(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 31 - THE ABORIGINES OF OHIO CHAPTER II. THE ABORIGINES OF OHIO. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO BEFORE ITS OCCUPATION BY THE WHITE MAN—A REGION WITHOUT INHABITANTS, THE PARADISE OF THE INDIAN HUNTER—EVIDENCE OF A GREAT BUT EXTINCT PEOPLE - THE MOUND-BUILDERS--THEIR WORKS, AND THEORIES AS TO THEIR ORIGIN—INDIANS OF OHIO - ORIGINAL TRIBES— CONQUEST OF THE COUNTRY BY THE IROQUOIS—INDIAN TOWNS—THE ARES OF THE MUSKINGUM AND THE TUSCARAWAS—THEIR TRADITIONS—THEIR CHIEFTAINS SHAWNEES—THEIR FIERCENESS AND HOSTILITY—OTHER INDIAN NATIONS— ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF WARRIORS, 1778—COLONEL JAMES SMITH'S ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPERIENCE AMONG OF THE MUSKINGUM VALLEY, 1755—THE HAIR. PLUCKED FROM HIS HEAD, HE IS AN INDIAN—INTERESTING PICTURES OF SAVAGE LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS--WAR SONGS DANCES--HUNTING EPISODES—REMINISCENCES BY WILLIAM CORNER—AN INDIAN TRAIL IN MORGAN COUNTY. BEFORE the white men came to occupy the country a considerable portion of the valley of the Upper Ohio was for many years a region without inhabitants. According to Hildreth this %pled tract was from forty to sixty miles in width on both sides of the Ohio, and extended from the site of Pittsburgh to the mouth of the Great Miami, and was chiefly appropriated by the Indian tribes, who laid claim to the territory as hunting-grounds. With the exception of Logstown, in Western Pennsylvania, and a Shawnee village at the mouth of the Scioto, there were few spots in the entire district that were permanently occupied. It was a veritable paradise for the hunter. The streams abounded in fish and were the haunts of valuable fur-bearing animals, such as the mink, the otter and the beaver. Over the hills and through the valleys roamed the elk, the deer and the buffalo. Beasts of prey, too, abounded, and the silence of the forest was frequently broken by the hoarse cry of the bear, the shriek of the panther, or the bark of the wolf. Yet there was a time when the mighty river and its tributaries was the seat of a great population, a semi-civilized race whose history is unwritten, whose achievements in war and peace are unrecorded, and whose manner of life is unknown. Their origin as well as their final destiny is veiled in obscurity, and yet remains the theme of unfruitful speculation. But upon the 32 - HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. shores of lakes, streams and rivers, from the western base of the Alleghanies to the eastern foothills .of the Rocky Mountains, they have left countless mementoes of themselves to remind future generations of the antiquity of human life in America. The relics of this curious and mysterious race,.known to us only as the Mound-Builders, are especially numerous in Ohio, existing in almost every part of the State. The ancient mounds at Marietta and at many other places in the valleys of the Ohio and the Muskingum are but few of many monuments left by this people to mystify the archaeologists of today. Morgan County had its share of these relics, and though the plowshare has eliminated all traces of many, some are still traceable along the principal watercourses. The followinp Account of an examination of some of these prehistoric works, made by an English traveler named Ash, in the year 1826, may serve as an example of what the mounds are : " On the banks of a creek on the west side of the Muskingum, in Morgan County, were found numerous small mounds, the bases of which were composed of hard burned bricks about five inches square, and on the bricks were charcoal cinders mixed with particles of calcined bones of human frames. The general shape and size of the mounds showed that the bones had been first burned on the brick altars and afterward covered with earth to protect them and mark the spots. One of these mounds was over twenty feet square, and the bricks plainly showed the action of fire. This mound was covered with' large trees, some of which were ascertained to be five hundred years old. Lying on the ground were found trees in a state of decay that had fallen from old age. From a minute calculation of the age of the fallen trees and of those yet standing it was found that the mound was at least a thousand years old." * The mounds described were doubtless burial-mounds. Others, erected on hilltops, seem to have been constructed as watch-towers, while still others, by their eeculiar construction, show that they were built as defensive fortifications; Among late theories as to what people built the mounds of the great central valley of America, one supposes them to have been kindred to or identical with the Aztecs of Mexico; another, that the Zuni Indians of the Far West are the last remnant of this once great people. The condition of the country of the Upper Ohio was found to be, as we have described it, a region without inhabitants when the early French voyagewra first explored the West, and so it continued years later when English Adventurers and American explorers visited it. It seems probable that the savage Indian tribes of the North made warlike incursions upon the ancient people of the val- ley, dispossessed, them of thigr lands, and were in turn themselves conquered and driven out by the powerful Iroquois. The latter supposition is corroborated by various Indiai legends. The Five Nations (increased to Six by an alliance [about 1711] with their kinsmen, the Tuscaroras or Tuscarawas), whose densest population was in Northern New York, ambitiously claimed to be the conquerors of the entire West, and actually held several weaker tribes in subjugation. They maintained the * " Centennial History of the Muskingum and Tugearawas Valleys," by O. H. Kitchener. 33 - THE ABORIGINES OF OHIO. strongest organized confederacy known among the aborigines of North America, and their government had some of the elements of a rude republic. Their confederacy is said to have been formed early in the sixteenth century, and the result of the powerful alliance was that they soon gained a complete mastery of the tribes which had hitherto held dominion in the territory now constituting the State of Ohio. Their powerful warriors were the dreaded enemies of the western Indians, and the use of the Upper Ohio by their war parties doubtless caused it to be deserted by other tribes. The Eries, a once powerful people, are supposed to have anciently held sway over the greater portion of what is now the State of Ohio. Their chief villages were on the borders of the great lake bearing their name: The Andastes are said to have occupied the valleys of the Allegheny and the Upper Ohio, and the Hurons or Wyandots to have held dominion in the upper peninsula between the lakes. All were of Iroquois origin. The Upper Ohio and the Allegheny was called by the early French travelers the River of the Iroquois, and its exploration was long deferred on account of their hostility. The Hurons were the first nation conquered by the Iroquois confederacy. The Eries were next compelled to yield submission before the prowess of the valiant warriors of the Five Nations. The warfare was long and bloody, and its close left but a feeble remnant of the once mighty Eries alive. This conquest took place about the year 1655. About 1672 the Five Nations won their victory over the Andastes. he Miamis, occupying the country along the Miami and Maumee Rivers, are also supposed by some to have been conquered by the Six Nations, but there is no historical evidence of the fact. However complete the conquest of the Six Nations may have been, they soon suffered other tribes to occupy the valleys of the chief eastern tributaries of the Ohio, and the villages of the red race again appeared on the banks of the Cuyahoga, the Tuscarawas, the Muskingum, the Scioto, the Miamis and the Maumee. About 1750, when the West began to be known to English-Americans, the principal tribes within the present limits of Ohio were as follows : The Delawares, on the Tuscarawas and the Muskingum ; the Shawnees, in the Scioio Valley ; the Miamis, upon the rivers bearing their name ; the Wyandots, sometimes called the Hurons, occupying the country on the Sandusky River and Bay ; the Otto- was, in the valleys of the Maumee and the Sandusky ; the Chippewas, along the south shore of Lake Erie,,, and the Mingoes (of Iroquois lineage), on the Ohio below where Steubenville now is, The territory of each tribe was not fixed by definite boundaries, nor was the seat of densest population of al] the tribes permanent. By the time white settlers made their appearance in the valley considerable change had occurred—some tribes having moved westward and others northward,—and it was noted that predatory and war parties were frequently made up of warriors from several different tribes. The Delawares were the chief occu pants of Eastern Ohio, and were virtu ally in possession of half the present territory of the State, from the Ohic to the lake. The Delawares called themselves the Lennf-Lenipe, or orig final people, and had various legend. 34 - HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. proving the antiquity of their origin. According to their traditions the original home of the Lenni-Lenape was west of the Mississippi, whence they migrated eastward to the region of the Alleghany Mountains, where they became involved in a war with a powerful race, of giant stature; known as the Allegewi, who sought to stay their further progress. In this war they were assisted by the Mengwe, otherwise known as the Mingoes or Iroquois, who had come from the West with them. The Lenape and the Mengwe conquered and extirpated the Allegewi, and took possession of their country, the Mengwe taking as their territory the country along the great lakes and the St. Lawrence, and the Lenape reserving to themselves the vast tract stretching from the Alleghany Mountains to the Atlantic coast, and eventually settling their densest population on the Delaware, the Susquehanna and the Potomac. The Europeans having taken possession of the Atlantic coast, and the Delawares having become embittered against their ancient allies, the Iroquois, whom they accused of treachery, a western migration of the Delawares ensued, and they took up theis abode in the valley of the Allegheny River. There they were again disturbed by the white man, and a part of the tribe obtained permission from the Wyandots to occupy the valleys of the Tuscarawas and the Muskingum, where their chief population soon became gathered. The Delawares were not such a fierce race as the Iroquois, and were called women by the latter, who held them in subjection to themselves. The success of the Moravian missionaries among them proves that they were susceptible to the influences of Christianity and civilization, and steadfast in friendship to those who treated them kindly. The Delawares were divided into three tribes—the Unamis, the Unachtigo and the Minsi (called also Monseys, or Muncies). Their tribal designations signified respectively the turkey, the turtle and the wolf. Their principal villages were on the Tuscarawas and the Upper Muskingum. So far as is known they had no settlements whatever in the lower valleys of the Muskingum, which was regarded as a part of the great hunting-ground. The name of the river was originally Mooskingorn, which, in the Delaware tongue, signified elles eye. The Tuscarawas took its name from an Indian town of the same name, situated near the site of Bolivar. According to Heckewelder the signification of the word was Old Town. Among Delaware chiefs in Ohio, White Eyes and Captain Pipe were most influential. Others were Netawatmees, Buckongahelas, Half King and King Newcomer, after whom Newcomerstown was named. Captain Pipe was a war-chief and mischief-maker ; White Eyes was generally on the side of peace, though he was brave and renowned for his valor in war. The two were great and jealous rivals, and there was almost constant intrigue between them. White Eyes was the friend and encourager of the Moravian missions, while Captain Pipe preferred charges against the missionaries, and was implicated in the movement which led to their arrest and the destruction of the settlements. White Eyes died about 1780, and Captain Pipe gained the ascendancy among his people, turning them against the -whites and drawing them into war. The Shawnees, more than any other THE ABORIGINES OF OHIO - 35 nation were cruel, relentless and bitterly hostile to the whites. First on the side of the French, then as allies of the British they made war upon the Americans. They were the terror of the fontier settlements. and the record of their atrocities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky would fill volumes. According to their traditions the Shawnees were of foreign origin, and they were accustomed to celebrate annually with festivals and ceremonies the arrival of their progenitors on these shores. It is generally believed that at a remote period of their history the Shawnees dwelt in the south, and ranged from Kentucky to Florida. They appear to have always been wanderers, and have been styled "the Bedouins of the American wilderness." Afterward they are supposed to have drifted northward, and many of them occupied the Scioto Valley until driven from it by the Iroquois invasion about 1672. The shattered and weakened nation then returned southward and occupied the country of North Carolina, until they were forced therefrom and compelled to take refuge among the Creeks. Later, encouraged by the Wyandots and the French, they again returned north of the Ohio, and their campfires once more blazed along the Scioto. The Shawnee known as the Piqua, Kiskapocke, Mequachuke and Chillicothe. Cornstock was their principal chief, and led his warriors on many a hostile expedition. Later, their most renowned chieftain and warrior was Tecumseh, who is said to have had Creek blood in his veins. The Hurons or Wyandots had their densest population about Detroit, and minor settlements on the Sandusky and the Maumee. With the exception of a village on White-woman Creek they appear to have made no settlements in Central of Southern Ohio. They claimed a remoter origin than any other nation, and even the Delawares did not dispute their claim. Their claim of dominion of the country between the Allegheny and the Ohio Rivers, Lake Erie and the Great Miami was never disputed, save by the Six Nations. The Jesuit missionaries who were among them as early as 1639 estimated their number at ten thousand. They depended less than other tribes on the reSults of the chase for food, but devoted much attention to the cultivation of the soil, and had extensive cornfields around all their settlements. They were valorous in war, seldom retreated, but usually fought to the death. The Ottawas in Ohio were few and scattering at the time the whites became acquainted with the region. The renowned Pontiac was of this tribe. The Miamis, anciently called the Twigtwees, appear to have been the earliest Indians to occupy the valleys . of the rivers named after them. The Mingo* also known as the Cayugas, had a few small villages in Ohio, one near the present site of Steubenville, and others on the Scioto. Colonel Morgan, Indian agent, made the following estimate of the number of warriors that could speedily be assembled for war in the Northwest in 1778 : The Six Nations, consisting of Mohawks - 100 Oneidas and Tuscarawas - 400 Cuyahogas (Cayugas) - 220 Onondagas - 230 Senecas - 650 Total - 1,600 Delawares and Muncies - 600 Shawnees, of Scioto - 400 Wyandots, of Sandusky and Detroit - 300 36 - HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. Ottawas, of Detroit and Lake Michigan - 600 Chippewas, of all the lakes (said to be) - 5,000 Pottawatomies, of Detroit and Lake Michigan - 400 Piankashas, Kickapoos, Muscoutans, Vermillions, Weotonans, etc., on the Wabash - 800 Miamis or Picts - 300 Mingoes, of Pluggystown - 600 Total - 10,600 An interesting statement of the manner of life of the savages of the Muskingum and Tuscarawas valleys, over a century and a quarter ago, is furnished in a " Narrative " written by James Smith, of Pennsylvania, who was captured by the Indians near Bedford, Pa., in 1755, taken west of the Ohio and adopted into their tribe, remaining among them several years. Smith was a remarkably courageous backwoodsman, and led a romantic and adventurous career. After his capture he was taken to Fort Duquesne (afterward Fort Pitt), where he witnessed the barbarous atrocities inflicted upon the white prisoners taken at the scene of Braddock's defeat. Thence he was taken to an Indian town called Tulhillas (otherwise Pluggystown), on White-woman Creek, about twenty miles north of Coshocton, where he remained several months. Later he went into the lake country, and remained for several years among the Indians, hunting and fishing. In 1760 he accompanied a war party into Canada, was taken prisoner, and after some time exchanged and returned to Pennsylvania. There he became the leader of a lawless band of squatter settlers styled the Black Boys, who, on one occasion, attacked and destroyed the stores of a: trading party who were crossing the mountains on their way to Fort Pitt. Afterward he and a portion of his Black Boys surprised and captured Fort Bedford, then held by the king's troops. He accom panied Bouquet as a guide on his expedition to the Muskingum. He joined the patriot army in the Revolution and became colonel of a, Pennsylvania regiment. After the war he settled in Kentucky and served there as a member of the legislature. In his "Narrative," speaking of his being taken to Tulhillas, Colonel Smith says : " The day after my arrival at the aforesaid town a number of Indians collected about me, and one of them began to pull the hair out of my head. He had some ashes on a piece of bark in which he frequently dipped his fingers, in order to take a firmer hold, and so he went on as if he had been plucking a turkey, until he had all the hair clean out of my head, except a small spot about three or four inches square on my crown ; this they cut off with a pair of scissors, excepting three locks, which they dressed up in their own mode. Two of these they wrapped around with a narrow beaded garter made by themselves for that purpose, and the other they plaited at full length, then stuck it full of silver broaches. After this they bored my nose and ears and fixed me off with earrings and nose jewels; then they ordered me to strip off my clothes and put on a breechclout, which I did. They then painted my head, face and body in various colors. They put a large belt of wampum on my neck and silver bands on my handstand right arm; and so an old chief led me out into the street and gave the alarm halloo, Coo-wigh, ! several times, repeated quick; and on this all that were in town came running and stood around the old chief, who held me by the hand in their midst. As I at that time knew nothing of their mode of adoption, and had seen them put to death all they had taken, THE ABORIGINES OF OHIO - 37 and as I never could find that they saved a man alive at Braddock's defeat, I made doubt but they were about putting me to death in some cruel manner. The old chief, holding me by the hand,. made a long, speech, very loud, and when he had done he handed me to three young squaws, who led me by the hand down the bank into the river until the water was up to my middle. The squaws then made signs for me to plunge myself into the water, butt I did not understand them. I thought the result of the counsel was that I should be drowned, and that these young ladies were to be the executioners. They all three laid violent hold of me, and I for some time opposed them with all my might, which occasioned loud laughter by the multitude that were on the bank of the river. At speak a little of the squaws made out to *little English (for I believe they began to be afraid of me), and said, 'No hurt you.' On this I gave myself up to their ladyships, who were as good as their word; for though they plunged me under me under water, and washed and rubbed me severe1y, I could not say they hurt me much. “These young women then led me up to the council-house, where some of the tribe were ready with new clothes for me. They gave me a new ruffled shirt, which I put on, also a pair of leggins, done off with ribbons and beads ; likewise a pair of moccasins, and garters dressed with beads, porcupine quills and red hair, also a tinsel-laced chapeau. They again painted my head and face with various colors, and tied a bunch of red feathers to one of those locks they had left on the crown of my head, which stood up five or Six inches. They reseated me on a bear-skin and gave me a pipe, tomahawk and polecat-skin pouch, which had been skinned pocket fashion, and contained tobacco, killegenico, or dried sumac leaves, which they mixed with their tobacco ; also spunk, flint and steel. When I was thus seated the Indians came in, dressed and painted in their grandest manner. As they came in they took their seats, and for a considerable time there was a profound silence. Everyone was smoking, but not a word waS spoken among them. At length one of the chiefs made a speech, which was delivered to me by an interpreter, and was as follows : " My Son, you are nOW flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. By the ceremony which was performed this day every drop of white blood was washed out of your viens ; you are taken into the Caughnewaga nation and initiated into a warlike tribe ; you are adopted into a great family, and nOW received with great seriousness and solemnity in the room and place of a great man. After what has passed this day you are nOW one of us by an old, strong law and custom. My son, you have nothing to fear ; we are now under the same obligation to love, support and defend you that we are to love and defend one another ; therefore you are to consider yourself as one of our people.' " At this time I did not believe this fine speech, especially that of the white blood being washed out of me ; but since that time I have found that there was much sincerity in said speech ; for from that day I never knew them to make any distinction between me and themselves in any respect whatever until I left them. If they had plenty of clothing, I had- plenty ; if we were scarce, we all shared alike. 38 - HISTORY OP MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. " After this ceremony wait over I was introduced to my new kin and told that I was to attend a feast that evening, which I did. And, as the custom was, they gave me also a, bowl and wooden spoon, which I carried with me to the place where there were a number of large brass kettles full of boiled venison and green corn. Everyone advanced with his bowl and spoon and had his share given him. After this one of the chiefs made a short speech and then we began to eat. " The name of one of the chiefs in this town was Tecanyaterightigo, alias Pluggy, and the other Asallecoa, alias Mohawk Solomon. As Pluggy and his party were to start the next day to war, to the frontiers of Virginia, the next thing to be performed was their war dance and their war songs. At their war dance they had both vocal and instrumental music. They had a short, hollow gun, closed at one end, with water in it, and parchment stretched over the open end thereof, which they beat with one stick and made a sound nearly like a muffled drum. All those who were going on this expedition collected together and formed. An old Indian then beglin to sing, and timed the music by beating on this drum, as the ancients formerly timed their music by beating the tabor. On this the warriors began to advance or move forward in concert, like well-disciplined troops would march to the fife and drum. Each warrior had a tomahawk, spear or war-mallet in his hand, and they all moved regularly toward the east, or the way they intended to go to war. At length they all stretched their tomahawks toward the Potomac, and, giving a hideous shout or yell, they wheeled quick about and danced in the same manner back. " The next was the war song. In performing this only one sang at a time, in a moving posture, with a tomahawk in 'his hand, while all the ether warriors were engaged in calling aloud, ‘He-uh ! P!’ which they constantly repeated while the war song was going on. When the warrior that was singing had ended his song he struck a war- post with his tomahawk, and with a loud voice told what warlike exploits he had done, and what he now intended to do, which was answered by the other warriors with loud shouts of applause. Some who had not before intended .to go to war at this time were so animated by this performance that they took up tke tomahawk and sang the war song, which was answered with shouts of joy as they were then initiated into the present marching company. The next morning this company all collected at one place, with their heads and faces painted various colors, and packs upon their backs. They marched off, all silent except the commander, who in the front sang the traveling song, which began in this manner : 'Soo et:nigh-tail-de heegaina.' dust as the rear passed the end of the town they began to fire in their slow manner, from the front to the rear, which was accompanied with shouts and yells from all quarters. " That evening I was invited to another sort of dance, which, was a sort of promiscuous dance. The young men stood in one rank and the young women in another, about a rod apart, facing each other. The one that raised the tune or started the song held a small gourd or dry shell of a squash in his hand, which contained beads or small stones which rattled. When he, began to sing he timed the tune with his rattle. Both men and women danced 39 - THE ABORIGINES OF OHIO. and san together, advancing toward each other, stooping until their head would be touching together, and then ceased from dancing, with loud shouts; and retreated and formed again, and so repeated the same thing over and over for three or four hours without intermission. This exercise seemed to me at first irrational and insipid, but I found that in singing their tunes they used ya, ne, no, hoo, wa, ne, etc., like our fa, sol, la, and though they have no such thing as jingling verse, they can intermix sentences with their notes, and say whatever they please to each other, and carry on the tune in concert. I found that this was a kind of wooing or courting dance, and as they advanced, stooping with their heads together, they could say what they pleased in each other's ear without disconcerting their rough music and the others, or those near not heat what they said. "Shortly after this I went out to hunt in company with Mohawk Solomon. some of the Caughnewagas, and a Delaware Indian, that was married to a Caughnewaga squaw. We traveled about south from this town, and the first nigh we killed nothing, but we had with us green corn, which we roasted and ate that night. The next day we encamped about twelve o'clock, and the hunters turned out to hunt, and I went down the run that we encamped on, in company with some squaws and boys to hunt for plums, which we found to great plenty. On my return to camp I observed a large piece of fat meat ; the Delaware Indian that could talk some English observed me looking earnestly at this meat, and asked me, What meat ink that is ?' I said I supposed it was bear meat ; he laughed, and said ‘Ho, all one fool you ; beal now elly pool,' and pointing to the other side of the camp, he said : Look at that skin ; you think that beal-skin?’. I went and lifted the skin, which appeared like an oxhide. He then said : What skin you think that?’ I replied that I thought it was a buffalo hide. You fool again ; you know nothing; you think buffalo that colo' I acknowledged that I did not know much about these things, and told him that I never saw a buffalo, and that I had not heard what color they were. 'He replied ; ' By and by you shall see gleat many buffalo ; he now go to gleat lick. That skin not buffalo skin ; that skin buck-elk skin.' They went out with horses and brought in the remainder of this buck-elk, which was the fattest creature I ever saw of the tallow kind. " We remained at this camp about eight or ten days and killed a number of deer. Though we had neither bread nor salt at this time yet we had both roast and boiled meat in great plenty, and they were frequently inviting me to eat when I had no appetite. We then moved to the buffalo lick, where we killed several buffalo, and in their small brass kettles they made about a bushel of salt. I suppose the lick was about thirty or forty miles from the aforesaid town and somewhere between the Muskingum, the Ohio and the Scioto. About the lick were clear, open woods, and thin whiteoak land, and at that time there were large roads leading to the lick, like wagon roads. We moved from this lick about six or seven miles and encamped on a creek. " Though the Indians had given me a gun, I had not yet been perthitted to go out from the camp to hunt. At this place Mohawk Solomon asked ,me to go out with him to hunt, which I 40 - HISTORY OF MOR.GAN COUNTY, OHIO. readily agreed to. After some time we came 4pon some fresh buffalo tracks. I had observed before this that the Indians were upon their guard and afraid of an enemy ; for until now they and the southern nations had been at war. As we were following up the buffalo tracks Solomon seemed to be upon his guard, went very slow and would frequently stand and listen and appeared to be in suspense. We came to where the tracks were very plain in the sand and I said, It is surely buffalo tracks.' He said, Hush, you know nothing; may be buffalo tracks and may be Catawba!' He went very cautious until we found some fresh buffalo dung. He then smiled and said, Catawba cannot make so.' He then stopped and told me an old story about the Catawbas. He said that formerly the Catawbas came near one of their hunting camps, and at some distance from the camp lay in ambush ; and in order to decoy them out, sent two or three Catawbas in the night past their camp, with buffalo hoofs fixed on their feet, so as to make artificial tracks. In the morning those in the camp followed after these tracks, thinking they were buffalo, until they were fired on by the Catawbas and several of them killed. The others fled, collected a party and pursued the Catawba/3 ; but they in their subtlety brought with them rattlesnake poison,.. which they had collected from the bladder that lies at the roots of the snakes' teeth ; this they corked up in a short piece of a cane stalk ; they had also brought with them small cane or reed about the size of a rye straw, which they made sharp at the end like a pen, and dipped them into this poison, and stuck them in the ground among - the grass, along their own tracks, in such a position that they might stick into the legs of the pursuers, which answered the design ; and as the Catawbas had runners to watch the motion of the pursuers, when they found that a number of them were lame, being artificially snake-bit, and that they were All turning back, the Catawbas turned upon the pursuers and defeated them, and killed and scalped all that were lame. When Solomon had finished his story and found that I understood him, he concluded by saying, You don't know, Catawba velly bad Indian, Catawba all one devil, Catawba.' " Some time after this I was told to take the dogs with me and go down the crbek—perhaps I might kill a turkey. It being in the afternoon, I was also told not" to go far from the creek, and to come up the creek again to the camp, and to take care not to get lost. When I had gone some distance down the creek I came upon fresh buffalo tracks ; and as I had a number of dogs with me to stop the buffalo, I concluded I would follow after and perhaps kill one ; as the grass and weeds were rank I could readily follow the track. A little before sundown I despaired of coming up with them ; I was then thinking how I might get to camp before night. I concluded, as the buffalo had made several turns, if I took the back track to the creek it would be dark before I could get to the camp ; therefore I thought I would take a nearer way through the hills and strike the creek a little below the camp. But as it was cloudy weather, and I a very young woodsman, I could find neither creek nor camp. When night came on I fired my gun several times and halloed, but- could get no answer. The next morning early the Indians were out THE ABORIGINES OF OHIO - 41 after me, and as I had with me ten or a dozen dogs, and the grass and weeds were rank, they could readily follow my track. When they came up with me they appeared to be in a very good humor. I asked Solomon if he thought I was running away. He said : No, no; you go too much clooked.' On my returned to camp they took away my gun from me, and for this rash step I was reduced to a bow and arrow for nearly two years. We were out on this for about six weeks. “When we returned to the town, Pluggy and his party had arrived, and brought with them a considerable number of scalps and prisoners from the south branch of the Potomac. They also brought with them an English Bible, which they gave to a Dutch woman who was a prisoner, but as she could not read English she made a present of it to me, which was very acceptable. “When they killed a buffalo they would lash the paunch of it round a sapling, cast it into the kettle, boil it and sup the broth. They were polite in their own way, passed but few compliments, and had but few titles of honor. Captains or military leaders were the highest titles in the military line, and civil line, chiefs, or old wise men. No such terms as sir, mister, madam, or mistress, but in their stead her, grandfather, father, uncle, brother, mother, sister, cousin or my friend, were the terms they used in addressing one another. They paid great respect to age, and allowed no one to attain to any place of honor among them without having performed some exoloit in war, or become eminent for wisdom. They invited everyone that came to their camps or houses to eat as long as they had anything to give, and a refusal to eat when invited was considered a mark of disrespect. In courting, it was common for a young woman to make suit to a young man, as the men generally possessed more modesty than the women. "Children were kept obedient, not by whipping, but by ducking them in cold water. Their principal punishment for infractions of their laws or customs was degradation. The crime of murder was atoned for by liberty given to the friends or relations of the murdered to slay the murderer. They had the essentials of military discipline, and their warriors were under good command and punctual in obeying or(Nrs. They cheerfully united in putting all their directions into immediate execution, and by each man observing the motion or movement of his right hand companion they could communicate the motion from right to left and march abreast in concert and in scattered order, though i the line was a mile long.. They could perform various military maneuvers, either slow, or fast as they could run. They formed the circle in order to surround the enemy, and the semi-circle if the enemy had a river on one side of them. They could also form the large hollow square, face out and take trees ; this they did, if their enemies were about surrounding them, to prevent being shot from either side of the tree. "Their only clothing when going into battle was the breechclout, leggins and moccasins. Their leaders gave general orders by a shout or yell in time of battle, either to advance or retreat, and then each, man fought as though he were to gain the battle himself. To ambush and surprise" the enemy and to prevent being ambushed and surprised 42 - HISTORY OP MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO. themselves was their science of war. They seldom brought on an attack without a sure prospect of victory, with the loss of few men; and if mistaken, and likely to lose many men to gain a victory, they would retreat and wait for a better opportunity. If surrounded, however, they fought while there was a man alive, rather than surrender. A Delaware chief, called Captain Jacobs, being with his warriors surrounded, took possession of a house, defended themselves for some time, and killed a number of the whites. When called on to surrender, he said he and his men were warriors, and they would all fight while life lasted. Being told that they would be well used if they surrendered, and that, if not, the house would be burned over their heads, he replied that he could eat fire, and when the house was in flames he and his men marched out in a fighting position and were all killed." We will close the chapter by supplementing the above interesting reminiscences by others of a later date, furnished by Wm. Corner. Mr. Corner states that his father, George Corner, Jr., located in 1796 in the southeastern part of what is now known as Morgan County, on Wolf Creek, five miles west of where Beverly now is. He says that the only road then was the old Indian trail, which led from the region of the Northwest to Southeastern Virginia, which he locates in Morgan County, as coming down Wolf Creek to the Mills Hall Farm, thence over the hill and down the ridge, about thirty rods east of Eve's Schoolhouse, to Little Wolf Creek, to the place originally owned by Jeremiah Stevens on the old Harmar and Lancaster road ; thence over the ridge through the place of Wm. Picket on one of the branches of Bald Eagle; down that creek to the Muskingum; thence on the ridge down the river to "Big Rock," above Luke Chute, then over the hill and across Wolf Creek, at the mouth of Turkey Run, through the place of George Corner and Quigley's Flat, across the south branch of Wolf Creek, two miles above the Forks ; thence in a southeast direction to the mouth of the Little Kanawha, thence to the Big Kanawha, and through East Virginia to Richmond. This trail, which had been used perhaps for a century, as a route for carrying furs from the Far West to trade for blankets, and guns , and powder, was worn in some places to the depth of a foot, as the Indians passed their ponies, as in their own marches, in single file. Mr. Corner gives an instance of the confidence which, at that time of peace, the whites and Indians placed in each other, and of Indian superstition. The elder Samuel Miller had settled near where the trail crossed Wolf Creek. Two Indians, Who had been partaking of his hospitalities, said to him, "Send boy with horse; we kill buck for him." Accordingly, Edward Miller, father of Edward and John Miller, of Malta, Ohio, was mounted on a horse, started with them, and was to keep the trail, while they hunted on either side. They passed on until night overtook them at the mouth of Little Wolf Creek, but had killed no game. Early in the morning, when they awakened, Edward observed one of the Indians steaming something in a cup, who would not speak even when spoken to. After drinking of the concoction which he had prepared he moved from the fire and began to vomit. Edward 43 - TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LANDS. inquired of the other Indian if his companion was sick. " No ; he much wicked; kill no game—pray Great Spirit,” In a short time the Indian came, and, silently taking his gun, walked into the woods. Before long a report was heard, and presently the hunter entered in high spirits, carrying a large turkey-gobbler, with which Edward returned to his home.