USA > Ohio > Scioto County > Scioto sketches; an account of discovery and settlement of Scioto County, Ohio > Part 5
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All lands in Scioto County, not within the French Grant or the Virginia Military District, are known as Congressional lands. The lands east of the original line of the Scioto River, excepting such as are within the French Grant, are the Congressional lands. By an act of Congress, passed in 1796, the public lands, not other- wise surveyed, were divided into townships six miles square. Each township was subdivided into thirty-six sections. These sections are one mile square and con-
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tain six hundred and forty acres each. In 1799 and 1805, the Congressional lands in Scioto County were surveyed, and offered for sale at a minimum price of two dollars per acre, and the patents thereto were is- sued to purchasers by the President.
The difficulties, under which Nathaniel Massie and his hardy assistants made the surveys in the Virginia Military District, are of great interest to us. For- tunately, John McDonald, who sometimes accompanied Massie's surveying expeditions, has left us, in his Sketches, a narrative of General Massie's adventures, with a description of his methods. During the winter of 1787, John O'Bannon and Arthur Fox of Kentucky prospected in the Virginia Military District. At this time, they examined the lands along the Ohio and Scioto rivers. General Massie made his first investigation dur- ing the succeeding year; but it was not until March, 1791 that he began active operations. He established a base at the location of Manchester. And, as this point was about midway between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, it afforded convenient access to the southern portion of the District. Here, he organized a settle- ment of about thirty families, fortified by block houses, and enclosed with pickets.
As soon as the base was completed, the surveying parties were so organized as to insure the making of the surveys, the safety of the party, and a sufficient sup- ply of food. Four surveyors were engaged in the enter- prise and each surveyor was accompanied by two chain- men, one marker, one horse wrangler, one hunter, and one scout, making seven in all. A hunter went in ad- vance of each party, in order to kill game and to look out for an ambush of Indians. The scout, followed in the rear of the party, to watch for Indians who might be lurking along the trail. Each man carried a blanket
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and a rifle, and the pack horse bore such other articles as were necessary for the men.
The Indians traveled but little through southern Ohio during the winter. While the weather was cold, they preferred to remain in their villages on the prairies. Indian hostility to surveying parties was so bitter that General Massie made nearly all of his surveys after cold weather had set in. During the summer, while the Indians were active, the white men retired to Manches- ter and cultivated crops.
Much of General Massie's success in surveying was due to his vigilance in protecting his men against sur- prise. Soon after supper the different groups retired two or three hundred yards from the camp fires and made their beds. The snow was brushed aside, one blanket was spread on the ground, and the other was used for cover. The group lay down close together; every man with his rifle beside him. They did not rise until quite light; and then, all rose together at a signal from General Massie. Before leaving their bivouac to return to the camp fires to cook breakfast, the scouts and hunters carefully circled the neighborhood, to de- termine whether Indians were lurking about. This course was adopted to prevent a surprise or an ambush for a favorite method of Indian warfare was to attack a camping party while its members were busy with breakfast.
General Massie was engaged in surveying for sev- cral years, during which time, he and his men often suf- fered peril from Indian attack, extreme cold, and scarcity of food. But, as there were no such experiences in Scioto County, the relation of such incidents are not in place here. As a result of his strenuous early life, many honors, and much wealth, came to General Massie. His eminent career will ever occupy a prominent place in the story of Ohio.
XI FORESTS AND BIRDS
The primeval forest trees of Scioto County were from six to eight feet in diameter and perfectly straight. As the forests were dense, the trees grew from eighty to one hundred feet high before branches appeared. Large grapevines, the undisturbed growth of many years, were woven through the tree tops and hung from the branches. During the summer, the dense foliage of the trees and vines excluded the sunlight and the forests were quite dark, even during mid-day.
Enormous poplars and black walnut grew in the Scioto bottoms, and the banks of the Scioto River were lined with immense sycamores. On the upland, there were thick groves of hickory, chestnut, beech, and oak, and many of the hillsides were covered with pines. The sycamore trees along the Scioto River were especially noticeable. The trunks of many of them were hollow and of sufficient size to shelter camping parties. Boys often put them to such use. A short distance north of Lucasville, there was growing in 1808, a sycamore with a hollow trunk twenty-one feet in diameter, inside meas- urement, and more than sixty feet in circumference. The opening into this hollow tree was ten feet in width. At one time thirteen people on horseback rode into it, and there was still room for two more horses .*
Indians occasionally burned off large tracts of tim- ber so that the grass, then favored by sunlight, might grow. Their object was to provide good feeding places
*The Navigator (11th Ed., 1821), p. 26.
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for game; and ranges, where it would be easy to get sight of game. The same custom is still followed by Indians in the North.
Forests were, also, very dense in the Ohio River bottoms and extended to the very edges of the river banks. As the banks were eroded by the current, the trees would fall into the stream. This fallen timber was so thick in places along the shore, that not even a canoe could be landed on the bank. Swept into the current, the roots of these fallen trees would catch in shallow places and form snags .* With the fringes of fallen tim- ber, lining the banks; with the numerous snags, strewn along the bed; with the dense forests, covering the bot- tom lands, the Ohio River and its valley presented to the pioneer a scene far different from the one we see today.
Groves of maple trees furnished the pioneers with sugar and molasses. In the early spring, when the sap began to run, the pioneers put up temporary camps in a grove and tapped the trees. The sap was boiled into syrup and sugar; and about three hundred pounds of maple sugar were made annually by each family.
Many varieties of birds and beasts, that were well known to the pioneers of Scioto County, were exter- minated at an early day or were driven farther west. Some mention of them may be of interest.
The wild turkey formerly existed in great numbers in Ohio and Kentucky, especially along the river bot- toms. Audubon writes that they were abundant in Kentucky. That they could be purchased at reasonable prices is apparent from the following information ap- pearing in his best known work:
*Such snags were known either as sawyers or planters. A sawyer is a snag or timber so fixed in the water that it oscillates or bobs up and down under the varying stress of the current, and forms a special danger to navigation. A firmly embedded snag is called a planter. (Coues.)
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"A first-rate Turkey, weighing from twenty-five to thirty pounds avoirdupois, was considered well sold when it brought a quarter of a dollar."*
Wild turkeys were easily caught in pens. A cov- ered rail pen, about four feet high, would be built in a vicinity frequented by turkeys. A trench was then dug under one of the sides into the pen. The deepest part of the trench was under the wall of the pen. The bottom of this trench sloped gradually upward towards the center of the pen, where it met the surface of the ground. Inside the pen, the trench was partly covered with boards, but enough of it was left open to allow the turkey to enter the pen from the trench. Corn was scattered around the entrance of the pen and into it, and the turkeys literally ate their way into the pen. Once in the pen, they would wander around trying to find a way out, but the boards concealed most of the trench; at any rate, a turkey never looks toward the ground for a way to escape. In this manner, several turkeys were caught at a time.
The wild turkey was much hunted during the autumn and winter; as it afforded a delicious variety to the food of the pioneer. The early writers refer to the use of the dry, white flesh of the breast as a substi- tute for bread, when flour was not obtainable. Creeks and hollows much frequented by these birds were named for them; but, it was not long until they were exter- minated from our county.
Another bird well known to the pioneer was the passenger pigeon. The numbers in which these birds existed seem simply incredible. During their migra- tions, they would pass over in flocks miles in length and miles in width. Their numbers were so great that they darkened the sky. There were several roosting places that they frequented in Scioto County. They
*The Birds of America (1841).
INDIAN PIPE IN THE EFFIGY OF A CAROLINA PARRAKEET From the Tremper Mound
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were killed by the thousands at such places and sold by the wagon-load. Swine were fattened on the bird that is now extinct. A passenger pigeon was killed in Scioto County, just west of Greenlawn cemetery, in 1884 or 1885. This was probably the last one killed in this county. Another was killed in Pike County in March, 1907. This was, in all probability, the last of these birds, not in captivity. It was mounted and is now at the Ohio State University.
Ruffed grouse were very abundant during pioneer days. This game bird is locally known as the pheasant. Audubon records that grouse were sold in the Cincinnati markets for twelve and one-half cents each. At the coming of autumn, according to Audubon,
"The grouse approach the banks of the Ohio, in parties of eight or ten, now and then of twelve or fifteen, and, on arriving there, linger in the woods close by for a week or fortnight, as if fearful of encountering the danger to be incurred in crossing the stream. This usually happens in the beginning of October when these birds are in the very best of order for the table, and at this period great numbers of them are killed."
The ruffed grouse is but rarely seen now, and it will be a matter of but a short time, until this magnificent game bird will be unknown in Scioto County.
The Carolina parrakeet, or paroquet, was a nu- merous resident of Scioto County before the develop- ment of agriculture. A stone effigy of a parrakeet was found in the Tremper mound. Fortescue Cuming de- scribed the flocks of Carolina parrakeets, seen by him at Portsmouth in 1807, as follows:
"We observed here vast numbers of beautiful large green paro- quets, which our landlord, Squire Brown, informed us abound all over the country. They keep in flocks, and when they alight on a tree they are not distinguishable from the foliage, from their colour."
These birds were so destructive to orchards and wheat that their extermination became an economic
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necessity. They descended in flocks upon shocks of wheat, destroying what they did not eat; they plucked green apples from the orchards, tearing them open for the seeds. Audubon left an account of why the parra- keets were destroyed and how:
"Do not imagine, reader, that all these outrages are borne with- out retaliation on the part of the planters. So far from this, the parrakeets are destroyed in great numbers, for whilst busily en- gaged in plucking off the fruits or tearing the grain from the stacks, the husbandman approaches them with perfect ease, and commits great slaughter among them. All the survivors rise, shriek, fly about for a few moments and again alight on the very place of im- minent danger. The gun is kept at work; eight or ten, or even twenty are killed at any discharge."*
Wood duck were formerly very common about the streams of Scioto County. They frequently nested there; but now, only occasionally is one seen. This is the most beautiful variety of the duck family. It is a migratory bird, and is protected by recent federal legis- lation. If continued protection is afforded them, they may again be found in great numbers in this region.
The Virginia partridge, or quail, was well known to the early settlers and existed in Scioto County in large numbers. The Ohio Geological Survey is doubt- ful whether quail existed in Ohio before the development of agriculture. According to their authority, the Vir- ginians, who settled in the vicinity of Chillicothe in 1796, noted the absence of quail when they came to Ohio. These Virginians, it is said, had been very familiar with the quail in their old homes, and missed the clear call of bobwhite. The Survey further states that quail were not observed in the vicinity of Chillicothe before 1800.
The greater weight of authority is to the effect that quail were in Scioto County before any settlements were made. In exploring the Tremper mound, north of Portsmouth, a remarkably faithful stone effigy of a
"The Birds of America.
INDIAN PIPE IN THE EFFIGY OF A QUAIL From the Tremper Mound
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quail was found. The markings and the pose of this figure are so characteristic of the quail, as to lead to the conclusion that whoever made it was very familiar with this bird.
Thaddeus Harris, who was in the Ohio Valley in 1803, reports in his journal,* that along the river banks, just below Wheeling, he saw "vast numbers of turkies, partridges, and quails." James Flint, in a book, later referred to, reports that quail were very abundant in the vicinity of Chillicothe in 1818. He found them so tame that they would not fly at the report of a gun, nor after the destruction of part of the covey. Netting entire coveys, he says, was then common practice. The journals of other writers report quail to have been very numerous in northern Ohio in 1818, and in Illinois in 1821. The presence of such large numbers of quail in Ohio, and farther west, so soon after the first settlers came, cannot be reconciled with the theory that the quail was not a native of Ohio. Though quail increase rapidly, under favorable conditions, it is im- probable, if they were not indigenous to Ohio, that they could have increased to such numbers, as early writers indicate were present in Ohio, soon after settlement.
"The Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Allegheny Mountains (1805).
XII BIG GAME OF SCIOTO COUNTY
The mammals, found in this region by the settlers, were large and numerous. Here roamed buffalo, elk, whitetailed deer, black bear, wolf, mountain lion, and the wildcat; and in the streams were many beavers.
In the Geological Survey of Ohio, it is stated that the last reliable account of the killing of a buffalo in Ohio is in the Lacross manuscript. The same state- ment is made in Allen's monograph on The Bison .* The Lacrosse manuscript describes an incident of a Frenchman's killing a buffalo in 1795 near Gallipolis. The inference deduced is that this was the last buffalo killed in Ohio. This conclusion is incorrect, however, for buffalo were killed in Scioto County by the first settlers, who came in 1796.
The Lacross manuscript was written by John P. Lacroix, who was for many years a professor at Dela- ware College, and was published in the Ironton (Ohio) Register in 1855. In describing the incident of the kill- ing of the buffalo in 1795, this manuscript states that buffalo were afterwards killed in the French Grant, (Scioto County) by Lacroix and Duduit. These men did not settle in the Grant until March 21, 1797. Both the Keyest and the Lacroix manuscripts positively establish the killing of buffalo in Ohio after 1797. It is probable that the last buffalo killed in Scioto County fell by the rifle of Phillip Salladay. This was certainly
*Ninth Annual Report U. S. Geological Survey.
+Pioneers of Scioto County, by James Keyes.
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subsequent to 1796, and is believed to have been about 1801. He and his boy were hunting on Pine Creek, near what is now Chaffins Mills. Salladay and the boy crept up close to the buffalo, and Salladay shot it. The ani- mal was only wounded, and at once ran towards them. As the boy was getting his rifle ready to shoot, the father snatched it from him, and killed the buffalo.
The elk, also, were here in large numbers, but they were driven farther west about the same time as was the buffalo.
On November 18, 1818, James Flint, a traveler from Great Britain, left Portsmouth for Chillicothe. He was, at this time, on an extensive journey through America, an account of which was published in England in 1822 .* He states in this book that he stopped for breakfast at a tavern about four miles north of Ports- mouth, and the landlord told him,
"that bears and wolves were still numerous in the uncleared hills; that they devour many hogs and sheep; and that he heard wolves howling within a few yards of his house, on the preceding night."
Flint also records that "deer are so numerous in this neighborhood, that they are sold at a dollar each."
It is well known that bears, wolves, and whitetailed deer existed in this region long after the buffalo and elk. The bear was the first to be exterminated, then followed the wolf, and at last the whitetailed deer. To substan- tiate the report of the abundance of black bear in this region, it may be stated that during the years 1805-07, more than eight thousand bearskins were shipped from the Big Sandy and Guyandotte rivers.
Three interesting stories have been preserved with reference to black bear in Scioto County. In 1798, while some women were washing clothes in the Little
*Letters from America, by James Flint.
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Scioto at the mouth of Bonser's run, five black bears swam across the Little Scioto, and landed just below the women. The women neither fainted nor screamed. They simply set a little dog on the bears, and the dog snapped at the bears' heels so fiercely, and barked so sharply, that soon the bears climbed trees. A hunter by name of Barney Monroe later came along and killed all of them.
According to the custom of hunters, the one who drew the first blood of the wild animal was entitled to the skin. The meat, however, was divided among all who aided in killing the animal. In this case, the man with the rifle got the bearskins; but the women, who set the dog on the bears, were given their share of the meat.
George Cochran, who came to Scioto County in 1799, had a peculiar experience with a black bear. He saw a bear, swimming in the Little Scioto, and de- termined to give chase, though he had no rifle. Finding a canoe tied to the bank, he started in it after the bear. Every time the bear made for the shore, Cochran turned him with the canoe. This finally exasperated the bear, and the next time the bow of the canoe was upon him, he turned and climbed into it. As Cochran was rather careful about the company he kept, he jumped from the canoe and swam to shore. When last seen, the bear was licking his fur dry as the canoe drifted slowly with the current.
In 1798, Andrew Lacroix was hunting on the hill- side, just above where Franklin Furnace was after- wards built. As his flintlock would not remain cocked, Lacroix held the hammer back with his thumb until he could take aim and then he let go. Such a weapon might be safe against an animal that invariably ran from man, but it would not be safe against one that might at- tack man.
One day, Lacroix came unexpectedly upon a bear
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and the creature charged him. He took quick aim, but only broke the beast's lower jaw. Such a wound did not lessen Lacroix's peril; for a bear's fore paws are his most dangerous weapons. The shot stunned the bear, and he fell on the upper side of a log. Lacroix jumped to the lower side, and struck at him with his hunting knife. The bear caught him by the arm. Then the bear and the Frenchman clinched and rolled down the steep hillside. The man was unable to free his arm until they reached a level spot. Here he killed the ani- mal with the knife. Lacroix was severely lacerated, and had several scars to substantiate the severity of the en- counter.
It is not definitely known when the last wolf was killed in Scioto County. A bounty of one dollar, for every wolf scalp taken, was paid by the county com- missioners. The last record of any payment of bounty on wolves is in 1831.
The whitetailed deer was the last of the big game in Scioto County. They were killed in numbers, as late as the seventies in the region drained by Twin Creek. Some were killed in the eighties, but by this time, they were quite scarce. The last deer, killed in Scioto County, was killed on Turkey Creek about 1895. A wild deer was seen in this county in February, 1897. After the flood of March, 1913, a deer was seen several times in Scioto County; but this was found to be one of the herd that had escaped during the flood from a park in Chil- licothe.
When much pursued by hunters, deer feed only at night and very early in the morning. During the day, they seek the shelter of a ravine, or lie down on some high point, from which the approach of an enemy may be discovered in time to enable them to flee. If roused during the day, they skulk through the brush, with head hung low, and are very difficult to discern. Their sense
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of hearing and smelling is so acute, and their efforts of concealment so successful, that they are far better able to protect themselves than any other big game animal. They have survived in every region, long after every other big game animal has been exterminated. They could hold their own against man on the wild lands of Scioto County, but against the hound they were no match.
Beaver were exterminated at a very early day. La- croix mentions the trapping of them in 1797, at ponds near the present location of Haverhill.
The unusual adventure of Henry Utt with a moun- tain lion comes to us from the Keyes manuscript. To the pioneers, this animal was known as a panther. Henry Utt, who was a hunter, was employed to supply Nathaniel Massie's surveying party with meat during the time they were surveying the Virginia Military District. One day, while hunting on Mccullough Creek, night overtook him. Wrapping himself in his blanket, he lay down on a bed of leaves near a log. Upon wak- ing the next morning, he discovered that he had been covered with leaves. He was at a loss to understand any reason for this, and felt that danger was near. Utt primed his rifle, adjusted the flint, and then hid behind a tree, to watch the log near which he had slept. Soon a mountain lion came creeping toward the log, followed by her litter of young. When she drew near the log, she sprang into the bed of leaves, as if to attack some prey. Upon landing, she struck into the bed with her paws so rapidly, that the leaves flew about as though in a whirlwind; but she soon discovered that her victim had escaped. Later, Utt killed her.
This, though a strange story, is plausible, for the mountain lion always leaps upon its prey. As its weight is from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds, the impact produced by its weight usually stuns
INDIAN PIPE IN THE EFFIGY OF A MOUNTAIN LION From the Tremper Mound
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the victim. The story of such an attack finds verifica- tion in natural history. E. W. Nelson, in "Wild Ani- mals of North America," tells us:
"The mountain lion, while powerful enough to be dangerous to man, is in reality extremely timid. Owing to its being a poten- tially dangerous animal, the popular conception of it is that of a fearsome beast whose savage exploits are celebrated in the folk- lore of our frontier. As a matter of fact, few animals are less dangerous, although there are authentic accounts of wanton attacks upon people."
Utt believed that the lion found him while he slept, covered him with leaves to conceal him from some other beast; and then brought her whelps to enjoy a feast.
Game animals and birds served their purpose of supplying the pioneers with the meat so necessary for their subsistence. They were potent agencies in the development of America, and civilization is deeply in- debted for the aid given it by wild life. It is unfortu- nate that the value of this wild life has not been more fully appreciated. The future success of man did not require the extermination of so many species from Ohio. Such animals as the bear, mountain lion, buffalo, and elk, and such birds as the parrakeet, are incom- patible with agriculture; and it was necessary that they retire before the advance of civilization; but, there are thousands of acres of timbered hills in southern Ohio upon which the whitetailed deer, ruffed grouse, quail, and wild turkey would prove assets of value. The old hunters too often failed to distinguish between necessary use and wanton waste. Game animals and birds, that are no longer necessary as food, should be given the most rigid protection that law and an enlight- ened public sentiment can afford them.
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