Montgomery County, Ohio - Chapter 3 (1 of 2 so headed), 1882

Chapter 3

Kentucky Pioneees - Col. Byrd's Expedition Against Them - Clark Destroys Indian Villages on Little Miami and Mad River - Col. Brodhead's |j Expedition - Col. Lochry Ambushed - Williamson - Crawford's Defeat j and Death - Battle of Blue Licks - Skirmish at Mouth of Mad River - Indian Towns, Crops and Supplies, Destroyed at Piqua and Loramie - Mouth of Mad River Selected in 1782 for Settlement - Fort Harkar and Fort Finney Built - Clark and the Shawnees at Fort Finney - Logan Destroys Mackacheek Towns - Virginia Cedes Northwest Territory to United States - Indian Treaties - United States Title Perfected - Location of Loramie's Store and Fort Loramie - Standing j| Stone Forks of Miami.

Kentucky Pioneers

rp HE early Kentucky settlers had come to stay; locating in the rich blue grass I lands they secured plenty of room, with comfort and abundance for their J families. Building their cabins near to each other, they inclosed all in one stockade, or erected block-houses as a refuge for all. Bold, hardy, self-reliant j; men, joined in common interest for defense, and were ever ready to pursue the1 savage foe; hunters, farmers, inured to dangers and hardships; brave spirits, with military experience and skill, obliged to think for themselves, they necessarily acquired independence and quick thought and action.

That country was settled without thought of trespassing on the Indian lands north of the Ohio. But the events of the year 1779, and the great emigration to the West in the spring of 1780, were urged upon the tribes, by the British commander at Detroit, as good grounds for open hostilities against the settlers; the savages became restless, and small bands of warriors appeared before the settlements and along the Ohio River, rendering it unsafe for any': but armed bodies of men to leave the block-houses.

To plant the corn and other crops, a party would go out, one-half standing! guard while the other half worked; in this way, the land was cleared, the i cattle were pastured, and all out-of-door work accomplished. From this condi- . tion of uneasiness, lest their lands be taken from them, the excitement increased; among the Indians; especially was this the case in the Shawnee tribes, who| were the most mischievous and blood-thirsty, ever ready for war against the whites. They induced the Wyandots to join them. Gov. Hamilton, of Detroit, f organized a force of Canadians and Indians from these two tribes, 600 in all, j with Col. Byrd, of the British Army in command; the Indians were led by the j Shawnee chieftain, Blackfish. The expedition was to be sent against Rudy dell's and Martin's stations, on the Licking River, Kentucky. They came down the Big Miami in batteaux and canoes, bringing with them two (or, as somewriters state, six) pieces of artillery. A road was cut for the artillery through j, the woods from the Ohio River, and, although it took twelve days to make the [ march, they were undiscovered; a shot from one of the field-pieces was the first! intimation the occupants of Ruddell's station had of the presence of the enemy, jj This was on the 22d of June, 1780. In reply to the demand of Col. Byrd, for the immediate surrender of the stockade, with the garrison and families, Capt. j Ruddell refused, unless the prisoners were to be placed under the protection of the British officers. This was agreed to, and the gates were immediately thrown open. The Indians at once rushed into the stockade, each one seizing the first person they came to, and claimed them as their own prisoners. Great confusion ensued. Col. Byrd had no control of the savages, husband and wife were separated, and children were taken from their parents; the cabins were then plundered, and the prisoners, loaded with the spoils, marched, with the force, to the attack on Martin's station, where the same scenes were enacted. Small bands of savages had advanced to Byant's station and to Lexington, where they stole many horses and returned to Martin's.

In the sacking of the two stations, Col. Byrd had complied with the orders of Gov. Hamilton, and, although he had force sufficient to have destroyed all the settlements in Central Kentucky, for some reason he decided to retreat at once to the forks of Licking, where he had left stores and boats; finding that the river was falling, his artillery and stores were at once put aboard and the retreat continued. The Indians, with the ponies, prisoners and plunder, separated from the English and marched to the Ohio River; crossing at the mouth of the Licking, they returned to their villages by the way of the Little Miami Valley. Col. Byrd, with his artillery and troops in the boats, descended the Licking River to the Ohio, and down that stream to the mouth of the Big Miami, hoping to pole up that river to the point where the troops were first embarked. The weather by this time was very hot, and the spring freshets having run out, the water was too low for the loaded boats to get up much farther than the mouth of Mad River, or, possibly, Honey Creek, from which point the troops marched rapidly to Detroit. The artillery was at first left in the woods, but it is probable that the guns were soon taken up the river, and on to Detroit by the Indians.

Up to the time of this invasion, hostilities by the Kentuckians had been carried on without unity of purpose or action. The policy of all was defense, and each family or settlement managed and fought upon their own hook. A single backwoodsman, armed with rifle and scalping-knife, provided with a poke of parched corn for rations, would start on an expedition of his own, into the Indian country; arriving in the neighborhood of a village, great caution was necessary as he lay in the thicket watching for an opportunity to shoot an Indian, or run off a horse. With the fullest experience in the perils of savage warfare, they were as cautious as they were brave; apt scholars in cunning and sagacity, they were the equals of the warriors in fierce and desperate bravery, and power of endurance, energy, perseverance and skill, gave to the pioneer an advantage over the Indian.

The result of Col. Byrd's expedition was to arouse the settlers to a necessity for better organization; the Government was wholly unable to protect them from invasion, and, realizing the situation, they prepared to take care of themselves, and from that time on the progress of Western settlement was never checked; the courage of the pioneers was equal to all emergencies, and conquered every situation. Acting upon the principle that the best defense against the Indians was to attack them in their villages, and destroy their crops and supplies, the war after this was made aggressive; the Indians were to be punished; they had forced this change of policy that resulted in the loss of their lands in the valleys o f the rivers flowing into the Ohio from its source to the mouth of the Big Miami. The Kentuckians would organize under some leader of repute, who would plan an expedition, give notice of his intention, and appoint a rendezvous where volunteers would assemble; such calls always met with prompt response, the men furnished their own horses, arms, ammunition and rations, and risked their lives in a common cause. The pioneer women managed the farms, crops and cattle, and sometimes defended their cabins from attacks of the savages during the absence of the men.

The destruction of Ruddell's and Martin's stations was not passed without retaliation and full punishment. In July, Col. George Rogers Clark came up from the fort, at Louisville, to organize an expedition against the Shawnee towns ji on the Little Miami and Mad Rivers. The mouth of the Licking River was jj designated as the point of rendezvous, and within a few days, 1,000 of the bravest Indian fighters had assembled.

Col. Benjamin Logan, Capt. Robert Patterson, Simon Kenton, James Har rod and John Floyd, had commands under Clark. The artillery for the expedition had been brought up from the Ohio Falls. On the 1st day of August, Col. Clark, with his force, crossed the river and built two block-houses on the present site of Cincinnati. Corn and some ammunition were stored there, and jj several sick men were left as guards. In this way, the expedition was supplied jj on their return march. The next day, with every precaution against surprise, |j they began the march up the Little Miami; on the 6th of August, they arrived at Old Chillicothe (Old-Town, Greene County), and found that the Indians had jj abandoned and burned the town. The Kentuckians camped for the night, and jj the next day destroyed several hundred acres of corn and whatever else they j found.

On the 8th, the expedition reached Old Piqua, on Mad River, seventeen j: miles above where Dayton is located. At 2 P. M., the Indians attacked the { advance, and a general engagement at once ensued ; for three hours the contest was sharp, but the savages were put to flight, the loss on each side being about jj twenty killed.

The next day was spent in burning the cabins, and destroying the crops of corn and vegetables ; it was estimated that 500 acres of corn had been destroyed j at the two villages.

Two days after the fight, the Kentuckians started on their return march to the Ohio River, where they were disbanded. The Shawnees did not rebuild their towns, but crossed over to the Big Miami and built a town, which they jj called Piqua. There were nearly 4,000 in the tribe thus deprived of their homes and provisions, and for nearly two years afterward, their hunters and warriors were kept hunting and fishing to supply their people, and for that j length of time Kentucky was relieved of fears of attack from any considerable body of Indians. The Indians ever afterward had greater respect for the ability of the whites to retaliate for injury received.

In March, 1781, Col. Daniel Brodhead, with 300 troops, started from Wheeling to attack the Delaware towns on the Upper Muskingum; by rapid marches he reached the forks of that river (now Coshocton) before the Indians | were aware of his presence in the country. The village at that point was taken and many prisoners of other villages were captured; thirty or forty warriors were tomahawked and scalped, the squaws and younsters were taken to Wheeling and held for exchange. In retaliation for the killing of these Iudians, a number of soldiers descending the Ohio were captured and killed near the mouth of the Big Miami. Col. Archibald Lochry, with 106 men, started from Fort Henry (Wheeling) on the 25th of July, in boats, expecting to join Col. George Rogers Clark at the Ohio Falls. August 25, they landed on the Indian shore, below the mouth of the Big Miami, where suddenly, and without warning, they were attacked from the bluffs above, by a large number of Indians; the Colonel and forty- one of his men were killed, and the rest captured, many of whom were afterward killed and scalped. Cruelties of this kind were commit- ted by the whites and savages at every opportunity; the war was persecuted on both sides as a war of extermination; there was but little difference in the acts of brutal, malignant revenge, committed by either side.

Greatly exasperated at the continued attacks on the settlements, Col. David Williamson assembled a force of a hundred men in the Mingo bottom, just below the site of Steubenville, for an expedition against the Moravian Indians, in the Tuscarawas Valley. The night of March 3, 1782, Col. Williamson and his force bivouacked within a mile of Gnadenhutten, and marched into the village the next day, taking a number of the peaceable Indians prisoners; on the 7th, the number of captives was increased to ninety-six, and placed under guard in two of the houses; one-half the number were squaws and their youngsters. On the 8th, all of them but two Indian boys, who escaped, were killed and scalped. Col. Williamson and his men were, even at that time, severely censured for this cold-blooded murder of friendly, Christian Indians.

Soon after the return of Williamson, preparations were made for a second campaign against the Moravian Indians, and the Wyandot towns in the same neighborhood. Four hundred and eighty mounted men mustered at the old Mingo town, on the west side of the Ohio, on the 25th of May, and elected Col. William Crawford as their commander. The troopers and officers boldly announced their battle-cry, no quarter to Indians, buck, squaw or papoose. The Moravian villages were found to be deserted, but on the march the next day, June 7, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, on the Sandusky plains, a fierce battle was brought on by the Indians, and continued until night. The fight not being renewed the next day, Col. Crawford ordered a retreat. About sundown, however, the Indians fiercely attacked the retreating column, on all sides, excepting on the road leading farther into the Indian country. The troops, by a circuitous route, got out and continued the retreat until the next evening, when they halted for the night.

The Indians scattered, in pursuit of straggling parties, killing all they captured. On the second day of the retreat, Col. Crawford, with a small party, who were in the rear, were attacked; the Colonel and a Dr. Knight were captured. The doctor afterward escaped; but Col. Crawford was burned at the stake, in an oak grove in a low bottom west of the Upper Sandusky, on the east -bank of the Tymochtee Creek, eight miles from its mouth. A post, fifteen feet long, was firmly planted; Crawford was stripped naked and beaten by the Indians; a rope was tied to the foot of the post, the Colonel's hands were tied behind him, and the rope was fastened to the ligature between his wrists; the :.rope was long enough to allow him to walk two or three times around the post, then back again.

Capt. Pipe, the war chief of the Delawares, w'ith about a hundred warriors, squaws and Indian boys, took part in the torture, and the rascally renegade, Simon Girty, also participated in the cruelties. Three large fires were built at intervals around the post; Crawford's ears were cut off; sixty or seventy loads of powder were fired into his body from his neck down; he was punched with the ends of the burning poles, the squaws threw coals and hot ashes on his body, so that he walked on a bed of coals; after about three hours of suffering from this awful torture, he fell from exhaustion, an Indian then scalped him, and an squaw threw coals on the bleeding wound. After this, he walked round a little more, but when they attempted further torture, he seemed insensible of -pain, and soon died. His body was then thrown into the fire and burned to aslies. Such terrible scenes as , this justly excited deeper hostility toward the Indians. Few of the prisoners taken by the savages in that campaign escaped similar torture and death.

The Kentucky settlements were not exempt from savage attacks; in May occurred the attack on Estill's station, and subsequent defeat of Capt. James Estill, at Little Mountain, by a war party of twenty-live Wyandots.

In July, the British officers at Detroit organized a Canadian force, as part of an expedition against the Kentucky settlements; war parties of the Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamis and Delawares, were assembled at old Chillicotke, and joining the expedition, swelled its numbers to 600. Col. McGee, of the British Army, was in command, with Simon Girty as aid. August 14, Bryant's station, on the Elkhorn, five miles northeast of Lexington, was besieged by this force. A re-enforcement arrived from Lexington on the 15th, and the Indian losses being heavy, the savages withdrew that night. The Kentuckians receiving re-enforcements that increased their force to 160 or 180 men, started in pursuit on the 18th, and were drawn into ambush at the Blue Licks on the 19th; in the fight that ensued the whites lost sixty killed and seven captured.

As soon as Col. George Rogers Clark, then at Louisville, learned of the disaster, he determined to organize a force large enough to punish the tribes to j the north so severely that they would not soon be in condition to leave their villages for aggressive warfare. Col. Clark came up the Ohio with 500 men and went into camp at the mouth of Licking River, where he was soon joined by an equal number from the settlements around Lexington. The expedition was organized with Col. Benjamin Logan in command of one wing, and Col John Floyd in command of the other.

By the last of September, Col. Clark crossed the Ohio and moved up Mill Creek and the Big Miami, meeting no enemy until halted on the banks of Mad River by a small band of Indians stationed to dispute the crossing. A lively little fight ensued, in regular Indian bushwhacking style, near the mouth of Mad River. The dusky warriors were greatly outnumbered and forced to retreat through the bushes. The victorious frontiersmen bivouacked on the spot. It occurred on the 9th of November, 1782, and, although scarcely of sufficient importance to be called a battle, because of the small number engaged and the short time it lasted, it is mentioned here as a skirmish, occurring within the present limits of the city of Dayton.

The march from Mad River was up the east side of the Miami, to the ford about four miles below the Piqua villages. A short time after crossing at that point, they met a party of Indians and squaws on horseback, on the trail leading from Greenville to Piqua. The Indians escaped into the woods, leaving their squaws and a captive woman, Mrs. McFall, in the hands of the whites, who took them on to the Piqua towns. Mrs. McFall returned with the Kentuckians, and was safely sent to her home.

The Indians were alarmed and hastily abandoned Piqua. A detachment of troopers was ordered forward to destroy the Indian village and trading post at Loramie's; crops were cut down, and a large quantity of grain and the plunder at the store, were burned, the detachment returning to Piqua the next1 morning.

The destruction of the Shawnee towns was completed by burning everything found about Upper and Lower Piqua. The Indians had made no resist-; ance, except to fire from the bushes, upon any stragglers they could waylay. In this way, two men- who were out looking for their horses, were mortally wounded; one of them died, and was buried at the ford just below Piqua; the

Although but live Indians had been killed, the destruction of the towns, rops and supplies, had such an effect that the settlers south of the Ohio River j/ere never again disturbed by a formidable invasion. On the 20th of Novemer, the Kentuckians forded Mad River on the return march, and the point was (iscussed and marked as a good site for a settlement, wood, water and stone being bundant. The beauty of the landscape, the broad, rich bottoms, the many fine lill sites, were all attractive points to these frontiersmen, and some of them lived j) enjoy the blessings that day coveted. Some of the most noled, the most darig of Western adventurers, were in that expedition - such as the commander, George Rogers Clark, Cols. Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, Benjamin Logan, lobert Patterson and John Floyd; Capts. McCracken, Barbee, Green Clay and ames Galloway.

As the troops were descending the hill to the level below (where Cincinnati row stands), Capt. McCracken, who, suffering from the wound in his arm, was sing carried on a litter stretched between two horses, suggested that fifty years fterward the survivors should meet and talk over the affairs of that campaign, ad the dangers and hardships of their experience. A few moments afterward, apt. McCracken died, and was buried in the earthwork that had been thrown p around the block-house two years before.

To carry out the suggestion of the dying soldier, Col. Floyd proposed a ^solution that fifty years from November 4, 1782 (the day that the expedition as organized at the mouth of the Licking), the survivors should meet again at iat place to celebrate the anniversary. It was carried with a hurrah, and the free soon afterward recrossed into Kentucky and scattered to their homes, ifty years later, nearly all of them were dead. Simon Kenton and James alloway joined in an address to the survivors, to meet in Covington, Ky., on le 3d of November, 1832 (the 4th being Sunday), to celebrate the fiftieth anniusary of the organization of the expedition. The meeting was held, but there ere very few present, Kenton himself being sick, and Galloway, for some reaoi being unable to attend.

The Situation In The West After 1785

At the conclusion of peace between Great Britain and the American colons, in 1783, quiet prevailed in all the settlements along the Ohio River. The idians north of the Miami Valley were occupied building cabins and reconructing their villages, cultivating their farms, hunting and fishing, to supply )eir people with meat. This condition of affairs continued until in 1785, they ;'ain became restless and troublesome to the whites.

The refusal on the part of England to surrender to the United States the forts iug south of the great lakes, encouraged the savages in the hope that they might A have their old ally, to aid in preventing settlements on their lands. Then in e Kentucky settlements, there was no friendly feeling for the savages; almost ery family had suffered from their terrible cruelties. This situation, however, d not check the steady increase in emigration to the West. There were one two feeble efforts to locate at points along the Indian shore of the Ohio, but e rifle balls of the savages made the parties glad to escape to the Kentucky ide.

The treaty made at Fort McIntosh, January 21, 1785, gave to the Govern - ent control of all the lands in Southeastern Ohio, yet every precaution was ken to prevent settlements being located there, from the fear that it would |°y°ke hostilities with the Indians - a state of affairs that the Government paired to avoid.

A detachment of United States troops, in command of Maj. John Doughty, in the fall of 1785, built Fort Harmar, on the right bank of the Muskingum River at its junction with the Ohio. It was the first military post located within the present boundaries of the State of Ohio, except Fort Laurens, erected at the Tuscarawas portage in 1778. A battalion of troops was stationed at Fort Harmar to protect boats from attacks of the savages, and to warn settlers! against locating north of the Ohio.

During the following winter (1785-86), a company of troops from the fort j floated down the Ohio in Hat-boats to a point just below the mouth of the Big Miami (North Bend), where they built Fort Finney, so named for one of the! Captains of the regiment. The detachment soon after the treaty descended to the,: falls. The fort was not regarded as any position of special advantage or strength, but was rather intended to be used as a station for detachments passing up and down the river between Fort Harmar and the Ohio Falls, but such parties usually camped on the Kentucky side, as being less liable to be surprised by |l the savages. It was also constructed as one of a chain of stations to prevent! the whites attempting settlements on the Indian side of the Ohio River. Iff was built with log houses at the angles, facing inwardly to an open space of jj possibly an acre, in the center of which was a log block-house; between the cor ner log houses, a stockade of closely-planted posts was set, thus forming a square || inclosure for defense. It was located near where the great war trail from the ji north crossed the Ohio River. Timber was cleared away within rifle range of the fort, and a few acres were planted with corn and vegetables, for the use of the garrison.

By resolution of Congress, Gen. George Rogers Clark, Col. Richard Butler !and Samuel H. Parsons, as Commissioners for the Government, were directed :ojj make a treaty of peace with the Indians located north of the Mad River, and also with the Wabash tribes. A meeting for this purpose was held at Fort Finney,! January 31, 1786, where, after a stormy session of several days, in which nothing but the cool head and firm determination of Gen. Clark could control, a treaty was made that gave the territory in both the Miami Valleys to the United States.

But it was an unsatisfactory meeting. The tribes invited did not attend, ex cept a reprsentation from the Shawnees, who came with a war-party, and, as it was afterward believed, to murder the Commissioners and their escort; at least, they came to dictate terms to the United States. The Commissioners,)! without appearing to notice the threatened treachery, opened the council in duej form, by lighting the pipe of peace, and, after drawing a few whiffs, passed it} to the assmbled chiefs. Col. Clark, so thoroughly acquainted with the savage! character, did not doubt that their intentions were to murder all the whites at1 the council, yet, with an air of command, he arose to explain to them the purposes for which the council had been appointed. In reply to his statement tliaf! the United States had no wish for war, and that, if the tribes desired peace1 they could have it on liberal terms, an old chief threw upon the table two beltof wampum of different colors, the one for war, the other for peace. We come,! he said, to offer you two pieces of wampum; you know their significance; youlj can take which you like; then, turning on his heel, the chief sat down. Tee Commissoners felt the crisis. Clark, without changing his countenance, pushed! the wampums on the floor; the savages jumped to their feet, and Clark, pointing to the door, said: " Dogs, you may go." The Indians rushed madly out,

During the summer, the Indians still being troublesome, an expedition was] fitted out to operate under Gen. Clark against the Wabash towns, and one under:

Jol. Ben Logan, to move against the Indian villages at the head- waters of Mad liver. This force of Kentuckians marched up the Ohio to Limestone (Maysille), where they crossed, continuing then' route across the country to the Iackacheek towns, which were captured with many prisoners.

The force was here divided, the brigade under Col. Robert Patterson taklg one direction, and that under Col. Thomas Kennedy another, to attack and estroy neighboring villages. The devastation of that section was complete, 'he Indians, with their squaws and what plunder they could quickly gather up, 'ere driven beyond the Scioto, where they were in a starving condition for a ear. The result of the expedition was the destruction of eight large towns, illing, wounding and capturing many Indians, and the destruction of crops nd supplies of grain, pumpkins, beans, meat, and whatever came in their way. 'he losses of oxu- troops were trifling, and they brought away many horses and uantities of plunder.

One wing of this little army was composed of pioneers from about Lexingm, and Bryant's Station, Ky. - men who had been with Clark in his march gainst these same Indian towns four years previous. They remembered the ne country they had seen around the mouth of the Mad River, and desired to gain examine it with a view to locate when a favorable time should come.

The march was down the Mad River Yalley to its mouth, where, as in 1782, ley found a small body of Indians in camp, who, after a skirmish, were driven p the Miami bottoms. Among them was Tecumseh, then only seventeen years id. This was his first battle, although he had been under fire six years before, rhen Clark destroyed the Shawnee town farther up Mad River. This was le second battle on what was to be the future site of Dayton. At night the ientuckians stopped the pursuit and returned to camp, where they remained vo or three days, being well supplied with forage and provisions from the applies captured at Mackacheek. They took advantage of this nalt to examine re rich bottom land surrounding them. The march was resumed down the treat Miami as far as Hamilton, thence down Mill Creek to the present site of incinnati, where they forded the river and returned to their homes. Reports f the fertile soil of the Miami country were carried back home by the troops, ad projects for colonies to settle the new coimtry were discussed in all the setements.

The United States Title

Representatives of the Colony of Virginia had made the treaty with the Inians, and had purchased from them the territory lying west of that colony to le Mississippi River. The title of Virginia to the territory lying northwest of le Ohio River was more in the nature of a claim than a right, and was not ased upon any cession of the Indian tribes who owned and possessed it; howver, the colony made the claim, and after the Declaration of Independence the jlonial authorities seem to have recognized the claim. The territory now ithin the State of Kentucky was included within the county of Fincastle, Virinia; the lands northwest of the Ohio River were included within the boundaes of Botetoiu't County, of the same State.

December 6, 1776, the House of Burgesses, of Virginia, erected the county f Kentucky, and to more effectually established civil government northwest i the Ohio River, Illinois County was formed in October, 1778. The county as bounded on the east by Pennsylvania, on the southeast and south by the t'hio River, on the west by the Mississippi River and on the north by the great ikes. John Todd was appointed County Lieutenant and Civil Commander of llinois County. He was killed at the battle of Blue Licks, August 19, 1782, ad was succeeded by Timothy de Montbrun. Civil government wras more in ame than in reality, however, as there was neither necessity nor opportunity for the exercise of authority by the officers appointed by the State of Virginia. The General Assembly in 1783, passed an act authorizing the Virginia dele gates, in Congress, to convey to the United States all the right of that State, to the territory northwest of the Ohio River. By the above authority, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, Representatives of the State, did convey to the United States, for the benefit of the States, all right, title and claim to the territory above described, and on the same day, March ], 1784, a resolution was passed formally accepting the cession.

Great Britain had relinquished her rights to the territory, and the State of Virginia had transferred her authority to the United States, thus clearing the way for negotiation between the Government and the Indian tribes who were'; in possession and in whom rested the title.

Indian Treaties

By the terms of the treaty of Fort Stanwix, concluded between the Six Nations of New York and three Commissioners of the United States, October 22. 1784, the indefinite claim of that confederacy to a considerable part of the Ohio Valley was extinguished.

Three months later, January 21, 1785, at Fort McIntosh, George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee, on behalf of the United States, met the || chiefs of the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa tribes, and established the following as the boundary line between the United States and the Wyan dot and Delaware Nations (the Ottawa and Chippewa chieftains, whose tribes were located around Detroit and along Lake Huron, were present merely to give { assent to whatever treaty was made). The line began at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, thence up that river to the portage ; thence across to the Tuscarawas ~ branch of the Muskingum River ; thence down the said branch to the forks at the crossing- place above Fort Laurens; thence westwardly in a direct line to the portage of the Big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French from the English iu j| 1752; thence along said portage to the Miami of the Lake, or Ome River' (Maumee), and down the southeast side of the same to its mouth; thence along the south shore of Lake Erie to the place of beginning.

Fort Loramie

Fort Loramie was built by the French, in 1752, on the ground occupied by the English trading-station and stockade, built by the English traders and Indians, in 1749, and taken from them by file French in the year first mentioned. The fort stood about two miles north of the Indian boundary line, on the west side of Loramie Creek, and about two miles north of the mouth of that branch on which the fort stood which was taken by the French in 1752. In the point formed by that branch and Loramie Creek, a stone was planted to mark the point at which the direction of the boundary line running west,, from a point on the Tuscarawas, opposite the mouth of Sandy Creek, changed from west by south west, to north by northwest. That stone stood about two miles south of old Fort jj Loramie and the trading-station, and, for a time, Loramie Creek was known as the Standing Stone Fork of the Miami. The Indian boundary line crossed Loramie Creek at that stone. Fort Loramie stood: North Latitude, 40° 16 ; West Longitude, 7° 15'. From Fort Loramie to Fort Recovery the distance was twenty-one miles; from Fort Loramie to Fort St. Mary's, twelve mi$js; from Fort Loramie across the portage to the Auglaize, sixteen miles; from Fort Loramie southeast to Sidney, sixteen miles. These points and distances are clearly shown in the early maps and records, and the locations made definite by the Indian treaties of 1784, 1785, 1786, 1789 and 1795, and in the early laws of the Territory and State.

At the treaty held at Fort Finney, at the mouth of the Big Miami, the 31st of January, 1786, the boundary line was extended from the Standing Stone, nearly due west to the Wabash River; this extended line crossed the branch of Loramie Creek about five miles west of the Standing Stone. .By this treaty the claim of the Shawnee tribes to the Miami and Scioto Valleys was relinquished. The treaty held at Fort Harmar, January 9, 1789, gave the assent of the Sacs, Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottowatomies, Delawares and Wyandots, to the boundary as established in the treaty with the Shawnees; the line north from the Standing Stone was changed to run a little west of north to the St. Mary's River, instead of to the Auglaize, as described in the treaty of Fort Mc- Intosh.

At the treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795, made by Gen. Anthony Wayne and the Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot, Miami, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Chippewa, El River, Wea, Piankashaw, Ixickapoo and Ivaskaskia tribes, the stipulations of former treaties were ratified, and the boundary line was extended in a westerly course from the Standing Stone to Fort Recovery; thence southwesterly in a direct line to a point on the Ohio River, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky River. The reservations of small tracts of lands, at different points within the Indian lands, were confirmed to the United States. One of these reservations was a tract six miles square, at Fort Loramie. The southern boundary of the tract was the Indian boundary line. The Indian titles to lands in Ohio north of this boundary line were purchased by the Government by subsequent treaties. The Western Reserve tract by treaty at Fort Industry (Toledo) in 1805. The lands west of Richland and Huron Counties, north of the boundary line, to the western boundary of Ohio, in 1818. The last of the lands belonging to the Delawares was pm-chased in 1829. The Wyandot chiefs sold the last of their lands in 1842, and the next year the last of the Indians moved from Ohio to the West.

Chap Teh Iv

Northwest Territory, July 4, 1786. Territorial Officers, 1787 - Gov. St. Clair at Fort Harmar - Washington County - Pioneer Thanksgiving - The Symmes Purchase - Columbia - The Cincinnati Settlement - North Bend - The Mad Biver Country - Details of Progress - Fort Washington - Hamilton County - Indian Troubles - Harmar's Expedition - Indians at Dunlap's Station - St. Clair's Defeat - Wilkinson's Expedition - Gen. Anthony Wayne - His Advance in 1793 - Victory at Fallen Timbers, 1794 - Winter Quarters, Winter oi 1794-95.

BY the treaty at Fort Finney, in 1786, the title of the United States to the Ohio Valley lands was made complete, and Congress began at once the discussion of the question of civil government for the new acquisition.

The Northwest Territory

July 13, 1787, was passed " An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River," popularly known as the " Ordinance of '87," sometimes called " The Ordinance of Freedom," the fundamental law upon which is based the organization of the Northwestern States.

At the time this ordinance was adopted, there were very few, if any, white people living anywhere in the territory now within the limits of Ohio, although' there may have been a few French people in the Maumee Valley; but of that there is no information. Among the Indian tribes there were some few white prisoners, and a" still smaller number of white men who were voluntarily living as members of the tribes. At Fort Harmar there was a battalion of United States troops. The year before that - July 4, 1786 - Independence Day had been celebrated by the garrisons at both Fort Harmar and Fort Finney, by firing the national salute - thirteen guns - and issuing extra rations of liquor, " allowing the men to get drunk as much as they pleased." That certainly was the first celebration ever held by white people anywhere within the limits of Ohio. The records do not show that the next anniversary was observed in any special way, but it is probable that the garrison at Fort Harmar fired a salute, as they were few in numbers and had nothing else to do ; the greater part of the battalion was at Louisville, on the way to Fort St. Vincennes, on the Wabash. Fort Finney, at the mouth of the Big Miami, had been abandoned in consequence of the wet lands around it.

In October, 1787, Congress appointed Gen. Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Northwestern Territory; Maj. Winthrop Sargent, Secretary; and James M. Varnum, Samuel H. Parsons and John Armstrong, Judges. Mr. Armstrong declined the appointment, and, in February, 1788, John Cleves Symmes was commissioned in his stead.

The Governor and Judges, or a majority of them, had the entire legislative: power in the Territory; but their authority was limited to the adoption of such; laws, civil or criminal, as were in force at the time in some one of the original States. They could not frame original laws.

The Governor had the appointment of all officers of the militia under the rank of General, and of all magistrates and such other civil officers as he might deem necessary for the peace and good order. The power of dividing the Ter- ritorv into counties and townships was also given him. The advance to a second grade of Territorial government was provided for, and further progress to the establishment of State governments on an equality with the original thirteen States.

On the 9th of July, 1788, Gov. St. Clair arrived at Fort Harmar, and was received with military honors - a salute of thirteen guns and parade of the troops. A heavy shower of rain, with a loud clap of thunder, just as he entered the fort, were also prominent features of the reception ceremonies. July 15 was the day on which he formally assumed the duties of Governor of the Territory. At 5 o'clock in the evening, escorted by the officers of the garrison, and attended by the Secretary of the Territory, he crossed the Muskingum, and was received by Gen. Putnam and two of the Judges of the Territory, and citizens of Marietta. The Secretary read the ordinance forming the Territory, the commissions of the Governor, the Judges, and his own; then, after congratulations all around, and three hearty cheers, the new Government was considered duly inaugurated.

The first laws for the government of the Territory were published at Marietta. The more important of these were the militia law and the laws establishing the courts.

The Common Pleas Courts were empowered to divide counties into townships, to appoint Constables, Overseers of the Poor, Clerks of Townships, and to establish roads. The Governor appointed the Sheriffs. This grade of government continued until September, 1799. For the reason that there were no other settlements, and as the population of Marietta did not increase very rapidly, the Government and court were not overcrowded with business. Emigrant boats passing down the river generally stopped at the fort, then kept on down to the Kentucky stations.

July 27, 1788, Gov. St. Clair formed the countv of Washington within the following boundaries: "Beginning on the bank of the Ohio River where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and running with that line to Lake Erie; thence along the southern shore of said lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River; thence up said river to the portage between that river and the Tuscarawas Branch of the Muskingum; thence down that branch to a point opposite the mouth of Sandy Creek, and along the Indian boundary line to the road leading from the Sandusky town to the Shawnee town; thence south to the Scioto River, and with that river to its mouth; and thence up the Ohio River to the place of beginning."

Pioneer Thanksgiving

The first official Thanksgiving Day was that of the 25th of December, 1788, designated by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair. There were then within the Territory about one hundred white inhabitants, equally divided between the two feeble settlements, on the Ohio River - one at Marietta, the other at Columbia.

Families and colonies were arriving from the East. Men who had served in the wars; veterans of the Revolution who had exhausted their fortunes in the long struggle for independence, were to be the pioneers of the West; sons of dead hero patriots were bringing to the rich lands of the Ohio Valley dependent mothers and children. Disquiet among the Indian tribes of the upper country, the frequent appearance of their war parties on the banks of the Ohio, had kept the pioneers in settlements south of that river. It became evident, however, that the people could not be longer restrained from venturing into the rich lands to the north. In January, 1788, Col. Robert Patterson, of Lexington. Ivy. , went to Limestone to complete arrangements for a colony to locate at the old blockhouse on the Indian shore of the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Licking River. This was in pursuance of the plan adopted in the fall of 1786, to establish a post there from which to operate against the Indians in the effort to secure the Miami Valley for the white settlers. The first thing to be done was to establish a base of supplies on the Ohio, somewhere near the mouth of the Licking River. Delays occurred, and there was very little accomplished, until information came of the success of John Cleves Symmes in securing the contract with the Treasury officials for the purchase of the lands between the Miami Rivers. This added interest to the enterprise among the many who felt the necessity of locating to provide for their families.

The Symmes Purchase

The first survey of lands northwest of the Ohio was that of the seven ranges of Congress lands at the southeastern corner of the State. The second survey was that of the Ohio Company, on the Muskingum River. The next survey was that of the Symmes purchase.

In July, 1787, Congress authorized Commissioners of the Treasury to sell lands in the Northwest Territory, in tracts of not less than 1,000,000 acres. Under this act, John Cleves Symmes made application, August 29, 1787, for the purchase of the lands lying within the following limits: "Beginning at the mouth of the Big Miami River, thence running up the Ohio to the mouth of the Little Miami, thence up the main stream of the Little Miami River, to the place where a line to be continued due west from the western termination of the northern boundary line of the grant to Messrs. Sargeant, Cutler & Co., shall intersect the said Little Miami River, thence due west, continuing the said northern line to the place where the said line shall intersect the main branch or stream of the Big Miami River, thence down the Big Miami to the place of beginning."

Symmes and his coadjutors seem to have been satisfied that there would bo no check in their negotiation for these lands, for, on November 26, following, he issued his manifesto, setting forth the fact of his purchase and plan of colo- jj nization. The next month, the first land warrant was issued, thus worded:

[seal.] This entitles Benjamin Stites Lis heirs or assigns, to locate one section, in which the fee of six hundred and forty acres shall pass, subject to the terms of settlement.

The Treasury Commissioners denied having made a contract with Judge! Symmes, and were disposed to repudiate his claim. In the meantime, July, 1788, he had started West with a colony of sixty persons, in fourteen four-horse wagons, arriving at Pittsburgh August 20. After stopping there two days, and a short delay at Marietta, he reached Limestone, Ky.

Mathias Denman, of Springfield, N. J., had purchased from Judge Symmes \ the fractional section on the Ohio opposite the mouth of the Licking River, and the section north of the fraction. After his arrival at Limestone, hearing of the colony that proposed to settle in the Miami Valley, Denman went to Lexington, and, on the 25th of August, entered into an agreement with Col. Robert Patterson and John Filson, by which a settlement was to be effected on the land above described. Under this arrangement, Denman sold to Patterson and Filson each a one-third interest in the land.

September 15, Col. Patterson and Mr. Filson, with others, started from Lexington to mark out a road north to the Ohio. On the 22d, they had crossed the Ohio, and were at the proposed site of the new town, Losanteville. That day their numbers were increased by the arrival of Judge Symmes with a party from Limestone; Col. Patterson and the other Kentuckians, being armed, accompanied Symmes as escort up the Miami Yalley on an exploring expedition. They followed the trail up the center of the valley; after two days' march, John Filson became uneasy at the Indian sign, and started alone to return to the Ohio, but was never seen or heard of again. The point at which he left the party " was not far from the northern boundary line of Hamilton County, and northeast corner of Colerain Township." At a point forty miles in the interior, the explorers discovered a party of Indians, but, upon Symmes' refusal to allow them to be killed, most of the Kentuckians left him and returned to the Ohio. With the rest of his party, Symmes crossed over to the Big Miami, followed down the stream for several miles, and returned to the Ohio via the Mill Creek Valley, and met again the Kentuckians who had separated from him in the interior. It being certain that John Filson had been killed by the Indians, some arrangement was made by which Israel Ludlow became the owner of Filson's one-third interest in the Losanteville land.

Judge Symmes, having returned to Limestone, at once began the organization of a larger party to explore his Miami lands. Two surveyors, Maj. Benjamin Stites and Capt. John Dunlap, were to accompany the party. Maj. Stites had recruited a colony for settlement upon his land at the mouth of the Little Miami, and was also to command the expedition.

Columbia

In November, they started, and within a few days landed at the mouth of the Little Miami River, erected block- houses, built cabins for the settlers who were with them, named the settlement Columbia, and, with but little delay, two exploring parties set our, the one to ascend the Little Miami River, the other to ascend the Big Miami.

Maj. Stites with his party ran the line due north from the block-houses opposite the Licking, up the center of the valley to the north line of the 9th range of townships, a point on the Big Miami above the mouth of Honey Creek.

These surveying parties were surrounded with danger; they were in an enemy's country, with roving war parties all around them, and, to prevent surprise and disaster, it was necessary to keep flankers out all the time; one-half would stand guard while the others cooked the meals; at night, they bivouacked without fires, and every man would be on guard from 3 o'clock in the morning until after daylight. Judge Symmes, in writing to his agent in New Jersey, Capt. Jonathan Dayton, referred to these parties as follows: " Whether they will succeed is uncertain; the two surveyors are both celebrated partisans, and have been long used to surveying in perilous places."

December 12, Capt. Kearsey, with a company of forty-five United States soldiers from Fort Harmar, arrived at Limestone, under orders to accompany parties of settlers as a protection to the proposed Miami stations. A Sergeant and eighteen men were at once sent down to Columbia as a re- enforcement to the surveying parties.

The Cincinnati Settlement

December 24, Col. Robert Patterson, Mathias Denman, Israel Ludlow, a Mr. Tuttle, Capt. Henry, and about twelve others, left Limestone in boats as a colony for the proposed settlement at Losanteville. The river was running full of ice, and they had stormy weather, and probably stopped at Columbia for a day or two, and finally landed at the high bank on the Ohio opposite the mouth of the Licking River, December 28. Within a few days, under the direction of Mr. Ludlow, who was a civil engineer, the lines of the streets were established and the plat of the town staked off; and on the 7th of January, 1789, a distribution of donation lots to the thirty actual settlers there present was made, and the pioneers began clearing up for their cabins.

North Bend

January 29, he, with his family, a number of settlers, and Capt. Kearsey, with the rest of his company of soldiers, started in boats from Limestone, landing at Columbia for the detachment that had been sent there as a garrison. February 2, finding that the low lands around the mouth of the Big Miami were almost entirely submerged, a landing was made several miles above the proposed town site. Huts were erected for temporary shelter, and in them the colony lived for six weeks. It was Capt. Kearsey's intention to occupy old Fort Finney, at the mouth of the Miami, but this purpose was defeated by the high waters that cut off communication between the fort and the main land; displeased at the situation, he embarked with his command for the Ohio Falls early in March. Upon application of Symmes, Maj. Wyllis ordered a Sergeant and eighteen men from the Falls as a protection to the North Bend settlement.

Maj. Stites and his party had thoroughly explored the valley from Honey Creek to the Ohio, and, being so pleased with the lands around the mouth of Mad River, he at once began negotiations for their purchase.

To satisfy himself of their value, and to better understand the nature of the lands, Judge Symmes determined to make a trip up the valley himself.

In February, with a small party and an armed escort, he started on the expedition. At Mad River, he found a small band of Indians in camp, but was soon on friendly terms with them, all eating supper together. Several days were spent in examining the country up Miami, Mad River and Stillwater Valleys, when the party returned safely to the river settlements, reporting that some of the land they had seen " was worth a silver dollar an acre."

In April, a party of six surveyors, under John Mills, in camp near Mad River, were fired upon by the Indians early in the morning; two of the party, Mr. Holman of Kentucky, and Mr. Wells, of Delaware, were killed.

By Maj. Stites' representations, others became interested in his project for locating a colony at the mouth of Mad River, and in June, 1789, he, for himself, John Stites Gano, and William Goforth, bargained with Symmes for the whole of the seventh range of townships, which included the lands about the mouth of Mad River. They at once began maturing plans for the settlement. The town was to be called Venice; was to be laid off in squares of eight half-acre lots in each. The two principal streets were to cross at right angles at the center of the plat. Spaces were to be reserved in each of the four quarters thus laid off for market houses and public squares. One whole square was to be given to the first Baptist Church formed in the town. To " each other denomination of pious and well and religiously disposed people, who worship the God of Israel, formed in the town within two years after the founding of the settlement," was to be given a half -acre lot. Three half- acre lots were to be given for " a capitol, a court house and a gaol." Out- lots were to contain five acres, and to be sold for $25 each. Half-acre in-lots were to be sold at $4 each.

The articles of agreement for the purchase, and between the parties, were signed June 13, 1789, " at the block-houses near Columbia, commanded by the above-named Benjamin Stites." One stipulation of this agreement was that a

This scheme fell through in consequence of the Indian hostilities, and by reason of the delay in negotiations between Symmes and the Government.

Details Of Progress

Judge Symmes was unfortunately delayed in all of his negotiations with the Government for the purchase of these lands. He had started from the East before his contract was closed; and, from the fact that he had brought a party of settlers with him, he was forced, although reluctantly, to enter upon the lands before receiving notice of the favorable termination of the treaty at Fort Harmar. He had faith, however, that the Government would issue to him a patent for the lands, and protect him in their possession.

Three colonies were now successfully located in the purchase, and only needed the presence of troops to insure prosperity. He issued warrants upon which thousands of acres of land were located, yet he did not receive his patent until by act of Congress in 1792, fixing the boundaries of the purchase to conform to his proposal of June 11, 1788, for 1,000,000 acres fronting on the Ohio and extending inland between the Big and Little Miamis, the whole breadth of the country so far back as an east and west line to include the 1,000,000 acres exclusive of reservations. The consideration to be paid by him was 66 cents per acre.

The Government was to furnish a plat of the purchase, but, by reason of Indian hostilities, the surveys could not be made at that time; and it was afterward shown that, to include 1,000,000 acres, a tract so narrowed would extend northwardly beyond the source of the Little Miami River, and possibly the Indian boundary line; and thus the matter rested until, in September, 1791, a patent was granted for as much land as was paid for at that time, amounting, including reservations, to 311,682 acres, between the Miamis from the Ohio River front, extending in the interior to the north line of the third range of townships; a line from river to river about two miles north of Lebanon.

The Sergeant at North Bend, in June or July, 1789, marched his squad to the Losanteville settlement, to which point most of the settlers soon afterward followed.

Fort Washington

In that summer, Maj. John Doughty, of the United States Army, built Fort Washington in the center of the plat of Losanteville. It was garrisoned with 110 United States soldiers, and for the next six years was the base of operations against the Indians.

Small stations and strong block-houses were erected in favorable places around Losanteville and Columbia, and up the Little Miami, Mill Creek and the Big Miami Valleys. Cabins were put up near them, and patches of ground were cultivated by the settlers, who would thus push out into the Territory. These outposts were subject to the bloody attacks of Indians, but they were always repulsed.

On the Big Miami, twelve miles in the interior; the one on Mill Creek, live miles from Losanteville; and the one on the Little Miami, nine miles out from Columbia.

December 29, Gen. Josiah Harmar arrived with a re-enforcement of 300 men, and assumed command of the Western Army. The troops then at Fort Washington were Kearsey's, Strong's, Pratt's and Kingsbury's companies of United States Infantry, and Ford's Artillery.

January 2, 1790, Gov. Arthur St. Clair, being then at Losantevelle, by proclamation of that date, established the Symms purchase as a county, giving it the name of Hamilton County, with the following-described boundaries: Beginning on the Ohio River at the confluence of the Little Miami; thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Big Miami; thence up the Big Miami to the Standing Stone Forks (Loramie Creek) ; thence in a line to be drawn due east to the Little Miami River, and down said Little Miami River to the place of | beginning. This line was never surveyed or located. Gen. Hutchings, United States Surveyor General and Geographer, appointed Israel Ludlow to survey |j the lands lying between the Miamis. This work he began in the winter of 1791-92, under protection of a strong military escort; but, the Indian troubles coming on, and for other reasons, the work was noLcompleted until 1801 or 1802. The Miami tract survey extended to the Indian boundary line, and in |j the upper valley was bounded on the east by the Ludlow line, the dividing line surveyed by Col. Israel Ludlow, between the Virginia military lands and the Symmes purchase; this line begins at a point on a branch of the Little Miami River, in the northeast corner of Madison Township, Clark County, and runs north, twenty degrees west, to the head- waters of the Scioto River in Logan i County, intercepting the Indian boundary line near the head spring of the Buck- jj ingehelas (Bohongehelas) Branch of the Great Miami.

At the time of the organization of Hamilton County, the proper civil officers were appointed; a militia company was organized, and Israel Ludlow was appointed Captain.

Indian Troubles

The Shawnees declared that the treaty at Fort Harmar had been made by young Indians who were neither chieftains nor delegates, and that the Indian shore of the Ohio must be kept clear of settlements; that the tribes regarded the new settlements in the Miami Valley as encroachments upon their lands, and as such they would be resisted. To this end, a large number of warriors from these tribes gathered in the Scioto Valley and formed a large camp near the Ohio; boats were captured, and many emigrants tortured and killed. In April, an expedition was organized at Limestone against them, consisting of the militia company of Cincinnati, Kentucky troops under Col. Scott, and a force of regulars from the garrison at Fort Washington, all under the command of Gen. Harmar; some in boats and some by land advanced to the Scioto, but found that the Indians had dispersed.

July 15, Gov. St. Clair, by authority of Congress, called upon Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky for troops to operate under Gen. Harmar against the villages around the head-waters of the Miami, Maumee and Wabash Rivers, j: At the same time, an expedition was to march under Maj. Hamtramck from Fort St. Vincennes.

Gen. Harmar left Fort Washington on the 30th of September, 1790, with a force of 1,133 militia, commanded by Col. John Hardin, of Kentucky, and 320 regulars in command of Majs. Wyllis and Doughty, with Capt. Ferguson's company of artillery and three guns.

Their camp on the fourth night was on Turtle Creek, within the present j| bounds of Warren County.' The next day, they crossed the Little Miami and camped on Caesar's Creek, three or four miles from the present site of Waynesville; the trace from there ran up to the Old Chillicothe town, destroyed in 1780, over to Mad River, thence across to Honey Creek, and the burned Piqua towns on the Big Miami; on up Loramie's Creek, and west to the St. Mary's, j,ncl down to the villages, at the junction of the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph's Rivers, at which point the mounted militia arrived October 14, and found the villages abandoned and partially burned. Gen. Harmar, with the main force, jame up three days later.

The army burned seven villages in the vicinity, and destroyed 20,000 oushels of corn and a great amount of other property belonging to the Indians, and to the French traders who were settled there.

On the 19th, the Indians attacked a strong party of militia that were out icouting, driving them back to camp in a panic; on the 21st the army started >n the return march to Fort Washington; but, on the nest day, against his own judgment, Gen. Harmar permitted Col. Hardin, with a detachment of 360 men, f;o go back to the villages to bring on a fight with the savages. This detachment was attacked furiously, and defeated with a loss of 160 killed and missng, and 20 wounded. At noon the next day, the march was resumed. The :orce, in a very demoralized condition, arrived at Fort Washington on the 3d of November.

The Indian loss in numbers was trifling, and they immediately organized arge parties to attack the settlements, and through the entire winter of 1790-91, he Miami Valley was full of war parties from the Northern tribes, organized to ittack Ohio River settlements and weak outposts of the army. These parties would come down the rivers in canoes as far as the mouth of Mad River, someimes as far as the mouth of Twin Creek, arrange hunting parties and a camp |)f supplies, then begin their attacks on picket posts and the smaller settlements. Ill able-bodied men promptly responded to every call for defense, and those who vere able to travel considered it their first duty to obey a summons to join a iarty going to attach the Indian villages. Each man was armed with his own lint-lock squirrel rifle, or flint-lock musket, which he kept constantly loaded at lis side, day and night, at home or in the field at work. Each wore powder lorn and bullet-pouch, and had a supply of patching, and carried a large knife, md dressed in homespun clothes. Their siuroundings required them to be -eady for duty at any instant. Officers and men were armed alike.

At the close of the year 1790, there were eight flourishing settlements >n the TJpper Ohio, and the three between the Miamis, with their advance itations.

Dining the winter, 400 warriors appeared before Dunlap's Station, on the last bank of the Big Miami, and for twenty-six hours besieged the garrison of thirty-five regulars and fifteen settlers; two of the latter were wounded, and tbner Hunt, a surveyor, was captured and cruelly murdered within sight and rearing of the block- house. The Indians tied him to a sapling, and built a large ire near enough to slowly burn him to death; then, as he became less sensible '0 pain, cuts were made in his flesh to renew the acute suffering; and finally he savages applied burning brands to his naked bowels.

The savages, fearing that re- enforcements would arrive, raised the siege, nit remained close to the settlements until in June or July, destroying the rops, running off cattle and horses, and killing whoever might venture out. [hey became so daring that often, at night, they would skulk through the itreets of Cincinnati, while some of the band would destroy the gardens and Hitbuilding's.

By act of Congress, three strong expeditions were to be fitted out on the ffiio for advance against the Wabash and Maumee tribes. May 23, 1791, Gen. Iharles Scott, of Kentucky, marched against the Wabash towns, destroying nany of the most important ones in the lower valley.

Expedition To The Upper Wabash

August 1, 1791, Col. Wilkinson left Fort Washington with 550 mounted men. The first night, they camped at the head of Mill Creek (near where Hamilton now stands) ; the second day, they marched thirty miles, and went into camp near the present site of Eaton, and continued their course to the north for two days, then turned west toward the Wabash, which stream they followed to the Ohio, destroying villages, growing grain and crops of all kinds, and taking back as prisoners many squaws and young Indians.

In the meantime, Gov. St. Clair had been busy with preparations for a larger expedition, that he was to command in person; with headquarters at Lud low Station, a small stockade six miles from Cincinnati, up Mill Creek, he or ganized a force of 2,300 soldiers and 600 militia, with artillery, cavalry, and all the appointments of a complete army. It was the most formidable force ever, before seen in the West. Under instructions from the Secretary of War, Gen. St. Clair was with this army to move north to the junction of the St. Joseph's; and St. Mary's Rivers and build a large fort; then a line of forts to protect his! communication with Fort Washington.

St. Clair S Expedition And Defeat

September 17, they marched to a point on the east bank of the Great Miami River and built Fort Hamilton; then marched forty- four miles, and, on October 12, commenced to construct Fort Jefferson, six miles south of where Greenville now stands; October 24, resumed their march, with difficulty making seven miles a day, reaching a branch of the Wabash; November 3, threw up earth works; were attacked by the Indians at daylight November 4. After three hoars' hard fighting, the Americans were totally routed and driven from camp, with! the loss of all their artillery, baggage and supply trains, and 890 men and 16; officers killed and wounded. The retreat was continued thirty miles to Fort Jefferson. It was the most disastrous campaign that had ever been made in the; West.

With the destruction of this army, all frontier settlements were exposed to the savages, who now rushed on, flushed with victory. The rapid retreat was continued. to Fort AVashington, which place they reached November 8.

In December, Gen. James Wilkinson was placed in command, and, in Jan uary, 1792, started an expedition to the scene of " St. Clair's Defeat," arriving there February 1, in a deep snow. By the General's orders, fatigue parties; were detailed to bury the dead and gather up Government property that had not been destroyed, On the 3d, the troops returned to Fort Jefferson.

Fort St. Clair, one mile west c f Eaton, was erected in the winter of 1791 - 92 Forts Hamilton, St. Clair and Jefferson were garrisoned with troops sent iron Fort AVashington, and, at different times during the year 1792, were attacked bj the Indians, who kept up active hostilities against the whites.

Monday night, November 6, Maj. Adair, who was returning from Fort Jefier son with 100 Kentuckians, repulsed 250 Indians who attacked him near For St. Clair.

Mad Anthony

Gen. Anthony W ayne, an officer of the Revolution, was, in 1792, designate! by President AVashington to succeed St. Clair in command of the AVestern Army In June, he arrived at Pittsburgh and began the organization of his troops through summer and fall this preparation continued, and in the spring of 1793 with his army, he came down the Ohio in boats, and went into camp at tb< mouth of Mill Creek.

Several months were given to drill and organization, while Peace Commissioners at " Grand Glaize " and the Maumee Rapids were endeavoring to make permanent peace, in which they failed, and on August 17, the meeting was broken up, of which fact Gen. Wayne was immediately notified. October 7, he, with an army of 3,600, marched from Fort Washington up Mill Creek Valley, passed Forts Hamilton and St. Clair. On the morning of the 17th, the rear o-aard, consisting of ninety-one men, was attacked and defeated at a point half way between Fort St. Clair and Fort Jefferson. In December, Gen. Wayne milt Fort Greenville, on the ground on which the town of Greenville now stands, and placed his troops in winter quarters. Near the close of the month, he sent a detachment twenty-two miles to the front to build Fort Recovery on the field of St. Clair's defeat, which was immediately strongly garrisoned.

The army worked hard all winter, drilling, practice-firing and preparing for the coming campaign. All outposts were in constant danger, were frequently attacked, but without loss to the Americans. June 30, 1794, Fort Recovery was attacked by a force of 1,500 Indians and British, who, after a twolays' fight, were driven off. They were found to be on the way to the Little Miami River, expecting to camp at Old Chillicothe. July 26, Gen. Wayne received a re-enforcement of 1,600 mounted Kentuckians, and on the 28th moved forward with his whole army. August 8, he built Fort Defiance at the junction of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers. August 13, a flag of truce was sent to the Indians, offering peace. On the 16th, it returned, asking for delay, to which the General did not reply, but marched on, reaching the Maumee at the rapids on the 20th, and fought his celebrated battle of the Fallen Timbers, in which he defeated the Indians in sight of the British Fort Miami. The troops camped an the battle-field for three days, and by easy mai'ches reached Fort Defiance August 27, where they remained till September 14, when they marched to the junction of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Rivers, and built Fort Wayne, according to the plans given Gen. St. Clair in 1791. A garrison was left at the fort. October 28, the army started on the return march to Fort Greenville, and went into winter quarters November 2.