History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 8

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Ohio > Summit County > History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio > Part 8

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The post at Detroit was informed of the plot the evening before it was to occur, by an Ojibway girl of great beauty, the mistress of the com- mander, Major Gladwin. Pontiac was foiled here, his treachery discovered, and he was sternly ordered from the conference. A regular seige followed, but he could not prevail. He exhibited a degree of sagacity unknown in the annals of savage war- fare, but all to no purpose; the English were too strong for him.

At all the other posts, save one, however, the plans of Pontiac were carried out, and atrocities, unheard of before in American history, resulted. The Indians attacked Detroit on the first of May,

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and, foiled in their plans, a siege immediately fol- lowed. On the 16th, a party of Indians appeared before the fort at Sandusky. Seven of them were admitted. Suddenly, while smoking, the massacre begins. All but Ensign Paulli, the commander, fall. He is carried as a trophy to Pontiac.

At the mouth of the St. Joseph's, the mission- aries had maintained a mission station over sixty years. They gave way to an English garrison of fourteen soldiers and a few traders. On the morning of May 25, a deputation of Pottawato- mies are allowed to enter. In less than two min- utes, all the garrison but the commander are slain. He is sent to Pontiac.

Near the present city of Fort Wayne, Ind., at the junction of the waters, stood Fort Miami, garrisoned by a few men. Holmes, the com- mander, is asked to visit a sick woman. He is slain on the way, the sergeant following is made prisoner, and the nine soldiers surrender.

On the night of the last day of May, the wam- pum reaches the Indian village below La Fayette, Ind., and near Fort Quitenon. The commander of the fort is lured into a cabin, bound, and his garrison surrender. Through the clemency of French settlers, they are received into their houses and protected.

At Michilimackinac, a game of ball is projected. Suddenly the ball is thrown through the gate of the stockade. The Indians press in, and, at a signal, almost all are slain or made prisoners.

The fort at Presque Isle, now Erie, was the point of communication between Pittsburgh and Niagara and Detroit. It was one of the most tenable, and had a garrison of four and twenty men. On the 22d of June, the commander, to save his forces from total annihilation, surrenders, and all are carried prisoners to Detroit.

The capitulation at Erie left Le Bœuf with- out hope. He was attacked on the 18th, but kept off the Indians till midnight, when he made a successful retreat. As they passed Ve- nango, on their way to Fort Pitt, they saw only the ruins of that garrison. Not one of its immates had been spared.

Fort Pitt was the most important station west of the Alleghanies. "Escape !" said Turtle's Heart, a Delaware warrior; "you will all be slain. A great army is coming." "There are three large English armies coming to my aid," said Ecuyer, the commander. "I have enough provisions and ammunition to stand a siege of three years' time." A second and third attempt was

made by the savages to capture the post, but all to no avail. Baffled on all sides here, they destroy Ligonier, a few miles below, and massacre men, women and children. Fort Pitt was besieged till the last day of July, but withstood all attacks. Of all the outposts, only it and Detroit were left. All had been captured, and the majority of the garrison slain. Along the frontier, the war was waged with fury. The Indians were fighting for their homes and their hunting-grounds; and for these they fought with the fury and zeal of fanaties.

Detachments sent to aid Detroit are cut off. The prisoners are burnt, and Pontiac, infusing his zealous and demoniacal spirit into all his savage allies, pressed the siege with vigor. The French remained neutral, yet Pontiac made requisitions on them and on their neighbors in Illinois, issuing bills of credit on birch-bark, all of which were faithfully redeemed. Though these two posts could not be captured, the frontier could be annihilated, and vigorously the Indians pursued their policy. Along the borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia a relentless warfare was waged, sparing no one in its way. Old age, feeble infaney, strong man and gentle woman, fair girl and hope- ful boy-all fell before the scalping-knife of the merciless savage. The frontiers were devastated. Thousands were obliged to flee, leaving their possessions to the torch of the Indian.

The colonial government, under British diree- tion, was inimical to the borders, and the colonists saw they must depend only upon their own arms for protection. Already the struggle for freedom was upon them. They could defend only them- selves. They must do it, too; for that defense is now needed in a different cause than settling dis- putes between rival powers. "We have millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute," said they, and time verified the remark.

Gen. Amherst bestirred himself to aid the frontiers. He sent Col. Henry Bouquet, a native of Switzerland, and now an officer in the English Army, to relieve the garrison at Fort Pitt. They followed the route made by Gen. Forbes, and on the way relieved Forts Bedford and Ligonier, both beleaguered by the Indians. About a day's jour- ney beyond Ligonier, he was attacked by a body of Indians at a place called Bushy Run. For awhile, it seemed that he and all his army would be destroyed; but Bouquet was bold and brave and, under a feint of retreat, routed the savages. He passed on, and relieved the garrison at Fort

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Pitt, and thus secured it against the assaults of the Indians.

The campaign had been disastrous to the En- glish, but fatal to the plans of Pontiac. He could not capture Detroit, and he knew the great scheme must fail. The battle of Bushy Run and the relief of Fort Pitt closed the campaign, and all hope of co-operation was at an end. Circum- stances were combined against the confederacy, and it was fast falling to pieces. A proclamation was issued to the Indians, explaining to them the existing state of affairs, and showing to them the futility of their plans. Pontiac, however, would not give up. Again he renewed the siege of De- troit, and Gen. Gage, now in command of the army in the colonies, resolved to carry the war into their own country. Col. Bradstreet was or- dered to lead one army by way of the lakes, against the Northern Indians, while Col. Bouquet was sent against the Indians of the Ohio. Col. Bradstreet went on his way at the head of 1,200 men, but trusting too much to the natives and their promises, his expedition proved largely a fail- ure. He relieved Detroit in August, 1764, which had been confined in the garrison over fifteen months, and dispersed the Indians that yet lay around the fort. But on his way back, he saw how the Indians had duped him, and that they were still plundering the settlements. His treaties were annulled by Gage, who ordered him to destroy their towns. The season was far advanced, his provisions were getting low, and he was obliged to return to Niagara chagrined and disappointed.

Col. Bouquet knew well the character of the Indians, and shaped his plans accordingly. He had an army of 1,500 men, 500 regulars and 1,000 volunteers. They had had experience in fighting the savages, and could be depended on. At Fort Loudon, he heard of Bradstreet's ill luck, and saw through the deception practiced by the Indians. He arrived at Fort Pitt the 17th of September, where he arrested a deputation of chiefs, who met him with the same promises that had deceived Bradstreet. He sent one of their number back, threatening to put to death the chiefs unless they allowed his messengers to safely pass through their country to Detroit. The decisive tone of his words convinced them of the fate that awaited them unless they complied. On the 3d of Octo- ber the army left Fort Pitt, marched down the river to and across the Tuscarawas, arriving in the vicinity of Fredrick Post's late mission on the 17th. There a conference was held with the assembled

tribes. Bouquet sternly rebuked them for their faithlessness, and when told by the chiefs they could not restrain their young men, he as sternly told them they were responsible for their acts. He told them he would trust them no longer. If they delivered up all their prisoners within twelve days they might hope for peace, otherwise there would be no mercy shown them. They were completely humbled, and, separating hastily, gathered their captives. On the 25th, the army proceeded down to the Tuscarawas, to the junction with White Woman River, near the town of Coshocton, in Coshocton County, Ohio, and there made prepa- rations for the reception of the captives. There they remained until the 18th of November; from day to day prisoners were brought in-men, women and children-and delivered to their friends. Many were the touching scenes enacted during this time. The separated husband and wife met, the latter often carrying a child born in captivity. Brothers and sisters, separated in youth, met ; lovers rushed into each other's arms; children found their parents, mothers their sons, fathers their daughters, and neighbors those from whom they had been separated many years. Yet, there were many dis- tressing scenes. Some looked in vain for long-lost relatives and friends, that never should return. Others, that had been captured in their infancy, would not leave their savage friends, and when force was used some fled away. One mother looked in vain for a child she had lost years be- fore. Day by day, she anxiously watched, but no daughter's voice reached her ears. One, clad in savage attire, was brought before her. It could not be her daughter, she was grown. So was the maiden before her. "Can not you remember some mark?" asked Bouquet, whose sympathies were aroused in this case. "There is none," said the anxious and sorrowful mother. "Sing a song you sang over her cradle, she may remember," suggested the commander. One is sung by her mother. As the song of childhood floats out among the trees the maiden stops and listens, then approaches. Yes, she remembers. Mother and daughter are held in a close embrace, and the stern Bouquet wipes away a tear at the scene.

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

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a treaty of peace. A tract of land in the Indian country was ceded 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 city 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 suc- 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 on 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 exclaim 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 across 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, ete., 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 protect him if necessary. Under such a guarantee, West- ern lands eame rapidly into market. In addition to companies already in existenee 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 elose, Congress would not sanetion their elaims, and they fell through. This did not deter settlers, however, from crossing the mountains, and settling in the Ohio country. In

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 elose 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 erossed 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 aeres 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 its most prominent eitizens.

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 eame 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 eharaeter. 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, Vincennes and Niagara, and determined to circum- 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, elaiming 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

of fear occurred about this time, which threatened seriously to retard emigration.

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. Me- 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 erops were destroyed. The army then retreated to Williamsburg, having accomplished but little.

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 8

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104