The history of Hardin county, Ohio, Part 25

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1076

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The Shawnees were divided into four tribes, the Piqua, Kiskapocke, Mequachuke and Chillicothe. According to a poetical Indian legend, the Piqua tribe had its origin in a man who sprang from the fire and ashes. As their old men used to tell the whites who first came in contact with them, the chief warriors and wise men were once sitting around the smoldering embers of what had been a council fire, when they were startled by a great puffing of fire and smoke, and from the ashes and coals, there sprang into being a man of splendid form and mein, the original of the tribe of Piqua- named Piqua as signifying the man born of ashes. This legend of the origin of the tribe of Piqua, truly beautiful in its simplicity, has been commented upon by leading writers upon the red race, as showing, in a marked degree, their capabilities for imaginative inventiveness, and as a proof of their ro- mantic susceptibility.

Mequachuke signifies a fat man filled-a man made perfect, so that nothing is wanting. This tribe had the priesthood. Its leaders were en- dowed with the privilege of celebrating the religious rites of the nation. The Kiskapocke tribe was inclined to war, and its braves were among the most fierce and crafty of the Indian tribes of the Northwest. The celebrated prophet, and Tecumseh his brother, were members of this tribe. Chillicothe is not known to have been interpreted, save as meaning a dwelling place. A title commonly applied to the Shawnees was "the Spartans of the race," and their constancy in braving danger and enduring the consequences of de- feat seems to have made them deserving of the appellation. They have also been styled the " Bedouins of the American wilderness," which, considering their extensive and almost constant wanderings, is not inappropriate. They were the only tribe among the Indians of the Northwest who had a tradition of foreign origin, and for some time after the whites became acquainted with them, held a yearly festival to celebrate the safe arrival in this country of their ancestors. After their return to Ohio, they located in the Scioto Valley, above and below the mouth of the Scioto River, also scattering along the Little Miami and Mad Rivers, building towns at different points. As

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the voyages of the whites became more frequent up and down the Ohio River, the Indians removed their villages further away from that highway of navigation. They built a town on the west bank of the Scioto River, the present site of Westfall, Pickaway County. This was the headquarters of the confederate tribes, and was called Chillicothe, but subsequently came to be known as " Old Chillicothe." Another village of the same name stood on the site of Frankfort, Ross County, and another in Greene County, three miles north of Xenia. Across the Scioto River from Old Chillicothe, on Scippo Creek, was the village of the celebrated Shawnee chief, Cornstalk, and on the south bank of the same stream stood Grenadier Squaw town, named after a sister of Cornstalk's, called the Grenadier Squaw, who was six feet tall and a woman of great muscular strength and superior intellect.

Of all places in the West, this pre-eminently deserves the name of " classic ground." Here in bygone ages burned the council fires of the red man ; here the affairs of the Miami confederacy were discussed and the important questions of peace and war decided. From the Pickaway plains, surrounding these villages the allied tribes, 1,000 strong, marched forth to meet Col. Andrew Lewis, and his Virginians, at Point Pleasant, where on the 10th of October, 1774, although led by their beloved chief, Cornstalk, and cheered by his words, " Be strong ! be strong !" they were defeated after a fierce battle of twelve hours duration. It was at Old Chillicothe, on the Scioto, that the cabin of the celebrated Mingoe chief, Logan, stood ; here that he mourned the murder of his family and made his memorable speech to John Gibson, the emissary of Lord Dunmore. At this point the campaign against the Shawnee villages was brought to a close by the Indians suing for peace and entering into a treaty' with Lord Dunmore, at Camp Charlotte, which was located on the north bank of Scippo Creek and east of the Indian towns.

The Shawnee chief, Cornstalk, was an extraordinary man, possessing a brilliant intellect, a noble character and undaunted courage. Previous to the battle of Point Pleasant, he counseled peace, but being overruled by the other chiefs of the nation, he took command of the Indians in that battle and conducted it with consummate skill. After their defeat and return to the Pickaway towns, a council was called to consider what was to be done, at which Cornstalk was the chief orator and leading spirit ; said he : " What will you do now ? The Big Knife is coming on us, and we shall all be killed. Now you must fight or we are undone.". Receiving no answer, he said, " Then let us kill all our women and children, and go and fight until we die." Perfect silence still greeted him, when arising, with firm purpose and dignity in every lineament of his face, he struck his tomahawk into a post of the council house and exclaimed : "I'll go and make peace," which was immediately carried into effect. In the summer of 1777, he went on a visit to Point Pleasant to warn the Americans that the Indians intended joining the English in the war just began. He was there cruelly murdered, seven or eight bullets being fired into his body, while his son, Elinipsico, and a noted young warrior, Red Hawk, were killed at the same time. Thus perished Cornstalk, whose name was conferred upon him as the support and strength of his people ; but this outrage precluded all hope of peace between the Indians of the Northwest and the new-born American nation, and cemented their alliance with the English.

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

In 1779, Col. John Bowman, commanding a force of 160 men, crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Licking, and after a rapid march attacked the Indian town of Old Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, three miles north of Xenia. The attack was repulsed, and Col. Bowman capturing a sufficient number of ponies to mount his men, began a hurried retreat, being closely pursued by the Indians until he recrossed the Ohio, having lost nine men in the expedition. In October of the same year, Col. David Rogers and Capt. Robert Benham, with 100 men, were passing down the Ohio, in two keel boats, and noticing Indians on the shores, Col. Rogers landed one-half his command for the purpose of attacking the savages. The whites were ambushed by about 500 Indians, a fierce battle ensued, but the odds were too great, and Rogers, with nearly all his men were tomahawked and scalped. Capt. Benham, with a few survivors, cut his way out and finally escaped, although the Captain was severely wounded and lay in the woods two days ere rescued by a passing boat.

In July, 1780, Col. George Rogers Clark organized a force of 1,000 Indian fighters at the mouth of Licking River, and in August of that year marched against Old Chillicothe (in Greene County), but found the village abandoned and burned. They destroyed several hundred acres of corn and then proceeded in a north direction for the purpose of attacking Old Piqua, the Shawnee town on Mad River (in Clark County). Reaching that point on the 8th of August, the fight began at 2 P. M., and after a three hours' en- gagement the Indians were driven from their village, each side losing about twenty men. Upon the following day, the town was burned and the growing crops completely destroyed. This severe thrashing taught the Indians a lesson not soon to be forgotten, and for the time cowed them into submission. There were nearly 4,000 persons in the tribe at this point, and the destruction of their crops caused them much suffering, having to depend entirely upon the chase for provision to keep them through the fol- lowing winter. The Shawnees crossed over the Great Miami into what is now Miami County, and built another town which they also called Piqua.

In March, 1781, Col. Daniel Broadhead, at the head of 300 men, at- tacked and destroyed the Delaware villages on the Upper Muskingum (in Coshocton County), killing about forty warriors and capturing many squaws and children whom he took to Wheeling, Va. In August of that year, the Indians, in retaliation, attacked a force of 106 men under the command of Col. Archibald Lochry, below the mouth of the Big Miami, killing or capturing the whole force, the fate of the prisoners being, of course, death in its cruelest form. In March, 1782, Col. David Williamson, at the head of 100 men, marched upon the Moravian Indian village of Guadenhutten, in what is now Tuscarawas County. He took ninety-six prisoners, composed of bucks, squaws and children, all of whom were considered friendly In- dians and had embraced the faith of the Moravian Church. Four days afterward, all, with the exception of two boys who escaped from the building where they were imprisoned, were murdered in cold blood, which was one of the darkest crimes in the history of civilization, and one that brought upon Williamson and his command the severest condemnation.

This massacre was bitterly repaid in the defeat of Col. William Craw- ford's force of 480 mounted men in June, 1782. They started from the old Mingo town on the west side of the Ohio with the object of attacking

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the Moravian Indians, as well as the Wyandots, in the same neighborhood. The Indian towns were found deserted, and the force pushed on after the retreating foe. Col. Williamson was second in command. The whites were fiercely attacked on the Sandusky plains (now Wyandot County), forced to retreat, and suffered a humiliating defeat. The Indians killed or captured the majority of the force, and among the latter were Col. Craw- ford and his son-in-law, Maj. Harrison ; but, by some decree of Providence, Williamson was allowed to escape, and the innocent left to suffer the pen- alty of his cruel murder of the Moravian Indians. Col. Crawford and Maj. Harrison were put to death. The latter was squibbed to death with powder at Wapatomika (Logan County), while Crawford was burned at the stake in what is now Wyandot County. The burning of Col. Crawford, as related by Dr. Knight, was one of the most horrible scenes in the annals of Indian warfare. It took place in a low bottom west of Upper Sandusky, and eight miles from the mouth of Tymochtee Creek, on the east bank of that stream. His hands were fastened together behind his back, a rope tied to the ligature binding his wrists and then made fast to a stake close to the ground, giving him sufficient length of rope to walk around the stake twice and back again. His ears were cut off, seventy charges of powder fired into his body from the neck down, his blistering skin punched with burning poles, and as he walked around over a bed of fire, the inhuman devils would throw hot coals and ashes upon him. Thus for three hours this awful scene went on, ending by scalping him and throwing coals of fire upon his bleeding head as he lay dying upon the ground. His body was then thrown into the fire and burnt to ashes.

Col. Crawford was the great-grandfather of Theophilus Mckinnon, who died at London, Ohio, in April, 1882. Mr. McKinnon's parents settled in Clark County in 1803, whence he removed to Madison. His mother was the daughter of Maj. Harrison, who was squibbed to death with powder at Wapatomika. Soon after settling in Clark County, four Indians called at her house one day for dinner, and, while eating, informed her, in answer to some questions, the manner and place in which her father suffered death ; also that two of the party had been present at the execution of her grand- father. Throughout the campaign, this was the fate of nearly all captured males, few escaping death in some form peculiar to the devilish ingenuity of the savages. Dr. Knight and the guide, Slover, who were also captured with Crawford and Harrison, were intended to be put to death in a similar manner. The former escaped from a young Indian into whose care he was given to be taken to a town forty miles distant from Sandusky. Slover was brought to Grenadier Squaw town, stripped for execution, tied to the stake, and the fire kindled, but a terrible storm arose and put out the fire, when the Indians, looking upon this as the manifestation of an angry God, post- poned the horrid deed, and that night Slover escaped.

The attacks upon the Kentucky settlements were frequent, the Indians and English combining their forces in some of them. Boonesboro was attacked in August, 1778, by 500 Indians under the command of Capt. Du Quesne, an English officer, and carrying the union jack, the national flag of England, as his standard. The noted scout, Daniel Boone, was in command of the station, and after a ten days' siege the Indians were repulsed. For the next year, the forests were alive with Indians, and

David Snodgrass

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in June, 1780, a force of 600 English and Indians, under the command of Col. Byrd, of the English Army, and Blackfish, a Shawnee chieftain, descended from the north upon Martin's and Ruddell's Stations, which were located on the Licking River. They captured and sacked both of them, which made no resistance, and with the prisoners and booty returned to Ohio and Detroit whence they came. Estill's Station was surrounded by a party of Wyandots in May, 1782, who, finally retiring, were followed by Capt. James Estill, and defeated him at Little Mountain. In August of the same year, a force of 600 Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamis, Delawares and English, commanded by Col. McGee, of the English Army, and the noted renegade, Simon Girty, attacked Bryant's Station, five miles northeast of Lexington, but a re-enforcement arriving, they were compelled to retreat. The Kentuckians, against the advice of their more experienced leaders, started in pursuit with a force of about 170 men, and on the 19th of August, were ambushed at Blue Licks, losing 60 killed and 7 captured.

The people of Kentucky, seeing the defenseless state of their settle- ments, resolved to strike a blow against the Indians of Ohio that would put an end to these frequent raids. With this object in view, Col. George Rogers Clark, in September, 1782, organized a force of 500 Indian fight- ers at the mouth of Licking River, where he was subsequently joined by an equal number of backwoodsmen from other localities. With this force of 1,000 men, Gen. Clark made a rapid march upon the Shawnee towns of Upper and Lower Piqua. A slight skirmish occurred at the mouth of Mad River, the present site of Dayton, but upon reaching the villages on the Miami found them deserted. He completely annihilated these towns, burn- ing and destroying the buildings, stores and crops. A detachment was sent to the Indian village at Loramie's Station (in Shelby County) where a similar desolation was enacted, and every vestige of town and station swept away. Loramie, who kept a trading-post at this point, fled with the Indians, and finally settled in the same business on the present site of Kansas City, where he died. The savages made no resistance, except to fire from the bushes on stragglers, by which two men lost their lives. This campaign so completely crushed the power of the Indians and imbued them with such a wholesome fear of the "Long Knives " that they never again ventured upon an invasion of Kentucky in force.

In 1786, the Mackacheek towns (in Logan County) were destroyed by Gen. Benjamin Logan, after whom that county was subsequently named. He burned eight towns, destroyed many fields of corn, took seventy-five prisoners and killed twenty warriors. Gen. William Lytle, who was then but sixteen years of age, took part in this, and was instrumental in captur- ing a number of prisoners, Moluntha, the great Sachem of the Shawnees, and the Grenadier squaw being among those captured. Col. McGary, who was blamed for the defcat at Blue Licks, basely murdered Moluntha, after he had been taken prisoner by young Lytle. Before any of the others could interfere to save his life, McGary grabbed an ax from the Grenadier squaw who was standing near, and sank it to the eye in the chief's head, who died without a struggle. There was a large block-house of huge size and thickness, at one of the upper towns, which had been built by the English, and this also was burned. Four years later Gen. Harmar, with a force of about 1,500, left Fort Washington for the Indian towns at the

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junction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Rivers (Allen County, Ind.). They burned seven villages, destroyed many thousand bushels of corn and much other property. In October, 1790, the army started on its homeward march, having accomplished its object, but soon afterward a portion of the force that had been sent back to the villages for the purpose of bringing on a battle with the Indians, was furiously attacked and defeated with the loss of 160 men, and the army then continued the homeward movement in a demoralized condition.

Throughout the following winter the Ohio settlements were constantly harassed by bands of hostile Indians and many unfortunate stragglers tom- ahawked and scalped. Each settlement was forced to do its own fighting, and every man went armed to the teeth. Dunlap's Station was surrounded by 400 savages, but as it lay on the east bank of the Big Miami, not far from Fort Washington, the Indians soon gave up the siege. They still, however, kept at their work of running off stock and murdering the settlers whenever the opportunity offered, even getting so bold in the summer of 1791 as to venture under cover of night into the streets of Cincinnati.

In August, 1791, Col. James Wilkinson, at the head of 550 mounted men, made an expedition through the Western Ohio counties and the valley of the Wabash, burning villages, destroying crops and capturing young Indians and squaws. In November of the same year occurred the most ter- rible defeat to the American arms in the annals of Indian warfare. Gov. Arthur St. Clair left Fort Hamilton in October, and on the 12th of that month began constructing Fort Jefferson. After its completion, he contin- ued his journey, and, on the 4th of November, was fiercely attacked on a branch of the Wabash River at a point since known as Fort Recovery, in the southwest corner of Mercer County, Ohio. The battle lasted three hours, when the Americans were routed and driven from their camp, losing 890 men and 16 officers killed and wounded, besides their artillery, baggage and supply trains. The savages glutted their vengeance and reveled in the blood and booty of that unfortunate army. Gen. James Wilkinson now took command of the troops, and the early winter of 1792 was passed in an expedition to the scene of St. Clair's defeat, where the bleaching bones cov- ering the ground were gathered and interred. Skirmishes between the opposing forces were common, but no general engagement occurred. The line of forts built by St. Clair were garrisoned and new ones erected.

Thus matters stood in the spring of 1793, when a new actor came upon the scene in the person of Gen. Anthony Wayne, known historically as " Mad Anthony." Troops were rendezvoused and drilled, and, on October 7, he left Fort Washington at the head of 3,600 men. Passing Forts Hamil- ton and St. Clair, his rear guard was attacked and defeated ere reaching Fort Jefferson, which stood six miles south of the present town of Greenville, in Darke County. At the latter place, he erected Fort Greenville and camped for the winter, sending a force of men to the scene of St. Clair's disaster, who built Fort Recovery. This point was strongly garrisoned, and the men kept ever ready to meet the foe, who constantly harassed the forts. On the 30th of June, 1794, Fort Recovery was attacked by 1,500 Indians and English, who were repulsed and driven from the field after an engagement of two days' duration. In July, Gen. Wayne was re-enforced by 1,600 mounted Kentuckians, and immediately moved against the enemy. He

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erected Fort Defiance at the junction of the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers (in Defiance County), and here the Indians sued for peace. Not heeding the wily and treacherous savages, Gen. Wayne kept on the march, reaching the Maumee Rapids, Lucas County, August 20, 1794, and on that date fought the memorable battle of the Fallen Timbers in sight of the English at Fort Miami, defeating the Indians with great loss. The army camped three days on the battle-field and then began its return to Fort Greenville, where it spent the following winter. This campaign was the finishing stroke that broke the power of the Indian tribes of the Northwest, brought about the treaty of Greenville and the peace of 1795.

For the benefit of the reader, we will here state that by the treaty of peace previously made in 1785, at Fort McIntosh, with the Wyandot, Dela- ware, Ottawa and Chippewa nations, as well as the one held at Fort Finney, on the Big Miami, in 1786, with the Shawnees, and assented to at Fort Harmar, in 1789, by the Delawares, Wyandots, Pottawatomies, Sacs, Otta- was and Chippewas, Hardin County was not included in the territory ceded to the United States. The Indian boundary line ran in a southwest course, passing through the north part of Logan, a few miles south of Ilardin County. . By the treaty of Greenville, ratified August 3, 1795, the former treaties were recognized and the following became the boundary between the whites of Ohio and the Indian tribes : Beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River ; thence up the same to the portage leading to the Tuscarawas River ; down the Tuscarawas to the forks (the town of Bolivar) ; thence in a south- westerly direction to Loramie's store on the Great Miami River (in Shelby County) ; thence taking a northwest course to Fort Recovery, the scene of St. Clair's defeat ; thence in a southwesterly course to the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky River. All the territory east and south of this line was ceded to the United States, by which the Government acquired two- thirds of the present area of Ohio, and a portion of Indiana. The following tribes participated in this event and gave their consent to the cession, viz. : the Shawnees, Delawares, Miamis, Wyandots, Ottawas, Potta- watomies, Chippewas, Eel Rivers, Piankeshaws, Weas, Kickapoos, and Kas- kaskias.

The conspiracy in the summer of 1763, planned and executed under the leadership of the great Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas, had failed, and he was murdered at Cahokia, Ill., whither he had fled; Cornstalk. the celebrated chief of the Shawnees, met a like fate at Point Pleasant, in 1777; while Logan, the mighty sachem of the Mingoes, wandered from tribe to tribe a solitary, lonely man, mourning the loss of his family and the decay of his nation, until he, too, fell a victim, near Detroit, Mich., to the assassin's keen edged tomahawk in the hands of an Indian to whom he had given offense. Besides these three great leaders, the following is a list of those chiefs who were prominent in the Indian wars of Ohio, up to the treaty of Greenville :

Shawnees-White Cap, Black Hoof, Red Pole, Long Shanks, Captain Reed, Blue Jacket, Civil Man, Black Wolf, Snake, Turkey, Moluntha, Kakiapilathy (the Tame Hawk), Captain Johnny, Blackfish, and Captain John Lewis.

Delawares-Captain Pipe, who burnt Col. Crawford; Wicocalind (or White Eyes), Kelelamand (or Col. Henry), Hengue Pushees (or the Big

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Cat), Grand Glaize King, Tommy Killbuck, Capt. Buffalo, Capt. Crow, Red Feather, Buckongehelas, Billy Siscomb and Black King.

Wyandots-Tarhe (the Crane), the Half King and his son, Cherokee Boy ; Black Chief, Leather Lips, who was executed by order of Tecumseh, in Franklin County, twelve miles north of Columbus, on the charge of witchcraft, in June, 1810; Walk in the Water, and Big Arm.

Munsees-Hawkinpumiska, Reyutueco, Peyainawksey, and Puckon- sittond.

Senecas-Coffee Houn, Wiping Stick, Civil John and Big Turtle.

Miamis-Meshekenoghqua (the Little Turtle), who was the most famous Indian leader of his time, and commanded the united tribes in every battle from 1790 to 1795, Nagohquangogh (or Le Gris), Long Legs, White Loon, Richeville, The Owl, White Skin, Silver Heels, Big Man, Double Tooth, Crooked Porcupine, Sunrise, King Bird, Big Body, Stone Eater, Poor Raccoon, Open Hand, Young Wolf, Flat Belly, Butterfly, and Tiger Face.

Pottowatomies-Nawac, White Pigeon, Windigo, Winnemac, Five Medals, Thupenebue, Run, Le Blanc, No Name, Mogawgo, and Black Bird.

Ottawas-Little Otter, Dog, Bear's Legs, Wewiskia, Augooshaway, Big Bowl, Stump-tail Bear, Neagey, Machiwetah, Sawgamaw, Bear King, and White Fisher.

Piankeshaws-Black Dog, Big Corn, Lightning, and Three Thighs.

Weas-Little Fox, Little Beaver, Little Eyes, Painted Pole, Long Body, and Negro Legs.

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The history of Hardin county, Ohio, Part 25

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1076

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1076