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 33
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Although the water was weak, yet it proved that they had discovered the long talked of and desirable fountain, whose waters afforded the precious article of salt. It was like the discovery of the philosopher's stone to the alchemist, for every ounce of it could be turned into gold. After spending one night and part of a day at the place, they commenced their homeward journey, well pleased with the success of their search. They dare not stay longer and make a larger quantity, lest some straggling Indian should discover them, and give notice to the village at Chillicothe, distant about
408
ESCAPE FROM THE INDIANS.
twenty-five miles. They were too numerous to fear any small hunting party.
Their return to the mouth of Leading creek was accom- plished in a much shorter period than in going out. The night after they left Salt creek, while all were buried in sleep by their camp fire, they were awakened by a terrific scream. All sprang to their feet, seized their arms, and extinguished the fire, expecting every moment to hear the shot and the shouts of the savages. After listening a minute or two, and no enemy appearing, they began to inquire into the cause of the alarm, and found that one of the party had been seized with the cramp in his sleep, and made this terrible outcry. They were rejoiced that it was from no worse a cause, and lay down quietly until morning. When they reached the mouth of Leading creek, the water had fallen ten or twelve feet, and had left the pirogue high and dry on the land. It required half an hour or more to launch the boat and get under way.
By the time they had reached the middle of the Ohio, pro- posing to cross over and go up on the Virginia shore, a party of Indians appeared on the bank, at the spot they had just left, in hot pursuit. Fortunately they were out of reach of their shot. The adventurers felt very thankful for their providential escape, for had their pursuers reached the river a few minutes sooner, while all hands were engaged in get- ting the boat into the water, they would in all probability have fallen a sacrifice to the Indians. At the treaty two years after, an Indian who was with the pursuing party told Colonel Lewis, of Kenawha, that the whites had been dis- covered while at the creek boiling the salt, by two Indians who were then on a hunt, and had seen the smoke of their fire. They were too weak to attack so large a party, and hastened back to their town for assistance. Twenty Indians immediately went in pursuit, but greatly to their disappoint- ment, did not overtake them until they had left the shore and were out of danger. They reached the garrison unmo-
409
MANUFACTURE OF SALT.
lested, and relieved the fears of their families and friends as to their safety, it having been in fact a very dangerous enterprise.
So desirable a discovery was considered to be very valu- able, and Esq. Green, in a visit he made to Philadelphia soon after, sold the right of his discovery, for the benefit of himself and partners, to John Nicholson, a merchant of that city, for fifteen hundred dollars, who was to come into pos- session of the spring, by purchasing the land on which it was situated, as soon as it was surveyed by the United States and offered for sale. But so very valuable were these lands considered, that they were never offered for sale, but were ceded, with other salt springs, to the state of Ohio, when it became a member of the confederacy in 1802, as one of its most precious acquisitions, and under an express stipulation that the state should never sell them, or lease them for more than ten years at any one time. Small quantities of salt were made here as early as 1797, by indi- viduals on their own account, gradually increasing in quan- tity until they came under the control of the state. The greatest quantity was made in the years 1806 and 1808, when there were twelve or fourteen furnaces in operation, averaging from fifty to sixty bushels a week, or about twenty thousand bushels a year. The price at this period was from two and a half to three dollars a bushel, and the larger portion of the middle counties in the state were supplied from these salines; the salt being transported on pack horses. The northern and eastern portions received their salt from the Onondaga works, in New York. Some esti- mate may be formed of the immense labor required, when it is stated that the brine was so weak as to require from five to seven hundred gallons of water to make a bushel of salt. The manufacture of this article has ceased at these salines for more than twenty years, and the land has been sold by the state to individuals for farming purposes.
410
SETTLEMENT AT BELPRE.
Progress of the settlement at Belpre.
After the division of the settlers into smaller communi- ties, their farming operations were carried on with much less trouble and labor, and also to a larger extent. Famil- iarity with danger had removed a part of its dread, and new lands were cleared in addition to those opened before the war, so that some of the stronger-handed began to have produce for sale, especially Indian corn, which was now in demand as an article of forage, for the numerous teams of oxen and pack horses employed in the transport of provi- sions and munitions of war for the army assembled at the frontiers.
The threatened invasion of their country occupied the thoughts and attention of the Indians more than usual, and their war parties did not harrass the settlements on the Ohio so frequently as in past years. A regular system of defense, and constant watchfulness, was kept up by the whites, under the direction of the old veterans who were at the head of the settlements. They had no horses for them to steal, and the savage who receives no pay from his tribe for military services, always aims to make his attack where he can get some plunder as well as scalps; being equally avaricious with the white man. In addition to the constant care required for the sustenance and defense of their fami- lies, provision was also made for their future comfort. Nur- series of apples and peaches were planted, from seeds ob- tained east of the mountains, or at head waters; and scions of the finest apples to be found in New England, were sent out by Israel Putnam during the war, and ingrafted ready for the use of the inhabitants as soon as it should close, which they hoped would be before long, as the army under General Wayne was sufficent to defeat any body of war- riors the Indians could assemble. In the course of the summer of the year 1794, their hopes were realized, and the savages so entirely routed, that further fears of their hostility ceased to alarm them.
411
MURDER OF ARMSTRONG'S FAMILY.
Murder of John Armstrong's family.
Among the Indian depredations of this year, may be reckoned the massacre and captivity of this family. Mr. Armstrong was a native of Pennsylvania, and had moved to Ohio, from head waters, in the autumn of 1793, and passed the winter with his family at the upper settlement, in the block house of Isaac Barker, a little above the head of Blennerhasset's island. Himself and Peter Mixner, another frontier man, were interested in a small floating mill, which was moored in the rapid water at the head of the island, on the Virginia shore. It being inconvenient crossing the river so often, they concluded to build each of them a log cabin, a short distance above the mill, and move their families over. It was thought by many of the inhabi- tants to be a hazardous movement, on account of danger from the Indians. But the vicinity of the garrison on the Ohio side, and a stout block house on the island, half a mile below, they thought would deter the Indians from an attack on them. Mrs. Armstrong was much opposed to the arrangement, and went over with her eight children with great reluctance. She had an awful dread of the Indians, since the murder of her father and mother by them, a year or two before, in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania.
For some reason, now unknown, Mixner built himself another cabin, about a hundred yards above, in the midst of the trees, and moved his family into it, leaving the first unoccupied, only a few days before the attack, which was ultimately the means of saving their lives.
There was very little ground yet cleared round the house, but he had inclosed a small piece and brought over a sow and pigs, which were confined in a pen near the house. On the night of the 24th of April, toward morning, he was awakened by the barking of his faithful watch dog. An old she bear, a night or two before, had attempted to carry off his pigs, and he now thought she had again returned.
Without putting on his clothes, he seized his rifle,
412
MURDER OF ARMSTRONG'S FAMILY.
unbarred the door, and rushed out to the aid of his dog, which was barking violently at some object which he could not distinctly see. As he approached nearer, he caught the glimpse of three or four Indians, whose presence had roused the ire of his dog. He instantly fired at them, and halloed, " Indians! Indians !" and retreated into the house, fastened the door, and went up into the loft, where three of the larger children slept; while the two smaller ones, with the infant, lodged below, with himself and wife. By the time he had reached the loft, the Indians, with the aid of a heavy rail and their tomahawks, had burst open the door and taken possession of the house. Finding he could make no effec- tual resistance for the defense of his family, he pushed apart the loose shingling of the roof, jumped down to the ground, and, unseen by the Indians, retreated to the mill, where two of his oldest boys, who aided in tending it, were sleeping. When the savages entered the house, Mrs. Armstrong, with the infant in her arms, attempted to escape, by getting out at the top of the low, unfinished chimney, which was made of logs ; but her footslipped and she fell back again, breaking her leg in the fall. The Indians then tomahawked and scalped her, with the two younger children. On visiting the loft, they found Jeremiah, about eight years old; John, ten; and Elizabeth, of fourteen years. These they did not kill, but took as prisoners.
In the meantime, Mixner, hearing the gun and the noise at Armstrong's cabin, came out to learn the cause. Listen- ing carefully, in the stillness of the night, he heard the Indians in busy conversation. Calling up his wife, who was incredulous as to the cause, he bade her hearken to the voices, which he could hear distinctly, but could not under- stand. Mrs. Mixner, who had been a prisoner with the Wy- andots, and understood their language, learnt that they were seeking and inquiring of each other for the family that lived in the other cabin, but was now empty. He lost no time in hurrying his family into his canoe, and paddled out into
413
MURDER OF ARMSTRONG'S FAMILY.
the middle of the river, letting the boat float slowly and silently by the cabin of his neighbor. Hearing the low moan- ing and stifled sobs of Elizabeth, at the murder of her mother and the children, he hailed, and asked, "what was the mat- ter, and what had happened." One of the Indians, who spoke English, bid her say, " that nothing had happened," or he would kill her. In the bitterness of her anguish she was obliged to comply, and answered as she was directed. Having landed his family on the island, Mixner gave the alarm about the same time that Armstrong did.
Early in the morning a party of men went over from the island, and from Stone's garrison, but the Indians were be- yond their reach. They brought the dead bodies across the river and buried them. The faithful dog was found in the house, with his lower jaw nearly severed from a stroke of the tomahawk in his attack on the Indians. That day a party of twenty men, from the island and from Farmers' Castle, went in pursuit of the Wyandots, whom they after- wards ascertained were about twenty in number. They had been out on a marauding excursion in. the vicinity of Clarksburgh, Virginia, and, discovering these two new cabins built since any of them were last here, concluded to attack them. The pursuing party of whites found by their trail where they had raised their sunken canoes, and crossed the Ohio, to the Big Hockhocking, up which they pushed their boats several miles, when they left them, and traveled by land.
By the prints of the children's feet in the mud, they ascer- tained that the prisoners were yet alive; and, lest they would kill them if they were overtaken by the whites, they gave up the pursuit, and returned down stream, and across the Ohio, in the bark canoes left by the Indians.
On their arrival at the Wyandot towns, the children were adopted into different families. Jeremiah, the youngest, whose life was saved by the kind offices of a young warrior of the party, was taken by the celebrated chief, Crane, who
414
JONAS DAVIS KILLED.
is represented to have been a kind hearted, humane man, and used him well. A portion of the time, during his cap- tivity, was spent where the town of Columbus now stands, which was claimed by the Wyandots, and who had a large field of corn in the prairie near Franklinton. Elizabeth, after several removes, married a man by the name of Dol- son, and settled near Malden, in Upper Canada. John and Jerry were given up after the close of the war. The latter for several years kept a tavern in Columbus, and is well known, not only to the citizens of that place, but to many of the inhabitants of Ohio, who have been members of the legislature. He is still living, and resides at Havana, in Licking county, Ohio.
Jonas Davis killed by the Indians ..
The last of February, 1795, about ten months after the massacre of Armstrong's family, Jonas Davis, a young man from Massachusetts, and an inmate of Stone's garrison, at the upper settlement, had been to Marietta, by land, and on his return, at the mouth of Crooked creek, three miles above the garrison, discovered an old skiff, or small boat, that had been thrown on shore among some drift wood, by the high water. Nails being scarce and dear at that time, he con- cluded to go up the next morning, with some tools, pull it to pieces and get out the nails. While busily occupied with the old skiff, a war party, consisting of two Indians and a negro who had been adopted into their tribe, happened to be in that vicinity looking for an opportunity to kill or plunder the whites, heard him at work, and creeping up carefully to the edge of the bank, shot him, without his being aware of their approach; as was afterwards ascertained from one of the party, at the treaty of Greenville, in August following, where many things were disclosed in relation to their depredations on the settlements, that could only be learned from the Indians themselves. He was scalped, stripped of his clothing, his tools taken away, and his dead
415
PURSUIT OF THE INDIANS.
body left by the side of the skiff. As he did not return that night, fears were entertained of his fate, and the next morning a party of armed men went up, under the guidance of one of the rangers, where they found Davis as above related. He was brought down to the garrison and buried.
His death was the more distressing as he was shortly to have been married to a daughter of Isaac Barker, one of the inhabitants of the garrison, and his wedding suit already prepared. Had he followed the rules of the station, which strictly forbade any one going out alone beyond gunshot of the block houses, he would have escaped this untimely fate. The victory over the Indians by Wayne, and their general quiet demeanor since, no doubt induced him to think there was little or no danger. But as no treaty was yet con- cluded with the Indians, strict discipline was kept up in all the garrisons until after that period, and no trust placed in their forbearance; for although greatly humbled, yet their hatred of the whites was not lessened by their defeat.
The day after the death of Davis, a party of four young men, headed by John James, one of the most active and resolute of the borderers, proceeded down the Ohio, in a canoe, in pursuit of the murderers of Davis. The rangers at Gallipolis had ascertained that a party of Indians were hunting on the head of Symmes's creek, and from the direc- tion pursued by the war party in their retreat, they were led to think they belonged to that band. With all diligence they hastened on to the mouth of the Big Kenawha, in expectation of being joined there by volunteers from the garrison; but none turned out, declining to do so on ac- count of the armistice made with the Indians after their defeat by General Wayne. Proceeding on to Gallipolis, and making known the object of their pursuit, four men volun- teered their aid and joined them. From this place they hastened onward to Raccoon creek, and ranged up that stream one day, without making any discovery of the Indians. Here one of their men fell sick and turned back,
416
ENCOUNTER WITH INDIANS.
while another had to accompany him, leaving only six to continue the pursuit.
The following day they reached the heads of Symmes's creek, where is a large pond, about a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, a famous place for trapping beaver. They soon fell upon signs of the Indians, and on a bush by the edge of the pond found an Indian's cap, made of beaver skin, which he had left to mark the spot where his trap was set. Mr. James took this into his own keeping. As it was near sunset, the party secreted themselves behind a large fallen tree, waiting for night, when they intended to attack the Indians in their camp, make one fire, and rush on with their tomahawks, not thinking the hunting party could number more than eight or ten men, but they subsequently found they amounted to near forty, divided into two camps, one on each side of the pond. They had lain concealed but a short time, when an Indian, who had been out hunt- ing came in sight, and was closely examining the trail made by the whites, knowing it was that of strangers. When he came within forty or fifty yards, one of the party, Joseph Miller, fired, and the Indian fell. As Mr. James rushed up with his tomahawk, he raised the war cry, and was instantly answered by his comrades from their camp, distant not more than two or three hundred yards, for they directly came rushing up in force, before James could accomplish his purpose, and, with his party, was obliged rapidly to retreat, as the Indians far outnumbered them. Seeing the whites likely to escape, they set their dogs on the trail, who came yelping and barking at their heels, like hounds in pursuit of a fox.
Fortunately it soon came on so dark that their enemies could not see their trail, and followed only by the barking of the dogs. For a day or two preceding, it had rained heavily, and when they reached the east fork of the creek, it was too high for fording. They hastily made a raft of dry logs, but it became entangled in the bushes, in the
417
SETTLERS LEAVE THEIR GARRISONS.
creek bottom, which was all overflowed, so that they had to abandon it. Their escape this way being cut off, they were forced to return to the ridge, between the two branches, and travel up until they could cross by fording. A little before morning they halted, and rested themselves until daylight, the dogs for some time having ceased to pursue them, or by barking give notice of their position. Soon after this they found a fordable place in the creek, and crossed over. Here they lay, an hour or two, waiting for the Indians, expecting them to pursue the trail with daylight, and intending to fire upon them when in the water; but they did not come, having probably crossed higher up the stream. When they reached Racoon creek, that was also full, and had to be crossed on a raft. The party reached Gallipolis the next day at evening, much wearied with their toilsome and exciting journey.
Colonel Robert Safford of Gallipolis, then acting as a ranger, went out the next morning and found the trail of the Indians pursuing the whites to within a short distance of the town. The pond on Symmes's creek is distant about one hundred miles from Belpre, and shows this to have been one of the most hazardous, daring, and long contin- ued pursuits, after a depredating band of Indians, which occurred during the war; reflecting great credit on the spirited men who conducted it. It was the last warfare with the savages from this part of the territory.
In the spring of 1796, following the treaty of peace at Greenville, the inhabitants were released from their five years imprisonment in garrison, and issuing forth began to spread themselves up and down in the land. Many fresh emigrants also arrived and strengthened their numbers. In a few years large farms were cleared and buildings erected ; roads were opened and bridges built over many of the small streams so that wheel carriages could be partially used. Large orchards were planted out, of the finest in- grafted varieties of fruit, by the inhabitants of Belpre, who 27
418
CHARACTER OF THE SETTLERS.
for many years in advance of other parts of the country, . sent boat loads of fruit to the settlements on the Mississippi river.
For a number of years, while the Connecticut men were preparing the " Western Reserve" for the immense dairies that now enrich them, the people of Belpre furnished more cheese for the down river trade than any other district west of the mountains, and was at that period as famous for its cheese as the "Reserve" is now.
Since that time the farmers have turned their attention to other branches of agriculture, more profitable to them, es- pecially the growth of fruit. For many years, sixteen cents a pound was the price paid for cheese, sold to the trading boats at their dairy doors.
The farmers in this settlement, for quite a long time, stood at the head of all others in the south-east quarter of Ohio, for intelligence, neatness of agriculture, and comfort- able dwelling houses ; and even at this day of wealth and improvement in all the older portions of the state, would not fall much in the back ground.
In the stormy period of political strife, which attended and followed the elevation of Jefferson to the presidency of the United States, they remained firm to the principles of Washington ; and as he had been their model in the camp, they remained true to his precepts at the ballot box.
NOTE. - For many facts in the history of Belpre, the writer is indebted to E. Battelle, Esq., and Captain Charles Devoll.
P. S. There were killed by the Indians, within the bounds of the Ohio com- pany settlements, and on the shore of the Ohio opposite, no less than thirty- eight persons, and ten were taken prisoners; while it is not certainly known that the whites killed more than four Indians.
419
SETTLEMENT AT WATERFORD.
CHAPTER XX.
Settlement of Plainfield, 1789 .- Number of associates. - Manning the lots. - Topography .- Novel mode of clearing new lands. - Large cornfield. - Wolf creek mills, and plate. - Manner of milling during the war. - First sermon. - John Garder, a prisoner; adventures and escape, 1790. - Wild game. - Intercourse with the Indians. - Settlement at Big bottom. - Mas- sacre of settlers. - Treatment of prisoners .- Alarm at Millsburgh .- Captain Rogers. - Alarm at Waterford .- Indian usages. - Shaw and Choate re- deemed at the rapids of Maumee. - Brandt, the chief. - Humane usage.
History of the settlement at Waterford and Wolf creek mills.
IN the winter of 1789, an association was formed by the residents in Campus Martius at Marietta, to form a settle- ment about twenty miles up the Muskingum river, on lands donated by the Ohio company to actual settlers. It was called the " second association," that at Belpre being the first. It consisted of thirty-nine members ; a part of whom were to settle at Wolf's creek, about a mile from the mouth, for the purpose of erecting mills. The main body of the donated lands lie on the east side of the Muskingum ; and the portion of it bordering on the river was divided into lots of ten or fifteen acres each, for the purpose of making the settlement more compact, and the inhabitants near to each other for mutual assistance and defense in times of danger from the Indians ; while the other portion of the hundred acres was located at a greater distance. These lots com- menced where the town of Beverly now stands, and ex- tended down the river about two miles.
On the west side of the Muskingum the settlers laid out a village in a bend of Wolf creek at the mouth, so nearly
420
A NARROW ESCAPE.
surrounded by water, as to be called " the peninsula." It was arranged after the plan of some of the New England villages, each lot containing five acres, bordering on a street six rods wide, located on the fertile alluvions of these streams. They were subject to the rules prescribed by the donating committee, as to the manner of settlement, build- ing block houses, keeping an able bodied, well armed man on each lot, called " manning the lot," as before noticed in the transactions of the Ohio company. At least twenty of the associates were bound to be on their lots by the 1st day of September, 1789, and the balance by the same day in 1790. Two block houses were to be built by the 20th of July ; one on the east side of the river, and one at the mill seat near the forks of Wolf creek. The first one was built by the time specified, but the other was not. During the Indian war a block house was built at "the peninsula," for the safety of the men while at work on that side of the river, and occupied by Major Dean Tyler, and some others.
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