USA > Ohio > Pioneer history : being an account of the first examinations of the Ohio valley, and the early settlement of the Northwest territory ; chiefly from original manuscripts > Part 23
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Improvement and preservation of the public squares.
In March, the agents and proprietors, amidst their other cares and perplexities, did not forget the ornamenting of their new city, but attended to this also, as well as to its defense. Joseph Gilman, Daniel Story, and Jonathan Hart, were appointed a committee to point out the terms for
278
PUBLIC SQUARES.
leasing and ornamenting the public squares in the city of Marietta, and reported as follows :
" The mound square to be leased to General Putnam, for twelve years, on these conditions : To surround the whole square with mulberry trees, at suitable distances, with an elm in each corner; the base of the mound to be encircled with weeping willows, and evergreens on the mound ; the circular parapet, outside the ditch, to be surrounded with trees ; all within this to remain undisturbed by the plow, seeded down to grass, and the whole inclosed with a post and rail fence. The squares Capitolium and Qadranaou to be ornamented in the same way, with different species of forest trees, seeded down to grass, and never disturbed with the plow. Sacra Via, or the covert way, was not leased, but put into the care of General Putnam for its pre- servation, and seeded down to grass as a public ground. Subsequently, Rufus Putnam, Jabez True, and Paul Fear- ing, or either of them, were appointed trustees to take charge of these squares, and lease them to suitable persons, and carry out the intentions of the Ohio company, until a board of corporation be appointed over the town, who may then take charge of the same. The avails of the rents were to be appropriated to the education of indigent orphan chil- dren of Marietta."
The foregoing report, in relation to the public squares, is not less creditable to the men who made it, than to the agents of the company who adopted it, and deserves the praise and thanks, not only of the people of Marietta, but of all men, of every country, who have any taste for the beau- tiful, or reverence for the curious remains of that ancient people who once inhabited the vallies and hills between the lakes and the Ohio river; vestiges of whose industry and greatness meet us in a thousand places, but of whom we comparatively know nothing. Investigations are, however, making, which, it is hoped, will develope.the long hidden
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LETTER OF GENERAL PUTNAM.
mystery, and the builders of these earthen mounds, and ru- ined cities, discovered and made known.
Transactions at Marietta.
On the 8th of January, General Putnam addressed a let- ter to General Washington, President of the United States, on the condition of the country, dated at Marietta :
"SIR : The mischief I feared has overtaken us sooner than I expected. On the evening of the 2d instant, the Indians surprised a new settlement of our people, at a place on the Muskingum called " Big bottom," nearly forty miles up the river, in which disaster eleven men, one woman, and two children, were killed ; three men are missing, and four oth- ers made their escape. Thus, sir, the war, which was par- tial before the campaign of last year, is, in all probability, become general ; for, I think, there is no reason to suppose that we are the only people on whom the savages will wreak their vengeance, or that the number of hostile Indi- ans have not increased since the last expedition. Our sit- uation is truly critical : the governor and secretary both being absent, no aid from Virginia or Pennsylvania can be had.
" The garrison at Fort Harmer, consisting at this time of little more than twenty men, can afford no protection to our settlements ; and the whole number of men in all our set- tlements, capable of bearing arms, including all civil and military officers, do not exceed two hundred and eighty- seven ; and these many of them badly armed. We are in the utmost danger of being swallowed up, should the enemy push the war with vigor during the winter. This I believe will fully appear, by taking a view of our several settle- ments, and I hope justify the extraordinary measures we have adopted. The situation of our people is nearly as follows : At Marietta, about eighty houses in the distance of one mile, with scattering houses about three miles up the Ohio ; a set of mills on Duck creek, four mile's distant,
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LETTER OF GENERAL PUTNAM.
and another mill two' miles up the Muskingum. Twenty- two miles up this river is a settlement of about twenty families ; about two miles from them, on Wolf creek, are five families and a set of mills. Down the Ohio and oppo- site the Little Kenawha, commences the settlement called Belle prairie, which extends down the river with little in- terruption about twelve miles, and contains between thirty and forty families. Before the late disaster, we had several other settlements, which are already broken up. I have taken the liberty to inclose the proceedings of the Ohio company, and justices of the session, and beg leave, with the greatest deference, to say, that unless government speedily send a body of troops for our protection, we are a ruined people. The removal of the women and children, &c., will reduce many of the poorer sort to the greatest straits ; but if we add to this the destruction of their corn, forage, and cattle, by the enemy, which is very probable to ensue, I know of no way they can be supported. But if this should not happen, where these people are to raise bread another year is not easy to conjecture ; and most of them have nothing left to buy with. My fears do not stop here. We are a people so far detached from all others in point of situation, that we can hope for no timely relief, in case of emergency, from any of our neighbors ; and among the number that compose our military strength, almost half are young men hired into the country, intending to settle by and by. These, under present circumstances, will prob- ably leave us soon, unless prospects should brighten; and as to new settlers, we can expect none in our present situ- ation. So that instead of increasing our strength, we are likely to diminish daily ; and if we do not fall a prey to the savages, we shall be so reduced and discouraged as to give up the settlement, unless government shall give us timely protection.
"It has been a mystery with some, why the troops have been withdrawn from this quarter, and collected at the
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REMARKS ON THE WAR.
Miami. That settlement is, I believe, within three or four days' march of a populous part of Kentucky ; from whence, in a few days, they might be reinforced with several thou- sand men ; whereas, we are not within two hundred miles of any settlement, that can probably more than protect themselves. I will only observe further, that our situation is truly distressing ; and I do, therefore, most earnestly im- plore the protection of government, for myself and friends, inhabiting the wilds of America. To this we conceive our- selves justly entitled ; and so far as you, sir, have the means in your power, we rest assured that we shall receive it in due time."
On the same day, General Putnam wrote to General Knox, the Secretary of War. It was, in part, a repetition of that to the President, and closed with saying : "I hope government will not be long in deciding what part to take, for if we are not to be protected, the sooner we know it the better ; better that we withdraw ourselves at once than remain to be destroyed piecemeal by the savages; and better that government disband their troops now in the country, and give it up altogether, than be wasting t} public money in supporting a few troops totally inadeqr ¿ to the purpose of giving peace to the territory."
There was much truth in these remarks. The forr Lider General Harmer was entirely inadequate to its oujest; it should have been three or four thousand, instead of a few hundreds. The government were not well informed on the strength and temper of the Indians, but thought to do that by negotiation, which could only be done by force of arms. This policy was continued until the defeat of General St. Clair, when they seem to have awakened and discovered the condition of the west, and the difficulties they had to contend with. It was with the greatest reluctance that the government entered into a war with the western tribes. The country had just begun to recover from the ruinous effects of the revolution ; and the people, generally, in the
282
DEATH OF CAPTAIN ROGERS.
old states, were opposed to a war, and nothing but the necessity of the case forced them into it.
The following summer a company of United States troops was stationed at Marietta, under Captain Haskall, designed for the defence of the Ohio company settlements. The men were distributed in squads of six or eight, under a sergeant or corporal, at the different garrisons.
Death of Captain Joseph Rogers.
It is an ancient axiom, with military men, that rangers, or spies, are the eyes of an army. It proved true with res- pect to the new settlements. The measure of employing rangers was adopted previous to the commencement of hos- tilities, and they were stationed at Marietta and Waterford three months before the massacre at Big bottom. The requisite number of rangers, for the safety of the settle- ments, were enlisted by Colonel Sproat, after the war began, and paid by the United States at the rate of five shillings, or eighty-four cents a day. The safety of the property and the lives of the inhabitants depended so much on the vigilance and faithfulness of the rangers, that none were employed who did not possess these qualities, with a full share of courage. Captain Joseph Rogers and Edward Henderson were the two first employed in the service, at Campus Martius. Their tour of duty lay between the Big Muskingum and Duck creek, making a range of fifteen or twenty miles a day, varying their route as their judgment dictated. Two others were stationed at Fort Harmer, and two in the garrison, " at the point." The costume selected by the rangers was similar to that worn by the Indians, as being more free and convenient for active service in the woods. To make the resemblance more complete they sometimes added paint to their faces, but could distinguish each other by signs well known to themselves.
On Sunday the 13th of March, two days after the attack on Waterford, Rogers and Henderson sallied out of the
283
ESCAPE OF HENDERSON.
garrison at an early hour to scout up the Muskingum. They ranged diligently all day, without seeing any Indians, or discovering signs of their being in the neighborhood.
Just at night, as they were returning to the garrison by a cow path that led along the side of the ridge that stretches up north of Campus Martius, and had approached to within a mile of home, at a point a little above the present resi- dence of W. R. Putnam, two Indians rose up from behind a log, about fifty yards before them, and fired. Rogers being a head was shot through the breast, and as he fell, Henderson attempted to support him, but his companion told him he was a dead man, and that he must provide for his own safety. As he turned around to escape down the side of the ridge on to the bottom, two more Indians, who had reserved their fire, rose and discharged their rifles at him as he ran. One of the balls passed through the collar of his hunting shirt, and the other through the silk hankerchief which was bound round his head, and formed a part of the dress of a ranger, just grazing the scalp. His blanket being folded up and placed on his back in the manner of a knapsack, probably saved his life, shielding the most vital parts of the body from the passage of a rifle ball, by its numerous folds. This the Indians well knew, and aimed at his head. After running a few hundred yards on the back track, the Indians by taking a shorter course got ahead of him. This he was so fortunate as to discover, without their seeing him. Making a short turn to the right up a ravine, he crossed the ridge, and came out into the valley of Duck creek, unmolested. While making this detour, he fell quite unexpectedly upon their camp, and saw an Indian busily engaged kindling a fire. He was so diligently occupied, that he did not notice Henderson. He could easily have shot him, but as his pursuers had lost the direction of his course, he thought it imprudent by firing to give them notice of his whereabouts. He reached the garrison "at the point" in the evening, and gave notice of the fall of
284
ALARM OF THE INHABITANTS.
his companion. The alarm gun was fired, and answered from Fort Harmer and Campus Martius. The story soon spread through the village, that Rogers was killed, and that the Indians had chased Henderson into the garrison, and were now besieging the gates. The darkness of the night added to the confusion of the scene. The order in case of an alarm, was for every man to repair to his alarm post, and the women and children to the block house. The pro- ceedings of that night will be best related in the language of an eye witness, Colonel Barker.
" The first person for admittance at the central block house, was Colonel Sproat, with a box of papers for safe keeping; then came some young men with their arms; next a woman with her bed and children ; and after her, old Mr. William Moulten, from Newburyport, with his leather apron full of old gold smith's tools and tobacco. His daughter Anna brought the china tea pot, cups and saucers. Lydia brought the great bible; but when all were in, mother was missing. Where was mother? she must be killed by the Indians. No, says Lydia, mother said she would not leave the house looking so ; she would put things a little to right. After a while the old lady came, bringing the looking glass, knives and forks, &c."
Messengers were soon exchanged with Campus Martius, and no appearance of hostilities discovered. In the morning all returned to their own dwellings, and order was restored. About ten o'clock, a party of men from the two garrisons went out and brought in the body of Captain Rogers. They found him scalped and stripped of his clothing. He was buried on the east side of second street, a little north of the new brick house built by Waldo Putnam, which spot was used for a burying ground until after the war.
The death of Captain Rogers was severely felt by the co- lonists, as he was a man of experience in Indian warfare, and who possessed the confidence of every one. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and aged about fifty years ; large
285
DEATH OF MATHEW KERR.
and well built frame, gentlemanly in his manners, brave, and humane. He served as an officer in General Morgan's rifle corps, at the taking of Burgoyne. He came early to the frontiers, with many other old soldiers of the revolution, to seek a home. It is related by an eye-witness, now living, at an advanced age, in Marietta, that the night preceding his death he had an ominous dream, which greatly depress- ed his spirits, and made a deep impression on his mind. The purport of it was, that he would, that day, kill an Indian, or be killed himself. So much was he affected, that he could eat no breakfast. The officer of the day noticed his dejected mein, and asked if he was sick. He answered no ; but related his dream, and confessed how deeply it had depressed his spirits. The officer urged him to stay in gar- rison that day, and he would order another ranger in his place. This he declined, saying, "Jo. Rogers would never shrink from his duty for a paltry dream." As he passed out of the gate, by the guard, he said, " Well, boys, to- day we take a scalp, or lose one." The result proved that dreams are not always the idle vagaries of the imagination.
Death of Mathew Kerr.
One or two years before the commencement of hostilities, the settlements of the Ohio company had extended two or three miles up the Ohio, and over Duck creek. Among others who had planted and raised a crop above the creek, was Matthew Kerr, a native of Ireland. He had moved at an early day upon the frontiers west of the mountains, and, in 1787, settled on Devoll's, or Kerr's island, as it was then called, just above the mouth of the Muskingum. Here Ma- jor Doughty assisted him in building a house, and he kept a few cows to supply the officers of Fort Harmer with milk. His family consisted of three sons, Hamilton, George, and Mathew, and two daughters. The first had been employed as a hunter for the fort, two or three years, and was
286
DEATH OF MATHEW KERR.
afterwards much celebrated as a spy. One of his daughters married Peter Nisewonger, another famous hunter and ran- ger. After the attack on Big bottom, he, with others, moved his family into the garrison, at "the point," leaving their cattle, hogs, &c., with the corn and fodder, on the clearing, going up daily to feed them. This they had practiced all the winter and spring without molestation. In 1791, he planted there again, going up daily in his canoe to see to the crops. On the 16th of June, in his visit, he found a nice little black horse, tied by the halter, in an empty corn crib, which some plundering party of Indians had stolen in Virginia, and on their way back had visited the new settle- ment, for plunder and mischief, leaving the horse here for safe keeping. The old man, thinking it a fair prize, took the horse down to the garrison. The next day he started again to go up in his canoe. His sons told him he had better not go, as it was likely the Indians would be watch- ing for, and kill him. He, however, went up, and just as the canoe touched the shore in the mouth of the creek, four Indians rose up from behind the willows and fired. Three of the balls passed through his body, and he fell dead in the canoe, into which one of them sprang and scalped him. Some soldiers, employed by the state of Vir- ginia, and stationed in a block house on the island, nearly opposite, hearing the fire, ran upon the bank and saw the Indians as they ascended from the shore, swinging their bloody trophy, and yelling the shout of victory. They fired two or three shots at them, but the distance was so great that they did no other harm than hasten the escape of the Indians. After they had plundered the canoe, they pushed it out into the current, and it was taken up a little above the garrison, with the dead body in it. A party was directly sent out in pursuit, but no discovery was made of them, as they had immediately fled.
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687)
DISCIPLINE AT CAMPUS MARTIUS.
Campus Martius.
The garrison at this post was kept under the strictest discipline by order of Governor St. Clair. The men were divided into squads, and called out to their posts by daylight. The bastions were occupied every night by four of these squads. After dark the sentries were set, and the watch- word cried every half hour during the night. A magazine of ammunition was placed in the north-west block house, in the upper loft, and long poles with iron spears kept in each of the block houses for the defence of the doors, should the Indians break through the inner rampart of palisades. A four pound cannon was placed in each of the bastions of the north-east and south-west block houses, to defend the approaches in these quarters, and especially to be fired as alarm guns, to give notice to the inhabitants of danger, when out at work in the field. This strict discipline was kept up for about four years, or until after the victory of General Wayne.
Indians killed at Duck creek mills.
Late in July, Major Ezra Putnam, an old man, who had lost one of his sons and an apprentice boy in the massacre at Big bottom, and recently another son by a fever, con- cluded to build a barn against the coming winter. The people, commisserating his losses, turned out to assist him in getting the timber. This was cut and hewed on the ridge back of the garrison, and sentinels set in all exposed points, to watch the approach of the enemy, while the men were at work. William Smith, a lad of eighteen years, who acted as one of the guards, was posted at the foot of the ridge, near the Muskingum bottom. A little before sunsetting, as he was looking for a squirrel to shoot for a sick comrade, he was startled by a terrible bellowing among the cattle in the woods beyond him, which directly came rushing by him in the greatest terror. He ran up the ridge.
-
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PURSUIT OF THE INDIANS.
where the men were at work, but they had quit their labor and gone into the garrison, where he soon followed. On being questioned by the officer why he had not returned with the other men, he related the cause and the alarm of the cattle, suggesting the probability of there being Indians in the vicinity, who had frightened them, for even the horses and cows, as well as the dogs, gave symptoms of fear at the approach of these dreaded enemies. Search was made among the cattle, and a cow belonging to John Russel found with an arrow still sticking in the flesh of the abdomen, and dangling by her side.
The next day a party of twenty volunteers from the gar- rison, and as many soldiers from Fort Harmer, under a lieutenant, turned out in search of the Indians." They were led by two of the spies, Hamilton and George Kerr, as men best acquainted with the woods, and familiar with Indian warfare. The men were divided into two squads, the smaller one, under the lieutenant, marching up the Muskin- gum bottom, and the larger, under the two spies, going directly out to the new mills on Duck creek. As they emerged from the woods, on the brow of the hill that overlooks the mills and the creek for half a mile or more, both above and below the dam, Ham.'s quick eye caught sight of six Indians crossing the stream, at the ripple below the mill, on to this side, where stood a cabin that the work- men had occupied for cooking and sleeping.
He instantly called a halt, and proposed that the party should remain in the edge of the woods, out of sight, while himself and brother George crept across a little clearing of half an acre, this side the house, now overrun with weeds, and reconnoitre. When they had approached within about seventy yards, two of the Indians, who were armed with bows and arrows, came out of the house, the door of which was next the creek, and turning round the corner, stood looking into the unfinished log chimney, which was built up only three or four feet. Another with a rifle gun soon
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TWO OF THEM KILLED.
followed, but passed round the corner of the house out of sight. This one Kerr was most anxious to get a shot at. While waiting for him to come again in sight, and listening to the Indians talking to each other in their low, guttural tones, totally unconscious of their danger, a little cur dog of Ham.'s, which he had left with the party on the hill, be- gan to whine for his master. One of the men carelessly gave him a kick to silence him, when he yelped so loud that the Indians caught the distant sound, and were in- stantly on the alert to discover the cause. Fearing lest they should start and run, Hamilton rose from his crouch- ing posture and fired at one of the Indians, while George shot at the other. The one aimed at by Ham., although shot through the heart, run twenty rods before he fell. The other also fled with the blood pouring out of his side appa- rently mortally wounded. By this time the men on the hill came rushing down and joined in the pursuit of the flying foe.
Just below the mill the creek makes a bend, forming a neck of land, with another ripple. Across this bend the Indians retreated, and passed the creek a quarter of a mile lower down. When about half way over the neck, they found one Indian dead, and traced the other by the blood into the water at the ford. Here the Indians flanked out to the right and left, and defended the passage so bravely that it was thought imprudent to cross at that place, but at the ripple above. By the time the party had counter- marched and got over the creek, the Indians had disap- peared and borne off their wounded companion beyond the reach of pursuit. Wrapped up in the blanket of the dead Indian was found a nice halter for securing any horse that might fall in his way, and a new case knife and fork, which he had plundered from some frontier family. The halter was all in one piece, cut out very ingeniously from a buf- falo skin, and was owned for many years after by Colonel Sproat. That afternoon the party went out with a horse
19
290
SABBATHS AT CAMPUS MARTIUS.
and packed in the body of the dead Indian. It was given to the surgeons of Marietta, who hired an old soldier to boil the flesh from the bones in a kettle on the bank of the Muskingum, to make a skeleton. This disposition of the dead body came to the knowledge of the Indians, who were much vexed and astonished thereat, exclaiming in broken English, " What ! white man boil Indian !" Whether they thought the whites ate the flesh, or did it by way of some unknown charm, it is certain that it made a deep impres- sion on their superstitious minds, and was the cause of their venturing very cautiously into the vicinity of the fort, lest their bones, if they were killed, should be treated in the same way.
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