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 29
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In the spring the wild deer are very thin and poor, and their flesh of an inferior quality. The river afforded an abundant supply of fish; but it so happened that but a few of the inhabitants were skilled in the art of taking them. Salt was also so scarce and dear, being eight dollars a bushel, that it could hardly be afforded to cure them, so that what was caught one day must not be kept longer than the next. Fortunate was the family that had been able to save a few pounds of salt pork or bacon to boil up with the native
356
SHIFTS FOR FOOD.
growth of esculent plants that began early in the spring to appear in the woods.
Of these, the nettle afforded the earliest supply, which in some places grew in large patches, and whose tender tops were palatable and nutritious. The young, juicy plants of celandine afforded also a nourishing and pleasant dish. It sprang up about the old logs and fences round the clearings, ยท especially were brush had been burnt the year before, with astonishing luxuriance; and, being early in its growth, af- forded a valuable article of food before the purslain was of sufficient size for boiling.
This latter vegetable, however, was their main depend- ence at a later period. Wherever the soil had been broken by the planters and exposed to the sunshine, a luxu- riant crop of this nutritious plant sprang up from the virgin soil, where the seed had been scattered ages before, by the Creator of all things, and lain dormant in the earth. In spots where not a single plant of purslain was seen while covered with the forest, and probably not a shoot had grown for ages, it now sprang up as if by magic. The rich, luxu- riant soil produced an abundant supply of this nourishing vegetable. When boiled with a small piece of venison and a little salt, it furnished the principal food of the inhabitants for six or eight weeks, although many lived on it without any meat for many a day.
Toward the close of their sufferings, so great was the scarcity that, in one of the most respectable and intelligent families, which happened to be rather numerous, the smaller children were kept on one boiled potato a day, and finally were reduced to half a one. The head of the family had held the office of a major in the army of the United States, and was one of the most worthy and excellent men in the colony. His children, with their descendants, now rank among the first for influence and wealth in the state of Ohio. The mother of these famished and half starved children did all she could for their comfort, and those around her. A young
357
THE NEW CROP.
man, who owned a lot adjacent to her husband's, among her other multifarious engagements, she had consented to cook for, but ate his meals at his own cabin. The bread was made of poor, musty meal; and while it was baking she always sent the children away to play, and immediately locked it up in the young man's chest, lest they should see it, and cry for a piece of that which she had no right to give them. This young man was from Boston, and educated at Cambridge college. When a few kernels of corn were dropped in grinding in the hand mill, the children picked them up, like chickens, and ate them raw. A few of the inhabitants had cows, for which the forest, in summer, afforded ample supplies of food. Their milk assisted greatly in the support of their owners, and especially their children.
In the latter part of winter, the sap of the sugar tree, boiled down with meal, made a rich, nourishing food. This tree was so abundant, that great quantities of sugar could have been made to enlarge their scanty stores of food; but the want of kettles prevented their profiting from this pro- lific magazine, which the God of nature has stored up for his children. By the middle of July, the new corn was in the milk, and fit for roasting and boiling; this, with the squashes and beans, ended their fears of actual starvation. So urgent was their necessity, however, that they could not wait for the vegetables to attain their usual size, before they were deemed fit for eating, but the beans, as soon as the pods were set, and the grains of corn formed in the ears, were gathered and boiled up with a little salt and meal, if they had any, into a kind of vegetable soup, which was eaten with great relish by the half starved children and their parents. As the season was remarkably favorable, the sight of the rich crop of corn was hailed as a jubilee, not only by man, but by the domestic animals, some of which had suffered equally with their masters. Even the dogs fell upon the young and tender corn at night, and devoured it with eagerness. It was sometime before they could
358
ABUNDANCE OF WILD GAME.
discover this depredator of their crops. By watching, they caught the dogs in the act of tearing down and eating the corn, and were compelled to tie them up at night, until it became too hard for them.
During the whole summer, a great scarcity of animal food was felt. In August, the family of one of the most enterprising and worthy men in that suffering community had been without any meat for several days. Having one of those long barreled fowling pieces, which he had been accustomed to use along the shores and inlets of Rhode Island, he walked out into the woods, with little hopes of success. Directly he came across a fawn, or half grown deer, and at the first fire brought it to the ground. While in the act of cutting its throat, and he felt sure that all this meat was his own, he said his heart and affections rose up in a glow of gratitude and thankfulness to the Almighty, such as he had never felt before, for this unexpected and striking interposition of His Providence, in this his time of need. This man had been several times in battle, and escaped without a wound; and yet no event in his previons life had awakened his gratitude like this. It was the first and only deer he ever killed. The meat served to supply their wants for several days. The bountiful crops of the following autumn soon made amends for their long lent, of more than three times forty days continuance. The deer and turkeys, that now came round their fields in numerous flocks, supplied them with the greatest abundance of ani- mal food; causing them to forget the sufferings of the past, and lift their hearts in gratitude to that God, who had thus bountifully spread a table for them in the wilderness. Like the quails about the camp of the Israelites, the turkeys came up to their very doors in such multitudes, that none but the most sceptical could fail of seeing the hand of a kind Providence, driving them from their coverts in the forest so near their dwellings, that they could be killed or taken within their fields. They were so abundant, and so
359
TWO BOYS KILLED BY THE INDIANS.
little accustomed the sight of man, that the boys killed many of them with clubs, and the aid of their dogs. This year terminated their trials and sufferings from the want of food. All the subsequent years were crowned with abundant crops, and their greatest troubles arose from the danger of being killed by the Indians, while cultivating their fields. But habit soon inured them to trials of this kind; and they went forth to their labors with the con- sciousness that they were better able to contend with and overcome the savages, than to strive against the allotments of Providence.
Two boys killed at Neil's station.
In August the settlement was alarmed by the killing of two boys by the Indians, at Neil's station, a small stockade on the Little Kenawha, a mile from its mouth and in the immediate vicinity of Belpre. It was alarming as it mani- fested the hostility of the Indians, who might at any time fall upon and kill the inhabitants, when they least expected it, and for which they were not prepared, as they pretended to be at peace with the whites. The boys were twelve and fifteen years of age, and belonged to a German family that lived in a small cabin, about forty rods above Neil's block house. They had been down to the station Saturday after- noon, and just at night, on their way home, went into the edge of the woods, on the outside of a cornfield, to look for the cows. The Indians were lying in ambush near the path, and killed them with their tomhawks, without firing a gun. Their bodies were not found until the next morning, but as they did not come home, their parents were fearful of their fate. That night the Indians attempted to set fire to the block house by inclosing a brand of fire in dry pop- lar bark, and pushing it through a port hole. It was, how- ever, discovered and extinguised, by a woman who lay, in bed near the port hole, before it communicated to the house. In the morning the alarm was given, and a party of armed
360
MILL AT LITTLE HOCKHOCKING.
men went out from Belpre, and assisted in burying the two boys. The Indians departed without doing any other damage.
Mill at Little Hockhocking.
In the spring of the year 1790, the necessity of building a grist mill became so apparent, that some of the enter- prising inhabitants, among them Griffin Green, Esq., and Robert Bradford, entered into the laborious and expensive undertaking. Their bread stuff thus far had been ground on the hand mill. Two mill wrights from Red stone, by the name of Baldwin and Applegate, who had assisted at the mill on Wolf creek, were employed as architects. The Ohio company made a donation of one hundred and sixty acres of land at the mill site, to encourage the work. The dam was erected and the timbers prepared for the mill, by the 1st of January following, when the Indian war broke out, and the work was suspended, and not again resumed until after its close. The spot chosen was on a southern bend of the stream, where it approaches within a mile and a half of the Ohio. A broad, low gap in the river hills, made it easy of access from the settlements. The check put to the work by the war was a sad disappointment to the inhabitants, who had again to labor at the hand mill, until the autumn of the following year, when the floating mill built by Captain Devoll relieved them of one of their most grievious burdens. At the close of the war, the work was completed, and the site has been occupied by a mill to this day.
361
INDIAN WAR.
CHAPTER XVII.
Indian war breaks out. - Garrison built, and called "Farmers' Castle." - Description and plate .- Howitz .- " Place d'armes." - New defenses built. - Loss of provision by fire .- Send for a supply to Red stone .- John L. Shaw. - Hostility of the Indians. - Narrow escape of A. W. Putnam. - B. Hurlburt, one of the spies, killed.
Indian war.
THE suffering and distress attendant on a famine had no sooner disappeared, than they were assailed by a new calamity. The county court of quarter sessions met at Marietta on the first Monday in January. A considerable number of the most active men were called there to attend as jurors, witnesses, &c. As it was a laborious task to get there by water, in canoes, many of them went up on Satur- day and Sunday, preceding. The court had barely opened on Monday, when word was brought of the sacking and slaughter at Big bottom. It was immediately adjourned, and the men returned to their homes full of anxiety for the fate of their own families. Notice had been sent to the settlers at Belpre, from Wolf creek mills, at the same time it was sent to Marietta. The women and children suffered much from fear, expecting every hour that the Indians would attack them.
The inhabitants were scattered along on the river bank, living in their log cabins, without any preparation for de- fense, not expecting an Indian war, as a treaty had been made with them only two years before. Captain Jonathan Stone, at the upper settlement, had built a small block house for his dwelling, and into this the women and children were
362
INDIAN WAR.
gathered on Monday night. On Tuesday there was a general muster of all the heads of families, to consult on what was best to be done. They decided on collecting them together, about thirty in number, at the middle settlement, where Colonel Cushing and Colonel Battelle had already built two large log houses, and erected a spacious, strong, and well arranged garrison, sufficient for the accommodation of all the inhabitants. The spot selected was on the bank of the river, about half a mile below "the bluff," and nearly against the center of Backus's island. A swamp about six rods back from the Ohio, protected its rear, while the river defended the front. The upper and lower ends opened into a smooth, level bottom, suitable for a road by which to enter or depart from the garrison. The work was com- menced the first week in January, and was prosecuted with the utmost energy, as their lives, apparently, depended on its completion.
As fast as the block houses were built, the families moved into them. They were thirteen in number, arranged in two rows, with a wide street between, as shown in the engraving. The basement story was in general twenty feet square, and the upper about twenty-two feet, thus projecting over the lower one, and forming a defense from which to protect the doors and windows below, in an attack. They were built of round logs a foot in diameter, and the interstices nicely chinked and pointed with mortar. The doors and window shutters were made of thick oak planks, or puncheons, and secured with stout bars of wood on the inside. The larger timbers were hauled with ox-teams, of which they had several yokes, while the lighter for the roofs, gates, &c., were dragged along on hand sleds, with ropes, by the men. The drawing was much facilitated by a few inches of snow, which covered the ground. The pickets were made of quar- tered oak timber, growing on the plain back of the garrison, formed from trees about a foot in diameter, fourteen feet in length, and set four feet deep in the ground, leaving them
(
*
CA WElliott Lith.
FARMERS CASTLE
363
FARMERS' CASTLE BUILT.
ten feet high, over which no enemy could mount without a ladder. The smooth side was set outward, and the pali- sades strengtheneda nd kept in their places by stout ribbons, or wall pieces, pinned to them with inch treenails on the inside. The spaces between the houses were filled up with pickets, and occupied three or four times the width of the houses, forming a continuous wall, or inclosure, about eighty rods in length and six rods wide. The palisades on the river side filled the whole space, and projected over the edge of the bank, leaning on rails and posts set to support them. They were sloped in this manner for the admission of air during the heat of summer. Gates of stout timber were placed in the east and west ends of the garrison, opening in the middle, ten feet wide, for the ingress and egress of teams, and to take in the cattle in an attack. A still wider gate opened near the center of the back wall, for hauling in wood, and all were secured with strong, heavy bars. Two or three smaller ones, called water gates, were placed on the river side, as all their water was procured from the Ohio. When there were signs of Indians discovered by the spies, the domestic animals were driven within the gates at night. At sunset all the avenues were closed.
Every house was filled with families ; and as new settlers arrived occasionly during the war, some houses contained three or four. The corner block houses, on the back side of the garrison, were provided with watch towers, running up eight feet above the roof, where a sentry was constantly kept. When the whole was completed, the inmates of the station called it " Farmers' Castle," a name very appropriate, as it was built and occupied by farmers. The directors of the Ohio company, with their characteristic beneficence, paid the expense of erecting three of the block houses, and the money was distributed among the laborers. The view of the castle from the Ohio river was very picturesque and imposing; looking like a small fortified city amidst the surrounding wilderness. During the war, there were about
364
DISCIPLINE OF THE "CASTLE."
seventy able bodied men mustered on the roll for military duty, and the police within assumed that of a regularly besieged fort, as in fact it was a great portion of the time, the Indians watching in small parties, more or less con- stantly, for a chance to kill or capture the inhabitants when they least expected it. At sunrise the roll was called by the orderly sergeant, and if any man had overslept in the mor- ning, or neglected to answer to his name, the penalty was fixed at the cutting out the stump of a tree level with the ground, they being thickly scattered over the surface in- closed within the castle. This penalty was so rigidly exac- ted, that few stumps remained at the close of the war. A regular commander was appointed, with suitable subalterns.
Major Nathan Goodale was the first captain, and held that post until he removed into his own garrison in 1793, when Colonel Cushing took the command. The flag staff stood a few yards west of the back gate, near the house of Colonel Cushing, on which floated the stars and stripes of the union. Near the flag staff, was a large, iron howitz, or swivel gun, mounted on a platform incased in wood, hooped with iron bands and painted to resemble a six pounder. It was so adjusted as to revolve on a socket, and thus point to any part of the works. During the spring and summer months, when there was any probablity of Indians being in the vicinity, it was fired regularly, morning and evening. It could be distinctly heard for several miles around, especially up and down the Ohio ; the banks and hills adjacent, re-echo- ing the report in a wonderful manner. This practice no doubt kept the Indians in awe, and warned them not to ap- proach a post whose inmates were habitually watchful, and so well prepared to defend themselves. Around this spot, it was customary for the loungers and newsmongers to assem- ble, to discuss the concerns of the castle, and tell the news of the day, while passing away the many idle hours that must necessarily fall to the lot of a community confined to such narrow limits. It was also the rallying point in case of an
365
DANGER WHILE AT WORK.
assault, and the spot where the muster roll was called morning and evening. The spies and rangers here made report of the discoveries to the commandant; in short it was the " place d' armes" of Farmers' Castle.
In the upper room of every house was kept a large cask, or hogshead, constantly filled with water, to be used only in case of a fire, either from accident, or from an attack by the Indians. It was a part of the duty of the officer of the day to inspect every house, and see that the cask was well filled. Another duty was to prevent any stack of grain or fodder being placed so near the castle as to endanger the safety of the buildings, should the Indians set them on fire, or afford them a shelter in time of assault. They also inspected the gates, pickets, and houses, to see that all were in repair and well secured at night. They received dispatches from abroad, or sent out expresses to the other stations. Their authority was absolute, and the government strictly mi- litary .*
The greatest and principal danger to the settlers arose from their exposure to attack while engaged during the spring and summer months in working in their fields. The clearings of some of the inhabitants lay at the distance of three miles, while others were within rifle shot of the garrison. Those could only be visited in companies of fif- teen or twenty men. Their exposure was not confined to their actual engagement in their fields, but chiefly in going to and returning from their labor. While at their work, sentries were constantly placed in the edge of the adjacent forest; and flanking parties examined the ground when marching
* WEEPING WILLOW. - The largest willow in this part of the state now marks the site of Farmers' Castle. It was planted when a small twig by E. Battelle, in the year 1793, at the northeast corner of the garrison, near his father's block house. In the year 1844, it measured fourteen and a half feet in circumference, at ten or twelve feet from the ground, and still larger higher up, where the branches put forth. The top covers an area of sixty-five feet in diameter. It is a noble monument of by-gone days, and the father of willows in Ohio.
366
LOSS OF PROVISIONS BY FIRE.
through the woods, between the upper and lower settle- ments. It was a great labor to transport their crops when harvested so long a distance, although it was chiefly done by water carriage.
For these reasons, in the second year of the war, it was decided as best for them to divide into smaller communities. Accordingly, a strong, stockaded garrison was built, three miles above, called "Stone's garrison," and one a mile be- low, called "Goodale's garrison." To these several of the families removed whose lands lay adjacent, and continued to occupy them to the close of the war. Fresh emigrants, however, continually arrived, so that Farmers' Castle re- mained crowded with inhabitants.
The crops of the settlers were confined chiefly to Indian corn, beans, potatoes, turnips and pumpkins, with a little wheat and rye. They also raised hemp and flax, for do- mestic use. Until the erection of a "floating mill," in the fall of 1791, a noted era in the annals of Belpre, their meal was all ground in the primitive hand mill. But little wheat was raised until after the close of the war, when mills were built on the creeks. By the aid of a bolting machine, turned by hand in the garrison, the floating mill furnished the flour for many a noble loaf of bread, and the crusts of numerous pumpkin pies, the only fruit afforded for this use at that day.
The winter following the first occupation of Farmers' Castle was one of severe privation in the article of meat. Late in the fall of 1791, the fat hogs were all collected and slaughtered in company, and hung up in an outhouse near the garrison to cool and dry through the night. During this period it accidentally took fire, and burnt up all their winter store of meat, to their great loss and disappointment. A number of other hogs were killed and destroyed by the In- dians, which had been left at their outlots and fattened in pens. These were visited by their owners once in three or four days, and fed from corn left in the field for that purpose.
-
367
A SUPPLY FROM HEAD WATERS.
Under these discouraging circumstances, the inhabitants contributed all the money they could gather, which was but a small sum, and dispatched two active young men, by land, to "Red stone," to purchase a supply of salt meat and a few barrels of flour. It was a hazardous journey, not only in danger from Indians, who, since St. Clair's defeat, were still more harassing to the inhabitants, but also from the inclemency of the season, it being the fore part of De- cember. They, however, reached head waters unmolested, made their purchases, and were ready to descend the river, when it closed with ice.
In the mean time nothing was heard from the two mes- sengers by the inhabitants at the castle, and the winter wore away in uncertainty as to their fate. Some thought they had decamped with the money, and others that they had been killed by the Indians, as the news of St. Clair's defeat reached them soon after their departure; while the more reflecting were firm in their confidence of the integrity of the young men, and attributed their silence to a want of opportunity to send them a letter, as the river was closed, and no regular mail was then established.
The last of February the ice broke up in the Ohio, with a flood of water that covered the banks, and inundated the ground on which the garrison was built. Early in March the young men arrived, with a small Kentucky boat, loaded with provisions, and entering the garrison by the upper gate, moored their ark at the door of the commandant, to the great joy and relief of the inhabitants.
After the disastrous events of the campaign of 1791, a small guard of United States troops was stationed at Belpre, usually consisting of a corporal and five men. Their prin- cipal duty was to watch the garrison, while the inhabitants were abroad in their fields, or at any other employment. They also served in rotation with the inhabitants in stand- ing sentry in the watch towers.
John L. Shaw, well known in Marietta for many years
368
ESCAPE OF JOHN L. SHAW.
after the war as an eccentric character, of great wit and powers of mimicry, was corporal of the guard for a time, and a great favorite with the inmates of the castle. He was subsequently a sergeant in Captain Haskell's company from Rochester, Mass. During Wayne's campaign, while stationed at "Fort Recovery," he had a narrow escape from the Indians. In October, 1793, contrary to orders, he ven- tured out into the forest near the fort, to gather hickory nuts, and had set his musket against a tree. While busily engaged, with his head near the ground, he heard a slight rustling of the leaves close to him. Rising suddenly from his stooping posture, he saw an Indian within a few yards, his tomahawk raised ready for a throw, while at the same time he called out in broken English, " prisoner, prisoner !" Shaw having no relish for captivity sprang to his gun, cocked it, and faced round, just as the Indian hurled his hatchet. It was aimed at his head, but by a rapid inclina- tion of the body, it missed its destination, and lodged the whole width of the blade in the muscles of the loins. By the time he had gained an erect position, his enemy was within two steps of him with his scalping knife. Shaw now fired his gun with such effect as to kill him on the spot, and so near its muzzle as to set his calico hunting shirt on fire. Before he could reload, another Indian rushed upon him, and he was obliged to trust to his heels in flight. He ran in the direction of the fort, but a fresh Indian started up before him, and he was obliged to take to the woods. Being in the prime of life and a very active runner, he distanced all his pursuers, leaping logs and other obstructions, which the Indians had to climb over or go round. After fifteen or twenty minutes of hot pursuit, which the shrill yells of the Indians served to quicken, he reached within a short dis- tance of the fort, and met a party of men coming out to his rescue. They had heard the shot, and at once divined the cause, as no firing was allowed near the fort, except at the enemy, or in self defence. Shaw's life was saved from the .
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