Delaware County, Ohio - Chapter 2: Indian Occupation, 1908

Chapter 2: Indian Occupation

Delaware County may have been the home of man before the glacial period. There seems to be evidence, at least, that Ohio was occupied by human beings prior to this great geological epoch. Paleoliths have been found in the Little Miami Valley similar and under similar conditions to those unearthed by Dr. Abbott in the glacial terraces of the Delaware River. As to whether pre-glacial man ever had a home in Delaware County, however, in our present state of knowledge, could be nothing more than a matter of profitless speculation.

That the Mound-Builder lived here there is abundant evidence. The State of Ohio itself, from the standpoint of pre-historic occupation, is one of the most interesting portions of the entire globe. In no other equal area have so many of the Mound-Builder's works, consisting of fortifications, effigies, mi >unds, etc., been found. On this point we quote from the recent work of Gerard Fowke on the "Archeological History of Ohio." "The total number of mounds in Ohio has been estimated at ten thousand. This is probably under rather than over the correct figure: for while they are almost unknown in the northwestern counties and are comparatively scarce in some parts of the rugged hill lands of the south and southeast and along the main watersheds, there is scarcely a township in any other part where they are not found. In the neighborhood of every stream in the southern half of the State, except some of those flowing through rough or swampy country, the surface is so dotted with them that signals could be transmitted from one to another for a hundred miles or more. There is scarcely a point along the Scioto below Circleville, or on either Miami in the lower half of its course, or in the valley of any tributary to these streams, where one may not be within a few minutes' ride of some permanent evidence of alxiriginal habitation. The same is true of the Cuyahoga and some other rivers belonging to the Lake Erie basin. On the summits of steep hills ; in bottom lands subject to overflow, on every terrace bordering a stream; on plateaus and uplands ; wherever there is cultivable or naturally drained land, a good point of observation, an ample supply of water, a convenient topography for trails - the Mound-Builder has left his mark. Even in places where it would seem a nomad would not care to go, except as led by excitement or the necessities of the chase, and then for as brief a time as possible, such evidence is not lacking of pre-historic residence, or, at least, sojourning."'

"The most notable mounds in the State are: The Serpent Mound, in Adams County. which is more than a thousand feet in length ; Fort Ancient, in Warren County, the length of whose surrounding embankment is about five miles, and estimated to contain '128.800 cubic yards of material: Fort Hill, in Highland County, enclosing an area of thirty-five acres ; Graded Way, in Pike County : and fortifications at Newark covering- over a thou-

While Delaware County possesses none of these more irryportant of the works of the Mound-Builders, and while there is nothing characteristic in the mounds and earthworks found in the county to distinguish them from those in many other parts of the State, yet there are many interesting evidences that these people once lived within the limits of the county. In nearly every township are to be found mounds and fortifications of various descriptions, which, though fast becoming obliterated, still remain to attest the activity of a people whose character and history are shrouded in the oblivion of the past. Many relics, such as stone hammers, hatchets, flint arrow-heads, spear-heads, pestles, pipes, and rleshers, have been found at various times, and many interesting collections have been made by citizens of the county. In June of the year 1906, a si >ciety known as The Delaware County Archeological and Historical Society was organized and incorporated by a number of citizens who are interested in the collection and perservation of relics of this character, as well as in other matters pertaining to the archeology and history of the county, and there is now in the possession of various members of this organization a large number of relics which, as soon as permanent quarters are secured, will be open to the inspection of the public. As illustrating something of the interest which has been shown in matters of this kind we append a list of the various articles of archeological interest which have been collected by several Delaware County citizens :

For the past quarter of a century little in the way of archeological investigation has been done in the county. There has been no systematic effort to investigate the various earthworks that exist, and perhaps much that concerns the character and habits of their builders still lies hidden in the unexplored recesses of the mounds themselves. The larger part of the mounds within the county are to be found in the southern portion and along the Olentangy River. One of the most notable is in the southwestern part of Orange Township on a farm now owned by Dr. Peasley. of Columbus, and on the east bank of the Oleantangy. "It bears all the marks of having been a fort, and with the river - and a large ravine which enters the river at almost right angles - forms a semicircle, or, more properly speaking, a quadrant, and incloses something near ten acres of ground. Several gateways, or openings, in the wall surrounding it, which is of earth, from five to eight feet high, are guarded by mounds on the inside of the enclosure." It is a misfortune that no scientific exploration of this mound has ever been made as it would undoubtedly be replete with interest for the archeologist. On a farm belonging to A. E. Goodrich, in Liberty Township, there is a circular mound, perhaps forty or fifty feet in diameter, which, until it had been largely obliterated by the cultivation of the land on which it lies, was one of the most perfect works of its kind to lie seen anywhere. There was another mound on Mr. Goodrich's barn lot a number of years ago, which has been entirely removed. During the process of grading there was found, some distance below the surface, three skeletons in a good state of preservation.' One of them was apparently that of a man considerably above medium stature, while the other two were smaller.

There is an ancient fortification located on thi' cast side of the Olentangy about four miles south of Delaware. Like the one farther down the river, before mentioned as being built at the intersection of a ravine with the river, this one is likewise located between two ravines at the point of their intersection, about half a mile from the river, and could have been intended for no other purpose than that of defence. The embankment with the ditch outside of it contains about twenty acres. "The height of the embankment is now about five feet from the bottom of the ditcli and the embankment itself is about five hundred feet in length, with an opening or gateway near the southern extremity. There seems to have been a line of fortifications extending all along the river for considerable distance, perhaps all the way to the Scioto and thence to the Ohio." '

Mounds, mostly sepulchral, in addition to those already mentioned, have been discovered in various other parts of the county. In the issue of the Delaware Herald for September -'5' l&79> there is an account of a mound which was evidently explored more thoroughly than most of those which have been known to exist here. "Saturday we were shown some interesting relics consisting of a queen conch shell, some isingglass (mica), and several peculiarly shaped pieces of slate which were found on the farm of Solomon Hill, Concord Township, Delaware County, Ohio. The mound is situated on the banks of a rocky stream. The nearest place where the queen conch shell is found is on the coast of Florida ; the isingglass in New York State, and the slate in Vermont and Pennsylvania. Two human skeletons were also found in the mound, one about seven feet long, the other a child. The shell was found at the left cheek of the large skeleton. A piece of slate about one by six inches was under the chin. The slate was provided with two smooth holes, apparently for the purpose of tying it to its position. Another peculiarly shaped piece, with one hole, was on the chest, and another with some isingglass was on the left hand." In an article prepared by Mr. R. E. Hills, of Delaware, a number of years ago, for a former county history, he calls attention to several other mounds which have been located from time to time, particularly one on the "Broom Corn Farm" in Troy Township, and another in Porter. In both of these many interesting relics have been found. In more recent years some very interesting discoveries were made by Mr. Burgher on his farm in Radnor Township, and. like most of the others, on the bank of a stream, though, in this case, it was the Scioto instead of the Olentangy. They consisted mostly of human skeletons, together with some parched corn evidently deposited with the body at the time of burial.

In the article of Mr. Hills before alluded to, he gives an account of the investigations made in certain mounds in the eastern part of the county, and, inasmuch as they constitute about the only efforts of a strictly scientific character to discover the important features and contents of mounds within the county, we deem it worth while to quote this part of the article in full. "A mound near Galena was recently opened by Prof. John T. Short, of the Ohio University, under the direction and for the benefit of the Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology ; and we are under obligations to Prof. F. \V. Putnam, curator of the Museum, for the privilege of using Prof. Short's report in this connection, and to Prof. Short himself for kindly furnishing a copy of his report for this purpose."

He says: "In the month of August, 1879, the writer, in company with Mr. Eugene Lane and Air. David Dyer, opened three mounds in Delaware County, Ohio. Two of these formed part of a system of mound works situated on the estate of Jacob Rhodes, Esq.. in Genoa Township. * * * The peninsula or tongue of land situated between Big Walnut Creek and Spruce Run is an elevated area having nearly perpendicular sides, washed by the streams over a hundred feet below. The central figure, the mound A (referring to a plate) stands within a perfectly circular enclosure B, measuring nearly 570 feet around. Now it is but about three feet higher than the natural level, but formerly was ten feet higher. Its present owner reduced it by plowing it down. The trench is inside of the enclosure, and no doubt furnished the earth for both the embankment and the mound. Its present width is twenty-seven feet, and it was formerly about seven feet deep. The circle has an opening about twenty feet in width on the east, from which a graded way of about the same width, and probably 400 feet in length - no doubt of artificial construction - affords a descent at an angle of about thirty degrees to the stream below. On the north side of the entrance and continuous with the embankment, is a small mound measuring ten feet in diameter and four feet in height. It may have served as a point of outlook into the deep ravine below, as from it alone the entire length of the graded way is visible. A shaft six feet in diameter was sunk in this mound to a depth of four and one-half feet, but we discovered nothing that could be removed. Charcoal, a few calcined animal bones, and burnt clay, were all that was found. The large mound situated in the center of the enclosure, measured seventy-five feet through its major axis and sixtyeight feet through its minor axis. Its present height is about twelve feet above the natural level, though the distance to the bottom of the trench is three or four feet or more. It is probable that the mound was perfectly round, as its symmetry has no d<>ul>t been destroyed, in part, by the removal from its surface of about twenty-five wagon loads of flat sandstones (each a foot square, more or less, and about three inches thick) for the purpose of walling neighboring cellars. The stones were brought from the ravine below and made a complete covering for the mound. Extending out from the mound on the west, the remains of a twenty-five feet across at its greatest width. are still visible. A small excavation was made four years ago in the top of the mound, by the son of the present owner, but the digging was abandoned before any depth was reached or anything was discovered. I excavated the mound by causing a trench four feet wide to be dug from the northern side of the mound to its center. * * * A single layer of flat stones, like those on the outside of the mound, was found to start at the base and to cover what at one time mu>t have been regarded as its finished surface. At the center this inner layer of stones was situated about three feet below the present surface of the mi und. This was the only trace of stratification observable in the structure and is suggestive of the section given by Squier and Davis to illustrate stratification in altar mounds. Aside from this, the indications were distinct that the earth had been dumped down in small basket- or bag-fulls. This is confirmatory of the observations of Prof. E. B. Andrews in the mounds of southern Ohio. * * * On the undisturbed surface of the ground, at the center of the mound, I uncovered a circular bed of ashes eight feet in diameter and about six inches in thickness. The ashes were of a reddish clay color, except that through the center of the bed ran a seam or layer of white ashes - no doubt calcined bones, as at the outer margin of the bed in one or two instances the forms of the bones was traceable, but so calcined that they possessed no consistency when touched or uncovered. Ranged in a semicircle around the eastern margin of the ash heap, were several pieces of pottery, all broken, probably in the construction of the mound or by its subsequent settling. The pottery was exceedingly brittle and crumbled rapidly after exposure. It was almost impossible to recover any fragments larger than the size of the hand, though a couple of pieces were taken out which indicated that the size of the vessel to which they belonged was much larger than any which to my knowledge have been taken from Ohio mounds; it was probably twelve or fourteen inches in height. The vessel was ornamented with a double row of lozenge or diamondshaped figures. * * Although the decoration on these vessels 1 produced by a pointed tool before the clay was baked) indicated an attempt at art of a respectable order, the material employed was nothing more than coarse clay and pounded sandstone - instead of pounded shells, as is more frequentlv the case. However, numerous fragments of finer workmanship were taken out. Evidently an attempt had been made to glaze the vessel. I could not help being impressed with the thought that the mound marked the site where cremation or possibly sacrifice had been performed,

* * * About 300 yards southwest of the mound just described are the remains of a circular enclosure 300 feet in diameter. The embankment has been reduced by plowing until it is now scarcely two feet in height. The precipitous sides of both the Big Walnut and Spruce Run render an ascent at this point impossible. The circle is visible from the mound and is possibly an intermediate link between the mound and another system lying west at a point two miles distant.

"On the estate of E. Phillips, Esq., one mile south of Galena, in the same count}-, I opened a mound of 165 feet in circumferance and about four feet in height. * * * Xo bones nor pottery were found. * * * Mr. Dyer states that about a couple of years ago a large mound, measuring seventy feet in diameter and fifteen feet in height, constructed entirely of stone, and situated on the farm of Isaac Brimberger, three miles south of Galena, was partly removed by its owner fi >r the purpose of selling the stone. Immediately under the center of the mound and below the natural level, a vault was discovered. The sides and roof of the mound consisted of oak and walnut timbers, averaging six inches in diameter and still covered with bark. * * * The timbers were driven perpendicularly into the ground around the quadrangular vault while others were laid across the top for a roof. Over all the skin of some animal had been stretched. Inside of the vault were the remains, apparently, of three persons, one a child, and fragments of a coarse cloth made of vegetable fiber and animal hair. * * * The preservation of the wood is due, probably, to the presence of water, with which the vault seems to have been filled."

Mr. Hills, in his able article, states the following conclusions with regard to the Mound- Builders in Delaware County : "Our knowledge of the other remains in the county is meager, but enough is known to enable us to classify it with the other counties bordering the Scioto River to the Ohio. It appears to have been near the northeast corner of the territory of the race which occupied Ohio. Indiana and Illinois, as the most of the permanent works discovered have been south and west of here, although many fine specimens of implements have been found in Marion County. north of Delaware."

As was previously stated, for many years practically no effort at systematic investigation of the mounds, or any one of them, in the county has been made, and little can be added to what was set forth at the time Mr. Hills prepared his article. In the year 1897 a visit was again made to the Galena mounds by the curator of the State Museum and to various other points of archeological interest in the county, but his report contains little that would add to the information already in our possession. We give, however, the summary of the present knowledge possessed regarding the mounds and other matters of archeological interest relative to Delaware County as it appears in the seventh volume of the Ohio Archeological and Historical Societies' publications.

The Mound-Builders have long since passed away. Aside from the earthworks which they constructed and the relics found within them, no source of information remains to us by which to determine anything as to their character, history, or fate. Even the Indians themselves had practically no traditions concerning them. All the research and investigation that has been made has led to no definite or reliable conclusions. Theories have been propounded only to be discredited by later discoveries. Whether the Mound-Builders were a race distinct in themselves, ultimately conquered and exterminated by the Indians, or whether they were simply the progenitors of the Indian tribes, are questions which remain unanswered and are destined, perhaps, always to be so.

The Red Race

Of the successors to the Mound-Builders, In iwever, considerably more is known. Indeed it has not been much over a hundred years since the only residents of Delaware County were the red men, and a hundred years is a period comparatively brief when we consider the length of time that has elapsed since the date where historical knowledge begins. It is scarcely correct, however, to speak of the Red Men as residents. The term implies a more permanent attachment to a locality than could be attributed to them. With their nomadic habits, they were not long confined to a single place, and we find the various tribes wandering over widely extended areas.

When the white man first came to the Ohio Valley he found a number of tribes inhabiting the Northwest Territory. Among those which are known to have been in the region which is now Delaware County there were the Delawares. Shawnees, Mingoes, Wyandots, Senecas, and perhaps others. Since the first of these have given the county its name, and are known to have had a more permanent location here than some of the others, it is not inappropriate to give some accounts of their character and history.

The Delawares took their name from the Delaware River on the banks of which they were located when first discovered by the Europeans, and which, in turn, took its name from Lord De la Wane, who first explored it. Their real name, however, was Lenni Lenape. While this name is usully interpreted to mean "original men." it is stated by Drake in his edition of Schoolcraft's book on the American Indians that the orthography does not justify the assertion. "Lenni is 'the same as Illini in the Illinois and Iiuiiui in the Chippewa, the consonants / and n and the vowels o and i being interchangeable in the Algonkin. Lenape is in the same language, and, under the same rule, the equivalent of inabi and iabi, a male. The true meaning is "manly men" - a name involving a harmless boast.

According to the traditions of the Lenni Lenape, their organization antedated that of most of the other Indian tribes. They regarded themselves as having occupied in former ages a pre-eminent position for prowess, valor and wisdom. They pointed to a "Golden Age" in the remote past when their claims to superiority over the other tribes was recognized in the term "Grandfather," which these tribes applied to them. The Iroquois were called by the Lenni Lenape, "Uncle," which the Iroquois reciprocated by calling the Lenni Lenape, "Nephew." The other tribes were called by them "Brother" or "Younger Brother." When the Delawares were subdued by the Iroquois in after years, these traditions of their former greatness, from which they had fallen, rested heavily in their memories.

It was a further tradition among the Delawares that they had once occupied the western part of the country, but, crossing the Mississippi, had gradually moved eastward until they had taken up a more permanent abode on the river which gave them their English name. In the course of their migration eastward they bad exterminated the Allegans who occupied the principal ranges of the Allegheny Mountains. They had formed an alliance with the Iroquois by whom they were afterward subdued and reduced to "women." Whatever truth there may have been in their traditions, however, when the European settler came, they were found on the banks of the Delaware. The Dutch carried on a friendly traffic with them, exchanging for the skins of animals the superior products of European art and manufacture.

In 1682 William Penn. the great Quaker, who believed that the rules of justice applied to dealings with the Indians as well as other races, came to the American shore. Instead of seeking to eject the Delawares from their lands by sheer force of superior prowess, he met them in friendly intercourse and negotiated with them a treaty by which he bought their lands, and by which both parties agreed that the same moral law should apply to both races alike. This treaty was kept unbroken by the Delawares for sixty years. So favorable was the impression made upon them by Penn's fairness that the name "Quaker" came, with them, to be synonymous with "good men."

At the time of the treat}- with I'enn, however, or shortly afterwards, the Delawares were brought into subjection to the Iroquois. At the Lancaster treaty in 1744. in the presence of a large assembly of tribes, the Iroquois denied the right of the Delawares to sell their lands. "Canassatego, an Iroquois chief, upbraided them in public council for some former act of this kind. Speaking in a strain of mixed irony and arrogance, he told them not to reply to his words but to leave the council in silence. He peremptorily ordered them to quit the section of country where they then resided and to move to the banks of the Susquehanna." Accordingly, the Delawares, cowed into submission, left the banks of the Delaware where their home had been for many years and turned to the West, from which, according to their traditions, they had formerly come. It is said that at the opening of the Revolution the Delawares shook off the Iroquois yoke and that, a few years later, at a public council, the Iroquois admitted that they were "no longer women."

The Delawares first settled on the Susquehanna, in their western migration. Here, however, they were subject to the constant intrusion of the white settlers, as well as the aggressions of the Iroquois. Proceeding westward they took up their abode along the Muskingum, and later on the Auglaize in Northwestern Ohio, and while here they took part in the various wars which have been mentioned in the preceding chapter. They were represented at St. Clair"s defeat and at the battle of "Fallen Timber," and afterwards participated in the treaty at Greenville. They were faithful to the United States during the War of 1812. resisting all the overture- of

From Ohio they removed to the White River, a branch of the Wabash, in Indiana. Later, as the advancing frontier of civilization encroached upon their territory, they ceded their lands and removed, for the most part, to a tract in Missouri which had formerly been granted to them jointly with the Shawnees by the Spanish. From here they again migrated to Kansas, locating on the Kansas and Missouri rivers. Finally, they removed to Indian Territory, where they now reside, and occupy a reservation in conjunction with the Cherokee Nation. Their present number is about 1.750. In the War of the Rebellion the Delawares enlisted one hundred and seventy-two men for the Union army, out of a population of two hundred males. They officered their own companies and made good soldiers in every respect.

It was to the tribe of the Delawares that the band of Moravian converts belonged, wdiose shameful massacre at Gnadenhutten is one of the foulest blots that stains the annals of our early history. The Moravian Missionaries, Count Zinzendorf and Heckewelder. had labored with great success among the Indian tribes. Their first converts were made in New York and Connecticut. Owing to the prejudice of the English, however, in 1747 the mission was transferred from Shickomico, in Dutchess County. New York, to Bethlehem on the Susquehanna. Here was established an Indian colony, free from all the savage vices that characterized the other Indian tribes. They cultivated the land and abstained from participation in the Indian wars

Quebec to New Orleans. It was the misfortune of these Delaware Indians to fall under the suspicion of the English as being in sympathy with the French. Their doctrines of peace met with little response from the other Indian tribes or even from the rough white settlers on the border. In consequence they were subjected to constant persecution from both the whites and the red men. Forced from the Susquehanna they took up their abode on the waters of the Muskingum. Here, as before, they addressed themselves to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture and grazing. They were allowed to remain unmolested until the war for independence broke out. When this occurred they found themselves between Fort Pitt and Detroit, a British and an American stronghold. They could not understand the struggle and refused to join the warlike parties that passed through their territories or to ally themselves with either of the belligerent forces. Their attitude only served to create suspicion. The white frontiersmen, accustomed only to the savage side of the Indian nature, could not understand that any other could exist. The Indians themselves were, for the most part, incapable of appreciating the doctrines of peace and non-resistance believed in and adhered to by these innocent .Moravian converts. At length a Wyandot war party, no doubt instigated by the white renegades, Girty, Elliott and McKee, appeared on the Muskingum and compelled the peaceful Delawares to remove to Sandusky. Many of their cattle and hogs were killed and the inhabitants of three towns, numbering between three ami four hundred, were removed, leaving behind the fields which they had cultivated and the homes and chapels which they had erected.

After living at Sandusky for a year the Delawares were permitted to return to the Muskingum. The settlers on the Monongahela looked on this return as a hostile movement. The British posts at the Maumee, Detroit and Michilimacinac had not yet been surrendered, and it was known that the Indian tribes throughout the Northwest still manifested tin- most bitter hostility towards the white settlers, shown later by the fierce struggles with St. Clair and Wayne. Almost any kind of a pretext would have sufficed, however, to provoke an attack on the Moravians, in view of the prejudice which existed against them. On their return to the Muskingum a company, headed by Colonel Williamson, determined to exterminate them. Gnadenhutten, Salem and one or two other settlements were taken. "Cnder deceitful promises the Indians gave up all their arms, showed the whites their treasures, and went unknowingly to a terrible death. When apprised of their fate, determined upon by a majority of the rangers, they begged only time to prepare. They were led two by two. the men into one and the women and children into another 'slaughterhouse,' as it was termed, and all but two lads were wantonly slain. * * * Some of Williamson's men wrung their hands at their cruel fate and endeavored, by all the means in their power, to prevent it, but all to no purpose."

It was shortly after this inhuman massacre that the ill-fated expedition of Colonel Crawford against the Wyandots took place. Perhaps aroused to the fiercest spirit of revenge by the massacre of their brethren, even though they could not sympathize with their spirit, the Wyandots apparently sought to wreak vengeance on Colonel Crawford and party. Alter completely routing them and capturing Colonel Crawford with a number of the party, they burnt Colonel Crawford at the stake after subjecting him to the crudest tortures that all their devilish ingenuity could devise.

The Indians probably had several villages within the present limits of Delaware County. Little is known regarding any of them, however, beyond what is stated by Howe in his History. Two villages are there mentioned as having been located mostly within the present limits of the City of Delaware and belonging to the Delaware Nation. One of them occupied the ground near what is now the east end of William Street and on the Delaware Run. It is probable that the spot on which Monnett Hall now stands was once dotted with Indian wigwams. The other village was in the west end of the present city. A corn field of 400 acres is said to have been cultivated. There is also a tradition that a battle was once fought on the Delaware Run between the Delawares and the Shawnees. It is known that the red men were attracted to the vicinity of Delaware in vast numbers by the famous sulphur spring located on what is now the University campus. This spring was called "Medicine Waters" by the Indians. There was also a village belonging to the Mingoes located a

Relations Between Settlers And Indians

Delaware County was included within the territory ceded to the United States under the terms of the famous Greenville treaty, made "ii the 2nd of August. 1795. It was not long after that time that the permanent location of the Delawares and other tribes in Delaware County ceased. 'With the coming of the white man and the alienation of their title to the land, they betook themselves further north to the territory that was reserved for them. They often visited the county afterwards, however, h ) hunt and to fish in its streams, and to trade with the white settlers, and many interesting experiences with them were related by the early pioneers. Their intercourse with the whites was. almost without exception, of a friendly character, though it is said that many of the early settlers entertained towards them an inveterate hatred and did not consider it really criminal to kill them. "They brought cranberries, maple sugar (sometimes mixed with meal ) and molasses in coon-skins, to sell to the whites. * * * Cranberries were a great article of commerce with the Indians and a drove of fifty ponies, laden with this fruit, has been seen to pass through Delaware at one time, going to Columbus and other points south." They would resort to any device to satisfy their native thirst for "firewater." It is related that an Indian came late one evening to the house of Colonel Byxbe. Delaware's founder, and demanded that a keg which he had with him should be filled with whiskey. Mrs. Byxbe was the only occupant of the house at the time. She went to the room used as a bar ( the house itself being a tavern ) . struck a light and suddenly discovered that she was surrounded by aboul twenty natives of the forest. On the promise of the red men that they would leave the place quietly, however, when the purpose of their coming had been accomplished, the fearless woman led the way to the cellar where she

While Delaware Count}' was never the scene of any of the great battles fought with the Indian tribes, while it was never so much as invaded by the red men with hostile purpose, after the coming of the white settlers yet the inborn savagery of the Indian nature could not but be a source of constant apprehension to the pioneer so long as these natives of the forest remained in close proximity to bis settlements. As we have said, the intercourse of the whites with _the Indians was, for the most part, friendly; but, should circumstances arise to call it forth there was always the danger that the white man might become the prey of the Indian's uncurbed savagery. An incident is related in the early history of Troy Township illustrative of the dangers which might arise. The Delawares and Wyandots, who frequented the locality, sent a war party into Pennsylvania to commit depredations upon the inhabitants. Among others, they captured a young white girl and started for their camp on Clear Run in Troy Township. A part}- of whites, among whom were two brothers of the captured girl, organized to pursue them. They followed the Indians to a point on the Olentangy River north 01 Delaware, where the old stone mill is situated, but here they seemed to lose all trace of the Indian band. ' They were about to give up their pursuit as hopeless when one of the party happened to notice smoke ascending above the trees a mile or two farther north. Cautiously approaching the spot they suddenly came upon the savages and drove them into the woods, rescuing the captured girl unharmed. This incident took place on what has since been known as the Crystal Springs Farm, owned by Air. Chauncy Hills.

\\ e have alluded to the hatred which many of the early settlers entertained towards the Indians. In this connection we quote two incidents related in "Howe's History." "One time, after the last war, a dead Indian was seen floating down the Scioto on two logs, lashed together, having his gun and all his accoutrements with him. He had been shot and the people believed the murderer was George Shannon, who had been in service considerably during the war. and who one time went out, not far from Lower Sandusky, with a small company, fell in with a party of warriors and had to retreat. He lingered behind until he shot and killed one. As sm.hi as he tired, several Indians sprang forward to catch him alive, but, being swift on foot, he could easily keep ahead, when he suddenly came to an open field across which he had to run or be cut off. The Indians gained the first side just as he was leaping the fence on the other, and fired at him, one ball entering his hip. He staunched the blood by stuffing the hole with a portion of his shirt, that they might not track him, and crawled into the brush, but they gave up the chase, thinking they had not hit him, and being convinced of his superior neetness. Shannon got into camp and was conveyed home, but he was always lame afterwards and fostered an unrelenting desire for vengeance towards the whole race, not excepting the innocent and the harmless. "A^ late as 1820 two Indians were murdered on Fulton's Creek (Thompson Township). A party came down there to hunt, as was customary with them every fall, and Henry Swartz ordered them off. They replied, "No, the land belongs to the white man - the game to the Indian." and insisted that they were friends and ought not to be disturbed. A few days after two of their number were missing, ' and they hunted the entire country over without finding them, and at last found evidence of human bones where there had been a fire, and immediately charged Swartz with killing and burning them. They threatened vengeance "ii him, and for several years he had to be constantly on his guard to prevent being waylaid. It was never legally investigated. but the neighbors all believed that Swartz. aided probably by Ned Williams, murdered and disposed of them in the manner the Indians suspected, and at one time talked of driving them out of the settlement. Thev were considered bad men and never prospered afterwards."

When the war of 1812 broke out, there was great apprehension on the part of the settlers lest the county would be invaded by the Indians. The county itself, being just south of the Greenville treaty line, was one of the border counties. Accordingly steps were immediately taken by the inhabitants for its protection. There seems to have been at least four block-houses erected within the limits of the county. One of these was at Norton, one in Kingston Township, another in Berlin Township and another in Delaware. Inasmuch as it was nearest the border, the one at Norton was, perhaps, of most importance, and was the largest of any. It was known by the name of Fort Morrow, and was built in a dense fi nest unbroken for miles around. The following description will undoubtedly be of interest.

"The fort consisted of two block-houses situated short distance from each other, in direction northeast by southwest. Between the two was the brick tavern of Nathaniel Wyatt. The whole was surrounded by a palisade of strong oaken timbers substantially set in the ground and then sharpened on the top. One of the blockhouses was built by the citizens of round logs. The first story was run up to a height of about eight feet, and the second was made to project over that of the first about four feet. The floor of this projection had small openings or port-holes thus enabling those inside to better defend against a close attack or attempt to set the structure on fire by the besieging party. The upper story contained embrasures so arranged that rifles could be discharged in any direction. The door was composed of three-inch plank, double barred across and upright. To test it, a volleywas fired into it at short range. In the story below slept the children and above the grown people stood sentry. The other was built by the government and did not differ materially from that built by the citizens, except that the logs were hewn and the structure more compactly built." The words "Fort Morrow" were painted in great, red letters on one of the logs in the southwest corner.

The block-house in Kingston Township was located at the intersection of the north and south road, known as the Sunbury Road, with the Mansfield Road, the place being known as Starks' Corners. At the time of the war of 181 2, there were no settlements to the north of the Kingston colony, and it was deemed necessary to take this precaution against possible incursions of the Indians. Its use never became necessary, however, save at the time of "Drake's defeat," when the settlers were scared into it for a brief period.

"Drake's defeat" was in itself responsible f( ir the erection of the block-house in Berlin Township. After the panic caused by this rather ludicrous incident, the settlers there determined not to take chances for the future. Accordingly there was erected just south of where the roads cross near Cheshire, a structure of hewed logs, the building having two stories the upper projecting over the lower, and being forty feet square. The only aperture in the lower story was closed by a door made of a double thickness of three-inch planks, barred and cross-barred. In the upper story were rifle embrasures and convenient openings in the floor of the projection which could be used for defence in case of a close attack. After the fort had been stocked with ammunition and provisions it offered a comparatively secure retreat in the event of an attack from hostle Indians. There was at least one occasion on which most of the settlers betook themselves to it for protection from an expected onset, but the alarm proved to be groundless. The structure was afterwards used as a schoolhouse.

The blockhouse in Delaware was located (Hi the northeast corner of Sandusky and William Streets. The structure was not originally intended for a blockhouse, being a onestory brick building which had been used for a store. Around this a high palisade of strong puncheons was constructed.

While it was no more than a matter of reasonable precaution that these various strongholds of defence should have been constructed, yet there seems never to have been anv real occasion for their use. The known hostility of certain tribes, however, and their sympathy with the British, were amply sufficient to give ground for the apprehensions of the early settlers during the War of 1812. Living as we do in an age when civilization has long since thrust the red man far out to our western country, and in large measure tamed his savage nature, when it is difficult to even imagine our locality as an unbroken forest whose only human occupants were savages, we perhaps cannot appreciate the real dangers which our pioneer fathers encountered, and the real fearlessness which they exhibited when they took the first steps towards opening the way for the advance of civilization. The dangers, were, nevertheless, real, and their bravery as great as that which has characterized any effort ever put forth by human kind. Delaware County was never actually invaded and with the termination of the "second war for independence" the fear of Indian incursions, for the most part, ceased.

We have several times alluded to "Drake's defeat." This event, famous in local annals, was for years after its occurrence, mentioned by the inhabitants of the county in much the same manner as other localities will refer to the time of their "great flood," or fire, or hurricane, or some other equally disastrous visitation. While, as it developed, the Indians were in reality altogether innocent in the matter, yet. since it would not have taken place had it not been for the constant apprehension of Indian depredations, the narrative of its occurence would seem to properly belong in this somewhat brief account of the relations which the early settlers sustained towards the red men.

After Hull's surrender in the War of 1812 there was nothing to prevent the Indians from making hostile raids on the northern frontier. Inasmuch as Delaware County was directly on the border, there was, as we have already mentioned, ample occasion for dread on the part of the settlers. Lower Sandusky was threatened with attack, and a company was organized by Captain William Drake, in the northern part of the county, to march to its assistance. On their first night out they encamped a few miles north of the settlement at Norton. Captain Drake was something of a practical joker. It is probable, too, that he wished to test the courage of his men. After the men had all become securely wrapped in the embrace of Morpheus he quietly stole out into the bushes. Here he suddenly discharged his gun and came running frantically into camp crying, "Indian^! Indians!" at the top of his voice. A plat of ground had been designated the night before on which the company would form in case of attack. Here the more courageous of the band attempted to draw themselves up in battle array to resist the coming onslaught, the sentinels having previously taken up the cry of Indians, supposing that the original alarm proceeded from one of their own number.

Captain Drake, soon perceiving the consternation and confusion into which his ruse had thrown the company, and fearing that they might all disgrace themselves by a precipitate flight, quickly proclaimed the hoax and attempted to quiet the panic which he had created. There was a lieutenant in the company, however, who, not waiting for any future developments or willing to risk even the chance of the most hasty investigations, took to his heels with all the expedition which the tear of being immediately scalped would naturally occasion. In his mad flight the shouts of his companions attempting to recall him were transformed by his imagination into the blood-curdling warwhoop of Indian savages. As he increased the distance between himself and the others who endeavored to restrain him, and the sound of their voices died away, it was only so much evidence that they had all succumbed to the tomahawk and scalping knife of the red men. This, at any rate, was the story which he broughl to the Radnor settle! i lent at which he arrived at daybreak, his flight having taken him in this direction, although he had intended to make for his home south of the place where the company had encamped for the night.

The horrible tale of wholesale massacre soon had its effect on the settler- at Radnor. The community was thrown into a panic ami preparations were begun for immediate flight.

The story was communicated by each one to his neighbor, and. no doubt, lost nothing of its grewsome details in the telling. On foot, on horse-hack, in wagons, by any method that offered the easiest and quickest means of escape, the people lied from their impending doom. The same scene was repeated in most of the other settlements to which the news of the "massacre" was communicated. The mob of frenzied fugitives struck Delaware just a little after sunrise. In their mad haste they did it it take time to stop for the communication of details but simply cried out as they rushed along, "The Indians are upon us!" While great alarm was immediately manifested in the village yet it is said that not a great number of the villagers joined in the flight. They at once betook themselves to the. fortifications, however, and took immediate steps to put the community in a state of defence. Set mts were sent out to ascertain the truth of the reports. At Norton they found the people quietly engaged in their usual occupations. It was too late, however, to reach many of whose who had fled.

The demoralization spread to the eastern part of the county. Most of the settlers, not stopping to question the truth of the reports, prepared for flight. Swollen streams and various other obstacles, that, under ordinary circumstances would have seemed insurmountable, apparently offered no impediment to escape. Women, ordinarily timid, under the excitement of the hour, became brave as lions. Many ludicrous stories are related of incongruities on the part of the panic-stricken settlers in the preparations they made for flight. Articles of clothing and food were indiscriminately jumbled together. One woman, after wrapping a package of tallow candles in her silk dress stowed it away in the bottom of a wagon. The result can easily be imagined. Another, after the panic was over, found a hag containing pies, bread and various other articles of food together with a pair of old hoots, in a confused mass, stored away for an emergency. A family named Penrv drove so fast that they bounced a little boy. two or three years old, out of the wagon, near Dela- ware, but did not notice it until they proceeded rive or six miles further in their flight. They decided that it would be an unjustifiable risk to return for him, however, and left him to his fate. He fortunately escaped the Indian tomahawk as well as other dangers and lived for many years. One woman, in her hurry, forgot her babe ; and returning, grabbed a stick of wood from the chimney corner, leaving the babe quietly sleeping in its cradle.

Meanwhile Captain Drake and his' company proceeded quietly on their way to Lower Sandusky, altogether unconscious of the widespread demoralization and disaster of which the captain's joke had been the innocent cause. The whole incident would seem to us m (w, perhaps, to savor more of the character of a huge joke than as being of the nature of a great calamity. A calamity, however, it really was. In the hurried preparation of the settlers for flight everything was left in the wildest confusion. When they returned from their mad stampede they found everything in a disorder that required much time and patience for its restoration. Door and gate had been left open, and thus free access to field and larder had been given. Waste and devastation everywhere were the result and a burden placed upon the settlers, ordinarily hard pressed for even the necessities of life, which they could ill afford to bear.

Moreover, so panic-stricken had many of those who participated in the flight become and so thoroughly frightened by the possible dangers of living on the extreme frontier, that they never even returned to the homes which they had so hastily deserted. The larger portion of those who "escaped" had fled to Worthington or Franklinton, but many kept on even so far as Chillicothe. The incident itself gives us a striking illustration of the terrors of border life and the strain which anyone who had the bravery to face them must have endured. It is easy to see only the ludicrous side of the occurrence and to forget, in the security of our civilized life, that the danger, while only fancied in this instance, might as easily have been real. Had there been no reasonable possibility of an actual Indian massacre, no report of that character could ever have created such a panic.