USA > Ohio > Highland County > The County of Highland : a history of Highland County, Ohio, from the earliest days, with special chapters on the bench and bar, medical profession educational development, industry and agriculture and biographical sketches > Part 4
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At one time they ascended the Ohio river as far as the mouth of the Scioto. They crossed over the Ohio the next morning about day- light, for the purpose of visiting a deer lick of which they knew the locality. When near the lick McArthur stopped while Davis crept silently onward to within easy rifle range of the spot, when slowly and silently rising to his full height to see if the lick was clear, he was greeted by the sharp crack of a rifle and the whiz of the ball near his person. The morning was moist and the air heavy, and the smoke of the Indian's gun so obscured his vision that he could not see the effect of his shot. Stepping outside the circle of smoke to get a better view, Davis shot him dead in his tracks. Just then McArthur rushed up, well knowing that the shots were too near together to come from the same rifle. Soon the noise of running feet caught their ears and quite a number of Indians appeared. The two daring scouts were well hidden in the bushes and high weeds. and while the Indians halted by their dead comrade, silently slipped away, regained their canoe and crossed over the river.
Israel Donalson while with Massie near the waters of Brush creek surveying, was captured by the Indians and carried a prisoner toward their towns upon the Miami. In their journey they passed the local- ity of the present town of New Market and must have come within
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two or three miles of Hillsboro. One night, having tied Donalson with a bark rope, the Indians camped for the night. To better secure their prisoner an Indian lay upon each side of him with the ends of the rope under them. Donalson had no notion of being roasted alive if he could prevent it and determined to escape. Upon this night, when satisfied his captors were asleep, he began to gnaw at his ropes, which he succeeded in eating off just about daylight. Crawling off to the edge of the open ground he sat down to put on his moccasins, when the Indians awoke and discovered that their prisoner was gone. With loud yells they started on the hunt for him. Donalson ran with one moccasin in his hand and after a desperate pursuit, suc- ceeded in making his escape, and foot sore and weary reached Fort Washington.
In the spring of 1791 a band of warriors from the Shawanee tribe crossed the Ohio opposite the mouth of Eagle creek, stole a lot of horses, burned houses and murdered some of the families of Mason county, Ky. Simon Kenton raised a party and went in pursuit of them. The Indians took a course almost due north. Kenton made a forced march and reached the Rocky Fork branch of Paint creek in the evening at a point now on the farm of John H. Jolly. Pass- ing up the ridge where the town of Hillsboro now is, they followed the band of robbers until, a few miles away, the scouts reported the pres- ence of Indians. Kenton halted his party and sent one Timothy Dauning ahead to locate the foe. Dauning had not gone far when he caught sight of an Indian loitering behind, doubtless for the same purpose that Dauning was advancing. By some means Dauning got the start of the Indian and killed him. The report of the rifle alarmed the main body of the Indians, who scattered through the woods leaving their horses and plunder behind them. Kenton failed to overtake them and returned with the goods and chattels of his dead friend.
In 1792 the Indians again invaded Kentucky, stealing horses, burn- ing houses and killing some of the inhabitants as they had done the spring before. Simon Kenton was called upon to head a party of thirty-seven men to follow the savages and avenge the death of those . that had been slain. They crossed the Ohio river a short distance below Limestone and followed the trail in the direction of Little Miami river. When near the East fork of the river, they heard the tinkling of a bell and the party halted to learn its meaning. Kenton in company with Cornelius Washburn, a young man of tried courage and deadly aim, advanced cautiously and saw an Indian on horseback slowly approaching. The bell upon the horse's neck was used to attract the attention of deer, for strange as it may appear, these ani- mals will stand stock still, listening to the bell, until the horseman is almost upon them. Washburn took deliberate aim and shot the ap- proaching horseman through the heart. Returning to the main body
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Kenton consulted with his men in regard to their future course. Ken- ton felt certain that this Indian was not alone, and that the main body was not far away. Sending Washburn in advance the party moved silently forward. Washburn soon returned with the information that about a mile in advance he had heard the sound of many bells, and concluded that the horses were feeding, and the Indians encamped not very far from them. Calling a halt and arranging his men in position to defend themselves if attacked, Kenton selected Washburn and started out to locate the camp. It was getting dusk when he came in view of the camp of the enemy. They were encamped on the bank of the East fork of the Little Miami just above the present residence of Michael Stroup, and within the present limit of High- land county.
The Indians were well supplied with tents, which were doubtless the spoils of St. Clair's defeat. While the exact number of the Indians could not be ascertained, Kenton was well assured that they numbered three or four times that of his own men. Nothing daunted by the superior number of the foe, it was decided to attack them, and midnight was selected as the time, as Kenton desired darkness to cover his retreat if defeated in his effort to whip them. Kenton brought his men near the encampment without attracting the attention of the band, and dividing his comapny into squads of four men each, gave them instructions that when the signal of attack was given they should fire into as many different tents as possible. The signal was given, and the men advanced by fours so silently that they were within two or three paces of the encampment without being discovered. Then with loud yells they rushed upon their sleeping foe, firing into the tents against the bodies of the enemy. The Indians taken by sur- prise broke through the back of the tents and retreated. But not half the tents had been fired into, and the Indians seeing how few the number of their assailants were, returned, secured their arms and assumed the attack. On the other side of the creek there was another line of tents that had not been seen by the whites, and from them came reinforcements for the red men. Kenton's quick eye saw this and the effort of his foes to surround him, and ordered a retreat. The battle lasted but a few minutes. It was afterward learned from a white man by the name of Riddle, who lived with the Indians, that their number was about two hundred, and that they were led by the celebrated chieftain, Tecumseh. When the attack began this chief was lying upon the ground outside of his tent near the fire. Jump- ing to his feet he called to his warriors to repel the attack ; then spring- ing forward killed with his war club a man by the name of John Barr. The Indians lost thirty killed in the fight and the whites but two, John Barr and McIntire. McIntire was captured the next morning after the battle by Tecumseh and turned over to some Indians at camp, who in the absence of their chief killed and scalped
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the prisoner, much to the regret of this truly great chieftain, who was never known to be cruel to a captured foe, and sought to impress more humane feelings in the breasts of his warriors. Barr's bones were left on the battlefield, and were gathered and buried by Joseph Van Meter, William Spickard, and Daniel Jones, the first settlers on the lands in the vicinity of the battle.
A different account of this battle is to be found in McClung's West- ern Adventures, as follows: "The trail led them down on the Miami, and about noon on the second day they heard a bell in front, apparently from a horse grazing. Cautiously approaching it, they. beheld a solitary Indian mounted on horseback leisurely advancing toward them. A few of their best marksmen fired upon him and brought him to the ground. After a short consultation they deter- mined to follow his back trail, and ascertain whether there were more in the neighborhood. A small active woodman named McIntire, accompanied by three others, were pushed in advance, in order to give them early notice of the enemy's appearance, while the main body followed at a more leisurely pace. Within an hour McIntire returned, and reported that they were then in a short distance of a large party of Indians, supposed to be greatly superior to their own ; that they were encamped in a bottom upon the border of a creek, and were amusing themselves, apparently awaiting the arrival of the Indian whom they had just killed, as they would occasionally halloo loudly, and then laugh immoderately, supposing probably that their comrade had lost his way. This intelligence fell like a shower bath upon the spirits of the party, who, thinking it more prudent to put a greater interval between themselves and the enemy, set spur to their horses and galloped back in the direction from which they had come. Such was the panic that one of the footmen, a huge, hulking fellow six feet high, in his zeal for his own safety sprang up behind Captain Calvin, and nothing short of a threat to blow his brains out could induce him to dismount. In this disorderly fashion they scampered through the woods for several miles, when, in obedience to the orders of Kenton and Calvin, they halted, and prepared for resistance in case the enemy had discovered them and were engaged in pursuit. Kenton and Calvin were engaged apart in earnest consultation. It was proposed that a number of saplings should be cut down and a tem- porary breast-work erected, and while the propriety of these measures was under discussion the men were left to themselves. . Finding themselves not pursued by the enemy, as they expected, it was determined to remain in their present position until night, when a rapid attack was to be made in two divisions upon the Indian camp, under the impression that the darkness of the night and the surprise of the enemy might give them an advantage they could not hope for in daylight. Accordingly, everything remaining; quiet at dusk, they again mounted and advanced rapidly, but in profound silence, upon
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the Indian camp. It was ascertained that the horses which the enemy had stolen were grazing in a rich bottom below the camp. As they were advancing to the attack, Calvin sent his son with several halters to regain their own horses, and he prepared to carry them off in case the enemy should overpower them. The attack was then made in two divisions. Calvin conducted the upper and Kenton the lower party. The wood was thick, but the moon shone out clearly, and enabled them to distinguish objects with sufficient precision. Cal- vin's party came first in contact with the Indians. They had advanced within thirty yards of a large fire in front of a number of tents without having seen a single Indian, when a dog which had been watching them, sprang forward to meet them, baying loudly. Pres- ently an Indian appeared approaching cautiously toward them, speaking occasionally to the dog in the Indian tongue. This sight was too tempting to be borne, and Calvin heard the click of a dozen rifles, as his party cocked them in order to fire. The Indian was too close to permit Calvin to speak, but turning to his men he earnestly waved his hand as a warning to be quiet. Then cautiously raising his own rifle, he fired with a steady aim, just as the Indian reached the fire and stood fairly exposed to its light. The report of the rifle broke the stillness of the night and their ears were soon deafened by the vells of the enemy. The Indian at whom Calvin fired fell for- ward into the burning pile of faggots, and by his struggling to extri- cate himself scattered the brands so much as to almost extinguish the light. Dusky forms were seen flitting before them, which drew the fire from the whites, but with what effect could not be seen. A heavy. fire now began from the Indian camp, which was returned with equal spirit by the 'soldiers, but without much effect upon either side. Trees were barked, dogs bayed, the Indians yelled, the whites shouted, squaws screamed, a prodigious noise was maintained for about fifteen minutes, when it was reported to Calvin that Kenton's party had been overpowered, and was in full retreat. It was not necessary to give orders for a similar movement on the part of the upper division. Soon there was a wild scramble for the horses and the battle was ended with two killed on the part of the whites-Barr and McIntire."
A remarkable thing occurred at this battle that is worthy of recog- nition and place among the strange happenings of human life. A brother of Captain Ward was in the Indian camp at the time of this night attack. He had been taken from his home by the Indians when he was but three years old, had been adopted into the Shawanee tribe, and married an Indian woman and raised a family of children. Captain Ward, while standing near the camp a few moments before the fighting began, an Indian girl apparently about fifteen years of age attracted his attention. She seemed alarmed about something, and stood looking, as he thought, directly toward him. He raised
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his gun and was about to fire, when her open bosom made known her sex and her exceeding light color led him to believe that she was not an Indian. "He afterward ascertained that she was his brother's child."
There has been some dispute about the exact location of this battle ground, but the proof seems to point with unerring certainty to the place within the present bounds of Highland county. Human bones were found upon this spot, by the first settlers in that locality. Trees were bullet-scarred ; an Indian tomahawk was found, and every indication pointed to that place as the scene of this early struggle, in the unbroken forest of Highland.
One of the early Indian spies and hunters of Kentucky was John McNary, of Shelby county. He had served under Shelby, Kenton, Clark, and others of the famous men of that "dark and bloody ground," who had been instruments in the protection of the frontier settlement from the blood-red tomahawk of the Indians. Soon after the defeat of St. Clair, he was sent out with about forty others, whose object was to collect and bury the dead of that unfortunate battle. The Indians were so determined and hostile, that it was impossible to accomplish their purpose, and they began their retreat to Ken- tucky. They had lost three or four men of their number, killed by the Indians, who skulked in every secret place and picked off with unerring certainty every straggler from the main body. Every possi- ble effort was made to avoid a battle with their unseen foe, for McNary was sure that their numbers far exceeded his own. It was deter- mined to make a forced march, which continued until the party was within a day's march of Manchester, on the Ohio river. Early that morning they resolved to march four or five miles farther south and stopped for some breakfast. Their camp was at the first fork of Brush creek (since named), just above the little village of Belfast, Highland county, and to the south of a mound which stands in the forks of the creek. While they were eating breakfast the Indians suddenly appeared, and from the surprise manifested by them, quite unexpectedly. The white men sprang to their guns and gave the Indians a volley and fled from the spot. Several of the Indians fell at this fire, but the party did not stay to count them. The Indians fired at the retreating party, but without effect, followed in hot pur- suit but failed to overtake them, and after some hours' chase aban- doned the effort. The party of hunter-soldiers reached Manchester safely that evening. This was the second battle fought within the lines of Highland county. McNary some years after the event, and after the town of Belfast was built, visited and confirmed the state- ment of the locality, by pointing out the mound and the forks of the creek near the site of the fight.
In spite of these hostilities, Massie, in the winter of 1791-2, sur- veyed the lands on Brush creek as far up that stream as the three
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forks. Toward the spring of 1792 he shifted his locality to the waters of Little Miami, and traveled up that stream to the present site of the city of Xenia without meeting any opposition from the Indians. Early one morning as the party started out to perform the labor of the day, Massie in advance of his company, an Indian was discovered pointing his gun at him. William Lytle quickly fired upon the Indian and killed him. Moving cautiously forward the white men soon found themselves close to an encampment of a large body of their red foes. They quickly began their retreat from the spot but were discovered and followed by the warriors. The pursuit was kept up by the Indians without pausing until the surveying party reached Manchester, not having lost a man. During the winter of 1792-93, General Massie continued his surveying expeditions, locat- ing the best lands within a reasonable distance from Manchester. In company with Joseph Williams and one of the Wades, he explored the fertile valley of Paint creek, and part of the Scioto country, and finding the soil exceedingly rich, much beyond his expectations, made entries of all the best lands, returning in safety to his station on the Ohio river. In the winter of 1793-94, amid appalling dangers, Massie explored the various branches or streams to their sources, that empty into the Little Miami, and then going in a northerly direction reached the head of Paint and Clear creeks and followed carefully the branches that form those streams. By his extensive travel and explorations, he formed a correct knowledge of the geographical posi- tion of the country. In 1795, early in the winter, Massie with a large party, equipped for surveying or fighting Indians if it became necessary, made their starting point on Todd's fork of the Little Miami. Large bodies of land were surveyed by this party. As assistants in this dangerous business were Nathaniel Beasley, John Beasley and Peter Lee. During much of the time of this survey, which continued for thirty days, the ground was covered with from eight to ten inches of snow. In all this time not a loaf of bread was in the camp. On starting out there were a few pounds of flour which was served a pint a day to each mess and was used by stirring into the soup in which the meat had been boiled. When the day's work was ended they camped upon the snow-covered ground, built four fires around which each mess gathered to feast upon whatever game the day had brought to their hand, and chatted and sung in happy con- tentment and were glad that the evening brought rest and repose. When bed time came Massie always gave the command; the party would then leave the cheerful fire and taking their blankets, their guns and baggage, they would walk some two or three hundred yards from their fires, scrape away the snow, and lie down together for the night. Placing half of the blankets upon the ground thus cleared of the snow, they reserved the other half for covering, which they would fasten with skewers to keep them from slipping. Each mess occu-
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pied one bed, and huddled together for greater warmth, would spend the night in refreshing sleep. Their rifles and shot pouches shared the beds with their owners, who were ready at a moment's warning to use them upon prowling beast or skulking Indian. When morn- ing came two of the most cautious and experienced would be sent to reconnoitre the spot of their evening fires and when satisfied that no deadly foe was awaiting their return to the slumbering embers of their early camp, they would return. This precaution was taken in all kinds of weather, for a careless neglect might end some precious life or endanger the whole party by a successful. ambuscade. If immortality of name is born of courage and endurance upon the battle field, surely honor and fame is due the fearless men who braved the dangers of the unbroken forest, the relentless Indian, the fierce wild beasts, and the storm and cold, of the shelterless march.
The party continued to survey up Caesar's creek near to where its waters mingle with that of Paint creek. While in this vicinity Indian tracks were discovered in the snow. Massie immediately called a halt and sent out runners to the various surveying parties, calling them in, and also sent an experienced scout on the trail of the Indians to discover their location and number. At sundown the forces were all collected, and soon the scout returned and reported the presence of a large body of Indians. They had seen some eight or ten tents and concluded from the noise about the camp that quite a force had assembled, preparing for war or hunting as the conditions favored. It was concluded by Massie that the forces were too large to be attacked, and that it would be prudent to retire while yet undis- covered. Collecting their stuff they began their march, not halting until midnight, when they halted until daylight and began their journey in a southern direction. About noon of this day they came to a fresh trail made by four horses and some dozen Indians. This trail they struck later in the day. It was concluded that the Indians knew nothing of the presence of the whites, and they determined to follow them so long as the trail led in the direction they were going. They followed on until dark without overtaking their foe, and Massie halted his men to consult about their future action. In a few moments the sound of the tomahawks was heard, as the Indians were cutting wood for their night fire, only a few hundred yards away. Two or three men were sent to spy the camp and bring away their horses, which was successfully done. Massie induced his men to make a night attack upon the camp, which was promptly done, the attacking party silently approaching within a few yards of the Indians without discovery, when they fired a volley and rushed with wild shouts upon the camp. The Indians fled in wild confusion, leav- ing guns and everything else behind them, a considerable booty, which was taken by the victors, who again started upon their homeward march and reached Manchester without further trouble.
CHAPTER III.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
T HE lands in the Virginia Military District, now known as Highland county, were not entered and surveyed as early as some other parts of the district. Simon Kenton, how- ever, made an entry as early as 1791, which was, no doubt, among the first in the district. This tract consisted of five hundred acres on the Rocky fork, about three miles southeast of Hillsboro. The land was taken up on four military warrants in the name of Samuel Gibson. It has been brought to prominent public notice by the long and earnest litigation of which it was the cause. In the office of the clerk of common pleas the original papers are on file, giving a quaint yet elaborate history of the contest over this land. Among the number is a deposition dated 1827, and signed by Simon Kenton in a clear, bold hand, quaint but legible.
The merits of the Northwest Territory had become known, and incited immigration from the old states, the Northwest rivalling Kentucky in the minds of those contemplating removal from the east to the west. But the Indian war diverted southward the stream of emigration, and many who in after years came to Ohio settled first upon the south side of the river for better security. Seven years went by after the first settlement of the territory before it was entirely free from the dangers that had kept the rich lands out of the hands of the eager settlers from the east. What these dangers were have already been told. They are illustrated also by an event in the his- tory of Manchester. Manchester, in 1793, began to clear off her outlots and prepare for the incoming tide of emigration. "Andrew Ellison," says McDonald, "cleared a lot immediately adjoining the fort. He had cut the logs and rolled them and set the heaps on fire. The next morning, just about daybreak, he opened one of the gates of the fort and went out to throw his logs together. By the time he had completed this a number of the heaps blazed up brightly, and as he was passing from one to the other, he observed, by the light of the fires, three men walking briskly toward him. This, however, did not alarm him, although he perceived that they were dark skinned fel-
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lows. It at once occurred to him that they were the Wades, whose complexion was very dark, going out for an early hunt. So he con- tinued to right up his log-heaps, until one of the fellows seized him by the arms and called out in broken English, 'How do ? How do ?' when to his surprise and horror he became conscious he was in the clutches of three Indians. He therefore submitted to fate without resistance or attempt to escape." The Indians silently but quickly disappeared with their prisoner, going north in the direction of Paint
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