HISTORY OF OHIO - 401 an island above town, where we pulled some corn, took it to mill, and, excepting some of the raw grains, had nothing to eat from the day before, until we carried home the flour and made some bread; but we had neither milk nor meat. I had learned to be thankful when I had a sufficiency of wholesome food, however plain, and was blessed with health. "I had been nearly a year at Gallipolis when Captain Smith, of the United States Army, came along, in advance of the barge of General Wilkinson. According to the request of my father, he took me into his custody, for the purpose of bringing me once more to my native place. He remained two or three days, waiting for the general, and in the meantime procured me hat, shoes and clothes, befitting a gentleman's son, and then took me on board his boat. Shortly after the general overtook us, I was transferred. on board his barge as a playmate for his son Biddle, a boy of my own age. The general's lady, and several ladies and gentlemen, were on board his boat, which was fitted up in a style of convenience, and even magnificence, scarcely surpassed even by the present steamboats. It was propelled against the stream by twenty-five or thirty men, sometimes by the pole, the cordelle, and often by the oar. There was also a band of musicians on board, and the whole had the appearance of a party of pleasure. "My senses were overpowered. It seemed an elysium. The splendor of the furniture, the elegance of the dresses, and then the luxuries of the table, to a half-starved creature like me, produced an effect which can scarcely be described. Every repast was a royal banquet and such delicacies were placed before me as I had never seen before, and in sufficient abundance to satiate my insatiable appetite. The general's countenance was continually lighted up with smiles, and he seemed faire le bonheur of all around him. It seemed his business to make every one happy. His countenance and manners were such as I have rarely seen and now that I can form a more just estimate of them, were such as better fitted him for a court than a republic. His lady was truly an estimable person, of the mildest and softest manners. She gave her son and myself a reproof one day, a reproof which I never forgot. She saw us catching minnows with pin-hooks, made us desist, and then explained to us the cruelty of taking away life wantonly from the humblest thing in creation " It is not generally supposed that the Scioto company intended: 402 - HISTORY OF OHIO. to defraud the emigrants. The company included many men of established integrity of character. It was formed solely as a lan speculation. The richest of the western lands could be purchase of Congress for sixty-six cents an acre. Payment could be made in continental paper, which could then be purchased in almost any quantities at so enormous a discount that the actual cost per ac would not be more than eight or ten cents. The terms offered t the emigrants by the company were, that they would take the to their lands, paying the expense of transportation, supply the with food, and at the end of three years give them a deed of fifty acres of land and a cow. For this the emigrant was bound t work for the company for the three years, draining marshes, clearing the forest, and raising crops for the rapidly increasing market, or to pay down a certain sum. If the labor of the emigrant was worth fifty cents per day in addition to his food, his cabin and his other incidental expenses, the company would receive about one hundred dollars an acre, This certainly afforded scope for a very brilliant speculation. But the chickens were indeed counted unhatched. The adoption of the Federal Constitution, and the successful establishment of the government under Washington, greatly raised the price of governmental securities. The Scioto company failed to make the expected purchase. All its affairs were thrown into confusion by bad management. Colonel Rufus Putnam contracted to build the blockhouses and cabins ; but the company failed of payment, and he lost a large sum of money. In the meantime, Joel Barlow in France, had engaged his five hundred emigrants. They had already embarked and were on their way. The result was misery and ruin. We have given some extracts from the " recollections " of Mr, Breckenridge of his visit to the French colony, in the year 1795, just after the arrival of the emigrants. Twelve years after this, in the year 1807, he revisited Gallipolis, and gives the following interesting account of the changes which those few intervening years had introduced : " As we passed Point Pleasant and the island below it, Gallipolis, which I looked for with anxious feelings, hove in sight. I thought of the French inhabitants I thought of my friend Saugrain, and I recalled, in the liveliest colors, the incidents of that portion of my life which was passed here. A year is a long time HISTORY OF OHIO - 403 at that period. Every day is crowded with new, and great, arid striking events. When the boat landed, I ran up the bank and looked around. But alas, how changed ! The Americans had taken the town in hand, and no trace of antiquity, that is of twelve years ago, remained. I hastened to the spot where I expected to find the abode, the little log-house tavern, and laboratory, of the doctor. But they had vanished like the palace of Aladdin. After some inquiry, I found a little Frenchman who, like the old woman of Goldsmith's Village, was the sad historian of the deserted plain ; that is, deserted by one race to be peopled by another. "He led me to where a few logs might be seen, as the only remains of the once-happy tenement which had sheltered me ; but all around it was a common : the town had taken a different direction. My heart sickened ; the picture which my imagination had drawn — the scenes which my memory had loved to cherish —were blotted out and obliterated. A volume of reminiscences seemed to be annihilated in an instant. I took a hasty glance at the new town, as I returned to the boat. I saw brick houses, painted frames, fanciful enclosures, ornamental trees ! Even the pond, which had carried off a third of the French population by its malaria, had disappeared, and a pretty green had usurped its place, with a neat brick court house in the midst of it. This was too much; I hastened my pace, and with sorrow once more pushed into the stream." Though the grinding of corn by a hand-mill was a great improvement upon pounding it in a rude mortar, still the process was slow and laborious. Very many settlers had no mill, but were compelled to rely upon what was called the " hominy mortar." It is said that the first mill carried by water-power was built upon a boat or float on the Little Miami River. The boat was firmly anchored in the middle of the stream, or tied to some tree on the bank. The great mill-wheel was slowly turned by the force of the current. It was an inefficient concern, yet so far superior to anything before enjoyed, that settlers often came to it from quite a distance. Soon a larger boat of the same general character, was built upon the Ohio. But with the rapid increase of population which peace secured, these conveniences were increased and multiplied. Grist mills began to rise in various parts of the vast territory, where rushing streams afforded a good water- 404 - HISTORY OF OHIO. power. It was not uncommon for the pioneer to take two or three pack-horses, load them with sacks of corn, and set out on a journey of twenty or thirty miles to have the grist ground. As his route often led through a pathless forest, where there was not even an Indian trail to guide his steps, it was necessary for him to take with him a gun and ammunition, an ax, a pocket-compass, a blanket and bells. At times it was necessary to cut a path through the dense woods, or to bridge some small stream. If night overtook him on his way, he must procure fuel for his fire, and game for his supper. With powder he could soon kindle his fire, and, experienced in all the emergencies of a backwoodsman's life, he could speedily rear for himself a shelter against or rain. The bright flame of his fire would also drive off the approach of wild animals. Having removed the loads from the horses, the bells were attached to their necks, and they were driven forth to find such pasturage as the forest afforded. The pioneer often doubtless shot some game by the way, and he knew well where to find and how to cut the most delicious morsels, With his blanket or his buffalo-robe spread upon the ground, and his feet towards the fire, the weary traveler, in the solitudes of the forest, with the wind wailing his lullaby in the branches of the trees, richly enjoyed the blessing of sleep. With the dawning of day he sprang from his couch, and eagerly listened for the bells, which would guide him to the spot where his horses were brousing. They were too weary and hungry to stray far. He could generally find a spot for his encampment where there was a sufficiency of forage. Having collected and loaded his animals, and partaken of his breakfast, he was again upon his way. After the peace of Greenville, the emigrant could take these journeys without fear of being murdered and scalped by the Indians. The hardships to be encountered by the settler are in themselves very severe. If we add to them the horrors of Indian warfare, it would seem that they must be unendurable. After this long journey the emigrants often had to wait one or two days before his turn for the grinding would come. One of these backwoodsmen, a noble man, whose name deserves to be perpetuated, Jacob Faust, had a sick wife whom he tenderly loved. There was nothing in the coarse fare of the cabin which her delicate appetite could relish. He purchased a bushel of HISTORY OF OHIO - 405 wheat, took it upon his shoulders and traveled seventy miles, through the trails of the forest, to a mill at what is now Zanesville. Here he had his wheat ground and bolted and carried back to the sick bed of his wife food which she could enjoy. The pioneers, as well as the Indians, relied mainly upon t he furs, which they obtained by trapping or in the chase, for means to purchase, by barter, the few necessaries which they could not raise on their lands. There was an Indian trail, which the moccasined feet had trodden for unknown generations, leading across Ohio from the Valley of the Sandusky to the Tuscarawas. As the relations of peace continued and were strengthened, trading houses were established on many of these routes. It was not an uncommon sight to see a single hunter coming to one of the trading posts in the Spring, with twenty horses laden with his Winter's work. This consisted generally of furs, jerked venison and bear's oil. Their horses were loose, and either from training or instinct followed each other in single file. Their mode of conducting business was peculiar, and yet quite in harmony with the undemonstrative and taciturn character of the Indian. A group of Indians would walk into the merchant's store, and silently, perhaps, without any recognition of the merchant, each take one of the seats which were always in readiness for them. The merchant then presented a small quantity of tobacco to each one. They lighted their pipes and deliberately smoked, occasionally exchanging with each other a few words in a low tone of voice. In the meantime their eyes were glancing over the store, at the stock of goods exhibited for sale. At length one would rise, advance to the counter, and, taking the yard-stick, would point to some article and inquire " How much ?" The established currency consisted of furs. A muskrat skin was equivalent to a quarter of a dollar; a raccoon skin, a third of a dollar ; a doe skin, half a dollar ; a buck skin, one dollar. Perhaps the article at which he pointed would be a brass kettle. The merchant would simply reply two dollars and a half. There was never one word of chaffering. The Indian never endeavored to cheapen the article — to beat down the price. If dissatisfied with the price, he would express no dissatisfaction, but would quietly turn to some other article. If satisfied, he would take from his pack two buck skins and a raccoon skin, or furs equivalent to that amount, and lay them upon the counter. Hav- 25 406 - HISTORY OF OHIO. ing made this purchase and paid for it, he would then turn to another article. He always paid for each thing before inquiring for anything else. When he was through, another, we know not by what law of precedence, took his turn. There was never any strife or bickering among them. They were very careful not to trade when intoxicated. They however generally reserved some of their; skins with which to buy whisky, after all their other purchases were made. They would then, in the evening, meet around their camp fire and have a barbarian carouse until morning. Nearly all articles of dress were of domestic manufacture. Wolves so abounded that sheep could not be kept. Their depredations were so great, that very early in the settlement of the state a bounty was offered of from four to six dollars for their scalps. This rendered wolf-hunting, in some sections, very lucrative employment. Wool being thus unattainable, many of the garments were made of flax or hemp, homespun. The skins of deer, when nicely dressed, afforded very warm and comfortable clothing, and was much worn by the men. A woman in a cotton check was considered superbly dressed for her bridal. A yard of this material then cost one dollar, and five yards gave an ample pattern for bridal robes. Return Jonathan Meigs, subsequently Governor of Ohio, was one of the first settlers of Marietta. He was born at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1765. He graduated at Yale College, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in his native town. He took an active and very heroic part in the conflict of the Revolution. At the close of the war he was appointed one of the surveyors of the Ohio Company. In the year 1788 he landed at Marietta, and entered upon the duties of his office. He immediately entered upon a survey of the meanderings of the Ohio River, from the Muskingum down to the mouth of the Big Sandy. In this adventure he encountered many perils and hardships. Quite a well armed party accompanied him, and he returned to Marietta in safety, though another company connected with his had seven men shot by the Indians. Colonel Meigs' residence at Marietta was in the Campus Martius, he being a part of the garrison which held that fortress. He had planted a small field of corn upon the west side of the river, not HISTORY OF OHIO - 407 far from Fort Harman To reach this field he crossed the Muskingum River in a canoe, and then walked nearly a mile in a narrow path through the dense forest. One pleasant morning in Julie, Colonel Meigs went with a colored servant boy and a hired laborer, Joseph Symonds, to his corn-field. With imprudence, which seems to us now to have amounted to unpardonable recklessness, neither the boy nor the hired man took their rifles. Flocks of wild turkeys were then extraordinarily abundant, and Colonel Meigs carried a small shot-gun, that he might bring home with him some of the game which he was sure to meet with by the way. A hundred turkeys in a flock were not uncommon, and these of extraordinary fatness. As they were returning at the close of the afternoon, just before they reached the river, Colonel Meigs not having chanced to have met any turkeys by the way, discharged his gun at a large snake which crossed his path. At the moment, two Indians, lying in ambush, and who had been watching the movements of the party, seeing that two were without guns, and that the one only gun they had was empty, sprang into the path but a few steps behind them, and, firing, shot Symonds through the shoulder. Symonds, who was a very powerful man, with his arm thus disabled, rushed down the banks, plunged into the Muskingum, and floating and swimming with the rapid current, was soon picked up by a canoe from Fort Harmar. The garrison had heard the two guns, and were on the watch, apprehensive of danger. The black boy endeavored to follow Symonds. One of the Indians pursued him, buried the tomahawk in his brain, and with a yell of savage delight, stripped off his scalp. Colonel Meigs rushed upon the savage who had discharged his rifle, and with his clubbed gun endeavored to beat him down. The Indian did the same. Each struck the other a staggering blow, but neither was disabled. Colonel Meigs was in the vigor of his early manhood, and a very swift runner. He dropped his gun, and with the utmost speed commenced his flight towards Fort Harmar. The powerful and athletic savage, with equal speed pursued. For sixty or eighty rods there was no perceptible advantage on either side but every rod passed over was bringing the Colonel nearer the protection of the fort. Colonel Meigs soon encountered a deep gulley traversing his path. Life and death hung trembling in the balance. With a prodigious effort he leaped the run. The savage could not accom- 408 - HISTORY OF OHIO. plish the feat. Stopping upon the brink he uttered a loud yell of disappointment and rage, and hurled his tomahawk at his foe. The weapon missed its aim. The yell of the savage was heard at both Fort Harmar and Campus Martius, rousing both garrisons to arms. Colonel Meigs rushed in at the gates of Fort Harmar, which were open to receive him. The Indians, with the scalp of the boy as the trophy of their triumph, fled into the depths of the wilderness. Symonds, though very painfully wounded, eventually recovered. In the triumphant campaign of General Wayne to the Maumee country, Colonel Meigs took an active part. He was commissary of the clothing department, and after the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, distributed such clothing as had been promised to the Indians, as well as to our own troops. He was also appointed to see that all the prisoners held by the Indians were released, as stipulated in the articles of the treaty. He made very careful investigations to ascertain what captives had been taken by the savages, and what had been their fate. There was a poor widow residing at Marietta by the name of Kelly. Four years before this, their lonely cabin had been at. tacked by the Indians, who had killed her husband, carried away her little son Joseph as a captive, while she had almost miraculously escaped. From that dreadful hour the bereaved and widowed mother had never received any tidings whatever from her child. She knew not if he were living or dead. The sympathies of Colonel Meigs were strongly excited in behalf of this afflicted woman whom he well knew. He made all possible inquiries for Joseph, but could learn nothing of him. As the Indians very seldom put boys to death, after taking them prisoners, Colonel Meigs was of the impression that the child was still living, held by some family who had become attached to him, and were reluctant to give him up. In the Autumn of 1795, the Indians had brought in and surrendered, as they said, all their captives. Still no Joseph Kelly was among them. Colonel Meigs, however, continued to inquire for him of every new Indian whom he met. At length two savages came to the settlement, who, upon being closely questioned, said that there were two white boys in an Indian family far away in the wilderness near the head-waters of the Auglaise River. Colonel Meigs immediately dispatched a white man, with one of these Indians HISTORY OF OHIO - 409 as a guide, to ascertain the facts. Threading the trails of the forest for many leagues, they at length reached a cluster of a few Indian huts, surrounded by the solitudes of the forest. Here they found Joseph, and another boy by the name of Bill. Joseph was in the family of an old Indian warrior by the name of Mishalena. The old man had lost in the war with the white man, all of his sons, five in number. He had but one child, a daughter left. He had adopted Joseph, the child of his mortal enemies, as his own son. He was but six years of age when captured, and was now eleven. Joseph had become so much attached to his new parents, his forest home, and the Indian boys with whom he was associated, that he was very reluctant to leave them. He always testified that his adopted father, Mishalena, was one of fhe most kind and benevolent men he had ever met with. He was a man of noble aspect, and dignified demeanor, and he treated his adopted son with all the tenderness which a Christian father could have displayed. The old man in his prime had been one of the most noted hunters of the tribe. He was extremely popular, and was still regarded as one of their most able counselors. Joseph says that his adopted mother, whose name was Patepsa, was of a less genial and affectionate temperament, though she always treated him kindly, and gave him plenty of food when she had it. Yet she never accepted him with the hearty good will and tenderness which the father manifested. Still she evidently loved him, perhaps, as strongly as it was in her nature to love, any one. They had given Joseph a new name, that of Lala. He had been with them so long that he had forgotten his native language, and most of the incidents of his earlier life. The other boy, whose name was Bill, was captured when so young that he had entirely forgotten the family name. He had but a dim recollection of an awful midnight scene of conflagration and blood, when all were killed but himself. A warm-hearted Indian widow, who had no children, had adopted him, and apparently loved him with all the fondness with which any mother could love a child. She parted with him with tears of anguish, and the boy had no desire to leave so loving a mother. Mishalena and Patepsa accompanied their loved boy to Greenville. The father gave him at parting a beautiful bow and arrows, made with his own hands. Upon the arrival of the two boys at Fort Greenville, no ordinary observer could discern any difference 410 - HISTORY OF OHIO. between them and other Indian boys. Bronzed by exposure to the weather, speaking the language, wearing the dress, and having insensibly imbibed all the habits of the Indians, there was but little external evidence that the white man's blood flowed through their veins. As soon as they reached the fort, Colonel Meigs sent for a tailor and fitted them with warm woolen dresses. The blanket and leggins of the Indian were thrown aside. But a short time before this rescue of the boys; Colonel Meigs wrote to Mrs. Kelly that he could learn no tidings of her lost child, and that in all probability he was dead. Joseph's mother had des-. cribed to Colonel Meigs the color of his hair, his eyes, and his general features. So accurately had she done this that, at the first glimpse of the two boys, he selected Joseph. On being questioned, he remember ed the names of his brothers and sisters, and that his own name was Joseph Kelly. This satisfied the colonel that he had found the lost son of the sorrowing widow. She was a Christian mother, and, from the time of his capture, never had a day passed without his being remembered in her prayers. So anxious was the sympathetic, kind-hearted colonel to restore the boy to his mother, that he started. in February to cross the pathless swamps and dense forests of Ohio for distant Marietta. A young, active and intelligent Indian guided the party, which consisted of six soldiers and eight horses. They made almost a bee-line through the wilderness, until they struck the Muskingum River. at Big Rock, which was a noted Indian landmark about twenty-four miles above Marietta. While upon this journey an incident occurred which exhibits very strongly the sagacity of the Indian in traversing the forest. One day a severe storm came an. The smothering snow - flakes filled the air so that they could see but a few rods before them, They were in the midst of a vast swamp, covered with a very thick growth of beech trees. Most of the party became bewildered, Colonel Meigs took out his compass, and after carefully examining it, pointed to the east as the direction in which their course lay. But the Indian, whose name was Thorn, shook his head and pointed to the southeast. The colonel, having more confidence in the accuracy of the compass than in the sagacity of the Indian, insisted on following the guidance of the needle. The Indian at length became irritated, and exclaimed in broken English, "What care I for compass," shouldered his musket and pursued his own HISTORY OF OHIO - 411 course. They all followed the Indian and soon found that he was right, and the colonel and the compass wrong. The party reached Marietta early in March, and the mother had the unspeakable satisfaction of again clasping in her arms her long lost son, for whom she had so perseveringly and fervently prayed. It was through the unwearied efforts of Colonel Meigs that this was accomplished. A few years after this he was appointed by President Jefferson Indian Agent among the Cherokees. He resided in their country until his death in 1832. It has been truly written of him : "During a long life of activity and usefulness, no man ever sustained a character more irreproachable than Colonel Meigs. He was a pattern of excellence, as a patriot, philanthropist and Christian. In all the vicissitudes of fortune, the duties of religion were strictly observed, and its precepts strikingly exemplified. In the discharge of his duties among the Cherokees, he acquired their highest confidence. They loved and revered him as a father, denominating him for his integrity and uprightness, ' The White Path.'" Joseph Kelly, after his return to his friends, gave a very affecting account of the ruin and devastation inflicted upon his Indian friends by the army of General Wayne. Their villages on the Auglaise and the Maumee were very comfortably built. Their cabins, though lowly, furnished warm and cheerful homes for their inmates. They were supplied with many convenient articles of furniture, some of which had been constructed at an immensity of labor. They had also, with their furs, purchased of the white traders many articles of inestimable value to them, such as kettles, hatchets, and garden tools. They had articles of clothing, very elaborately and laboriously made, and often richly ornamented with embroidery, beads and fringes. They had also provided themselves with comfortable beds, with bedding of blankets and furs. In these dwellings were to be found the sick, the aged, and the new born babes. Each little but had its garden and its cornfield, which were carefully cultivated by the women. In these they raised quite a rich supply of corn, beans, melons, squashes, and other vegetables. They had also some fine orchards. The avenging army was commissioned to destroy every thing. Fearfully it accomplished its work. The most awful devastation swept the whole land. It would seem that the terrified and flying 412 - HISTORY OF OHIO. Indians themselves, when caught sight of men, women and children, were shot down as wolves would be shot by the hunter. This may have been deemed, under the circumstances, a necessary policy. But it was terribly cruel, though it must be admitted, that it proved effective. Major Jonathan Haskell, who was a prominent actor in these scenes, writes : " We have marched through the Indian settlements for about sixty miles. We have destroyed several thousand acres of corn, beans, and all kinds of vegetables, and burned their houses, with their furniture and tools. A detachment has gone to Fort Recovery for a supply of provisions for the troops, and when it returns we shall march up the Miami, sixty miles to where the St. Mary's unites with the St. Joseph's, and destroy all the corn in that country." It is said that even the British troops, in their inroads upon the white settlements during the Revolutionary War, were never guilty of atrocities more horrible than were inflicted by our armies upon these native inhabitants of the soil. Joseph Kelly, then a boy of twelve years, was residing with his aged adopted parents in a very pleasant Indian village, at the junction of the Auglaise and the St. Mary's Rivers. All the warriors were gone; only the aged men, the women and the children, remained. Joseph had found there a very happy home. One morning, just after sunrise, as he was playing with the little Indian boys and girls, whom he loved, an Indian runner came rushing into the village, and almost breathlessly announced that the Indians had been utterly defeated by General Wayne, and that a large party of white men, on horseback, was rapidly approaching, burning every house and shooting every Indian, old and young, male and female, whom they could overtake. Dreadful was the consternation into which the little village was thrown. Not a moment was to be lost. In another instant, the dragoons might appear, applying the torch and shooting the helpless people. Terror-stricken, and with loud wailings, mothers with their babes, the aged men and the sick, rushed to the river, sprang into the birch canoes, and paddled up the stream, to find refuge in the remote fastnesses of the woods. They abandoned every thing. T,hey had scarcely a blanket to wrap around them in the chill night. Scarcely had the canoes disappeared beyond the curvatures of the stream ere the clatter of the horses was heard, HISTORY OF OHIO - 413 as the avengers entered the doomed village. Had a single canoe remained in sight, it would certainly have been riddled by the bullets of the sharpshooters, and Joseph Kelly and Bill might have been slain by their own countrymen. The torch was applied to the village ; every house was burned ; every fruit-bearing tree was cut down; every garden and field was laid waste. The melons were just beginning to ripen, and rich squashes embellished the gardens. The vines were pulled up by the roots, and all such products of the soil were devoured by the horses or trampled under their feet. When the Indians again cautiously returned to their desolated homes, even their imobility was softened, and they wept bitterly over the ruin which had overtaken them, and the still greater ruin impending. The autumnal season would soon pass away. Cold Winter would soon be upon them. They had no houses, no sufficient clothing, no tools, no food. Starvation and misery stared them in the face. Their worst anticipations were more than realized. All suffered from cold and hunger; many perished in lingering wretchedness. Game was by no means sufficient to supply their wants. They were in the habit of laying up their winter's stores as regularly as the white people. Those who survived the Winter were barely kept alive by the few deer they could shoot, and fish they could catch. Alas for man ! The most mournful of all themes is the history of the nations. War and woe have, since the fall, been the lot of humanity. How long, 0 Lord ! how long ! CHAPTER XXII. MODERN CHIVALRY. CHARACTER OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF OHIO - JAMES MITCHELL VARNUM- HIS CHARACTER, APPEARANCE AND DRESS-HE REMOVES TO MARIETTA - HIS FAILING HEALTH-HIS LETTER TO HIS WIFE - WILLIAM DANA - COLONEL BATELLE- HIS BIRTH, EDUCATION AND CHARACTER- CATCHING A BEAR-MAJOR GOODALE - HIS FORESIGHT - HIS DISAPPEARANCE-DR. TRUE CRUELTY OF PROWLING INDIANS- CAPTAIN HUBBELL - HIS HEROISM - CAREFUL PREPARATIONS - FEARFUL BATTLES - SAVAGES DEFEATED, AS WE have mentioned, the majority of the early pioneers in the settlement of Ohio were very noble men, intellectually, morally and religiously. They were generally men who revered the religion of Jesus Christ; who recognized Gcd as our common father, and all men as brothers. In heart and life they wished to adopt the fundamental rule of Christianity in their intercourse with their fellow men, Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you. They would have had no difficulty with the Indians but for the worthless, vagabond white men, who roamed the country as regardless of right as fiends from pandemonium would have been, and whom no laws could restrain. Among these good men who aided in laying the foundations of the State of Ohio, James Mitchell Varnum deserves honorable mention. He was one of those in whom all the elements of manhood seemed to be thoroughly developed. He had a kind heart, a mind highly cultivated, a devout Christian spirit, and physical energies which it would seem nothing could tire. Mr. Varnum was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, in 1749, and graduated at Brown University, at the age of twenty, with the first honors of his class. He was distinguished alike for his mathematical abilities, his classical attainments, and his extraordinary gymnastic skill. He was a very active and efficient officer in the Revolution- HISTORY OF OHIO - 415 ary war, was very highly regarded by Washington, and attained the rank of brigadier general. At the close of the war he resumed the practice of law at East Greenwich, and attained great celebrity for his remarkable oratorical powers. In the year 1786 he was elected to Congress, where he more than sustained the reputation he had already gained as a man of uncommon talents and brilliant eloquence. Much of the old English aristocratic feeling at that time pervaded the colonies. There was generally a marked distinction between the dress of the so-called gentleman and the commoner. General Varnum always appeared elegantly dressed. The following is a description of his person and attire as seen on the floor of Congress: "General Varnum appeared with a brick-colored coat, trimmed with gold lace; buckskin small clothes, with gold lace bands; silk stockings and boots; a high, delicate and white forehead, eyes prominent and of a dark hue, his complexion rather florid; somewhat corpulent, well proportioned, and finely formed for strength and agility; large eyebrows; nose straight and rather broad; teeth perfectly white ; a profuse head of hair, short on the forehead, turned up some, and deeply powdered and clubbed. When he took off his cocked hat he would lightly brush his hair forward, and with a fascinating smile take his seat." It will be remembered that the Ohio Land Company originated with the disbanded officers of the revolutionary army. They had but little chance of obtaining any pay for their services unless they took it in land. General Varnum was appointed one of the directors of this company. When General Arthur St. Clair en tered upon his office as Governor of the Northwestern Territory, General Varnum, Samuel H. Parsons and John Cleaves Symmes were appointed Judges of the Supreme Court. General Varnum immediately repaired to Marietta, where he arrived in June of 1788. In the fourth of July celebration at Fort Harmar, to which we have before alluded, General Varnum delivered the oration. It is said to have been a production of unusual eloquence, and was published by order of the directors of the Land Company. Soon after the arrival of General Varnum at Marietta, his health began to fail, and alarming symptoms of consumption made their appearance. Though he rapidly grew more feeble, he devoted himself with much energy to the fulfillment of all his duties. His 416 - HISTORY OF OHIO. fine taste led him to exert himself to preserve those ancient remains at Marietta of a departed race, who must have inhabited the valley in ages long gone by. Ere long it became evident that his life was drawing to a close. From his dying bed he wrote to his absent wife the following letter. It has often been published as a fine specimen of elegant composition. It is worthy of record here, as illustrative of the character of the man and of the power of Christian faith to sustain one in the dread hour of departure from earth : " My dearest and most estimable friend : "I now address you from my sick chamber, and perhaps it will be the last letter that you will receive from me. My lungs are so far affected that it is impossible for me to recover but by exchange of air and a warm climate. I expect to leave this place on Sunday or Monday next for the Falls of the Ohio. If I feel myself mended by the tour, I shall go no further; but if not, and my strength should continue, I expect to proceed to New Orleans, and from thence, by the West Indies, to Rhode Island. My physicians, most of them, think the chances of recovery in my favor. However, I am not either elevated or depressed by the force of opinion, but shall meet my fate with humility and fortitude. "I cannot, however, but indulge the hope that I shall again embrace my lovely friend in this world, and that we may glide smoothly down the tide of time for a few years, and enjoy together the more substantial happiness and satisfaction, as we have already the desirable pleasures of life. It is now almost nineteen years since Heaven connected us by the tenderest and most sacred of ties ; and it is the same length of time that our friendship hath been increased by every rational and endearing motive. It is now stronger than death, and I am firmly persuaded will follow us into an existence of never-ending felicity. " But, my lovely friend, the gloomy moment will arrive when we must part. And should it arrive during our present separation, my last, and only reluctant thought, will be employed about my dearest Martha. Life, my dearest friend, is but a bubble. It soon bursts, and is remitted to eternity. When we look back to the earliest recollections of youthful hours, it seems but the last period of our rest, and we appear to emerge from a night of slumbers, to look forward to real existence. When we look forward, HISTORY OF OHIO - 417 time appears as indeterminate as eternity, and we have no idea of its termination but by the period of our dissolution. "What particular relation it bears to a future state, our general notions of religion cannot point out ; we feel something constantly active within us, that is evidently beyond the reach of mortality; but whether it is a part of ourselves, or an emanation from the pure source of existence, or re-absorbed when death shall have finished his work, human wisdom cannot determine. Whether the demolition of the body introduces only a change in the manner of our being, or leaves it to progress infinitely, alternately elevated and depressed, according to the propriety of our conduct ; or whether we return to the common mass of unthinking matter, philosophy hesitates to decide. "I know, therefore, but one source from whence can be derived complete consolation in a dying hour; and that is, the divine system contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There life and immortality are brought to light. There we are taught that our existence is to be eternal ; and, secure in an interest in the atoning merits of a bleeding Saviour, that we shall be inconceivably happy. A firm and unshaken faith in this doctrine must raise us above the doubts and fears that hang upon every other system, and enable us to view with a calm serenity the approach of the king of terrors, and to hold him as a kind and indulgent friend, speeding his shafts only to carry us the sooner to our everlasting home. "But should there be a more extensive religion beyond the veil, and without the reach of mortal observation, the Christian religion is by no means shaken thereby, as it is not opposed to any principle that admits the perfect benevolence of the Deity. My only doubt is, whether the punishment threatened in the New Testament, is annexed to a state of unbelief which may be removed hereafter, and so a restoration take place, or whether the state of the mind at death irretrievably fixes its doom forever. "I hope and pray that the Divine Spirit will give me such assurance of an acceptance with God, through the merits and sufferings of his Son, as to brighten the way to immediate happiness. Dry up your tears, charming mourner, nor suffer this letter to give you too much disquietude. Consider the facts, at present, as in theory ; but the sentiments such as will apply whenever the change may come. 418 - HISTORY OF OHIO. " I know that humanity must and will be indulged in its keenest griefs ; but there is no advantage in too deeply anticipating our inevitable sorrows. If I did not persuade myself that you would conduct yourself with becoming prudence and fortitude, upon this occasion, my own unhappiness would be greatly increased, and perhaps my disorder too ; but I have so much confidence in your discretion as to unbosom my inmost soul. " You must not expect to hear from me again, until the coming Spring, as the river will soon be shut up with ice, and there will be no communication from below, and if in a situation for the purpose, I will return as soon as practicable. Give my sincerest love to all those whom you hold dear. I hope to see them again, and love them more than ever. "Adieu, my dearest friend, and while I fervently devote, in one undivided prayer, our immortal souls to the care, forgiveness, mercy, and all-prevailing grace of Heaven, in time and through eternity, I must bid you a long, long, long farewell, " JAMES M. VARNUM," Such were the thoughts and the utterances of a dweller in a log cabin, on the forest-covered banks of the Muskingum three-fourths of a century ago. There were many such men, in that band of pioneers of whom Ohio may justly feel proud. The disease of General Varnum made such rapid progress, that he was unable to leave Marietta. He died on the 8th of January, 1789, and was buried with all the marks of respect and affection which his noble character had elicited. His wife, Martha Childe, was a highly educated and accomplished woman, from one of the distinguished families of Rhode Island. She survived her husband forty-eight years. In searching the annals of those ancient days we, now and then, catch a very vivid glimpse of the physical hardships which the settlers were called to endure. William Dana, from Worcester, Massachusetts, was captain of an artillery company in the Revolution. His means were limited, and he found it difficult to support a growing family from a New England farm. Accounts which he received from military associates who had emigrated to the Ohio, led him to follow them. Leaving behind him at Amherst, New Hampshire, his wife and younger children, until he could make preparation to receive them, he took with him his two older boys, and reached Marietta the last HISTORY OF OHIO - 419 of June, 1789. It was too late to plant corn. He however built a small log cabin, and with his boys, commenced making bricks, the first which were made in the territory. These were in great demand for chimneys, and thus he supplied his immediate wants. The next year he brought out his family, and joined the little colony of Belpre, which was situated on very beautiful meadow-land, just above the head of what has since been called Blennerhassett's Island. The first labor of these pioneers was to clear the land of the gigantic growth of forest trees which encumbered it. This left but little time to build a comfortable cabin, and the family were lodged in a mere shed, so small that all could not be accommodated in it at night. The two oldest boys slept in a covered shed. Such were the humble beginnings of real prosperity. The climate was delightful. The land was fertile. Crops were abundant, and with the rapidly increasing emigration, brought good prices. We soon find Captain Dana in a well-built and well-furnished frame house, surrounded with fertile fields and a thrifty forest. Eight sons and three daughters in health and happiness surrounded his amply-provided table. Colonel Battelle was another of these marked men whose virtues still live in the institutions which they established and maintained. He was born in Dedham, Massachusetts ; the son of Christian parents, and was educated at Cambridge University, designing to enter the ministry. The Revolutionary struggle called him to the field of battle, where he attained the rank of colonel. At the close of the war he became partner in a book-store with Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, and married Anna Durant, daughter of a rich merchant of Boston. On the formation of the Ohio Company, he became an associate, and was appointed one of their agents. It took him six weeks to effect the passage of the rugged defiles of the Alleghany mountains. He reached Marietta the latter part of May, 1788, and spent the Summer in erecting a comfortable dwelling for his family, who remained in Boston. The latter part of October, he recrossed the mountains to meet his wife and children at Baltimore, and conduct them in their long and toilsome journey over the Alleghanies. Mrs. Battelle, who had been nurtured amid all the luxuries of one of the most opulent families in Boston, found the journey excessively fatiguing. Having reached the Alleghany 420 - HISTORY OF OHIO. River, they abandoned their wagons, and, with several other families from New England, embarked in a large flatboat, to float down to Marietta. They reached their destination in December. The Winter passed very pleasantly away. There were then many gentlemen and ladies of high worth and culture occupying the log cabins at the mouth of the Muskingum. Governor St. Clair was there, with Judges Varnum, Parsons and Symmes. Many of the officers who garrisoned the Forts Harmar and Campus Martius, were men of science and refinement. The weather chanced to be unusually mild and salubrious. The Indians were all friendly, and the remarkable assemblage of chieftains and warriors from many tribes added much to the novel attractions of the place. Game was abundant, and there was no peril in pursuing it at any distance from the forts. The river was unincumbered with ice, and boats with provisions and all needful articles were continually floating down from Pittsburgh. Such are the blessings of peace. It was during this Winter that the plan was formed for establishing a new settlement, at Belpre or Beautiful Prairie. On the first of May, Colonel Battelle, with two of his sons, and another very distinguished emigrant, Griffin Greene, embarked at Marietta in a large canoe, with tools and provisions, to commence operations there. Others very soon joined them. Two strong block. houses were built, sufficiently capacious to accommodate them all. Not long after this, before any families had moved to the place, a party of officers from Fort Harmar, with quite a number of ladies from Marietta, took a very splendid barge, propelled by twelve rowers, and descended the river to pay their friends a visit. These were the first white females who had ever set foot on the soil of Belpre. They had a very merry time, nothing occurring to mar their enjoyment. As the party set out on its return to the barge, Colonel Battelle, with a few of his friends, followed in a light birch canoe. While on the way, a huge bear was seen swimming across the river. Rapidly plying their paddles in the canoe, they soon overtook him. He was a very formidable animal, with teeth and claws which warned all to keep at a distance. One blow from his paws might have overturned the boat, or rent open its side. It would seem that there was no rifle in the canoe. It was necessary to approach the creature with extreme caution. Colonel Battelle seized him by the tail, and by raising his haunches, threw HISTORY OF OHIO - 421 his head under water. The half-suffocated animal was soon dispatched with an ax. He weighed over three hundred pounds, and his savory flesh afforded ,several very dainty feasts to the captors. The colony of Belpre rapidly increased, and the celebrated fort called " Farmer's Castle," was built. The block-house, which Colonel Battelle had built for his family, occupied the northeast corner of the fort. A lower room of the building was fitted up for divine worship, and these religiously-disposed men had services there every Sabbath. The colonel's son, Ebenezer, a lad of fourteen years, who was drummer to the garrison, every Sabbath marched through the little settlement, summoning the inhabitants to the church. The colonel himself often officiated as chaplain. He frequently preached from the fullness of his own heart. Sometimes he read a sermon of some standard divine. Thus the Sabbath was honored, and the community ennobled. But as Satan entered Eden, so war came, eventually, to mar all this happiness. Major Nathan Goodale was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts. In July, 1788, he arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, with his family and several others from Massachusetts. It is worthy of notice, as illustrative of the foresight of the man, that when he left his native state in one of the strong, canvas-covered Ohio wagons, so well known in those days, instead of taking a team of horses or of oxen, as all others did, he selected three of the best cows and one of the finest bulls, and trained them to work together in a team. With these he drew his wagon, with his family and household goods, the whole distance across the mountains, to Wheeling. Here he took a boat, and with cattle, wagon and family, floated down the Ohio. The journey was accomplished with as much ease, and in as short a time, as could have been the case with the best oxen. He had also the advantage of a supply of milk for his family while on the road. The stock from this breed has been widely spread. The cattle are held in high estimation, for their graceful forms, gentle dispositions, and great abundance of milk. Major Goodale united with the Belpre colony. He was esteemed as one of the most valuable members of the community. When the war with the Indians broke out in 1791, he was one of the most active in planning and erecting Farmer's Castle, and was 26 422 - HISTORY OF OHIO. unanimously elected commandant of the garrison. Notwithstanding the war which mainly raged far away on the banks of the Maumee, and the Miamis, the colony at Belpre so increased that in the Winter of 1793 more families were assembled there than could be conveniently congregated within the walls of the fort incase of an assault. It was therefore decided to build two additional stockades; one a mile and a half below Farmers' Castle, on Major Goodale's farm, and another a little distance above, on Colonel Stone's land, nearly opposite the little Kanawha. CAPTURE OF MAJOR GOODALE. Major Goodale removed his family to his new garrison. It was not known that there were any hostile Indians around, and there was no special occasion for watchfulness. But he had been but one week in his new home, when, on the morning of the first day of March, 1793, he went out to work, clearing his farm. A hired laborer, an Irishman by the name of John McGee, accompanied him. They were at work but about forty rods from the house. While John was grubbing up the bushes and small trees, Major Goodale with a yoke of oxen was at a little distance, hauling timber for rails. Suddenly he seemed to vanish, nobody knew how HISTORY OF OHIO - 423 or where. No gun was heard, no savage yell was uttered, no Indians were seen, no marks of a struggle could be found. Major Goodale had disappeared ; that was all that was known. No clue whatever could be found. The first intimation that was had of the disaster was by some one in the garrison observing that the oxen were standing idle in the field, with no one near them. An hour passed and still there they stood. This excited surprise and some little alarm. John was still quietly at work, unconscious that anything unusual had happened. A search was immediately instituted. In the woods, at some little distance from the clearing, there was a light layer of snow which the sun had not yet melted. Here at length was found the imprint of several moccasined feet. This indicated that Indians had been there. But no blood could be seen on the ground, and therefore they inferred that Major Goodale had been very strangely captured, but not killed. A small body of armed men followed the trail for a short distance, but soon lost it. The next day a larger party set out, but returned in discouragement, having learned nothing. Terrible was the distress of Mrs. Goodale and the children. The imagination brooded over the probable fate of the lost man. A deep gloom was thrown over the whole community; for Major Goodale had won the affection and confidence of them all. For six years not the slightest information could be obtained respecting his fate. It seemed as if an awful mystery hung over his destiny, which would never be revealed. At the treaty of Greenville, when all the captives held by the Indians were given up, no intelligence whatever could be obtained respecting Major Goodale. At length, in the year 1799, Colonel Forest, who was an intimate friend of the Goodale family, was in Detroit, where he fell in with three Indians. They related to him the particulars of their capture of Major Goodale in the Spring of 1793. They said that a party of eight were out on the war-path, watching the settlements for an opportunity to make some attack, They had concealed themselves behind a small ridge in the vicinity of Belpre, when they heard a man calling to his oxen. Cautiously they crept along when his back was turned to them, until they reached a point near which they knew he must soon come, and where he would be out of sight of the man who was working with him. When Major Goodale arrived at that spot, which was just in the edge of the wood, they rushed upon him, seized 424 - HISTORY OF OHIO. him, and with the uplifted tomahawk, threatened him with instant death should he make the slightest noise. They bound his hands firmly behind him and commenced a rapid retreat. It was their intention to take him to Detroit, where they expected to obtain a large sum for his ransom. When they reached the Valley of the Sandusky, their captive, exhausted by the hurried journey and mental agitation, fell sick. He was so utterly prostrated that he could travel no farther. They left him at the house of the wife of an Indian trader, a Mrs. Whitaker, where he almost immediately died of pleurisy. Mrs. Whitaker subsequently confirmed this statement. She said that the Indians left him at her house without inflicting any cruelty upon their captive. They had merely adopted such measures as were necessary to prevent his escape. Sad as was the fate of Major Goodale, it was a great relief to his friends to learn that he had not perished beneath the horrors of Indian torture. His memory was for many years affectionately cherished by his associates, who have now all passed away, and their descendants still honor the many virtues which adorned his character. Dr. Jabez True was born in Hampstead, New Hampshire, in the year 1762, where his father, a highly educated man and a fine classical scholar, was pastor of the church. Jabez, having been thoroughly instructed by his father, entered upon the study of medicine, and commenced practice in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. Glowing descriptions had reached him, of the new earthly paradise to be found on the banks of the Ohio. He accordingly joined a party of emigrants from Newburyport, Massachusetts, and reached the mouth of the Muskingum early in the Summer of 1788. The country then presented the aspect of quite an unbroken wilderness. But few white men had as yet entered that region of hostile savages. There was more employment for strong arms to fell the forest and build log cabins than for medical practitioners. The next year several young men from Boston, came to Marietta. They had heard much of the beauty and fertility of the Ohio Valley, and determined to see for themselves. Putting up a log cabin, they commenced clearing the land. But city young men are not often accustomed to swing the ax with sufficient perseverance to be good woodsmen. It is not strange that these laborious employments discouraged some of them, and when the HISTORY OF OHIO - 425 wars with the Indians threatened them with the scalping knife, they thought discretion the better part of valor, and returned to Boston. Dr. True was of a more persevering nature. He had gone to the West with the deliberate intention of spending his life there, and from that purpose he could not easily be turned. His intelligence, energy and upright character, soon won for him the confidence of the community, and he was appointed assistant surgeon to the Ohio Company's troops. As there were several small stations in the vicinity of Marietta, it was necessary that he should be occasionally called from one post to another. These excursions, when hostile Indians were prowling about, watching from ambuscades to fire upon every unwary traveler, were at times. extremely hazardous. As all these stations at that time were either upon the banks of the Muskingum or the Ohio, Dr. True generally made his trips in a birch canoe, well armed himself, and accompanied by two well armed soldiers. Early in the Spring of 1792, one of the settlers of Belpre, Mr. Stephen Sherwood, went out one morning, soon after sunrise, to his field at a little distance from the house, but upon the banks of the river. At the same time his wife went to milk a cow which was standing about twenty yards from the gate of the upper blockhouse. Mr. Sherwood having reached his field, stepped into a thicket to cut an ox goad, intending to plow that day among the young corn. As he was cutting his stick, ten Indians who were waiting in ambush sprang upon him, overpowered him, and made him prisoner. Having bound him firmly, two of them remained to watch their captive, while the other eight stealthily crept down towards his cabin to capture his wife and plunder the dwelling. As Mrs. Sherwood was absorbed in milking, the noise of the milk falling into the pail preventing her from hearing the approach of moccasined footsteps, two of the Indians crept up behind and seized her. She'was a strong, muscular woman, fifty years of age, who had always resided on the frontiers. She made such frantic struggles to escape that the savages became alarmed, and relinquishing their plan of taking her captive, struck her down with the tomahawk, and instantly commenced the operation of taking off her scalp. It was the work of but a moment. Two men, Peter Anderson and Joel Dewey, had just risen from their beds in the block-house, and were putting their rifles in order for a hunt. 426 - HISTORY OF OHIO. Anderson's gun lay across his knee, and having taken off the lock, cleaned and oiled it, he was about, to replace it when he heard the screams of Mrs. Sherwood, and rightly judged the cause. He clapped on the lock without fastening it with the. screws, and sprang up the staircase to fire through a port-hole, should any savage be in sight. He had taken deliberate aim at an Indian, and was just upon the point of firing when the lock dropped from his gun. At this instant Joel Dewey, whose gun was in good condition, sprang to his side, took deliberate aim at the savage who was scalping Mrs. Sherwood, and shattered with his bullet the arm which was wielding the scalping knife, before the operation was accomplished. The Indians seeing the effect of this shot, and knowing not how soon others might follow it, precipitately fled. Anderson and Dewey, though there were eight Indians to be encountered, heroically rushed from the block-house, seized the prostrate and insensible Mrs. Sherwood by the shoulders and feet, and brought her in at the gate. The Indians turned and discharged a volley of bullets, which fortunately did not strike either of them. The morning was foggy, the Indians were at quite a distance, and the movements of the pioneers were very rapid. Many of the bullets, however, pierced the logs on each side of the doorway. Mrs. Sherwood remained for some time without any signs of life, having been thoroughly stunned by the dreadful blow. Her head was gashed in the most frightful manner, and the blood had flowed all over her person. At length there were some signs of returning sensibility. A young man took a birch canoe, and with his rifle as his only protection, paddled up the stream to Marietta, which place he reached before nightfall. Immediately Dr. True, ever ready to listen to the call of the distressed, embarked with him, and rapidly through the night they paddled down the stream, reaching the wounded woman in the early dawn of the morning. Under the doctor's kind and skillful care Mrs. Sherwood entirely recovered. Her husband soon after escaped from his captivity, and they lived many years happily together. Dr. True was a sincere Christian, a member of the Congregational Church in Marietta, and for many years one of its honored deacons. In the year 1792, when the Indians were becoming very troublesome, and a general war with the savages seemed inevitable, Cap- HISTORY OF OHIO - 427 tain William Hubbell, with his family and two or three other families, nine of whom were men, were on the route across the mountains to find a new home somewhere on the banks of the beautiful river. Having reached the Alleghany River in their wagons some forty or fifty miles above Pittsburgh, they purchased one of the large flat-bottomed boats then in vogue for that purpose, and commenced floating down the stream. Rumors had reached them of many hostile acts of the Indians, and they deemed it necessary to practice the utmost caution. Their whole party. numbered twenty, there being in addition to the nine men three women and eight children. It was the latter part of March— a lovely season in that genial clime. The streams were swollen by the Spring floods, and swept along with calm, majestic placidity to their final destination in the Gulf of Mexico. The buds were bursting into leaf on the luxuriant hill-sides, and the flowers were beginning to expand in great profusion. Hardly anything can be conceived of as more delightful for one who had the soul to enjoy it, than such a voyage through the luxuriance, silence and sublimity of the primeval forest. Water-fowl of varied plumage floated upon the unruffled surface of the stream ; turkeys, often in immense flocks, were seen in the groves, while buffalo, deer, and other game, were browsing in the distant glades. They passed by the little cluster of huts beneath the shelter of Fort Pitt, and entered the broad Ohio without encountering any alarm. They were careful to keep in the middle of the stream, and never to land for wood or game except at points where it was manifest that no Indians could lie in ambush. Thus they floated on day after day, enjoying ease and abundance, and feasting their eyes with the scenery opening around them. They made a short tarry at Fort Harmar ; another at Gallipolis, where they heard alarming reports of the increasing hostility of the Indians, and of emigrant boats attacked and captured by savages in fleets of birch canoes. Captain Hubbell, who had been appointed commander of the boat, made every preparation in his power to repel an attack should one be made. All the guns were put in perfect order, loaded and placed in the best position for immediate service. The nine men were divided into three watches for the night. They were to be on vigilant look-out alternately two hours at a time. We have often had occasion to allude to the utter recklessness 428 - HISTORY OF OHIO. sometimes practiced by the pioneers, which led to the most awful disasters which might easily have been averted by the exercise of a little prudence. There were now two very distinct classes of emigrants crowding into the boundless fields of the far West. The one class consisted of intelligent, industrious, Christian men and women, such as laid the foundations of Marietta and Cincinnati, and all the other thriving settlements in the Territory of the Northwest. Another class consisted of fugitives from justice, broken-down gamblers—profane, lazy and drunken. On the evening of the 23d of March, Captain Hubbell overtook six boats laden with passengers of the latter description. When he first came in sight of these boats he was greatly rejoiced, thinking that by descending the river in their company, they could easily repel any force which the savages could bring against them. But he soon found to his great disappointment that he had fallen in with a gang with whom he could have no sympathies. They were a reckless set of desperadoes, upon whom no reliance could be placed in the hour of danger. They were fiddling, dancing, drinking, swearing, having adopted no precautions to repel an attack. Captain Hubbell therefore wisely considered it more hazardous to remain in such company than to be alone. He accordingly ordered his men vigorously to ply their oars, and the midnight revelers were soon left far behind. One of the boats of this disgraceful fleet, commanded by Captain Greathouse, seemed to have adopted the same opinion with Captain Hubbell. He also left the reckless carousers, and for several miles followed closely in company with Captain Hubbell. But about midnight his crew became weary and fell asleep, and his boat also was left behind in the gloom. Early in the morning, Captain Hubbell saw far in the distance down the river, a single birch canoe. It was unquestionably occupied by keen-eyed savages, who were on the watch to give notice to a war party of the approach of a boat. Though no force whatever was to be seen, Captain Hubbell made immediate and vigorous preparations for battle. The force of the current would soon sweep him down to the point where the canoe had been seen, and from which it had disappeared. He ordered the boat to be kept well over on the left side of the river, so as to be out of gun-shot from the shore. Every man had his position, with his gun loaded, and a second one loaded by his HISTORY OF OHIO - 429 side. The women and children were directed, as soon as the action should commence, to lie flat on the cabin-floor. Trunks and other baggage were piled up around them, to prevent their being struck by bullets,. which might pierce the plank sides of the boat. Scarcely were these preparations completed when a voice from the shore was heard, calling loudly, and in most piteous tones, to come to the shore, and take on board a white man who had escaped from the Indians. No attention whatever was paid to these supplications, for such attempts of the wily Indians to decoy boats were now well known. When the savages perceived that this strategem had failed, the wailing voice of entreaty was changed into the coarsest language of vituperation and insult. Quite a dense morning mist now covered the stream. But the plash of many distant paddles was heard, and soon three large Indian canoes, each filled with about twenty-five warriors, came rapidly upon the boat through the fog. Every man was in position. Captain Hubbell seemed as calm as though nothing unusual were occurring. "Let not a gun," said he, "be fired till the savage is near enough for the flash to singe his eye-brows. Take deliberate aim, and be sure that every bullet shall kill an Indian. Try not to fire simultaneously, but endeavor to keep up such success in discharges that there shall be no interval between them." Fearful were the odds of seventy-five savage warriors, well armed with rifles, against nine white men. As soon as the canoes arrived within musket shot, a general fire from one of them was given. The bullets fell upon and around the assailed like hailstones. One bullet struck Mr. Tucker upon the hip, shattering the bone so that the limb hung only by the flesh. Another passed through the side of Mr. Light. With military precision the canoes were brought into action, by placing one at the bows, one at the stern, and the third at the right side of the barge they were assailing. The valiant little crew, now reduced to seven, kept up an incessant fife, every bullet killing a warrior, and sometimes wounding two or three more, as they were crowded closely together in their birch canoes. The Indians seemed to be staggered by this tremendous and unexpected slaughter, every moment costing them the lives of several warriors. Though they kept up a frenzied fire, they were far less deliberate in their aim, and many of their bullets were thrown away. 430 - HISTORY OF OHIO. Captain Hubbell, having shot an Indian threw down his gun and immediately caught up another, which had fallen from the hands of a wounded man. He was just raising it to his shoulder to throw another bullet into the heart of a foe, when a ball struck the lock of his own gun and carried it away. Very coolly he seized a brand of fire from the caboose and still taking unerring aim applied it to the powder in the pan, and another fell dead in his blood. In the midst of such awful scenes, minutes are as hours. The Indians for a moment seemed to rally, and on both sides the firing was very vigorous. Captain Hubbell rapidly reloaded his gun, and was for a third time taking aim, when a bullet passed through his right arm. Scarcely had he recovered from the shock, when he saw the Indians from one of the canoes, endeavoring to board the boat at the bows. Here the horses were placed. Some of the Indians in the endeavor to clamber into the boat had actually clasped its side with their hands. Captain Hubbell forgetting his wound, drew a pair of horse pistols in his belt, fired and the foremost Indian was shot dead, crimsoning the water with his blood. Quick as thought the other pistol was discharged, and another warrior fell back in the canoe a corpse. The captain was now left unarmed; but it so chanced that there was a massive club lying by, which had been brought on board for firewood. He seized it, and in the frenzied strength which the occasion gave, rained down such a tempest of blows upon the head and hands of the Indian, crushing some skulls, and breaking some bones, that with yells they gave way, and withdrew the canoe from their terrible assailant. In the meantime, the deadly fire was continued. Every discharge of the musket was the death knell of the Indian. The savages had no protection whatever, but the white men had so barricaded themselves, behind 'the gunwale of the boat, and were so protected by the baggage, that but a small portion of their bodies was exposed. The Indians having been terribly whipped, and uttering hideous yells of hatred and defiance, gave up the contest. But just at that moment the boat of Captain Greathouse hove in sight. The Indians with a simultaneous war whoop turned upon them. They had made no preparation for the fight. In utter consternation, as they viewed the disparity of numbers, and saw the impossibility of resistance, they surrendered without striking a HISTORY OF OHIO - 431 blow, undoubtedly thinking, that if taken captive without having slain any of the warriors, they would be spared death by torture. They consequently all fled into the cabin and the Indians making the shores echo with their yells of triumph, with rapid paddles took the boat to land. They immediately tomahawked and scalped the captain and a boy of fourteen. There were three or four women on board. The savages took these women, placed them in one of their large canoes, which they manned with picked warriors, and again advanced to attack Captain Hubbell's boat. They thought the white man would not venture to fire upon them, when they stood behind a barricade of their country women. A melancholy alternative now presented itself to these brave men. But Captain Hubbell very justly remarked, that the law of self preservation made duty plain ; and that it might not be a calamity to the women, to be rescued by sudden death, from all the cruelties of captivity among the savages. There were now but four men left on board Captain Hubbell's boat capable of offering any serious resistance. The captain himself had received two severe wounds. But they were all prepared for a renewal of the fight. Every gun was loaded, so that the discharges could be more rapid, and the barricades were repaired, so that the Indians could scarcely catch a glimpse of their foes. The battle was short and bloody for the assailants. The bottom of the canoe was soon covered with the bodies of the slain, and they could see no evidence that they were making any impression on the assailed. With another yell of rage the savages retired, probably to wreak their vengeance upon the captives whom they held. Just then the current swept the boat near the Ohio shore. Again the hopes of the Indians were revived. Four or five hundred were seen rushing down the banks shouting like so many fiends, as the boat was brought within easy rifle shot. There were only two men in the boat, Ray and Plasent, who remained unwounded. They were placed at the oars. The current swept the boat within twenty yards of these howling savages. All on board, except the two rowers, threw themselves flat on their faces, under protection of the gunwale, and such other articles as they could find. Bullets like hail stones struck the boat. The rowers were so carefully barricaded that they were not hit; but during the short time while the boat was thus exposed, nine bullets were shot into one oar and ten 432 - HISTORY OF OHIO. into the other. It was about twenty minutes before the rowers succeeded in pushing the boat beyond the reach of the enemy's fire. In the very midst of this appalling scene one of the wounded men, Mr. Kilpatrick, saw a powerful Indian chieftain running so near, that he could not resist the temptation to seize his rifle and shoot him. Mr. Kilpatrick was lying by the side of Captain Hubbell. The latter warned him of the imprudence of exposing himself to so terrific a fire. But Kilpatrick, maddened by his wound, rose to shoot ; instantly two bullets struck him ; one entered his mouth and passed out at the back of his head, the other pieced his heart. He dropped a dead man. His two daughters were near by to gaze upon the awful spectacle of their dead father bathed in blood, lying among the dead horses; for nearly every horse was struck by the bullets, and their convulsive :struggles added to the tumult and terror of the scene. The current again aided the rowers and the boat was borne rapidly down the stream, near the Kentucky shore, beyond the reach of the enemy's balls. The little band assembled to ascertain the damages which they had received, and to repair them as far as possible. Under such circumstances it is not a little remarkable that these men of indomitable pluck should, as one of their first acts, have sent back three cheers of defiance upon their maddened and baffled foes. Thus ended the awful conflict. Two men were killed outright, Kilpatrick and Tucker. A third, Stoner, was mortally wounded. Four others had received wounds more or less severe. Two only were uninjured. The women and children had been so carefully protected that none of them had been touched by the bullets, except the son of Mr. Plasket, a lad ten or twelve years of age. The brave little fellow, after the battle was over, came to the captain and very coolly asked him to take a ball out of his head. It was even so. A bullet had passed through the side of the boat, and had struck the boy on the head, with sufficient force to bury itself beneath the skin. It was speedily removed, and then the brave boy said, "This is not all;" and raising his arm, showed where a ball had struck his elbow, splintering off a piece of bone which hung only by the flesh. His mother exclaimed, " My son, why did you not tell me of this?" The heroic child replied, " Because the captain directed us to be perfectly silent during the action, and I was afraid if I told you you would make a noise about it." HISTORY OF OHIO - 433 The boat with its wounded, afflicted, exhausted, but yet unvanquished occupants, was borne on by the current, and reached its destination at Maysville, Kentucky, then called Limestone, that night. It is said that this was the last boat descending the: Ohio that was attacked by the Indians. CHAPTER XXIII. SETTLEMENTS ON THE OHIO AND ON THE LAKE, SETTLEMENT AT MANCHESTER - ADVENTURE AT DONALSON CREEK CAPTIVITY OF MR. DONALSON - HIS ESCAPE-. ADVENTURE OF JOHN EDGINTON - CHARACTER OF SOME OF THE INDIANS- INTERESTING ANECDOTE - CHARACTER OF BLACK HOOF - FOURTH OF JULY, 1796, ON THE WESTERN RESERVE - ELOQUENT WORDS OF JOHN BARR - JUDGE KINGS. BURY'S SAD EXPERIENCE - INDIAN CRUELTY TO CAPTIVES —A SECOND POCAHONTAS - ANCIENT BURIAL GROUND - PECULIARITY OF THE EARLY SETTLERS-INCREASING PROSPERITY INFLUENCE OF MAJOR CARTER WITH THE INDIANS. ABOUT FIFTY miles east of Cincinnati a little settlement sprang up which received the name of Manchester. St. Clair had, by proclamation, created a county there, which was called Adams, in honor of John Adams, second President of the United States, It covered a very large tract of country, being one of the four counties into which the whole Northwestern Territory was divided. General Nathaniel Massie was governmental surveyor for this region. He needed a settlement for his surveying parties in the midst of his operations. In the year 179o, he succeeded by very liberal offers of land in securing about thirty families to co-operate in the enterprise. His station was carefully laid out into town lots and farming lots. In those days it was necessary that all the buildings should be clustered together for mutual protection. Cabins were raised, and by the middle of March, 1791, the little village was entirely surrounded by strong pickets, firmly planted in the ground, with block houses at each angle. This was the fourth settlement which was effected within the bounds of the present State of Ohio. Its early settlers consisted of a very choice set of emigrants. They were intelligent, temperate, industrious and brave. Their courage consisted in the spirit which makes every preparation for HISTORY OF OHIO - 435 the hour of peril, and then, in the language of the apostle, " having done all to stand." Though this settlement was commenced very nearly in the hottest period of the Indian war, it suffered less than any other which had been made on the banks of the Ohio River. This is undoubtedly to be attributed to the watchfulness with which these brave pioneers guarded their homes. Most of them had come from the Kentucky side of the river, where they had been reared in the midst of dangers and were enured to peril. Among the honored names, we find the Beasleys, the Stouts, the Washburns, the Wades, and many others, who were not only the equals, but the superiors, of the savages in all the arts and stratagems of border warfare. Their nearest neighbors, north of the Ohio River, were those at Cincinnati, on the west, and the French settlement at Gallipolis, about seventy-five miles east of them. Nearly opposite the town there were three of the beautiful islands of the river, of apparently inexhaustible fertility of soil. As soon as the cabins were reared the whole population combined their energies to clear the lowest of the islands and plant it with corn. They could all work there at their ease, men, women and children, for the approaches could be very easily watched, and no foe could advance in canoes from either side of the river without affording sufficient time for the laborers to reach the protection of their fortresses. Game was very abundant in the woods, consisting of deer, elk, bears and turkeys. The hunter could go out any morning, make his own selection of game, and in an hour or two return with any quantity he might desire. The river furnished also a great variety of excellent fish. Thus the inhabitants were dwelling in the midst of abundance. But there is no Elysium to be found in this wicked world where man is the most cruel foe of his brother man. One evening in the latter part of April, 1791, Mr. Israel Donal-son visited the settlement to assist Mr. Massie in some of his surveys. One morning Mr. Massie, with the young surveyor and two other men, all well armed, took a birch canoe and paddled up the stream four or five miles to make a survey. It was at the time of the spring floods, and the majestic river was full to its upper banks. The current was so strong, that with their paddles they made slow progress against it. At length they reached a little stream entering the river from the north, then without a name, but since known as Donalson's Creek. Here they moored their boat and 436 - HISTORY OF OHIO. commenced to survey. General Massie had the compass, Mr. Donaldson and one of the other men, William Lytle, carried the chain. The fourth man, James Tittle, followed to render any assistance which might be needed. They had advanced but about one hundred and fifty rods along the banks of the creek, when the chain broke. They were all clustered together riveting it again by the aid of a tomahawk and stone, when suddenly, and to their great consternation, two canoes filled with Indian warriors descending the creek, came upon them. The savages, as soon as they caught a glimpse of the white men, turned their canoes to the land and sprang ashore. The surveyors fled towards their boat, three of them reached it, and pushing out from the lane, escaped. Mr. Donalson, who was by no means of agile frame, and who was totally unaccustomed to such adventures, was left far in the rear. In the terror of his clumsy flight, he struck his foot against some obstruction and plunged headlong into a ditch. The Indians were so close upon him, that seeing escape to be impossible, he did not attempt to rise. Three warriors were instantly at his side presenting their rifles at his head. As he offered no resistance, they raised the muzzles of their guns, and one of them held out his hand to help him up. Instead of pursuing those who had escaped, they took Donal-son back to their canoes, when several of the party, loading themselves with provisions, blankets, etc., prepared to march with their captive through the forest to their distant settlement. The Indian who had helped Donalson from the ditch was a very lusty and, apparently, kind-hearted man. On the march he seemed to assume that the prisoner was peculiarly his, and entitled to his protection. Soon the rain began to fall, and very copiously. But rapidly the Indians continued their tramp all the affernoon, until nightfall. They then built their camp-fires, kindling them from the flash of their guns, cooked and ate their supper, and, apparently, as insensible to rain and the chill night air, as were the buffalo and the deer, slept soundly until morning. Their captive was not treated cruelly, but merely bound so as to prevent escape. At an early hour of the morning they resumed their march. The rain still continued. As they were passing along, drenched with the falling showers, one of the bareheaded Indians seemed to think that the slouched hat which Mr. Donalson wore, was a convenient article of apparel. He therefore snatched it from the HISTORY OF OHIO - 439 head of the prisoner, and put it upon his own. Mr. Donalson, by signs, appealed to his stalwart guardian for redress. The Indian promptly seized the cap from the purloiner, and replaced it upon its owner's head. They, however, had not advanced far, before the thief took it again. Donalson once more appealed to his protector. The Indian shook his head, and opening his budget, took from it a sort of blanket cap. "We went on," writes Donalson. " It still rained hard, and the brooks were very much swollen. When my friend discovered that I was timorous, he would lock his arm in mine and lead me through. Frequently in the open woods when I would get tired, I would do the same thing with him, and walk for miles. They did not make me carry anything until Sunday or Monday. They got into a thicket of game, and killed, I think, two bears and some deer. They then halted and jerked their meat, ate a large portion, peeled some bark, made a kind of box, filled it, and put it on me to carry. I soon got tired of it, and threw it down. They raised a great laugh, examined my back, applied some bear's oil to it, and put on the box again. I went on some distance, and again threw it down. My friend took it, threw it over his head, and carried it. It weighed, I thought, at least fifty pounds." While resting one day, one of the Indians took a kernel of corn, which was carefully wrapped up, and digging a hole in the ground, planted it, and having a comical smile on his face, indicated that that would be Donalson's employment, calling him at the same time a squaw. At length they had traversed the whole breadth of Ohio, and reached a Shawanese village, on the banks of the Sandusky. Here they undertook the rather painful operation of transforming their captive into an Indian. One by one the hairs of his head were pulled out by the roots, leaving the head entirely bare, excepting what was called the scalp lock. His face was painted, and a tin jewel put into his nose. The village they had entered was quite a spacious one, and it was evident that British or French engineers had assisted them in constructing what was really a fortified camp. There was something quite remarkable in the barbarian etiquette there established, and in the courtesies of daily intercourse pracficed by these savages, courtesies often violated by the parliamentary bodies of England, France and America. 27 440 - HISTORY OF OHIO. The day after the capture of Donalson, a war party of the :ndians, in the vicinity of Maysville had been cut off, and nearly ;very man killed. While Donalson was in the Shawanese village m Indian runner entered with the afflicting tidings. Immediately all the men of the camp were assembled to hear the story. The messenger spoke for an hour. There was breathless silence, pinfall could have been heard. It was remarkable that the savages did not retaliate upon their captive, but they made no difference in his treatment. There were two other white men in the camp who had been captured when quite young, and who had been incorporated into :he tribe. They both had become thoroughly Indian in character, and instead of wishing to return to the settlements of the white men, had imbibed all the hostility of the Indians to the invaders of their soil. The tidings which the courier had brought threw the little community into a state of great excitement. Donalson's protector and another left the camp on some excursion as scouts. " Never before," writes Donalson, " had I parted with a friend with the same regret." In the afternoon of that day about sixty warriors, with a hundred very fine horses, which had been stolen from Kentucky, left the camp in a state of great excitement, taking Mr. Donalson with them. They traveled until nightfall, and then encamped on the edge of a prairie. The captive was firmly bound and placed, to sleep, between two Indians, one of whom held each end of the rope. After the Indians had fallen asleep, Donalson gnawed at the rope, which was made of bark, till just before the dawn of day when he succeeded in freeing himself; creeping softly on his hands and feet, for a few rods, when his guard awoke, and with loud cries gave the alarm. The night was dark. They had no knowledge of the direction in which their captive had fled, and fortunately for him they commenced their pursuit in an opposite course. Donalson fled with all speed, as the shouts of his bewildered pursuers faded away in the distance. Exhausted by a sleepless night, and by his rapid flight, at io o'clock he crept into a hollow log, where he slept soundly for several hours. It was nearly sundown when he awoke. He continued his flight until dark, and then secreted himself for another night. On his way he fortunately found a HISTORY OF OHIO - 441 turkey's nest, with two eggs in it. They afforded him a refreshing supper. Thus he continued, day after day, to journey on, in a soufhwesterly direction, knowing that he would thus eventually reach the Miami River. He could then follow down that stream to the Ohio. At length, with rent clothes, and bleeding feet, and famished frame, as he was about sinking in despair, he heard the distant tinkling of a bell. It animated him with new life. As he pressed on the sound of an ax reached his ears. " It was the sweetest music I had heard," he said, " for many a day." He soon entered the clearing of an emigrant, Mr. Woodward. The farmer was working in a field at some distance from his house. When he first caught sight of Donalson, he was greatly alarmed, supposing him to be an Indian. An explanation ensued, and Mr. Woodward caught his horse and placed the half-dead fugitive upon his back, and gently led the horse to his house. There were a few cabins clustered together for mutual protection. The little community was much excited by the strange arrival. They all supposed, at first, that he was an Indian whom Mr. Woodward had wounded and captured ; and hurried questions were put upon that supposition. " I was not surprised," writes Mr. Donalson, " nor offended at the inquiries ; for I was still in Indian uniform, bare headed, my hair cut off close, excepting the scalp and foretop, which they had put up in a piece of tin, with a bunch of turkey feathers, which I could not undo. Mr. Woodward took me to his house, where every kindness was shown me. They soon gave me other clothing. Coming from different persons they did not fit me very neatly. But there could not be a pair of shoes found, that I could get on, my feet were so much swollen." Donalson having thus reached the settlements, was soon conveyed in safety to his friends. Another incident of the little colony at Manchester I will give, as well narrated in McDonald's Sketches " John Edginton, Ashael Edgington, and another man, started out on a hunting expedition, towards Brush Creek. They camped out six miles, in a northeast direction from where West Union now stands, on the road from Chillicothe to Maysville. The Edging-tons had good success in hunting, having killed a number of deer and bears. Of the deer killed they saved the skins and hams alone. They hung up the proceeds of their hunt on a scaffold, out of the 442 - HISTORY OF OHIO. reach of the wolves and other wild animals, and returned home for pack-horses. " As it was late in the season, no one apprehended danger, the winter season being usually a time of repose from Indian incursions. The two Edgingtons returned to their old hunting camp, and, alighting from their horses, were preparing to strike a fire, when a platoon of Indians fired upon them, at the distance of not more than twenty paces. Ashael Edgington fell to rise no more. John was more fortunate. The sharp crack of the rifles, and the horrid yells of the Indians, as they leaped from their place of ambush, frightened the horses, who took the track towards home at full speed. " John Edgington was very active on foot, and now an occasion offered which required his utmost speed. The moment the Indians leaped from their hiding place they threw down their guns and took after him. They pursued him, screaming and yelling in the most horrid manner. For about a mile the Indians stepped in his tracks, almost before the bending grass could rise. The uplifted tomahawk was frequently so near his head that he thought he felt its edge. Edgington at length gained upon his pursuers, and, after a long race, he distanced them, made his escape, and safely reached home. This, truly, was a fearful and well conducted race. The big Shawnee chief, who headed the Indians on this occasion, after peace was made, and Chillicothe became settled, frequently told the writer of this sketch of the race. He said, The white man who ran away was a smart fellow. He ran and I ran. He ran and ran, and at last ran clear off from me. ' " All those who became intimately acquainted with the Indians agree with the declaration that many of them possessed amiable and attractive traits of character. Mr. David Robb, an intelligent and candid observer, and who was for some time Indian Agent among the Senecas and the Shawnees, has given a very interesting account of his intercourse with the red men. Though intemperance generally prevailed, there were those who scorned thus to degrade themselves. In the pride of self-respect, they refused to associate with the low and the groveling, and there were almost as marked distinctions in society as with more civilized communities. These men cultivated their little farms with much taste and judgment. Their wives often cooked very palatable meals. They obtained cows, and made both butter and HISTORY OF OHIO - 443 cheese Many of them them gradually obtained very considerable skill in the use of tools. One chief had a full assortment of carpenter's tools, which he kept in good order. " He made," writes Mr. Robb, " plows, harrows, wagons, bed-steads, tables, bureaus. He was frank, liberal, and conscientious. On my asking him who taught him the use of tools, he replied, no ,one. Then, pointing up to the sky, he said, The Great Spirit -taught me.' " It seems to be the testimony of every one who has spent any length of time among them, that there was something fascinating in the Indian character. The captives, when adopted, almost invariably became attached to them. It was often very difficult, .and at times impossible, to induce those who had been taken prisoners when young, in after life to return to their own people. There was among the Shawnees a white woman, who had numbered her three-score years and twenty. Her friends made every effort in their power to induce her to return to them. It was all in vain. in the whole tribe there could not be found a squaw who was more thoroughly Indian in her nature. The Indians were generally very conscientious in fulfilling their contracts. Mr: Robb says: " I have often loaned them money, which was always returned -in due season, with a single exception. This was a loan to a young man, who promised to pay me when they received their annuity. After the appointed hour he shunned me, and the matter remained -unsettled until just prior to our departure for their new homes. I then stated the circumstance to one of the chiefs, more from curiosity to see how he would receive the intelligence than with the expectation of its being the means of bringing the money. He therefore talked with the lad upon the subject, but, being unsuccessful, he called a council of his brother chiefs, who formed a circle, with the young man in the center. After talking to him awhile in ,a low tone they broke out, and vociferously reprimanded him for his dishonest conduct. But all proved unavailing. Finally, the chiefs, in a most generous and noble spirit, made up the amount from their own purses, and pleasantly tendered it to me. " The leading men of the Indians were truly great men. They attained their eminence by their achievements. They loomed above their fellows by their sagacity, their bravery, and their oratorical powers. Black Hoof was one of the most eminent of the Shawanee chiefs. He was present at Braddock's defeat, and was one 444 - HISTORY OF OHIO. of the prominent actors in all the wars of the Ohio Indians; and that he had a wonderfully happy faculty in expressing his ideas, and was remarkably graceful and eloquent. Colonel Johnson, who knew him intimately, writes : " He was well versed in the traditions of his people. No one knew better their peculiar relations to the whites, whose settlements were gradually encroaching on them, or could detail with more minuteness the wrongs with which his nation were afflicted. But although a stern and uncompromising hostility fo the whites had marked his policy, through a period of forty years, and nerved his arm in a hundred battles, he became at length convinced of the madness of an ineffectual struggle against a vastly superior and hourly increasing foe. No sooner had he satisfied himself of this truth, than he acted upon it with a decision which formed a prominent trait in his character. The temporary success of the Indians, in several engagements, previous to the campaign of General Wayne, had kept alive their expiring hopes. But their signal defeat by that gallant officer, convinced the more reflecting of their leaders, of the desperate character of the conflict. " Black Hoof was among those who decided upon making terms with the victorious American commander ; and having signed the treaty of 1795, at Greenville, he continued faithful to his stipulations, during the remainder of his life. From that day he ceased to be the enemy of the white man. As he was not one who could act a negative part, he became the firm ally and friend of those against whom his tomahawk had been so long raised in vindictive animosity. He was their friend, not from sympathy or conviction, but in obedience to a necessity which left no middle course, and under a belief that submission alone could save his tribe from destruction. Having adopted this policy, his sagacity and sense of honor alike forbade a recurrence either to open war or secret hostility. He was the principal chief of the Shawanee nation, and possessed all the influence and authority which are usually attached to that office, in the period when Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, commenced their hostile operations against the United States. " When Tecumseh and the Prophet embarked in their scheme for the recovery of the land as far south as the Ohio River, it. became their interest as well as policy, to enlist Black Hoof in. HISTORY OF OHIO - 445 the enterprise, and every effort which the genius of the one and the cunning of the other could devise, was brought to bear upon him. But Black Hoof continued faithful to the treaty which he had signed at Greenville, in 1795, and by prudence and influence kept the greater part of his tribe from joining the standard of Tecumseh, or engaging on the side of the British in the late war with England. In that contest he became the ally of the United States, and, although he took no active part in it, he exerted a very salutary influence over his tribe. " In January, 1813, he visited General Tupper's camp, at Fort McArthur, and while there, about ten o'clock one night, while sitting by the fire in company with the general and several other officers, some one fired a pistol through a hole in the wall of the hut, and shot Black Hoof in the face. The ball entered the cheek, glanced against the bone, and finally lodged in the neck. He fell, and for some time was supposed to be dead, but revived, and afterwards recovered from this severe wound. The most prompt and diligent inquiry as to the author of this cruel and dastardly act, failed to lead to his detection. No doubt was entertained that this attempt at assassination was made by a white man, stimulated, perhaps, by no better excuse than the memory of some actual or ideal wrong inflicted on some of his own race by an unknown hand of kindred color with that of his intended victim. "Black Hoof was opposed to polygamy, and to the practice of burning prisoners. He is reported to have lived forty years with one wife, and to have reared a numerous family of children, who both loved and esteemed him. His disposition was cheerful, and his conversation sprightly. and agreeable. In stature he was small, being not more than five feet eight inches in height. He was favored with good health and unimpaired eyesight to the period of his death." Early in the year 1796 arrangements began to be made to establish a colony in that northern portion of Ohio to which we have before referred, called the Western Reserve. A surveying party was sent out, which, coasting along the shores of Lake Erie, landed on the fourth of July at the mouth of a small stream called Conneaut Creek. John Barr, Esq., in a sketch of this movement, eloquently writes : "The sons of revolutionary sires some of them sharers them- 446 - HISTORY OF OHIO. selves in the great baptism of the Republic, they made the anniversary of their country's freedom a day of ceremonial and rejoicing. They felt that they had arrived at the place of their labors, the, to many of them, sites of homes as little alluring, almost as crowded with dangers as were the levels of Jamestown or the rocks of Plymouth, to the ancestors who had preceded them in the conquest of the sea coast wilderness of this continent. From old homes, and friendly and social associations, they were almost as completely exiled as were the cavaliers who debarked upon the shores of Virginia, or the Puritans who sought the strand of Massachusetts. " Far away as they were from the villages of their birth and boyhood, before them the trackless forest, or the untraversed lake, yet did they resolve to cast fatigue and privation in peril from their thoughts, for the time being, and give to the day its due, to patriotism its awards. Mustering their numbers, they sat them down on the eastern shore of the stream now known as Conneaut, and dipping from the lake the liquor in which they pledged their country their goblets, tin cups of no rare workmanship, with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three fowling pieces, discharging the required national salute —the first settlers of the Reserve spent their landing day as became the sons of the Pilgrim Fathers, as the pioneers of a population that has since made the then wilderness of Northern Ohio to blossom as the rose, and prove the homes of a people as remarkable for integrity, industry, love of country, moral truth and enlightened legislation as any to be found within the territorial limits of their ancestral New England." This truly pilgrim band which thus wrought new homes on the bleak shores of Lake Erie, consisted of fifty-two persons. Two only were females, Mrs. Stiles and Mrs. Gunn. There was one child. The next morning they commenced the building of a large block-house. It was to be their fortress, their store house, and, for the present, the dwelling place of the little company of emigrants. They named this building, which was erected on the sandy beach that fringed the eastern shore of the stream, Stow Castle. It would not now seem that the location was a wise one. The beach, though overgrown with heavy timber, was a mere accumulation of sand. The trees were to be cut down to afford room for the house. The creek was scarcely even boatable, and offered no 448 - HISTORY OF OHIO. facilities as a harbor. The mouth was frequently so choked up with a sand bar that often, after a severe storm upon the lake, there was no visible harbor for many days. After the gale had subsided, the creek in a few days would gain sufficient strength again to cut an opening through the bar, forming new channels. Thus the mouth of the creek was continually shifting. We cannot but wonder at the apparent want of judgment often manifested by these pioneers, leading to awful scenes of suffering, which ordinary prudence might have avoided. The surveying party, of which we have spoken, spent the Summer at Conneaut, but were not prepared to winter there. Judge James Kingsbury came there during the Summer, with his family. He erected a log but upon the borders of the lake. When all the rest had de, parted, his family was left to bide the storms of the approaching Winter. Business, in the Fall, compelled him to go to New York. He made all the provision he could for his family, expecting to be absent but two or three weeks. Mrs. Kingsbury was left alone with her little children, in that awful solitude, as the storms of Winter were beginning to lash the lake and howl through the forest. The judge, on his journey, was attacked by severe illness, which confined him to his bed for several weeks. Upon his recovery he attended to his business as speedily as possible, and commenced his return. Upon reaching Buffalo, a frontier post far away amidst the wilds of New York, he hired an Indian to guide him through the pathless wilds to his distant cabin. His anxiety was terrible, as he knew that his family must be quite destitute of food. At Presque Isle he purchased twenty pounds of flour to be carried to them. In crossing Elk Creek on the ice, his exhausted horse fell beneath him and died. He took the sack of flour upon his own shoulders, and oppressed with the most gloomy forebodings, pressed forward on his weary tramp through pathless wilds, and drifted snow, and wintry storms. At length he reached his dreary home, late one evening. His worst fears were realized. His poor wife, pale, emaciated, reduced by cruel hunger to the last stages in which life can be supported, lay stretched upon a cot, scarcely able to move. By her side, on a little pallet, was the lifeless body of a child who had died of starvation. Who can imagine the scenes of anguish which that mother had passed through during those long wintry months of woe. After this dreadful experience, prosperity seems HISTORY OF OHIO - 449 to have dawned upon the family. Judge Kingsbury rose to important posts of trust. The harbor of Conneaut has since then been greatly improved, rendering it quite an important place of shipment. There was, after the treaty of 1795, at Greenville, peace with the Indians. There were at this time at Conneaut about thirty lodges of the natives. They were pleasantly located, and presented an unusual appearance of neatness and comfort. The Massauga tribe then possessed this territory. After the awful defeat Of St. Clair, two captives were brought to this village. They both were doomed first to run the gauntlet. As we have mentioned, this terrible ordeal consisted of arranging all the Indians, men, women, strong boys and girls in two long parallel lines, about five feet apart. The Indians stood about five or six feet from each other, so as to give ample opportunity to swing their sticks, and strike with all their strength. They were all provided with stout switches, strong enough to inflict terrible blows, but not sufficiently massive to break the skull or to destroy life. Through the parallel lines the captive, divested of his clothing, was forced to run, while every one struck him in the face, over the head, or wherever a blow could be inflicted. It was a terrible ordeal through which to pass. If the wretched victim fell, bleeding and exhausted, he was then kicked and beaten still more unmercifully. When the young men had somewhat recovered from this terrible infliction, a council was held, and it was decided that, while one should be saved, the other, Fitz Gibbon by name, should be burned, to appease the spirits of the Indians slain in battle. The victim was bound to the stake. A large quantity of the most combustible material which the forest would furnish was piled up around him. But just as the torch was about to be applied, the maiden daughter of one of the chiefs, whose heart was touched that so fair a young man should suffer so cruel a death, implored her father, with flooded eyes and in the most piteous terms, to save him. She also offered to the little community a small sum of money and a package of furs for his ransom. The savages, who did not regard their captive with personal animosity, listened to this humane appeal, and the life of the young man was spared. It is to be regretted that the name of this second Pocahontas has not been transmitted to us.