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HISTORY OF ONIIO.
Upon this, the astonished officer was instantly seized, dis- armed and tied by those near him, while at the same moment a confused noise of shrieks and yells, the firing of guns, and the hurried tramp of feet sounded from the area of the fort without. It soon ceased, however, and as Paully was led from the room, he saw the dead body of his sentry and the parade ground strewn with the corpses of his murdered gar- rison. The body of his sergeant lay in the garden, where he was planting at the time of the massacre. Some traders, who were stationed within or near the enclosure of the pick- ets, were also killed and their stores plundered. At night- fall, Paully was conducted to the margin of the lake, where several birch canoes lay in readiness ; and as, amid thick darkness, the party pushed out from shore, the captive saw the fort, lately under his command, bursting on all sides into sheets of flame.
Paully was brought prisoner to Detroit, bound hand and foot, and solaced on the passage with the expectation of being burnt alive. On landing near the camp of Pontiac, he was surrounded by a crowd of Indians, chiefly squaws and chil- dren, who pelted him with stones, sticks and gravel, forcing him to dance and sing, though by no means in a cheerful strain. A worse infliction seemed in store for him, when happily an old woman, whose husband had lately died, chose to adopt him in place of the deceased warrior. Seeing no alternative but the stake, Paully accepted the proposal, and having been first plunged in the river, that the white blood might be washed from his veins, he was conducted to the lodge of the widow, and treated thenceforth with all the consideration due to an Ottawa warrior. This forced match took place about the 20th of May, and in July following a divorce occurred. One evening a man was seen running
135
BATTLE OF BUSIIY RUN.
towards the fort at Detroit, closely pursued by Indians. On his arriving within gunshot distance, they gave over the chase and the fugitive came panting beneath the walls, where a wicket was flung open to receive him. He proved to be the commandant at Sandusky, who had scized the first opportu- nity to escape from the embrace of the Ottawa widow.
The tragedy at Sandusky did not long remain unavenged. On the 26th of July, a detachment of two hundred and sixty men, under the command of Capt. Dalzell, arrived at San- dusky on their coastwise route to the relief of Detroit. Thence they marched inland to the Wyandot village, which they burned to the ground, at the same time destroying the adja- cent fields of standing corn. After inflicting this inadequate retribution of the scene of May 16th, Dalzell steered north- ward, and under cover of night effected a junction with the Detroit garrison.
Long and arduous were the hostilities at the forks of the Ohio and the straits of Detroit. The siege of Fort Pitt first reached a crisis favorable to the besieged. The Delawares and Shawanese, conscious of the strength of the garrison, endeavored to persuade Capt. Ecuyer to abandon the fort, offering safe conduct to the settlements for all within the inclosure. This overture was twice made and declined, and as often, furious but ineffectual assaults were made by the Indians. At length runners brought the intelligence that Bouquet, at the head of five hundred men, was advancing through the wilderness of Western Pennsylvania, and, as August approached, the Indians disappeared from before Fort Pitt for the purpose of harassing, and, if possible, cutting off the army of rescue and supply. The troops of Bouquet were the remains of two regiments of Highlanders, recently from active service in the West Indies-thoroughly disciplined and
136
HISTORY OF OHIO.
fortunate in their leader. Nothing interrupted their advance, until the 4th of August, when the advanced guard was sud- denly attacked by the savages at Edge Hill, a mile east of the Bushy Run, and four days' march from Pittsburgh. The action continued two days, the enemy giving way before the bayonets of the Highlanders, but constantly renewing their treacherous ambuscades. As a last resort, Bouquet feigned a retreat ; the Indians hurried to charge, when two compa- nies, that had been purposely concealed, fell upon the flank of the savages, who were simultaneously attacked in front. This manœuvre decided the conflict in favor of the Ameri- cans, although their loss was fifty killed and sixty wounded.
The battle of Bushy Run is memorable in our border his- tory, as well for the valor exhibited on both sides as for the important consequences. The Delawares and Shawanese, who were the instigators and principal resource of the con- federation of 1763, never renewed the contest with the des- perate devotion which they exhibited at Bushy Run. At Edge Hill the valley of the Ohio was virtually subjugated.
The genius of Pontiac prolonged the contest before the walls of Detroit. Although his original design of taking the fort by stratagem, on the 7th of May, was baffled, still he hoped to reduce the position by a close and vigorous siege. Having been advised of the approach of Lieut. Cuyler with ninety-six men and twenty-three batteaux laden with stores, along the northern shore of Lake Erie, a :band of Wyandots was sent to surprise him, which they succeeded in doing on the night of May 28th, near Point Pelee. Most of the de- tachment were captured, although Cuyler with thirty men escaped, and, rowing all night, arrived at a small island. Cuyler now made for Sandusky, (as he says in a report,) which, of course, he found burned to the ground, and thence
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ROYAL PROCLAMATION.
he returned to Niagara along the southern shore of Lake Erie.
However, in June, a schooner, with a reinforcement of sixty men, reached Detroit, and early on the morning of the 29th of July, the garrison were agreeably surprised by the arrival of Capt. Dalzell and his reinforcement of two hundred and sixty men. Dalzell immediately resolved to make a night sally against the besiegers. It proved unfortunate, the wily enemy being fully advised of the movement, and Dalzell's own life and the lives of twenty of his men were sacrificed in the inglorious retreat from the Indian ambuscade at Bloody Run. This victory encouraged the confederates, and Pontiac pressed the siege with a force increased to one thousand men.
Another month brought to the Ottawa chief the tidings of Bushy Run, and the occupation of Fort Pitt by Bouquet. Already it was apparent to Pontiac that the tide of success was turning against himself and the great purpose of the con- federation, yet were his efforts unabated. Winter approached ; the French commandant at Fort Chartres, on the Illinois, wrote to Pontiac that the Indians must expect no assistance from the French, and M. De Neyon went so far as to send belts, messages and peace pipes to the different western tribes, exhorting them to conclude a peace with the English. Finally, in the absence of any decisive success, the savages became disheartened, jealousies were revived, and Pontiac raised the siege of Detroit, repairing, with a number of his chiefs, to the Maumee, but still intent upon renewing hostili- ties in the spring.
On the 7th of October, 1763, a royal proclamation issued, which probably contributed to the pacification of the western border, by removing the causes of future outbreaks. It anticipated, in some degree, what has become the permanent 6*
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
Indian policy of the United States. The colonial governments were prohibited, "for the present," and until the royal pleasure should be further known, "to grant warrants of survey or pass patents for any lands beyond the heads or sources of any of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic ocean from the west or northwest." These western lands were declared to be under the sovereignty, protection and dominion of the crown for the use of the Indians, and indi- viduals were warned not to settle them. Purchases from Indians of lands reserved to them within the colonies, where settlements had been permitted, were only to be conducted by the authorities of the colonies, and in no case to be made by individuals, but trade with the Indians was to be free and open to all, on taking out a license for that purpose from the Governor or Commander-in-chief of any of the colonies.
The historical department of the London Annual Regis- ter for 1764, alludes significantly to the terms of the old colonial charters, which had no other bound to the westward than the South sea, and adds that " nothing could be more inconvenient, or attended with more absurd consequences, than to admit the execution of the powers in those grants and distributions of territories in all their extent." The writer concludes that " where the western boundary of each colony ought to be settled is a matter which must admit of great dispute, and can, to all appearance, only be finally adjusted by the interposition of Parliament."
The proclamation in question was claimed by Wash ington, Chancellor Livingston and others, to have been a measure of temporary expediency, with reference to the Indian hostilities, which were pending. Such was the favor- ite construction among the colonists, and Virginia was not restrained from the issue of patents, very soon afterwards,
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WESTERN COLONIAL LIMITS.
for considerable tracts of land on the Ohio far beyond the Appalachian chain. If other and graver questions had not interposed, however, it cannot be doubted that this question of western lands would have led to serious difficulty with the mother country. As it was, the embarrassment was thrown upon the first epoch of our national independence, and threat- ened for a time to defeat the union of the States. At length, by a series of patriotic cessions, the wilderness of the west became the domain of the nation, and, as such, has been productive of more benefit to the citizens of the Atlantic States than if the untenable claims of their vague charters had been successfully asserted.
CHAPTER X.
THE EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE WESTERN TRIBES UNDER BRADSTREET AND BOUQUET.
IN the spring of 1764, the frontiers were again alarmed by savage incursions, and General Thomas Gage, who had succeeded Sir Jeffrey Amherst, in the command of the British forces in North America, resolved to send two expe- ditions into the heart of the enemy's country-one by the route of the lakes and another westward of Fort Pitt. The northern division was first upon the march under the com- mand of Col. John Bradstreet. It consisted of eleven hun- dred men, chiefly provincial battalions from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut ; that of Connecticut led by Col. Israel Putnam, and in July reached Niagara.1 There were gathered the representatives of twenty or more tribes, sup- pliants for peace, and a grand council was held by Brad- street and Sir William Johnson, at which the powerful Sen- ecas were the first to bring in their prisoners and accept the terms dictated by the English negotiators.
Bradstreet had been ordered by Gage to chastise the In- dians whenever they appeared in arms, but all hostile indica- tions ceased on his advance. On the 12th of August, when within two days' march of Presque Isle, he was met by ten savages, who were probably Mingoes, or representatives of the New York tribes settled in Ohio and near Presque Isle,
1) Albany was the rendezvous of the troops, and the route to Niagara was by the Mohawk, Oneida Lake, Oswego River and Lake Ontario.
(140)
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BRADSTREET'S EXPEDITION.
but who also assumed to speak for the Hurons of Sandusky, the Shawanese and the Delawares. They agreed that all prisoners should be delivered at Sandusky within twenty-five days; that six of the deputation should be retained as hos- tages, and the remaining four, accompanied by an English officer and a friendly Indian, should inform the chiefs of what they were required to do; that all claims to the forts and posts of the English in the west were to be abandoned, and leave given to erect as many forts and trading houses as might be necessary for the security of the traders, with a grant of as much land around each post as a cannon could throw a shot over ; that if any Indian killed an Englishman he was to be delivered at Fort Pitt and there tried by Eng- lish law, except that half of the jury were to be Indians of the same nation as the offender ; and that if one tribe vio- lated the peace the others would unite in punishing them.
There is reason to believe that the Delawares, Shawanese and Wyandots, had never authorized these Indians to stipu- late for them, since the first two tribes continued their rava- ges after the treaty, and we find the Wyandots, when Brad- street reached Sandusky, making their separate submission, and agreeing to follow him to Detroit for the purpose of concluding a treaty there. Parkman insists that the Indians who thus represented the Ohio tribes were only spies, and that Bradstreet was duped.2 We notice among them the name of Cuyashota, which we suppose to have been that of the distinguished Seneca Chief, Guyasootha or Kayashuta, who was almost as prominent as Pontiac himself in organi- zing the conspiracy of the year before. The seat of his power and influence was on the upper Alleghany or near Presque Isle, and his concurrence gives a high sanction to
2) Conspiracy of Pontiac, 461.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
Bradstreet's treaty of August 12, 1764. We shall after- wards find Kayashuta active in the surrender of prisoners to Col. Bouquet on the Muskingum, and the same chief, at a conference held in Pittsburgh, by George Croghan, four years afterwards, (May 4, 1768,) produced a copy of the treaty with Col. Bradstreet, and avowed its validity, and his constant adherence to its provisions.3
Bradstreet was so sanguine, not only that a binding treaty with the Ohio tribes had been concluded by him, but also of a ready compliance on their part with all the stipulations, that, on the 14th of August he wrote to Col. Bouquet, who was preparing to leave the Pennsylvania frontier on the southern expedition to the Ohio, requesting him to withdraw his troops. The latter, perceiving that the Delawares and Shawanese continued their depredations, declined to comply, and determined to prosecute his plan without remission, till he should receive further instructions from head quarters. Gen. Gage applauded his determination, "annulling and dis- avowing" the treaty at Presque Isle.
Bradstreet continued his route to Detroit, sparing the San- dusky villages, on a pledge that the Wyandots would make their submission at Detroit, where his army arrived safely on the 26th of August. A detachment was sent to take pos- session of Michillimacinac, and on the 7th of September a council was held at Detroit, which effectually pacified the northwestern tribes. Towards the head waters of the Mau- mee, however, were gathered many of the Ottawas and other immediate adherents of Pontiac, who were insolent and tur- bulent. An envoy of Bradstreet, Capt. Morris, as he ap- proached the camp of the Indian leader, was confronted by
3) Craig's Olden Time, i. 344-67.
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BRADSTREET'S EXPEDITION.
the chief with menace and insult, making a narrow escapc of life from the hostile savages.
In respect to the subsequent movements of Col. Bradstreet, we have the authority of Hutchins,4 the well-known histori- an of the contemporary expedition under Col. Bouquet, that the plan of the campaign had been, that "the two corps were to act in concert, and as that of Col. Bradstreet could be ready much sooner than the other, he was to proceed to Detroit, Michillimacinac and other places. On his return, he was to encamp and remain at Sandusky, to awe, by that position, the numerous tribes of western Indians, so as to prevent their sending any assistance to the Ohio Indians, while Col. Bouquet should execute his plan of attacking them in the heart of their settlements."
These . instructions were promptly executed, and during the month of September Bradstreet returned to Sandusky. Here dispatches were received from Gen. Gage, condemning the indulgent treaty at Presque Isle in severe terms, and ordering him to advance upon the Indians living on the Sci- oto plains. At the same time, the journal of Morris, disclo- sing the hostile dispositions of the Indians upon the upper Maumee, reached Bradstreet, and it was probably apparent to him, that the Ottawas and Miamis, who were reported to have murdered their white prisoners, and who still rallied around Pontiac, were more properly an object of chastise- ment than the Scioto villages. It was true that the pledges for the return of prisoners which were made to him in August were not redeemed, but then it was to be considered that the Delawares and Shawanese, who held most of them, werc
4) Thomas Hutchins, afterwards Geographer of the United States, and who accompanied Bouquet as " Assistant Engineer."
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
remote from Sandusky, and were already confronted by the army of Bouquet making a similar demand.
Under these circumstances, we think Parkman's strictures upon Bradstreet are unnecessarily severe. He admits that the water in the Sandusky River was low with drought, while the Cuyahoga route was circuitous and difficult of portage, and that sickness was prevalent in the camp, and, it might be added, the stormy season of lake navigation was at hand. Bradstreet passed a month in Sandusky Lake and up the river as far as navigable to Indian canoes, when, as he wrote to Colonel Bouquet, "he found it impossible to stay longer in those parts, absolute necessity requiring him to turn off the other way."
The return was unfortunate. As the boats of the army were opposite the iron-bound precipices west of Cuyahoga, a storm descended upon them, destroying several and throwing the whole into confusion. For three days the tempest raged unceasingly ; and when the angry lake began to resume its tranquillity, it was found that the remaining boats were in- sufficient to convey the troops. A large body of Indians, together with a detachment of provincials, were therefore ordered to make their way to Niagara along the pathless borders of the lake. They accordingly set out, and, after many days of hardships, reached their destination ; though such had been their sufferings, from fatigue, cold, and hun- ger, from wading swamps, swimming creeks and rivers, and pushing their way through tangled thickets, that many of the provincials perished miserably in the woods. On the fourth of November, seventeen days after their departure from Sandusky, the main body of the little army arrived safely at Niagara, and the whole, reembarking on Lake On- tario, proceeded towards Oswego. Fortune still seemed ad-
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BOUQUET'S MUSKINGUM EXPEDITION.
verse ; for a second tempest arose, and one of the schooners, crowded with troops, foundered in sight of Oswego, though most of the men were saved. The route to the settlements was now a short and easy one. On their arrival, the regu- lars went into quarters, while the troops levied for the cam- paign were sent home to their respective provinces.5
The expedition to the Muskingum was fortunate in its re- sults, and also in having so intelligent an historian as Thomas Hutchins, and is therefore better known than any contempo- rary occurrence in the West. Its leader, distinguished by the success of Bushy Run, at the most critical period of the campaign of 1763, enjoyed the full confidence of Gage, the Commander-in-chief, and of the Pennsylvania and Virginia Governments. Besides five hundred regulars, Pennsylvania sent a thousand men, and Virginia replaced the desertions by a corps of volunteers.
It was October before the troops took up their march from Fort Pitt. Bouquet had previously seized three Indians, who sought a conference, but were probably spies, and on the 20th of September he sent one of them to the Delaware and Shawanese chiefs, demanding, that they should furnish two guides for an express to Col. Bradstreet, and threaten- ing to avenge any molestation of the messengers, by putting the two captive Indians to death. He allowed twenty days for the trip to Detroit. This firm and determined conduct in opening the campaign, produced a favorable effect upon its prosecution. Two Indian runners were promptly sent to accompany the express.6
On the 3d of October, the army decamped from Fort Pitt, and next day reached the Ohio River at the beginning of the
5) Parkman's Pontiac, 476.
6) Hutchins' Account of Bouquet's expedition, 5 et seq. 7
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
narrows, following the course of the river along a flat grav- elly beach for about six miles. When opposite the lower end of a considerable island, the army left the river-the distance from Fort Pitt being then about ten miles. Passing Logstown and crossing Big Beaver River near its junction with the Ohio, the course of the army was westward, appa- rently crossing the present boundary of Ohio near the line between Middleton and St. Clair townships in Columbiana county.
On the 9th, the army encamped on Yellow creek. Du- ring the day's march, (which was only five miles, from the necessity of cutting a road through some dense thickets) the path divided into two branches, that to the southwest leading to the lower towns upon the Muskingum, and at the forks stood several trees painted by the Indians in a hiero- glyphic manner, denoting the number of wars in which they had been engaged, and the particulars of their success in prisoners and scalps. Crossing Yellow creek, one mile above, the next encampment was on a branch of Muskingum, fifty yards wide.
The country on the right bank of the Muskingum (desig- nated Sandy creek at this point on modern maps) for ten miles east of the Nimischillen creek is described as "fine land, watered with small rivers and springs, where were several savannahs or cleared spots, which are by nature extremely beautiful, the second being, in particular, one continued plain of nearly two miles, with a fine rising ground, forming a semicircle round the right hand side, and a pleasant stream of water at about a quarter of a mile dis- tant on the left."
Crossing, on Saturday, October 13, Nimischillen, (written by Hutchins, Nemenshehelas) and another small stream ;
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BOUQUET'S MUSKINGUM EXPEDITION.
the army defiled between a high ridge on the right, and Sandy on the left, for a distance of seventy perches, passed a very rich bottom, and came to the main branch of Muskingum, about seventy yards wide, with a good ford. "A little below and above," adds Hutchins, "is Tuscarawas, a place exceedingly beautiful by situation, the lands rich on both sides of the river; the country on the northwest side being an entire level plain, upwards of five miles in circumference." He estimated, from the appearance of the "ruined houses," that the Indians who had inhabited these were as many as one hundred and fifty warriors.7
Thus, after a march of twelve days, or one hundred and ten miles, the army reached a point, which, more than any other, is noted in our ante-territorial annals. Here letters were received from Col. Bradstreet, by the messengers sent with Indian guides from Fort Pitt. They had been detained for a few days at a Delaware village, sixteen miles distant, but on the approach of the troops, they were set at liberty with a message to Colonel Bouquet, that the headmen of the Delawares and Shawanese were coming as soon as possible, to treat of peace with him.
The army encamped two miles further down the Muskingum on the 15th, where the river was a hundred yards wide and overlooked by a fine level country, extending from a high bank some distance back, producing stately timber, free from underwood, and with plenty of food for cattle ; here a bower was erected at a short distance from the camp. At this place the Indian chiefs and warriors, who were assembled eight miles off, were notified to appear on the 17th. When
7) Three years before, in January, 1761, Rogers had found Tuscarora a populous town. It was probably deserted on the approach of Bouquet's army.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
that day arrived, Colonel Bouquet, " with most of the regular troops, Virginia volunteers and light horse, marched from the camp to the bower erected for the congress ; and soon after the troops were stationed, so as to appear to the best advan- tage, the Indians arrived, and were conducted to the bower. Being seated, they began in a short time to smoke their pipe or calumet, agreeable to their custom. This ceremony being over, their speakers laid down their pipes and opened their pouches, wherein were their strings or belts of wampum. The Indians present were-
Senecas-Kiyashuta, chief, with fifteen warriors.
Delawares-Custaloga, chief of the Wolf tribe ; Beaver, chief of the Turkey tribe, with twenty warriors.
Shawanese-Keissinautchtha, a chief, and six warriors.
Kiyashuta, Turtle-Heart, Custaloga and Beaver were the chief speakers."
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