old logs. When made, the cabin was quite com- fortable, and was often constructed in the same manner by the pioneers, while making improve- ments, and used until a permanent structure could be erected.

In regard to food, the Indians were more care- ful to provide for their future needs than their suc- cessors of the west are to-day. In the spring they made maple sugar by boiling the sap in large brass or iron kettles which they had obtained from the French and English traders. To secure the water they used vessels made of elm bark in a very inge nious manner. "They would strip the bark," says Dr. George W. Hill, of Ashland, "in the winter season when it would strip or run, by cutting down the tree, and, with a crooked stick, sharp and

broad at one end, peel the bark in wide strips, from which they would construct vessels holding two or three gallons each." They would often make over a hundred of these. They cut a sloping notch in the side of a sugar-tree, stuck a toma- hawk into the wood at the end of the notch, and, in the dent thus made, drove a long chip or spile, which conveyed the water to the bark vessels. They generally selected the larger trees for tapping, as they considered the sap from such stronger and productive of more sugar. Their vessels for car- rying the sap would hold from three to five gallons each, and sometimes, where a large camp was lo- cated and a number of squaws at work, using a half-dozen kettles, great quantities of sugar would be made. When the sugar-water would collect faster than they could boil it, they would make three or four large troughs, holding more than a hundred gallons each, in which they kept the sap until ready to boil. When the sugar was made, it was generally mixed with bear's oil or fat, forming a sweet mixture into which they dipped their roasted venison. As cleanliness was not a reigning virtue among the Indians, the cultivated taste of a civilized person would not always fancy the mixture, unless driven to it by hunger. The compound, when made, was generally kept in large bags made of coon skins, or vessels made of bark. The former were made by stripping the skin over the body toward the head, tying the holes made by the legs with buckskin cords, and sewing securely the holes of the eyes, ears and mouth. The hair was all re- moved, and then the bag blown full of air, from a hole in the upper end, and allowed to dry. Bags made in this way, Dr. Bushnell says, would hold whiskey, and were often used for such purposes. When they became saturated they were blown full of air again, the hole plugged, and they were left to dry. Sometimes the head was cut off without stripping the skin from it, and the skin of the neck gathered in folds like a purse, below which a string was tied and fastened with a pin. Skin vessels are not indigenous to the natives of America. All Oriental countries possess them, where the traveler of to-day finds them the rule. They are as old, almost, as time.

The Indians inhabiting this part of Ohio were rather domestic in their tastes, and cultivated corn,

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potatoes and melons. Corn was their principal crop, and was raised entirely by the squaws. When the season for planting drew near, the. women cleared a spot of rich alluvial soil, and dug over the ground in a rude manner with their hoes. In planting the corn they followed lines, to a certain extent, thus forming rows each way across the field. When the corn began to grow, they cultivated it with wonderful industry, until it had matured suffi- ciently for use. The corn-fields were nearly always in the vicinity of the villages, and sometimes were many acres in extent, and in favorable seasons yielded plentifully. The squaws had entire charge of the work. It was considered beneath the dig- nity of a brave to do any kind of manual labor, and, when any one of them, or any of the white men whom they had adopted, did any work, they were severely reprimanded for acting like a squaw. The Indian women raised the corn, dried it, pounded it into meal in a rude stone mortar, or made it into hominy. Corn, in one form and an- other, formed the chief staple of the Indian's food. They had various legends concerning its origin, which, in common with other stories, they were ac- customed to recite in their assemblies.

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History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 35

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr. Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Number of Pages: 826

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr.
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 826