USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 23
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about two inches thick. It was a lovely season of the year, and as the boat glided gently along through enchanting scenery, every- thing presented an aspect of peace and loveliness. There was nothing to mar the enjoyment of the hours save the dread which man had of his brother man.
Several sunny days thus passed away as the boat floated along, past meadows and headlands and forests, which seemed to have been created by God for blissful homes. One morning, as they had been swept by the stream within about one hundred and fifty feet of the northern shore, suddenly several hundred Indians ap- peared upon the bank, and uttering savage yells, opened upon them a terrible fire from their rifles. There was no protection for the horses, and soon every one was shot. Some were instantly killed; others, severely wounded, kicked and struggled so violently in death agonies, that the frail and heavily-laden boat dipped water, threatening to engulf all together. In the conflict Captain Ward's nephew, pierced by a ball in the breast, fell dead in the bottom of the boat. All the crew, except Captain Ward, were so panic-stricken by this sudden and fierce assault, that, as the only refuge from otherwise certain death, they threw themselves flat upon their faces in the bottom of the boat, among the convulsed animals, while a storm of bullets swept over them. It was in vain for six men to attempt resistance, when even a hand exposed would be a target for a hundred rifles. Fortunately there was a heavy post attached to the gunwale of the boat, which afforded Captain Ward some protection as he stood at the helm. With his oar, which he used as a rudder, he endeavored to guide the boat to the other side of the river. As the savages had no canoes, they could not attempt to board, but for more than an hour they ran along upon the banks of the stream, yelling, and keeping up a constant discharge of their rifles. At length the current swept the boat beyond their reach, and the wretches, with howls of rage, abandoned the pursuit and disappeared.
We will relate another incident illustrative of the perils which in those days attended the navigation of the beautiful Ohio, where peace and plenty now hold their happy reign. A gentleman by the name of Rowan, with his own, and five other families, wished to emigrate to Green River, which was some distance below the Falls of the Ohio. For the long voyage they constructed two very large flat-bottomed boats; one for the families, and the other
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for the cattle and the furniture. As these boats would have no storms to encounter, and were merely to float along upon the cur- rent of the stream, they were frail in their structure, being scarcely more than floating rafts with gunwales three feet high.
The boat which contained the families had quite a commodious cabin, or hut, in the stern, made of rough boards, which afforded entire protection from both wind and rain. Here they cooked their food, and slept. In the sunny days they had nothing to do but to float along, admiring the beautiful scenery, with occasional opportunities to shoot ducks upon the river, or a deer or turkeys upon the banks.
A canoe was attached to the massive boat, with which they could easily fetch in their game. One can hardly imagine a voy- age of hundreds of miles more delightful than was here presented. There was no sea-sickness, no danger from storms, no toil, shelter from all unpleasant exposure, and an abundant supply of food.
The two boats had floated about one hundred miles, through an uninhabited region of great loveliness, when one night, about ten o'clock, their attention was arrested and their fears excited by a prodigious shouting and yelling of Indians farther down the river, on the northern shore. Soon as they rounded a bend in the stream they came in full view of the scene of carousal. It would have been very beautiful, had it not been for the terrible appre- hensions which it excited.
In a grove on the river banks, beneath whose majestic trees there was no underbrush whatever, there was an encampment of several hundred Indians. Immense bonfires were blazing, and the savages were dancing around them, feasting and shouting in the celebration of some great festival. It afterwards appeared that they had seized and plundered an emigrant boat, and in their orgies, were exulting over their victory. Mr. Rowan immediately ordered the two boats to be lashed firmly together; and then the men strained every nerve, with their immense oars, to push the boat as far as possible over towards the Kentucky shore. The faint hope was cherished that in the darkness, and under the shadow of the cliffs, the boats might possibly glide by unseen.
There were hundreds of Indians on the shore. There was a fleet of birch canoes upon the beach. The Indians were all armed with rifles, and knew well how to use them. The camp fires extended along the grove for a distance of nearly half a mile. Of
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the six families in the emigrant's boat, there were but seven men capable of offering any resistance to the Indians -- the remainder were women and small children. As the boats glided noiselessly along, the Indians, all absorbed in their carousal, did not discern them till the great central fire, which threw its brilliance across the whole breadth of the river, brought them clearly to view. A simultaneous shout from hundreds of savage throats greeted this discovery. The warriors, seizing their rifles, rushed to their canoes. The situation of the emigrants seemed utterly desperate. What could seven men do to repel an assault from several hundred savages completely surrounding them in their swift canoes.
Fortunately it was a moonless night, and very dark. In a few moments the current swept them beyond the illumination of the camp fires into a region of midnight darkness. As the boats, crowded with Indians, came rushing down upon them, the emi- grants' boat could be discerned only at the distance of a few rods. The Indians are very brave when they can fight from behind a rock, tree, or stump, but they are very timid when they must pre- sent their unprotected breasts to the sure aim of the white man. They did not know but that there were fifty of these sharp-shooters in these two immense boats. They did not know but that the gun- wales of the boats were bullet-proof and so port-holed that the white men in safety could take their aim. And they did know that these white men, were they more or less in number, would fight in the utmost desperation, and that the frail birch - bark canoes afforded not the slightest protection against their bullets.
Mr. Rowan ordered all the men to conceal themselves behind the gunwales of the boats, and to keep perfect silence. Not a gun was to be fired until the Indian at whom it was discharged was so near that the powder would burn him. Thus every shot was to be the certain death of a warrior. The boat was still rapidly float- ing down the stream, when the noise of the paddles and the yells of the warriors announced the near approach of a fleet of canoes. When they arrived within about a hundred yards, and could just be discerned through the darkness, they suddenly slackened the eagerness of their pursuit.
Every warrior seemed to feel that his bosom was the target for fifty rifles. They perceived at once that under the circumstances in which they were placed, that every flash of a rifle would be the death of some one of their number; that bullet holes in their
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canoes would sink them; that all the canoes were so filled that those warriors struggling in the water in midnight darkness, could not be taken into any of the others. It was manifest that with the rapidity with which these trained riflemen could load and fire, perhaps a hundred of their warriors might be shot before the prows of their canoes should touch the boats. And then the force of the white men might be such that all their remaining warriors might be drowned or captured. Ignorant as they were of the numerical weakness of their foes, it was indeed one of those cases in which the better part of valor was discretion.
The heroic Mrs. Rowan, as she saw the canoes approaching, supposing that the savages would endeavor to board the boat, crept quietly around in the darkness, collected all the axes and placed one by the side of each man, leaving the handle against . his knee. She performed this significant act in silence, speaking not a word. She then returned to the post of defense which she had selected for herself, and sat down with a sharp hatchet at her side.
The Indians did not venture to approach any nearer. Still they kept up the pursuit down the river for a distance of nearly three miles, assailing the white men only with harmless yells. At length, despairing of success, they relinquished the pursuit, and returned to their orgies around their camp-fires. The boat, thus wonder- fully rescued, floated on and reached its destination safely. A son of Mr. Rowan, then but ten years of age, and who afterwards became one of the most prominent citizens of Kentucky, often in after years alluded to the emotions excited in his bosom by the scenes of that terrible night.
" The gloom of the night, the solemn flow of the majestic river, the dim line of the forests on either side, the gleam of the camp fires of the Indians, around which the half-clad savages were dancing in hideous contortion; the unearthly yells in which every demoniac passion seemed contending for the mastery ; the shout which was given when they discovered the boats beneath the shadows of the opposite cliffs ; the pursuing of the canoes, with redoubled vehemence of hooting; the rapidity with which with brawny arms the savages paddled their boats to and fro; the breathless silence which pervaded the flat boat, while for more than an hour the occupants awaited, momentarily expecting the terrible onset; and, above all, the fortitude and heroism displayed
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by his mother,- all these combined to leave an impression upon the mind of the boy, which could never be obliterated."*
The treaty of peace with England was signed in September, 1783. It was, however, one or two months before the knowledge of it reached the British posts on the frontier. A very curious document has been transmitted to us, giving an account of the announcement of the fact to a large council of hostile Indians, on the Wabash, by Mr. Dalton, a government agent, and the very characteristic response of one of their chiefs, a warrior of great renown, Piankeshaw by name. Mr. Dalton said :
" My children : What I have often told you has now come to pass. This day I received news from my great chief at the Falls of the Ohio. Peace is made with the enemies of America. The tomahawk is buried. The Shawanese, the Delawares, the Chicka- saws and the Cherokees, have taken the Long Knife by the hand. They have given up the captives they had taken. My children on the Wabash, open your ears, and let what I tell you sink into your hearts. You know me. Near twenty years I have been among you. The Long Knife is my nation ; I know their hearts. Peace they carry in one hand and war in another. Consider now which you will choose. We never beg peace of our enemies. If you love your women and children, receive the belt of wampum I present you. Return to me the captives you have in your villages, and the horses you stole from my people in Kentucky. Your corn-fields were never disturbed by the Long Knife, while your warriors were killing and robbing my people."
Mr. Dalton then presented the chief with a belt of blue and and white wampum. There were several tribes represented on the occasion, but Piankeshaw was recognized as the head chief of the most powerful tribe. He accepted the emblem of peace, and then, with much dignity of manner, replied :
" My Great Father, the Long Knife: You have been many years among us; you have suffered by us. We still hope you will have pity and compassion upon us, on our women and children, the sun shines on us, and the good news of peace appears in our faces. This is the day of joy to the Wabash Indians. With one tongue we now speak. We accept your peace belt.
" We received the tomahawk from the English. Poverty forced us to it. We were followed by other tribes. We are sorry for it. * Abbott's Life of Daniel Boone.
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To-day we collect the scattered bones of our friends and bury them in one grave. Here is the pipe that gives us joy ; smoke out of it. We have buried the tomahawk; have formed friendships never to be broken, and now we smoke out of your pipe.
" We know that the Great Spirit was angry with us for stealing your horses and attacking your people. He has sent us so much snow and cold weather as to kill your horses with our own. We are a poor people. We hope that God will help us, and that the Long Knife will have compassion on our women and children. Your people who are with us are well. We shall collect them when they come in from hunting. We love them, and so do our young women. Some of your people mend our guns. Others tell us they can make rum out of corn. They are now the same as we. In one moon after this we will take them back to their friends in Kentucky.
"My Father : This being the day of joy to the Wabash Indians, we beg a little drop of your milk, to let our warriors see that it came from your own breast. We were born and raised in the woods. We could never learn to make rum. God has made the white men masters of the world."
Having finished his speech, Piankeshaw presented Mr. Dalton with three strings of wampum as the pledge of peace. Every reader must be impressed with the tone of despondency which pervades this address. It also excites melancholy emotions to observe the imploring tone with which the chief asks for rum, the greatest curse which ever afflicted his people. I8
CHAPTER XV.
BORDER WARFARE AND EMIGRATION.
JOHN CORBLY'S LETTER - PLOTS OF BRITISH TRADERS-EXPEDI- TIONS OF GENERALS CLARKE AND LOGAN-SUCCESS OF LOGAN - SIMON KENTON'S ENERGY -THE DEVASTATION - GENERAL CLARKE'S DISASTERS - RENEWED HOSTILITY OF THE SHA- WANESE - RAID OF SIMON KENTON - PERILS ON THE RIVER - EVENTS OF THREE MONTHS - THE TREATY OF PARIS- ERECTION OF FORT HARMAR-PEACE POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES - THE OHIO COMPANY - SYMMES' PURCHASE - THE SETTLEMENT AT MARIETTA - THE CAMPUS MARTIUS.
WE DO not wish to fill these pages with a detail of the horrors of Indian warfare. The subject is too painful to dwell upon. Still, we would desire to give the reader a correct idea of those dark days of terror and of blood. The following letter describes the fate of hundreds of families on the frontier. It is from the pen of a Baptist clergyman, Mr. John Corbly, who gives an account of the utter devastation of his own home. The letter is dated Muddy Creek, Penn., Sept. 1, 1792 :
"The following are the particulars of the destruction of my un- fortunate family, by the savages : On the tenth of May last, being my appointment to preach at one of my meeting-houses, about a mile from my dwelling house, I set out, with my loving wife and five children, for public worship. Not suspecting any danger, I walked behind a few rods, with my bible in my hand, meditating. As I was thus employed, on a sudden I was greatly alarmed by the frightful shrieks of my dear family before me.
"I immediately ran to their relief, with all possible speed, vainly hunting for a club as I ran. When within a few yards of them, my poor wife, observing me, cried out to me to make my escape. At this instant, an Indian ran up to shoot me. I had to strip, and by so doing outran him. My wife had an infant in her arms, which
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the Indians killed and scalped. After which they struck my wife several times, but not bringing her to the ground, the Indian who attempted to shoot me, approached her and shot her through the body, after which they scalped her.
" My little son, about six years old, they dispatched by sinking their hatchets into his brains. My little daughter, four years old, they in like manner tomahawked and scalped. My eldest daugh- ter attempted an escape, by concealing herself in a hollow tree, about six rods from the fatal scene of action. Observing the In- dians retiring, as she supposed, she deliberately crept from the place of her concealment, when one of the Indians, who yet re- mained on the ground, espying her, ran up to her and, with his tomahawk, knocked her down and scalped her. But, blessed be God, she still survives, as does her little sister, whom the savages, in like manner, knocked down and scalped. They are mangled to a shocking degree, but the doctors think that there are some hopes of their recovery.
"When I supposed the Indians gone, I returned to see what had became of my unfortunate family, whom, alas! I found in the condition above described. No one, my dear friend, can form a true conception of my feelings at this moment. A view of a scene, so shocking to humanity, quite overcame me. I fainted, and was unconsciously borne off by a friend, who at that moment arrived to my relief. Thus have I given you a faithful though a short narrative of the fatal catastrophe, amidst which my life is spared, but for what purpose the great Jehovah best knows."
A volume might be filled with similar narratives. Though the chiefs of nearly all the tribes, at the close of the revolutionary war, had entered into friendly alliance with the Americans, these awful atrocities were continually taking place. There was no safety anywhere but in strong military protection. As treaties were thus found to be of no avail, it was deemed absolutely neces- sary to have recourse to arms, as the only mode by which the settlements and emigrants upon the river could be secured from continual danger.
"At length it was perceived that these continued aggressions were prompted and instigated by British traders and agents at Detroit and upon the Maumee. The fur trade, in the north- western territory, was almost wholly controlled by these British traders, who were deeply interested in checking the advance of
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the American population across the Ohio, which would sound the knell of approaching dissolution to their monopoly. A state of active hostilities, renewed by the savages, might yet defer for many years, the advance of white settlements north of the Ohio, and thus prolong the monopoly of the fur trade. Such were the views and conclusions of the British agents and traders at Detroit, and other points south of Lake Erie." *
The first dry goods store in Kentucky was opened at Louisville, in the Summer of 1784. The united population of the settlements then amounted to about twenty thousand. Roads were beginning to be opened from the river back into the interior. 'The principal settlements were on the Kentucky River, the Licking, and just above the Falls of the Ohio. The region had been divided into three counties, which, early in the Spring of 1784, were recognized as the District of Kentucky. The district court was invested with the same civil and criminal jurisdiction with the other courts of Virginia. A log court house and a log jail were erected at Harrodsburg. Danville soon became the central point for all public meetings.
The emigration into Kentucky now very rapidly increased. More than ten thousand settlers entered the state during the year. Towns were laid out, mills erected, and trade and agriculture began to develop their resources. All kinds of stock were intro- duced, and religious teachers, accompanying this tide of emigra- tion, established churches and schools, and all those beneficent institutions which invariably attend the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Nearly the whole region, north of the Ohio River, was still a wilderness, inhabited only by savages. The Shawanese nation consisted of many minor tribes. They inhabited a large ter- ritory, including the Scioto River in Ohio, and the Wabash River in Indiana, with the intervening region. It was mainly from this region that marauding bands were continually crossing the Ohio River into Kentucky, plundering, burning and scalping. It was resolved in Kentucky to fit out an expedition to invade their country, and inflict upon them chastisement which would never be forgotten. There were many of these Indians who were inno- cent. But the blows of the avenger would fall upon the innocent and the guilty alike.
* Monette's History of the Valley of the Mississippi.
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The expedition was organized in two mounted parties. One division, of eleven hundred riflemen, under the heroic General Clarke, was to rendezvous at the Falls of the Ohio. He was to march directly across the country, a hundred and thirty miles, to Vincennes, on the Wabash. His supplies were to be forwarded to that place by boats. From that point his troops were to rav- age the whole Valley of the Upper Wabash as far as Tippecanoe and Eel Rivers.
The other party of seven hundred, under Colonel Logan, were to rendezvous at Kenton Station, thence cross the Ohio to the Little Miami, thence, ascending that stream, they were to sweep with utter desolation the whole Indian country, from the Scioto to the Great Miami. Such was the general plan of the campaign. Great care was taken to conceal from the Indians all knowledge of their impending doom. It was resolved to make this one of the most formidable invasions which had ever proceeded from Kentucky, and one which would strike the most distant tribes with terror.
Many of the most prominent men in Kentucky volunteered their services as officers, and there was a general rush of the pat- riotic young men to the ranks. General Logan commenced his march on the first of October, 1786. Rapidly he ascended the valley, a distance of ninety miles, till he reached the Indian Town of Old Chillicothe. There were quite a number of Indian villages clustered in that neighborhood. The attack was so sudden and impetuous that nearly all the inhabitants were slain or taken captive.
Simon Kenton, of whose sufferings our readers have been in- formed, accompanied the expedition as a guide, and was captain of a company of picked men from his own neighborhood. His energy was tremendous, and he was not disposed to treat very tenderly even those women who had tortured him with merciless- ness, which even incarnate demons could not have exceeded. The few savages who escaped the bullet and the sword, fled shrieking to the adjacent villages. They were hoily pursued, and shot down as though they had been wolves or bears. All the vil- lages were burned. Everything of value was destroyed. The corn crops, on which the savages had mainly relied for food du- ring the winter, were committed to the flames. A region a hun- dred miles in length, and nearly forty miles in breadth, was laid
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utterly desolate. The numbers of the Indians who were slain is not known. The savages, men, women and children, who escaped, fled so precipitately that they could save absolutely nothing of their possessions. The avengers did not encumber themselves with prisoners. It was their object to wreak such ter- rible vengeance upon these fiend-like foes, that they would trem- ble at the thought of ever again incurring the wrath of the white man. Colonel Logan returned victorious from his expedition.
General Clarke was less successful. He crossed the country to Vincennes in safety. But the boats had not arrived. Nine large boats had been freighted with stores and provisions to de- scend the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash, and then to ascend that stream to Vincennes. The extremely low state of the water retarded the arrival of his supplies. Eleven hundred hungry mouths consume a vast amount of food. The days came and went, and still no boats appeared, and no tidings were heard from them. Starvation stared the army in the face. It became neces- sary to put the men on half allowance. Many of the thoughtless, became restless and mutinous. At length, after waiting nine days, the boats arrived. But to their bitter disappointment, through the heat of the weather the beef was all spoiled. Sound rations for three days only remained.
The hostile towns which the troops were on the march to at- tack, were still at a distance of two hundred miles. General Clarke urged an immediate and rapid advance. Many of the sol- diers mutinied. They said they were willing to encounter the savages, but they could not make war against famine. Three hundred of the men, with several officers of high rank, mounted their horses and departed for their homes. General Clarke, with the remainder of his troops, advanced towards the Indian town, living upon very meager rations. After a march of several days, they reached the region which the savages had inhabited, and not a solitary Indian was to be found. Through the delay the sav- ages had been apprised of the formidable preparations which had been made against them, and taking with them all their valuables, had dispersed, in small bands, far and wide, through the wilder- ness. Nothing was left for the invaders. Such are the vicissi- tudes of war.
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