USA > Ohio > The history of Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 4
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
--- [1776.
made by Great Britain and her revolted colonics to gather strength for a prolonged struggle, led the emissaries of both to court the assistance of the red men, and jeopardized in some de- gree the peaceful seclusion of the Muskingum village.
To break down the influence of British agents at the west, Colonel Morgan, an honest, ener- 'getic, and popular trader, was appointed Indian superintendent for the middle department, and in the spring of 1776 took up his residence at Pittsburg. The Pottawatamies and Ottawas, in- fluenced by Governor Hamilton, of Detroit, sought to bring the Delawares and Shawanese into alliance with the British ; and for some time these intrigues threatened a general Indian war. Congress becoming alarmed, despatched three commissioners to conciliate the tribes in that quarter ; but it was with the greatest difficulty the chiefs could be prevailed upon to attend a council proposed to be held at Pittsburg. At length, however, during the month of October, the commissioners were met by delegates from the Delawares, Senecas, and a part of the Shawanese; but very little good resulted from the conference. The Shawanese speedily joined the northern Indians ; and though a portion of the Delawares wavered for a time in their fidelity to Great Britain, they finally followed the coun- sel of Captain Pipe, one of their principal
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MEASURES OF MORGAN.
1776.]
chiefs, and ranged themselves under the royal banner.
Although a dubious neutrality was maintained by the various Indian tribes during the year 1776, it was well known that the majority of them were in the British interest, and that a re- newal of the war upon the frontiers might be expected at any moment. Colonel Morgan ex- erted himself to keep the Indians quiet as long as possible ; but his efforts, although not alto- gether unsuccessful, were destined to be frus- trated by the treacherous murder of Cornstalk, a brave Shawanese chief, at Fort Randolph, a military post erected at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. Already the threatening aspect of affairs on the Ohio River had led Congress to prepare for the breaking out of hostilities. Thirty large batteaux, forty feet long and nine feet wide, were constructed on the Monongahela, ready to use in an invasion of the Indian country; but, notwithstanding the Mingoes were harass- ing the frontiers of Virginia, and various pre- datory bands were constantly crossing the Ohio to attack the settlements in Kentucky, Morgan, justly dreading the effect of a general Indian war, carnestly discountenanced an expedition at this time, and recommended instead that the borderers should themselves be firmly restrained from encroaching upon Indian territory, and that
64
HISTORY OF OHIO. [1778.
an attempt should be made to avert the danger by forbearance and conciliation.
This judicious advice being well received by the federal authorities, the proposed cx pedition was abandoned for the season; but the clamorous outcry for protection on the frontiers, led to its revival shortly after, on a more imposing scale. During the spring of 1778, General Lachlan McIntosh crossed the mountains, at the head of five hundred men, and commenced building a fort, which was subsequently known by his name, on the banks of the Ohio, near to the mouth of the Big Beaver Creek. As the bands of Indian warriors who persevered in maintain- ing a constant warfare upon the border stations were encouraged in their predatory incursions by Hamilton, the commandant at Detroit, the re- duction of that post was made the principal ob- ject of the expedition.
In the month of October, one thousand men were assembled at the new fort; but the season was then already so far advanced that the ori- ginal design was abandoned, and a treaty of peace having been concluded with the Delawares, the army was thrown forward to creet a military post upon the Tuscarawas, preparatory to marching against the Wyandots and other hostile tribes in the neighbourhood of the Sandusky. A stockade work, called Fort Laurens, was ac- cordingly built; and leaving it in garrison of one
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FORT LAURENS EVACUATED.
1779.]
hundred and fifty men, under the command of Colonel Gibson, McIntosh returned with the main body of his troops to Fort Pitt.
Left alone and unsupported, deep in the wilder- ness, Fort Laurens was speedily invested by a large force of Shawanese and Wyandot warriors, who cut off all communication with the Ohio, slew a number of the garrison, and reduced the remainder to great straits, from a want of food. The post was, however, relieved by MeIntosh, early in 1779; but it was subsequently found so difficult and dangerous to maintain a proper connection with a military station in the heart of an enemy's country, that the fort was finally evacuated during the following August.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
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[1779.
CHAPTER V.
The public lands -- Action of New Jersey, Delaware, and Mary- land-New York cedes her claims to Congress-Resolutions adopted by the latter-Invasion of Kentucky by Colonel Byrd-Clarke's expedition against the Ohio Indians-The Moravian Indians-Suspected by both parties-Given by the Iroquois to the Ottawas and Chippewas-Wyandots agree to remove them-The Indian villages on the Muskingum abandoned -- Capture of the missionaries-The Moravians settle at Sandusky-Return of a party to the Muskingum- Massacred by the Americans-Crawford's expedition against the Moravians at Sandusky-Gathering of the Wyandots and Delawares-Battle of Sandusky Plains-Retreat of the Americans-Capture of Crawford-His horrible death- Bryant's Station in Kentucky invested by the Indians- Battle of Blue Licks-Clarke's second expedition against the Miami towns-Its success.
IN 1778, when the articles of confederation were under discussion in Congress, New Jersey raised an objection to the proposed plan of union, on the ground that it contained no provision em- powering Congress, in the event of a successful issue of the war, to dispose of the crown lands, and other property conquered from Great Britain. and apply the proceeds of such sales toward de- fraying the expenses of the war. In the early part of 1779, the legislature of Delaware, while assenting to the articles of confederation, claimed for that state a common interest in all the va-
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RIVAL CLAIMS.
1780.]
cant territory west of the Allegheny mountains. Three months after this, the representatives of Maryland in Congress, were instructed not to agree to the articles of confederation unless the unsettled crown lands should be held by Con- gress as common property, with power to dispose of them for the general benefit of the United States, and to organize them, as population in- creased, into separate and distinct jurisdictions. Nearly all the vacant public lands west of the mountains were covered by the claims of Vir- ginia, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecti- cut, whose loose and ill defined patents would have taken them anywhere within the bounda- ries of the two oceans. A prospect of trouble was likely to arise from this cause, inasmuch as the sale of these lands would easily release those states from the debts they might incur during the progress of the war; while the others, whose boundaries were more clearly stated, would have to sustain the heavy expenses attendant upon a prolonged struggle from their internal resources alone.
In an honourable effort to promote harmonious action between the several states, New York, in February, 1780, authorized her delegates to cede to Congress, for the general benefit of the confederacy, whatever claim that state might have in the western lands. This movement was beneficial and well-timed; a more liberal feeling
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HISTORY OF OHIO. [1780.
began to prevail; and Congress, taking advan- tage of the growing sentiment in favour of the justice of the measure, passed a resolution on the 10th of October, declaring that all unappropri- ated public lands, which might be ceded to the United States, should be disposed of for the common benefit, and be formed, at the appro- priate time, into distinct republican states, of not less than one hundred, nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square. They were also entitled to be received as members of the federal union, and to enjoy the same rights of sove- reignty, freedom, and independence, as the other states. To this resolution, which was preceded by another recommending the states interested in the public lands to yield up their respective quotas for the general good, no immediate re- sponse was made, though the impression gene- rally became more favourable to the cession, and ultimately resulted in an arrangement which proved satisfactory to all parties.
The invasion of Kentucky, during the summer of this year, by six hundred Canadians and In- dians, commanded by Colonel Byrd, though pro- ductive of far less injury than might have been expected from numbers so imposing, animated Virginia to resent, in the most vigorous manner, this intrusion upon her jurisdiction, Orders were accordingly despatched to Colonel George Rogers Clark, to enroll a sufficient number of
,
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INDIAN TOWNS DESTROYED.
1780.]
volunteers, and march against the Indian villages north of the Ohio, and especially against Lora- mie's Store, a dismantled military station, from whence the Indians drew their supplies.
Clark, who had already distinguished himself by the capture of the British military posts in Illinois, an expedition replete with daring and dramatic incident, immediately proceeded to en- list, from among the rough hunters of Kentucky, a force capable of accomplishing successfully the instructions he had received. Crossing the Ohio at the mouth of the Licking, he first made a sudden dash at the Indian town of Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, and immediately followed up this success by the destruction of the Piqua towns on Mad River, and the demolition of Loramie's store.
This brilliant exploit, joined to the capture of Colonel Hamilton at Vincennes, the year pre- vious, produced a salutary fear among the tribes in alliance with Great Britain, and effectually checked, for a season, their sanguinary in- cursions.
In the mean while, the Christian Indians, es- tablished on the upper waters of the Muskingum, had incurred the hatred of the north-western tribes, and were equally obnoxious to the white settlers on the Ohio. Each accused them of betraying the plans of the other, and already one expedition had been fitted out by the suspi-
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HISTORY OF OHIO. [1780.
cious borderers for the destruction of the Mo- ravian towns. Though the design was not at that time carried into effect, the resentment still remained. The "praying" Indians were charged with having interpreted some letters, addressed to Fort Pitt, which had fallen into the hands of hostile Delawares; and the charge was, unfortunately, but too well founded. The Wyan- dots dreaded the power of the Moravian mission- aries over their meek and inoffensive flocks ; and, at length, the propriety of removing the Mora- vians into Canada, was suggested to the Iroquois delegates during a council held at Niagara.
As the fierce warriors of northern New York claimed their hunting grounds to extend far be- yond the Muskingum, the villages of the "pray- ing" Indians were within the limits of their ter- ritory. Caring to take no steps themselves against men, whose peaceful and harmless lives inspired their contempt, the Iroquois presented the Moravian communities to the Ottawas and Chippewas, "to make soup of," if they saw fit. The latter, in their turn, passed the donation to the Wyandots. Accordingly, three hundred warriors, led by Elliot, an English agent, and Pimoacan and Pipe, the two principal war chiefs of the Delawares, undertook to break up the Christian settlements on the Muskingum, and remove their inhabitants farther west. Partly by persuasion, and partly by force, they com-
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MORAVIAN INDIANS.
1780.]
pelled the Moravian converts to abandon their peaceful homes, and take up their abode in the vicinity of Sandusky. The mission houses were broken into and plundered of their contents. The missionaries themselves were cnade prison- ers, and carried to Detroit. The wife of Hecke- welder, and her infant daughter, after suffering many privations, were permitted to go with the Christian Indians to the place appointed for their exile. It was a long and perilous journey through the wilderness, to Upper Sandusky ; but the dangers were shared, and, in some respects, alleviated by the affectionate devotion of the In- dian converts to the distressed families of their beloved pastors. To shield themselves from the increasing inclemency of the season, they built rude huts of bark and logs. Having left their crops behind them ungathered in the fields, they suffered greatly throughout the winter for want of food; the less provident of them being obliged to appease their hunger by subsisting upon cattle which themselves had died of starva- tion. At Detroit an examination of the charges brought against Heckewelder and his companions resulted in their acquittal, and toward the close of November, they were permitted to join their families at Sandusky.
Crucl and indefensible as this invasion of a peaceful settlement may appear, it was yet mild and honourable, when compared with the conduct
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HISTORY OF OHIO. [1781.
of certain Americans, toward a portion of the same unfortunate people, during the early part of the following spring. After passing the winter in great distress, one hundred and fifty of the exiles, part of whom were women and children, were permitted to return to their former homes, to gather the corn they had been con- strained to leave behind unharvested. The Christian villages of Shonbrun and Salem were built, not upon the Muskingum, but upon the west bank of the Tuscarawas, a tributary to that river, and some twelve miles distant from each other. Almost midway between them, but upon the opposite shore, was Gnadenhutten. To these villages the exiles repaired, dividing themselves into three bands to facilitate their labours. While thus engaged, a party of frontier militia. commanded by one Williamson, holding the rank of colonel, reached the vicinity of Gnadenhutten, on the night of the 5th of March. Having se- cretly arranged their plan of operations, a de- tachment of sixteen men crossed to the west bank of the river and decoyed the unsuspecting Indians, whom they found busily engaged in the fields beyond, to accompany them to a confe- rence with their commander at Gnadenhutten. As some of the Indians present had formerly been treated with kindness while at Fort Pitt, and as their visiters allured them with hopes of forming a settlement in that vicinity, where they
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1781.] MASSACRE OF MORAVIANS.
might pursue their avocations in peace, under the protection of the garrison, they not only wil- lingly consented to cross the river and consult with Williamson, but despatched a messenger to their companions at Salem, to invite their at- tendance also. No sooner had the runner de- parted on his mission, than the Indians already at Gnadenhutten were treacherously seized, bound, and thrust into two houses, about which a strong guard was placed. With equal confi- dence in the friendly professions of the brutal borderers, a party of whom had gone out to meet them under the pretence of escorting them on their way, the Moravian Indians from Salem entered the village, and, on their arrival, were made prisoners and placed in confinement with those who had preceded them.
Williamson now demanded of his men whether the captives should be taken to Fort Pitt, or put to death in retaliation for excesses recently commit- ted by hostile Indians. Of one hundred men, only eighteen advocated the more merciful alternative. Conscious that their fate was sealed, very few of the devoted Indians ventured to supplicate their relentless foes for a remission of the sentence. Those who did so humble themselves found their entreaties unavailing. Still clinging to the Christ- ian's creed, they sang the hymns which their pious instructors had taught them, and murmured the simple prayers they had so often breathed in
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HISTORY OF OHIO. [1781.
their days of peaceful happiness. In the midst of these devotional exercises the work of massa- cre commenced ; and soon, of ninety persons of both sexes, only two boys escaped deliberate butchery by the rifle, the knife, or the tomahawk. After setting fire to the houses in which these horrible atrocities were committed, the sangui- nary murderers hastened to Shænbrun to imbrue their hands in the blood of those Christian In- dians who had been sent to gather supplies in the vicinity of that village. Happily, their in- tentions were frustrated. Tidings of their ruth- less act had already preceded them, and on reaching the upper settlement they found it deserted. To the honour of the American name, be it said that this bloody deed was everywhere most vehemently denounced; and although the power of Congress, in the midst of the fearful strug- gle then pending with England, was insufficient to bring the perpetrators to justice, they were held up to public detestation, as men who had dis- honoured their country.
After the close of the revolutionary war, the sympathy which had been excited in favour of the poor remnant of Moravian Indians, induced Congress to adopt measures for their relief. Twelve thousand acres of land around the villages they had formerly occupied, were expressly set apart for the use of the Moravian association. Encouraged by this liberal donation, the
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1781.]
MISSIONS RELINQUISHED.
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missionaries laboured diligently to extend the blessings of civilization to the neighbouring In- dians. Some converts were made, and for a while the little community promised to reward the unwearied exertions of their pastors; but the evil effects which the children of the forest have always experienced from the proximity of the whites, tended to destroy the good work in which pious and loving hands had been engaged for so many years. As settlements increased around the Moravian mission, the simple inhabi- tants, exposed to constant temptation, gradually degenerated. The villages becoming, in some respects, the resort of the idle, the sick, and the dissipated, the trustees of the Moravian society grew weary of their charge, and retroceded the lands to Congress at half the price the improve- ments alone had cost them. The right of the Indians in the land being purchased about the same time, a small Moravian station on the river Thames, in Canada, is all that now remains of those flourishing settlements, once the abode of peaceful industry, and subsequently the scene of so terrible a tragedy.
Returning to the Ohio, with the blood of the Christian Indians fresh upon their hands, a new expedition was immediately organized, having for its object a similar onslaught upon those at Sandusky. Sanguinary and remorseless as the previous enterprise had proved, there were yet
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HISTORY OF OHIO. [1782.
found numerous volunteers ready to undertake another. By the last week in May, 1782, four hundred and eighty men were assembled at the old Mingo towns, on the west bank of the Ohio River. Williamson, the brutal leader in the late incursion, aspired to command this new and greatly increased force ; but the choice fell upon Colonel Crawford, a brave provincial officer, a friend of Washington, and one thoroughly expe- rienced in Indian warfare. He accepted the ap -. pointment with great reluctance, Williamson being selected to serve under him as second in command.
Secretly as this new campaign had been arrang- ed, neither the number of men engaged in it, nor their purposes, remained unknown to the watch- ful Indian spies. They saw the well-mounted troops break up their camp near the Ohio-wit- nessed their disappointment at finding Shonbrun still uninhabited-and, notwithstanding the ra- pidity of their march, never lost sight of them until they entered the deserted towns at San- dusky. Briers and weeds were growing about the few huts that remained standing, the alarmed Moravian converts having removed to Scioto some time previous. Being foiled thus far in their designs, a council of officers was held on the 6th of June, at which it was decided to at. tempt the surprise, by a forced march, of the Wyandot towns on the Upper Sandusky.
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BATTLE OF SANDUSKY.
1782.]
But the Wyandot and Delaware warriors, al- ready apprized of the vicinity of their enemies, and burning to revenge upon Williamson the massacre of their brethren at Gnadenhutten, were assembling in great strength. About two o'clock the next day they attached Crawford's advance guard on the plains of Sandusky, and in a short time the action became general. The battle was hotly contested until dark, when the firing ceased. Both parties rested on their arms opposite each other during the night, with their respective watch-fires blazing midway between.
Not anticipating any such resistance, the Americans were taken by surprise. As the In- dians were hourly increasing in numbers, a council of officers was held carly the following morning, at which a retreat was decided upon. The rest of the day was accordingly spent in burying the dead, and attending to the comforts of the wounded.
In the mean while the Indians had been silently surrounding the American camp, leaving no opening for escape except by way of Sandusky. By the time this was accomplished, the sun was well nigh down ; but the reports brought in of Crawford's preparations rendering them fearful lest he should elude their vigilance during the night, they commenced at once a furious attack. As night closed in, the firing again ceased. This second assault probably hastened the departure
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
- [1782.
of the harassed troops. One-third of their number, under the impression that the Indians would pursue the main body, broke up into small parties, and, scattering through the forest, attempted in this manner to reach their homes. Of all these fugitive bands, scarcely one suc- cecded in gaining the Ohio. The main body, consisting of some three hundred men, was more fortunate ; the Indians contenting them- selves with hunting down those who had separat- ed from it. At the head of the larger force, thus left comparatively unmolested, rode Crawford. Uneasy at the absence of his son, his son-in- law, and his two nephews, he finally halted by the wayside to interrogate the retreating troops as they passed, concerning them. His deep anxiety for the safety of others proved fatal to himself. Falling behind through the weari- ness of his horse, he was captured on the third day, by a party of Delawares, and being led by them to the vicinity of one of their towns on Tyemochtee Creek, a few miles west of Sandusky, was there put to death by roasting at a slow fire, and by other tortures too horrible to narrate.
Elated by the signal successes gained over Crawford's troops, detachments from all the north-western tribes, to the number of five hundred warriors, assembled soon after, and penetrating secretly into Kentucky, on the 14th of August, suddenly invested Bryant's station,
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CLARK'S EXPEDITION.
1782.]
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on the Elkhorn. By the daring courage of the garrison the station was saved. Conscious that reinforcements were approaching, the Indians raised the siege at the close of the second day, and retreated across the Licking, in the direction of the Lower Blue Licks. At this point they were attacked on the 19th, by a party of one hundred and eighty mounted men, under com- mand of Colonel John Todd. After a severe battle the Americans were signally defeated, with the loss of sixty-seven killed and twelve wounded.
When the tidings of this terrible disaster reached Colonel George Rogers Clark, then in command of a regiment of Virginia state troops, stationed at the falls of the Ohio, he resolved upon organizing an expedition against the Indians on the Miami, and called upon the Kentuckians to assist him with reinforcements. By the close of September a thousand men were again as- sembled at the mouth of the Licking. Placing himself at their head, Clark penetrated into the heart of the Indian country. No resistance was offered; but having laid waste the whole of the Indian settlements between the two Miamies, he returned to his station at Louisville.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1783.
CHAPTER VI.
Putnam's memorial to Congress-Virginia cedes her lands north of the Ohio-Putnam and Tupper propose a settle- ment in the west-Originate the second Ohio company --- Plan of the association-Connecticut relinquishes her claim to western lands-Dr. Cutler negotiates a grant for the Ohio company-Symmes' grant-Ohio company locate their grant between the Muskingum and Hockhocking Rivers-Reasons for so doing-North-west territory organized-St. Clair ap- pointed governor-Provisions of the territorial ordinances- Settlers land at the mouth of the Muskingum-Education and religion promoted by the Ohio company-Meet west of the mountains, and name the new settlement Marietta- Ancient fortifications preserved -- Temporary laws-Arrival of St. Clair-Washington county organized-First court- Difficulty with Indians-Progress of the settlement-De- scription of the " Campus Martius"-Symmes and Stites in the Miami valley-Columbia, at the mouth of the Little Miami, settled-Great flood-Losantiville settled -- Treaty with the Indians at Fort Harmar-Feast on that occasion- Scarcity of provisions-Death of Judge Varnum.
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