Washington County, Ohio - Chapter 4: War with the Indians, 1902

Chapter 4: War with the Indians

St. Clair's Defeat - Massacre at Big Bottom - Belpre and Beverly - Forts at Marietta AND Harmar - Farmers' Castle and Fort Frye - Ohio Company Affairs AT Low Ebb - Joseph Kelly - General Wayne's Successful Campaign - Dawning of a Brighter Era for Ohio Colonists - Capture and Escape - Reminiscences of War Times and of Later Years - The Indians in Ohio - Letters of General Putnam - List of the Pioneers at the Forts During the Indian Troubles - Pioneers Killed by the Indians.

The second year of the ]\Iuskingum settlemlent was one of extreme want ; the third wa!i the beginning of a long and bloody war. In the fall of 1790 General Harmar led an expes. dition against the Indians at the head of the Wabash River. He destroyed their towns and cornfields but accomplished little. The next year General St. Clair advanced with an illdisciplined crowd that hardly deserved the name of army, although it contained many true soldiers. In what is now Mercer County the Indians attacked him and won the greatest victory ever achieved by them. On the i8th of November, Capt. George IngersoU wrote to General Putnam and gave some account of the battle. He wrote of the ill health of the aged commander. General St. Clair, who was evidently physically unfit to contn;and an army or to perform active service.

"Colonel Darke, who was in Braddock's defeat, and has been in many other actions, declares on his honor they are but faint in description compared to what may be (said) of this campaign, if justice be done."

Alleanwhile the settlemient on the ;M'uskingum had suffered. The little band at Big Bottom, 40 nn'Ies above Marietta, was attacked on the 2nd of Januar\% 1791, and 12 of them were killed. There was great alarm at Marietta, but no general attack was made by the Indians, who lurked about the forts, killed one man, and drove away the cattle. At this time there were only 20 soldiers at Fort Harmar and in all the settlements near it there were but 287 settlers capable of bearing arms. Many of these were ven,' poorly equipped for service. From the letters written by the pioneers in that year, it is evident that they felt themselves neglected by the general govemm'ent; but in truth that government was too weak tO' give much help.

Belpre And Beverly

The majority of the pioneers wlio came to Marietta were farmers and good judges of land. Hence, we observe that they selected for their first settlements the wide bottoms. In making their assignment tO' individual settlers, tiie section lines of the original survey were disregarded and the land was laid out in long strips, giving each settler a frontage on the river, which was then the highway, and, what was still more important giving to each a fair share of hill and bottom land. Hence, it happened that the settlers at Marietta w-ere soon attracted by the advantages of the "Beautiful Meadow," lying opposite the mouth of the Little Kanawha. Aliotit 40 of the pioneers made a settlement on this land in the winter of 1788-89, drawing lots for their portion. This settlemait was distributed along the Ohio River in three parts, known as the Upper Settlement, the Middle Settlement and Newberry. On account oi the beauty of the land it was called Belle Prairie - Belleprie - and at last Blelpre or "Beautiful Meadow."

They suffered severely from the famine, caused by the early frost of October, 1789, which almost destroyed their com crop and that winter they also shared in the kindness of Isaac Williams, from whom Williamstown derives its name. Nearly all the men ^^'*ho settled at Belpre had been soldiers in the Revolutionary Army and the majority had been officers, but all «ere shrewd, intelligent farmers.

In the winter of 1789 a second association of 39 members moved 20 miles up the Muskingum and occupied the wide plain in the vicinity of the present site of Beverly, but a few went to the west side of the river to build a mill on Wolf Creek, a description of which is found elsewhere. This settlement was first called Painfield, afterward Waterford, a namje still borne by the township, and later the to\\Ti received the name of Beverly. This settlement was more fortunate than the one at Belpre in that it had a fair crop of corn in the fall of 1789.

In the winter of 1790, 36 men went to Big Bottom and l^egan a block-house on the east side of the Muskingum, about a mile below the present site of the Stockport bridge. The remains of the block-house have been discovered in recent years and the site marked by a stone. The block-house was never finished, for here the first attack upon the pioneers was made by the Indians and 12 men were killed, as mentioned in another place. The settlement at this place was then abandoned until the close of the war.

St. Clair's defeat and the attack on the advance post at Big Bottom warned the settlers that they must for the time concentrate their forces and prepare for defense. At ]M arietta there was the Campus Martins, already begun and now hastily strengtiiened, and the "Stockade," at what was known as the "Upper Point," that is the territory bounded by the Ohio River, the lower part of Front Street, a line running to the M'uskingum, about half \\-ay between Butler and Green streets, and the ISiuskingum River. This was protected by a stockade of logs and by the cabin walls. On the opposite side of the M'uskingum River Avas Fort Harmar, still garrisoned with a few soldiers, but at times during the war almost deserted.

The old soldiers in the Belpre settlemait concaitrated at a point on the Ohio below the bluff, nearly opposite the middle of what is now called Blamerhassett's Island, and there built a fort which was known as "Farmers' Castle." The settlers at Painfield built a stockade near the Muskingum River, a short distance below the point where the Beverly bridge now stands. They also built a small' blockhouse on the west side to protect fariTKers at work. The mill, mentioned elsewhere, on Wolf Creek was unprotected hut was not destroyed, although visited at different times by the Indians.

It is said that Jabez Barlow, who had lived a few months in the trunk of a hollow sycaniOre and who had afterward built a cabin, persisted in remaining on his farm after the war had begun, saying that he had "never harmed the Indians," but he was finally chased into the fort.

It is hard for us to appreciate the trials and privations of the settlers thus gathered together in the garrison. For the ne.xt four years, farming, trading and visiting could only be carried on at the risk of capture or death.

Ohio Company Affairs At Low Ebb

In the midst of the Indian war, the colonists were so discouraged that many were reachto abandon the settlement. The Ohio Company had in the first four years spent $30, ooo' in specie for the general welfare and defense; no more land could be sold and even those who iiad received donation tracts of 100 acres were thinking of remo\-ing to safer quarters ; the payment of the other half million dollars was due and the company had no means of meeting their engagement.

In these straits they sent a petition to Congress on the 2nd of March, 1792, asking for better terms than those e.xtorted by the Congress of the Confederation. In this petition they said :

"The resident proprietors sensibly feel the great loss of men and property which they have sustained as well as the extreme distress and suffering they endured the last year. There is every reason to- believe that, unless they are relieved from that state of suspense and uncertainty respecting their title with which their minds have so long exercised, they will make no further exertions to defend a settlemait from which they are at any time liable to be driven, that if the tomahawk and scalping knife do not prevent an escape, they will immediately retreat to some place of greater security."

In 1792 the Indians on the Wabash were detached from the other tribes by tlie labors of General Putnam ^\-ho made a treaty with them;, after a great deal of ceremony and the judicious distributian of trinkets. The letters received by him while on this mission give pathetic glimpses of the darker scenes in pioneer life. A wife seeks a husband and a son captured in what is now Jefferson County. A husband seeks a wife who iiad been carried off from the mouth of Harding Creek. Many parents seek their lost children, and one poor Kentuckian asks for the return of three slaves.

Joseph Kelly

Thirty years ago tliere lived in ^Marietta an old man, Joseph Kelly, who, when about six years of age, was captured by the Indians, tied on the back of a stolen cow, and thus conveyed to their village on the Maumee. Here he was kept for five years, long enough to forget his mother tongue and to become thr,roughly accustomed to the savage life. After Wayne's treaty, he was rescued through the exertions of Colonel Meigs and brought back to Marietta. But the widowed mother could not again see the face of her boy. The awful spectacle of a husl>and murdered and a child snatched away- by savages had actually blinded her eyes.

When Mr. Kelly grew to manhood some of his Indian playmates visited him. They remembered that he was a fleet runner. So they picked one of their own number and calling Mir. Kelly by his Indian name said, "Lala run."' He did run a race and beat their champion. He always defended the Indians and said they were more sinned against than sinning.

As soon as possible President Washington sent the hero of Stony Point. General ^^'ayne, to repair the disaster and restore confidence in the settlements. He had the task of creating an army and transporting it through a widerness. Hence his movements seem very slow.

but he protected the settlements as he advanced, and made no mistakes. In the summer of 1792 he collected his army near Pittsburg; in the spring of 1793 he moved to Fort Washington; thence he proceeded north\vard and in December of that year he built Fort Greenville in what is now Darke County. The next j^ear (1794) he built Fort Recovery and here in June, 179s, he was attacked by the Indians under Little Turtle. The red men were defeated and in August of the same year Wayne himself advanced to the attack and chased the Indians to the shadow of the fort of tiseir British allies. Wayne then rested at Greenville, where in 1795 the representatives of 13 trites, or the "thirteen fires," as they were called, made a treaty which had a great influence upon the subsequent history of Ohio. If we return to a county map of this State we may observe that the northern boundaries of Tuscarawas and Knox counties do not extend in a line due east and west but that a part of their boundary falls on a line extending from near Loramie in Shelby County. Tuscarawas and Knox counties have thus preserved in their northern boundaries a part of the treaty line agreed upon in 1795 between General Wayne and the Indians, all land south of this line being ceded to the whites.

This treaty marks the beginning of a new era in the settlement of the Northwest. The settlers no longer remained clustered al»ut a few militaiy posts, but pushed forward to select the best tracts of land wherever they could be found. Hence, the year 1796 marks the beginning of permanent settlements in many places. Twoi deserve special mention. When Connecticut pretended to surrender her fictitious claim to Western lands^ - a claim already disallowed by parliamentary action in England and by judicial decisions both in England and America - she retained what was for a time known as New Connecticut and is now called the Western Reserve. In this tract.

The State of Virginia had also reserved the tract between the Scioto and Little Miami. To this region Col. Nathaniel Massie led a large party in 1796 and in the fertile plain on the Scioto founded the town of Chillicothe. The settlements grew rapidly and from them came the men who were destined in a great measure to manage the affairs of the new State for the first half century of its existence. Thus, with courage and fidelity the group of pioneers at the mouth of the Muskingum had laid a foundation cemented by religion and morality. It remained for another group of soldiers and statesmen, those on the Scioto and Miami, to erect the superstructure ; but in every line from floor to pinnacle of the fair edifice we can see evidence of the wisdom and strength of the first builders.

Capture And Escape

In 1792, ^Moses Hewitt, a young man of Neal's Station, one mile up the Little Kanawha, was taken prisoner by the Indians. They kept him closely tied or closely watched; but one day, on the way, when they were letting him walk untied, they discovered a bee-tree and stopped to take the honey. There were three Indians. One started off some distance to fetch some water, leaving his gun at the beetree; one climbed the tree with his tomahawk to cut away an opening to the honey ; the third stood by the guns.

Hewitt pretended to be very anxious about getting the hone}-, but he had high hopes that the time of his escape was drawing near. He thought that the Indian would have tO' climb upi to hand the tin pail to the other to put the hone}' in. In that case he thought he could easily shoot both, and have a loaded gun left with which he could kill the other as he should return with the water. But as soon as the Indian on the tree wanted the bucket, he took

Continuing their march, the party met some Indians and stopped and talked awhile. Hewitt lay down and pretended to be asleep. Drawing one hand over his face he could hear some words and see their gestures, as Ihey pointed to him. He was con\-inced they meant to bum him when they should arrive at their towns.

They left him at their camp, safely tied, as they thought. As soon as they were out of sight he commenced struggling to get his hands loose. After several hours he succeeded. They had left a small piece of jerked meat in the camp. He took that and started, shaping his course as well as he could for the left branch of the Milskingum.

He traveled all that day and night and till dark ne.Kt night. He then lay down, fell asleep and when he awoke the sun was an hour high. \Vhen he had reached the left branch of the Muskingum, he made a little raft of dry sticks on which he hastened down stream till -within sight of Fort Frye at Waterford. He went ashore, and carefully advanced till he was wiithin speaking distance of the sei-jtiy. He Was supplied with clothing and food and as soon as he was sufficiently recruited he returned to his friends at Little Kanawha. I remember seeing liim soon after at our garrison ( in Belpre) and hearing him relate the whole story.

In January, 1790, a new arrangement was made in the militia. A company of artillery was formed, commanded by Capt. William ^lills, of Marietta, Lieut. George Ingersoll, of Belpre, and the late Gen. Joseph Buck, orderly sergeant. The infantry company was commanded by Maj. Nathan Goodale, of Belpre, and Lieut. Anselm Tupper, of [Marietta.

Early in the spring I was transferred from the artillery and made orderly sergeant of the company of infantry, and it became mv duty to keep a roll of every person amenable to military service; to attend at the place of public worship with my roll; call every man's name; examine his arms and ammunition, and see that he was equipped according to law. I had also to note down and report all delinquencies.

The territorial militia law made it the duty of the troops to assemble on Sunday morning at 10 o'clock for inspection. Those who attended public worship, and there were few who did not, after inspection marched from the parade ground to the room where service was held, preceded by the clergyman and Colonel Sproat, the commandant at the Point garrison, with his Revolutionar_\- sword drawn, and hy General Putnam and General Tupper at the Campus Martins. The citizens generally fell into the ranks, and the procession mo\ed in militar\- array, to wait on di\ine service: the fife and drum supplying the place of the cfiur:lrgoing bell in the Eastern States.

In case of an alarm on the Saljbath that portion of the congregation who were armed rushed out of the meeting to face the danger, or pursue the Indians, which several times happened.

Before the arrival of Rev. Daniel Story, who was the stated pastor, Thomas Lord. Esq., of Connecticut, who had been educated at Yale College, and studied theology preparatory to the ministry, officiated as clergyman for the settlement, but Dr. Story arrived in 1789 and was the regular clergyman after that time. Col. Ebenezer Battelle officiated and held reading meetings at Belpre and at \^'aterford.

Pre\'ious to the commencement of hostilities, by this weekly inspection (when most of the citizens were at home on Sunday, who were away during the week) the commandant was informed what proportion were armed and equipped to defend the settlement; emigrants frequently arrived without arms, so that the number of guns fell short of the numljer of men and the deficiency could not be mlade up in the settlement, and those persons only, who were known to have arm's, \\ere proceeded against as delinquents. A short time previous to the war, Colonel Sproat had been authorized by the Secretary of War to enlist a company of men into the United States service, out of the settlers, to be an'ployed in guarding and defending the settlements, and to superintend and them to those points, which most needed tlneir assistance, and to appoint a committee to furnish subsistence for these troops. A\'illiam Fearing was appointed such a committee. Colonel Sproat was considered commander-in-chief of the military and his aid was solicited to procure arms for the citizens, who were deficient ; lie sent immediately to Pittsburg to the commander of the old United States fort, who- sent down about 30 old soldier's muskets, which had been thrown W as unfit for use. and very rusty and more or less damaged. The blacksmith was set to repair them, wihich were then distributed w;here the service most recpiired ; ix)wder and lead wfere furnished and cartridges fixed to suit each caliber, and deposited in the block-house, ready to be distributed in the first emergency.

It was not until June, 1792, that Colonel Sproat received two boxes, containing 25 stand each, of United States muskets, with bayonets, new from the factor}', which were dealt out to the soldiers and inhabitants, on their signing a receipt to return them, when called for, to Colonel Sproat. These arms wert never called for and are now extant in the county.

The county was now considered well armed, many rifles were procured and brought into the county. Most of the Northern men preA'iou'S to coming here were unacquainted with the rifles and the woods ; but by practicing upon the example of those who had been educated among the woods and the Indians, they soon became good hunters and expert woodmen ; those who were well anned and were good marksmen were commonly selected as sentinels for the working parties, and were always ready to start upon any discovery or pursue an Indian trail. Thus by being familiar with danger and inured to the hazard of a re-encounter with their enemy, the}' had gained that confidence in themselves which promised, in case of meeting an Indian, the odds of battle in their own favor. Many followed hunting continually, others were out with the spies, or in small parties, so that it was difficult for an Indian to make a track within five utiles of a garrison without Ijeing detected. Now a large portion of the inhabitants become fearless of danger from the Indians, and preferred some employment or some enterprise outside of to being confined in and about the garrisons. Which is evident from the fact that nearly the whole of the 100,- 000 acres of donation land had been surveyed and deeded away, and improvaiients made - cabins, girdling and clearings - previous to Wayne's treaty, and of those whose lands bordered on large streams, many had moved and many more had been ready to mo\'e oil to tlieir farms ere the news of peace. Esquire Putnam had built a block-ho'use opposite me, the fall before the treaty, and kept hands at work there. I cleared and fenced two and a half acres of land and set out 50 apple trees. Six months previous to the peace, a block-house was built at Cat's Creek, and another at the south branch of Wolf Creek, where Sherman Waterman Was killed. The word that land was to be given for settlement on the IMuskingum had spread through the upper country and had induced many persons to come into the settlement, and to gain a residence, which would entitle them to a loo-acre lot. After old residents \\-ere supplied, those who' had families, and those w:ho could furnish some evidence of becoming permanent settlers, had the first choice, then a month's residence would entitle one to a lot. Finally, anyone who would pay $5, the price of surveying, got a deed for 100 acres. Any actual settler by paying the expense, could obtain any lot not given away, by getting any person who had not taken a lot in his own name, to take a lot and convey it to the settler. .All the lots along the Ohio River below the Muskingum belonged to the Ohio Company's purchase.

of employing spies was adopted pre\-ious to the commencement of hostilities. Spies were stationed at Marietta and Waterford, three months before the massacre at Big Bottom.

The necessary number of spies for the different settlements were taken into the service and paid by the United States - $1 per day ; and as not only the safety of the property, but the lives of the inhabitants, depended on the faithfulness and \'igilance of the spies, none were selected whose characters were not filled out with these qualifications :

Hann'Iton Kerr, afterward "Major Kerr of Meigs County, was about 25 years of age, a native of Pennsylvania. His person a little above the average size (his physical and mental powers far above his contour), was strong, athletic and beautiful, and his countenance, the index of candor, penetration and manly dignity. His faithfulness and vigilance in guarding the settlements comananded the esteem and confidence of all whoi knew him.

Edward Henderson, a native of Rutland, Massachusetts, about 30 years of age, almost six feet in height, strong, athletic and brave. He also was a vigilant and faithful spy.

Capt. Joseph Rogers, a native of Pennsylvania, age about fifty, above the middle size. He was a gentlemanly, brave and humane old soldier. He was an officer in General ]\Iorgan'e rifle company, at the taking of Burgoyne, having sei-\-ed honorably through the Revolution. He resided some time with his friends, hut having cast his bread upon the \\1aters O'f the Revolution., he with many an old soldier marched toward the setting sun in hopes to find it in the West. Temperate and brave, his heart was the fountain of human kindness.'

I Neil MicGufi^e}-, a native of Kew Hampshire, about 50 years old, large and robust. He had been a subaltern in the Re\-olutirin, an ardent and reputable soldier, au-d left the land of granite for the alluvial plains nf the West to find a home, better suited to the wants of a growing family. A faithful and vigilant spy.

Peter Neiswanger, a strong athlete, six feet tall. A Pennsvlvania Dutchman, formidable not only to his enemies but sometimes to his friends, but a pretty good spy.

Capt. William McCulloch, of Wheeling, was for some time a spy at Marietta, but left the service before the conclusion of the war. A most excellent spy and an amiable man.

The spies were not always stationary. They were frequently shifted from one garrison to another by their own request. Sometimes, one retired and another was employed.

^\'illiam Halbert, from Pennsylvania, landed \\-ith his family, who afterward removed to Belpre, and was killed by the Indians at the irtouth of the Little Hocking, early in the settlement. He was an elderly n?,an and employed as a spy, when killed.

Two men, Benjaiuin Patterson and John Shepherd, from the State of New York, were emplo}-ed as spies, three of the first years in Belpre and then moved down the river.

At the time of the contro\-ersy between Pennsylvania and Connecticut, relative to thenconflicting land claims, on the Susquehanna, the State of Pennsyh-ania appointed Timothy Pickering, at Salem, Alassachusetts, the old honest Federalist, to go upon the ground and t meet frthers and try to adjust the difference. While there, this same Ben Patterson was one of two or three who took Pickering from his bed in the night, and convcA^ed him three miles j into the -woods and bound "him fast to a white [ oak sapling and left him there to starve to death. But after two or three days, Patterson relented and went and unbound him and set him at liberty, from which place he fled to the State of New York, and from there to Marietta. It was not infrequent that similar characters called upon our settlements, but finding neither plunder nor speculation, and finding their victims pursuing, they floated down the river. Likewise Cornelius Delano, Joel Oaks were earl}- employed as spies at Belpre and continued to do service during the war. They were industrious and faithful Yankees and gave se-

When the Ohio Company first canre out, every person found in this region was a woodsman, a hunter of game and Indians, knew their customs and habits of warfare, and was always ready and proud of imparting his information to whoever would listen to his teaching. The Yankees placed in the school for hunting and fighting Lidians were apt scholars and soon became able to practice, with skill acquired, upon the precepts and examples, and compete with their monitors, and before the close of the war we had rarely any other rangers or hunters for the surveying parties but Yankees.

To the plan early adopted of employing rangers, may be attributed the general safety and success of the first settlement of this county. It was first adoiDted by General Putnam and the Ohio Company and afterward pursued by the United States. The Indians finding themselves so closely watched by men whO' were iheir compeers in their own arts of warfare, and mpre vigilant and untiring soldiers, become indifferent to enterprises where they were likely to meet \\\i\\ more kicks than coppers, and which probably might result in disasters far exceeding any benefits likely tO'be obtained.

The hope of reward is the great spring oi human action. Men who are not paid and fed and clothed may make good citizens for a short emergency, but never make good soldiers. Their patriotism soon cools and their "courage oozes out of the ends of their fingers." The hope of plunder is the main stimulus with the Indians, therefore they crossed the Ohio below and above and passed by us, and went a hundred miles onto the waters of the Monongahela, where there was more plunder and less watchfulness. Revenge is sweet, but must not be sought too dear; small parties of from 50 to 100 braves, who came in to attack us, seldom hung about more than a week. And the large parties of a thousand or more, such as defeated General St. Clair and attacked Fort Recovery, could not keep together but four or five days.

The Turks could not repulse the Russians, nor the Arabs the French, because they had no financial system to provide for the family of the soldier while he fights the battles of his country.

It is estimated that in seven years previous to our war in 1791, the Indians on the frontier south of the Ohio River killed and took prisoners 1,500 persons, stole 2,000 horses and other property to the amount of $50,000. This was the declared object of the party that killed Colonel Carpenter and, subsequently, the family of Ann strong.

The first physician who came to settle in Marietta was Dr. Thomas Farley, a son of General Farley, of old Ipswich, Massachusetts. He had been educated for a physician and studied with old Dr. Holyoke. and walked with him (as his friends said) three years in the streets of Salemi. He was a modest, amiable young man, always leady to obey the calls of humanity and had the good will and confidaice of all who knew him. But as there were few people, and those young and healthy (except the disease of an empty purse), his practice must have been vei-y. limited, and he was not prepared for any other business ; his medium exhausted, he tarried until the fall of 1790, when he returned home and did not return. I have been particular because he was from old Ipswich, where 1 had some acquaintances, and being acquainted with the Planning family, of which my mother \\'as one, born in Needham, 15 miles from Boston.

Dr. Tnie was here in 1789 and Dr. ]\liclntosh in 1 79 1. They were both appointed assistant surgeons in the spring of 1791; Dr. True at Marietta, Dr. Mcintosh at Waterford, at $22 per month, for three months, as new appointments took place every three months. These appointments were made in contemplation that an attack might be made upon some of the garrisons and to provide timely aid for such an event.

To get the appointmeiit of a subaltern and surgeon's mate at $22 jier month were berths to be sought after in those dry times for cash, when Ohio Company paper \\-as worth about a tithe as much as sliin plasters, and the precious metal as scarce as snow in harvest. Even a sergeant at $8 and a soldier at $2 per month were sought for and in fact, as they created credit to that amount, constituted for the greater part the floating capital in the settlement.

Dr. Sumner, from Connecticut, and Dr. Scott, from Pennsylvania, who were surgeons with General Harmar, were said to be men of ability in their profession; and were amiable, kind and diligent men. Tliey were always ready and cheerful to render their aid and pro-, fessional services to any of the citizens, who required their assistance, without pay, saying they felt it their duty to be always ready to alleviate and relieve all those cases nf sickness and distress incident to a new cnuutry, isolated as we were. I have known them tn jum;) into a canoe and go to Belpre to administer to sick persons they had not known before.

Dr. Samuel Barnes, of JMassachusetts, came in 1792 and was employed as a surgeon at Belpre and Marietta several times. He was surgeon for the United States troops in the winter of 1792. In 1793 he married Cynthia Goodale. daughter of JNIajor Goodale, and resided in Alarietta until the close of the war. In the winter of 1792-93, a general inoculation took place in consequence of th.e smallpox being brought into some of the settlements, but the infection did not take in any instance. A second inoculation succeeded ; but many persons continued a severe dieting for twO' weeks, reduced the system too far, and had the disease very severely; while others who made little alteration in their diet had it light and mtoderate.

After the war Dr. Barnes moved to Athens, where he died leaving a wife and three daughters. The family moved tO' Franklinton. Mrs. Barnes later mJarried Col. James Kilbourn. One daughter is the wife of William Joel Butler, and one the wife of M,r. Demus Adonis, of Columbus - all rq^utable and wealthy.

In January, 1790, a boat on the wav to Kentucky put on shore a very sick man and his fa-- I'y by the name of Welch. He was taken to the house of James Owen, called the "Boston House." It was built by some half dozen youn* men from Boston. Some were gentlemen and some artisans; but as there were no arts absolutely necessary, but the art of handling an arrow, ax, ancl no employment but clearing land, the contrast was too great between those employments which are necessary and lucrative in the commercial and manufacturing city of Boston, and the wild, wilderness city of Marietta. The purse got empty, and they returned and left their house, which was a long, narrow cabin, and stood on that corner where the bank now" stands (I then lived on the opposite corner of Market Square, where the Post Office now stands) ; it was occupied by a family brought on by General Harmar (and I think where he died) by the name of Owen. Mr. Welch's disorder provedtobe the smallpox. As the smallpox had not been in Marietta, a town meeting was called ; a small house was built not far from| where Marietta College now stands, to which he was removed with necessary attendants, but he lived only a few days.

A town meeting was called, and held in the northwest block-house at the Campus 'Slartius, at which it was decided that all persons who had not had the smallpox should accomntodate themselves with houses back on the plain and there be inoculated. Dr. Farley procured matter and inoculated and tended the whole. One house at the upper end of the big cornfield had 23 cases. Other houses were strung along down the plain. Colonel Stacyhad a house near the creek below Mt. Printers, occupied by his two sons and son-in-law and families - nearly 20 persons. Old Mts; Stacy, aged about 70, and an elderly lady, ]Mrs. ^^'insor from the Campus ]\Iartius. were the only two lost by inoculation.

The intermittent, or the fever ague, was the fashionable disorder among all classes 'along the streams the first, second or third year afteitheir arrival. It commenced about the first of August and continued with variations until the sap run in the spring". Maple sugar in the first settlement formed a valuable constituent in many families, where solid food was scarce and dear, and in fact not to be had (in particular where there was no money), and suga:r was a substitute for many things. It was used freely and sometimes profusely, and when the humid sultry season arrived the sugar was gone ; and the fever and ague set in. Remitting fevers were occasional but l>y no means jdixvalent : they were not prevalent until a longtime after the war. Until the close of the war, the emigrants who canTe into the settlements were mostly young or middle aged. Industry and temperance were the precaution of most disorders, and a raned}' for many more.

Dr. Jewett, who resided at Belpre about the beginning of the 19th century, Isecame famous for curing the fever and ague. He first cleansed the stomach, and succeeded this with a diet O'f light food : on the appr( lach of the chill, he gave large doses of laudanum ; when the fe\er wore off he gave the most stimulating and nourishing food the stomach would bear, and so repeated until the fits subsided, which -common]}- occurred in aix>ut four or fi\-e days.

General Putnam was in the habit of relating an anecdote of his own experience in the fever and ague. After concluding a treaty of peace with the Wabash and Illinois Indians in September, 1792, he was attacked with the fever and ague, in his superb barge, rowed by United States soldiers. He had a surgeon on board, who> undertook to> prescribe for his disorder. The latter debarred the General from all kinds of stimulating food and drink. When they got this side of Gallipolis, they landed at night-fall at a camp of hunters on the banks of the Ohio^ They had a profusion of bear meat, venison and turkey, and feasted thenisel\-es and made e\-ery person but General Putnam was interdicted from the camp kettle (the niany f unites of which were a feast) by his physician. l>ut he lay down as peaceably as the craving of hunger would admit and when the party were all asleep he crept to the camp kettle and feasted his apj^etite on the fat bear meat and venison as long as he dared

Our settlements so far as I recollect were considered healthy, and nothing like an epidemic prevailed (the fever and ague excepted) until that of 1807, of which you are acquainted.

The reasons : It is the opinion of most people with whom I have con\-ersed on the subject, that our winters, generally, were more moist and mild before the land was cleared than they have l>een since, and our summers more humid and sultry, i never knew the ground, to freeze in the bottoms in wintef, wliere it was covered with leaves. All the alluvial lands were covered with a dense forest which kept off the wind and sun. Tlie moisture was retained much longer tlian in cleared land. An exhalation was generall)- seen rising from those forests in winter, when not prevented by hard frosts or snow. These vapors, when it was not too cold, seemed to ameliorate the air, and render it more mild. The banks Oif the streams being lined with a heavy forest of trees prevented the wind from sweeping oA-er the bottomls and carr\-ing off the warm vapors.. There were, .uniformly, mjore or less back of the bottoms, strips of wet land called slashes or swamps, which were kept open the greater part of the winter, and which retained the warmth of the earth or gave it out nioderatel_\- and prevented those sudden and violent changes such as we have experienced within a month past. We had very cold weather and deep snows, but they were steadier and lasted longer. In the fore part of Januaiy, 1796. we had a severe cold turn, the ice froze nine inches, and immediately the snow fell two feet deep. We had a good solid road cx\-er the Muskingum, over which we liauled walnut logs to General Putnam's mill for two or three weeks (as we conld nrake a teaml) and, as there were no roads without crossing the river at every bend, the snow path was improved from Waterford to Marietta for nearly a month, and in 1799 we had a similar winter. The cold set in and the snow fell early in January, and we had good sledding across the waters until the 23rd of February. On the 22nd, the late Governor

Meigs delivered an oration on the death of Washington (who died the December before), and nearly all of the people along the river, froni \\'aterford down, passed down and up, across the river, on sleds and sleighs.

But we had an early spring. In the winter of 1801-02, Captain Devol finished the ship "Muskingum." 0/n the ist of November the snow fell three inches, and there was a very hard frost ; after that the winter was so open, that a frost hard enough to bear a man was rarely seen through the winter and spring. When the earth is cloaked with a forest, the sun and wind are UTeasiirably shut out from the surface and pre\-ented from carrying of¥ the warmi \-apors that arise, \\-hich diminish the tendency to sudden and violent changes. While the constant exhalation from the valle}- furnishes material for snow and rain, the snow falls more copious and lays longer upon the ground, and keeps the temperature steadier, milder, and free from sO' many vicissitudes.

Tli'is has been the case in New England; they ha\e but but about half as much good sledding now as they had 50 years ago. It is said that it was so in Italy, when the Romans first redeemed that country from the Ijarbarians, and before the earth was scoured of its forests, that tliey had deep snows and steady winters ; now they have little snow and much changeable weather. They arc a little north of us.

I have attributed our former warm and sultry weather in summer to^ the great humidity of the atmosphere, which was occasioned by the moisture retained by the trees, shrubs and high weeds in the night and gi\-en out in the da}tinie. along- the Ijottoms. Not so on the hills, there being little or no underbrush, the air had a free passage, but so soon as the field g'ot up in the range, the dews were heavy and retained until about 10 o'clock. My theory may be very erroneous, but it probably will be very harmless, except giving you the trouble to read the reasons.

The first flood after I came was in March, 1790. It was about six feet deep in my house, \\ihere the Post Ofifice now stands. There was no other high flood for se\-eral years. It

Our rivers were plentifully stored with fish, while the banks were covered with trees, and perishing vegetables, and insects, ancl were easily caught by a proper mode, the single hook and trot-line in deq:) water, or the spear in clear shoal water. Judge Gilbert Devol, of Waterford, late in the fall, when the water had got very cold and clear, found a deep hole in the river, in which he judged there must be fish. He made some very long gig poles, and went to the place and by striking down promiscuously, soon loaded his canoe. Tdiis was practiced with some success in after years.

The black cat and the pike were the largest, fish, the yellow cat next, the salmon, the bui¥alo, the perch and sturgeon, next, the sucker, last. I saw a black cat, caught by James Patterson, in 1790, which weighed 96 pounds. He fished for a living. He ancliored his canoe out in the river, in the evening, threw out his hcx>ks, and wrapped his blanket and laiid down and slept. This fish got fast to his line, and had power tO' drag his light anchor down into deep water, and then floated down to near the island, where he found himself w'hen he awoke. The yellow cat attains the size of 50 pounds, but a 20-pounder is the best size for eating. They were very fat, and if a little corned and smoked were almost equal to salmon and would keep dry a long time. The sturgeon, which were plenty, if cured a little were esteemed a good fish.

But the pike is the king of fish in our waters. Judge Gilbert Devol took a pike from the Muskingum which weighed 96 ix)unds, on the 2nd of July, 1790. He was a tall man, and when he had the pike on his gig pole and the pole on his shoulder, the pike dragged on the ground. This, fish was cooked for the Fourth of July dinner (1790). which was celebrated with an oration by Judge Varnum and attended by all the inhabitants and General Hamiar and many of his garrison. This large fish was taken with a gig, or spear. Tlie Ohio Company's boat "Alayflower" was lying- in the mouth of the Muskingum, and was used as a sort of store boat, and particularly for keeping fish. The offal being thrown over alongside, the fish were seen to come and feed on the offal of the small fish - shy at first, but becoming niore tame and accustomed to seeing and hearing people about the boat. Judge Devol and his son Gilbert prepared themselves with a proper canoe and gigs and, when informed, started the pike up the Mnskingiun and pursued him by his wake (meaning to tire him down) above the Campus Martins ; they then got above him and drove him back, as the fish are \'ery short-winded and soon tire when pursued. They were able to press himi and, before he could reach deep w-ater in the Ohio, he flagged and they came up and got him.

This practice is followed by all our lads who understand gigging fish. In New Jersey they ride the fish down in shoal water and gig them. Most of our fisln were caught upon the trot-line. I have known half a laarrel to- be caught of a night. They baited with all kinds of worms, fresh meat, crawfish, minnows and small fish kept in a gourd in which they had asafetida, tobacco or any strongly scented substance, which would be carried down with the stream and induce the fish to follow up to the bait.

The Indians had a mode of catching large pike, which is now practiced by our sportsman along- the banks on both sides oi tlie Ohio. They catch small fish, say of one or two pounds ; then they fasten with a stick a strong hook - with a line that can not easily be bitten ofT - into the mouth and through the body and out near the tail. They go to the mlouth of a creek, where the pike are waiting for small fish to come out. and throw this bait as far as possible out into the river, and haul it in suddenly so as keep the bait jumping on top of the water, as if in the act of running from an enemy. If there is a pike near, he will dart out and swallow the small fish and is sure to be hooked. - neighborhood of Marietta ; deer and turkeys, and occasionally elk and bufl:alo. In the winter of 1792, Air. Kerr and ]\Iir. Xeiswanger killed six or se\-en buffaloes on Duck Creek about Cedar Narrows. They \vere fat and a fine quality of beef. Judge Oilman said, better than any beef he ever ate.

It is admitted by beef-eaters that beef fatted on the range is higher flavored and jucier than if fatted in a pasture, and beef fatted on our pastures is much better than that raised upon the prairies of the West. The Indians who were in at the treaty concluded on the 9th of JanuaiT, 17S9, had destroyed, wasted and drove back the deer so that they were very scarce for a year or two.

But in the fall of 1 790. the beech and other mast were plenty on the bottoniE, which l^rought in turke}-s in abundance, so many that people were obliged to secure their corn before it was ripe, and, if there were any shocks O'f oats or wheat, they \\'ere obliged to cover them thick with bnish, to prevent their being destroyed. The turkeys were killed in all ways. One man killed 40 with a rifle one day. They were trapped, killed with clul;s and dogs until a turkey would not sell for a fip, because the people were cloyed and they could not be used. In the winter of 1792-93 Messrs. Kerr, Henderson and Neiswanger started from Marietta, went to the White Oak settlement, and killed 45 deer and hung them up; they came home next morning and got some horses they kept in garrison, and brought all the deer in.

In a fcAv years the deer got back to our neighborhood and I presume we have been better supplied with venison in the hills than in the more level country.

That the turkeys should beat in in search of beech mast, is not surprising; but that the squiri-els by millions should, simultaneously, 1 become itinerant, taking their course, swimming large waters, without apparently seeking for food, but, like the locust in Africa, stopping long enough to destroy eventhing thej' could j eat. whichi fell in th.eir way, and perhaps be- I fore cold weather would turn and come bac'r : is not so easy for me to account for.

They would get in, and before people were aware the side of the cornfields west of the woods \\ould be destroyed, and the field must be immediately gathered. When I was at Belpre, _Captain Dana had got about two bushels of uncleaned hemp seed and wheat a few rods from the house ; when we came back from dinner it was so completely covered with squirrels that nothing could be seen of the hemp seed. No one \\-.ho' had not seen them could have any correct idea of the numbers.

There were bears and panthers through the hills, but not so plenty, daring, or impudent as the woh'es and wild cats. They all liked hogs and pigs, but the bears and panthers were more shy and did not repeat their visits like the wolves.

A panther killed a hog belonging to Isaac Barker, at the Upper Settlemeit, Belpre. and carried him 60 rods through a snow nine inches deep, leaving the trail of the hog, and buried him by the side of a log. The panther was followed in the morning about two or three miles, found on a hill and killed.

The wolves were very troublesome, where they becamfe well acquainted. To presen-e your hogs a fence must be built, so high they could not get over, or you must cover -your pen with logs, so large as not to be thrown off. Large lots of hogs could defend themselves.

There were some few beaver, after the Indian left their waters ; Isaac Williams used to go trapping for them up the Mluskingum and Duck Creek. There were a iew small families, after we came up the Muskingum, one at Captain Devol's Island, and some at the n-jouth of the Rainbow, opposite me.

From the letters and reports of the sokliers and pioneers, it appears there were two sources of trouble with the Indians - the lawless character of many of the hunters on the frontier, an.d the constant iilotting of 'British agents from Detroit.

"I am as nuicli enamoured with this country as e\-er. I have watched vegetation with considerable attention and have obser\'ed everything flourish with the greatest luxuriance. I still entertain some hope of seeing }-ou agreeably settled in this country. Should a number of families form a compact settlement, I do not apprehend any danger from the Indians.

"The Indians have lately murdered two families in this quarter, one family about 20 miles below this, the other, 40. From the best accounts I can get this action was the result of personal resentment.

"THie present inhabitants of this country and the Indians will ever be at variance. The truth is, they are both savages. Though there are many g 1. .d pei >ple. \et the number of worthless fellows that ll.jck to the frontiers, and who li\-e by Iiunting, w ill e\er keep them in a broil. These will kill an Indian if they can get the advantage, will steal his horses and plunder his camp. The Indians will alwavs retaliate without discrimination and an innocent family fall victims to their revenge.

"The troops at this garrison are mostly gone to the mouth of the Muskingum, and the remainder are 'to go soon. It is supposed they are going further down, but their destination is not known."

The Delawares who lived on the upper part of the Muskingum were at first regarded as friends by the pioneers. General Harmar had quite a high opinion of their chief. Captain Pipe. Some other officers seem to ha\-e formed a very difi:'erent opinion about this noble savage, e\-en before he took part in the war of 1 791. The following letter, written by Gen. Rufus Putnam to Fisher Ames, who was the first member of Congress from the Boston district of Massachusetts, after the adoption of the Constitution, gives a vivid picture of the bloody beginning of that war:

Our prospects are much changed. Instead of peace and friendship with our Indian meighbars, a horrid savage war stares us in the face. The Indians, instead of being humbled by the destruction of the Shawnee towns and brought to beg for peace, appear determined on a general war in which our settlements are already involved. On the evening of the 2nd inst. they fell on a new settlement about 40 miles up the Muskingum, surprised a block-house, killed 12 persons and carried off three others. The persons killed are John and Philip Stacy, sons of Col. VVm. Stacy, from New Salem. Ezra Putnam, son of Major Ezra Putnam, from Middletown. in Massachusetts, John Camp from the same place, Jonathan Farewell from N. Hampshire, Zebulon Troop from Berne, William James from Connecticut, Joseph Clark from Rhode Island, a man by the name of Meeks with his wife and 2 children from Virginia; these were all killed in and at the blockhouse.

What number of Indians were concerned m this mischief or from what tribes we know not, but from those Indians who till lately used to visit our settlements every day withdrawing themselves entirely from our sight ever since the expedition against the Shawnees, there is little reason to doubt but the Delawares and Wyandots as well as others have had a hand in the business.

It is impossible for me to give you a just idea of the distress into which the evenit has thrown the inhabitants, especinll those of the settlements.

For my own part I have for some time been of the opinion that the spring would open with a general attack on the frontier, in which event I did not expect we should escape unless government should timely send troops for our protection.

We purchased our lands under an idea that they had been fairly obtained from the natives, for government told us so by their public acts. This, however, the Indians on our own arrival in the country told us was not true, and if the treaties with them prior to our coming are consulted, I believe it will appear the Indians are right, and that the lands were rather wrested than fairly purchased from them - at least the Indian-- considered it in this light. The treaty made by Governor St. Clair at Ft. Harmar wears a different form and by it the business seems pretty well patched up and I had hope that we should have had little or no trouble with them on that account, notwithstanding that some of their chiefs discovered that they were not verv well satisfied and that several chiefs among the tribes who treated 'with Governor St. Clair were not present and never consented to what was done.

Dear Sir : It was impossible to read your letter giving an account of the attack of the savages on the .settlement at Big Bottom without feeling a strong^ sympathy with you under the peculiar distress of your situation. However your fears may have interpreted the sense of the country towards you. I am happy to preceive that they are not indisposed to giving you effectual protection, though it will cost money. That circumstance too often throws cold water on the natural emotions of the public towards their distressed brethren.

You know that my opinion of the proper policy of Congress is, to manifest a fixed resolution to protect the most remote parts of the Union, to nurse the weak and to console the suffering remote settlements with a degree of tender solicitude proportioned to their defenseless condition. Congress has little occasion to make itself known to them except by acts of protection.

The most successful way to banish the ruinous idea of the future independence of the Western country is by doing good to the settlers, ' to gain their hearts. Our sun will set wdienever the Union shall he divided. But it is not necessary to notice the idea further. The iviea^ures of the present session of Congress. I think, will satisfy you that because you are remote you are not forgotten, and will not be abandoned to ithe savages. I enclose a letter to my old schoolfellow and townsman, Mr. Battelle. Will you please to convey it to him?

Samnel H. Parsons, in December, 1785, wi'ote from "Fort Finne}'," at the mouth of the Miami, to Capt. Jonathan Hart, in which he made this report about Indian affairs:

"Since we ha\e been here every means has been taken to bring in the Indians. The Wyandots and Delawares are here ; the other nations were coming.

"The British agents, our own traders, and the inhabitants of Kentucky, I am convinced, are all opposed to a treaty and are using every means to prevent it. Strange as this may seem, I have very convincing proof of its reality.

"Parties of Cherokees are now out to war. These Cherokees are but a name for all rascals of every tribe. We are informed by the Shawanese that they have driven these people from among them and they have settled on

At a later date General Putnam expressed the same opinion as Judge Parsons of the Indians on the Scioto, and urged the go\'ernment to build a fort and station a small garrison near the mouth of that ri\er.

In these letters there is abundant evidence of the conscious weakness of the general government. The adnKinistration was beset witli dangers not only from the Indians and the almost open hostility of British and Spaniards, but also from the indiscreet zeal of the settlers south of the Ohio. In 1787 General Harmar made this report to the Secretary of War :

"It is a mortifying circumstance that, while under the sanction of the Federal authority, negotiations and treaties are holding with the Indians, there should be such presumption in the people of Kentucky as to be forming expeditions against them."

Even after the adoption oif the Constitution and the inauguration of Washington, there was doubt and perplexity in dealing with the Indians. In 1792 General Putnam was sent to Vincennes on a mission which is explained in his private notes of a letter written t(j General Knox from Fort Washington, July 22nd :

[It is] "highly probabld that the principal chiefs from nearly all the western tribes with a great nun;ber of warriors and others may be collected at Vincennes. * * By a proper management they may be detached from the tribes which have originated the war."

A few days later he wrote from; the same place: "I am in some hopes of being admitted to speak with their high mightinesses, the Shawanese and other hostile tribes." With the W^estern tribes he concluded a treaty, but the Indians within the present limits of Ohio were bent on war. On his return from Vincennes to Marietta he made this report to General Wayne:

"On the 7th of October I sent a speech to the Dellawares and other hostile tribes inviting them to send some of their wise men to this place to speak with me on the subject of peace, but I hear nothing from them yet nor have I ever had nxuch e.xpectatian that they would hearken to the invitation. I shall however wait to the loth or 15th of January [1793] and then set out for Philadelphia and endeavor to convince, as far as my opinion and influence extends, all the advocates for treaties that nothing but a severe whipping- will bring these proud sa\-ages to a sense of their interest."

From these letters it is evident that the officers of the general gO'\-ernment were conscious of their weal-cness. Tlie States, no less than liostile British, Spaniards or Indians, resented any display of Federal power. Hence it was impossible to act \\'ith in repressmg the Indians in Ohio. Even after the attack on the settlement at Big Bottom. January 2, 1 79 1, General Putnam complains that they had recei\-ed no assistance from the United States forces "until the middle of July." Even when the troops were sent, the poverty of the government so restricted their numbers that the \\<ar dragged on for many years. If we bear in mind the position of W^'ashington and his cabinet we can more easily understand the followmg letter of the Secretary of W'ar, General Knox to General Putnam :

War Dep.\rtment, Feb. 11, 1793. Sir: - I beg leave to request to be informed by >ou in what sense tlie Fourth Article of the Treatymade by yon with the Wabash Indians, on the 27th day of September, 1792, was understood by you and by them at the time of forming the same. - That is, whether it was understood that any other power than the United States had die right of purchasing when the Indians should be dispos-ed to sell their lands?

The same question arose with reference tc treaties made with the Cherokees. Can we conceive it possible that a Secretary of War Avithin the la^t 40 years would seriously ask whrther the Sioiux or Dakotas, for example, had reserved any right to sell their lands to the British government, or whether the Utes could sell to M'exico? Indeed our general government, through the personal influence of iWasbington an.d t!ie genius of Hamilton, grew from such small beginnings that it is hard for us to realize how weak and almost helpless it was in those early years.

Philadelphia, February nth, 1793. Sir : - Tn answer to your question of this day, I reply that it was never contemplated by me nor the Indians who met me in council at Vincennes that the United States conceded to them the right to sell their lands to any other power than the Government of the Union, under whose protection they then freely acknowledged themselves to be.

E\'en after many defeats the executive was eager to lessen the military force and thus reduce expenses, as is shown by an extract of a letter \\Titten bv Secretary Pickering to* Governor St. Clair; consideriiig the change of disposition in the Indian tribes and that in consequence of our negotiations wdth Great Britain, they \\\\\ no longer be stimulated Iw British Agents to continue their hostilities. I am inclined to think the services of vour militia mav be dispensed with.

Sir: My last letter was of the 5th instant. On the nth early in t'l- :iii '^ ir' -:, the Indians fired on two lads near Lieuf. ;. : : jo miles up the Muskingum), one of u wounded. Twenty-live of the enemv ajiiM -1 ,1 \ , >. and in insulting manner tlir 'iK-'l'le li. c.iiiK' -111 and fight them - they k-ilhd cK >-iii caiile and .hn\c ott as many more - the .-.anir nmnupt;- lA.i iiieii \> ere tired on near the post at Belleprie but they made their escape unhurt.

Yesterday evening as Capt. Rogers and Mr. Henderson (two persons employed as spies for this town) were returning from a tour in the woods, about one mile from Campus Martins, they were fired on by the Indians. Rogers was killed and a ball weirt through Henderson's sliirt and grazed his groin. Two other Indians fired on him las he ran off. and on his way in he met four others, but he happily made liis escape from them all. We. are taking every iman.-. in .nir power for a vigorous defense but I fear our cattle will be all killed or ,lri\en niT. lor we are too weak to detach parties tn iipnn-c (lieiii out of our works, especially as we can iK\er 'i^rcriain their numbers; have all the reason in the u._:r]d in fear a decoy and ambush, and the loss r,i a ^mall parly fnim an\" -f mir ]iii~t- wnuld expose the p'ace to alnin-i ceriam d.-ini 1 n .11, ^^1n will readilv perceive lliai "ur -iiuainiii uiih re^|iect to carrying on our farming llusille^^ h litllc belter than if we w^ere closely besieged; nor can it lie better till the government shall release us. which we flatter ourselves will be soon, by detachments pushed forward

I embrace the present opportunity to thank you for vour letters of the 24tli of March and 7th of April last and I also thank you that notwithstanding we have no assistance but our own people till the middle of July, and the Indians in small parties continually harassing of us, yet since the death of Capt. Rogers we have lost but one man killed and one taken prisoner and we have lost a number of horses and upward of fifty head of cattle. On our pan we have killed one Indian, whose body we recovered, and ha\e reason to believe some others were killed or wouiided.

We have collected most of our English grain without loss and we have a prospect of a sufficient crop of corn for the support of the inhabitants of the coming

I herewitif enclose a duplicate of my letter of the 22nd instant, with the copy iif some speeches, wdiich is connected with the business mentioned in that letter. Dispatcher to Maj.a- Hanitramck on the subject went iitf yc^t'.ida\ b\ t\|)iers. I have requested him to forwaid ;!k- -piech im tile Wabash chiefs and similar ones tn a- many n-hcr tribes as he shall think proper. I ha\e cnn<ideralile expectation from this business. Mr. Wells, the interpreter, tells me that the chief to whom mv speech is directed on the Eel River is a very sensible man. That the British account him the best speaker among all the Inlian nalinn. that he is the greatest chief and has more intlueiice than all the chiefs in the Wabash countrv. that wlun lie I Mr. Wells) left Eel River in June la-t. tins chief was ov,ne to the council on the Omee. but Mr. Well, tlnnk. he is disposed to peace and as Ive has lu- -i-Ui- wli- are prisoners here and some other relation. , Mr. Wells has no doiilit bin on my message he will come to the treaty. aUhongh he declined last winter on Major Ilamtramck's invilation.

Through the inlluence of this man, I am yet in some ihope& of being adinitted to speak with their high mightinesses the Shawanese and other hostile chiefs.

Fort Washington. July 22, 1792. I think there is the highest reason to believe that Freeman, Truman and Harden are all murdered and all the people who went with them except one whom they considered as a servant or ])er':on of no consequence and for that reason spared his life.

It is hig'hly probable that the principal chiefs from nearly all the western tribes with a gre,at number of warriors and others may be collected at Vincennes.

Gen. Riifus Putnam to General Wayne. (E.rtraets.) Pittsburgh, Jaiuuirv 21, 1793. Mr. \\'illiam Wells. « ho I scirt with some Eel Creek Inc'iaii? to the Iiostile tribes with a speech dated nt Pert Vincent, the 6th of October. I fear has shared the fate of poor Truman, otherwise he would have been at JMusi^ingum before I left. The only hope is that he may liave made his escape back to Port Vincent. ******

But whether he be dead or alive, confident I am that the tribes to whom he was sent have not listened to the voice of peace nor do I believe they ever will until they get a good whipping. * * *

Please to deliver the Dellaware woman, widow of the murdered Indian, such goods as she shall choose to wipe away her tears to the amount of five dollars. RuFus Putnam. To

List Of The Pioneers At The Forts During The Indian Troubles

Col. Robert 01i\er and wife: two sons. William and Robert; tw-o daughters. Nelly, married to Thomas Lord. Esq., the other to Capt. William Burnham

M.:' I T' l'M;i':nii, wife and two daughters ^lai. llaffi.Ii White and son. Peletiah^ Josliua Shipman. w-ife and three children Captain Strong, wife, two sons and a daughter Captain Davis^ wife and five children James Smith, wife a.ul ^ovrn clrMren John Russell, wh.. married a dan-lurr of Mr. Smith Archibald Lake, wife and three mus - Thomas, Andrew and John

WiHiam Stacy, wife and two or three children JosepR Stacy, wife and two or three children Jaines Patterson, wife and child Nathaniel Patterson, wife and children Capfc. Abel Mathews, wife and six children Thomas Sta.rky, wife and three or four children -Eleazar Curtis, wife and a number of children Simeon Tuttle and family

Capt. Jonathan Devol, wife and six children - Henry, Charles. Barker. Francis. Sally and Nancy; with them also lived a nephew. Christopher Devol

Mrc Dunham, with one or two daughters Capt. Israel Stone, wife and 10 children - Sardine, Israel, Jasper. Augustus, Columbus, -Betsy, Matilda, Lvdia, Polly and Harriet " Benjamin Patterson, wife and six children; with

Pioneers Killed By The Indians

PIONEERS KILLED BY THE INDIANS. 1789. May I. Capt. Zebulon King, near the middle settlement of Belpre. I August 6. Mr. Fatchen, assistant of John Mathews in surveying land for the Ohio Company. Killed on the nortli side of the Ohio River, near the mouth of the Big Kanawha, probably by the Shawanese.

Virginia side, near what is now called Carpenter's Run. about six miles above Marietta. Tecumiseh is said to have been the leader of the party.