USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 25
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" There had been an opinion, founded upon the information of the Indians, that there were salt springs in the neighborhood. Shortly after Wayne's victory in 1794, and after the inhabitants had left the garrison and gone to their farms, a white man who had long been a prisoner of the Indians, was released and returned to the settlements. He stopped at Olive Green and there gave an account of the salt springs and directions for finding them. A party was immediately formed, of whom George Ewing, a lad of seven- teen, was one, who, after an absence of seven or eight days, returned, to the great joy of the inhabitants, with about a gallon of salt which they had made in their camp kettle. A supply, though a very small one, was made there that season for the use of the frontier settlement.
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مرجيم
CHAPTER XVI.
THE MIAMI SETTLEMENTS.
THE EMIGRANTS' JOURNEY - THE FIRST SETTLEMENT - THE FOUNDING OF LOSANTEVILLE - JUDGE SYMMES SETTLES AT NORTH BEND - JEALOUSY OF THE INDIANS- EXPLANATION OF THE JUDGE - THE STOLEN HORSES AND THE RETALIATION - THE THREE VILLAGES - ANECDOTE OF ENSIGN LUCE - FORT WASHINGTON - GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION - THE FIRST CULPRIT - GROWTH OF CINCINNATI - THE REIGN OF TERROR - HARMAR'S EXPEDITION - EXULTATION OF THE SAVAGES - DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF THE CAMPAIGN - PERIL OF THE FRONTIERSMEN.
WHILE THE little colonies, near the mouth of the Muskingum, were advancing so happily, Judge John Cleves Symmes was mak- ing vigorous movements for the settlement of his large purchase, of six hundred thousand acres, between the Great and Little Miami Rivers. He was disposing of smaller tracts to private individuals and companies, that he might encourage the establish- ment of colonies along the banks of the Ohio down to what was called the North Bend, twenty-three miles below the mouth of the Little Miami.
Major Benjamin Stites purchased of him ten thousand acres, and organized a colony of twenty families, principally from New York and New Jersey to rear their homes in a region which seem- ed to combine everything which was attractive in soil, situation and climate. This little colony was composed of families of in- dustry, energy, and high moral worth. They have left numerous descendants who perpetuate and honor their names. Weary must have been the journey in their canvas-covered emigrant wagons, from New York to the wild passes of the Alleghanies. Fatiguing in the extreme must have been their task in toiling, for a hundred miles, through the gorges and over the cliffs of this almost pathless
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and gigantic chain of mountains. Delightful must have been the change when, reaching the waters of the Ohio, they exchanged their wagons for the capacious barque, with its convenient cabin, affording room to move around with entire freedom from fatigue.
It was delightful autumnal weather. The barge, or ark, as it was sometimes appropriately called, floated down the placid cur- rent of the stream for several hundred miles through enchanting
EMIGRANTS FLOATING DOWN THE OHIO.
scenery, while the inmates enjoyed almost perfect rest from their toils. They had intelligence to appreciate the wonderful world of freshness and beauty which was opening before them. They had culture of mind and manners, and congeniality of sympathies, which enabled them to live harmoniously together. There was nominal peace with the Indians, so that they had nothing to fear, save from small vagabond bands of Indian robbers, whom, with suit-
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able precautions, they could easily repel from behind their bullet- proof bulwarks.
They reached the mouth of the Little Miami about the middle of November, 1788. Here they found a fine stretch of land, much of it covered with forest whose gigantic growth indicated the richness of the soil. On the west side of the river Major Stites proceeded to lay out in the woods the town, which he called Columbia. Immediately all hands combined in raising a large block-house, for the storage of their goods and for protection against the Indians. They then erected humble log cabins for the individual families. Thus was commenced the first settle- ment in the Miami country, about six months after the little hamlet of Marietta began to rise upon the banks of the Mus- kingum.
While these things were transpiring, Mathias Denman, of New Jersey, formed a partnership with Robert Patterson and John Filsom, of Kentucky, and purchased a tract of several hundred acres farther down the river, immediately adjoining Major Stites' colony. Filsom remained to survey the purchase and to lay out the plan of a town, while Denham and Patterson returned to New Jersey to raise a party of colonists. Unfortunately Filsom, while engaged in the survey, was waylaid by straggling Indians and shot. Still Denham and Patterson pressed on with their enter- prise, and engaged a colony of twenty persons, and in midwinter, amidst masses of floating ice, descended the Ohio to a point five miles below Columbia, and directly opposite the mouth of the Licking River. Here, according to a pre-matured plan, they laid out their town, to which they gave the rather peculiar name of Losanteville. It is said that an eccentric Frenchman, on board their boat, coined the name from the words L'os ante ville, which he translated, not very correctly, "The village opposite the mouth." This whimsical name, however, was soon abandoned, and the classical one of Cincinnati was given to a spot destined to attain ever increasing renown in the history of our country.
The land of the township was laid off in lots, which were offered as a gift to volunteer settlers. In Burnett's Notes it is stated :
" A misapprehension has prevailed, as appears from some recent publications, in regard to the price paid by the proprietors for the land on which the city stands. The original purchase by Mr. Denman included a section and a fraction of a section, for which
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he paid five shillings per acre in Continental certificates, which. were then worth, in specie, five shillings on the pound; so that the specie price per acre was fifteen pence."
Judge Symmes was a man of great energy of character, and was indefatigable in his exertions to sell his land and establish colonies. The latter part of January, 1789, the judge himself set out from New Jersey, with a large party of emigrants, for the far- off Miami country. Under the most favorable circumstances this was a toilsome journey of many weeks. It was a very unpropi- tious season of the year to undertake it. But the emigrants were anxious to be at their new homes by the early opening of the Spring. They suffered, however, very much by the way, and incurred serious peril from storms among the mountains and masses of ice in the river.
It was the design of Judge Symmes to found a city at a point on the Ohio called North Bend, from its being the most northern point of the Ohio, below the mouth of the Great Kanawha. This point was not far from midway between Cincinnati and the subse- quent eastern boundary of Indiana. The flat-bottomed water- crafts called arks, or Kentucky boats, in which the emigrants descended the Ohio, were immense structures, and really quite attractive in their appearance.
These boats were built of stout oaken plank, fastened by wooden pins to frames of timber. The well-protected cabin was in the stern, with the smoke curling gracefully from its stove-pipe chim- ney. The cattle, the stores and the furniture, were in the bows. In the center were seen picturesque groups of men, women and children, in pleasant weather, thus joyously floating along, their only motive power being the gentle current of the stream. If the wind were chill or the rain were falling, there was ample shelter and warmth at the fireside. When the boats reached their des- tination they were broken up, and the materials of which they were composed were of great value in the construction of the new homes of the emigrants.
Judge Symmes was a man of much influence. At his earnest solicitation General Harmar sent General Kearcy to accompany the judge, with forty-eight soldiers, rank and file, to protect the settlements in the Miami country. The judge and his party, with their all-important military escort, reached the Bend early in the Spring. They found here an elevated plateau presenting
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admirable accommodations for their settlement. A little village of log huts speedily arose, which extended entirely across the neck of the peninsula formed by the bend in the Ohio and a cor- responding bend of the Great Miami. Every individual belong- ing to the party received a donation lot, which he was bound to improve as the condition of obtaining a title. The town received the name of North Bend. It has since become somewhat noted as having been the residence of President William Henry Har- rison.
The number of emigrants rapidly increased, being encouraged by the presence of the soldiers. The Indians, however, who still, in large numbers occupied the valleys of the two Miamis, con- templated these operations with much jealousy. They not only foresaw that these rapidly growing settlements would soon drive them from their homes, but they also suffered many outrages from lawless white men whom no sense of justice or humanity could control.
On one occasion a delegation of several chiefs called upon Judge Symmes, to complain of the frauds which had been prac- ticed upon them. These frauds were undeniable and atrocious, and the. perpetrators of them deserved to be hung. Judge Symmes endeavored to explain that these men had no connec- tion with his colony, and that he had no more power to restrain them than they had to control the conduct of bad young Indians of other tribes. He assured them that the government of his country, which country consisted of thirteen fires or nations, had sent him to the Miamis in the spirit of friendship. He showed them the flag of the Union, with its stars and stripes, and ex- plained to them its significance. He exhibited to them the American eagle, with the olive-branch in one claw, emblematic of the peace which his country desired with all people, and with the instruments of war and death in the other claw, indicating that, if others preferred hostility, his country was always prepared to meet them. The sagacious chiefs listened to these explanations attentively, but with evident anxiety. They were thoughtful men, uneducated, but endowed with much native intelligence.
The chiefs had come to the Bend, accompained by quite a retinue, and had encamped a little outside of the village. They professed to be in some degree satisfied with the explanation of Judge Symmes, though, in that explanation, they found no resti-
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tution for the frauds which had been practiced upon them. On their way home, they passed near Columbia, where Major Stites had commenced his colony. Some of the Indians stole, as we should say, but as they said, took a number of horses, in compen- sation for the injuries they had received from the white traders.
The theft was soon discovered, and a party of soldiers sent out in pursuit to follow their trail. Judging from the signs that they had nearly approached an Indian encampment, one of their party Captain Flynn, was sent forward cautiously to reconnoiter. He was surprised, taken captive and carried into the Indian camp. Here he was treated with apparently as much humanity as if, under similar circumstances, he had been captured by civilized men. He was neither bound nor closely guarded.
Being a man of extraordinary muscular strength, watching his opportunity, he sprang from the midst of his captors, and made his escape, strange to say, unpursued. There were a number of Indian horses grazing near the spot which the soldiers had reached. They stole these horses, as the chiefs said, and with them returned to Columbia. But the soldiers said they took them in compen- sation for the horses which those Indians had stolen, over whom the chiefs professed not to be able to exert any control.
Major Flynn, in making his escape, had thrown away his rifle. After a few days the chiefs came to Major Stites, at Columbia, bringing back Captain Flynn's rifle, and complaining of the loss of their horses. After considerable discussion the matter was amicably adjusted, and most of the lost horses were restored.
There were now three little villages of log huts in the Miami country, Columbia, Cincinnati and North Bend. Though bound together by a common danger, there was a very strong rivalry between them. For some time Columbia took the lead. It was the eldest of three, the largest in population, and decidedly the most attractive in the arrangement and style of its buildings. But a detachment of troops had been sent from Fort Harmar, as we have already recorded, to North Bend. Greatly to the dis- pleasure of Judge Symmes, the commander of the military force, Ensign Luce, declared that Cincinnati was the more appropriate place for the location of the fort which he was directed to con- struct. Regardless of the remonstrances of the judge, he insisted that he was at liberty to select such a spot for it as, in his judg- ment, was best calculated to afford protection to the Miami set-
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tlers. Mr. Burnet, in his notes, gives the following account of the motives which influenced the ensign to remove his command to Cincinnati, and to commence his important works there :
" Ensign Luce, viewing his duty in that light, put up a small temporary work, sufficient for the security of his troops, regardless of the earnest entreaty of the judge, to proceed at once to erect a substantial, spacious block-house, sufficient for the protection of the inhabitants of the village. The remonstrances and entreaties of the judge had but little influence on the mind of this officer. In despite of them all he left the Bend and proceeded to Cincin- nati with his command, where he immediately commenced the construction of a military work. That important move was fol- lowed by very important results. It terminated the strife for supremacy, by removing the only motive which had induced for- mer emigrants to pass the settlements above and proceed to the Bend. As soon as the troops removed from that place to Cincin- nati, the settlers at the Bend, who were then the most numerous, feeling the loss of the protection on which they had relied, be- came uneasy, and began to follow. Ere long the place was almost entirely deserted, and the hope of making it even a respectable town was abandoned.
" In the course of the ensuing Summer, Major Doughty arrived at Cincinnati, with troops from Fort Harmar, and commenced the construction of Fort Washington, which was the most important military work in the territory belonging to the United States. About that time there was a rumor in the settlement, said to have been endorsed by the judge himself, which goes far to unravel the mystery in which the removal of the troops from the Bend was involved. It was said and believed, that while the officer in command at that place was looking out very leisurely for a suit- able site on which to build the block-honse, he formed an ac- quaintance with a beautiful black-eyed female, who called forth his most assiduous and tender attentions. She was the wife of one of the settlers at the Bend. Her husband saw the danger to which he would be exposed if he remained where he was. He, therefore, resolved at once to remove to Cincinnati, and very promptly executed his resolution.
" As soon as the gallant commandant discovered that the object of his admiration had changed her residence, he began to think that the Bend was not an advantageous situation for a military
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work, and communicated that opinion to Judge Symmes, who strenuously opposed it. His reasoning, however, was not as per- suasive as the sparkling eyes of the fair dulcinea, then at Cincin- nati. The result was a determination to visit Cincinnati, and examine its advantages as a military post, which he communicated. to the judge, with an assurance that if, on examination, it did not prove to be the most eligible place, he would return and erect the. post at the Bend.
" The visit was quickly made, and resulted in the conviction that the Bend could not be compared with Cincinnati as a military position. The troops were accordingly removed to that place, and the building of the block-house commenced. Whether this structure was on the ground on which Fort Washington was erected, by Doughty, cannot now be ascertained. That move- ment, produced by a cause whimsical and apparently trivial in itself, was attended with results of incalculable importance. It settled the question whether North Bend or Cincinnati was to be the great commercial town of the Miami country.
" Thus we see what unexpected results are sometimes produced by circumstances apparently trivial. The incomparable beauty of a Spartan dame, produced a ten years' war, which terminated in the destruction of Troy. And the irresistible charms of another female, transferred the commercial emporium of Ohio, from the place where it had been commenced, to the place where it nowis. If this captivating American Helen had continued at the Bend, the garrison would have been erected there. Population, capital and business would have centered there, and there would have been the Queen City of the West.
Emigration rapidly increased, and these emigrants began to scatter, in small parties of eight or ten families. But there were increasing acts of outrage, on the part of the Indians and of un- principled white men. The indications of approaching hostilities were such that, in the Summer of 1789, Major Doughty was sent, from Fort Harmar, with one hundred and forty regular troops, for the defense of the Miami settlements.
It was under these circumstances that he selected the post, for the erection of the fort, to which we have alluded, at Cincinnati, opposite the mouth of the Licking, on a reservation of fifteen acres of land belonging to the Federal government. Here he commenced the structure of Fort Washington, which afterwards
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became so distinguished in the annals of those days. These were probably the works which Ensign Luce visited, and to the erec- tion of which he decided to contribute his resources.
The principal building was a large two-story block-house, one hundred and eighty feet in length. The upper story projected two feet beyond the lower, and the whole building was divided off into barracks for the soldiers, and was well provided with port- holes. The whole was surrounded with strong palisades, flanked by block-houses, at each corner, projecting ten feet from the line of stockades, so that cannon could be brought to rake the walls. The principal entrance faced the river. It was twelve feet wide- by ten feet high, and was protected by strong wooden doors. In. front there was a fine esplanade, eighty feet wide. The whole exterior was whitewashed, and the massive structure presented a very imposing and handsome appearance.
Very fine gardens were constructed by the officers, around the fort, which were decorated with flowers, and which produced an abundance of vegetables and small fruit. In December of 1789, General Harmar, with three hundred regular troops, arrived, and. Fort Washington became the head-quarters of the Northwestern. army. Soon after, it became the residence of the governor.
The population of the Miami settlements had now so increased. that Governor St. Clair, early in January, 1790, thought that the: time had come when it was expedient to organize civil govern- ment there. Previous to this time no civil government and no judicial tribunal had existed in that portion of the country. For mutual protection, the emigrants had held a public meeting under a large tree, and adopted a code of regulations for themselves. By-laws were formed, and punishments decreed for certain offen- ses. Every person present pledged himself to aid in carrying; these provisions into execution. A judge was appointed, William. M'Millan, and a sheriff, John Ludlow.
The first culprit brought before this tribunal was Patrick Grimes. He was accused of theft. A jury was summoned. The. crime was clearly proved, and he was sentenced to receive thirty -. nine lashes on the bare back. The punishment was inflicted that evening.
Soon after, a writ was issued for the arrest of another culprit. . He escaped, and took refuge in the fort. The commandant: assumed that the military power was the only legitimate authority"
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which existed in the settlement. He considered the self-organ- ized government of the people was an impertinence, an interfer- ence with his prerogatives. He, therefore, protected the culprit, and sent an abusive note to Judge M'Millan.
The judge, who was a high-spirited man, sent back, setting the commandant at defiance. The military pride of the commandant was touched. The next morning he sent a sergeant and three armed men to arrest the judge for disrespect to the constituted authorities. The judge was a man of large frame, and remarka- ble alike for both strength and agility. He was sitting quietly in his cabin when the sergeant's guard entered for his arrest. The judge sprang to his feet, declaring that he would never be taken alive, and assailed his foes with the fury with which a lion would repel attacking bull-dogs. For fifteen minutes the unequal con- flict raged. The sergeant himself was soon prostrated and disa- bled by herculean blows from such weapons as the irate judge could grasp. Speedily another assailant was placed hors de com- bat. The two others, severely wounded, fled, and left the judge master of the field. He was badly wounded, but he was the undisputed victor.
This was the first conflict between the civil and military author- ity in the Northwestern Territory. The intrepid judge had hero- ically and successfully maintained his cause. Upon the arrival of the governor, he was well-pleased that the judge had main- tained the civil authority so valiantly, in opposition to military arrogance, and appointed him one of the justices of the quorum.
The territorial judges accompanied the governor to Cincinnati, where the Executive Council was convened, and the civil and mil- itary departments were organized the same as in Washington County. The whole country, north of the Ohio River, from the Hockhocking River to the Great Miami, was designated as the County of Hamilton, in honor of Alexander Hamilton, then Sec- retary of the Treasury. Cincinnati was declared to be the seat of justice for the county. The government, as thus organized, consisted of three justices of the peace, four captains of militia, four lieutenants, four ensigns, a court of quarter sessions, consist- ing of three associate justices, a clerk, and a sheriff.
Cincinnati having thus become the seat of justice, as well as the head-quarters of the army, began to assume a degree of im- portance which gave it quite the ascendancy over the other small
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towns springing up around it in the wilderness. All the citizens felt their increased importance. It became the center of rural fashion and refinement. Ambitious frame houses began to be: reared in the place of log huts. Emigrants of intelligence and enterprise were lured to the new emporium. During the Summer of 1790 forty log huts were reared, adding very considerably to the grandeur of the town.
A new settlement was about this time commenced on the Great Miami River, about forty miles north from Cincinnati, which was called Coleraine. Several families took farms in that region, but, for mutual protection, it was necessary to have their houses clustered together, and all united in building a stockade for mu- tual defense. The incursions of the savages were every month becoming more frequent, and there was an alarming prospect of a general state of war. Lieutenant Kingsbury was, therefore, sent to Coleraine, with a small detachment of troops and one piece of artillery.
Governor Arthur St. Clair was a man of great ' activity and energy. But, unfortunately for himself, he was prone to neglect his own private interests in devotion to the public welfare. Imme- diately after organizing the government of Hamilton County, he proceeded down the river to the Falls of the Ohio, near where Louisville now stands. Here he spent several days in organizing. a government for the little secluded settlement, far away in the wilderness there, and then directed his steps, through a narrow Indian trail, a distance of a hundred and thirty miles, to the ham- let of Vincennes, on the Wabash.
Between the Falls of the Ohio and Vincennes there was not a single white inhabitant. It was a vast, silent, houseless wilder- ness, now and then traversed by hunting bands of Indians. In this portion of the Northwestern Territory, which is now mainly included within the limits of the State of Indiana, he organized. the County of Knox. It was so named in honor of the Secretary of War. This vast county, larger than several of the States of the Union, was bounded on the south by the Ohio River, on the east by the Great Miami, and on the west by the Wabash. Vin- cennes was the seat of justice. The energetic governor then proceeded westward several hundred miles, through a pathless. and almost unexplored wilderness, of almost illimitable prairies and boundless forests, to a little hamlet on the upper Mississippi,
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