History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 10

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Another ancient fort was found on the premises now or lately owned by Mr. J. Longan, in section twelve, township five, range fifteen.

Another on land owned by Charles Werth, in the same section, and a little further up the river than that last mentioned.

Another a little further up the river on the land now owned by Jacob Thorn, in the same section.

Another on the Williams Reserve, still

further up the river, in section fourteen, same township. This fort included five or six acres of land, and is situated partly on the land now owned by L. D. Williams, and partly on another tract. The five last mentioned of these ancient forts are in the form of semicircles, the river forming the arc. The bank of the river where these remains are found, is composed of earth which readily dissolves and washes away by the action of the water, and these works are on the side of the river on which the current and the motion given to the water by the winds spend their force, and where these forces have for a long time been encroaching upon the land, which, in times past, was some distance away from the river. It is quite plain, therefore, that these, like the one at Muskash Point and the one on the Stull farm, were originally circular in form, and some distance from the perpendicular, low bank of the river, for all the remains of the other forts in this chain, unaffected by the wash of a stream, are in that form complete.

There are evidences of another fort of the same kind above the Williams Reserve a short distance, on the high bank of the river, in section thirteen, township five, range fifteen. This work is different in form from those heretofore mentioned, being nearly square, and is supposed to include about three acres of land. It is situated at a place where there was once an Indian village called Muncietown, about three miles below the city of Fremont.

Another and larger ancient fort was found a little down the river from the residence of Mr. L. D. Williams, which, he says, was a circle and enclosed about ten acres of land.

A MOUND.

Near the fort next above the residence of Mr. Williams, and not far from it, was found a mound about fifty feet in diameter,

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY

which must originally have been raised to a considerable altitude, and must have been of very ancient construction. Mr. Williams says that about the year 1820 he assisted in cutting down a white-oak tree which stood on the very summit of the mound, for the purpose of capturing a swarm of bees which had long been in the tree, and that this tree was then near three feet in diameter. At the time this tree was cut the elevation of the mound was about eight feet above the general level of the surrounding land. The mound was afterwards opened by Mr. John Shannon, of this county, and his brother, about the year 1840. The mound had then attracted considerable observation and much speculation among the observers as to what it was raised for, and what might be in it. One night Mr. Shannon's brother dreamed that there was a large wedge of gold buried under this mound, and communicated his dream as a profound secret, and the two were so strongly impressed with the belief that the gold wedge was there that they, being then young men, resolved to dig open the mound at all events, and see what was in or under it. The stump of the oak had then so far decayed that it was removed without much difficulty. On removing the earth from a considerable space and a little below the general level of the surface around the mound, they found, not the gold wedge dreamed of, but the teeth of a human being in good preservation. Upon further carefully removing the earth they found, marked in a different colored earth from that surrounding it, the figure of a man of giant size, plainly to be seen. Where the breast of the buried man had lain were found two oval-shaped plates of white mica. One of these plates had been, or appeared to have been, perforated, as there was a round hole in it near the centre, such as might have been made by a rifle ball. On

the other plate were dark streaks and spots, which the discoverers supposed might be characters or letters, understood at the time, recording the name and rank of the man who had been buried, and the circumstances of his death; but these inferences can only be entitled to the rank of conjectures.

Following the river up about two miles from the location of the mound above mentioned, the remains of another ancient fortification were found on the hill overlooking the valley of the river of the opposite side below and both sides above. It included the block of lots once called the Whyler property, on which he many years ago erected a brick cottage, which is still standing. Here the hill or bluff trends quite sharply to the east for some distance, and then curves southward, meeting the river again near where it is crossed by the Lake Shore railroad in the southern portion of the city. No more advantageous point for a fort and lookout can be found along *the whole course of the Sandusky River than this one. Our informant* saw this fort before improvements had obliterated it. According to his description of the location of these remains this fort was in the original plat of the town of Croghansville, on lots 649, 650, 667, 668, 669, 670, as now numbered on the present map of the city, and perhaps other and parts of other lots.

There were a few years ago the remains of another fortification about two miles from the last mentioned, on the bluff commonly known as the Blue Banks, in section ten, township four, range fifteen, in Ballville township.

The remains of another ancient fort were discovered by our informant some distance from the river, on Sugar Creek,

*Mr. Julius Patterson.

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

in the south part of Ballville township, on the east side of the river .*

There was also found a considerable mound on what is now out-lot thirty-three, a little to the left or east side of the road leading from the south end of Front street in the city of Fremont, to Ballville village. This mound was leveled and plowed over many years ago. In it were found some human bones, pottery, arrowheads, and stone axes, so common in these tumuli, but the fact that human skulls and other bones were found indicated that the human remains had been placed there at a later date than that of the age of the Mound Builders.

WHY DID THESE ANCIENT RACES COME AND FORTIFY HERE?

If any one is curious enough to inquire what inducements existed to bring these ancient races to the region of country through which this line of ancient fortifications is found; why they should settle and fortify themselves along the marshes bordering the Sandusky Bay, and the dry land along the banks of the Sandusky River, the answer could rationally be, that they were attracted hither by the health, beauty, or the grand scenery; or by advantageous localities for strong fortifications for defence or aggressive war. The most rational and acceptable answer to these questions may be found in the fact that those races obtained their supplies of food by capturing the game in the woods and prairies, and in the waters in their vicinity. Credible accounts given by the early settlers of countries where the remains of these fortifications were found, all tend to prove that in all the regions of the Northwest, there could be no point found where the locality afforded such a superabundance of superior game and fish in close proximity, as this. The

great abundance of deer, bear, turkeys and wild fowl of the woods; and of waterfowl, such as swan, geese, brant, and crane, and ducks of great variety; and such animals as beaver, otter, mink, etc., which the Indians and early white settlers describe as once being here, and the immense quantity of excellent fish, show that no better point could be found for a race of men to locate who depended on the chase for food.

THE STONE WORKERS.

The evidence of the existence of a race of men who worked stone into weapons and clay into utensils, is abundant in the county. There are also proofs showing the great antiquity of this race. Mr. Albert Cavalier, residing on Mud Creek, in Rice township, this county, on section twenty-five, township six, range fifteen, a few years ago cleared a part of his land, which was level-no sign of mound or fort was perceptible. The trees were of white oak, very large and fine; some two and some as large as three feet in diame- ter. On plowing the land, his plow threw up a great number of flint arrowheads, stone axes, stone pipes, and pieces of pottery composed of burnt clay mixed with pounded shells. These could not be seen on the surface, but were covered nearly to the depth of a furrow, and some were found under the stumps of the trees he had cut, when the stumps were removed. Mr. Cavalier deposited a variety of these articles with the Historical Society, and they are now in Birchard Library. Mr. Lewis Leppelman, of this city, has been for some years gathering specimens of the same kind. He is entitled to great credit for the time, energy, and money he has spent to collect the largest variety and finest specimens of this kind of relics known in Northwestern Ohio, and placing them also In Birchard Library, where they can be seen by all visitors. A description of all

*Mr. L. Leppelman.

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

the varieties of this interesting collection, and where found, would alone make a volume. Mr. Leppelman would lay the public under still greater obligation by placing with them a descriptive catalogue, showing where each of the important pieces was found. This collection contains not only stone arrowheads, axes, and pipes in great variety, but a large number of specimens of other forms of stone, showing equal or more skill in their make, of which it is difficult to conjecture the use. Many of the specimens of Mr. Leppelman have the same form, and are of like material as those found in the lakes of Switzerland, and described and lithographed in the Smithsonian Report of

1876, on page 356 and the four succeeding pages. This valuable work proves very clearly that in Europe there were distinct periods marked by mans use of different material: first, the age of stone; second, the age of bronze; third, the age of iron. The age of stone seems to have for a long time been coextensive with the races of men. The writer was lately informed by Mr. Samuel Ickes, now residing at Deadwood, that some of the Western Indians still use the flint arrow point for some purposes, such as killing small game with the arrow, and skinning deer and preparing the skin for various uses with the stone axe.

CHAPTER VII.

THE INDIANS.

Indian Wars-General Wayne's Campaign-Battle of Fallen Timbers-Treaties-Grants of Land.

T HERE is, of course, no written history of the races of men who were here previous to the red men, found here when the whites first came. There is a blank of untold ages in the history of this Continent, and for many years after the country had been visited by white men, all the information concerning the race then occupying the country rests upon traditions. These traditions reach back to about the year 1790, or nearly one hundred years ago. They throw a dim light, but are sufficiently definite to be interesting, and to give some idea of the manners and customs of the people.

NEUTRAL GROUND-THE TWO FORTS.

That this locality was considered valuable and important by the Indians seems

to be pretty well established. Hon. Lewis Cass, who was early familiar with all the Indian tribes of the Northwestern Territory, and had great facilities for obtaining information from and about them, as Indian agent of the United States, may be regarded as good authority. In a discourse before the Historical Society of Michigan, delivered September 18, 1829, he gives some interesting statements respecting a tribe called the Neutral Nation. The following is an extract from this interesting and valuable paper:

This Neutral Nation, so called by Father Sequard, was still in existence two centuries ago, when the French missionaries first reached the Upper Lakes. The details of their history and of their character and privileges are meager and unsatisfactory, and this is to be the more regretted, as such a sanctuary among the barbarous is not only singular institu-

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

tion, but altogether at variance with that spirit of cruelty with which their wars were usually prosecuted. The Wyandot tradition represents them as having separated from the parent stock during the bloody wars between their own tribe and the Iroquois, and having fled to the Sandusky River for safety; that they here erected two forts within a short distance of each other, and assigned one to the Iroquois and the other to the Wyandots and their allies, where their war parties might find security and hospitality whenever they entered their country. Why so unusual a proposition was made and acceded to, tradition does not tell. It is probable, however, that superstition lent its aid to the institution, and that it may have been indebted for its origin to the feasts and dreams and juggling ceremonies, which constituted the religion of the aborigines. No other motive was sufficiently powerful to restrain the hand of violence and to counteract the threat of vengeance. An internal feud finally arose in this Neutral Nation, one party espousing the cause of the Iroquois and the other of their enemies; and like most civil wars, this was prosecuted with relentless fury. Our informant says that since his recollection the remains of a red cedar post were yet to be seen, where prisoners were tied previous to being burned.

The informant above alluded to by Gov- ernor Cass, we have reason to believe, was Major B. F. Stickney, of Toledo, long an Indian agent in this region. That there may have been such a tradition among the Indians we are unable to gainsay, but of its truth we have doubts.

Major Stickney, in a lecture (as yet un- published) delivered February 28, 1845, before the Young Men's Association, of Toledo, says:

The remains of extensive works of defence are now to be seen near Lower Sandusky. The Wyandots have given me this account of them : At a period of two centuries and a half or more since, all the Indians west of this point were at war with all the Indians east. Two walled towns were built near each other, and each was inhabited by those of Wyandot origin. They assumed a neutral character, and the Indians at war recognized that character. They might be called two neutral cities. All of the West might enter the western city, and all of the East the eastern. The inhabitants of one city might inform those of the other that war parties were there or had been there; but who they were or whence they came, or anything more must not be mentioned. The war parties might remain there in security, taking their own time for departure. At the western

town they suffered the warriors to burn their prisoners; but those at the eastern would not practice this cruelty. (An old Wyandot informed me that he recollected, when a boy, the remains of a cedar post or stake at which they used to burn prisoners,) The French historians tell us that these neutral cities were inhabited and their neutral character respected when they first came here. At length a quarrel arose between the two cities, and one destroyed the inhabitants of the other. This put an end to the neutrality? *

WHERE WERE THESE ANCIENT FORTS OR CITIES?

There is good reason to believe that one of them was at Muncietown, and that if the ancient fort, the remains of which were found there, was the work of a preceding race, the Wyandots, or rather a portion of the Wyandots called the Neutral Nation, adopted and used it as a defensive position and city of refuge as above suggested by Governor Cass and Major Stickney. Where the western fort or city of refuge was located is a matter not now so easily determined. Close inquiry of the oldest inhabitants about Fremont at this time (1881) fails to obtain any tradition or account of any remains of any ancient fortification on the west bank of the river, nor can any such remains be discovered at the present time.

THE IROQUOIS OR SIX NATIONS.

This name is used to designate a body of Indians, consisting at first of five, then of six and afterwards of eight nations, who planted themselves in Western New York and on the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie. These nations formed a confederacy prior to 1722, but the precise date of its formation is not recorded. The confederacy consisted, when first known, of the following Nations of red men Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, to whom the Tus- caroras were added as a sixth Nation in 1722, and after that the organization was

* Howe's History of Ohio.

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

called the Six Nations. In 1723 the Huron tribes were received; and as an eighth Nation the Algonquin Massassaguas, from Canada. This Confederation was remarkable in many respects. It was the most permanent and powerful of the savage governments found in North America.

Seeing the other tribes destroying themselves by internal discords, the Iroquois formed themselves into a confederacy, in which the principles of military glory and tribal union were carried to the highest Indian perfection. They pursued war and hunting but returned to their fixed villages. Each canton or tribe was independent, and each bound to the others of the confederacy by ties of general interest and honor. Matters of a general interest were decided in a general meeting of the sachems of all the nations, commonly held at Onondaga, New York. They followed the maxim used by the ancient Romans, of encouraging other nations to incorporate, and adopted captive people into their confederacy. In this way they became so strong that in the early part of the seventeenth century they had conquered all the neighboring tribes. Their sachems were chosen by the general voice, admitting their courage and wisdom; these chiefs, in a true Roman simplicity, accepting no salary, disregarding profit, and giving away their share of the plunder of war or the perquisites of peace, and thought themselves fully rewarded by the love and respect of the people. The Iroquois Nation possessed conservative power in the State, being represented in the public councils and exercising a veto influence in the declaration of war. This was certainly very remarkable in a government founded on military principles. Slavery was unknown among them. As in other republican confederations, where no single person has power to compel, the arts of

persuasion were highly cultivated. The Iroquois were celebrated for their eloquence; in proof of this we need only mention the Cayuga, Logan; the Seneca, Red Jacket; the Oneida, Skenandoah; and the Onandaga, Garangula. The famous Brandt was a half- breed Mohawk. The tradition of Hiawatha (a person of very great wisdom), who advised the union of the Five Nations, is given in Schoolcraft's History of the Indian Tribes, Volume III.

The Iroquois took part with Great Britain during the war of the Revolution, and greatly annoyed the frontier settlements of New York and New Jersey. A powerful expedition was sent against them in 1779, under command of General Sullivan, and their country was ravaged, and eighteen of their villages burned. This movement effectually broke their power, though their incursions did not immediately cease. After the war treaties were made with them, by which extensive cessions of land were made to the United States. Other treaties followed until their title has been extinguished to all, or nearly all the land in the Northern, Eastern, Middle and Southern States. In the War of 1812 their few remaining warriors assisted the Americans against the British, and were organized for military service under the command of General Porter. Repeated cessions of land have reduced their territory from the dimensions of an empire to that of a plantation. At the time the French missionaries found the Wyandots on the Georgian Bay, and, as Schoolcraft says, when the Canadas were first settled, they were found on the Island of Montreal, and probably about the time the great confederacy was formed, numbered forty thousand. The number of the Senecas is not given, but they were called "a powerful tribe occupying western New York and a part of northwestern Pennsylvania." Of course, the other nations

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

of the confederacy must have been quite numerous. In 1855 the total remaining population of all the tribes belonging to the confederacy was only six thousand souls, scattered in New York, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Missouri .*

The historian says, after describing this powerful confederacy:

In this way their strength became such that in the early part of the seventeenth century they had conquered all the neighboring tribes, and doubtless, in a hundred years, had the whites not colonized America, would have absorbed all the nations from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

It is interesting to notice that in the formation of the confederacy we find in this organization of the red men of North America, the model of the confederation of the subsequent colonies of white men to resist the oppressions of Great Britain. This great and powerful confederacy of the North American Indians is broken, and the people are few and scattered. The confederation of the white men served well so long as a common danger threatened the colonies, but our fathers saw its weakness, and met and formed "a more perfect union," by which we were made a Nation, one and indissoluble, under a written constitution, securing the right of the Nation, of the people and the States; and neither the wild waves of civil discord, nor the power of external force have been able to break it.

THE NAME.

The different names by which men belonging to this Indian confederacy have been designated in history, has given rise to much confusion and misunderstanding. It is therefore proper to state that the French called them Iroquois; the Dutch, Maquas; by other Indians, Mengive, and thence by the English, Mingoes or Mohawks, so that when we read the story about Logan, the Mingo chief, and his

famous speech, the word Mingo does not signify his tribe or nation, but that he was of the confederacy. In fact, he was of the blood of the Mohawks, a nation who joined the confederacy.

EXTENT OF THE CONQUESTS OF THE SIX NATIONS.

Before 1680 the Six Nations had overrun the Western lands, and were dreaded from Lakes Erie and Michigan to the Ohio and west to the Mississippi. In 1673 Allouez and Dablon found the Miamis upon Lake Michigan fearing a visit from the .Iroquois. It appears that in 1684, by treaty, and again in 1701 the Six Nations conveyed this vast domain to Great Britain, "in trust to be defended by his Majesty the King, to and for the use of the grantors and their heirs." The title to this vast domain, or so much of it as lay west of the Alleghenies, was disputed by the French, who claimed it by discovery made by their early voyagers and missionaries, who had traversed the great chain of lakes and descended the Mississippi many years before. This contest gave rise to the war between the two powers, in which hostilities were actually commenced early in 1752. After much bloodshed the British took by conquest this territory, and it was ceded by France to Great Britain in the treaty of Paris, in 1763.

It should be remembered that in treaties and conveyances of the Great West by the Indians to Great Britain they did not part with their title to the land. They themselves, and their lands, were placed under the care and protection of Britain ; the land was to be held "in trust for the Indians and their heirs." Hence the Indians were justified in contending for the possession of their inheritance. Let us now briefly consider how we obtained

OUR TITLE TO THE LANDS IN OHIO.

At the close of the war of the Revolu-

*American Cyclopedia.

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

tion this whole region was in the possession of the Indians. It was no longer claimed or occupied exclusively by the Six Nations; they had sided with Great Britain in that war and their power was broken. Other tribes had, during the war, settled on the territory and occupied it in common with them.

These red men claimed title to the land. True it is, they had no parchment or paper title signed and sealed by man or any human authority, but they believed and felt that the Great Spirit, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and Lord paramount of all things, had in his goodness given these happy hunting grounds to his red children. No wonder then, that when he saw the "pale face" settling and building on his domain and killing the game which was given him to live upon, he was roused to resistance. He had no court to try his title but that court of last resort, the court of force, a trial by wager of battle. Their arguments were not made by attorneys. In this court of force the red men argued with the rifle, tomahawk, and scalping-knife, and with fire. His cruelty to his enemy knew no bounds; helpless infancy and non-resisting woman appealed in vain. The recital of his cruelties curdle the blood with horror. The burning of Colonel Crawford, near Upper Sandusky, and the massacre of his men, in 1782; the destruction of St. Clair's army, on a branch of the Wabash, in 1791; the butchery of Harmar's men in 1790, were attended with scenes and incidents of indescribable cruelty in almost every form in which cruelty could be inflicted. But there came at last an end to those terrible conflicts about title to the land. The final contest over the right to occupy the Northwest took place on the bank of the Maumee River, in 1794, in the battle of Fallen Timbers, and as it had a powerful influence to settle the title to the land in

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History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 10

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