Crawford County, Ohio - Chapter 3: English Explorations - Traders, 1881 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 3: English Explorations - Traders

AS lias been noted, the French title rested on the discoveries of their missionaries and traders, upon the occupation of the country, and upon the construction of the treaties of Eyswick, Utrecht and Aix la Chapelle. The English claims to the same region were based on the fact of a prior occupation of the con'esponding coast, on an opposite construction of the same treaties, and an alleged cession of the rights of the Indians. The rights acquired by discovery were conventional, and in equity were good only between European powers, and could not affect the rights of the natives, but this distinction was disregarded by all European powers. The inquiry of an Indian chief embodies the whole controversy: " Where are the Indian lands, since the French claim all on the north side of the Ohio and the English all on the south side of it?"

The English charters expressly granted to all the original colonies the country westward to the South Sea, and the claims thus set up in the West, though held in abeyance, were never relinquished. The primary distinction between the two nations governed their actions in the New World, and led finally to the supremacy of the English. They were fixed agricultural communities. The French were mere trading-posts. Though the French were the prime movers in the exploradion of the West, the English made discoveries during their occupation, however, mainly by their traders, who penetrated the Western wilderness by way of the Ohio River, entering it from the two streams which uniting form that river. Daniel Coxie, in 1722, published, in London, "A description of the English province of Carolina, by the Spaniards called Florida, and by the French called La Louisiane, as also the great and famous river Meschacebe, or Jlississippi, the five vast navigable lakes of fresh water, and the parts adjacent, together with an account of the commodities of the growth and production of the said province." The title of this work exhibits very clearly the opinions of the English people respecting the West. As early as 1630, Charles I granted to Sir Robert Heath "All that part of America lying between thirtyone and thirty-six degrees north latitude, from sea to sea," out of which the limits of Carolina were afterward taken. This immense grant was conveyed in 1638, to the Earl of Arundel, and afterward came into the possession of Dr. Daniel Coxie. In the prosecution of this claim, it appeared that Col. Wood, of Virginia, from 1654 to 1664, explored several branches of the Ohio and " Meschacebe," as they spell the Mississippi. A Mr. Needham, who was employed by Col. Wood, kept a journal of the exploration. There is also the account of some one who had explored the Mississippi to the Yellow, or Missouri River, before 1676. These, and others, are said to have been there when La Salle explored the outlet of the Great River, as he found tools among the natives which were of European manufacture. They had been brought here by English adventurers. Also, when Iberville was colonizing the lower part of Louisiana, these same persons visited the Chickasaws and stirred them up against the French. It is also stated that La Salle found that some one had been among the Natchez tribes when he returned from the discovery of the outlet of the Mississippi, and excited them against him. There is, however, no good authority for these statements, and they are doubtless incorrect. There is also an account that in 1678, several persons went from New England as far south as New Mexico, " one hundred and fifty leagues beyond the Meschacebe," the narrative reads, and on their return wrote an account of the expedition. This, also, cannot be traced to good authority. The only accurate account of the English reaching the West was when Bienville met the British vessel at the " English Turn," about 1700. A few of their traders may have been in the valley west of the Alleghany Mountains before 1700, though no reliable accounts are now found to confirm these .suppositions. Still, i from the earliest occupation of the Atlantic Coast by the English, they claimed the country, and, though the policy of its occupation rested for a time, it was never ftilly abandoned. Its revival dates from 1710 properly, though no immediate endeavor was made for many years after. That year, Alexander Spottswood was made Governor of Virginia. No sooner did he assume the functions of ruler, than, casting his eye over his dominion, he saw the great West beyond the Alleghany Mountains unoccupied by the English, and rapidly filling with the French, who he observed were gradually confining the English to the Atlantic Coast. His prophetic eye saw at a glance the animus of the whole scheme, and he determined to act promptly on the defensive. Through his representation, the Virginia Assembly was induced to make an appropriation to defray the expense of an exploration of the mountains, and see if a suitable pass could not then be found where they could be crossed. The Governor led the expedition in person. The pass was discovered, a route marked out for future emigrants, and the party returned to Williamsburg. There the Governor established the order of the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," presented his report to the Colonial Assembly and one to his King. In each report, he exposed with great boldness the scheme of the French, and advised the building of a chain of forts across to the Ohio, and the formation of settlements to counteract them. The British Government, engrossed with other matters, neglected his advice. Forty years after, they remembered it, only to regret that it was so thoughtlessly disregarded.

Individuals, however, profited by his advice. By 1730, traders began in earnest to cross the mountains and gather from the Indians the stores beyond. They now began to adopt a system, and abandoned the heretofore renegade habits of those who had superseded them, many of whom never returned to the Atlantic Coast. In 1742, John Howard descended the Ohio in a skin canoe, and, on the Mississippi was taken prisoner by the French. His captivity did not in the least deter others from coming. Indeed, the date of his voyage was the commencement of a vigorous trade with the Indians by the English, who crossed the Alleghanies by the route discovered by Gov. Spottswood. In 1748, Conrad Weiser, a German of Herenberg, who had acquired in early life a knowledge of the Mohawk tongue by a residence among them, was sent on an embassy to the Shawanees on the Ohio. He went as far as Logstown,a Shawanee village on the north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the site of Pittsburgh. Here he met the chiefs in counsel, and secured their promise of aid against the French.

Five Nations - the Iroquois. This powerful confederation claimed the jurisdiction over an immense extent of country. Their policy difiered considerably from other Indian tribes. They were the only confederation which attempted any form of government in America. They were often termed the " Six Nations," as the entrance of another tribe into the confederacy made that number. They were the conquerors of nearly all tribes from Lower Canada, to and beyond the Mississippi. They only exacted, however, a tribute from the conquered tribes, leaving them to manage their own internal affairs, and stipulating that to them alone did the right of cession belong. Their country, under these claims, embraced all of America north of the Cherokee Nation, in Virginia; all Kentucky, and all the Northwest, save a district in Ohio and Indiana, and a small section in Southwestern Illinois, claimed by the Miami Confederacy. The Iroquois, or Six Nations, were the terror of all other tribes. It was they who devastated the Illinois country about Rock Fort in 1680, and caused wide-spread alarm among all the Western Indians. In 1084, Lord Howard, Governor of Virginia, held a treaty with the Iroquois at Albany, when, at the request of Col. Duncan, of New York, they placed themselves under the protection of the English. They made a deed of sale then, by treaty, to the British Government, of a vast tract of country south and east of the Illinois River, and extending into Canada. In 1726, another deed was drawn up and signed by the chiefs of the national confederacy by which their lands were conveyed in trust to England, "to be protected and defended by His ^Majesty, to and for the use of the grantors and their heirs.5'*

If the Six Nations had a good claim to the Western country, there is but little doubt but England was justified in defending their country against the French, as, by the treaty of Utrecht, they had agreed not to invade the lands of Britain's Indian allies. This claim was vigorously contested by France, as that country claimed the Iroquois had no lawful jurisdiction over the West. In all the disputes, the interests of the contending nations was, however, the paramount consideration. The rights of the Indians were little regarded.

The British also purchased land by the treaty of Lancaster, in 1744, wherein they agreed to pay the Six Nations for land settled unlawfully in Pennsylvania, Virginia and IMaryland. The In- dians were given goods and gold amounting to near a thousand pounds sterling. They were also promised the protection of the English. Had this latter provision been faithfully carried out, much blood would have been saved in after years. The treaties with the Six Nations were the real basis of the claims of Great Britain to the West ; claims that were only settled by war. The Shawanee Indians, on the Ohio, were also becoming hostile to the English, and began to assume a threatening exterior. Peter Chartier, a half-breed, residing in Philadelphia, escaped from the authorities, those by whom he was held for a violation of the laws, and joining the Shawanees, persuaded them to join the French. Soon after, in 1743 or 1744, he placed himself at the head of 400 of their warriors, and lay in wait on the Alleghany River for the provincial traders. He captured two, exhibited to them a captain's commission from the French, and seized their goods, worth £1,000. The Indians, after this, emboldened by the aid given them by the French, became more and more hostile, and Weiser was again sent across the mountains in 1748, with presents to conciliate them and sound them on their feelings for the rival nations, and also to see what they thought of a settlement of the English to be made in the We.st. The visit of Conrad Weiser was successful, and Thomas Lee, with twelve other Virginians, among whom were Lawrence and Augustine Washington, brothers of George Washington, formed a company which they styled the Ohio Company, and, in 1748, petitioned the King for a grant beyond the mountains. The monarch approved the petition and the government of Virginia was ordered to grant the Company 500,000 acres within the bounds of that colony beyond the Alleghauies, 200,000 of which were to be located at once. This provision was to hold good for ten years, free of quit rent, provided the Company would settle 100 families within seven years, and build a fort sufficient for their protection. These terms the Company accepted, and sent at once to London for a cargo suitable for the Indian trade. This was the beginning of English Companies in the West ; this one forming a prominent part in the history of Ohio, as will be seen hereafter. Others were also formed in Virginia, whose object was the colonization of the West. One of these, the Loyal Company, received, on the 12th of June, 1749, a grant of 800,000 acres, from the line of Canada on the north and west, and on the 29th of October, 1751, the Greenbriar Company received a grant of 100,000 acres. |

To these encroachments, the French were by no means blind. They saw plainly enough that if the English gained a foothold in the West, they would inevitably endeavor to obtain the country, and one day the issue could only be decided by war. Vaudreuil, the French Governor, had long anxiously watched the coming struggle. In 1774, he wrote home representing the consequences that would surely come, should the English succeed in their plans. The towns of the French in Illinois were producing large amounts of bread-stuffs and provisions which they sent to New Orleans. These provinces were becoming valuable, and must not be allowed to come under control of a rival power. In 1749, Louis Celeron was sent by the Governor with a party of soldiers to plant leaden plates, suitably inscribed, along the Ohio at the mouths of the principal streams. Two of these plates were afterward exhumed. One was sent to the Maryland Historical Society, and the inscription* deciphered by De Witt Clinton. On these plates was clearly stated the claims of France, as will be seen from the translation below.

England's claim, briefly and clearly stated, read as follows: "That all lands, or countries westward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, between 48 and 34 degrees of North Latitude, were expressly included in the grant of King James the First, to divers of his subjects, so long time since as the year 160G, and afterwards confirmed in the year 1020; and under this grant, the colony of Virginia claims extent so far west as the South Sea, and the ancient colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut, were by their respective charters, made to extend to the said South Sea, so that not only the right to the sea coast, but to all the Inland countries from sea to sea, has at all times been asserted by the Crown of England."t

To make good their titles, both nations were now doing their utmost. Professedly at peace, it only needed a torch applied, as it were, to any point, to instantly precipitate hostilities. The French were busily engaged erecting forts from the southern shores of Lake Erie to the Ohio, and on down in the Illinois Valley ; up at Detroit, and at all its posts, preparations were constantly going on for the crisis, now sure to come. The issue between the two governments was now fiilly made up. It admitted of no compromise but the sword. To that, however, neither power desired an immediate appeal, and both sought rather to establish and fortify their interests, and to conciliate the Indian tribes. The English, through the Ohio Company, sent out Christopher Gist in the fall of 1750, to explore the regions west of the mountains. He was instructed to examine the passes, trace the courses of the rivers, mark the falls, seek for valuable lands, observe the strength, and to conciliate the friendship of the Indian tribes. He was well fitted for such an enterprise. Hardy, sagacious, bold, an adept in Indian character, a hunter by occupation, no man was better qualified than he for such an undertaking. He visited Logstown, where he was jealously received, passed over to the Muskingum River and Valley in Ohio, where he found a village of Wyandots, divided in sentiment. At this village he met Crogan, another equally famous frontiersman, who had been sent out by Pennsylvania. Together they held a council with the chiefs, and received a.ssurance of the friendship of the tribe. This done, they passed to the Shawnee towns on the Scioto, received then- assurances of friendship, and went on to the Miami Valley, which they crossed, remarking in Crogan's journal of its great fertility. They made a raft of logs on which they crossed the Great Miami, visited Piqua, the chief town of the Pitkawillanies, and here made treaties with the Weas and Piankeshaws. While here, a deputation of the Ottawas visited the Miami Confederacy to induce them to unite with the French. They were repulsed through the influence of the English agents, the Miamis sending Gist word that they would " stand like the mountains. " Crogan now returned and published an account of their wanderings. Gist followed the Miami to its mouth, passed down the Ohio till within fifteen miles of the falls, then returned by way of the Kentucky River, over the highlands of Kentucky to Virginia, arriving in May, 1751. He had visited the Mingoes, Delawares, Wyandots, Shawanees and Miamis, proposed a union among these tribes, and appointed a grand council to meet at Logstown to form an alliance among themselves and with Virginia. His journey was marvelous for the day. It was extremely hazardous, as he wa.9 part of the time among hostile tribes, who could have captured him and been well rewarded by the French Government. But Gist knew how to act, and was successful.

While Gist was doing this, some English traders established themselves at a place in what is now known as Shelby County, Ohio, and opened a store for the purpose of trading with the Indians. This was clearly in the limits of the West, claimed by the French, and at once aroused them to action. The fort orstockade stood on the banks of Loramie's Creek, about sixteen miles northwest of the present city of Sydney. It received the name Loramie from the creek by the French, which received its name in turn from the French trader of that name, who had a trading-post on this creek. Loramie had fled to the Spanish country west of the Mississippi, and for many years was a trader there ; his store being at the junction of the Kansas and Missouri, near the present city of Kansas City, Mo. When the English traders came to Loramie's Creek, and erected their trading-place, they gave it the name of Pickawillany, from the tribe of Indians there. The Miami confederacy granted them this privilege as the result of the presents brought by Crogan and Gist. It is also asserted that Andrew Montour, a half-breed, son of a Seneca chief and the famous Catharine Montour, who was an important factor afterward in the English treaties with the Indians, was with them, and by his influence did much to aid in securing the privilej,e. Thus was established the first English trading-post in the Northwest Territory and in Ohio. It, however, enjoyed only a short duration. The French could not endure so clear an invasion of their country, and gathering a force of Ottawas and Chippewas, now their allies, they attacked the stockade in June, 1752. At first they demanded of the Miamis the suiTcnder of the fort, as they were the real cause of its location, having granted the English the privilege. The Miamis not only refused, but aided the British in the defense. In the battle that ensued, fourteen of the Miamis were slain, and all the traders captured. One account says they were burned, another, and probably the correct one, states that they were taken to Canada as prisoners of war. It is probable the traders were from Pennsylvania, as that commonwealth made the Miamis presents as condolence for their warriors that were .slain.

nations became more deeply interested in aflFairs in the West. The English were determined to secure additional title to the West, and, in 1752, sent Messrs. Fry, Lomax and Patton as commissioners to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and confirm the Lancaster treaty. They met the Indians on the yth of June, stated their desires, and on the Ilth received their answer. At first, the savages were not inclined to recognize the Lancaster treaty, but agreed to aid the English, as the French had already made war on the Twigtees (at Pickawillany ), and consented to the establishment of a fort and trading-post at the forks of the Ohio. This was not all the Virginians wanted, however, and taking aside Andrew Montour, now chief of the Six Nations, persuaded him to use his influence with the red men. By such means, they were induced to treat, and on the 13th they all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a settlement southwest of the Ohio, and covenanting that it should not be disturbed by them. By such means was obtained the treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley.

All this time, the home governments were endeavoring to out-maneuver each other with regard to the lands in the West, though there the outlook only betokened war. The French understood better than the English how to manage the Indians, and succeeded in attaching them firmly to their cause. The English were not honest in their actions with them, and hence, in after years, the massacres that followed.

At the close of 1752, Gist was at work, in conformity with the Lancaster and Logstown treaties, laying out a fort and town on Chartier's Creek, about ten miles below the fork. Eleven families had crossed the mountains to settle at Gist's residence west of Laurel Hill, not far from the Youghiogheny. Goods had come from England for the Ohio Company, which were carried as for West as WilFs Creek, where Cumberland now stands ; and where they were taken by the Indians and traders.

On the other hand, the French were gathering cannon and stores on Lake Erie, and, without treaties or deeds of land, were gaining the good will of the inimical tribes, and preparing, when all was ready, to strike the blow. Their fortifications consisted of a chain of forts from Lake Erie to the Ohio, on the border. One was at Presque Isle, on the site of Erie ; one on French Creek, on the site of Waterford, Penn.; one at the mouth of French Creek, in Venango County, Penn.; while opposite it was another, efiectually commanding that section of country. These forts, it will be obsen'ed, were all in the limits of the Penn.sylvania colony. The Governor informed the Assembly of their existence, who voted £G00 to be used in purchasing presents for the Indians near the forts, and thereby hold their friendship. Virginia, also, took similar measures. Trent was sent, with guns and ammunition and presents, to the friendly tribes, and, while on his mission, learned of the plates of lead planted by the French. In October, 1753, a treaty was consummated with representatives of the Iroquois, Delawares, Shawanees, Twigtwees and Wyandots, by commissioners from Pennsylvania, one of whom was the philosopher Franklin. At the conferences held at this time, the Indians complained of the actions of the French in forcibly taking possession of the disputed country, and also bitterly denounced them for using rum to intoxicate the red men, when they desired to gain any advantage. Not long after, they had similar grounds of complaint against the English, whose lawless traders cared for nothing but to gain the furs of the savage at as little expense as possible.

The encroachments of the French on what was regarded as English territory, created intense feeling in the colonies, especially in Virginia. The purpose of the French to inclose the English on the Atlantic Coast, and thus prevent their extension over the mountains, became more and more apparent, and it was thought that this was the opening of a scheme already planned by the French Court to reduce all North America under the dominion of France. Gov. Dinwiddle determined to send an amba.ssador to the French posts, to ascertain their real intentions and to observe the amount and disposition of their forces. Heselected a young Virginian, then in his twenty-first year, a surveyor by trade and one well qualified for the duty. That young man afterward led the American Colonies in their struggle for liberty. George Washington and one companion, I\Ir Gist, successfully made the trip, in the solitude of a severe winter, received .issurance from the French commandant that they would by no means abandon their outposts, and would not yield unless compelled by force of arms. The commandant was exceedingly polite, but firm, and assured the young American that "we claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discovery of La Salle ( in 1 669 ) and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley."

During Washington's absence steps were taken to fortify the point formed by the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany ; and when, on his return, he met seventeen horses loaded with materials and stores for a fort at the forks of the Ohio, and, soon after, some families going out to settle, he knew the defense had begun. As soon as Washington made his report, Gov. Dinwiddle wrote to the Board of Trade, stating that the French were building a fort at Venango, and that, in March, twelve or fifteen hundred men would be ready to descend the river with their Indian allies, for which purpose three hundred canoes had been collected ; and that Logstown was to be made headquarters, while forts were to be built in other places. He sent expresses to the Governors of Pennsylvania and New York, apprising them of the nature of affairs, and calling upon them for assistance. He also raised two companies, one of which was raised by Washington, the other by Trent. The one under Trent was to be raised on the frontiers, and was, as soon as possible, to repair to the Fork and erect there a fort, begun by the Ohio Company. Owing to various conflicting opinions between the Governor of Pennsylvania and his Assembly, and the conference with the Six Nations, held by New York, neither of those provinces put forth any vigorous measnires until stirred to action by the invasions on the frontiers, and until directed by the Earl of Holderness, Secretary of State.

The fort at Venango was finished by the French in April, 1754. All along the creek resounded the clang of arms and the preparations for war. New York and Pennsylvania, though inactive, and debating whether the French really had invaded English territory or not, sent aid to the Old Dominion, now all alive to the conquest. The two companies had been increased to six; Washington was raised to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and made second under command of Joshua Fry. Ten cannon, lately from England, were forwarded fi-om Alexandria ; wagons were got ready to carry westward provisions and stores through the heavy spring roads; and everywhere men were enlisting under the King's promise of two hundred thousand acres of land to those who would go. They were gathering along Will's Creek and far beyond, while Trent, who had come for more men and supplies, left a little band of forty-one men, working away in hunger and want at the Fork, to which both nations were looking with anxious eyes. Though no enemy was near, and only a few Indian scouts were seen, keen eyes had observed the low fortifications at the Fork. Swift feet had borne the news of it up the valley, and though Ensign Ward, left in command, felt himself secure, on the ITtli of April he saw a sight that made his heart sick. Sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes were coming down the Alleghany. The commandaut sent him a summons, which evaded no words in its meaning. It was useless to contend, that evening he supped with his conqueror ; the next day he was bowed out by the polite Frenchman, and with his men and tools marched up the Monongahela. The first birds of spring were filling the air with their song ; the rivers rolled by, swollen by April showers and melting snows ; all nature was putting on her robes of green ; and the fortress, which the English had so earnestly strived to obtain and fortify, was now in the hands of the French. Fort Du Quesne arose on the incomplete fortifications. The seven years' war that followed not only affected America, but spread to all quarters of the world. The war made England a gxeat imperial power ; drove the French from Asia and America; dispelled the brilliant and extended scheme of Louis and his voluptuous empire.

The active field of operations was in the Canadas principally, and along the western borders of Pennsylvania. There were so few people then in the present confines of Ohio, that only the possession of the country, in common with all the West, could be the animus of the conflict. It so much concerned this part of the New World, that a brief resum6 of the war will be necessary to fully understand its history.

The fall of the post at the fork of the Ohio, Fort Du Quesne, gave the French control of the West. Washington went on with his few militia to retake the post. Though he was successful at first, he was in the end defeated, and surrendered, being allowed to return with all his munitions of war. The two governments, though trying to come to a peaceful solution of the question, were getting ready for the conflict. France went steadily on, though at one time England gave, in a measure, her consent to allow the French to retain all the country west of the Alleghanies and south of the lakes. Had this been done, what a different future would have been in America ! Other destinies were at work, however, and the plan fell stillborn.

England sent Gen. Braddock and a fine force of men, who marched directly toward the post on the Ohio. His ill-fated expedition resulted only in the total defeat of his army, and his own death.

Washington saved a remnant of the army, and made his way back to the colonies. The Englisli needed a leader. They next planned four campaigns; one against Fort Du Qiiesne; one against Crown Point; one against Niagara, and one against the French settlements in Nova Scotia. Nearly every one proved a foilure. The English were defeated on sea and ou land, all owing to the incapacity of Parliament, and the want of a suitable, vigorous leader. The settlements on the frontiers, now exposed to a cruel foe, prepared to defend themselves, and already the signs of a government of their own, able to defend itself, began to appear. They received aid from the colonies. Though the French were not repulsed, they and their red allies found they could not murder with impunity. Self-preservation was a stronger incentive in conflict than aggrandizement, and the cruelty of the Indians found avengers.

The great Pitt became Prime Minister June 29, 1757. The leader of the English now appeared. The British began to regain their losses on sea and land, and for them a brighter day was at hand. The key to the West must be retaken, and to Gen. Forbes was assigned the duty. Preceding him, a trusty man was sent to the Western Indians at the head-waters of the Ohio, and along the Monongahela and Alleghany, to see if some compromise with them could not be made, and their aid secured. The French had been busy through their traders inciting the Indians against the English. The lawless traders were another source of trouble. Caring nothing for either nation, they carried on a distressing traffic in direct violation of the laws, continually engendering ill-feeling among the natives. "Your traders," said one of them, "bring scarce anything but rum and flour. They bringlittle powder and lead, or other valuable goods. The rum ruins us. We beg you would prevent its coming in such quantities by regulating the traders. * * * These wicked whisky sellers, when they have got the Indians in liquor, make them sell the very clothes oiF their backs. If this practice be continued, we must be inevitably juined. We most earnestly, therefore, beseech you to remedy it." They complained of the French traders the same way. They were also beginning to see the animus of the whole conflict. Neither power cared as much for them as for their land, and flattered and bullied by turns as served their purposes best.

The man selected to go upon this undertaking was Christian Frederic Post, a Moravian, who had lived among the Indians seventeen years, and married into one of their tribes. II - .as a missionary, and though obliged to cross a ci.iiu iv whose every stream had been dyed by blood, and every liillsidii rung with the death-yell, and grown red with the light ol' burning huts, he went willingly on his way. Of his journey, suiferings and doings, his own journal tells the story. He left Philadelphia on the 15th of July, 1758, and on the 7th of August safely passed the French post at Venango, went on to Big Beaver Creek, where he held a conference with the chiefs of the Indians gathered there. It was decided that a great conference should be held opposite Fort Du Quesne, where there were Indians of eight nations. "We will bear you in our bosoms," said the natives, when Post expressed a fear that he might be delivered over to the French, and royally they fiilfilled their promises. At the conference, it was made clear to Post that all the Western Indians were wavering in their allegiance to the French, owing largely to the failure of that nation to fulfill their promises of aid to prevent them from being deprived of their land by theSix Nations, and through that confederacy, by the English. The Indians complained bitterly, moreover, of the disposition of the whites in over-running and claiming their lands. "Why did you not fight your battles at home or on the sea, instead of coming into our country to fight them ? " they asked again and again, and mournfully shook their heads when they thought of the future before them. " Your heart is good," said they to Post. " You speak sincerely; but we know there is always a great number who wish to get rich; they have enough ; look ! we do not want to be rich and take away what others have. The white people think we have no brains in our heads ; that they are big, and we are a handful ; but remember when you hunt for a rattlesnake, you cannot always find it, and perhaps it will turn and bite you before you see it."* When the war of Pontiae came, and all the West was desolated, this saying might have been justly remembered. After concluding a peace, Post set out for Philadelphia, and after incredible hardships, reached the settlement uninjured early in September. His mission had more to do than at first is apparent, in the success of the English. Had it not been for him, a second Braddock's defeat might have befallen Forbes, now on his way to subjugate Fort Du Quesne.

reached Raystown, whither Washington had been ordered with his troops. Sickness had prevented him from being here already. Two officers were sent out to reconnoiter the tort, who returned and gave a very good account of its condition. Gen. Forbes desired to know more of it, and sent out Maj. Grant, with 800 men, to gain more complete knowledge. Maj. Grant, supposing not more than 200 soldiers to be in the fort, marched near it and made a feint to draw them out, and engage them in battle. He was greatly misinformed as to the strength of the French, and in the engagement that followed he was badly beaten - 270 of his men killed, 42 wounded, and several, including himself, taken prisoners. The French, elated with their victory, attacked the main army, but were repulsed and obliged to retreat to the fort. The army continued on its march. On the 24th of November they reached Turtle Creek, where a council of war was held, and where Gen. Forbes, who had been so ill as to be carried on a litter from the start, declared, with a mighty oatli, he would sleep that night in the fort, or in a worse place. The Indians had, however, carried the news to the French that the English were as plenty as the trees of the woods, and in their fright they set fire to the fort in the night and left up and down the Ohio River. The next morning the English, who had heard the explosion of the magazine, and seen the light of the burning walls, marched in and took peaceable possession. A small fortification was thrown up on the bank, and, in honor of the great English statesman, it was called Fort Pitt. Col. Hugh fiercer was left in command, and the main body of the army marched back to the settlements. It reached Philadelphia January 17, 1759. On the 11th of March, Gen. Forbes died, and was buried in the chancel of Christ's Church, in that city.

Post was now sent on a mission to the Six Nations, with a report of the treaty of Easton. He was again instrumental in preventing a coalition of the Indians and the French. Indeed, to this obscure Moravian missionary belongs, in a large measure, the honor of the capture of Fort Du Quesne, for by his influence had the Indians been restrained from attacking the army on its march.

The garrison, on leaving the fort, went up and down the Ohio, part to Presque Isle by land, part to Fort Venango, while some of them went on down - the Ohio nearly to the Mississippi, and there, in what is now Massac County, 111., erected a fort, called by them Fort Massac. It was afterward named by many Fort Massacre, from the erroneous

The French, though deprived of the key to the West, went on preparing stores and ammunition, expecting to retake the fort in the spring. Before they could do this, however, other places demanded their attention.

The success of the campaign of 1758 opened the way for the consummation of the great scheme of Pitt - the complete reduction of Canada. Three expeditions were planned, by which Canada, already well nigh annihilated and sufi'ering for food, was to be subjugated. On the west, Prideaux was to attack Niagara ; in the center, Amherst was to advance on Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; on the east, Wolfe was to besiege Quebec. All these points gained, the three armies were to be united in the center of the province.

Amherst appeared before Ticonderoga July 22. The French blew up their works, and retu-ed to Crown Point. Driven from there, they retreated to Isle Aux Nois and entrenched themselves. The lateness of the season prevented further action, and Amherst went into winter quarters at Crown Point. Early in June, Wolfe appeared before Quebec with an army of 8,000 men. On the night of September 12, he silently ascended the river, climbed the heights of Abraham, a spot considered impregnable by the French, and on the summit formed his army of 5,000 men. Montcalm, the French commander, was compelled to give battle. The British columns, flushed with success, charged his half-formed lines, and dispersed them.

"They fly! they fly!" heard Wolfe, just as he expired from the effect of a mortal wound, though not till he had ordered their retreat cut ofi', and exclaimed, "Now, God be praised, I die happy." IMontcalm, on hearing from the surgeon that death would come in a few hours, said, " I am glad of it. I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." At five the next morning he died happy.

Prideaux moved up Lake Ontario, and on the 6th of, July invested Niagara. Its capture would cut off the French from the west, and every endeavor was made to hold it. Troops, destined to take the small garrison at Fort Pitt, were held to assist in raising the siege of Niagara. BI. de Aubry, commandant in Illinois, came up with 400 men and 200,000 pounds of flour. Cut oflf by the abandonment of Fort Du Quesne from the Ohio route, he ascended that river as far as the Wabash, thence to portage of Fort Bliami, or Fort Wayne, down the Maumec to Lake Erie, and on to Presquville, or Prcsque Isle, over the portage to Le Boeuf, and thence down French Creek to Fort Venango. He was chosen to lead the expedition for the relief of Niagara. They were pursued by Sir William Johnson, successor to Prideaux, who had lost his life by the bursting of a cannon, and were obliged to flee. The next day Niagara, cut ofiF from succor, surrendered.

All America rang with exultation. Towns were bright with illuminations ; the hillsides shone with bonfires. From press, from pulpit, from platform, and from speakers' desks, went up one glad song of rejoicing. England was victorious everywhere. The colonies had done their fiiU share, and now learned their strength. That strength was needed now, for ere long a different conflict raged on the soil of America - a conflict ending in the birth of a new nation.

The English sent Gen. Stanwix to fortify Fort Pitt, still looked vipon as one of the principal fortresses in the West. He erected a good fortification there, which remained under British control fifteen years. Now nothing of the fort is left. No memorial of the British possession remains in the West but a single redoubt, built in 1764 by Col. Bouquet, outside of the fort. Even this can hardly now be said to exist.

The fall of Quebec did not immediately produce the submission of Canada. IM. de Levi, on whom the command devolved, retired with the French Army to Jlontreal. In the spring of 17 GO, he besieged Quebec, but the arrival of an English fleet caused him to again retreat to Montreal.

Amherst and Johnson, meanwhile, efiected a union of their forces, the magnitude of whose armies convinced the French that resistance would be useless, and on the 8th of September, M. de Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, surrendered Montreal, Quebec, Detroit, Mackinaw and all other posts in Canada, to the English commander-inchief, Amherst, on condition that the French inhabitants should, during the war, be "protected in the full and free exercise of their religion, and the full enjoyment of their civil rights, leaving their future destinies to be decided by the treaty of peace."

Though peace was concluded in the New World, on the continent the Powers experienced some difficulty in arriving at a satisfactory settlement. It was finally settled by what is known in history as the "family compact." France and Spain saw in the conquest the growing power of England, and saw, also, that its continuance only extended that power. Negotiations were re-opened, and on the 3d of November, 17G2, preliminaries were agreed to and signed, and afterward ratified in Paris, in February, 1703. By the terms of the compact, Spain ceded to Great Britian East and West Florida. To compensate Spain, France ceded to her by a secret article, all Louisiana west of the Mississippi.

The French and Indian war was now over. Canada and all its dependencies were now in possession of the English, who held undisputed sway over the entire West as far as Mississippi. It only remained for them to take possession of the outposts. Major Robert Rogers was sent to take possession of Detroit and establish a garrison there. He was a partisan officer on the borders of New Hampshire, where he earned a name for bravery, but afterward tarnished it by treasonable acts. On his way to Detroit, on the 7th of November, 17G0, he was met by the renowned chief, Pontiac, who authoritatively commanded him to pause and explain his acts. Rogers replied by explaining the conquest of Canada, and that he was acting under orders from his King. Through the influence of Pontiac, the army was saved from the Indians sent out by the French, and was allowed to proceed on its way. Pontiac had assured his protection as long as the English treated him with due deference. Beletre, the commandant at Detroit, refused to surrender to the English commander, until he had received positive assurance from his Governor, Vaudreuil, that the country was indeed conquered. On the 29th of September, the coloi-s of France gave way to the ensign of Great Britain amid the shouts of the soldiery and the astonishment of the Indians, whose savage natures could not understand how such a simple act declared one nation victors of another, and who wondered at the forbearance displayed. The lateness of the season prevented further operations, but early the next spring, Mackinaw. Green Bay, Ste. Marie, St. Joseph and the Ouitenon surrounded, and nothing was left but the Illinois towns. These were secured as soon as the necessary arrangements could be made.

Though the English were now masterr) of the West, and had, while many of these events narrated were transpiring, extended their settlements beyond the Alleghanies, they were by no means secure in their possession. The woods and prairies were full of Indians, who, finding the Engli.sh like the French, caring more for gain than the welfare of the natives, began to exhibit impatience and resentment as they saw their lands gradually taken from them. The English policy differed very materially from the French. The French made the Indian, in a measure, independent and taught him a desire for European goods. They also affiliated easily with them, and became thereby strongly endeared to the savage. The French were a merry, easy-going race, fond of gayety and delighting in adventure. The English were harsh, stern, and made no advances to gain the friendship of the savage. They wanted land to cultivate and drove away the Indian's game, and forced him farther west. "Where shall we go?" said the Indian, despondently ; " you drive us farther and farther west; by and by you will want all the land." And the Anglo-Saxon went sturdily on, paying no heed to the complaints. The French traders incited the Indian to resent the encroachment. " The English will annihilate you and take all your land," said they. " Theii- father, the King of France, had been asleep, now he had awakened and was coming with a great army to reclaim Canada, that had been stolen from him while he slept." Discontent under such circumstances was but natural. Soon all the tribes, from the mountains to the Mississippi, were united in a plot. It was discovered in 1761, and arrested. The next summer, another was detected and arrested. The officers, and all the people, failed to realize the danger. The rattlesnake, though not found, was ready to strike. It is only an Indian discontent, thought the people, and they went on preparing to occupy the country. They were mistaken - the crisis only needed a leader to direct it. That leader appeared.

Chapter English

PONTIAC, the greatchief of the Ottawas, was now about fifty years old. He had watched the conflict between the nations with a jealous eye, and as he saw the gradual growth of the English people, their encroachment on the lands of the Indians, their greed, and their assumption of the soil, his soul was stirred within him to do something for his people. He had been a true friend of the French, and had led the Indians at the defeat of Braddock. Amid all the tumult, he alone saw the true state of affairs. The English would inevitably crush out the Indians. To save his race he saw another alliance with the French was necessary, and a restoration of their power and habits needed. It was the plan of a statesman. It only failed because of the perfidy of the French. Maturing his plans late in the autumn of 1762, he sent messengers to all the Western and Southern tribes, with the black wampum and red tomahawk, emblems of war, from the great Pontiac. " On a certain day in the next year," said the messenger, "all the tribes are to rise, seize all the English posts, and then attack the whole frontier."

The great council of all the tribes was held at the river Ecorces, on the 27th of April, 1763. There, before the assembled chiefs, Pontiac delivered a speech, fiill of eloquence and art. He recounted the injuries and encroachments of the English, and disclosed their designs. The French king was now awake and would aid them. Should they resign their homes and the graves of their fathers without an effort? Were their young men no longer brave? Were they squaws? The Great Master of Life had chided them for their inactivity, and had sent his commands to drive the "Red Dogs" from the earth. The chiefs eagerly accepted the wampum and the tomahawk, and separated to prepare for the coming strife.

The post at Detroit was informed of the plot the evening before it was to occur, by an Ojibway girl of great beauty, the mistress of the commander. Major Gladwin. Pontiac was foiled here, his treachery discovered, and he was sternly ordered fi-om the conference. A regular seige followed, but he could not prevail. He exhibited a degree of sagacity unknown in the annals of savage warfare, but all to no purpose; the English were too strong for him.

At all the other posts, save one, however, the plans of Pontiac were carried out, and atrocities, unheard of before in American history, resulted. The Indians attacked Detroit on the first of May, and, foiled in their plans, a siege immediately followed. On the lGtb,a party of Indians appeared before the fort at Sandusky. Seven of them were admitted. Suddenly, while smoking, the massacre begins. All but Ensign PauUi, the commander, fall. He is carried as a trophy to Pontiac.

At the mouth of the St. Joseph's, the missionaries had maintained a mission station over sixty years. They gave way to an English garrison of fourteen soldiers and a few traders. On the morning of May 25, a deputation of Pottawatomies are allowed to enter. In less than two minutes, all the garrison but the commander are slain. He is sent to Pontiac.

Near the present city of Fort Wayne, Ind., at the junction of the waters, stood Fort Miami, garrisoned by a few men. Holmes, the commander, is asked to visit a sick woman. He is slain on the way, the sergeant following is made prisoner, and the nine soldiers surrender.

On the night of the last day of May, the wampum reaches the Indian village below La Fayette, Ind., and near Fort Ouitenon. The commander of the fort is lured into a cabin, bound, and his garrison surrender. Through the clemency of French settlers, they are received into their houses and protected.

At Michilimackinac, a game of ball is projected. Suddenly the ball is thrown through the gate of the stockade. The Indians press in, and, at a signal, almo!5t all are slain or made prisoners.

The fort at Presque Isle, now Erie, was the point of communication between Pittsburgh and Niagara and Detroit. It was one of the most tenable, and had a garrison of four and twenty men. On the 22d of June, the commander, to save his forces from total annihilation, surrenders, and all are carried prisoners to Detroit.

The capitulation at Erie left Le Boeuf without hope. He was attacked on the ISth, but kept oif the Indians till midnight, when he made a successful retreat. As they passed Venango, on their way to Fort Pitt, they saw only the ruins of that garri.son. Not one of its immatcs had been spared.

Fort Pitt was the most important station west of the AUeghanies. " Escape ! " said Turtle's Heart, a Delaware warrior ; " you will all be slain. A great army is coming." "There are three large English armies coming to my aid," said Ecuyer, the commander. " I have enough provisions and ammunition to stand a siege of three years' time." A second and third attempt was made by the savages to cajiture the post, but all to no avail. Baffled on all sides here, they destroy Ligonier, a few miles below, and massacre men, women and children. Fort Pitt was besieged till the last day of July, but withstood all attacks. Of all the outposts, only it and Detroit wwe left. All had been captured, and the majority of the garrison slain. Along the frontier, the war was waged with fury. The Indians were fighting for their homes and their hunting-grounds; and for these they fought with the i'ury and zeal of fanatics.

Detachments sent to aid Detroit are cut off. The prisoners are burnt, and Pontiac, infusing his zealous and demoniacal spirit into all his savage allies, pressed the siege with vigor. The French remained neutral, yet Pontiac made requisitions on them and on their neighbors in Illinois, issuing bills of credit on birch-bark, all of which were faithftilly redeemed. Though these two posts could not be captured, the frontier could be annihilated, and vigorously the Indians pursued their policy. Along the borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia a relentless warfare was waged, sparing no one in its way. Old age, feeble infancy, strong man and gentle woman, fair girl and hopeful boy - all fell before the scalping- Knife of the merciless savage. The frontiers were devastated. Thousands were obliged to flee, leaving their possessions to the torch of the Indian.

The colonial government, under British direction, was inimical to the borders, and the colonists saw they must depend only upon their own arms for protection. Already the struggle for fi-eedom was upon them. They could defend only themselves. They must do it, too ; for that defense is now needed in a different cause than settling disputes between rival powers. " We have millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute," said they, and time verified the remark.

Gen. Amherst bestirred himself to aid the frontiers. He sent Col. Henry Bouquet, a native of Switzerland, and now an officer in the English Army, to relieve the garrison at Fort Pitt. They followed the route made by Gen. Forbes, and on the way relieved Forts Bedford and Ligonier, both beleaguered by the Indians. About a day's journey beyond Ligonier, he was attacked by a body of Indians at a place called Bushy Run. For awhile, it seemed that he and all his army would be destroyed ; but Bouquet was bold and brave and, under a feint of retreat, routed the savages. He passed on, and relieved the garrison at Fort

The campaign had been disastrous to the English, but fatal to the plans of Pontiac. He could not capture Detroit, and he knew the great scheme must fail. The battle of Bushy Run and the relief of Fort Pitt closed the campaign, and all hope of co-operation was at an end. Circumstances were combined against the confederacy, and it was flist falling to pieces. A proclamation was issued to the Indians, explaining to them the existing state of affairs, and showing to them the futility of their plans. Pontiac, however, would not give up. Again he renewed the siege of Detroit, and Gen. Gage, now in command of the army in the colonies, resolved to carry the war into their own country. Col. Bradstreet was ordered to lead one army by way of the lakes, against the Northern Indians, while Col. Bouquet was sent against the Indians of the Ohio. Col. Bradstreet went on his way at the head of 1,200 men, but trusting too much to the natives and their promises, his expedition proved largely a failure. He relieved Detroit in August, 1764, which had been confined in the garrison over fifteen months, and dispersed the Indians that yet lay around the fort. But on bis way back, he saw how the Indians had duped him, and that they were still plundering the settlements. His treaties were annulled by Gage, who ordered him to destroy their towns. The season was far advanced, his provisions were getting low, and be was obliged to return to Niagara chagrined and disappointed.

Col. Bouquet knew well the character of the Indians, and shaped his plans accordingly. He had an army of 1,500 men, 500 regulars and 1,000 volunteers. They had had experience in fighting the savages, and could be depended on. At Fort Loudon, he heard of Bradstreet's ill luck, and saw through the deception practiced by the Indians. He arrived at Fort Pitt the ITth of September, where he arrested a deputation of chiefs, who met him with the same promises that had deceived Bradstreet. He sent one of their number back, threatening to put to death the chiefs unless they allowed his messengers to safely pass through their country to Detroit. The decisive tone of his words convinced them of the fate that awaited them unless they complied. On the 3d of October the army left Fort Pitt, marched down the river to and across the Tuscarawas, arriving in the vicinity of Fredrick Post's late mission on the ITth. There a conference was held with the assembled tribes. Bouquet sternly rebuked them for their faithlessness, and when told by the chiefs they could not restrain their young men, he as sternly told them they were responsible for their acts. He told them he would trust them no longer. If they delivered up all their prisoners within twelve days they might hope for peace, otherwise there would be no mercy shown them. They were completely humbled, and, separating hastily, gathered their captives. On the 25th, the army proceeded down to the Tuscarawas, to the junction with White Woman River, near the town of Coshocton, in Coshocton County, Ohio, and there made preparations for the reception of the captives. There they remained until the 18th of November; from day to day prisoners were brought in - men, women and children - and delivered to their friends. Many were the touching scenes enacted during this time. The separated husband and wife met, the latter often carrying a child born in captivity. Brothers and sisters, separated in youth, met ; lovers rushed into each other's arms ; children found their parents, mothers their sons, fathers their daughters, and neighbors those from whom they had been separated many years. Yet, there were many distressing scenes. Some looked in vain for long-lost relatives and friends, that never should return. Others, that had been captured in their infancy, would not leave their savage friends, and. when force was used some fled away. One mother looked in vain for a child she had lost years before. Day by day, she anxiously watched, but no daughter's voice reached her ears. One, clad in savage attire, was brought before her. It could not be her daughter, she was grown. So was the maiden before her. " Can not you remember some mark?" asked Bouquet, whose sympathies were aroused in this case. "There is none," said the anxious and sorrowful mother. "Sing a song you sang over her cradle, she may remember," suggested the commander. One is sung by her mother. As the song of childhood floats out among the trees the maiden stops and listens, then approaches. Yes, she remembers. Mother and daughter are held in a close embrace, and the stern Bouquet wipes away a tear at the scene.

On the 18th, the army broke up its encampment and started on its homeward march. Bouquet kept six principal Indians as hostages, and returned to the homes of the captives. The Indians kept their promises faithfully, and the next year representatives of all the Western tribes met Sir William Johnson, at the Genaan Flats, and made a truaty of peace. A tract of land in the Indian country was coded to the whites for the benefit of those who had suffered in the late war. The Indians desired to make a treaty with Johnson, whereby the Alleghany Kiver should be the western boundary of the English, but he excused himself on the ground of proper power.

Not long after this the Illinois settlements, too remote to know much of the struggle or of any of the great events that had convulsed an empire, and changed the destiny of a nation, were brought under the English rule. There were five villages at this date: Kaskaskia, Cahokia, St. Philip, Vincennes and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres, the miUtary headquarters of these French possessions. They were under the control or command of M. de Abadie, at New Orleans. They had also extended explorations west of the Mississippi, and made a few settlements in what was Spanish territory. The country had been, however, ceded to France, and in February, 1764, the country was formally taken possession of and the present city of St. Louis laid out.

As soon as the French knew of the change of government, many of them went to the west side of the river, and took up their residence there. They were protected in their religion and civil rights by the terms of the treaty, but preferred the rule of their own King.

The British took possession of this country early in 1765. Gen. Gage sent Capt. Stirling, of the English Army, who arrived before summer, and to whom St. Ange, the nominal commandant, surrendered the authority. The British, through a succession of commanders, retained control of the country until defeated by George Rogers Clarke, and his "ragged Virginia militia."

After a short time, the French again ceded the country west of the Mississippi to Spain, and relinquished forever their control of all the West in the New World.

The population of Western Louisiana, when the exchange of governments occurred, was estimated to be 13,538, of which 891 were in the IlUnois country - as it was called - west of the jMississippi. East of the river, and before the French crossed into Spanish country, the population was estimated to be about 3,000. All the.se had grown into communities of a peculiar character. Indeed, that peculiarity, as has been observed, never changed until a gradual amalgamation with the /Vmerican people effected it, and that took more than a centui^ of time to accomplish.

The English now owned the Northwest. True, they did not yet ocoujiy but a small part of it, but traders were again crossing the mountains, ex- ])lorers for lands were on the Ohio, and families for settlement were beginning to look upon the West as their future home. Companies were again forming to purchase large tracts in the Ohio country, and open them for emigration. One thing yet stood in the way - a definite boundary line. Tliat line, however, was between the English and the Indians, and not, as had heretofore been the case, between rival European Powers. It was necessary to arrange some definite boundary before land companies, who were now actively pushing their claims, could safely survey and locate their lands.

Sir William Johnson, who had at previous times been instrumental in securing treaties, wrote repeatedly to the Board of Trade, who controlled the greater part of the commercial transactions in the colonies - and who were the first to exclaim against extending English settlements beyond a limit whereby they would need manufactures, and thereby become independent of the Mother Country - urging upon them, and through them the Crown, the necessity of a fixed boundary, else another Indian war was probable. The Indians found themselves gradually hemmed in by the growing power of the whites, and began to exhibit hostile feelings. The irritation became so great that in the summer of 1767, Gage wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania concerning it. The Governor communicated his letter to the General Assembly, who sent representatives to England, to urge the immediate settlement of the question. In compliance with these requests, and the letters of prominent citizens, Franklin among the number, instructions were sent to Johnson, ordering him to complete the purchase from the Six Nations, and settle all differences. He sent word to all the Western tribes to meet him at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1768. The conference was held on the 24th of that month, and was attended by colonial representatives, and by Indians from all parts of the Northwest. It was determined that the line should begin on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Cherokee (Tennessee), thence up the river to the Alleghany and on to Kittanning, and thence across to the Susquehanna. By this line, the whole country south of the Ohio and AUegh.my, to which the Six Nations had any claim, was transferred. Part of this land was made to compensate twenty-two traders, whose goods had been stolen in 1763. The deeds made, were i upon the express agreement that no claims should ever be based un the treaties of Lancaster, Logstown, etc., and were signed by the chiefs of the Six Nations for themselves, their allies and dependents, and the Shawanees, Delawares, Mingoes of Ohio, and others; though the Shawanees and Delaware deputies did not sign them. On this treaty, in a great measure, rests the title by purchase to Kentucky, Western Virginia and Western Pennsylvania. The rights of the Cherokees were purchased by Col. Donaldson, either for the King, Virginia, or for himself, it is impossible to say which.

The grant of the northern confederacy was now made. The white man could go in and possess these lands, and know that an army would protect him if necessary. Under such a guarantee. Western lands came rapidly into market. In addition to companies already in existence for the purchase of land, others, the most notable of these being the "Walpole" and the "Mississippi" Land Companies, were formed. This latter had among its organizers such men as Francis Liglitfoot Lee, Ilichard Henry Lee, George Washington and Arthur Lee. Before any of these companies, some of whom absorbed the Ohio Company, could do anything, the Revolution came on, and all land transactions were at an end. After its close. Congress would not sanction their claims, and they fell through. This did not deter settlers, however, from crossing the mountains, and settling in the Ohio country. In spite of troubles with the Indians - some of whom regarded the treaties with the Six Nations as unlawful, and were disposed to complain at the rapid influx of whites - and the failure of the land companies, settlers came steadily during the decade from 1768 to 1778, so that by the close of that time, there was a large population south of the Ohio River ; while scattered along the northern banks, extending many miles into the wilderness, were hardy adventurers, who were carving out homes in the magnifiicent forests everywhere covering the country.

Among the foremost speculators in Western lands, was George Washington. As early as 1763, he employed Col. Crawford, afterward the leader in " Crawford's campaign," to purchase lands for him. In 1770, he crossed the mountains in company with several gentlemen, and examined the country along the Ohio, down which stream he passed to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, where he shot some buffalo, then plenty, camped out a few nights, and returned, fully convinced, it seems, that one day the West would be the best part of the New- World. He owned, altogether, nearly fifty thousand acres in the West, which he valued at $3.33 per acre. Had not the war of the Revolution just then broken out, he might have been a resident of the West, and would have been, of course, one of its most prominent citizens.

The Moravian Indians

AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS - DUNMORE'S WAR - CAMPAIGN OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARKELAND TROUBLES - SPAIN IN THE REVOLUTION - MURDER OF THE MORAVIAN INDIANS.

MEANWHILE, Kentucky was filling with citizens, and though considerable trouble was experienced with the Indians, and the operations of Col. Richard Henderson and others, who made unlawful treaties with the Indians, yet Daniel Boone and his associates had established a commonwealth, and, in 1777, a county was formed, which, erelong, was divided into three. Louisville was laid out on land belonging to Tories, and an important start made in this part of the West. Emigrants came down the Ohio River, saw the northern shores were inviting, and sent back such accounts that the land north of the river rapidly grew in favor with Eastern people.

One of the most important Western characters. Col. (afterward Gen.) George Rogers Clarke, had had much to do in forming its character. He was born November 19, 1752, in Albemarle County, Va., and early came West. He had an unusually sagacious spirit, was an excellent surveyor and general, and took an active interest in all State and national affairs. He understood the animus of the Revolution, and was prepared to do his part. Col. Clarke was now meditating a move unequaled in its boldness, and one that had more to do with the success of America in the struggle for independence than at first appears. He saw through the whole plan of the Bri^sh, who held all the outposts, Kaskaskia, Detroit, Vinoennes and Niagara, and determined to circumvent them and wrest the West from their power. The British hoped to encircle the Americans by these outposts, and also unite the Indians in a common war against them. That had been attempted by the French when the English conquered them. Then the French had a powerful ajly in the person of Pontiac, yet the brave frontiersmen held their homes in many places, though the Indians " drank the blood of many a Briton, scooping it up in the hollow of joined hands." Now the Briton had no Pontiac to lead the scattered tribes - tribes who now feared the unerring aim of a settler, and would not attack him openly - Clarke knew that the Delawares were divided in feeling and that the Shawanees were but imperfectly united in favor of England since the murder of their noted chiefs. He wiis convinced that, if the British could be driven from the Western posts, the natives could easily be awed into submission, or bribed into neutrality or friendship. They admired, from theii- savage views of valor, the side that became victorious. They cared little for the cause for which either side was fighting. Clarke sent out spies among them to ascertain the feasibility of his plans. The spies were gone from April 20 to June 22, and fully corroborated his views concerning the English policy and the feelings of the Indians and French.

Before proceeding in the narrative of this expedition, however, it wUl be well to notice a few acts transpiring north of the Ohio River, especially relating to the land treaties, as they were not without effect on the British policy. iMany of the Indians north and south of the Ohio wijuld not recognize the validity of the Fort Stanwix treaty, claiming the Iroquois had no right to the lands, despite their conquest. These discontented natives harasised the emigrants in such a manner that many Indians were slain in retaliation. This, and the working of the French traders, who at all times were bitterly opposed to the English rule, filled the breasts of the natives with a malignant hate, which ycai-s of bloodshed could not wash out. The murder of several Indians by lawless whites fanned the coal into a blaze, and, by 1774, several retaliatory murders occurred, committed by the natives in revenge for their fallen friends. The Indian slew any white man he found, as a revenge on some friend of his slain ; the frontiersman, acting on the same principle, made the borders extremely dangerous to invaders and invaded. Another cause

Pittsburgh had been claimed by both Pennsylvania and Virginia, and, in endeavoring to settle the dispute. Lord Dunmore's war followed. Dr. John Connelly, an ambitious, intriguing person, induced Lord Dunmore to assert the claims of Virginia, in the name of the King. In attempting to carry out his intentions, he was arrested by Arthur St. Clair, representing the proprietors of Pennsylvania, who was at Pittsburgh at the time. Connelly was released on bail, but went at once to Staunton, where he was sworn in as a Justice of Peace. Returning, he gathered a force of one hundred and fifty men, suddenly took possession of Pittsburgh, refused to allow the magistrates to enter the Court House, or to exercise the functions of their offices, unless in conformity to his will. Connelly refused any terms offered by the Pennsylvania deputies, kept possession of the place, acted very harshly toward the inhabitants, stirred up the neutral Indians, and, for a time, threatened to make the boundary line between the two colonies a very serious question. His actions led to hostUe deeds by some Indians, when the whites, no doubt urged by him, murdered seven Indians at the mouth of the Captina River, and at the house of a settler named Baker, where the Indians were decoyed under promises of friendship and offers of rum. Among those murdered at the latter place, was the entire family of the famous INIingoe chief, Logan. This has been charged to Michael Cresap ; but is untrue. Daniel Greathouse had command of the party, and though Cresap may have been among them, it is unjust to lay the blame at his feet. Both murders, at Captina and Yellow Creek, were cruel and unwarranted, and were, without doubt, the cause of the war that followed, though the root of the matter lay in Connolly's arbitrary actions, and in his needlessly alarming the Indians. Whatever may have been the facts in relation to the murder of Logan's family, they were of such a nature as to make all feel sure of an Indian war, and preparations were made for the conflict.

An army was gathered at Wheeling, which, some time in July, under command of Col. Mc- Donald, descended the Ohio to the mouth of Captina Creek. They proposed to march against an Indian town on the jMuskingum. The Indians sued for peace, but their pretensions being found spurious, their towns and crops were destroyed. The army then retreated to Williamsburg, having accomplished but little.

Histoky Of Ohio

The Delawares were anxious for peace ; even the Mingoes, whose relatives had been slain at Yellow Creek, and Captina, were restrained; but Logan, who had been turned to an inveterate foe to the Americans, came suddenly upon the Monongahela settlements, took thirteen scalps in revenge for the loss of his family, returned home and expressed himself ready to treat with the Long Knives, the Virginians. Had Connelly acted properly at this juncture, the war might have been ended; but his actions only incensed both borderers and Indians. So obnoxious did he become that Lord Dunmore lost faith in him, and severely reprimanded him.

To put a stop to the depredations of the Indians, two large bodies of troops were gathered in Virginia, one under Gen. Andrew Lewis, and one under command of Dunmore himself Before the armies could meet at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, their objective point, Lewis' army, which arrived first, was attacked by a furious band of Delawares, Shawanees, Iroquois and Wyandots. The conflict was bitterly prolonged by the Indians, who, under the leadership of Cornstalk, were determined to make a decisive effort, and fought till late at night (^October 10, 1774), and then only by a strategic move of Lewis' command - which resulted in the defeat of the Indians, compelling them to crofss the Ohio - -was the conflict ended. Meanwhile, Dunmore's army came into the enemy's country, and, being joined by the remainder of Lewis' command, pressed forward intending to annihilate the Indian towns. Cornstalk and his chiefs, however, sued for peace, and the conflict closed. Dunmore established a camp on Sippo Creek, where he held conferences with the natives and concluded the war. When he lefl the country, he stationed 100 men at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, a few more at Pittsburgh, and another corps at Wheeling, then called Fort Fincastle. Dunmore intended to return to Pittsburgh the next spring, meet the Indians and form a definite peace ; but the revolt of the colonies prevented. However, he opened several ofiices for the sale of lands in the West, some of which were in the limits of the Pennsylvania colony. This led to the old boundary dispute again; but before it could be settled, the Revolution began, and Lord Dunmore's, as well as almost all other land speculations in the West, were at an end.

In 1775 and 1776, the chief events transpiring in the West relate to the treaties with the Indians, and the endeavor on the part of the Americans to have them remain neutral in the family quarrel now coming on, which they could not understand. The British, like the French, however, could not let them alone, and finally, as a retaliatory measure. Congress, under advice of Washington, won some of them over to the side of the colonies, getting their aid and holding them neutral. The colonies only offered them rewards for prisoners ; never, like the British, offering rewards for scalps. Under such rewards, the atrocities of the Indians in some (juarters were simply horrible. The scalp was enough to get a reward, that was a mark of Indian valor, too, and hence, helpless innocence and decrepit old age were not spared. They stirred the minds of the pioneers, who saw the protection of their firesides a vital point, and led the way to the scheme of Col. Clarke, who was now, as has been noted, the leading spirit in Kentucky. He saw through the scheme of the British, and determined, by a quick, decisive blow, to put an end to it, and to cripple their power in the West.

Among the acts stimulating Clai-ke, was the attack on Fort Henry, a garrison about one-half mile above Wheeling Creek, on the Ohio, by a renegade white man, Simon Girty, an agent in the employ of the British, it is thought, and one of the worst wretches ever known on the frontier. When Girty attacked Fort Henry, he led his red allies in regular military fashion, and attacked it without mercy. The defenders were brave, and knew with whom they were contending. Great bravery was displayed by the women in the fort, one of whom, a Miss Zane, carried a keg of gunpowder from a cabin to the fort. Though repeatedly fired at by the savages, she reached the fort in safety. Afler awhile, however, the effect of the frontiersmen's shots began to be felt, and the Indians sullenly withdrew. Re-enforcements coming, the fort was held, and Girty and his band were obliged to flee.

Clarke saw that if the British once got control over the Western Indians the scene at Fort Henry would be repeated, and would not likely, in all cases, end in favor of the Americans. Without communicating any of his designs, he left Harrodsburg about the 1st of October, 1777, and reached the capital of Virginia by November 5. Still keeping his mind, he awaited a favorable opportunity to broach his plans to those in power, and, in the meanwhile, carefully watched the existing state of feeling. When the opportunity came, Clarke broached his plans to Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, who at once entered warmly into them, recognizing their great importance.

Through his aid, Clarke procured the noeessary authority to prosecute his phins, aud returned at ont-e to Pittsburgh. He intended raising men about this post, but found tlieni fearful of leaving their homes unprotected. However, he secured three companies, and, with these and a number of volunteers, picked up on the way down the Ohio River, he fortified Corn Island, near the falls, and made ready for his expedition. He had some trouble in keeping his men, some of those from Kentucky refusing to aid in subduing stations out of their own country. He did not announce his real intentions till he had reached this point. Here Col. Bowman joined him with his Kentucky militia, and, on the 2-tth of June, 1778, during a total eclipse of the sun, the party left the fort. Before his start, ho learned of the capture of Burgoyne, and, when nearly down to Fort Massac, he met some of his spies, who informed him of the exaggerated accounts of the ferocity of the Long Knives that the French had received from the British. By proper action on his part, Clarke saw both these items of information could be made very beneficial to him. Leaving the river near Port Massac, he set out on the march to Kaskaskia, through a hot summer's sun, over a country full of savage foes. They reached the town unnoticed, on the evening of July 4, and, befoi-e the astonished British and French knew it, they were all prisoners. JL Rocheblave, the English commander, was secured, but his wife adroitly concealed the papers belonging to the garrison. In the person of M. Gibault, the French priest, Clarke found a true friend. When the true character of the Virginians became apparent, the French were easily drawn to the American side, and the priest secured the surrender and allegiance of Cahokia through his personal influence. M. Gibault told him he would also secure the post at St. Vincent's, which he did, returning from the mission about the 1st of August. During the interval, Clarke reenlisted his men, formed his plans, sent his prisoners to Kentucky, and was ready for future action when M. Gibault arrived. He sent Capt. Helm and a single soldier to Vincennes to hold that fort until he could put a garrison there. It is but proper to state that the English commander. Col. Hamilton, and his band of soldiers, were absent at Detroit when the priest secured the village on the " Ouabache." When Hamilton returned, in the autumn, he was greatly surprised to see the American flag floating from the ramparts of the fort, and when approaching the gate he was abruptly halted by Capt. Helm, who stood with a lighted fuse in his hand by a cannon, answering Hamilton's demand to surrender with the imperative inquiry, "Upon what terms, sir?" "Upon the honors of war," answered Hamilton, and he marched in greatly chagrined to see he had been halted by two men. The British commander sat quietly down, intending to go on down the river and subdue Kentucky in the spring, in the mean time ofiering rewards for American scalps, and thereby gaining the epithet " Hair-buyer General." Clarke heard of his actions late in January, 1779, and, as he says, " I knew if I did not take him he would take me," set out early in February with his troops and marched across the marshy plains of Lower Illinois, reaching the Wabash post by the 22d of that month. The unerring aim of the Westerner was effectual. " They will shoot your eyes out," said Helm to the British troops. " There, I told you so," he further exclaimed, as a soldier ventured near a port-hole and received a shot directly in his eye. On the 24th the fort surrendered. The American flag waved again over its ramparts. The "Hair-buyer General" was sent a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement for his cruel acts. Clarke returned to Kaskaskia, perfected his plans to hold the Illinois settlements, went on to Kentucky, from where he sent word to the colonial authorities of the success of his expedition. Had he received the aid promised him, Detroit, in easy reach, would have fallen too, but Gen. Green, failing to send it as promised, the capture of that important post was delayed.

Had Clarke failed, and Hamilton succeeded, the whole West would have been swept, from the Allcghanies to the Mississippi. But for this small army of fearless Virginians, the union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might have been effected, and the whole current of American history changed. America owes Clarke and his band more than it can ever pay. Clarke reported the capture of Kaskaskia and the Illinois country early after its surrender, and in October the county of Illinois was established, extending over an unlimited expanse of country, by the Virginia Legislature. John Todd was appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor. In November, Clarke and his men received the thanks of the same body, who, in after years, secured them a grant of land, which they selected on the right bank of the Ohio River, opposite Louisville. They expected here a city would rise one day, to be the peer of Louisville, then coming into prominence as an important place. By some means, their expectations failed, and only the dilapidated village of Clarkesburg perpetuates their hopes.

The conquest of Clarke changed the face of afiairs in relation to the whole country north of the Ohio River, which would, in all probability, have been made the boundary between Canada and the United States. When this was proposed, the strenuous arguments based on this conquest, by the American Commissioners, secured the present boundary line in negotiating the treaty of 1793.

Though Clarke had failed to capture Detroit, Congress saw the importance of the post, and resolved on securing it. Gen. McCosh, commander at Port Pitt, was put in command, and $1,000,- 000 and 3,000 men placed at his disposal. By some dilatory means, he got no further than the Tuscarawas River, in Ohio, where a half-way house, called Fort Laurens, for the President of Congress, was built. It was too far out to be of practicable value, and was soon after abandoned.

Indian troubles and incursions by the British were the most absorbing themes in the West. The British went so far as Kentucky at a later date, while they intended reducing Fort Pitt, only abandoning it when learning of its strength. Expeditions against the Western Indians were led by Gen. Sullivan, Col. Daniel Broadhead, Col. Bowman and others, which, for awhile, silenced the natives and taught them the power of the Americans. They could not organize so readily as before, and began to attach themselves more closely to the British, or commit their depredations in bands, fleeing into the wilderness as soon as they struck a blow. In this way, several localities suffered, until the settlers became again exasperated ; other expeditions were formed, and a second chastisement given. In 1781, Col. Broadhead led an expedition against the Central Ohio Indians. It did not prove so successful, as the Indians were led by the noted chief Brant, who, though not cruel, was a foe to the Americans, and a.ssisted the British greatly in their endeavors to secure the West.

Another class of events occurred now in the West, civil in their relations, yet destined to form an important part of its history - its land laws.

It must be borne in mind, that Virginia claimed the greater portion of tlie country north of the Ohio River, as well as a large part south. The other colonies claimed land also in the West under the old Crown grants, which extended to the South or Western Sea. To more complicate matters, several land companies held proprietary rights to portions of these lands gained by grants from the Crown, or from the Colonial Assemblies. Others were based on land warrants issued in 1703; others on selection and survey and still others on settlement. In this state of mixed affairs, it was difficult to say who held a secure claim. It was a question whether the old French grants were good or not, especially since the change in government, and the eminent prospect of still another change. To, in some way, aid in settling these claims, Virginia sent a commission to the West to sit as a court and determine the proprietorship of these claims. This court, though of as doubtful authority as the claims themselves, went to work in Kentucky and along the Ohio River in 1779, and, in the course of one year, gi-anted over three thousand certificates. These were considered as good authority for a definite title, and were so regarded in afler purchases. Under them, many pioneers, like Daniel Boone, lost their lands, as all were required to hold some kind of a patent, while others, who possessed no more principle than "land-sharks" of to-day, acquired large tracts of land by holding a patent the court was bound to accept. Of all the colonies, Virginia seemed to have the best title to the Northwest, save a few parcels, such as the Connecticut or Western Reserve and some similar tracts held by New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. When the territory of the Northwest was ceded to the General Government, this was recognized, and that country was counted as a Virginia county.

The Spanish Government, holding the region west of the Mississippi, and a portion east toward its outlet, became an important but secret ally of the Americans. When the French revolt was suppressed by O'Reilly, and the Spanish assumed the government of Louisiana, both Upper and Lower, there was a large tract of country, known as Florida (East and West), claimed by England, and duly regarded as a part of her dominion. The boundaries had been settled when the French first occupied Lower Louisiana. The Spaniards adopted the patriarchal form of rule, as much as was consistent with their interests, and allowed the French full religious and civil liberty, save that all tribunals were after the Spanish fashion, and governed by Spanish rules. The Spaniards, long jealous of England's growing power, secretly sent the Governors of Louisiana word to aid the Americans in their struggle for freedom. Though they controlled the Mississippi River, they allowed an American olficer (Capt. Willing) to descend the river in January, 1778, with a party of fifty men, and ravage the British shore from Manchez Bayou to Natchez.

On the 8th of May, 1779, Spain declared war again.st Great Britain; and, on the 8th of July, the people of Louisiana were allowed to take a part in the war. Accordingly, Galvez collected a force of 1,400 men, and, on the 7th of September, took Fort Manchac. By the 21st of September, he had taken Baton Rouge and Natchez. Eight vessels were captured by the Spaniards on the Mississippi and on the lakes. In 1780 Mobile fell; in March, 1781, Pensacola, the chief British post in West Florida, succumbed after a long siege, and, on the 9th of May, all West Florida was surrendered to Spain.

This war, or the war on the Atlantic Coast, did not immediately affect Upper Louisiana. Great Britain, however, attempted to capture St. Louis. Though the commander was strongly suspected of being bribed by the English, yet the place stood the siege from the combined force of Indians and Canadians, and the assailants were dispersed. This was done during the summer of 1080, and in the autumn, a company of Spanish and French residents, under La Balme, went on an expedition against Detroit. They marched as fer north as the British trading-post Ke-ki-ong-a, at the head of the Jlaumee River, but being surprised in the night, and the commander slain, the expedition was defeated, having done but little.

Spain may have had personal interests in aiding the Americans. She was now in control of the Mississippi River, the natural outlet of the Northwest, and, in 1780, began the troubles relative to the na^ngation of that stream. The claims of Spain were considered very unjust by the Continental Congress, and, while deliberating over the question, Virginia, who was jealously alive to her Western interests, and who yet held jurisdiction over Kentucky, sent through Jefferson, the Governor, Gen. George Rogers Clarke, to erect a fort below the mouth of the Ohio. This proceeding was rather unwarrantable, especially as the fort was built in the country of the Chickasaws, who had thus far been true friends to the Americans, and who looked upon the fort as an innovation on their territory. It was completed and occupied but a short time, Clarke being recalled.

Virginia, in 1780, did a very important thing; namely, establishing an institution for higher education. The Old Dominion confiscated the lands of " Robert McKenzie, Henry Collins and Alexander McKee, Britons, eight thousand acres," and invested the proceeds of the sale in a public seminary. Transylvania University now lives, a monument to that .spirit.

While Clarke was building Fort Jefferson, a force of British and Indians, under command of Capt. Bryd, came down from Canada and attacked the Kentucky settlements, getting into the country before any one was aware. The winter before had been one of unusual severity, and game was exceedingly scarce, hence the army was not prepared to conduct a campaign. After the capture of Ruddle's Station, at the south fork of the Licking, Bryd abandoned any further attempts to reduce the settlements, except capturing Martin's Station, and returned to Detroit.

This expedition gave an additional motive for the chastisement of the Indian.s, and Clarke, on his return from Fort Jefferson, went on an expedition against the Miami Indians. He destroyed their ! towns at Loramie's store, near the present city of I Sydney, Ohio, and at Piqua, humbling the natives. While on the way, a part of the army remained on the north bank of the Ohio, and erected two block-houses on the present site of Cincinnati.

The exploits of Clarke and his men .so effectually chastised the Indians, that, for a time, the West was safe. During this period of quiet, the measures which led to the cession of Western lands to the General Government, began to assume a definite form. All the colonies claiming Western lands were willing to cede them to the Government, save Virginia, which colony wanted a large scope of Southern country southeast of the Ohio, as far as South Carolina. All recognized the justice of all Western lands becoming public property, and thereby aiding in extinguishing the debts caused by the war of the Revolution, now about to close. As Virginia held a somewhat different view, the cession was not made until 1783.

The subject, however, could not be allowed to rest. The war of the Revolution was now drawing to a close ; victory on the part of the colonies was apparent, and the Western lands must be a part of the public domain. Subsequent events brought about the desired cession, though several events transpired before the plan of cession was consummated.

Before the close of 1780, the Legislature of Virginia passed an act, establishing the " town of Louisville," and confiscated the lands of John

Connelly, who was one of its original proprietors, and who distinguished himself in the commencement of Lord Dunmore's war, and who was now a Tory, and doing all he could against the patriot cause. The proceeds of the sale of his lands were divided between Virginia and the county of Jefferson. Kentucky, the next year, was divided into three counties, Jefferson, Lincoln and Fayette. Courts were appointed in each, and the entry and location of lands given into their hands. Settlers, in spite of Indian troubles and British intrigue, were pouring over the mountains, particularly so during the years 1780 and 1781. The expeditions of Clarke against the Miami Indians ; Boone's captivity, and escape from them ; their defeat when attacking Boonesboro, and other places - all combined to weaken their power, and teach them to respect a nation whose progress they could not stay.