USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 31
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The army returned by easy marches, while laying waste the adjacent country, to Fort Defiance. It reached this point on the 27th of August, and remained there until the 12th of September.
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Then leaving a strong garrison in the works, the main army took up its march for what were called the Miami Villages, at the confluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Rivers.
On the 17th of September the army reached the Miami vil- lages, forty-seven miles southwest of Fort Defiance. Here another stockade was erected, which was called Fort Wayne. Leaving a garrison here, the rest of the army set out on their march for Greenville, which post they reached on the 20th of November, where they went into winter quarters.
The campaign fully accomplished its intended object. The Indians were thoroughly humbled and subdued. Their houses were destroyed, their country ravaged, their supplies consumed. They no longer cherished any hope of being able to check the advance of the white men. In this state of extreme suffering, they were so anxious for peace that they were ready to accept such terms as the conqueror might dictate. Early in January, 1795, movements were made for an assembling of a general council of the Indian tribes of the Northwest, to enter into a treaty of peace and friendship.
Accordingly, in July, a council of chiefs and warriors from twelve of the tribes east of the Mississippi River was convened in the vicinity of Fort Greenville. Negotiations continued for six weeks. On the 3d of August the treaty was signed. General Wayne, acting as commissioner plenipotentiary, signed in behalf of the United States. The following tribes were represented : the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanese, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pota- watamies, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshas and Kaskaskias. The boundary line between the Indian lands and those of the United States was then fixed as follows :
Beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, where it enters Lake Erie, it ran up to the portage between that and the Tusca- rawas branch of the Muskingum. Crossing the portage, it fol- lowed down the Tuscarawas to Fort Laurens, an important military station about half a mile below the present town of Boli- var. From that point it ran directly west to Loramiê's Creek, a tributary of the Great Miami. Thence it followed a line almost due west of Fort Recovery, which point was very near the pres- ent eastern boundary of Indiana. It then ran in a southerly direction to the Ohio, to strike that stream near the mouth of the Kentucky River, which the Indians called Cuttawa.
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The United States, however, reserved within the limits of the lands thus retained by the Indians, six miles square at what was called Loramiê's Store, on Loramiê's Creek; two miles square at the head of boat navigation on the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Wabash; six miles square at the head of the navigable waters of the Auglaise; six miles square at Fort Defiance, situated at the confluence of the Auglaise and Maumee Rivers; twelve miles square at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, where the British had constructed Fort Miami; six miles square at the mouth of the Maumee, where it enters Lake Erie; six miles square on Sandusky Bay, where a fort formerly stood, and two miles square at the lower rapids of the Sandusky River.
In the annals of those days we meet with frequent mention of Loramiê's Store. A Frenchman had established a trading post at: the mouth of Loramie's Creek, about sixteen miles northwest of the present Town of Sidney. It was an important station, as here commenced the portage between the waters of the Miami, flowing into the Ohio, and those of the St. Mary, which, through the Maumee, entered Lake Erie. There is something wonderful in the power which the French had to endear themselves to the Indians. They seem always to have been on even affectionate terms with them. The Indians, as a general rule, welcomed them to all parts of their country. The most tender and lasting friend- ships sprang up between them. Colonel Johnston writes-
"I have often seen the Indians burst into tears when speaking of the time when their French father had dominion over them; and their attachment to this day remains unabated."
It is an undeniable fact, that while British gold purchased the reluctant alliance of the Indians, French friendliness won their cordial and loving support. Amidst all the horrors of savage: warfare, Loramiê was as secure, with his goods, in his lonely station in the wilderness, surrounded by savages, as if he had been on the boulevards of Paris. He had great influence with the. Indians.
When General Clarke, from Kentucky, invaded and laid desolate- the Miami valley, he plundered and burnt Loramie's store. The Frenchman had a large stock of goods, and many valuable furs: which he had purchased of the Indians. General Clarke, who was; greatly in want of money, ordered them all to be sold at auction. An amusing story is told of one Burke, an Irishman. He was
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considered but half witted, and was the butt of the army. Stroll- ing through the store he found about two hundred dollars in coin, tied up in a bag. He secreted it, by cutting a hole in a dilapi- dated saddle. At the auction no one bid for the saddle, it being deemed utterly worthless. It was struck off to Burke for a trifling sum, amidst roars of laughter! Burke began examining the saddle, and drew forth, as if he had but just then found it, the bag of money. Shaking it in the eyes of the men, he exclaimed tri- umphantly, "An' it is not so bad a bargain after all."
Loramiê, thus plundered, and with his trading post laid in ashes, emigrated with a colony of Shawanese Indians to the Spanish territories west of the Mississippi. They settled at the junction of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, where most of the rest of the nation eventually joined them.
General Wayne did not receive, during his lifetime, the honors to which he was entitled for the services he had rendered his country. Had he failed in his campaign, all the southern Indians, from the Savannah River to the Mississippi, would undoubtedly have combined with the northwestern tribes, and scenes of devas- tation, woe and death would have ensued which even the imagi- nation can scarcely exaggerate. At the close of the year 1796, General Wayne, returning from Detroit to the Eastern States, was taken sick in a humble log cabin at Presque Isle, on the shores of Lake Erie, now Erie, Pennsylvania. At that time it was but a little hamlet in the depths of the wilderness.
Here, after a short illness, he died, and at his request was buried under the flag staff of the fort. Subsequently his son removed his remains to Radnor Churchyard, Delaware County, Pennsylva- nia. We have no means of knowing what preparation General Wayne deemed it necessary to make for his transference to the spirit land.
"There is no death ; what seems such is transition. This life, of mortal breath, Is but the suburb of that life elysian Whose portals we call death."
CHAPTER XX.
ADVENTURES ON THE MUSKINGUM; AND THE FRENCH COLONY.
SCENE AT BIG BOTTOM-AT CROOKED CREEK - NARROW ESCAPE - AMUSEMENTS OF THE SETTLERS - BEQUEST TO THE OHIO COMPANY - POPULATION IN 1793 - THE SETTLER'S CABIN AND FURNITURE - THE TEA PARTY -PREPARATION OF CORN - THE HAND MILL -SURRENDER OF BRITISH POSTS - DIVISION OF THE NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY-GLOWING DESCRIPTION OF OHIO-FALSE REPRESENTATIONS - FOUNDING OF GALLIP- OLIS - TESTIMONY OF MONS. MULETTE-TRIALS OF THE COLONISTS-THEY APPEAL TO CONGRESS.
LET US now return to Marietta, on the Muskingum, to witness the scenes which have been transpiring there. In the autumn of 1790 a party of thirty-six men went from Marietta and commenced a settlement at Big Bottom. This was an expanse of rich meadow land, four miles above the mouth of Meigs Creek. They were mostly thoughtless young men, who deemed recklessness to be courage. The wiser men at Marietta considered it a very impru- dent step to take, in view of the menacing attitude of the Indians. They went, however, and erected a block house sufficiently capa- cious to accommodate the whole of them on an emergency. The house was built of large birch logs, unhewn. Being in a hurry, they postponed filling in the chinks between the logs to some future period. This was a fatal error. They planted no pickets around the house, and stationed no sentry. All engrossed in the construction of their new homes and farms, they introduced no system of military discipline or defense. Their guns were lying about any where, without order. Twenty men usually encamped in the block house. Each individual cooked for him- self. At one end of the room there was a fire-place. When the sun went down they all came in, built a large fire, whose blaze brilliantly illuminated the inclosure, and with jokes and merriment,
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prepared and ate their suppers. It was midwinter. The weather was unusually cold. It was not customary at this season of the year for Indian war parties to venture out. This idea lulled these pioneers into fatal security. About twenty rods above the block- house, at a short distance back from the river, two brothers, by the name of Choate, had erected a cabin and commenced clearing a lot. Two hired men lived with them. About the same dis- tance below the block-house there was another small cabin which two men by the name of Bullard occupied.
An old Indian trail, or war-path, leading across the State of Ohio, from the Sandusky Valley to the mouth of the Muskingum, passed along the opposite bank of the river from which there was a clear view of the little settlement on the opposite shore. The Indians during the Summer had been loitering around all the set- tlements, selling venison and bear's meat in exchange for corn and vegetables. They had thus rendered themselves familiar with the approaches to the settlements and the most feasible points of attack. They had now gone to their towns, far up the river, preparatory to winter quarters. They then planned and fitted out their war party.
The warriors reached the bank opposite Big Bottom early in the evening, crossed the river on the ice just above the settlement, and divided their men into two parties, one to attack the men in Choate's cabin, while the other took the block-house and then proceeded to capture the cabin of the Bullards below. The plan was skillfully arranged and successfully executed. Cautiously they approached Choate's cabin. The four men were at supper. Several of the Indians entered, assuming a friendly attitude, while others remained quietly outside the door. Looking eagerly around they espied some leather thongs which had been used in packing venison. At a given signal the rest rushed in, seized their victims who were unable to offer any resistance, and bound them firmly with the thongs. In the meantime the other and larger party advanced to the block-house unobserved. The whole interior was lighted by the blaze of the winter's fire. Peer- ing through the crevices they saw the whole party within, which consisted of but twelve persons, including a woman and two chil- dren, seated around the supper-table. Their guns were stacked in one corner of the room.
The sagacious Indians silently arranged themselves with their
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rifles around the door, each having selected his victim. One In- dian then threw open the door, and, stepping in, held it open. At the same instant the savages fired, and nearly every one fell dead. The woman, Mrs. Meehs, from Virginia, either by accident or design, was not hit. Seizing an ax she aimed a tremendous blow at the head of the Indian who opened the door. He dodged, but the blow fell upon his face, cutting off entirely one of his cheeks, and burying its keen edge in his shoulder. Before she could repeat the blow a tomahawk cleft her skull. The savages all rushed in, and scarcely a moment elapsed before the tomahawk had finished the work of death.
One of the young men, however, while this slaughter was going on, sprang to a ladder, by which he escaped to the top of the house. The savages followed him, and here he presented a fair mark for their rifles. Piteously he begged them to spare his life. They were merciless, and he fell pierced by their bullets. An- other young man, but sixteen years of age, crept under a bed. They dragged him out, and, satiated with massacre, carried him off as a captive.
There were but two men in the cabin of the Bullards. Hearing the firing they ran out and saw the demon Indians in and around the block-house. Seizing their rifles and some ammunition they plunged into the woods in a direction to be hid by the cabin from the sight of the Indians. Scarcely had they closed the door ere they heard it dashed in by the savages. In the darkness of the night they were not pursued. The Indians, thus triumphant, first carefully secured the scalps of all their victims. They then loaded themselves with all the plunder they deemed valuable. The dead bodies were then placed in a pile in the center of the room. The floor was torn up and thrown upon them. The torch was then applied, and the Indians, like fiends of darkness, disap- peared. Fourteen were killed and five were taken captive to Detroit. The two Bullards, who escaped, ran with the alarm to a small neighboring settlement at Wolf Creek.
The next day an armed party visited the ruins at Big Bottom. Dreadful was the sight which there met their view. Though the fire had not consumed the bodies, it had so charred and black- ened them that no recognition was possible. The walls of the block-house, which were built of green beech logs, remained standing. As the ground was frozen hard without, they dug a pit
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in the center of the hut, where they consigned these mutilated bodies to their mournful burial.
One cannot read this narrative without emotions of indignation blending with those of grief. Civilized men, if they have no regard for their own lives, have no right thus to trifle with the sympathies of humanity. Major Putnam lost a son in this mas- sacre, but he had in vain entreated that son to be more cautious in making preparations for defense against the Indians. Colonel Stacy, a veteran soldier, and familiar with Indian warfare, had two sons there. One of them was shot on the roof of the house. The other was dragged from beneath the bed and carried into captivity. The colonel had visited the post but a few days before the awful disaster, and entreated the inmates immediately to fill the chinks between the logs, so as to render them bullet-proof; to open port-holes for defense; immediately to prepare strong bars for the door, to be shut every night at sunset; and, without any delay, to establish a night watch. Had they done this the Indians would not have attacked them, and if they had the little garrison, with its supply of guns and ammunition, might easily have beaten off two or three hundred assailants. But these reck- less young men paid no heed to these common-sense warnings.
The Indians, who could laugh to scorn General St. Clair's unmilitary posting of his troops, might well look with contempt upon these fool-hardy young men. Having carefully watched their proceedings, though they supposed the settlement to num- ber thirty-six men, some of whom chanced to be absent on the occasion, they sent only twenty-five warriors to take their scalps, plunder their possessions, and burn down their station. Under the circumstances, had the white men outnumbered the Indians, two to one, the result would have been the same.
Prowling bands were continually wandering about, watching for opportunities to shoot the unwary and to plunder. A boat was wrecked at the mouth of Crooked Creek. A man went out, incau- tiously, from Stone's garrison, to draw the nails from it. Two Indians caught sight of him. Creeping cautiously along the bank they shot him, and took his scalp and his clothing. As he did not return that night an armed party went out in search of him. His mangled dead body was found by the side of the boat. This young man was to have been married the next day, and his wed- ding suit was already prepared. But here again we have an act
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of great imprudence as well as of disobedience. The rules of the garrison strictly forbade any one from going alone beyond gunshot of the station.
The next day six young men went down the Ohio in a canoe, in search of the murderers of their companion. They repaired to a pond, famous as a place for trapping beaver. Here they found unmistakable signs that Indians were about, and came across one of their traps ; it was near sunset. They concealed themselves in a thicket near by. They had not been long thus in ambush ere they saw a solitary Indian approaching. His quick eye caught their trail, and he saw at once that it was that of strangers. Slowly he moved along, anxiously examining it. When he had arrived within about a hundred feet of the ambush, one of the men fired, and the Indian fell; but as he fell he raised the shrill war whoop. It was instantly responded to by his compan- ions, forty in number, who were encamped at but a short distance. With loud yells they came rushing forward; the white men fled. Night was setting in; they were soon out of sight, amid the glooms of the forest. All night long they continued their flight, and at length reached their homes in safety.
Several young men had obtained lots on the south branch of Wolfe's Creek, about three miles from the Waterford Garrison. They were accustomed to go out well armed, and in company, to clear their lands. Very prudently they built a block-house, and cut the timber down all around, so that there should be no covert for a lurking foe. One morning it rained so violently that they remained in the block-house. One of them went to the creek, at a short distance from the house, to get some birch bark. In a few moments the report of a rifle was heard. Every one seized his gun, and every one rushed to a port-hole; through them they saw their companion running, wounded and bleeding, towards the house, followed by a gang of savages in hot pursuit. When within a few yards of the door he fell, utterly exhausted, yet piteously imploring his comrades to rescue him. Two of them rushed out and brought him in. Then, with unerring aim from their port-holes, they soon compelled the savages to retire. One of the young men then volunteered to carry tidings of the attack to Waterford Station.
An armed party was immediately sent to the rescue of the young men. Upon their arrival, they found the wounded man
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dying. He breathed his last that night. The party cautiously reconnoitered the region around. They found the spot where the Indians had concealed themselves the night before, and where they had made arrangements to decoy their victims, so as to secure the destruction of them all. Probably the rain alone, by shutting them up in the block-house, saved their lives. There were very many adventures similar to the above.
Still, notwithstanding all the privations of pioneer life, it would seem that the settlers had many bright and joyous days. The elasticity of the human mind is so wonderful, that it will find sources of enjoyment even under the most adverse circumstances. These intelligent settlers, who had come from the culture and re- finement of the States, had not plunged into the wilderness, that. they might consign their families to barbarism. The great object of their emigration was to lift them up to a higher elevation of opulence, intelligence and comfort. Schools were established in the block-houses, where the children were very carefully taught reading, writing and arithmetic. The young men had their games- of ball, leaping, wrestling, running. Foot-races were very much enjoyed, since fleetness of foot was often of inestimable advantage in their contests with the Indians. At all the military stations of the government, there were musical bands ; dancing to their in- spiriting tunes was a favorite recreation with the young people. It was, by now means, all work and no play with these bold adven- turers. Four or five times a year, pic-nic parties from Campus Martius, Fort Harmar and Farmer's Castle would meet at each others stations. They were always accompained by a strong guard.
These fortresses took the place of the old baronial castles of Europe in feudal days. There was the military pageantry; the merry making of all kinds, with feasting, dancing, rifle shooting and all athletic games. It must have been a spectacle almost like paradise, to see a little fleet of boats and fairy-like birch canoes, often gaily caparisoned, crowded with young men and maidens, floating down the gentle current of the beautiful river, to Farmer's Castle, at Belpre. The soul-stirring strains of the mar- tial bands would be floated over the water, and reverberated among the silent forest-clad hills. The moon would bathe the whole region in rays of loveliness, and God, our kind heavenly Father, would seem to say, through all the voices of nature, "I love to see my children happy."
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Congress had made a bequest of a hundred thousand acres of land to the Ohio Company, under condition that the company should obtain a resident settler for each one hundred acres, within a period of five years. All the land not taken up within the speci- fied time was to revert to the government. General R. Putnam was appointed by the government, the superintendent for survey- ing and deeding this land. For this service he was to receive five dollars from each person to whom he should give a deed. The person purchasing must be a male, not less than eighteen years of age.
In the year 1793 there were but a hundred and eighty-six males capable of bearing arms within the limits of the few stations clus- tered around the mouth of the Muskingum. The advance of wealth and luxury in the United States has been so great within the last half century that it is difficult for us to form a conception of the humble residences of these pioneers. The first object of the emigrant was to erect his cabin. Having selected his site, and generally with an eye to picturesque beauty, with a sunny exposure, a pleasant prospect, and, if possible, a rippling brook near his door, he constructed his walls of unhewn logs, piled one upon another, dove-tailed together at the ends. The interstices were compactly closed with clay, which soon became hardened in the sun. The floor was made of very rough planks, formed by splitting a log in two and hewing the surface as smooth as could be done with the broad-ax. The convex side of the log was buried in the earth, thus presenting a very solid and tolerably level floor. The roof was formed by sawing and splitting logs into a sort of clapboard, about six feet long and six or eight inches wide. The doors and windows were sawed out through the logs. The holes for the windows were pasted over with strong paper lubricated with bear's oil or lard. This effectually excluded the rain and yet allowed a softened light to enter the room. It was a very pleasant light when the sun shone brightly upon it, but sombre and gloomy in the dark days of storm and rain.
The furniture was of corresponding simplicity. The bedstead was formed by fastening two stakes, about two feet high, to the floor and four and a half feet from the wall. Poles were then extended from the wall, and from one stake to the other. This frame-work was covered with the split clapboards, or puncheons, as they were called, such as were used for the roof. The skins
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of the bear, the buffalo and the deer, constituted the bedding. A pot, kettle and frying-pan were considered the only indispensable utensils for cooking. A plate was a luxury which few enjoyed. The food could be eaten from trenchers or the puncheon table. The ingenuity of the good wife was sometimes pretty severely taxed in providing entertainment for an influx of visitors
" A year or two after we arrived," writes one of the early pio- neers, "a visiting party was arranged by the ladies in order to call on a neighboring family who lived a little out of the common way. The hostess was much pleased to see us, and immediately commenced preparing the usual treat on such occasions - a cup of tea, with its accompaniments. She had only one fire-proof vessel in the house, an old broken bake-kettle, and it was some time before tea was ready. In the first place, some pork was fried in the kettle to obtain lard; secondly, some cakes were made and fried in it; thirdly, some short cakes were prepared in it ; fourthly, it was used as a bucket to draw water; fifthly, the water was boiled in it; and finally the tea was put in, and a very excel- lent and sociable dish of tea we had."
The seats were generally three-legged stools. A few of the wealthier families had some split-bottomed chairs. Wood was abundant, and when this humble apartment was illumined with the blaze of the crackling fire, it presented quite an attractive aspect. Such was, in general, the home of the pioneer. But often has the emigrant, when his log hut has given place to the sealed house, with glass windows and carpeted floors, and luxu- rious chairs and porcelain-ware-often has he said, "I was never so happy as in my little log cabin."
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