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CHAPTER IX.

THE INDIAN WAR.

Causes of Indian Hostility—The Indians’ Hatred of the "Long Knives "—Old Injuries— Dissatisfaction with Treaties—Intrigues of the British—Gouemor St. Clair Prepares for a Treaty Hoping to Produce an Amicable Feeling—Murder of Soldiers at Dunean's Falls on the Muskingum—Petty and Annoying Indications of the Indians' Hostility—Game Killed or Driven from the Country—The Friendship of Gyantwahia the Cornplanter—Two Hundred Warriors Arrive at Fort Harmar in December, 1788—Treaty Concluded in January, 1789—Heckewelder Acts as Interpreter—The Marietta Settlers Joyous Over the Prospect of Peace—Indian Chiefs Invited to Dine at Campus Martius--Rude Awakening from the Dream of Peace— Hostilities Commenced in the Spring of 1789—Captain Zebulon King Killed at Belpre—Apprehensions of the Settlers—Two Boys Killed on the Little Kanawha—John Mathews and His Party of Surveyors Attacked—Several Men Killed—A Block-house Built by Mathews and Meigs—Another Built at Waterford—Capture and Escape of John Gardner—Ominous Indications—Fear of a General War—Expedition of General Harmar in the Fall of 179o—Govemor St. Clair's Letter to the British Commandant at Detroit—Perilous Journey of Return J. Meigs, jr.—Campus Martins Strengthened—The Settlement at Big Bottom Described—Fancied Security of the Settlers— Lack of Preeaution—The Massacre of January a, 1791—Twelve Persons Killed and Five Taken Prisoners—Effect of the Horrible News at Wolf Creek Mills and Waterford—Hurried Preparations for Defence—A Night of Suspense—Seventy Persons in One Log Cabin at Waterford—Scene of the Massacre Visited by Parties of Men Under Captain Rodgers and Anselem Tupper—Burial of the Victims— Present Aspect of Big Bottom—Alarm at Marietta Caused by the Massacre—Hasty Adjournment of the Court of Quarter Sessions— The News at Belpre—Meeting of the Ohio Company—Prompt and Spirited Action—A Stirring Appeal for ,Assistance—General Putnam's Letter to the Secretary of War—Defences Built at the Point —"Farmer's Castle" built at Belpre and Fort Frye at Waterford.

NOTWITHSTANDING the fact that Campus Martius had been built and some other measures taken, such as common prudence would suggest, the New Englanders, in their western home, had no very serious apprehensions of a state of general Indian hostility. As has been shown they were welcomed to the banks of the Muskingum by a large party of Delawares, under Captain Pipe, who made many protestations of friendship; their settlement was made under the conditions of an ordinance which exhibited a great and humane consideration of the Indians' right; the General Government had entered upon a policy which promised an amicable, advantageous and speedy arrangement of Indian affairs in the west, and the settlers themselves, with no past record of antagonism toward the red man of the forest, sought, by fair and honorable treatment, to merit and retain his good-will. They certainly were regarded much more favorably by the Indians than were the pioneers upon the other side of the Ohio. The frontiersmen of western Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the Kentucky borderers, had been engaged for a long term of years in a warfare that was both defensive and offensive against the northwestern tribes, and looked upon the Indian as a creature without any rights they were bound to respect; as something little better, if any, than a wild beast, and equally with the latter a pest to be exterminated, if possible, by rifle and tomahawk, and every savage means known to the frontier.

The Indians at once hated and feared the "Long Knives," as they had named the Virginians, and they doubtless formed their idea of the whole white race upon their knowledge of this class, which they had known the longest and most unfavorably. During the seven years previous to the war, which began on Ohio soil in 1791, it was estimated, says Colonel and Judge Barker,* that on the frontiers south and west of the Ohio river, the Indians killed and* took prisoners fifteen hundred people, stole two thousand horses and other property to the value of fifty thousand dollars.

Let it be borne in mind by those who would seek for cause, and endeavor to locate right and wrong, that these denizens of the western world, savages as they were, had only to look a few years backward to be reminded of the perpetration of the most perfidious outrages against their race, by the whites. Savages as they were, they had never struck at the civilized people such cruel and treacherous blows as those by which the kindred of Logan fell at Yellow Creek, or those by whih were massacred the peaceful Moravian Delawares, upon the Tuscarawas. No atrocities of the Indians equalled in enormity those of the whites. We only allude to these occurrences to suggest the feeling which doubtless lurked in the breasts of the western Indians when the first settlements were made northwest of the Ohio. There were other causes, more immediate and more potent, which combined, ultimately wrought the nations of the northwest into the heat of that hostility which terrorized the whites from 1790 to 1795. Many of the tribes had only imperfectly comprehended the treaties of Fort McIntosh, Fort Stanwix, and Fort Finney; some were illy satisfied with the provisions which they did understand, and reluctantly assented to, while others refused to attend the treaties, or were improperly represented in them, i. e., by their young men, who were unauthorized to act in council. Those who had entered into the compacts and ceded right in the soil, in good faith, regretted their assent when they saw the white man actually enter their old-time domain, and cabins arise in the clearings; for the great natural boundary once crossed, the Indians seem to have realized that the tide could not be long stayed, even at treaty bounda-

* Colonel Barker's Reminiscences.

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ries, and were jealous of future encroachments. Their disquietude was augmented by the intrigues of the British, who still held their posts in the northwest, traded with the Indians, wishing to retain them as allies, and to prevent the settlement of this region by the Americans, desired them to hold possession of it. The temper of the Indians was influenced by the white men among them to the highest pitch, and eventually, by the artifices of British agents, the services of Brant, the famous half-breed, were secured, and he effected the powerful confederation by which St. Clair was defeated.

Having given the reader a general view of the causes which conspired to bring on the war, we shall revert to some occurrences of which it is our province to treat specifically. The war did not commence in the Ohio company's purchase until January, 1791, but for the sake of unity, and to give an adequate idea of the situation, we shall in this chapter give an account of a number of events which occurred in 1788 and 1789.

It was the policy of the General Government to allay, as far as possible by peace processes, the dissatisfaction among the Indians, and Governor St. Clair had been especially charged with this delicate and difficult duty. In anticipation of his arrival in the territory preparations were made for holding a treaty, which it was intended should be confirmatory of the previous treaties, and should also embody some additional pacificatory measures. In June, 1788, the locality soon after named Dun-can's Falls, upon the Muskingum, about sixty miles from its mouth, was designated as a place of meeting, and in the latter part of the month Lieutenant McDowell, with a party of thirty men from Fort Harmar, was sent out to convey to this spot provisions and presents, and to build there a council-house and huts for the shelter of those who might attend the contemplated treaty. The locality had been agreed upon rather than Fort Harmar, as really a concession to the Indians, being one of their favorite-gathering places, and near a region in which they had one of their most considerable populations. The men from the fort encamped and proceded with the work they had been instructed to perform, and in the meantime the Indians assembled in large numbers, among them being Delawares, Wyandots, members of the Six Nations, Ottawas, Chippewas, and others. On the night of July 12th an attack was made on the tent in which the goods were stored. The sentries were suddenly fired upon and a movement quickly made to follow up the surprise, but the Indian volley being promptly returned by the sentries, and the remainder of the guard being roused from their slumber, coming to the rescue, the party was repulsed before they could effect their purpose, which was doubtless to obtain plunder. The attacking party lost one member and had one wounded by the volley from the soldiers' muskets. In the morning it was found that the dead Indian was a Chippewa, and the Delawares coming into the camp and disclaiming any connection with the attack, to show their friendliness, brought to Lieutenant McDowell six of the Chippewas, whom they avered were of the assailing party. These Indians, whom the Delawares instructed the commandant to do with as he saw fit in retaliation for the hostility of the night before, were taken to Fort Harmar and there held as prisoners until they made their escape.* All thought of making a treaty at this time and place was now given up, and the labor that had been expended in making preparations was a loss. The goods were sent back to Fort Harmar in the large boat belonging to the Ohio company, which, with another, had been sent up the Muskingum immediately after the arrival at Marietta by rumor of the Indians' perfidy. The boats made the trip to Duncan's Falls and back in seven days. Duncan's Falls (t) was so named from Major Duncan, a trader who was waiting for the assembling of the Indians to barter for their furs and skins. A mulatto servant who was with him was killed by the Indians the same night they attacked the soldiers.

During the summer and fall of 1788 the Indians remained in the vicinity of the infant settlement and evinced in many ways their hostility toward the whites. Their hatred seemed to constantly increase during this period, and some individuals and tribes who had formerly been considered friendly showed signs of disaffection. Some, however, maintained a respectful attitude throughout the season, and a few exhibited unmistakable sincerity and much warmth of regard for the pioneers. At council held by the several tribes, congregated at Duncan's Falls, the Chippewas and Ottawas announced themselves as against making any treaty, and in favor of war which should only be suspended when the white settlers were driven south and east of the Ohio. The Delawares, Wyandots, and Indians of the Six Nations would not join with them in this expression of enmity, and after a delay of some weeks the Chippewas and Ottawas affected to be reconciled, and asserted that they had no evil intentions. They were too weak of themselves to make war upon the whites, and being unable to draw the more powerful tribes, such as the Delawares and Wyandots, into an offensive alliance, they put on an appearance of friendliness and confined their animosities to the destruction of game in the vicinity of the settlements, and an occasional covert attack upon isolated and unprotected individuals. The Delawares were represented among the hostile bands who roamed the country by a few renegades who had deserted the tribe. The great body of this nation, however, maintained, until the war had commenced in earnest, an honorable peace. Captain Pipe, their leading chief, who, it will be remembered, welcomed the pioneers to the shores of the Muskingum April 7th, dined on several occasions with General Putnam and with the officers at Fort Harmar. He expressed warm friendship, but deprecated the building of houses in Marietta and raising of crops until the treaty had been made.

*July 28th.—(1788)—At five o'clock A. M.. as I was cleaning my rifle I heard a confused noise at the garrison of men and dogs, and two guns went off. This drew my attention more particularly. Presently I saw two Indians come tumbling over a fence into a field of corn. It proved to be two of the Indian prisoners who had made good their escape. The sentinels who rost them were tried by court-marshal, and whipped one hundred lashes in the evening.—Colonel May's journal.

+ Duncan's Falls, of the Muskingum, were where the town of Taylorsville, Muskingum county now is, but were obliterated by the slack-water improvement of the river.

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The whites had constant knowledge of the presence of evil disposed savages in the country, as well as of those who were friendly. The woods about Marietta were full of carrion, and it was evident that some of the hostile parties were killing all of the game they could under the impression that the food supply of the settlers might be thus cut off. Stripping the slain animals of their skins, they left the carcasses to rot or be devoured by bears and wolves. Alarming rumors of impending danger from attack were occasionally received by the settlers.* The season passed, however, without the occurrence of any actual hostilities.

Impatience was felt on the part of the Ohio company's settlers and the officers at Fort Harmar to effect a treaty as soon as was possible.

Gyantwahia the Cornplanter, a leading chief of the Six Nations (Seneca tribe, the same to which Logan belonged) with about forty Indians arrived at Fort Harmar in September, escorted by a company of soldiers from Fort Pitt, under command of Captain Zeigler. He was a civilized savage, friendly to the United Slates, and he used his best endeavors to enhance the interests at once of the whites and his own race, by preserving peace. The Ohio company were not unmindful of his great influence or unthankful for his exercise of that influence. (t)

In November a son of the famous Brant came with two hundred warriors to Duncan's Falls and sent an express to Governor St. Clair, asking that the treaty should be held at that place. The governor's refusal to meet in treaty at the spot where but a few months before the Indians had treacherously assailed the guard, incensed Brant, and it was suspected that he used his influence to

* Colonel Mayls journal under date of Monday, July 25, contained mention of one such rumor:

"Henry Williams alarmed us a little this evening when he returned from the Virginia shore; he brought information that our settlement was to be attacked this night by three strong parties of Chippewa Indians—so said the report—to relieve the prisoners. We have sent this information over to the garrison. It proved false, however; but it made some trouble for us. We may always expect trouble while travelling through this life, which is nothing more than a wilderness world. We ought to make the best use we can of these matters, small and great. At Boston we have frequent alarms of fite and inundations of the tides; here the Indians answer the same purpose."

+The agents of the Ohio company at a meeting held in January, 1789, passed lhe following:

" WHEREAS, the Gyantwahia, or the Cornplanter, a chief of the Seneca nation, has since the

treaty of peace in 1784, between the United States and Indian nations, in many instances been of great service to the United States, and the friendship he has manifested to the proprielors of lands purchased by the Ohio company has been of particular service to them, therefore

Resolved, That one mile square of the donation lands be granted to the Gyantwahia and his heirs forever, in such place as the committee appointed tq examine proper places of settlement shall assign, and that the duties and conditions required of other settlers shall in this case be dispensed with, and the committee are directed to give him a deed.—Ohio company’s journal, page 54.

Subsequently the directors passed a resolution referring to the above, and authorizing the exploring committee to lay out a mile square of land on the river Muskingum.

Cornplanter died at Cornplanterstown, Pennsylvania, February 18, 1836, aged about one hundred years. A monument was erected to his memory by authority of the legislalure of Pennsylvania, expressed by act of March, 1866, and upon the occasion of its completion and unveiling Hon. James Snowden, of Philadelphia, delivered an address.

deter the Shawnees and some other Indians from attending the treaty, when it was finally held at Fort Harmar.

Two hundred warriors arrived at Fort Harmar on the thirteenth of December. They came from the northward along the west shore of the Muskingum, quite a number of them mounted, but the greater proportion of them walking. The flag of the United States was borne aloft at the head of the column, and as they drew near the fort they fired three rifles in the air to indicate that they were friendly and had no use for loaded guns. "The salute," says Hildreth, "was returned by the cannon and musketry of the soldiers, for several minutes, sounding so much like a real engagement of hostile bands that the old officers at Campus Martius were quite animated with the sound." Troops, with music playing, escorted the visitors into the fort, and then began the formal preliminaries which led to the formation of the treaty, a slow work, which was not consummated until January 9, 1789. The negotiations were carried on in the council house, which stood near the bank of the Muskingum, a short distance north of the garrison. A council fire was kindled here, and around it gathered the Indian sachems and chiefs in their conference with Governor St. Clair, his staff of civilians and the officers from Fort Harmar. The venerable John Heckewelder, Moravian missionary, who had been for many years among the Delawares on the Tuscarawas, was present and exerted a benign influence during the progress of the treaty. General Richard Butler served as a commissioner at this treaty. Three interpreters, Nicholson, Williams and La Chappelle, acted as the principal agents between the Indians and whites when their services were needed, which was not continually, as some of the chiefs could speak the English tongue quite fluently. Governor St. Clair was subject to the gout, and during the treaty suffered from an acute attack. He was carried on a chair daily by the soldiers to the council house.

In reality two treaties were made on this occasion, each of which, so far as appearances indicated, was highly satisfactory to all parties concerned. The first treaty was with the Indians of the Six Nations, and was signed by twenty-four of their chiefs. It was merely confirmatory of the previous treaties, but for the renewal of their assent to the provisions which had been stipulated the Six Nations were given presents, in goods, to the value of three thousand dollars.

Simultaneously with the progress of this treaty a council was carried on from day to day with the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottowtoamies and Sacs, which confirmed and extended the treaty of Fort McIntosh. In addition to the provisions of former treaties in regard to councils, some of the measures of the treaty of Fort Harmar were as follows: The Indians were to be allowed to hunt within the territory ceded to the United States so long as they should demean themselves peaceably. Trade was to be opened with the several nations. They were enjoined to afford protection to all regularly licensed traders in their midst, and the treaty stipulated that to the end that they might not be imposed upon in their traffic, no person should be allowed to reside at the towns or hunting camps who was

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not provided with a license bearing the seal of the goy ernor of the territory northwest of the Ohio. Should any nation of Indians meditate a war against the Unite( States, and knowledge of the same come to any of the tribes party to the treaty, they were to give immediate notice to the governor, and they were to attempt to prevent any hostile nation from marching through their country against the United States, or any one of them. In like manner the United States was to give notice to the Indian nations of any harm that might be meditated against them. Settlement by white men upon the lands of the Indians was forbidden, and stipulations were made that each party to the treaty should give up murderers.* A memorandum was annexed, to the effect that the Wyandots had laid claim to the lands that had been granted to the Shawnees at the treaty held at Fort Finney, and had declared that as the Shawnees had been so restless and made so much trouble, they now dispossess them unless they should now assent to peace. The treaties were concluded upon the ninth of January and ratified upon the twelfth.

So overjoyed were the Marietta settlers with the result of Governor St. Clair's conference with the Indians, that they provided a dinner at Campus Martius, to which the principal chiefs were invited, + and also the officers from Fort Harmar. The feast passed off pleasantly and har- moniously, the Indian chiefs behaving with "very great decorum." Wine was served, and Cornplanter and other chiefs made speeches breathing the spirit of warmest friendship. On the day following the Indians dispersed. Then the year 1789 opened auspiciously for the frontier settlements.

The people at Marietta felt a deep sense of gratitude toward Governor St. Clair for the peace he had secured, and at a public meeting held on the fourth of February, they appointed Colonel Archibald Crary, Colonel Robert Oliver, Mr. Backus, Major Haffield White and Major Sargent, to draw up an address which should express to

* American State Papers—Indian Affairs, vol. V.

+ The following letter of invitation to the Indians was published in the Massachusetts Spy soon after the occurrence narrated, and repro- duced in Hildreth's Pioneer History:

"To Messrs. Nicholson, Williams, and LaChappelle, Indian interpreters at Fort Harmar:

"You are requested to inform the Wyandots, Delawares, Chippewas, Ottawas, Miamis, Pottawatomies, and Sacs, with the Senecas and such of the Five Nations as are present, that we are desirous of celebrating the good work which the Great Spirit has permitted our father, the governor, with our brother, General Butler, and their sachems and chiefs so happily to accomplish; for which purpose we were prepare an entertainment on Monday next, at two o’clock, and our brothers, the sachems and chiefs, to whom we now send tokens, are requested to attend at that time; lhat we may in friendship and as true brothers, eat and drink together, and smoke the pipe of everlasting peace; and evince to the whole world how bright and strong is the chain which the thirteen United States hold fast at one end, and the Wyandots, etc., at the other. We are very sorry we cannot entertain all of our brethren together, with their wives and children; but as we have come into this country a very long way, some of us forty or fifty days' journey toward the rising sun, and could not bring much provision along with us, it is now out of our power. We trust the Great Spirit will permit us to plant and gather our corn, and increase our stores, and their children and children’s children may be told how much we shall all rejoice to make glad their hearts when they come to see us."

him their appreciation of his services. They fulfilled the task, and subsequently the following was forwarded to him I as voicing the sentiments of the people—and, by the way, a testimonial which must have given the old Federalist governor some pleasant thoughts to relieve the pain caused by the bitter aspersions generally made when his great reverse of fortune came upon him:

To His Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, esg., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Territory of the United Slates Northwest of the River Ohio:

We, the citizens of Marietta, assembled at Campus Martius, beg leave to address your excellency with the most cordial congratulations upon the happy issue of Indian affairs. For this event, so interesting to the United States at large, and to this settlement in particular, we hold ourselves indebted, under God, to your excellency's wisdom and unremitting exertions displayed during the long and tedious negotiation of the treaty. It was with pain and very affectionate sympathy that we beheld this business spun out by the Indian nations through so many tedious months and to a season of the year, which from its inclemency must have endangered and perhaps impaired the heallh and constitution of a character under whose auspices and wise administration of government we hope to be a good and happy people,

But the inhabitants were not long to rest in the lull of peace which they had secured and fondly fancied they should permanently enjoy. Some of the Indian tribes were not represented in the treaty at all. Some, as the Shawnees, by but few of their braves and others, as they afterward claimed, not by their chiefs, but by young men who were unauthorized to act.* The Chippewas asserted that they had had no share of the goods distributed at the treaty. + [Tahre, the Crane of the Wyandots, and Captain Pipe of the Delawares, were among the well known chiefs who acknowledged the treaty of Fort Harmar to be binding.] The truth seems to have been that many of the tribes not present at the treaty resented the right of those who were there to barter away their lands, basing their opinion upon the agreement which they averred had been made in their general council in 1788, that no bargain or sale would be considered valid unless generally assented to.

Hostilities were commenced in the spring following the making of the treaty, the Indians passing by the Ohio company's settlements to strike their old enemies, the "Long Knives." Over twenty Virginians were killed or taken prisoners. The Wabash Indians and the Shawnees harassed travellers going up or down the Ohio. Depredations were committed all along the border from Pittsburgh to Louisville.

Upon the first of May, 1789, the first blow was struck within the limits of the Ohio company's purchase. Captain Zebulon King was killed at Belpre. He had located at the middle settlement with the Belpre company of associates a short time before, had been allotted his land and was engaged in clearing it when he was shot down

* Le Gris, the great chief of the Miamis, in April, 1790, said to Gamelin that the Muskingum treaty was not made by chiefs or delegates, but by young men acting without authority.—Arbach's Annals of the West, p. 525.

+ Massass, a Chippewa, and one who had signed the treaty at Fort Harmar, said at Greenville in 1795, "at that treaty (Fort Harmar) we had not good interpreters, and we were reft partly unacquainted with many particulars of it. . . If our uncles, the Wyandots, and grandfathers, the Delawares, have received presents, they have kept them to themselves.—Ibid, p. 524.

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by an enemy in concealment, who, as soon as he had fallen, sprung to his side, scalped him and fled. Two Indians were engaged in the murder. The settlers at Belpre were thrown in a state of terrible consternation by this sudden taking off of one of their number.

This act had proved, conclusively, that the Indians could not be trusted, and no one knew how soon they might claim another victim, or surprise and destroy the whole of the little band.

From this time on, not alone at Belpre, but at Marietta and the other settlements, there was great distress. Indian signs were frequently found in the woods, and it was well known that they were often lurking in ambush to take advantage of those who should expose themselves. Men went forth to their work of clearing with apprehensions which made them ill at ease, and the women remaining in the cabins were filled with a nameless dread of danger to themselves and their loved ones away. The dark forest, surrounding the little clearings where the white man's axe had made it possible for the warm sun to reach the virgin soil, was a terra incognita, which imagination peopled with horde of savages plotting the destruction of the pioneers' cabins. As a matter of fact there were but few Indians in the immediate vicinity of the Ohio company's settlements, even at the time the greater outrages were perpetrated, and they were roving bands who came down from what is now the interior of the State. But the terror of the pioneers was none the less deep and intense if it was very often vague and the product of excited fancy. Any sound, however common, echoing through the forest—the cry of a bird, the snapping of a dry twig, caused man or woman to start with fright, such was the tension of their nerves, and to listen with anxious and troubled looks for any further breaking of silence that might possibly indicate the proximity, or the approach of a stealthy enemy.

In the month of August the little Belpre settlement was again horrified by the commission of an Indian atrocity. Two boys were killed at Meig's station, a small stockade on the Little Kanawha, a mile from its mouth. They had gone out Saturday, towards night, from their home, a small log cabin, to the block-house, not more than forty rods away, and their parents were alarmed at their failure to return. The next day their bodies were found in the edge of the woods, near a cornfield, where they had gone to feed the cows. They had been tomahawked ; no gun had been fired, and the boys had probably made no outcry. The same night a worn. an, sleeping near the port-hole in the block-house, was awakened by a glare of light by her bedside and a stifling sensation caused by smoke.' A fire brand had been thrust through the port-hole and was blazing upon the floor. The woman's awakening had doubtless saved the occupants from death by fire, or if they had escaped that, butchery by the Indians. A party of men went out from Belpre, under arms, and assisted in the burial of the murdered boys.

Upon the seventh of August John Mathews, the surveyor, and his party of assistants and soldiers were attacked by a strong band of Indians in what is now Lawrence county. Several were killed in this attack, and Mathews narrowly escaped. In spite of the admonitions of his friends and a full personal knowledge of the danger to which he was exposed, Mr. Mathews had carried on the labor of surveying the ranges west of Marietta, all through the season. The Indians had an especial dislike for the surveyors, who were running lines through the forest, and had frequently exhibited their hostility toward the men who three years previously had surveyed the "seven ranges." Mr. Mathews had become accustomed to the dangers of the wilderness while assisting in the work to which allusion has been made, and hence was not seriously alarmed when he discovered evidences that the Indians were about. On the morning of the sixth he had seen the tracks of a man and a horse, and had discovered that one of his own horses was missing. At night one of his assistants, Patchen by name, reported that he had seen moccasin tracks in several places and followed them to where they joined the trail found in the morning. It was the almost universal belief among the men that the trail they had discovered was that of a party of Indians who had made a plundering expedition to some of the Virginia settlements and were now returning toward the Scioto, where doubtless their villages were situated. As a measure of proper precaution, however, the corporal of the guard was ordered to keep sentries out during the night, and just before dawn, when the darkness of night was turning to gray, (this being the favorite time among the Indians for making their attacks), the whole force was called to arms and a reconnaissance made. No signs of a foe were to be seen, and at broad day, all danger past, as it was supposed, the soldiers went into camp. They had not been long returned and were scattered about the camp, some sitting upon their blankets and some kindling fires, when they were startled by two rifle shots, occurring almost simultaneously. Mathews was sitting upon his blanket, only partly dressed, and Patchen was by his side. The latter threw up his hands and exclaimed: "My God, I am killed!" and fell backward, dead. Mathews, turning toward him, saw a wound in his breast from which the blood gushed forth. He had scarcely time to notice the fate of his companion and friend, for the first shots were quickly followed by a volley, the Indians rising from their concealment and taking aim with a deliberation which made their fire a deadly one. The soldiers had sprung to their feet at the first discharge, only to become better targets for the Indians' rifle balls, and they all fell, either mortally wounded or dead, with the exception of the corporal, between whom and the assailants there was a large tree which hid him from their view and saved his life. With a wild and horrible yell the Indians sprang forward into the camp, and as they rushed upon their dead and wounded victims with tomahawks and knives, Mathews and three other men fled in an opposite direction, followed by several of the enemy, who, however, soon gave up the chase. Mathews legs and feet were bare, and he suffered in his flight through the stiff underbrush and briers, exceedingly. His companion's coat was arranged to shield him, but his feet, still uncovered, be-

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came so blistered after he had run several miles and reached the Ohio, that he could not endure the pain; so the two men set about making a raft of logs which they fastened together with grape vines. Before they had completed this work a Kentucky boat came down the river, which they boarded and upon which they found the other two men, who had reached the river farther up stream. Four miles down the Ohio they came upon the Ohio company's boat, in charge of Colonel Return J. Meigs. Before night the corporal arrived and the survivors were reunited. He had fallen over a log in his flight, and had lain behind it and watched the Indians until they had plundered and abandoned the camp. They had scalped the killed, broken the muskets of the soldiers upon the trees and rocks, taken everything of value, including some of the dead men's clothing. The compass, with its delicately vibrating needle, they had contemplated with mingled wonder, admiration and amusement. On the same day that this bloody attack was made Colonel Meigs, lying on his boat in the river, had become alarmed at the discovery of fresh Indian signs, and dropped down stream to the point where is now situated the village of Burlington. Here his men had hastily built a block-house for defence in case of necessity. Meigs and Mathews now resorted to this little stronghold and remained there until the tenth of August, when another party of surveyors, who had been out under a Mr. Backus, arrived, and they then went up the river, resolving to give up the work of surveying for an indefinite time. Three days laler, having stopped at a convenient point, a squad of well armed men accompanied Mathews to the scene of the attack. He discovered the ghastly remains of the murdered men, which had been torn and partly devoured by wolves. It was thought that the attacking party on this occasion were Shawnees, and the testimony of some friendly Wyandots and Delawares was to that effect.

Not many more incidents of Indian hostility were to be set down in the annals of 1789, and in spite of the several alarming events which occurred during the sum- mer, the inhabitants of the several settlements carried on their usual avocations and were fairly prosperous. Some precautions were taken, but after a time individuals and communities ceased to exercise that constant care and watchfulness, which was their surest safeguard. They became accustomed to danger, and to a certain extent contemptuous of it. The settlers at Waterford (then called Plainfield), which was now the frontier post, received upon the third of May, a letter from General Putnam, which informed them of the murder of Captain King, at Belpre, upon the first. They assembled, organized a military company and made plans for the building of a block-house, which was finished early in July, under the direction of Colonel Robert Oliver. William Gray was chosen captain of the military; David Wilson, Sargent; and Andrew Webster, corporal. The block- house and the military organization were happily not necessary during 1789 and 1790, but there came a time when their practical utility was beyond dispute.

The capture of John Gardner, at Waterford, in September, 1789, was a peculiar incident, illustrating the boldness and ingenuity of the Indians, and the thoughtlessness of the whites at this period. It is true that it was nominally a time of peace, and yet several evil acts had been committed by the savages within a few months, and it is difficult to see how a man who had been all of this time in the frontier country would allow himself to fall into such a trap as did Gardner. He was a young man from Marblehead, Massachusetts, had been bred a sailor, and had come to the west as did many others, in search of fortune and adventure. He had entered into a kind of a partnership with Jervis Cutler to clear up some land, and on the day he was taken prisoner was alone in the woods, Custer having gone to Marietta for the purpose of procuring provisions. Four Indians and a white man came within a few feet of him before they were perceived, and when he chanced to raise his eyes and did see them, they beckoned to him; he walked over to them and they coolly made him their prisoner. One relieved him of his gun, another threw a slip noose over his head, and two of them taking hold of his hands led him away. This was done so close to other men engaged at work that the Indians would scarcely have dared to fire their guns. As the caplive was led away and the party passed along the ridge near Wolf Creek mills, then building, Gardner could catch an occasional glimpse through the hazel thicket which bordered the path of the men, his comrades and fellow pioneers, hewing timbers and placing them in position. He could easily have made himself heard by them, but had he called out a tomahawk sunk in his brain would have been the penalty. What thoughts passed through the mind of the young man can be better imagined than described. He was a captive of ten savages, marching away he knew not whither, to a rite which he dared not think upon, while down below him in the valley were friends, who, ignorant of his misfortune, were cheerily laboring at the mill. Gardner was not destined, however, to long remain a prisoner with the Shawnees (for to that tribe his captors belonged), and on the second night effected his escape, a proceeding which required much patience and nerve. He slept tightly bound with deerskin thongs, and lying across a bowed sapling, to which he was also made fast, and upon the boughs of which the Shawnee warriors had tied cow-bells, which, should the prisoner make an unusual movement, would produce a clangor sufficient to bring every Indian from slumber to his feet. A gentle rain fell that night and favored the plans of the captive, who had resolved even at the risk of his life to escape. The leathern thongs softened and made pliable by the moisture were by two or three hours of straining so stretched as to permit Gardner to slip his hands through them, and that being done he released with fearful slowness the bent sapling, fearing that on any instant some of his captors would awake, and that he would either be killed or retaken and subjected to torture. At last the tree had risen to its natural position, and not a bell had sounded however faintly. Stepping silently among the prostrate and oblivious Indians the young man secured his gun and went out into the darkness of the forest, pro-

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ceeding slowly and cautiously at first least he should yet wake the sleepers at the camp, but as he got farther away from them, and the sound of the snapping of the dry twigs under his feet could not by any possibility reach their ears, running at full speed. He walked or ran all day, travelling eastward, and never stopping save to drink from the little streams that he crossed. He was without food and dared not fire his gun as he had but one load of ammunition, and knew not when he should need that for a sterner purpose than bringing down game. At night he feared to kindle a fire, least it should reveal to those who he imagined pursued him his whereabouts. He slept in a hollow log, the ends of which he filled with brush to keep away wolves. The second day of his flight, towards evening, he came to the Wolf Creek mills, and there met Jervis Cutler, who was on his way back to Waterford from Marietta, and entirely ignorant of his friend's disappearance and his four days of thrilling experience.

This is the simple story of one of those few romantic and exciting Indian adventures of which southeastern Ohio was the theatre, which, although serving to illustrate the dangers to which the inhabitants were daily exposed, still presents no element of blood-curdling horror. Well had it been for the pioneer settlements of Washington county if the chronicling of this history made no page sadder than is this.

During the spring of 1790 many reports and rumors reached Marietta of outrages perpetrated by the Shawnees at the mouth of the Scioto, but the Ohio company's settlements were left undisturbed.

By fall, however, there were ominous indications of a general war. In June Major Doughty, with one hundred and fifty men from Fort Harmar, had gone down the Ohio and commenced building Fort Washington, within the present limits of Cincinnati. A little later, General Harmar arrived there with three hundred men, and his force being increased by the addition of nearly a thousand militia men from Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, he marched into the Indian country, and destroyed several large villages upon the Miami of the Lakes (Maumee). General Harmar's force suffered two defeats, one upon the nineteenth and the other upon the twenty-second of October, and lost a large number of men. The failure of this expedition was doubtless largely due to the inefficiency of the militia, and dissensions among the officers. General Harmar was severely condemned, and his action was investigated by a court of inquiry, with the result, however, of entirely exonerating him from blame. The Indians did not regard seriously the destruction of their towns, and seemed to magnify their victory over the army, it being currently reported among them that five hundred of the Americans had been killed. They were exasperated by the slight losses they had sustained through the invasion of their country, and emboldened by the fact that they had defeated the forces sent out against them. They made open threats now that "before the leaves should again come forth, not a single cabin fire of the whites should burn north of the Ohio." It was rumored that they were marching in large force against the settlements upon the Muskingum and the Miamis.

About the time that General Harmar set out to bring the Indians to terms, or to chastise them, the attitude of the British was fully revealed. Governor St. Clair sent a letter to the governor of Detroit, informing him of the expedition that was to be made, and that the United States had no intention of molesting any of the British posts, and also requesting that no aid be furnished the hostile Indians in the way of furnishing them arms or ammunition. The letter was delivered by Return J. Meigs, jr. (afterwards governor of Ohio), who, accompanied by John, a son of Commodore Abraham Whipple, made the perilous journey to Detroit through the great wilderness, inhabited only by savages, and trackless save for the narrow trails worn by moccasined feet. A horse which these men took with them to carry their provisions was stolen by the Indians, and they made the greater part of the journey on foot. The British governor received Meigs with very distant manner, but, after considerable delay, consented to return a formal answer, which was exceedingly noncommittal in its character. Meigs was informed that it would be extremely hazardous to return to Marietta as he had come, even with a flag of truce, and he made therefore a long journey by water to Presque Isle, from thence over to the Allegheny and down that stream to the Ohio, and thence to his home by boat. Soon after this the Americans had positive proof that agents of the British were furnishing with military stores the very tribes which were most hostile.

General Harmar returned to the fort bearing his name in November, which, according to a good authority,* had been, during a portion at least of his absence, in charge of one of the sergeants of militia, Colonel Joseph Barker. Captain Zeigler was, however, the offrcer in command most of the time during the Indian war. (t)

Before the expedition of Harmar was entered upon the Ohio company had taken some precautions intended to strengthen the settlements within the purchase against Indian attack. The disastrous outcome of the campaign caused these measures for protection to be redoubled. Campus Martius was put in a good state of repair, and by authority of the Secretary of War an additional corps of men was raised to serve as guards for the several settlements. In November Colonel Sproat, commandant of the militia, was authorized to enlist scouts or rangers, and this number was subsequently increased to ten. They were sent out daily to scout the woods for signs of the enemy.

Hostilities had been continued upon the Ohio during the summer, and Governor St. Clair, writing to the Secretary of War upon the nineteenth of September, 1790, mentioned the fact that Captain McCurdy's boat had been fired upon between Marietta and Fort Washington, and that five or six men had been killed.

No events of serious nature, however, occurred within the limits of the Ohio company's lands. Indians hov-

* Horace Nye in Western Recorder. 1847.

+Testimony of the Ohio company’s journal; Dr. S. P. Hildreth in American Pioneer and Pioneer History; Thomas Wallcut's journal, etc.

66 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO.

ered around the settlements, and the indications of their presence were oftened discovered by the spies, but they committed no depredations other than stealing a few horses.

Indeed, so peaceful had been the lives of the pioneers during the season and so promising did the future appear, that the regular occupations of the inhabitants were not only carried on, but new enterprises engaged their attention, and new institutions were brought into being in the western world. For the convenience of the members the Belpre association had divided into three settlements, which were called the "upper," "lower," and "middle" stations. A new association, alluded to in the preceding chapter, had been formed, and in the fall of 1790 had made a settlement at Big Bottom, * upon the Muskingum, which had attracted attention from its great beauty and richness. The association was composed of thirty-six members, but only eighteen went originally to the station, and one of these, the leader of the little colony, Colonel William Stacey, it appears did not remain there. Isaac Meeks, a Virginian frontiersman, was employed as hunter in the settlement, and brought with him his wife and two children. A block-house of good size was erected on the left bank of the river, and upon the lower bottom. One cabin was erected a short distance from the block-house, and was occupied by Francis and Isaac Choate, while another which had been a part of the "tomahawk improvement" made several years before by some Virginia squatter, was fitted up and occupied by Asa and Eleazer Bullard, brothers. Thew cabins were each about twenty rods from the defence which the associates built, the first above and the latter below. The settlement was composed principally of young men, inexperienced, and poorly qualified to occupy the frontier part which they did.

"They had neglected," says Colonel Barker,* "to enclose their house with palisades, and ceasing to complete the work the general interest was lost in that of the convenience of each individual. Another error was the neglect of any regular system of defence, and the omission of setting sentries. Those most familiar with the Indians had little doubt of their hostility, and had strongly opposed the settlers going out that fall, and advised them to remain until spring, by which time the question of war or peace would probably be decided." They were impatient, however, and had gone out, to invite by their exposed situation an Indian attack. And so it came about that the war began in earnest in the Ohio company's purchase, at this settlement. The massacre which occurred here on the second of January, 1791, was the bloodiest event in the annals of the first settlement of Ohio, and it not only terrorized the inhabitants of Marietta, Waterford and Belpre, but sent a thrill of horror into all of the border settlements of Virginia and Pennsylvania which left their people, accustomed as they

* Big Bottom was so named because the broadest portion of the valley between the mouth of the Muskingum and Duncan's Falls. Windsor township, of Morgan county (adjoining Washington upon the east and south), included this historic locality in its limits.

* Reminiscence; of Colonel Joseph Barker—MSS.

had long been to Indian atrocities, filled with foreboding for many a day.

The early part of the winter of 1790-91 was of unusual severity, and this fact undoubtedly made not only the young men at Big Bottom, but the settlers at all of the other stations less careful in guarding against Indian attack than they would otherwise have been, for the winter was very generally regarded as a season when there was immunity from depredations by the savages, and especially was this true when it was one of great cold.* The Indians, therefore, in making this attack in the winter, made an exception to their common custom and exceeded their usual shrewdness. it is supposed that they had originally designed falling upon and massacring the settlers at Waterford (whom they had doubtless learned were not as watchful as they had formerly been), but that coming first to the Big Bottom settlement and recognizing their opportunity there, they had after holding a hasty council, decided to attack it.

The Indians, as it was subsequently learned, crossed the river upon the ice a few rods above the upper cabin, and then the warriors were divided into two parties. A small number of the savages made their way to the cabin occupied by the Choates and another and much larger party simultaneously, by a short detour, arrived at the block-house. No eye had observed them, and their quick but cautious approach had not started the dogs to barking. The Choate brothers and two men, Thomas Shaw and James Patten, who were living with them, were eating their supper, and upon the entrance of the Indians it seems, supposed them to be friendly and invited them to partake. To avert suspicion until they could fully project their plan of action, the Indians did actually help themselves to food, but after a lapse of not more than two or three minutes, and after having disposed themselves about the apartment in such manner as to best meet any resistance that might be made, they indicated by signs that their hosts were prisoners and quickly bound them with some thongs which they discovered in the cabin. The four men, taken by surprise and confronted by more than their own number, offered no opposition, and made no remonstrance. Scarcely a word was spoken. While quiet capture was effected at the cabin a scene of carnage was being enacted at the blockhouse. The inmates had gathered around the large fireplace, some engaged in preparing the evening meal and others having come in from work warming themselves by the genial blaze, when the door was thrown suddenly open and a volley of musketry poured death into their midst. Several fell lifeless to the floor, and one, Zebulon

* Joseph Doddridge in his valuable and very reliable Notes on the Setllement and Indian Wars of the Western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania (p. 262) has the following upon this topic:

. . "During the long continued Indian wars sustained by the first settlers of the western country they enjoyed no peace excepting in the winter season, when owing to the severity of the weather the Indians were unable to make their excursions into the settlements. The onset of winter was therefore hailed as a jubilee by the early inhabitants of the country, who throughout the spring and the early part of the fall had been cooped up in their little uncomfortable forts. . . . To our forefathers the gloomy months of winter were more pleasant than the zephyrs of spring and the flowers of May."

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Throop, who was bending over a frying pan in which he was cooking venison for supper, sank down upon the blazing logs. The shots were fired from without, while one of the Indians who had burst the door in held it open. No sooner had the guns been emptied than with a fiendish yell the savages leaped through the smoke to finish with their tomahawks the. butchery began with powder and ball. So sudden and fierce was the onslaught that but little resistance could be made, and one after another the inmates of the block-house were dispatched. Only one Indian was wounded, and he by the wife of Isaac Meeks, the Virginia hunter. She had witnessed the brutal slaying of her two children, had seen their brains dashed out and their bodies cast upon the fire, and with the courage of madness she seized an axe and struck wildly at one of the murderers. The blow came very near proving fatal at the instant (and did inflict a wound from which it was afterward thought the Indian would die), but it was quickly avenged by a companion of the assaulted one, who, coming up behind her as the woman was again raising the heavy axe to strike, cleft her skull with his tomahawk. The air was filled with the wild yells of the Indians, the moans of the dying, the agonizing shrieks and the supplications of those on whom the cruel death blow had not yet descended. All were quickly dispatched except Phillip, a son of Colonel William Stacey, who, during the excitement of the massacre, had cowered down in a corner of the room and pulled some bed clothes over himself. He was discovered after the bloody work of killing and scalping the men had been completed, by an Indian who was assisting in gathering up the various articles of plunder to remove them. As soon as his hiding-place was revealed a tomahawk was raised to kill him, and the terrified boy who threw himself at the feet of his would be murderer, would have been dispatched in spite of his piteous entreaties if another Indian had not interposed and saved him. His brother, John Stacey, was the last one of the party killed. He had managed, unperceived, to climb through a scuttle hole into the low upper story or loft of the house, and from there made his way onto the roof, when he was fired upon and killed by some of the party who had remained outside during the progress of the butchering. On seeing the Indians upon the ground and knowing that his last chance of escape was shut off, he had fallen down in despair and cried out: "I am the only one left, for God's sake spare my life," but the only answer was the ringing rifle shot and an exultant cry from the fierce warriors below him.

The Ballards—Asa and Eleazer—who had been drawn from their cabin by the noise of the muskets and the loud shouts of the savages—caught sight of young Stacey as he emerged upon the roof and heard his agonizing appeal to the merciless enemy, and quickly comprehending the situation sprang back into their cabin, secured their rifles and fled, keeping the building between them and the Indians. They closed the door as they hurriedly left the. cabin, and had got only a few rods away when they heard it burst open and the still bloodthirsty savages uttering imprecations and exclamations of chagrin upon discovering their escape. Of the nineteen persons imperilled in this sudden and unsuspected attack, these two men were the only ones who escaped. Four were taken prisoners at the Choate cabin, and one, the boy—Philip Stacey—at the block-house, while twelve were killed. Their names were Ezra Putnam, Zebulon Throop, John Stacey, John Camp, Jonathan Farewell, James Couch, John Clark, William James, Isaac Meek, his wife and two children. Colonel William Stacey, William Smith, and some of the other associates were not present at the time of the attack. Had the first named been at the block-house the massacre would very likely have been prevented, and even had his advice been acted upon the great calamity might have been averted. Only a few days before the massacre he had urged the young men to put their block-house in better order to resist an attack, should one be made, to discontinue work at sundown, have doors and windows securely closed, palisades erected around the building, and sentries posted at good points of observation to warn the little garrison of the approach of an enemy. Had these precautions been observed it would have been impossible for the Indians to have made a successful attack, or at least to commit a wholesale murder as they did. The men had good arms and a sufficient number of them, but they were standing in the corner of the block-house when the Indians, without any warning, enlered, and overwhelmed the surprised and terror-stricken group gathered about the fire.*

The escape of the Ballards was very fortunate. Had the Indians succeeded in capturing or killing them they doubtless would have come down on the Waterford and Wolf Creek Mills settlements and repeated the horrors of the Big Bottom massacre, but as the two men had fled they surmised that they would carry warning to those stations, and the party returned, with the exception of a few forming a scouting band who, it was subsequently discovered, penetrated the forest to the southeast and hovered threateningly around Wolf Creek Mills.

The Ballards in their flight came upon a hunting camp about four miles from the scene of the massacre, and there found Captain Joseph Rodgers, an experienced woodsman (who was afterwards a ranger or spy for the Marietta settlement) and a friendly Mohican Indian. They were wrapped in their blankets and asleep by the fire. Awakened and told the probable fate of the Big Boltom settlers, they seized their guns and leaving everything else behind them that they might make greater haste, started out in the darkness for the settlement at the mills. On arriving there they found that many of the heads of families were in Marietta attending the court of quarter sessions, and the news that they brought caused the utmost agitation among the women and children. Captain Rodgers immediately assumed direction of the preparations for defence, and his presence did much toward allaying the feeling of consternation which

* The story of the massacre is taken principally from Hildreth's Pioneer History, as are many of the local incidents of the Indian war. Other authorities on the same subjects have been consulted, viz: The recollections of Colonel Barker {MSS), and a series of valuable papers by Horace Wye, published in the Western Recorder in 1847.

68 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO.

filled the minds of the people. The situation was a desperate one. There had been no block-house erected here as the Ohio company directors had suggested there should be, and the absence of a number of the men materially increased the danger to which the remainder would be subjected in case of an attack, which was mo mentally expected. Captain Rodgers' word was law and he hastily notified all of the inhabitants to assemble in Colonel Robert Oliver's cabin, which was the largest and strongest. Water was carried from the creek until all the tubs, casks, buckets, and other available article: were filled and others prepared to quench the flames should the Indians set fire to their cattle fort, and the windows and door strongly barricaded, the company passed the long night, fearing, hoping, praying, peering into the darkness through the loop holes which had been made between the logs, listening for any sound that should bring intelligence of the stealthy enemy, waiting with tense nerves for whatever might come, and resolved, should it be the worst, to defend themselves as best they could, and sell their lives as dearly as possible. There were about thirty persons, men, women and children, crowded in the little cabin, and of this number only seven were men. Outside under cover of some palings was posted a sentry. Just before dawn he saw some Indians approach, and it was feared that they would make an attack, but as they undoubtedly saw that the people were on their guard they retreated in a short time. Daylight brought a very blessed relief to the feelings of the women and children, and even the men, for they had had every reason to apprehend an attack.

The people of Waterford had been made acquainted with the news of the attack on the Big Bottom settlement in the night by Samuel Mitchell from the mills. The settlement extended nearly two miles along the river, but every cabin was visited, either by Mitchell or by James and Daniel Conyers, whom he had aroused first to help him spread the alarm. As the news was carried from door to door, terrified people aroused from their sleep, came hurrying to the block-house, carrying little else than such arms as they could command. Seventy persons passed the night in a room about fifteen feet square. There were more men here in proportion to the total number of inhabitants than at the mills, and the block-house was considered a very good defence and while the situation was not as harrowing as at the last named settlement, the people nevertheless passed a night which was full of apprehension and suspense.

Two days after the massacre Captain Rodgers led a company of men to Big Bottom. They met a company from Marietta headed by Anselem Tupper and together they found that the Indians after taking the lives of the twelve persons and carrying a quantity of provisions out of the house had pulled up the flooring, piled it over the bodies of their victims and set fire to the whole. The block-house had not long been built, was constructed of beech logs, and had been only partly consumed. Most of the bodies, however, were so disfigured by the tomahawk and by fire as to be unrecognizable. William James' remains were identified by his great size; he had measured six feet four inches in stature and was of massive build otherwise. The ground being frozen very hard a grave was dug within the walls of the big cabin, where it had been prevented from freezing by the fire, and there these victims of a savage war were buried, side by side as they

had fallen and the charred charnel-house, remained in the now solitary and soundless forest as a grim shelter from the rain, and snow, a desolate monument to the memory of the brave, unfortunate pioneers who slept beneath it, and a landmark which, to the hunter or scout ; passing it afar off, had a horrible suggestiveness of the ; fate which might be his. No attempt was made to again t form a settlement here until after the Greenville treaty had been made in 1795. This beautiful locality in the valley of the Muskingum is now pointed out to the traveller as

the scene of a terrible Indian massacre in early times but there remains no relic there of the bloody event, which made it classic ground in border annals. The landscape is one of gentle, pastoral loveliness, which seems to hold in sympathy as its appropriate settings human habitations —the abodes of simple but satisfying happiness—and the beholder may feel arise within him as he reflects upon the past and contemplates the present, the reverent phantasy that in recompense for the dark deed which once outraged Nature here, the Creator has breathed upon her bosom the benison of eternal peace. Of the five men taken prisoners at Big Bottom, one, young Philip Stacey, died of sickness, the other four were ultimately returned to their friends.

The party of Indians, which numbered twenty-five to thirty, it was discovered were Delawares and Wyandots tribes which had heretofore been at peace with the whites. But they had now been drawn into the alliance of hostile tribes, and a war club was found upon the ground of the massacre, left as a formal declaration of war.

We have already seen the immediate effect of the Big Bottom horror in the Wolf Creek Mills and Waterford settlements, and now let us turn our glance to contemporaneous affairs at Belpre and Marietta, the latter the centre of activity and government in the Ohio company's purchase. Let the reader imagine, if he can, the consternation which the report of the massacre caused at the settlements. The news was brought to Marietta in the forenoon of the day succeeding the disaster. The messengers who had been sent out by Captain Rodgers, at the same time as Samuel Mitchell was despatched to Waterford, had gone aside from the trail in the darkness of the night, and hence were delayed.

When they arrived the court of quarter sessions had just been opened, and the alarm caused its speedy adjournment. There were many in attendance in various capacities, from the settlements of Waterford and Belpre. Filled with the most terrible apprehensions of what might have befallen their families and friends in the weakened settlements, which had at the best inadequate defences, they lost no time in striking out through the woods for their homes, some going afoot and some upon horses, but all pushing ahead with the greatest rapidity possible to learn the worst, if it must be so, and

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hardly daring to hope that they should find their dear ones unmolested. Messengers had been sent to Belpre and the same scenes of agitated, impatient endeavor to strengthen their situation had occurred as at Waterford and Wolf creek. The best preparations possible to resist attack had been hurriedly made; but the little community, weakened by the absence of some of its best men, was not in condition to have resisted successfully if the Indians had made a determined onslaught. The people passed a night of terror, and were much relieved when the absent ones returned on the following day.

The residents of Marietta had not the .same grounds for fear that existed at Belpre and the other outlying settlements. They had the strength of greater numbers. Among them there were several characters of great resoluteness and wide experience in warfare, and nearly all of them had led the lives of soldiers. They had, too, the protection of Fort Harmar and of Campus Martius, which was of a very superior order of defence.

But with all of these advantages the inhabitants were nevertheless filled with terror for the blow which had completely annihilated one settlement, struck as it was by Indians who had formerly been at peace, and coming just after the disastrous ending of General Harmar's campaign, seemed to them at first only the precursor of a series of atrocities which must inevitably overwhelm them. To add to the embarrassment of their situation the garrison at the fort had been reduced, and Governor St. Clair, who alone had authority to call on the adjoining States for troops was absent. The Ohio company was in this crisis thrown entirely upon its own resources, and it took prompt and effrcient action.

The company was called together as soon as the news of the massacre was brought in (January 3rd) and the deliberations of the body were carried on, from day to day, until the tenth. Upon the fifth the following resolutions* were adopted:

Whereas, There is reason to believe that the campaign made against the Shawnees and other Indian nations the last year is so far from humbling the Indians and inducing them to sue for peace, that on the contrary a general war will ensue, which has already broke out against the people settled in the Ohio company’s purchase by the surprise of lhe block-house and breaking up the settlement at Big Bottom on the evening of the second instant, in which disaster fourteen people were killed and three others are missing. The governor and secretary being out of the territory, the militia of Virginia and Pennsylvania cannot be called upon to our aid, no relief, in the nature of things, can be expected from the general Government in time to give us immediate relief and protection, and from the present state of Fort Harmar very little can be expected for defending our out-settlements.

Under these circumstances we conceive all our settlements to be in the utmost danger of being swallowed up, before any foreign aid can be obtained, unless prevented by immediately drawing in some of our settlements, erecting better defences al Marietta and those outposts that shall be agreed upon to remain, by having all our military strength drawn to certain points and a particular system of defence established; therefore,

Resolved, That the inhabitants of alt the out-settlements be and they are hereby advised to remove all their women and children to the town of Marietta as soon as possible, where houses must be provided for their reception, and as far as reasonable the expenses paid by the directors out of the company's funds.

Resolved, That such additional works as are necessary for the defence

"From the journal of the Ohio company.

of the town of Marietta and the fort at Wolf Creek Mills, and one at Belpre, ought to be made as soon as possible, and the directors are requested to take measures accordingly.

Resolved, That application be made to the commanding officer at Fort Harmar, requesting him to give us such protection as the state of his command will permit, and also that he wilt please to represent our defenceless condition to the Minister at War, and use such measures as he can with propriety, to procure us the defence necessary for protecting our settlements.

Resolved, That the directors wait on Capiain Zeigler, the commanding officer at Fort Harmar, with this resolve.

Resolved, That Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Sproat be and he is hereby requested to detach three subaltern officers, or one captain and two subaltern (at his discretion), three sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, and sixty privates, for the purpose of garrisoning the town of Marietta, Belpre and Wolf Creek settlements, to serve until sufficient aid is granted for our protection in some other way, unless discharged, and in order to encourage a sufficient number to engage voluntarily in such detachment and submit themselves to military discipline and such tabor in erecting defences as Continental troops are liable to.

Resolved, That their pay shall be as follows, viz: The commissioned officers, the same as in the Federal troops; the sergeants ten, the corporals nine, the drummer nine, and the privates eight dollars per month; and the subsistence of the officers and men shall be the same as allowed to the troops in the pay of the United States; and the directors are requested to make arrangements accordingly; and it being found by experience that the greatest art of Indian war consists in surprising their enemy, to prevent which, as far as lies in our power.

Resolved, That six of the best woodsmen be employed as scouts or spies about the settlements, to be engaged at such price as Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Sproat shall be able to procure them.

And, whereas, we place the highest confidence in the Generar Government of the United States, that upon a proper representation of the present situation of these settlements, they will reimburse the necessary expense we shall be at in defending ourselves against the common enemy.

These resolutions were transmitted to the judges of the court of quarter sessions with a stirring appeal to them to use their influence with the General Government to secure its aid. One clause of the communication contained the following: "We cannot now be silent when we find ourselves after an ineffective campaign exposed, unprotected to the fury of an irritated enemy. It is with pain we have heard the cruel insinuation of those who have been disaffected to the settlement of this country. It is not possible that those men who have pursued into these woods that path to an humble competence, which was pointed out to us by the commander-in-chief of the American armies, should be doomed the victims of a jealous policy to see the mangled bodies exposed, a spectacle to prevent emigration.

"We are fully assured of the parental tenderness of the Government of the United States. It is this assurance which has induced us through your honors' interposition to ask their speedy assistance.

We will remark here that the Ohio company during the war expended over eleven thousand dollars for the protection of its settlers, and that no part of that sum was ever refunded by the General Government. An account was kept of all moneys paid out to soldiers and scouts or for military stores, or the erection of works of defence, under the supposition that it would be repaid by Congress. The loss was a considerable one to the otherwise impoverished people.

On the eighth of January General Rufus Putnam wrote to General Knox, Secretary of War, and to George Washington, President of the United States. The communication to the latter contains a good and, so far as the writer is aware, the best contemporary account of the situation.

On the evening of the second of January, 1791, the Indians surprised a new settlement of out people at a place on the Muskingum called the Big Bottom, nearly forty miles up the river, in which disaster eleven men, one woman, and two children were killed; three men are missing

70 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO.

and four others made their escape. Thus, sir, the war which was partial before the campaign of last year is, in all probability, become general. I think there is no reason to suppose that we are the only people on whom the savages wilt wreak their vengeance, or that the number of hostile Indians has not increased since the late expedition.

Our situation is truly critical; the governor and secretary both being absent, no assistance from Virginia or Pennsylvania can be had. The garrison at Fort Harmar, consisting at this time of liltle more than twenty men, can afford no protection to our settlements, and the whole number of men in our settlement capable of bearing arms, including all civil and military officers, do not exceed two hundred and eighty-seven, many of them badly armed.

We are in the utmost danger of being swallowed up, should the enemy push the war with rigor during the winter; this, I believe will fully appear by taking a short view of our several settlements, and I hope justify the extraordinary measures we have adopted for want of regal authority to apply for aid in the business. The situation of our people is nearly as follows:

At Marietta are about eighty houses in the distance of one mile, with scattering houses about three miles up the Ohio. A set of mills at Duck creek, four miles distant, and another mill lwo miles up the Muskingum. Twenty-two miles up this river is a settlement, consisting of about twenty families (this alludes to Waterford); about two miles from them on Wolf creek are five families and a set of mills.

Down the Ohio, and opposite the Little Kanawha, commences the settlement called Belle Prairie, which extends down the river with little interruption about twelve miles and contains between thirty and forty houses. Before the late disaster we had several other settlements, which are already broken up. I have taken the liberty to enclose the proceedings of the Ohio company and justices of the sessions on this occasion, and beg leave, with the greatest deference, to observe that unless Government speedily sends a body of troops for our protection, we are a ruined people.

The removal of the women and children, etc., will reduce many of the poorer sort to the greatest straits; but if we add to this the destruction of their corn, forage, and cattle by the enemy, which is very probable to ensue, I know of no way they can be supported; but if this should not happen, where these people are to raise bread for another year is nol easy to conjecture, and most of them have nothing reft to buy with.

But my fears do not stop here; we are a people so far detached from all others in point of situation that we can hope for no timely relief in case of an emergency from any of our neighbors; and among the number that compose our military strength, almost one-half are young men, hired into the country, intending to settle by and by; these, under present circumstances, will probably leave us soon, unless prospects should brighten; and as to new settlers, we can expect none in our present situation; so that instead of increasing in strength, we are likely to diminish daily; and if we do not fall a pray to savages, we shall be so reduced and discouraged as to give up the settlement, unless Government shall give us timely protection. It has been a mystery with some why the troops have been withdrawn from this quarter and collected at the Miami; that settlement is, I believe, within three or four days' march of a very populous part of Kentucky, from whence, in a few days, they might be reinforced with several thousand men, whereas we are not within two hundred miles of any settlement that can probably more than protect themselves.*

At Marietta during the months following the outbreak of the war, all was activity. Improvements were made at Campus Martius, and a company of men were busily employed under the direction of Colonel William Stacey in building defences at the "Point." About twenty houses and cabins, on an area of four acres of ground, were surrounded with palisades. Four block-houses were built, two of which stood respectively on the Ohio and Muskingum fronts, at the terminations of the lines of palings; the third on the innermost or northern corner of the enclosure, and the fourth on the eastern line, about midway between the one last mentioned and the Ohio river bank. Colonel Ebenezer Sproat was placed in command. As the war progressed small cannon were

* American State Papers, Volume V; also Albach's Annals of the West.

placed in two of the block-houses, loaded with pieces of iron and leaden balls about the size of cannister shot. Sentries were kept at night upon the box turrets of the block-houses, and a watch was on duty also during the day. The cannon were used a few times to warn the garrison of danger and to call in those who might be in the fields at work, when the rangers reported Indians in the vicinity.

At Belpre Colonel Battelle and Colonel Cushing had already built at the middle settlement two block-houses for their families, and it was decided to construct additional defences at this locality, which was very nearly opposite the centre of Backus' island. Eleven more houses were built, making thirteen in all. They were arranged in two rows parallel with the river front, and the first row immediately upon it. A wide space was left between the two lines of houses, and palisades were erected around the whole group. Like the block-houses built elsewhere in the Ohio company's purchase and in common use upon the frontier, these were two stories in height and the upper floor projected over the lower, and was pierced with loop-holes through which, should the Indians attempt to effect an entrance at the lower doors or windows they could be fired upon. The houses were about twenty-two feet square, laid up with round logs, about a foot in diameter, and were provided with bullet-proof doors and window shutters, made of oak puncheons or planks. Small gateways opened upon the river, from which the water for the garrison was brought, and there were larger ones at the ends and rear, through which teams of oxen could be driven to haul wood or supplies, and which were also to be used for the admission of the cattle in case Indians appeared in the vicinity. Upon the corner block-house, farthest from the river, watch-towers were built, and in these sentries were kept at night during the greater part of the period of Indian war. A flag-staff was raised which bore aloft the flag of the United States, and near it was placed a small cannon or blunderbus, which turned upon a swivel and could be so pointed as to discharge a fire into any part of the garrison, should it be invaded. It was fired regularly every morning during the seasons of spring and summer when Indians were supposed to be in the neighborhood of the settlement, and its loud report answered by the reverberations from the hills may have had the effect of producing a wholesome awe among them when they heard it. In every house a large hogshead was placed and kept filled with water to be used in case the Indians should fire the buildings, or a conflagration be caused through accident. It was one of the duties of the officer of the day to see that these casks were kept constantly filled, and that the defences were in the best of order. Major Nathan Goodale was the officer in command during the earliest part of the war, and retained the place until he removed from the garrison in 1793, when he was superseded by Colonel Cushing. As soon as the fortification was ready for occupancy the families of the upper and lower settlements moved in, and the garrison was appropriately named Farmer's Castle. The strength of the garrison was about seventy able-bodied men, and altogether the inmates of

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the castle numbered about two hundred and twenty persons. The Ohio company paid for the building of several of the block-houses at Farmers' Castle, and employed rangers for that settlement as they did for the Marietta garrison.

At Waterford the settlers, who, after the massacre of the Big Bottom pioneers, had considered themselves in imminent peril, made preparations with great haste to render their condition safe. They were joined in a council by the men from the mills, the day after the deadly attack which had terrorized the whole group of Ohio company settlements, and after a brief conference it was decided to concentrate their strength. Wolf Creek Mills, being the smaller station of the two, was abandoned. The families moved over to Waterford, and Fort Frye was built in a bend on the east side of the Muskingum, about half a mile below the site of Beverly. Palisades were set in the ground, enclosing an area of about three-quarters of an acre of ground, in the form of an irregular triangle. At each corner were block-houses. twenty feet square, with projecting upper stories, and the two longer sides were occupied by dwelling-houses. A well was dug in the centre of the enclosure to afford water in case of an Indian siege; and a blacksmith shop was also erected, that the inmates would not be obliged to make the dangerous journey to Marietta to obtain repairs on their arms or agricultural implements. The fort was finished in about six weeks, the settlers working with the utmost diligence and being afforded assistance by the Ohio company, which sent to them a dozen good laborers. The gates were hung early in March, and the fort was then in excellent condition to resist any onslaught which the Indians were liable to make, though a determined attack by a very superior force could have overwhelmed it at any time. The garrison contained about forty men capable of bearing arms, and was under the command of Captain William Gray. Dr. Thomas Farley practiced medicine; Dr. Nathan McIntosh was surgeon's mate; Neal McGuffey, Andrew McClure, William McCullock, and William Neal were the rangers.

The inhabitants of the Ohio company's lands were now under pressure of the sternest necessity assembled at three points—Marietta, Belpre, and Waterford. The small, outlying settlements had been abandoned, and for the present all thought of returning to them was futile. The settlers saw before them a prospect of great inconvenience, arising from their confinement and crowded condition in the garrisons, and they were apprehensive that they would come to absolute want, if unable to visit the lands on which they had begun farming, and make a subsistence from the soil. They were able to congratulate, themselves, however, that their lives were thus far spared, and that their present mode of living, at least, assured them of comparative safety.