USA > Ohio > History of the state of Ohio > Part 9
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
ment from the fury of the Indians, who had assembled at the mouth of the strait with an intent to cut us off.
" I had several conferences with him, in which he discov- ered great strength of judgment, and a thirst after knowledge. He endeavored to inform himself of our military order and discipline. He often intimated to me that he should be con- tent to reign in his country in subordination to the King of Great Britain, and was willing to pay him such annual acknowledgment as he was able in furs, and to call him his uncle. He was curious to know our methods of manufacturing cloth, iron, &c., and expressed a great desire to see England, and offered me a part of his country if I would conduct him there. He assured me that he was inclined to live peacea- bly with the English while they used him as he deserved, and to encourage their settling in his country ; but intimated that, if they treated him with neglect, he should shut up the way, and exclude them from it; in short, his whole conversation sufficiently indicated that he was far from considering himself as a conquered prince, and that he expected to be treated with the respect and honor due to a King or Emperor, by all who came into his country, or treated with him.6
"From this place we steered one mile west, then a mile south, then four miles west, then southwest ten miles, then five miles west and by south, then southwest eight miles, then west and by south seven miles, then four miles west, and then southwest six miles, which brought us to Elk River, as the Indians call it, where we halted two days on account of bad weather and contrary winds.7
" On the 15th we embarked and kept the following courses :
6) The particulars of this interview with Pontiac are from Rogers' " Ac- count," &c .; what follows is from his Journal.
7) Forty-six miles to Cuyahoga River.
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west-southwest two miles, west-northwest three miles, west- by-north one mile, west two miles ; here we passed the mouth of a river,8 and then steered west one mile, west-by-south two miles, west-by-north four miles, northwest three miles, west-northwest two miles, west-by-north ten miles, where we encamped at the mouth of a river twenty-five yards wide.9
"The weather did not permit us to depart till the 18th, when our course was west-by-south six miles, west-by-north four miles, west two miles ; here we found a river about fifteen yards over, then proceeded west half a mile, west- southwest six miles and a half, west two miles and a half, northwest two miles, where we encamped and discovered a river sixteen yards broad at the entrance.10
" We left this place the next day, steering northwest four miles, north-northwest six miles, which brought us to San- dusky Lake; we continued the same course two miles, then north-northeast half a mile, northwest a quarter of a mile, north the same distance, northwest half a mile, north-by-east one furlong, northwest-by-north one quarter of a mile, north- west-by-west one mile, west-northwest one mile, then west half a mile, where we encamped near a small river, on the east side.
" The land on the south side of Lake Erie from Presque Isle, puts on a very fine appearance ; the country level, the timber tall and of the best sort, such as oak, hickerie and locust ; and for game, both for plenty and variety, perhaps exceeded by no part of the world.
"On the 20th we took a course northwest four miles and a half, southwest two, and west three, to the mouth of a river
8) Eight miles to Rocky River. :
9) Twenty miles to Black River.
10) Huron River, in Erie county.
6
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
in breadth 300 feet.11 Here we found several Huron sa- chems, who told me 'that a body of 400 Indian warriors was collected at the entrance into the great streight, in order to obstruct our passage.'
" On the 22d we encamped on a beach, after having steered that day northwest six miles, north-northwest four, to a river of the breadth of twenty yards,12 then northwest-by-west two miles, west-northwest one, west four, and west-northwest five. It was with great difficulty we could procure any fuel here, the west side of the Lake Erie abounding with swamps. We rowed ten miles the next day, on a course northwest and-by-west to Point Cedar13 and then formed a camp."
The rumors of intended hostility by the Indians, at the instigation of the French Commandant at Detroit, proved unfounded, and after some delay, Monsieur Beleter yielded the post on the 29th of November, 1760. Rogers remained in the vicinity of Detroit until December 23d, meanwhile making an excursion to Lakes St. Clair and Huron. From Detroit the Major went to the Maumee, and thence across by the Sandusky and Tuscarawas trail to Fort Pitt, and his journal of this overland trip is the first description of the route which has fallen under our notice. We shall renew our extracts, and accompany Major Rogers through the limits now constituting the State of Ohio :
" On the 23d of December I set out for Pittsburgh, march- ing along the west end of Lake Erie, till the 2d of January, 1761, when we arrived at Lake Sandusky.
"I have a very good opinion of the soil from Detroit to this place ; it is timbered principally with white and black oaks, hickerie, locusts and maple. We found wild apples
11) Portage River, in Ottowa county.
12) Touissant creck, in Carroll township, Ottowa county.
13) Maumee Bay.
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along the west end of Lake Erie, some rich savannahs of several miles extent, without a tree, but clothed with jointed grass near six feet high, which rotting there every year adds to the fertility of the soil. The length of Sandusky is about fifteen miles from east to west, and about six miles across it. We came to a town of the Windot Indians, where we halted to refresh.
"On January 3d, southeast-by-east three miles, east-by- south one mile and a half, southeast a mile through a meadow, crossed a small creek about six yards wide, running east, traveled southeast-by-east one mile, passed thro' Indian houses southeast three quarters of a mile, and came to a small Indi- an town of about ten houses. There is a remarkable fine spring at this place, rising out of the side of a small hill with such force that it boils above the ground in a column three feet high. I imagine it discharges ten hogsheads of water in a minute.14 From this town our course was south-south- cast three miles, south two miles, crossed a brook about five yards wide, running east-southeast, traveled south one mile, crossed a brook about four yards wide, running east-south- cast, traveled south-southeast two miles, crossed a brook about eight yards wide. This day we killed plenty of deer and turkies on our march, and encamped.
" On the 4th we traveled south-southeast one mile, and came to a river about twenty-five yards wide, crossed the river, where are two Indian houses, from thence south-by-east one mile, south-southeast one mile and a half, southeast two miles, south-southeast one mile, and came to an Indian house, where there was a family of Windots hunting, from thence south-by-east a quarter of a mile, south five miles, came to the river we crossed this morning ; the course of the river
14) Castalia, or Cold Spring, in Erie county.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
here is west-northwest.15 This day killed several deer and other game and encamped.
" On the 5th, traveled south-southwest half a mile, south one mile, south-southwest three quarters of a mile, south half a mile, crossed two small brooks running east, went a south-southwest course half a mile, south half a mile, south- east half a mile, south two miles, southeast one mile, south half a mile, crossed a brook running east-by-north, traveled south-by-east half a mile, south-southeast two miles, south- east three quarters of a mile, south-southeast one mile, and came to Maskongam creek,16 about eight yards wide, crossed the creek, and encamped about thirty yards from it. This day killed deer and turkies in our march.
" On the 6th, we traveled about fourteen or fifteen miles, our general course being about east-southeast, killed plenty of game, and encamped by a very fine spring.17
"The 7th, our general course about southeast, traveled about six miles, and crossed Maskongam creek, running south, about twenty yards wide. 18 There is an Indian town about twenty yards from the creek, on the east side, which is called the Mingo Cabbins. There were but two or three Indians in the place, the rest were hunting. These Indians have plenty of cows, horses, hogs, &c.19
"The 8th, halted at this town to mend our mogasons and kill deer, the provisions I brought from Detroit being entirely
15) If the reader will follow the track of the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad, eleven miles south from Monroeville, he will probably be on the route of Rogers, and will twice cross the Huron River.
16) Black Fork of Mohican, now called White Woman or Walhonding.
17) Who will identify this " fine spring," somewhere between Montgomery and Vermillion townships, in Ashland county ?
18) Lake Fork of Mohiean, near Jeromeville, Ashland county.
19) A prominent object on all early charts, but usually called " Mohican John's Town." The township is now called "Mohecan."
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ROGERS' WESTERN EXPEDITION.
expended. I went a hunting with ten of the Rangers, and by ten o'clock got more venison than we had occasion for.
" On the 9th, traveled about twelve miles, our general course being about southeast, and encamped by the side of a long meadow, where there were a number of Indians hunting.20
" The 10th, about the same course, we traveled eleven miles, and encamped, having killed in our march this day three bears and two elks.
" The 11th, continuing near the same course, we traveled thirteen miles and encamped, where were a number of Wiandots and Six Nation Indians hunting.
" The 12th, traveled six miles, bearing rather more to the cast and encamped. This evening we killed several beaver.
"The 13th, traveled about northeast six miles, and came to the Delaware's Town, called Beaver Town.21 This Indian town stands on good land, on the west side of the Maskon- gam river, and opposite to the town on the east side is a fine river which discharges itself into it. The latter is about thirty yards wide, and the Maskongam about forty ; so that when they both join they make a very fine stream, with a swift current running to the southwest. There are about 3000 acres of cleared ground round this place. The num- ber of warriors in this town is about 180. All the way from the Lake Sandusky I found level land and a good country. No pine trees of any sort ; the timber is white, black and yellow oak, black and white walnut, cyprus, chestnut and
20) Still called on the map of Ohio, "Long Prairie," in Plain township, Wayne county.
21) The Indian town of Tuscarora, opposite Sandy creek, at this time the residence of the leading Delaware chiefs. Here King Beaver resided in 1760, as also did the great war captain of the Delawares, Shingess, or King Shingask, whom we suppose to have been the same personage as Bocken- gchelas, who was living in 1801.
14
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HISTORY OF ONIIO.
locust trees. At this town I staid till the 16th, in the mor- ning, to refresh my party, and procured some corn of the Indians to boil with our venison.
"On the 16th, we marched nearly an east course about nine miles, and encamped by the side of a small river.
" On the 17th, kept much the same course, crossing several rivulets and creeks. We traveled about twenty miles, and encamped by the side of a small river.22
" On the 18th, we traveled about sixteen miles an easterly course and encamped by a brook.
"The 19th, about the same general course, we crossed two considerable streams of water, and some large hills tim- bered with chestnut and oak, and having traveled about twenty miles, we encamped by the side of a small river, at which place were a number of Delawares hunting.23
" On the 20th, keeping still an easterly course, and having much the same traveling as the day before, we advanced on our journey about nineteen miles, which brought us to Bea- ver creek, where are two or three Indian houses, on the west side of the creck, and in sight of the Ohio.
" Bad weather prevented our journeying on the 21st, but the next day we prosecuted our march. Having crossed the creek, we traveled twenty miles, nearly southeast and en- camped with a party of Indian hunters.
" On the 23d, we came again to the Ohio, opposite to Fort Pitt, from whence I ordered Lieut. McCormack to march the party across the country to Albany, and after tarrying there until the 26th, I came the common road to Philadelphia, from thence to New York, where, after this long fatiguing tour, I arrived February 14, 1761."
22) Nimishillen creek, perhaps.
23) Little Yellow Creck, very likely.
CHAPTER IX.
CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC.
THERE was a sullen submission to the new dominion of England through the Western wilderness. The French were subdued, and the Indians could not fail to respect the power of the British arms, but their jealousy of aggression on the one hand, or of no less unwelcome neglect on the other, still remained. Once more, as was the case ten years previously, an opportunity was afforded to the English to conciliate the natives, and avert for an indefinite period the horrors of a frontier war. It certainly behooved the colonies not to be less indulgent and considerate than the French had been. The latter had, from motives of policy, made frequent gifts to the tribes-treated their chiefs with consideration-sup- plied them with ammunition and clothing on reasonable terms, and by a frank and gay deportment won their good will.
If the reader will recall the interview between Rogers and Pontiac, narrated in the preceding chapter, he can readily appreciate not only the spirit of that chief, but also the dis- positions of his followers. His lofty permission to Rogers, that the latter might " pass through his country unmolested," and his magnanimous protection of the detachment of Ran- gers from Indian attack, disclosed a proud consciousness that he was indeed " the King and Lord of the country." Hc was willing to recognize a slight protectorate in the English monarch, by an annual acknowledgment in furs and the style of " Uncle," yet this tenure, even less substantial than the
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
slightest feudal relation, was not to impair the wild independ- ence of the forest emperor.
The jealousies of the Ohio Indians were almost immediately excited by the encroachments of English emigrants. The Ohio Company was revived; Virginia multiplied her grants ; traders and settlers pushed beyond the mountains, which, by the treaty of Easton, in 1758, had been fixed as the eastern limit of the Indian hunting grounds ; and the savages were not slow to perceive that the professions with which both Braddock and Forbes had approached their frontier, that the English would protect the tribes from French aggression, were only intended to cover similar designs. While these appre- hensions prevailed among the Delawares and Shawanese, the feeling among the Wyandots and Ottawas, as well as the more northern tribes, was even more distrustful. The par- simony of the English, as compared with the liberal and attractive gifts of the French, added to the discontent.
Soon a bitter revulsion of feeling prevailed through the entire west. The Delawares and Shawanese were irritated by the settlers from Virginia and Pennsylvania, while the more remote tribes meditated revenge for the neglect of the English, in particulars now become necessary to their com- fort, and also by the frequent outrages of a lawless soldiery, who had replaced the French garrisons. There were not wanting French traders and voyagers to remind the Indians of a contrast so disadvantageous in all respects to the recent occupants, and to fan the flame of disaffection to the height of insurrection.
As early as the spring of 1761, Alexander Henry, an English trader, went to Michillimacinac for purposes of busi- ness, and he found the strongest feeling against the English, on account of their failure by word or deed to conciliate the
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CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC.
Indians. Having reached his destination, though in the disguise of a Canadian, he was discovered, and an Indian chief, supposed to be Pontiac himself, addressed him as fol- lows:
" Englishman ! Although you have conquered the French, you have not yet conquered us. We are not your slaves. These lakes, these woods, these mountains, were left to us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance, and we will part with them to none. Your nation supposes that we, like the white people, cannot live without bread, pork and beef. But you ought to know that the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains."
HIe then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them, no presents sent them ; and while he announced their intention to allow Henry to trade unmolested, and to regard him as a brother, he declared that with his King the red men were still at war.1
On the 10th of February, 1763, the treaty of Paris was concluded, and extensive settlements in the conquered west were projected in the colonies at the moment that a wide spread conspiracy among the Indian tribes was on the eve of explo- sion.
The soul of this secret and formidable movement was Pon- tiac. Of his origin there are conflicting statements-one that he was a Catawba prisoner, adopted into the Ottawa tribe ; while the more prevalent opinion is, that he was the son of an Ottawa father and an Ojibwa mother. All accounts unite that he was a chief of great genius and resources, possessing qualities unsurpassed by the most distinguished of his race.
1) Perkins' Writings, ii. 223; Travels of Alexander Henry in Canada from 1760 to 1776: New York, 1809.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
Bancroft styles him " the colossal chief," whose " name still hovers over the northwest, as the hero who devised and con- ducted a great but unavailing struggle with destiny for the independence of his race." During the series of Indian wars against the English colonies and armies, from the Acadian war in 1747 to the general league of western tribes in 1763, he appears to have exercised the influence and power of an emperor, and by this name he was sometimes known. He had fought with the French, at the head of his Indian allies, against the English, in the year 1747. He had likewise been a conspicuous commander of the Indian forces in the defence of Fort Du Quesne, and took an active part in the memorable defeat of the British and provincial army under General Braddock, in 1755.
The voice of Pontiac appealed to savage superstition. He claimed to speak by the inspiration of the Great Spirit, and his messages were received with emotions of awe from Lake Michigan to the frontiers of North Carolina. "Why, says the Great Spirit, do you suffer these dogs in the red clothing to enter your country and take the land I have given you ? Drive them from it! Drive them! When you are in dis- tress, I will help you."
Thus in the winter of 1762-3 was silently organized a league, by which the confederated Indians were to environ the feeble and scattered garrisons, and by stratagem and force, simultaneously destroy them, and sweep the exposed frontiers with an indiscriminate massacre.
The catastrophe of May, 1763, is thus dramatized in the Historical Papers of J. H. Perkins. "The unsuspecting traders journeyed from village to village: the soldiers in the forts shrunk from the sun of the early summer, and dozed away the day; the frontier settler, singing in fancied secu-
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BRITISHI FORTS SURPRISED.
rity, sowed his crop, or, watching the sunset through the girdled trees, mused upon one more peaceful harvest, and told his children of the horrors of the ten years' war now, thank God! over. From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi the trees had leaved, and all was calm life and joy. But through that great country, even then, bands of sullen red men were journeying from the central valleys to the lakes of the Eastern hills. Bands of Chippewas gathered about Missillimacinac. Ottawas filled the woods near Detroit. The Maumee post, Presqu' Isle, Niagara, Pitt, Lingonier, and every English fort was hemmed in by mingled tribes, who felt that the great battle drew nigh which was to deter- mine their fate and the possession of their noble lands. At last the day came. The traders every where were seized, their goods taken from them, and more than one hundred put to death. Nine British forts yielded instantly, and the savages drank, 'scooped up in the hollow of joined hands,' the blood of many a Briton. The border streams of Penn- sylvania and Virginia run red again. 'We hear,' says a letter from Fort Pitt, 'of scalping every hour.' In West- ern Virginia, more than twenty thousand people were driven from their homes. Detroit was besieged by Pontiac him- self, after a vain atttempt to take it by stratagem ; and for many months that siege was continued in a manner and with a perseverance, unexampled among the Indians. It was the 8th of May when Detroit was first attacked, and upon the 3d of the following December it was still in danger. As late as March of the next year, the inhabitants were 'sleeping in their clothes,' expecting an alarm every night."
By midsummer, the only western posts which withstood the attacks of the savages, were Fort Pitt, defended by Capt. Ecuyer, with three hundred and fifty men, having two
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
hundred women and children under their protection; Fort Lingonier, the outpost of Fort Pitt at the foot of the Alle- ghanies ; and Detroit, where Maj. Gladwin and a garrison of one hundred and twenty-eight men were closely beleaguered by six hundred Indians, with the indomitable Pontiac at their head.
Sandusky "on Lake Jenandat" (as described in an old document) was the first to fall on the 16th of May.
On the 25th of May, the stockade at the mouth of St. Josephs on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, was sur- prised by a party of Pottowatamies from Detroit; Schlosser, the commanding officer, seized; and all the garrison of four- teen men, except three, massacred.
On the 27th of May, Ensign Holmes, the commandant at Fort Miami, near the present site of Fort Wayne, on the Maumec River, was entreated to visit and bleed a sick squaw in a cabin three hundred yards distant, and on approaching the place, was shot down by Indians in ambush, while his sergeant, who followed, and the nine soldiers of the garrison, were made prisoners.
Fort Ouatanon, on the Wabash, just below Lafayette, in Indiana, yielded on the 1st of June, but the French in the vicinity generously ransomed the lives of the captives and gave them asylum in their houses.
On the 2d of June, Capt. Etherington and his subordinate officers were invited to witness a game of ball by rival par- ties of Chippewas, upon the plain adjoining the fort at Michillimacinac. The game, which somewhat resembled wicket, had proceeded with much animation from morning until noon, when, by apparent accident, a ball was tossed near the entrance of the fort; a rush was made within the enclosure, the war-whoop sounded, an officer, a trader,
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FORT SANDUSKY DESTROYED.
and fifteen men were killed, while the rest of the garrison of forty, and several Indian traders, were spared as captives.
Presque Isle, now Erie, a tenable structure, with a garri- son of twenty-four men, and within prompt reach of relief, was surrendered, after a two days' defence, on the 22d of June.
ยท Le Boeuf, still further inland, was burned on the night of the 18th of July, after successfully resisting an attack during the previous day, but the garrison fortunately escaped unno- ticed through the darkness and the forest. On their way to Fort Pitt, they passed the ashes of Venango-fort and gar- rison having been involved in the same destruction.
Drake, in his Book of the Indians, adds to our enumera- tion "Le Bay, on Lake Michigan, near Green Bay."
Sandusky, on Lake Junandat, or Wyandot, was the only post within the present limits of Ohio. The particulars of its loss were furnished by Ensign Paully, its commandant, and by him transmitted to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, then Com- mander-in-Chief of the British forces. We give these de- tails as compiled by Bancroft and Parkman.
On the 16th of May, Fort Sandusky was approached by a party of Indians, principally from the Wyandot village. Ensign Paully, the commanding officer, was informed that seven Indians were waiting at the gate to speak with him. They proved to be four Hurons or Wyandots and three Ot- tawas, and as several of them were known to him, he ordered them, without hesitation, to be admitted. Arrived at his quarters, two of the treacherous visitors seated themselves on each side of the commandant, while the rest were dis- posed in various parts of the room. The pipes were lighted and the conversation began, when an Indian, who stood in the door-way, suddenly made a signal by raising his head.
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