USA > Ohio > Picturesque northwestern Ohio and battle grounds of the Maumee Valley, an art and historical work of the worthwest section of the Buckeye State > Part 9
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The wife had her separate prop- erty, which consisted of everything in the lodge or wigwam, except the implements of war and the chase, which belonged to the men.
Each gens had a right to the ser- vice of all its available male mem- bers in avenging wrongs and in times of war. They also had a right to their services as hunters in supply- ing game to the villages. In times of need or scarcity whatever game was brought to the camp or village was fairly divided among all present.
The military council was com- posed of all the able-bodied men of the tribe. Each gens had a right to the services of all the able-bodied women in the cultivation of the soil. It was considered beneath the dig- nity of the Indian hunter or warrior to labor in the fields or to perform manual labor outside of what
WEST MAIN STREET, LOOKING EAST, NORWALK, HURON COUNTY.
94
PICTURESQUE NORTHWESTERN OHIO
!
CRAWFORD COUNTY COURT HOUSE, BUCYRUS.
pertained to war and the ehase. The children assisted the women in the eultivation of the erops, which consisted mostly of eorn, although they also eultivated beans and peas, and in some parts of Ohio, at least, they had a kind of potato, which, the eaptives among the Indians say, "when peeled and dipped in eoon's fat or bear's fat, tasted like our sweet potatoes." They also made considerable use of nuts and berries, partieularly of the walnut and hiekory nut and black haw, all of which were found in al- most every part of the State. The eranberry was also found in eertain places and much used.
The Mingo Indians at this point cultivated the rieh bottom land between Franklinton and the river, which was subject to annual overflows, so that it was constantly enriched and yielded most abundant re- turns for the labor bestowed upon it.
Their great annual occasion was the green eorn festival. For this festival the hunters supplied the game from the for- ests, and the women the green eorn and vegetables from the fields. On this oeca- sion they not only feasted themselves with plenty, but made offerings and did homage to the Great Spirit for his bless- ings. At this festival each year the council of women of the gens seleeted the names of the children born during the previous year, and the chiefs of the gens pro-
elaimed these names at the festival. These names eould not be changed, but an additional name might be acquired by some aet of bravery or eir- eumstanee which might refleet honor upon the person.
The erimes generally recognized and punished by the Ohio tribes were murder, treason, theft, adultery and witeheraft. In ease of murder it was the duty of the gentile chiefs of the offender's gens to examine the faets for themselves, and if they failed to settle the matter it was the duty of the nearest relative to avenge the wrong.
Theft was punished by twofold restitution.
Treason consisted of revealing the seerets of the medieine preparations, as well as giving infor- mation or assistanee to the enemy, and was pun- ished by death.
Witeheraft was also punishable by death either by stabbing, burning or with the tomahawk. As late as June, 1810, Chief Leatherlips (Shate- yaronyah), an aged chief of the Wyandots, was executed under the charge of witeheraft in this country. He was dispatched with a tomahawk.
For the first offense of adultery in a woman her hair was eropped; for repeated offenses her left ear was eut off.
Outlawry was also recognized among most of the tribes and consisted of two grades. If eonviet- ed of the lowest grade, and the man thereafter committed similar crimes, it was lawful for any person to kill him. In outlawry of the highest grade it was the duty of any member of the tribe who might meet the offender to kill him.
When the Indians determined upon a war expedition they usually observed the war danee and then started for their ob- jeetive point. They did not move in a compaet body, but broke up into small parties, each of which would take a different way to a common point of assembly. This was neeessary, as they had to subsist upon the game which they might be able to take while on the way, and it was difficult, if not impossible, to seeure game sufficient to sustain a large number of warriors on any one line of travel. They traveled light and fast, and this made them dan- gerous as enemies. They would strike when not expected and disappear as suddenly and quickly as they had appeared. In this
SOUTH SANDUSKY AVENUE, BUCYRUS, CRAWFORD COUNTY .
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BATTLE GROUNDS OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY
way they were able to subsist and elude pursuit. Their eaptives in war and in their forays were sometimes shot, sometimes burned, sometimes adopted into a fam- ily and converted into Indians. The white eaptives as a rule soon acquired the woodcraft and habit of their captors. Some of them became inveterate and active foes of the white man. Simon Girty may be mentioned as an example of this elass. He was called the "White Indian." He was celebrated for his cunning and craftiness, and no Indian surpassed him in these quali- ties. He is often and usually cited as an example of extreme eruelty. but it is said in truth that he saved many captives from death, and it is probable that in- justice has been done to him by inaccurate and preju- diced writers.
It was in the summer season that the Indians con- gregated in their villages. That was also the season when they went to war or on their forays against the white settlers. In the winter season the villages were practically deserted, as it was their custom to separate into small parties, usually that of the near relatives or, as we would say, members of the household, including the old men, women and children. They would go into different localities and select a spot usually along a stream of water or by the side of a lake or spring, where, in the autumn or early winter, they would erect a lodgement where the old men, women and children might sojourn through the winter. The hunters would then separate and go into different directions and select a place or camp from which to hunt and trap, so as not to impinge upon each other, always keeping rela- tion with the main camp or lodge to which they sup- plied meat for subsistence. They would, of course, change these camps according to their pleasure or their necessities, but at the end of the season they would gather the results of their winter's hunt and proceed back to their villages. It was their custom during the hunting season to collect the fat of beaver, the raccoon and the bear, and to secure it in the paunches or entrails of large animals, which the women had pre- pared for that purpose: and this was transported or conveyed to their villages for future use.
ERIE COUNTY COURT HOUSE, SANDUSKY
They also made sugar in the spring of the year when the sap began to run, and this they also put into the entrails of animals for preservation and transportation to their summer villages. This sugar they mixed with the fat of the bear and that of other animals, and cooked it with green corn and such vegetables as they had, and thus made what they considered a most savory food. They were often reduced to great distress for want of food, and often died from hunger and exposure. They were not only improvident, but they had no means of securing large stores of provisions for future use, and never acquired the art of so doing. When they had NT plenty they would use it with extravagance and improvi- dence: but they were eapable of enduring great hunger and fatigue. It was common for the Indian to be days without food of any kind, but they P seemed never to have profited by such experiences. The time when they were most likely to be distressed for want of food was in the winter, when a erust would be formed upon the snow, so that when walking such a noise was made as to scare the game before them. It was almost impossible for them to take deer, buffalo or other wild game under such circum- stanees. They were then re- quired to depend upon finding bear or coon trees. These their
MARKET STREET, SANDUSKY, LOOKING EAST.
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PICTURESQUE NORTHWESTERN OHIO
OTTAWA COUNTY COURT HOUSE, PORT CLINTON.
quick and practiced eye would soon detect when they came across them, but they were not always easily found, and it was often days before they would come upon one of them. They often saved themselves from starvation by digging hickory nuts, wal- nuts and other nuts from under the snow.
The territory of Ohio furnished an ideal home for the Indians. in Virginia.
The climate was excellent, and the streams abounded with fish and the forests with game. The red deer was abundant, and the buffalo and elk were found in con- siderable numbers in certain portions of the State. These and other large animals fur- nished food for the Indians, and their hides furnished covering for their lodges and clothing for their persons. The waters of the State at certain seasons of the year were alive with myriads of wild fowl, of which we can now have no conception as to numbers. These added great- ly to the sustenance of the Indians. No portion of the country was more favorable for forest life.
After the settlement at Franklinton it soon became a trading point for the In- dians, particularly the Wyan- dots, and the hutners of this tribe continued to maintain
their hunting camps along the Scioto and other streams of Franklin County for several years after the war of 1812 was closed. I have often heard my father, David Taylor, who came to Franklin County in 1807, say that they came to hunt in that county as late as 1820; and one hunter in par- ticular, with whom my father was well acquainted, and who was known to the white people by the name of "Billy Wyan- dot," maintained his camp every winter at the first ravine north of the National Road. on the west bank of Walnut Creek, where there was, and now is, a fine spring.
It is more than 150 years since the first white man, of which we have knowledge, passed through Franklinton. In 1751 Christopher Gist, accompanied by George Croughtan and Andrew Montour, passed over the Indian trail, from the forks of the Ohio to the Indian's towns on the Miami. Gist was the agent of an English and Virginia land company. On January 17, 1751, he and his party were at the great swamp in what is now Licking County, known to us as the "Pigeon Roost," or "Bloody Run Swamp," which is five miles northwest from the Licking Reservoir and one-half mile south of the line of the National Road. From thence they proceeded to the Miami towns, which were in the region of Xenia and Springfield. This trail led them over or very near to the site of Columbus. We have reason to believe that they crossed the Scioto at or near the mouth of the Olentangy.
The next white man that we know of, who did certainly pass along the Scioto River, was James Smith, who was a captive among the Indians, and who hunted and camped with them on the Darby, somewhere in the neighborhood of Plain City, as early as 1757. What is now called the Darby was then the Olentangy, and Smith, with his Indian com- panion, hunted and trapped along the Darby and the Scioto, both in the winter of 1757 and 1758. In his narrative we learn that at the end of the first winter's hunt they made a bark canoe and started down the Olentangy (now the Darby), but as the water was low they were required to wait for high water. While waiting, the Chief, Tecaughretango, after having made his ablutions, praved to the Great Spirit for rain. In a few days the rain came and raised the river so that they were able to proceed. The next year Smith made his escape back to his home
STREET SCENE IN PORT CLINTON, OTTAWA COUNTY.
ANN ARBOR
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TOLEDO
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Toledo's Railways-Steam and Interurban.
2.2.2.
Railroad Map of Toledo, showing the Terminals and Shipping Facilities for the greatest Railroad centre on the Lakes.
(See Knabenshue Article.)
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The Unequalled Harbor of Toledo.
Map showing Toledo's Dockage and Dock Lines and Lake Shipping Facilities. The Finest Harbor on the Lakes.
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( See Knabenshue Article.)
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MAUMEE RIVER
TOLEDO
THE CITY OF TOLEDO. By S. S. KNABENSHUE.
T
HE dawn of the twentieth century found Toledo the third city of Ohio in population, and with an increase of over 61 per cent. in her numbers within the previous decade. Her total of 131,000 people in 1900 has grown to over 150,000 in 1903, and the steady increase promises her a population of nearly a quarter of a million by the census year of 1910.
This is no mushroom growth, promoted by speculation, but the result of the working of natural laws. The greatest commercial and industrial activity in the United States is found in a belt roughly bonnded by the parallels of 40 and 42 degrees north latitude. The most direct through lines of transportation between the East and the West are within these boundaries. The largest cities, the largest manufacturing areas are to be found in this zone. Lake Erie lying with its longest diameter east and west, has its southern shore skirted by the great Vanderbilt system of railroads; and the conjunction of lake and railway is one of the great factors of location which gives Toledo her superiority as a manufacturing and commercial city. For both, transportation is a vital necessity, and the complex system of railways centering in Toledo, radiating in every direction, reaching all sections of the country, combined with her facilities for lake commerce, are the factors of first importance in her rapid and solid growth and abounding prosperity.
The inspection of the railway map prepares one to accept the statement that Toledo is the greatest railway center in Ohio, and one of the greatest in the United States. That is, more different lines of steam railroads enter Toledo than any other Ohio city can boast. The map also shows the two belt lines-the route of the Terminal Company making a sort of framework for the map itself, and the inner belt being marked
by a dotted line, where it does not use the tracks of other roads.
Beginning at the lower left-hand corner of the map, on the eastern side of the Maumee river, we have the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day- ton, running to Cincinnati, where it has traffic connections to New Orleans and all other im- portant southern points. Next comes the Ohio Central, which separates just beyond the city limits into two divisions, the western running through Columbus to Thurston, where it connects with the eastern division. The latter goes through Bucyrus and other points, and thence traverses the coal fields of southern Ohio to the Ohio river, reaching it at Middleport and Pom- eroy. These two divisions pass through entirely different sections of country, and are really two different roads for Toledo commerce.
Next is the Hocking Valley, running from Toledo across the state, passing through Colum- bus, the rich coal fields of the Hocking valley, to Gallipolis, Middleport and Pomeroy on the Ohio.
Then come the great Pennsylvania sys- tem, northwestern division, running from Toledo through Mansfield to Pittsburg, New York, Phil- adelphia, Baltimore and Washington.
Next come the two eastern divisions of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, the one passing through Fremont and Norwalk, the other along the shore of Lake Erie through Port Clin- ton and Sandusky, the two coming together at Elyria and thence running to Cleveland, Buffalo and New York.
STEEDMAN MONUMENT.
THE BOOK OF TOLEDO.
OFFICE OF THE WOOLSON SPICE COMPANY, HURON AND JACKSON STREETS.
The remaining steam railway on the east side of the river is the Wheeling & Lake Erie, which reaches Wheeling, its route being diagonally across Ohio. This, by the recent purchase, has become part of the Gould system. By a line now under construction it will enter Pittsburg, and thence over other roads acquired by the Gould interests, will reach the Atlantic seaboard at Baltimore. The Wheeling & Lake Erie will eventually become a part of a new transcontinental route, the Wabash being the portion west of Toledo.
On the western side of the Maumee river the first road is the Detroit & Toledo Shore Line, a new road, which is now owned jointly by the Clover Leaf and the great Grand Trunk railway of Canada, thus giving Toledo an outlet over the latter system.
Next come the Pere Marquette, a very active Michigan line, and the Ann Arbor, extending from Toledo to Frankfort, and bisecting the lower peninsula of Michigan.
Another Michigan road, the Detroit, Toledo & Milwaukee, reach- ing Detroit, Jackson and Grand Rap- ids, enters Toledo over the Lake Shore tracks from Monroe.
Next on the map is the Mich- igan Central, from Detroit, and the Detroit division of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. Their tracks run side by side between the two cities and into Toledo.
Next are the two western di- visions of the Lake Shore system. The northerly one is the Michigan Southern, or "old road," running northwest through Michigan and thence to Elkhart, Indiana. The
E
R.A.BARTLEY
R. A. BARTLEY, WHOLESALE GROCER, SUMMIT AND CHERRY STREETS.
THE BOOK OF TOLEDO.
LAMAISON BROTHERS
LAM SOM BROTHERS
LAH
LERS
LAMSON BROTHERS DRY GOODS
331.
LAMSON BROTHERS .- 333-335-337-339-341-343- LAMSON BROTHERS.
LAMSON BROTHER
UNION DEPOT
LAMSON BROTHERS' DRY GOODS HOUSE.
other is the Air Line, running directly west across Ohio and Indiana to Elkhart and thence the two lines go to Chicago. Next is the "Clover Leaf"-the Toledo, St. Louis & Western, which runs southwesterly from this city across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to St. Louis.
Last comes the great Wabash system, also reaching St. Louis and other important western and southwestern points, which is, as remarked above, to reach the Pacific coast by other Gould lines. The right of way through the heart of Toledo has been obtained, and a "cross town line " will connect the Wabash with its eastern division, the Wheeling & Lake Erie. This connec- tion will be for passenger, express and mail business, and a central depot will be erected within a square of the court-house in Toledo, to accommodate this traffic.
This gives a total of sixteen lines, each traversing an entirely different section of the country, and affording unrivaled facilities for the shipment of the products of Toledo industries, the distribution of merchandise by wholesalers, and for the great incoming traffic. Were one to count also the branches of these roads which center here-such as the Findlay and the Bowling Green branches of the C. H. & D .- the number might be materially increased.
Besides the above, the Detroit Southern, which extends from that city to Ironton, on the Ohio River, is preparing to build a Toledo branch, and has acquired a dock site on the Maumee, just above the Wheeling & Lake Erie bridge.
The inner belt is made up of a line of track connecting the Lake Shore, Wheeling & Lake Erie and Ann Arbor tracks, by which freight can be switched from any road to any other.
THE BOOK OF TOLEDO.
GIMES . MENS
THE "TIMES NEWS-BEE" BUILDING Superior Street.
PRESS
Kable & Maver 3º Lunch Room.
WALDING, KINNAN & MARVIN BUILDING, Wholesale Druggists,
The Terminal Belt Railway is about thirty miles in length, and encircles the entire city, crossing the Maumee twice on its own bridges. It, of course, crosses every railway track entering the city, and connects at each crossing point. The purpose of the Toledo Railway & Terminal company, which built it, is threefold : First, to furnish unequalled switching facilities from any line to any other line at low cost; second, a great central passenger and freight terminal now being erected just west of the Ann Arbor depot, and covering two squares ; and, third, to furnish sites for factories of any kind, on its line, thus giving direct connection with every railway in the city, for convenience in bringing in raw material and shipping the finished product.
The application of electricity as motive power for inter- urban traffic is a new""thing, yet its, development has been
NASBY BUILDING. The Walbridge Building Company, Owners.
phenomenal. Toledo has already six of these lines, all of which are shown on the map. The first is the Detroit, Toledo & Monroe, running to Monroe and Detroit; the Toledo & West- ern, through Sylvania and Blissfield to Adrian; the Toledo & Indiana, now operating as far west as Wauseon; the Maumee Valley Railways and Light Company, whose belt line runs up. the west bank of the river to Maumee, crosses to Perrysburg, and returns on the east side of the river, with an extension from Maumee to Waterville; the Toledo, Bowling Green & Southern Traction company, which uses the Maumee belt tracks into Toledo from Perrysburg, and extends through Bowling Green to Findlay; and the Lake Shore Electric, which extends
1
THE BOOK OF TOLEDO.
entaron
BARBOUR & STARR LUMBER YARD AND DOCKS.
OFFICE OF GENDRON WHEEL COMPANY. Superior Street.
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THE LABORATORY OF THE CHENEY MEDICINE COMPANY. Adams Street.
THE BOOK OF TOLEDO.
THE NEW "TOLEDO BLADE" BUILDING.
through Fremont, Norwalk and Lorain to Cleveland. The cars of all these lines reach an union passenger station, corner Adams and Superior streets.
Work is being prosecuted on the tracks of the Toledo Urban & Interurban com- pany's lines. This company proposes to do for the electric interurban lines what the Terminal Belt does for steam roads. Its right of way enters the city alongside that of the Wabash cross-town line, and a large station will be erected on Washington street. Its line runs to Maumee, then crosses the river on a new bridge, which will be strong enough for the trains of a steam road.
Another great interurban line will soon be added to the above, the Toledo, Colum- bus, Springfield and Cincinnati, whose gen- eral offices are in the Spitzer building. Mr. Ellis Bartholomew is the president and general manager. Its line, when completed, will be 282 miles in length, running from Toledo through Lima and Bellefontaine to Columbus, thence to Springfield and Cin- cinnati. This line passes through the most fertile sections of the state and has seventy- five towns and villages on its line. The total population through the region traversed is 867,866 and the road will be one of the most profitable interurban lines in the country.
The street-car facilities of Toledo are excellent. The Toledo Railways & Light Company owns all the street railways of the city. It operates within a fraction of 100 miles of tracks, on which it has 141 closed ' cars and 103 open cars. This company is a reorganization of the Toledo Traction Company, effected in 1901. This company also owns the entire capital stock of the Toledo & Maumee Valley company, an interurban belt line. Mr. Henry E. Everett, is the President and Louis A. Beilstein, Vice-President and General Manager. Extensive improvements in the way of track extensions and doubling, and in additions to equipment, rendered necessary by the growth of the City in population and the consequent increase in the company's business, are contemplated in the near future.
The splendid railway system of Toledo finds its fitting complement in her remarkable harbor. No other city on the chain of the Great Lakes has so much water-front available for commodious and easily accessible wharves. Duluth is the only other city, according to government charts, which has a harbor that will compare with Toledo in that respect. Toledo has a shore line available for this purpose equal to almost all of the other Lake Erie ports. As regards safety, the Toledo harbor is the only one which is at the same time entirely safe, deep and commodious.
Toledo's harbor, unsurpassed in natural advantages, is an assurance of this city's ultimate commercial supremacy.on Lake Erie. If this were not one of the greatest railway centers in the country and if there were no other natural attractions here for industrial development, still the room for ample wharves here would be sufficient foundation for a great city.
Pickand & Mathers' new million dollar blast furnace and the Cleveland Iron Cliffs Company's purchase, are but the advance guard of the great iron industries which are coming to Toledo. There is comparatively little undeveloped dock facilities at Cleveland, and these two big concerns have located here simply because there is no more room. at that city. Of course the superior railway facil- ities of Toledo are also an important factor, but it would be possible to build railroads if a city had the harbor that Toledo has.
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