History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 8

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

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To these encroachments, the French were by no means blind. They saw plainly enough that if the English gained a foothold in the West, they would inevitably endeavor to obtain the country, and one day the issue could only be decided by war. Vaudreuil, the French Governor, had long anxiously watched the coming struggle. In 1774, he wrote home representing the consequences that would surely come, should the English succeed in their plans. The towns of the French in Illinois were producing large amounts of bread-stuffs and provisions which they sent to New Orleans. These provinces were becoming valuable, and must not be allowed to come under control of a rival power. In 1749, Louis Celeron was sent by the Governor with a party of soldiers to plant leaden plates, suit- ably inscribed, along the Ohio at the mouths of the principal streams. Two of these plates were afterward exhumed. One was sent to the Mary- land Historical Society, and the inscription* deci- phered by De Witt Clinton. On these plates was clearly stated the claims of France, as will be seen from the translation below.

England's claim, briefly and clearly stated, read as follows: "That all lands, or countries west- ward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, between 48 and 34 degrees of North Latitude, were expressly included in the grant of King James the First, to divers of his subjects, so long time since as the year 1606, and afterwards con- firmed in the year 1620; and under this grant, the colony of Virginia claims extent so far west as the South Sea, and the ancient colonies of Mass- achusetts Bay and Connecticut, were by their respective charters, made to extend to the said South Sea, so that not only the right to the sea coast, but to all the Inland countries from sea to sea, has at all times been asserted by the Crown of England."+

To make good their titles, both nations were now doing their utmost. Professedly at peace, it only needed a torch applied, as it were, to any point, to instantly precipitate hostilities. The French were

* The following is the translation of the inscription of the plate found at Venango: "In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV, King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere, Commander-in-chief of New France, to establish tranquillity in certain Indian villages in these Cantons, have buried this plate at the confluence of the Toraclakoin, this twenty-ninth of July, near the River Ohio, otherwise Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, and all its tributaries; and of all the land on both sides, as far as the sources of said rivers; inasmuch as the preceding. Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and by treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle."

i Colonial Records of Pennsylvania.

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busily engaged erecting forts from the southern shores of Lake Erie to the Ohio, and on down in the Illinois Valley ; up at Detroit, and at all its posts, preparations were constantly going on for the crisis, now sure to come. The issue between the two governments was now fully made up. It ad- mitted of no compromise but the sword. To that, however, neither power desired an immediate ap- peal, and both sought rather to establish and fortify their interests, and to conciliate the Indian tribes. The English, through the Ohio Company, sent out Christopher Gist in the fall of 1750, to explore the regions west of the mountains. He was instructed to examine the passes, trace the courses of the rivers, mark the falls, seek for valuable lands, ob- serve the strength, and to conciliate the friendship of the Indian tribes. He was well fitted for such an enterprise. Hardy, sagacious, bold, an adept in Indian character, a hunter by occupation, no man was better qualified than he for such an undertak- ing. He visited Logstown, where he was jealously received, passed over to the Muskingum River and Valley in Ohio, where he found a village of Wyan- dots, divided in sentiment. At this village he met Crogan, another equally famous frontiersman, who had been sent out by Pennsylvania. Together they held a council with the chiefs, and received assurance of the friendship of the tribe. This done, they passed to the Shawnee towns on the Scioto, received their assurances of friendship, and went on to the Miami Valley, which they crossed, remarking in Crogan's journal of its great fertili- ty. They made a raft of logs on which they crossed the Great Miami, visited Piqua, the chief town of the Pickawillanies, and here made treaties with the Weas and Piankeshaws. While here, a deputation of the Ottawas visited the Miami Con- federacy to induce them to unite with the French. They were repulsed through the influence of the English agents, the Miamis sending Gist word that they would " stand like the mountains. " Crogan now returned and published an account of their wanderings. Gist followed the Miami to its mouth, passed down the Ohio till within fifteen miles of the falls, then returned by way of the Kentucky River, over the highlands of Kentucky to Virginia, arriving in May, 1751. He had visited the Mingoes, Delawares, Wyandots, Shawa- nees and Miamis, proposed a union among these tribes, and appointed a grand council to meet at Logstown to form an alliance among themselves and with Virginia. His journey was marvelous for the day. It was extremely hazardous, as he

was part of the time among hostile tribes, who could have captured him and been well rewarded by the French Government. But Gist knew how to act, and was successful.

While Gist was doing this, some English traders established themselves at a place in what is now known as Shelby County, Ohio, and opened a store for the purpose of trading with the Indians. This was clearly in the limits of the West, claimed by the French, and at once aroused them to action. The fort orstockade stood on the banks of Loramie's Creek, about sixteen miles northwest of the present city of Sydney. It received the name Loramie from the creek by the French, which received its name in turn from the French trader of that name, who had a trading-post on this creek. Loramie had fled to the Spanish country west of the Mississippi, and for many years was a trader there ; his store being at the junc- tion of the Kansas and Missouri, near the present city of Kansas City, Mo. When the English traders came to Loramie's Creek, and erected their trading-place, they gave it the name of Pick- awillany, from the tribe of Indians there. The Miami confederacy granted them this privilege as the result of the presents brought by Crogan and Gist. It is also asserted that Andrew Montour, a half-breed, son of a Seneca chief and the famous Catharine Montour, who was an important fac- tor afterward in the English treaties with the Indians, was with them, and by his influence did much to aid in securing the privilege. Thus was established the first English trading-post in the Northwest Territory and in Ohio. It, however, enjoyed only a short duration. The French could not endure so clear an invasion of their country, and gathering a force of Ottawas and Chippewas, now their allies, they attacked the stockade in June, 1752. At first they demanded of the Miamis the surrender of the fort, as they were the real cause of its location, having granted the English the privilege. The Miamis not only refused, but aided the British in the defense. In the battle that ensued, fourteen of the Miamis were slain, and all the traders captured. One account says they were burned, another, and probably the correct one, states that they were taken to Canada as prisoners of war. It is probable the traders were from Penn- sylvania, as that commonwealth made the Miamis presents as condolence for their warriors that were slain.

Blood had now been shed. The opening gun of the French and Indian war had been fired, and both

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nations became more deeply interested in affairs in the West. The English were determined to secure additional title to the West, and, in 1752, sent Messrs. Fry, Lomax and Patton as commissioners to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and confirm the Lancaster treaty. They met the Indians on the 9th of June, stated their desires, and on the 11th received their answer. At first, the sav- ages were not inclined to recognize the Lancaster treaty, but agreed to aid the English, as the French had already made war on the Twigtees (at Picka- willany), and consented to the establishment of a fort and trading-post at the forks of the Ohio. This was not all the Virginians wanted, however, and taking aside Andrew Montour, now chief of the Six Nations, persuaded him to use his influence with the red men. By such means, they were in- duced to treat, and on the 13th they all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a settlement south west of the Ohio, and covenanting that it should not be disturbed by them. By such means was obtained the treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley.

All this time, the home governments were en- deavoring to out-maneuver each other with regard to the lands in the West, though there the outlook only betokened war. The French understood bet- ter than the English how to manage the Indians, and succeeded in attaching them firmly to their cause. The English were not honest in their actions with them, and hence, in after years, the massacres that followed.

At the close of 1752, Gist was at work, in con- formity with the Lancaster and Logstown treaties, laying out a fort and town on Chartier's Creek, about ten miles below the fork. Eleven families had crossed the mountains to settle at Gist's resi- dence west of Laurel Hill, not far from the Yough- iogheny. Goods had come from England for the Ohio Company, which were carried as far West as Will's Creek, where Cumberland now stands ; and where they were taken by the Indians and traders.

On the other hand, the French were gathering cannon and stores on Lake Erie, and, without treaties or deeds of land, were gaining the good will of the inimical tribes, and preparing, when all was ready, to strike the blow. Their fortifications consisted of a chain of forts from Lake Erie to the Ohio, on the border. One was at Presque Isle, on the site of Erie; one on French Creek, on the site of Waterford, Penn .; one at the mouth of French Creek, in Venango County, Penn .; while opposite it was another, effectually commanding

that section of country. These forts, it will be observed, were all in the limits of the Pennsyl- vania colony. The Governor informed the Assem- bly of their existence, who voted £600 to be used in purchasing presents for the Indians near the forts, and thereby hold their friendship. Virginia, also, took similar measures. Trent was sent, with guns and ammunition and presents, to the friendly tribes, and, while' on his mission, learned of the plates of lead planted by the French. In October, 1753, a treaty was consummated with representa- tives of the Iroquois, Delawares, Shawanees, Twig- twees and Wyandots, by commissioners from Pennsylvania, one of whom was the philosopher Franklin. At the conferences held at this time, the Indians complained of the actions of the French in forcibly taking possession of the dis- puted country, and also bitterly denounced them for using rum to intoxicate the red men, when they desired to gain any advantage. Not long after, they had similar grounds of complaint against the English, whose lawless traders cared for nothing but to gain the furs of the savage at as little ex- pense as possible.

The encroachments of the French on what was regarded as English territory, created intense feel- ing in the colonies, especially in Virginia. The purpose of the French to inclose the English on the Atlantic Coast, and thus prevent their extension over the mountains, became more and more ap- parent, and it was thought that this was the open- ing of a scheme already planned by the French Court to reduce all North America under the do- minion of France. Gov. Dinwiddie determined to send an ambassador to the French posts, to as- certain their real intentions and to observe the amount and disposition of their forces. Heselected a young Virginian, then in his twenty-first year, a surveyor by trade and one well qualified for the duty. That young man afterward led the Ameri- can Colonies in their struggle for liberty. George Washington and one companion, Mr. Gist, suc- cessfully made the trip, in the solitude of a severe winter, received assurance from the French com- mandant that they would by no means abandon their outposts, and would not yield unless com- pelled by force of arms. The commandant was exceedingly polite, but firm, and assured the young American that "we claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discovery of La Salle (in 1669) and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley."

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During Washington's absence steps were taken to fortify the point formed by the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany; and when, on his return, he met seventeen horses loaded with mate- rials and stores for a fort at the forks of the Ohio, and, soon after, some families going out to settle he knew the defense had begun. As soon as Washington made his report, Gov. Dinwiddie wrote to the Board of Trade, stating that the French were building a fort at Venango, and that, in March, twelve or fifteen hundred men would be ready to descend the river with their Indian allies, for which purpose three hundred canoes had been collected ; and that Logstown was to be made headquarters, while forts were to be built in other places. He sent expresses to the Governors of Pennsylvania and New York, apprising them of the nature of affairs, and calling upon them for assist- ance. He also raised two companies, one of which was raised by Washington, the other by Trent. The one under Trent was to be raised on the frontiers, and was, as soon as possible, to repair to the Fork and erect there a fort, begun by the Ohio Company. Owing to various conflicting opinions between the Governor of Pennsylvania and his Assembly, and the conference with the Six Nations, held by New York, neither of those provinces put forth any vigorous measures until stirred to action by the invasions on the frontiers, and until directed by the Earl of Holderness, Secretary of State.

The fort at Venango was finished by the French in April, 1754. All along the creek resounded the clang of arms and the preparations for war. New York and Pennsylvania, though inactive, and debating whether the French really had in- vaded English territory or not, sent aid to the Old Dominion, now all alive to the conquest. The two companies had been increased to six; Washing- ton was raised to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and made second under command of Joshua Fry. Ten cannon, lately from England, were for- warded from Alexandria ; wagons were got ready to carry westward provisions and stores through the heavy spring roads; and everywhere men were enlisting under the King's promise of two huudred thousand acres of land to those who would go. They were gathering along Will's Creek and far beyond, while Trent, who had come for more men and supplies, left a little band of forty-one men, working away in hunger and want at the Fork, to which both nations were looking with anxious eyes. Though no enemy was near, and only a few Indian scouts were seen, keen eyes had observed the low

fortifications at the Fork. Swift feet had borne the news of it up the valley, and though Ensign Ward, left in command, felt himself secure, on the 17th of April he saw a sight that made his heart sick. Sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes were coming down the Alleghany. The com- mandant sent him a summons, which evaded no words in its meaning. It was useless to contend, that evening he supped with his conqueror ; the next day he was bowed out by the polite French- man, and with his men and tools marched up the Monongahela. The first birds of spring were fill- ing the air with their song; the rivers rolled by, swollen by April showers and melting snows; all nature was putting on her robes of green ; and the fortress, which the English had so earnestly strived to obtain and fortify, was now in the hands of the French. Fort Du Quesne arose on the incomplete fortifications. The seven years' war that followed not only affected America, but spread to all quar- ters of the world. The war made England a great imperial power ; drove the French from Asia and America; dispelled the brilliant and extended scheme of Louis and his voluptuous empire.

The active field of operations was in the Canadas principally, and along the western borders of Penn- sylvania. There were so few people then in the present confines of Ohio, that only the possession of the country, in common with all the West, could be the animus of the conflict. It so much concerned this part of the New World, that a brief resume of the war will be necessary to fully under- stand its history.

The fall of the post at the fork of the Ohio, Fort Du Quesne, gave the French control of the West. Washington went on with his few militia to re- take the post. Though he was successful at first, he was in the end defeated, and surrendered, being allowed to return with all his munitions of war. The two governments, though trying to come to a peaceful solution of the question, were getting ready for the conflict. France went stead- ily on, though at one time England gave, in a measure, her consent to allow the French to retain all the country west of the Alleghanies and south of the lakes. Had this been done, what a different future would have been in America ! Other des- tinies were at work, however, and the plan fell stillborn.

England sent Gen. Braddock and a fine force of men, who marched directly toward the post on the Ohio. His ill-fated expedition resulted only in the total defeat of his army, and his own death.

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Washington saved a remnant of the army, and made his way back to the colonies. The En- glish needed a leader. They next planned four campaigns; one against Fort Du Quesne; one against Crown Point; one against Niagara, and one against the French settlements in Nova Scotia. Nearly every one proved a failure. The English were defeated on sea and on land, all owing to the incapacity of Parliament, and the want of a suit- able, vigorous leader. The settlements on the front- iers, now exposed to a cruel foe, prepared to defend themselves, and already the signs of a government of their own, able to defend itself, began to appear. They received aid from the colonies. Though the French were not repulsed, they and their red allies found they could not murder with impunity. Self-preservation was a stronger incen- tive in conflict than aggrandizement, and the cruelty of the Indians found avengers.

The great Pitt became Prime Minister June 29, 1757. The leader of the English now appeared. The British began to regain their losses on sea and land, and for them a brighter day was at hand. The key to the West must be retaken, and to Gen. Forbes was assigned the duty. Preceding him, a trusty man was sent to the Western Indians at the head-waters of the Ohio, and along the Mo- nongahela and Alleghany, to see if some compro- mise with them could not be made, and their aid secured. The French had been busy through their traders inciting the Indians against the English. The lawless traders were another source of trouble. Caring nothing for either nation, they carried on a distressing traffic in direct violation of the laws, continually engendering ill-feeling among the na- tives. "Your traders," said one of them, "bring scarce anything but rum and flour. They bring little powder and lead, or other valuable goods. The rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent its coming in such quantities by regulating the traders. *

* * These wicked whisky sell- ers, when they have got the Indians in liquor, make them sell the very clothes off their backs. If this practice be continued, wemust be inevitably ruined. We most earnestly, therefore, beseech you to remedy it." They complained of the French traders the same way. They were also beginning to see the animus of the whole conflict. Neither power cared as much for them as for their land, and flattered and bullied by turns as served their purposes best.

The man selected to go upon this undertaking was Christian Frederic Post, a Moravian, who had lived among the Indians seventeen years, and mar-

ried into one of their tribes. He was a missionary, and though obliged to cross a country whose every stream had been dyed by blood, and every hillside rung with the death-yell, and grown red with the light of burning huts, he went willingly on his way. Of his journey, sufferings and doings, his own journal tells the story. He left Philadelphia on the 15th of July, 1758, and on the 7th of August safely passed the French post at Venango, went on to Big Beaver Creek, where he held a conference with the chiefs of the Indians gathered there. It was decided that a great conference should be held opposite Fort Du Quesne, where there were Indians of eight nations. "We will bear you in our bosoms," said the natives, when Post expressed a fear that he might be delivered over to the French, and royally they fulfilled their promises. At the conference, it was made clear to Post that all the Western Indians were wavering in their allegiance to the French, owing largely to the fail- ure of that nation to fulfill their promises of aid to prevent them from being deprived of their land by the Six Nations, and through that confederacy, by the English. The Indians complained bitterly, more- over, of the disposition of the whites in over-run- ning and claiming their lands. "Why did you not fight your battles at home or on the sea, instead of coming into our country to fight them ? " they asked again and again, and mournfully shook their heads when they thought of the future before them. " Your heart is good," said they to Post. "You speak sincerely; but we know there is always a great number who wish to get rich; they have enough ; look ! we do not want to be rich and take away what others have. The white people think we have no brains in our heads; that they are big, and we are a handful; but remember when you hunt for a rattlesnake, you cannot always find it, and perhaps it will turn and bite you before you see it."* When the war of Pontiac came, and' all the West was desolated, this saying might have been justly remembered. After concluding a peace, Post set out for Philadelphia, and after incredi- ble hardships, reached the settlement uninjured early in September. His mission had more to do than at first is apparent, in the success of the English. Had it not been for him, a second Brad- dock's defeat might have befallen Forbes, now on his way to subjugate Fort Du Quesne.

Through the heats of August, the army hewed its way toward the West. Early in September it

* Post's Journal.

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reached Raystown, whither Washington had been ordered with his troops. Sickness had prevented him from being here already. Two officers were sent out to reconnoiter the fort, who returned and gave a very good account of its condition. Gen. Forbes desired to know more of it, and sent out Maj. Grant, with 800 men, to gain more complete knowledge. Maj. Grant, supposing not more than 200 soldiers to be in the fort, marched near it and made a feint to draw them out, and engage them in battle. He was greatly misinformed as to the strength of the French, and in the engagement that followed he was badly beaten-270 of his men killed, 42 wounded, and several, including himself, taken prisoners. The French, elated with their victory, attacked the main army, but were repulsed and obliged to retreat to the fort. The army con- tinued on its march. On the 24th of November they reached Turtle Creek, where a council of war was held, and where Gen. Forbes, who had been so ill as to be carried on a litter from the start, de- clared, with a mighty oath, he would sleep that night in the fort, or in a worse place. The Indi- ans had, however, carried the news to the French that the English were as plenty as the trees of the woods, and in their fright they set fire to the fort in the night and left up and down the Ohio River. The next morning the English, who had heard the explosion of the magazine, and seen the light of the burning walls, marched in and took peaceable possession. A small fortification was thrown up on the bank, and, in honor of the great English statesman, it was called Fort Pitt. Col. Hugh Mer- cer was left in command, and the main body of the army marched back to the settlements. It reached Philadelphia January 17, 1759. On the 11th of March, Gen. Forbes died, and was buried in the chancel of Christ's Church, in that city.

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History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 8

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