History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, Part 8

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1408

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there August 27th. On his way he laid waste whatever could be found of the villages and crops of the Indians, extending his search for the same to a distance of 50 miles North and South of the River. Fort Defiance was in- proved and strengthened for subsequent nse. Thence Wayne proceeded to the Miami Vil- lages, which General Harrison had laid waste in 1790, at which point General Wayne con- structed a strong fortification. which was named Fort Wayne, being now the site of the City of That name. October 14th the Mounted Volunteers marched thence to Fort Washing- ton (Cincinnati). Leaving a sufficient force at Fort Wayne, the General, with a remnant of bis former command, proceeded to Greenville, where he arrived November 2d, after a fa- tiguing tour of 97 days, during which he marched upwards of 300 miles, through the heart of the enemy's country, being compelled to cut his way throughout a dense wilderness, meantime erecting three fortifications-Fort Adams, at the St. Mary's; Fort Defiance, at An Glaize, and Fort Wayne at the Miami Villages.

The effect of long fatigue and exposure upon General Wayne's troops was very. severe. The sick list was large, rendering many unfit for duty. Besides these causes, the army was re- duced materially by expiration of terms of ser- vice. Such state of things gave not a little apprehension of unfortunate results, should the enemy by any concerted movement renew their hostility. To prevent this, every effort was made to keep them ignorant of the true state of things with him.

Meantime, General Wayne was kept advised of the active efforts of the British authorities to cheer up the Indians, and, with promises of more adequate support, sought to encourage them to renewed war. Thus, on the 30th of September (40 days after the battle on the Maumee), Governor Simcoe, Colonel McKee and Captain Brandt, arrived at the foot of the Rapids, with 100 Mohawk and Massasagoe In- dians, having sent for Chiefs of other hostile tribes to meet them with reference to a treaty to be holden at the mouth of Detroit River. It was further learned that the above parties, with Blue Jacket, Buck-on-ge-he-las, Little Tur- tle, Captain Johnny, and Chiefs of the Dela- wares, Miamis, Shawnees, Ottawas and Potta- watomies, had started for the same place,

TREATY OF GREENVILLE.

October 1st ; and that the Indians were being supplied with provisions from the British stores at Swan Creek. Other information, indicating strong probabilities of the success of British collusion, was received by General Wayne and forwarded to the War Department at Washi- ington, with a strong appeal for recruits for his enfeebled army. His anxiety was increased by the killing of Colonel Robert Elliott, the acting Contractor, by the Indians, while pass- ing between Cincinnati and the out-posts, Oe- tober 6, 1794.

With all these untoward facts and indica- tions, General Wayne was in receipt of com- munications from Chiefs of different tribes friendly to peace, with some of a hostile nature. As the Fall and Winter passed, the friendly sentiment communicated to him increased in strength, making the situation somewhat more hopeful. It was evident, that the Indians were not agreed as to their policy. A majority were disposed to war, provided British pledges of help could be relied on. It was a source of se- rious doubt on that point, that the Fort built at the foot of the Rapids ostensibly for their protection, was kept closed against them on the occasion of their extremest distress, in the defeat of August 20th-neither Chiefs nor War- riors having been admitted to its protection from Wayne's fieree assault. Wayne saw that with a divided sentiment among the Indians, there was hope for an early adjustment of the trouble. The result was, a steadily growing tendency toward permanent peace among the several tribes ; and by June, 1795, several Chiefs, without apparent concert of action, began to assemble at Greenville, with the view of a treaty of peace. The first to arrive were Delawares, Ottawas, Pottawatomies and Eel River Indians. After they had received and smoked the calumet of peace, General Wayne addressed them as follows :

I take you all by the hand, as brothers, assem- bled for the good work of peace. I thank the Great Spirit for this glorious Sun, who appears to rejoice at our meeting ; and also for permitting so many of us to assemble here this day, being the first of the Moon, for the purpose of holling a treaty. The Great Spirit has favored us with a clear sky, and a refreshing breeze, for the happy occasion. I have cleared this ground of all brush and rubbish, and have opened roads to the East, the West, the North and the South, that all your Nations may come in safety, and with ease, to meet me. The ground on which this Couneil-

house stands, is unstained with blood, and is pure as the heart of General Washington, the great Chief of America, and of his great Council-as pure as my heart, which now wishes for nothing, so much as peace and brotherly love. I have this day kindled the Council-fire of the United States; and I now de- liver to each tribe present, a string of white wam- pum, to serve as a record of the friendship, this day commenced between us. [Wampum delivered.]

The heavens are bright-the roads are open-we will rest in peace and love, and wait the arrival of our brothers. In the interim we will have a little refreshment, to wash dust from our throats-we will, on this happy occasion, be merry, but without passing the bounds of temperanee and sobriety. We will now cover up the Council-fire and keep it alive till the remainder of the different tribes assemble, and form a full meeting and representation.

To this greeting Te-ta-bosh-ke, King of the Delawares, replied in the expression of a friendly sentiment, when the fire was raked up and the Council adjourned.

The next day, June 17th, 40 Pottawatomies, with their Chief, New Corn, arrived and were received. On the 21st, Buek-on-ge-he-las, with a party of Delawares, and Asi-me-the, with more Pottawatomies, came in. On the 23d arrived Le Gris, the Little Turtle, and 70 Miamis.

On the 25th, the Chiefs present assembled, and were addressed by General Wayne, in a few words of friendly feeling. On the 26th, 34 Chippewas and Pottawatomies arrived.

June 30th, the Chiefs, on their own motion, assembled, when several of them addressed the General in warm terms of friendship. The same occurred on the 3d of July. On the 4th, A-gosh-a-way and 23 Ottawas arrived from Detroit.

On the 15th of July, the Council met, with present Chiefs of the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Chippewas, Miamis, and Wabash tribes, and was formally opened, by uncovering the fire and administering the oath to interpreters. General Wayne addressed the Council, setting forth the condition of af- fairs and the importance of permanent amica- ble relations. The Council was continued from day to day, being addressed by most of the principal Chiefs present, upon the several parts of the treaty which General Wayne presented for their consideration. On July 30th, the same was unanimously approved by every tribe represented, to wit : The Chippewas, Ot- tawas, Pottawatomies, Wyandots, Delawares,

HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.

Shawnees, Miamis, Weas and Kickapoos. On the 3d of August, the treaty having been transcribed, was again read in Council and July signed by General Wayne on the part of the U'nited States, and the Chiefs for their re- spective tribes. The Council met at different times thereafter, and finally adjourned on the 10th. The attendance of the several tribes was as follows : Wyandots, 180; Delawares, 381; Shawnees, 143; Ottawas, 45; Chippewas, 46; Pottawatomies, 240; Miamis and Eel Rivers, 73: Weas and Piankeshaws, 12; Kickapoos and Kaskaskias, 10. Total attendance, 1,130.

The basis of this treaty was the one made at Fort Harmar in 1789. Its main provisions as follows: 1. Hostilities were immediately to cease and all prisoners discharged. 2. The boundaries between the lands of the United States and those of the Indians, were to begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River; run thence up the same to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Mus- kingum ; thence down the latter to the crossing above Fort Laurens ; thence Westerly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami running into the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Loramie's store, and where commences the portage between the Miami of the Ohio and St. Mary's River, a branch of the Manmee running into Lake Erie; thence a Westerly course to Fort Recovery, on a branch of the Wabash ; thence Southerly in a direct line to the Ohio at the mouth of the Kentucky. 3. As compensation to the United States for goods formerly delivered and those to be delivered, and indemnification for injuries and expenses of War, the Indians ceded all lands lying Eastwardly and Southerly of the boundary line here described. 4. The following Res- ervations of lands within the territory of the Indians, were made to the United States : One at Loramie's Store, six miles square; one at Girty's Town, on the St. Mary's River, two miles square ; one at head of navigable water of the Au Glaize, six miles square; one at Fort Defiance, six miles square ; one at Fort Wayne, six miles square; one about eight miles West from Fort Wayne, on the Wabash River, two miles square; one at old Wea Towns, on the Wabash, six miles square ; one at the foot of the Rapids of the Maumee, 12 miles square; one at the mouth of the Mau- mee, six miles square; one upon Sandusky

Lake, where a Fort formerly stood, six miles square; and one at the lower Rapids of the Sandusky River (now Fremont), two miles square. Provision was also made for the re- linquishment of all elaim by the Indians to post at Detroit and certain lands in that sec- tion ; to the post at Mackinaw, and lands in that vicinity; to lands at the month of the Chicago River, and other points in Illinois. Free access was granted by the Indians for all necessary communication with all reserved lands within the Indian territory. The United States agreed to pay to the Indians annually in goods, at market cost, the sum of 89,500, to be divided among the several tribes, with the provision that any tribe might change its an- nuity from goods to domestic animals, farming implements, etc., at their choice. The Indians were to possess their lands in quiet, for the purpose of hunting, planting and dwelling thereon, so long as they pleased, without mo- lestation by the United States; but when they should desire to sell the same, they should be sok only to the United States. Meantime, the Indians were to be protected from all in - vasion by Whites. Intruders were to be pun- ished and removed by either party to the treaty. The Indians could hunt on lands ceded by them. All injuries were to be re- ferred to law for adjustment, and not privately avenged ; and all known hostile designs against either to be made known to the party con- cerned.

Such, in substance, is the most important Indian treaty that had then or has since been negotiated in the West. Dated August 3, 1795, it was presented to the Senate December 9th, and ratified December 23d following. It is difficult to estimate all that was involved in the question of peace or continued war with the several tribes who then menaced the settle- ment of the great Northwest, and the lives of the scattered settlers already there. The honor won by General Wayne in the short space of one year -- from August 20, 1794, to August 3, 1795-by means of one battle and one treaty, in bringing permanent peace to that region, in spite of British perfidy, is enough to commend his name to lasting and grateful remembrance of mankind. No other citizen has been per- mitted to do as much for this section. It is a source of just pride with the citizens of Lucas County and of the Manmec Valley, that the

RESTORATION OF PEACE-DEATII OF WAYNE.

first and controlling success of General Wayne in this great result was won at Turkey Foot Rock.

Permanent peace having thus been secured and the Indians placed beyond the reach of collusion and temptation, the British Govern- ment in 1796 surrendered its posts within the limits of the United States, including Fort Miami, at the foot of the Rapids of the Maumee, the Town of Detroit, and the mili- tary works there and at Mackinaw, pursuant to the treaty negotiated in 1793 by Chief Justice Jay.

As soon as he had received those Posts, in the name of the Government, and made ar- rangements for their care, General Wayne pro- ceeded to Erie, on his way to Washington. On his passage down the Lake, he was seized with a violent attack of gout in the stomach, which terminated in his death before reaching the port of destination. Hle was buried at Erie .* Upon disinterment of the body by his son, many years thereafter, for removal to his place of nativity, it showed no signs of decay, a result supposed to have been due to antiseptic qualities of the soil, which would, in time,

* In his " Notes on the Northwestern Territory," Judge Burnet states that one of General Wayne's motives in going from Detroit to Philadelphia at this time, was to meet certain charges made against him by General Wilkinson. What these were, is not specifically stated. General Wayne characterized them as unfounded and malicious. Suffice it here to state, that no attempt ever was made to sustain them; and they were entirely disregarded at the War Department. General Wilkinson was one of the most accomplished officers and men of his day. He served with special credit in the Revolutionary War, where he imbibed a strong personal antagonism to General Wayne. In the Spring of 1792, while a Colonel, in command of Fort Washington, Wilkinson was made a Brigadier-General. Although General Wayne was made Commander-in-Chief previous to that time, and assigned to the campaign against the Indians, he did not reach Fort Washington until Sep- tember, 1793. During the interim, as Judge Burnet states, Wilkinson improved his opportunity for cre- ating prejudice and bitterness among the officers against Wayne, for which purpose he was, in his easy and graceful deportment and suavity of man- ners, well adapted. In this work he was probably helped by the known bluntness, sometimes reaching rudeness, of Wayne's manner, by which he often gave unintentional offense. Wilkinson was thus en- abled to arrange on his side a large portion of those about him, whereby General Wayne was not a little embarrassed on taking command. But many were

have given it the solid, permanent state of the mummy.

General Wayne was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in January, 1745, and was in the 52d year of his life, and had just reached his mental and physical prime, when suddenly cut off. He was the son of a farmer, who was a prominent man, having served in the Pro- vincial Legislature and taken part in expedi- tions against the Indians. Anthony's record has long been familiar with readers of Ameri- can history, and need not be detailed here. It has been justly stated of him, that " there was searcely an important battle or hazardous en- terprise, from the beginning to the end of the Revolutionary struggle, in which he was not more or less distinguished"-prominent among which stands his desperate and successful at- tack on Stony Point, which gave him the name of " Mad Anthony," and procured for him a gold medal, at the hands of Congress. The first civil organization established after the Greenville treaty, was the County formed of the Michigan Peninsula (in 1796), and named Wayne, in honor of its deliverer from Indian and British rule, with Detroit for its seat of

attached to that officer, while others properly kept aloof from the dispute. After the victorious battle of Fallen Timbers, Wilkinson undertook to belittle Wayne's honors, by representing that the result was due, not to military skill, but to want of concert in action on the part of the Indians-that the attack by them was premature, and before half of their forces had arrived-that Blue Jacket, the Shawnee in com- mand, had rejected Little Turtle's plan of attack, who afterwards became Wilkinson s confidential friend, and was among the most talented Chiefs in the West. It was thus claimed among Wilkinson's adherents that if Little Turtle's advice had been acted upon in a simultaneous attack by the entire Indian forre, they could not have been flanked, and the ro- sult with them wouldl have been a victory instead of a defeat. The number of Indians reported as killed in the engagement was over 50, besides some taken away by comrades. This statement was met with ridicule, and Major Smith facetiously reported a dia- logne as taking place on the banks of the River Styx, between Old Charon and the ghost of one of Wayne's soldiers, who boasted of the great slaughter of Indians in that battle ; when the old ferryman, shaking his head, protested, solemnly, that he had, upon count, ferried over the ghosts of just 16 Indians from that field, and not one more. All this, however, can never detract from the brilliant record of " Mad An- thony," whether as made in the War of the Revolu- tion proper, or in the magnificent campaign by which alone that War was brought to its actual close.

HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.

justice, which was then a garrison Town, com- partly built on streets not averaging more than one rod in width, and completely enclosed with strong pickets. It was the most ancient Town on the Upper Lakes, having been settled by the French as early as 1683, and was the Capital of Upper Canada until it fell into the hands of the L'nited States .*

In this connection, the following statement from Burnet's " Notes," as to the original White settlers on the Detroit River, will be of interest, and the more so, as it applies with much propriety to those on the River Raisin, and in the " Bay Settlement," South of that stream :

" When the American troops took possession of the Northern posts, the inhabitants of Detroit and its contiguous settlements, from Lake St. Clair to the River Raisin, on both sides of the Straits, were, almost exclusively, Canadian French, who were the owners and cultivators of the soil. The land had been laid out, originally, into farms of very narrow fronts-in most instances not more than fifty rods-and running laick from one to two miles, for quantity. The own- ers and occupiers were extremely ignorant, and were under the influence of a strong religious superstition. They had been treading in the footsteps of their fathers, time out of mind, like mere imitative beings, without seeming to know that any improvement had been made in agriculture since Noah planted his vineyard. They raised the same crops without vari- ation, and in the same succession, they had been ac- customed to see from boyhood. When a field became exhausted it was suffered to rest till it became par- tially recruited, by its own scanty, spontaneous pro- ducts, and by the rains and dews of heaven. Their houses, barns, and other improvements, were fronting on the Strait, separated from it by a narrow road, which ran along the edge of the water. Each farm had an orchard contiguous to the house, containing a vari- ety of fine fruit. When the litter about the barn and stable increased so much as to become inconvenient, they piled it on sleds, drew it down to the Strait, which was just at hand, and threw it into the water. Under that practice, the soil, though naturally good, produced very light crops, and the price of every ag- ricultural product was extravagantly high. That con- tinued to be the case till emigrants from the United States purchased and settled among them, and intro- duced a better system of agriculture.

" The native French were Catholics, and conscien- tiously exact in the performance of their religious duties. Their tithes were regularly brought and de- posited in the storehouse of the Priest, with apparent cheerfulness.

" Previous to the establishment of American Courts at Detroit, ali matters of controversy among the inhabitants had been setted in a summary way by the Commandant, to whose decision the inhabi- tants had been accustomed to submit. They had been habituated, all their lives, to this summary, expedi- tious mode of settling their disputes ; and were, con-

The real design of the protracted and persis- Lent efforts of the British authorities in their unwarranted intrigue with the Indians, mani- festly, was to combine their several tribes in a Confederacy sufficiently strong 10 compel the United States to accept the Ohio River as a boundary line. This was sought, not in the

soinently, very much dissatisfied with the slow, te- dions progress of an American Court ; against which they complained very loudly.

" Among the advantages of which the people of Detroit then boasted, was the excellence of their do- mestie servants. No visitor from the States could spend any time at a public or private house in that City, without being satisfied that they did possess that advantage in a greater degree than the inhabi- tants of any other part of the United States.

" The Canadian French were naturally obstinate and headstrong; and were illiterate and untaught in the principles of equality, professed and practiced in Republies. They had grown up from infancy under the impression that nature had established different orders in society-that power and rank were insep- arable from wealth ; and that inferiority and submis- sion were ordained for the poor. That impression was carried out into practice, and accounts, in a great measure, for the excellence of their hirelings and do- mesties; but their best servants were the Pawnee In- dians and their descendants, who are held and dis- posed of as slaves, under the French and British Gov- ernments-a species of slavery which existed to a considerable extent in Upper Canada. It was intro- duced at the early settlement of the country, and was founded on the assumed right of selling captives taken in war as slaves. The Pawnees were numer- ous and powerful ; but were considered as degraded by all the other tribes ; on which account, prisoners taken from them by any other Nation were con- demned to slavery, and were held as slaves by the captors or sold as such to others. Many of them were purchased by the Canadians, and employed as drudges in the fur trade, and frequently as house servants. The Indian code justified the putting of prisoners to death, which had been their common punishment, till it was commuted for the milder one of being sold into slavery for life. That relation ex- isted when the country was delivered up to the United States, though the practice of purchasing In- dian captives as slaves by the white people, had ceased before the surrender; and consequently the principal part, if not all the Indians then in slavery, were the descendants of enslaved captives. Imme- diately after the laws of the United States were intro- duced, and their Courts of judicature established, the validity of that relation was questioned, and the value of that species of property very much diminished ; not only by the uncertainty of its tenure, but by the effect which the discussion of the subject produced on the minds of the slaves. Very soon after the right became a subject of inquiry, public opinion decided against it, and the relation ceased to exist."

CAPTAIN WILLIAM WELLS.

interest of the Indians, but with expectation, that such line once fixed, the great North west, now constituting several of the largest and most prosperous States of the Union, would become a protectorate of Great Britain. The stake, to an unscrupulous power, was very tempting. Besides this, was added a desire, if possible, to humble the young Government, whose entire territory consisted of domain wrested by force from British possession. To these considerations were added special sources of irritation, including the action of the Vir- ginia Legislature in maintaining laws against the payment of claims held by British creditors against citizens of that State. At the very time of the battle of Fallon Timbers, there was a general apprehension that these matters might eulminate in renewed war. But it so happened, that at that very time John Jay, Envoy Ex- traordinary of the United States, was actively engaged in negotiating for the adjustment of all matiers of difference between the two Gov- ernments; and with such effect, that, three months after Wayne's signal victory over the British allies, what is known as the "Jay Treaty " was concluded with Lord Greenville. Just how much that battle had to do with such result, is a matter of opinion only. Suffice it here to know, that by that treaty the yet straggling shreds of the Revolutionary War were gathered up and finally disposed of, and peace secured to the great Northwest.

The association of the name of Captain William Wells with many of the prominent events in the early history of the Maumee Valley, will justify brief mention of his life. Of him Jesse L. Williams, in a historical sketch of the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne, says :

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History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, Part 8

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company Number of Pages: 1408

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1408