USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > The history of Erie County, Pennsylvania > Part 2
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A drawing of these was made upon strong paper in 1851, and transmitted to Mr. George Johnston, of Sault St. Marie, a gentleman well versed in Indian languages, and by him was submitted to the examination of Shingowank, or Little Pine. The result of his inquiries was, that the island was the stronghold of the Eries during their fierce and unsuc- cessful contest with the Iroquois. On the south side of the island there is a crest-shaped and irregular earth-work, which has the general appearance of an embankment or cir- cumvallation intended to inclose and defend a village. The embankment is 1246 feet around the crest-shaped part, and about 400 feet on the rock brink of the island. Another
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
embankment on the western side is 614 feet front and 1243 feet around. Within these have been found stone axes, pipes, perforations, bone fish-hooks, fragments of pottery, arrow-heads, net-sinkers, and fragments of human bones. The arrow-heads were found in a fissure of the rock in large quantities, were evidently new, and had been concealed in this kind of rude armory; with them was found the largest species of axe figured, which had been apparently used. Five small mounds or burrows were also found on the south- ern and western parts of the island. On the north shore, on a bay, there is a brief pictographic inscription on a boul- der, which has been reversed by the force of the waters in a tempest.
The interest of this, however, is inferior to that excited by a sculptured rock 32 feet by 21, lying on the south shore of the island, about 200 feet from the west angle of the inclos- ure. The surface is smoothly polished, as well as the deeply- cut inscription, apparently by glacial attrition. According to Schoolcraft "it is the most extensive, and well-sculptured, and well-preserved inscription of the kind ever found in America." Its leading symbols are readily interpreted, and tell a thrilling story, in which the European acts a part. There are many subordinate figures which require
study. In some, the atmosphere and lake action have de- stroyed the connection, and others are of an anomalous char- acter. The whole inscription is manifestly connected with the occupation of the basin of the lake by the Eries, the coming of the Wyandots, and of the final flight of the people which have left their name upon the lake. There is an attempt to denote the position of Lake Erie ; pictures of two brothers surveying a scene of carnage-a pipe reversed, which indi- cates that they are despairing aud agonized. They are wild forest Indians, being drawn without hats. The date of these inscriptions is placed at 1625.
The Eries were known to be in "the plenitude of their power and barbaric boast of strength and influence" at the
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
period of the first discoveries of the French in the begin- ning of the seventeenth century. From the French they learned the use of fire-arms, and the Iroquois from the Dutch about the same time.
About five miles south of Franklin, Venango County, or nine by the river, on the left bank of the Allegheny, is a large rock covered with symbols or hieroglyphics, known by the present inhabitants as the "Indian God." Among the figures may be distinguished a turtle, a snake, an eye, an arrow, a sun, etc., symbols which undoubtedly record the exploits and illustrious actions of departed and forgotten nations. They have never been examined, that we are aware of, by any one capable of deciphering them. Many Indian graves are in the vicinity.
The only traces of an Indian village in Erie County are near Waterford, where there is a burying-ground, plum orchard, and other evidences of the Indians having chosen the hills around Lake Le Bœuf, and the beautiful creeks which flow into and from it, for their homes and hunting- grounds. The Six Nations were found in this region by the first white travelers, (in fact, it was purchased from them,) and yet comparatively few Indian remains are dis- covered. On the ridge a mile south and east of Erie, in making excavations, perhaps twenty years ago, a great number of human bones were found and graves opened, so that Mr. Colt, the owner of the land, considered it almost desecration to disturb them, and ordered the workmen to desist, feeling that it would be more appropriate to place a monument there.
An Indian mound was opened near the mouth of Walnut Creek, (in which vicinity many relics are found,) and some fragments of decomposed human skeletons were all that could be discovered. Two miles west of this mound is an embank- ment covered with the ordinary forest growth, which is known as the Old Indian Fort. A small stream near by is called Fort Run.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
There are also remains of an Indian fort between Girard and Springfield. From a grave in this vicinity, some years ago, a thigh-bone was exhumed which measured four inches longer than that of a man with which it was compared, who was six feet and two inches in height. About a mile south of Girard arrow-heads, pipes, pestles for pounding corn, etc., have been found. Near Mr. Gould's, in Springfield, four or five years since, more than fifty arrows, axes, etc. were found in one collection, just below the surface in the public road.
An ancient double fortification, inclosing about two acres, upon the Pomeroy farm, a mile or two northwest of Cranes- ville, has been pretty much farmed over. On the top of the bank, in 1830, oak trees four or five feet in diameter were growing. Skinning-stones, arrow-heads, an enormous skele- ton, and many other relics were found within the fort. A bed of coals a foot and a half below the surface appeared to be the remains of the fire of the occupants.
About one hundred yards above, on the opposite bank of the creek, was another fort, similar in appearance, and con- taining about the same quantity of ground. They are sup- posed to have been the encampments of two opposing armies.
In Scouler's woods, east of Erie, is an Indian burying- ground. Mr. Zimmerman described a very large skeleton which was found there; with it were two copper bowls per- forated at the edges and laced together with a buckskin thong, which fell to dust soon after being exposed to the air. The bowls, which would contain about a pint each, were found filled with beads.
A year or two since, on the farm of Judge Sterrett, four or five miles east of Erie, several skeletons were found in a sitting posture, facing the east, with drinking vessels near them. The same posture has been observed in other In- dian graves in this vicinity. We are not aware that any antiquarian has particularly examined these relics, or whether they resemble in their general features those of New York and Ohio, which are said to give evidence of a race more
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
skillful and persevering than the Iroquois. There is a tra- dition, as we have seen, that the Eries 200 years ago pos- sessed our soil; and still another, that the Massassagués had their hunting-grounds and lighted their council fires near the head waters of the Allegheny. It is difficult to realize that our fair lands were so recently under the domin- ion of the hideous, painted savages, and that but little more than two generations have passed since heathenish rites and ceremonies prevailed, and the bow and arrow gave place to the peaceful arts of civilized life.
CHAPTER II.
La Salle-The Griffin -Relics-Governor Shirley's Proposition - Brad- dock's Advice-Governor Delancy's Plan-Estimating Presqu'ile --- Hudson's Bay Company.
AMONG the adventurers who sought fame and fortune in the American wilderness, stood conspicuously Robert Cava- lier, Sieur de la Salle, a young man of eminence and learn- ing. He had received from Louis XIV. the rank of noble- man, a large domain, and an exclusive trading privilege with the Five Nations, but his ambition was far from being satis- fied with these. To extend the bounds of New France and to open commerce with Europe seemed to be his great object, and to this end he proposed a plan which was carried out many years after,-that of establishing military posts on the waters of the Mississippi.
August 7th, 1679, he launched the first wooden vessel that ever floated upon Lake Erie and called it "The Griffin," in allusion to the arms of Count Frontenac, Governor-Gen- eral of Canada, and who had honored La Salle with his friendship .* The Griffin was of sixty tons burden, and built
* There have been a diversity of opinions as to the locality of the Griffin ship-yard. Schoolcraft says near Buffalo; General Cass, at
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
at Cayuga Creek, six miles above the falls, on the American side. The Iroquois had gone to war beyond the lake while the Griffin was building; the few that remained manifested their dissatisfaction, and one, affecting to be drunk, attempted to kill a blacksmith. They were advised that some Senecas intended setting fire to the vessel while on the stocks, but a very strict watch was kept constantly. The Senecas refused to sell them Indian-corn, and they had many fears of a fail- ure of provisions, but Sunday exhortations kept up the cour- age of the workmen. Two savages of the Wolf tribe were engaged to hunt the roebuck, and other species of deer, for their use. The workmen were stimulated by the impression that the enterprise had sole reference to the glory of God, and the welfare of the Christian colonies. When the vessel was launched, it was blessed according to the Church of Rome. It was a moving fort, causing the savages to tremble wherever it was known. The Griffin passed the violent rapids of Lake Erie almost by miracle, the pilot himself having fears. They spread all sail, the wind being stormy, and in the most difficult places the sailors threw out lines which were drawn by ten or twelve men on the shore. After hav- ing chanted Te Deum, they fired all their cannon or arbesques in the presence of the Iroquois warriors and the captives they had brought from Tin-ton-ha, or people of the prairie.
It was freighted with provisions, merchandise, and seven small cannon, and had on board thirty-two passengers, being mostly fur traders and priests. In twenty days this perilous voyage was accomplished, and the pioneer vessel cast anchor in Green Bay. On the passage they encountered a severe
Erie ; Bancroft, at the mouth of Tonawanta Creek; Sparks, on the Canadian side of the Niagara. Those who have carefully examined the subject, and have had the best opportunity for judging, arc firm in the belief that the keel was laid at the mouth of Cayuga Creek, on the American side of the Niagara, about six miles above the Great Falls. In the vicinity, it has long been known by the name of the "Old Ship-yard."
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
storm. Among other tarryings, they gathered fruits, and made wine of the wild grapes of Michigan, discussed the question of planting a colony at Detroit, and established a trading-house at Mackinaw. At Green Bay the vessel was loaded with the finest furs, and again set sail for Niagara, but was never afterward heard from with certainty. Hen- nepin says: "It came to anchor at the mouth of the Lake Illinois, where it was seen by some savages, who told us that they advised our men to sail along the coast, and not toward the middle of the lake, because of the sands that make the lake dangerous when there are high winds. Our pilot, as I said before, was dissatisfied, and would steer as he pleased, without hearing to the advice of the savages, who, generally speaking, have more sense than the Europeans think at first. But the ship was hardly a league from the coast when it was tossed up by a violent storm in such a manner that our men were never heard from since; and it is supposed that the ship struck upon a sand, and was there buried. This was a great loss, for the ship and cargo cost 60,000 livres. The rigging, anchors, and goods were brought by canoes from Quebec and Fort Frontinac, which is such a vast charge that the carriage of every hundred weight cost 11 livres." Another author says the Griffin was lost a few days after leaving the Bay of Fetid. This and other misfortunes completely dis- heartened the daring traveler, as evinced by the name "Cre- vecœur," which he gave his fort built the same winter. After seven years of wanderings and adverse fortune, La Salle was basely robbed and murdered by one of his own men, and left without sepulture on the prairie, to be devoured by the wild beasts.
Parkman says of La Salle: "Ten years of his early life had passed in connection with the Jesuits, and his strong mind had hardened to iron under the discipline of that re- lentless school. To a sound judgment and penetrating sagacity, he joined a boundless enterprise and an adamant-
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IIISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
ine constancy of purpose. But his nature was stern and austere-he was prone to rule by fear rather than love-he took counsel of no man, and chilled all who approached him by his cold reserve."
There was a tradition among the Jesuits that the Griffin was driven ashore in a gale, the crew murdered, and the vessel plundered. Judging from relics found at different times, this may have occurred near Buffalo. In the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser of January 26th, 1848, a communi- cation appears from James W. Peters, of East Evans, Erie County : "Some thirty-five or forty years ago, on the Inger- soll farm, in Hamburg, below the Eighteen-mile Creek, and on a high bank in the woods, was found by Mr. Ingersoll a large quantity of wrought-iron, supposed to be 700 or 800 weight. It was evidently taken off a vessel, was of superior quality, much eaten by rust, and sunken deep in the soil. A large tree had fallen across it which was rotted and mixed with the earth. There were trees growing over the iron from six to twelve inches in diameter, which had to be grubbed up before all the iron could be reached. About twenty-seven years since, a man by the name of Walker, after a heavy blow on the lake, found on the beach, near where the irons were found, a cannon, and immediately under it a second one. I was there not forty-eight hours after they were found ; they were much defaced by age and rust, and filled up with sand. I cleared off enough from one to lay a number of letters bare. The words were French, and so declared at the time. The horns or trunnions were knocked off."
The venerable D. Eddy, of Hamburg, says: "In 1805 there was found upon the lake shore, where a large body of sand and gravel had been removed during a violent gale, a beautiful anchor. It was taken to Buffalo and Black Rock, and excited a good deal of curiosity ; but no one could de- termine to what vessel it belonged." A record of the loss of a vessel at a later period than that of La Salle would in
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
all probability have been preserved, and we may reasonably conclude that the iron, cannons, and anchor were those of the Griffin.
In the Maryland Gazette, August 23d, 1759, we find the following: "By a letter from Niagara, of the 21st ult., we learn that by the assistance and influence of Sir William Johnson there were upwards of eleven hundred Indians .convened there, who by their good behavior have justly gained the esteem of the whole army; that Sir William being informed that the enemy had buried a quantity of goods on an island about twenty miles from the post, sent a number of Indians to search for them, who found to the value of eight thousand pounds, and were in hopes of find- ing more; and that a French vessel, entirely laden with beaver, had foundered on the lake, where her crew, consisting of forty-one men, were all lost." This vessel, lost eighty years after the Griffin, we have no account of elsewhere. The relics found at Hamburg were but forty-six years after this time-not a sufficient period to cause the appearance those relics presented, the anchor deeply imbedded in sand and gravel, the timber growth, etc.
About 1750, Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, in writ- ing to Secretary Robinson, proposed the plan of building one or two vessels on each of the lakes-Erie and Ontario- with which, and a few small, fortified places of shelter upon the Ohio, he expected to curb the French, who were at this time the frequent occasion of difficulties and murders. Two years after, General Braddock named Presqu'ile as a snit- able place to build vessels for securing the navigation of Lake Erie, which, he says, "together with those designed for Lake Ontario, would make the English masters of the great lakes and the Ohio country, until the French can get a force upon those lakes, which it seems very difficult if not impos- sible for them to do when our vessels are cruising upon them." General Braddock also requested that a magazine of pro- visions in the back of Pennsylvania be established, from
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
whence to supply himself by a road through the mountains to the waters of the Ohio-"the road to extend to Venango and Niagara, which would be of infinite use in subsisting the troops, as that region abounds more with provisions than any other colony in North America."
The estimation in which Presqu'ile was held one hun- dred years ago will be seen in a letter dated August 7th, 1755, from Lieutenant-Governor De Lancy to Secretary Robinson : "The third method of distressing the French is by way of Oswego; to go thither we pass, as I observed before, through the country of our Indian friends-by water it is a much less expensive carriage than by land-from Os- wego we may go westward by water through Lake Ontario to Niagara. If we become masters of this pass, the French cannot go to reinforce or victual their garrisons at Presqu'- ile, Beeve River, or on the Ohio but with great difficulty and expense, and by a tedious, long passage. From the fort at Niagara there is a land carriage of about three leagues to the waters above the falls; thence we go to Lake Erie, and so to the Fort Presqu'ile; and if we take that, the French can carry no supplies of provisions, nor send men to the head of Beeve River, (Le Bœuf,) or to the Fort Du Quesne on the Ohio, and of course those forts will be aban- doned. The same batteaux which carry the train, provisions, etc., for the army to Oswego may carry them to Niagara, and being transported above the Falls, the same may carry them to Presqu'ile, the fort on the south side of Lake Erie, so that it will be practicable to bring the expense of such an expedition into a moderate compass-far less than the expense of wagons, horses, etc., which are necessary in an expedition by land from Virginia to Ohio; besides that, proceeding from Virginia to Fort Du Quesne, if it be taken, it is only cutting off a toe, but taking Presqu'ile you lop off a limb from the French and greatly disable them."
Relating to the commerce of Lake Erie, we find that as early as 1669 the Hudson's Bay Company was incorporated,
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
and transported its goods, provisions, and peltries in bat- teaux for many years after.
In 1789 the British had vessels on Lake Erie for the trans- portation of his Majesty's troops and effects. The subject of commerce and shipping on Lake Erie is continued in Chapter XI.
CHAPTER III.
The English and French Claims-Construction of Forts Presqu'ile (Erie) and Le Bœuf (Waterford) -Washington's Visit-Condition of these Forts in 1756, '57, '58, and '59-Their Desertion after the taking of Fort Niagara-Tradition in Erie-Major Rogers takes Possession for the English in 1760.
THE treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, of 1748, which closed the war in Europe, left the boundaries of the French and Eng- lish possessions in America undefined. In the opinion of the French, the discovery of the mouth of the St. Lawrence and of the Mississippi entitled their sovereign to the terri- tory watered by those streams. The abstract of Sieur de Champlain, 1612, claims for them the possession of all the countries from Florida to Cape Breton prior to any other Christian nation. Afterward this was renewed by Sieur de la Salle, with thirty Frenchmen, among whom were Mons. Jolliet, priest and superior of the seminary at Mon- treal, and Father Marquette, who made a tour of Lake Erie and took possession of the circumjacent lands. Celeron de Bienville, with a company of three hundred men, was sent out by the Governor of Canada in 1749, to make peace among the tribes, and to renew the French possession of the country. He dispensed presents to the Indians, reminded them of their former friendships, and warned them not to trade with the English. He also nailed leaden plates to the trees, and buried them in the earth at the confluence of the Ohio and its tributaries. One of these plates was found a
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
few years since at the junction of the Great Kanhawa and Ohio, dated January 18th; another at Muskingum the 16th of August; and a third at Venango, (Franklin.) The fol- lowing is a literal translation of the one last named : "In the year 1749, in the reign of Louis XV., King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Galissoniere, commander-in-chief of New France, to establish tranquillity in certain villages of these cantons, have buried this plate at the confluence of Toradakoin, this 29th of July, near the River Ohio, otherwise beautiful river, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, inasmuch as the preceding kings of France have enjoyed this possession and maintained it by their arms and by treaties, especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix-la-chapelle."
The Indians regarded these plates with suspicion, and said, "they mean to steal our country from us;" and these suspicions were not groundless, for in a few years the French unceremoniously possessed themselves of their best tracts for trading-honses and fortifications.
June 30th, 1749, a letter was received by express from General Clinton, purporting that two New England men, on their return from Canada, where they had been to solicit the release of some prisoners, reported that they saw an army of 1000 French ready to go on some expedition, and they were informed it was to prevent any settlements being made by the English on Belle Riviere; whereupon it was determ- ined to dispatch a messenger to Mr. George Croghan, with a request that he would go immediately to Allegheny, and on his arrival send away a trader, or some person he could confide in, to the lakes or to the eastward, to discover whether any French were coming in those parts, and if any, in what number, and what appearance they made, that the Indians might be apprised and put upon their guard.
January, 1750 .- The Governor informed the council that three several letters, of an extraordinary nature, in French,
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
signed "Celeron," were delivered to him by the French traders who came from Allegheny, informing him that this Captain Celeron was a French officer, and had the command of three hundred French and some Indians sent this summer to Ohio and the Wabash from Canada, to reprove the In- dians for their friendship to the English, and for suffering the English to trade with them. The Governor sent one of the letters to the proprietaries in London, and another to the Governor of New York, that the same might be laid before the ministry.
A letter from George Croghan, dated Logstown, in Ohio, December 16th, 1750, contains the intelligence that he ar- rived the 15th, and was told by Indians that they saw Jean Cœur one hundred and fifty miles up the river, where he intended building a fort. The Indians he had seen were of opinion that the English should have a fort or forts on this river to secure the trade. They expected a war with the French the next spring.
February 6th .- In a letter of Governor Clinton, dated Fort George, January 29th, 1750, is the following: ""I send you a copy of an inscription on a leaden plate stolen from Jean Cœur, in the Senecas' country, as he was going to the Ohio."
The claim of England to this region was founded on a grant of King James the First, dated 1606, and confirmed in 1620, to divers of his subjects, of all the countries be- tween north latitude 48° and 34°, and westward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea-not a right only to the sea-coast, but to all the inland country from sea to sea. England had, also, through commissioners from Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, purchased western lands from the Six Nations. This treaty was held at Lancaster in 1744, between two hundred and fifty-two Indians, with Conrad Weiser as friend and interpreter, and the Governor of Penn- sylvania, with Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel William Beverly, of Virginia. The commissioners of Maryland paid
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
for their purchase £220 in goods; Virginia, £220 in gold and the same amount in goods, with promises that more should be paid as settlements increased. The chief subse- quently disputed the sale of any lands west of the Warrior's Road, which was at the foot of the Allegheny ridge. In reality the Indians were intoxicated through the whole con- ference, and it was only through much ingenuity and persua- sion that they were induced to sign a deed confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, which was effected at Logstown, seventeen miles below Pittsburg, in 1752.
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