Fulton Township (part 1 of 34)

Death Records Xenia, Oh 45385

The Fulton County Genealogical Society would like to thank the Fulton County Records Department for all their help in the publication of these records, along with Chris Crew and Mitch Schoonover, who volunteered much of their time and talent to bring these records into a publishable format. Their hard work is much appreciated.

This book contains information first recorded at the Fulton County Courthouse. All transcriptions are a "best attempt" at reading the courthouse books. Some records were badly faded and have been checked with current available records, be they originals or microfilm.

Original spellings were used during transcriptions. Please check all spelling variances when looking for names. Some corrections known to us were made and were placed in parentheses along with the original.

Original records, as well as their microfilmed versions, are currently located at the Fulton County Records Department in Wauseon, Ohio. Due to budget constraints, please contact the records department before planning to visit.

Again, thanks to all who have helped in the compilation of these records. Without your hard work, these records may never have been published.

Single/Marr Place of Birth ee ee ere ee ee Widowed |__ State | County | Township | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Single/Marr Place of Birth (2) See 2a Tera GR we a | el Widowed |__ State | County | Township | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Single/Marr Place of Birth |1esusd ees) See es Ses OU ces ee Widowed | state | County | Township | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Crosby, Florence Clark, Philander Campbell, No Name Croninger, Jonathan Clark, Adelia Carrell, Marian A. Cottrell, No Name Chambard, Sarah Chamberlain, John A. Cook, Ida E.

ee ee ee ee oe eae aa [Male/Female | Name - - - - - - =*dLCS Age ~ - |~Siate | State' '| County | CityorTown | Occupation _| F 45 Feb. 3, 1892 Ohio Fulton German

Consumption Metamora Diptheria Amboy Cholera Brights disease Old age Consumption Typhoid fever Consumption Scarlet fever Pike Scarlet fever Scarlet fever

Gathering in head Diptheria Brights dis. Old age Old age Not known Spasms Typhoid fever Diptheria Consumption Old age Stomach Accidental Accident General disability Cancer Kidney trouble

| Place of Birth [cut 6s OUCRIRE St Lent ieee eS amnmemaned |_Widowed | State | County | Township | Cause of Death Name of Father_| Name of Mother

SSinpihane GMs. WaT Pawo ict pmetreatls.. | Swienndee | obkeonp am | Rae of UO Rned] Pwr | | Widowed | state [County | Township | Cause ofDeath __| Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Single/Marr Place of Birth LS Sr, ES a ed ee) pemerees | | Widowed | State | County | Township | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Brights disease Paralysis Lung fever Gen. disability Typhoid fever Paralysis Typhoid fever Pneumonia Typhoid fever Typhoid fever Consumption Consumption Rhumatism of heart Unknown In. of bowels Consumption Consumption Brights disease Consumption Heart disease Erysepelas Cholera infant. Brights disease Typhoid fever Scalded Brights disease Inflamation of Bowels Suicide Consumption Typhoid fever Congestion of lungs Heart failure Catarak Carbuncle Heart dis.

Single/Marr Place of Birth 2. TOE Cb Ee) aS) Rateimaedll ) Widowed |_ State | County _| Township | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Catarrh of stomach Archbold Inflammation of bowels Gravel Diptheria Diptheria Diptheria Drowning Shot wound Uterine tumors Fulton Typhoid fever York Dropsy Delta Cholera infantum York Congestion of lung Cancer Pneumonia Typhoid fever Killed on R.R. Heart disease Brights disease Diptheria Diptheria Consumption Consumption Old age Killed by accident Old age Membrainous croup Consumption Killed by tree Old age Diptheria Lung fever Typhoid fever Unknown Unknown Cholera infantum Pneumonia Hemorage of the lung Inflamation of bowels Old age Typhoid fever Blood poison

Brd 1 Pot

Single/Marr Place of Birth cS, SE Ie oles 1) | DR | aaa |e mammal | Widowed |_State | County | Township | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother strangulated hernia Paralysis & heart trouble Consumption LaGrippe Obstruction of bowels Consumption Cholera infantum Paralysis LaGrippe Heart disease Cholera infantum Consumption Old Age Diptheria Consumption Tumors Diptheria Consumption Cancer Spinal cord-inflamation of Liver - Inf. of Brain inf. of tissue Brights disease Paralysis Paralysis Liver Inflamation

Single/Marr Place of Birth ( Pee ee Ii Waidoweead |? stanekcel of Ghaneme la ki lnownental | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Single/Marr Place of Birth [S sedate SG ied BOs | el | RRR Widowed is State' audit salptonty" Whalietownshipi| Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Paralysis Consumption Cancer Consumption Accidental - R.R. Paralysis Brain fever Dropsy Lung fever Diarrhea Old age Heart disease Cancer Heart disease Cancer Typhoid fever Consumption Congestion of lungs Con. bowels Blood poison Inf. stomach Typhoid fever Brain fever Inf. of stomach Typhoid fever Stillborn Consumption Pyerria Typhoid fever Dropsy Inflammation of bladder Heart Inflamation LaGrippe Chol. Inf. Ulcers of stomach heart disease Diptheria Meningitis Typhoid fever Old age Heart disease Brights disease LaGrippe LaGrippe Dropsy Typhoid Fever

Single/Marr Place of Birth [eA AIR 2 ae cna came | |_widowea | state | county | township | ___cause of Death__|_ Name of Father_| Name of Mother

Paralysis Unknown Neuralgia of heart Cholera Infantum Consumption Consumption Congestion of brain Consumption LaGrippe old age old age unknown Paralysis Cancer Croup Typhoid fever Typhoid fever old age Huron Heart disease Fulton Dover Cholera infantum Heart disease Fulton Ottokee Fulton Diptheria

Diahrea Old age Inf. Bowels Old age Consumption Lung fever Typhoid fever Influense Old age Spinal fever Dropsy brain Child birth Inflamation

Single/Marr Place of Birth Sy SI Oe ee ee Pee | | Widowed | State | County | Township | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Single/Marr Place of Birth eee OER hee Sep | | Widowed | State | County _| Township | Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Inflamation of Bowels Paralysis Catarrh of Stomach Cholera Unknown Old Age Scarlet Fever Typhoid Fever Measles Old Age Paralysis Consumption Consumption Cancer Old Age Cancer of Liver

Single/Marr Place of Birth SSR Ra eh Ren RRR anRaNsaaRiE hWideved 12 State oe County - eo rownahiee| Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Single/Mart Place of Birth [30 SERSTORNENEN #8 HES IRC AARON | SNR | widowed | state | county | Township | Cause of Death__|_ Name of Father | Name of Mother

Single/Marr Place of Birth |. 5, =: 12 SR: 7 A ER eee oy eee Widowed I auestas tads| Kociney| aromatic 1 Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Consumption Consumption Lung fever Apoplexy Asthma Cholera Inf. Consumption Consumption Spasms Hemorrage of bladder Cancer of stomach Vomiting blood Consumption Cholera Infantum Consumption Mal. scarlet fever Pluresy LaGrippe Apoplexy Consumption Uric acid poison Spasms Heat failure Paralysis Inflamation of bowels Lung fever Catarrh of bowels Cholera Inf. Consumption Old age Pneumonia Pneumonia Dropsy Dropsy Accident Pneumonia Heart disease Typhoid fever Lung fever Old age Stillborn Dropsy Diphtheria Heart disease

Place of Birth im | Stosnabpeath |__| pine hol Father | Meny of Motper | Repiaense. ot | state] county | township _| Cause of Death Name of Father _| Name of Mother

Single/Marr Place of Birth | (LAUR in |e Dee | eee | eRe Widowed | state | County | Township | Cause of Death Name of Father _| Name of Mother

Telley, Earl Tremaine, Catherine Thompson, Winefred Taylor, Thomas Terry, Robert Sylvester Turpening, Mary Thompson, Susan A. Tedrow, Daniel Trondel, Mathew Turney, Julia A Tiney, Chas.

new Poesotiwnios lob | | | | {y | Widowed | State | County | Township | Cause ofDeath _ - _ - |_Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of |

Single/Marr Place of Birth eee ee ee ee Widowed | State | County | Township _| Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother | Residence Of

Single/Marr Place of Birth PS re a ee a Widowed ee Mestad cuulaGounty Township || Cause of Death Name of Father | Name of Mother Residence Of

Fits Francis Whaley Old age Billious fever Unknown Brights disease Rheumatism Unknown Congestion of lung Diabetes Lung fever Unknown Convulsions Diptheria Paralysis Cancer Cholera morbus Premature birth G & S. Walters Rheumatism Heart disease Tumor Spinal disease In. of stomach Quick consumption Inf. of bowels Old age Asthma Blood poisoning Drowning Brights dis. Heart disease Consumption Consumption Brights disease Dropsy of chest Inflamation of bowels Heart desease of Pneumonia Consumption Consumption Thos. Wood Consumption Consumption Cholera infantum Spinal fever Heart enlgt Old age

Dyphtheria Not known Cancer Paralysis Old age Old age Pneumonia Lung difficulty Lung difficulty Mennigitis Inf. of brain Apoplexy Cholera Inf. spinal fever Cancer Consumption Brain fever Heart disease

Source changes here: from A Standard History of Fulton County, Ohio, an Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of Modern Developments in the Progress of Town and County, by Reighard, Frank H, published 1920; 213,678 words in this source stream.

Index

Court House, first, I, 71; building of I, 71; destruction of, I, 75; building of, I, 76; Wauseon, (illustration) I, 77; destroyed by fire, I, 496.

Fulton County; territory, I, 45; shown in map of 1834 as partly in Lenawee County, Michigan, I, 49; organized, I, 53; township organization of, I, 53; boundaries, I, 67; named in honor of Robert Fulton, I, 67; topography of, I, 80; geological conditions of, I, 80; banks, I, 155; granges, I, 169; bench and bar, I, 495; courthouse destroyed by fire, I, 496; civil list, I, 497.

Illustrations: Old Indian Mission, I, 6; Indian canoes, I, 7; Coureur de Bois, I, 8; Buffalo, I, 11; Portage from Fort Miami to the Wabash, I, 13; Pontiac, I, 14; Major-General Anthony Wayne, I, 23; Little Turtle, I, 27; Fort Defiance, as restored, I, 28; Elm at Maumee, under which the Council of Indian Chiefs was held prior to the Battle of Fallen Timbers, 1794, I, 29; Turkey Foot Rock, I, 32; Signatures to the Greenville Treaty, I, 33; Edward Tiffin, first Governor of Ohio, I, 36; William

I, 50; John Grey's cabin, I, 53; Rattlesnakes, I, 55; Howard Family colonial residence, I, 57; Fort Meigs Monument, I, 59; "Walk-in-the- Water," I, 63; First steam engine, I, 64; Open fireplace, I, 70; Cannon, I, 74; Fulton County court house, Wauseon, I, 77; Reclamation of Black Swamp, I, 78; Destruction at Swanton by tornado, I, 79; U. S. Prison Quarters, Johnson's Island, I, 100; Wauseon in 1867, I, 108; County's first detachment for National Army, I, 115; County's second detachment for National Army, I, 123; County's third detachment for National Army, I, 125; Hogs, I, 136; Typical farm home, I, 137; Receiving Station at Helvetia Milk Condensing Company's Plant at Delta, I, 138; Dairy farm, I, 139; Pioneer school house, I, 142; Swanton school house, I, 143; Fayette High School, I, 146; Wauseon graded school, I,

Maps: Military posts, forts, battlefields and Indian trails in Ohio, I, 9; United States, 1783, I, 17; Territory of the United States, Northwest of the Ohio River, 1787, I, 19; Maumee towns, destroyed by General Harmar, I, 21; Hamilton County, 1792, I, 22; General Wayne's Route Along the Maumee, I, 24; Battles of the Maumee, I, 26; Ohio counties, 1799, I, 34; Wayne County, I, 35; Ohio counties, 1802, I, 37; Present Fulton County in Lenawee County, Michigan, I, 49; Northeast part of Clinton Township, I, 207.

Physicians, I, 500; first in Clinton Township, I, 206; first in Royalton Township, I, 331; Pioneer in Pike Township, I, 371; Pioneer of Gorham Township, I, 418.

Street improvements, Wauseon, I, 217. Street scenes; Metamora, (illustration) I, 319; Delta, (illustration) I, 400; Fayette, (illustration) I, 409;

World War, Fulton County in, I, 85; I, 113; Fulton County's first detachment, September, 1917, I, 115; Fulton County's second detachment, September, 1917, I, - 123; Fulton County's third detachment, October, 1917, I, 125.

Chapter

While the main purpose of this current writing is to record specifically and extensively the direct history of that part of Ohio now known as Fulton county, placing chiefest importance upon the inclusion of that part of its annals not embodied in other historical works, the compilation, to be comprehensive, should include, as a preface to the direct historical narrative, a review, necessarily brief, of events of anterior date, historic and prehistoric, analogous thereto; which requirement the compiler has endeavored to meet.

It is more than probable that the white settlers of the period since 1832, and the Indians of prior domiciliation, were not the only terretenants of the region which now is Fulton county; there are, or have been, evidences in the county, and in other parts of Ohio, to give credence to the supposition that a prehistoric human race peopled the region. The mounds of Winameg, and other places, seem to point to the presence of earlier human inhabitants than the Indian tribes encountered by the first white explorers. The bones of the mastodon have been found in many parts of northwestern Ohio, one of the most perfect specimens of the prehistoric monster being discovered a few miles southeast of Wauseon ; and, from such evidence of the presence of pachydermatous mammalia in the region in prehistoric times, it may well be assumed that the highest form of animal life, i. e., man, also was existent. Implements, such as were used by men of primitive days in other parts, have been found in northwestern Ohio, near the fossilized remains of animals known to be of the glacial period; and in many other evidences theorists are supported in the belief that in prehistoric times a human race lived in the territory which now is Fulton county.

The petrography of many boulders present in Ohio, and foreign to the natural rock formation of the region have interested geologists, who estimate the age of the boulders to be from 25,000,000 to 150,- 000,000 years, and state that they were of glacial transportation ; while evidences of very early geological ages point to the probability that the Gulf of Mexico once extended to the region.

Several mounds similar to those at Winameg have been found along the Maumee River; but those of Winameg have, of course, direct place in Fulton county history. They were, in 1892, the subject of special investigation and report by a worthy Fulton county resident, Judge Wm. H. Handy, and his report is the most authentic descrip-

"In the past week one fact has been demonstrated, viz: that a great lost race, which for want of a better name has been named the 'Mound Builders,' once inhabited Fulton county. Until now, no works in Ohio, north of the Allen county north line, or west of the Lucas county west line, have ever been certainly identified as the work of that people .Today, on the banks of Bad Creek, overlooking the famous council grounds of the Pottawattamies, on which stands the historic Council Oak of the Red Indians, we have located and identified eleven mounds of the Mound Builders, and the site of the twelfth. . . .

northwest quarter of section 9, town 10 south, range 3 east, in Pike Township, Fulton county .-They are built on a high ridge, containing five or six acres of land, and following the highest outer elevation of the bluff, with three exceptions

"No. 1 (mound) is nearly covered by Mr. Howard's wood house, and is built on the southern edge of the bluff. A distinct and well defined terrace appears on the north side of the mound. No. 8, in the road, has almost been obliterated. The balance, while their outlines are somewhat indistinct, can be easily seen. The soil is a top-dressing of light sand, mixed however, at a depth of six or seven inches, with gravel. Long years after these mounds were built they were exposed to the winds and rains, and consequently have lost much more by erosion than they have gained by decaying vegetation, or otherwise. And, indeed. Mr. Howard tells me that within his memory they were much higher and more distinct in their outlines than now. Besides, they were cultivated, more or less, for many years. Colonel Howard tells me that he heard old Chief Wi-na-meg, the father of the Wi-nameg after whom that postoffice was named, and when the old chief was about ninety-five years of age, say that the oldest man did not know who made the mounds, and that nobody knew; but he thought that a great battle had been fought there and the dead buried in the mounds. Indian tradition, then, failed to account for them. If the Red Indians had built them, tradition would have brought the fact down to old Winameg, probably. But it will need no argument to convince one who has read much of the manners and customs of the Red Indians that they did not build the mounds, or other works of the 'Mound Builders'

"AVe went into these mounds with the purpose of making the excavations thorough enough to disclose their identity, their purposes, and whether they had ever been disturbed. When this had been accomplished, we quit work on each particular mound Our first excavation was of mound No. 5 This mound was about thirty-five feet in diameter. About ten feet from the centre we found small pieces of charcoal. The soil, before we got to the altar, was composed of: mould, six inches; white sand, eighteen inches; yellow sand, mixed with some gravel, at the surface. At about the centre we uncovered two altars, one a circle, the other a parallelogram, the circle lying directly south of the other. The circle was four feet in diameter; the parallelogram, as near as we could make it, four to six feet. The altars were constructed in about the same manner. First was the soil. Overlying this, one foot of baked soil-sand, baked to a light brown color. Overlying this, four inches of s&nd baked until it had turned a bright red. Overlying this five inches of charcoal. Above this, six inches of sand and mould.

"On the circular altar we found some remnants of human bones that had partially burned, and nothing else. On the other altar we found the bones partially burned of many different wild animals. Among the human bones on the circular altar, we found a jaw bone containing four teeth. Very near the original surface, but with the baked earth covering him, immediately under the circular altar, we found the skull and a portion of the skeleton of a man, head to the

Intact By The Howard Family

(The mounds of (lie "Mound Builders," the prehistoric "great lost race" of Fulton County and Ohio, are a hundred yards, or so, to the right of the spring.)

west, and lying on his face. We have this skull, the part of the skull above the nasal bone, well preserved. Compared with the skull of an Indian found intrusively buried in Mound No. 6, we find two distinct types of man.

"This is all we found in this mound. It was noticeable that the burned sand of the altars was as dry as the dust that blows in the street, while when we came to the original soil, which had not been burned and under the altars, we found it moist. The ground of which the altars were composed had never been disturbed since the fires went out. This was demonstrated to a certainty. No digging would ever have been done without disturbing the strata, and it had never been disturbed. The baked sand, the red burned ground, the charcoal were in as perfect layers, as if placed there by the hands of a mason."

In most eases, the human bones found during the excavation crumbled upon exposure to the air; and some of the mounds had been tampered with, presumably by the Indians; but the investigation had added local proofs to others discovered in Ohio to indicate that a race earlier than that of the Indian had dominion in this part of the Western Hemisphere.

Of course the origin of the American Indian dates back far into hazy antiquity; and it is perhaps possible to link the "Mound Builders" with the Indian by supposing the differences in form and character to be reasonably and merely the ordinary process of evolution. The Mound Builders may have been the forefathers of the Indians, change in the character, and indeed in the physiognomy, of the race coming with the passing of the centuries, in much the same way as changes have taken place in form of other species of the animal kingdom, during the evolving processes of centuries of reproduction, and adaptation to location and climate.

Whether the historic mounds of Fulton county, and Ohio, were actually mounds at the time sacrificial use was made of the altars is not clear. Maybe the altars were open to the heavens. It would seem that the operation of fires in such covered spaces would hardly be tolerable. Again, the fact that many of the early human races were, in some unexplainable wav, attracted to the solar system in their instinctive desire to worship something, would strengthen the thought that the early inhabitants of American territory were not mound builders at all, but people of almost Druidical convictions and religious practices. The ancient Celtic race, which originated in the Himalaya Mountains of India, might well have divided there when migration began, and just as one portion spread over the lands of Gaul, Britain, and Germany, so might another body of Celts have spread over the lands to the eastward, and passing through Tibet, Mongolia, Siberia, have reached the American continent by way of Alaska. And just as the Celts of westward migration established, in various places of settlement, evidences of Sun worship, in the huge stone circles and cromlechs still standing in France and parts of Britain, so might Celts of eastward drift have carried their Druidical practices with them, adapting their means of worship to the geological limitations of the region in which they settled. In the rocky regions of France and Britain, their circles and approaches could most conveniently be of stone; in, for instance, Ohio, where rock formations are not so near the surface, their circles and approaches would, feasibly, have been of earth, or clay. The common origin of the peoples of the earth is closer than the average person imagines. Students of the languages of the American Indian have noted a similarity in root of many Indian and Celtic words. That similarity may have come, 'within recent centuries, by the association of the French with the Indians in the seventeenth century; or it may have resulted from the absorption by the Indians of a Welsh party," which, it is believed, sought, earlier, to establish a colony in America. Wilkins' "History of Wales" records the sailing, in the fourteenth century, from Welsh shores of a certain Prince Madoc, who was bent on a voyage of discovery ; also, that he returned some years later, bringing news of the discovery of a wonderful new land across the seas, westward. He wished to gather followers and re- turn to the new land, and there found a colony. It is understood that he drew to his standard many Welshmen, and that, in due course, the expedition set sail. Whether Prince Madoc reached America with his band of colonists cannot even, properly, be conjectured, for no tidings ever again came of him, or of his followers; but it is not a matter for conjecture as to the land to which he referred. His discovery of "a new land across the seas" could not have been merely of a part of Ireland; that was not a new land to the clans of Wales. The coast clans of both countries had for many centuries prior to that been clashing periodically at sea, both engaged in what perhaps would, nowadays, be deemed to be piratical adventures. If Prince Madoc's expedition landed in America, it either was annihiliated by the Indians, or merged into their life. In the latter event, Welsh practices, and to some extent Welsh speech, would have some effect upon their Indian associates. However the "Mound Builders," the religious practices of which people might feasibly have been Druidical in character, were, presumably and probably, of a much earlier generation than that of the Indians who might have met Prince Madoc. It is the linking of thoughts of the Druidical ancient Britons, i. e., the Welsh and Cornish people; of the Mound Builders, with their altars; of the possible merging of Madoc's Welshmen with the American Indian of a later day - that prompts one to the thought of the possible original eastern migration of Celtic people, as hereinbefore suggested, and of the possible linking of those people with the mound builders of Ohio. In which event, the cognomination, "Mound Builders," would not properly fit the early inhabitants of Fulton county and Ohio.

However, the service rendered to the county, and nation, by Col. D. W. H. Howard, in guarding from vandalism the mounds upon his property until such time as proper investigation of them could be undertaken, is one of distinct historical value - a contribution to the archaelogical records of the nation.

Chapter Ii Early Jurisdiction

Among the Indian tribes, the aborigines of which there is historical record were the Lenni Lenapes, and the Mengwe. The Lenni Lenapes held maiidy to the rivers, and the Mengwe to the country bordering on the lakes of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Until finally subdued by the Iroquois confederacy, which "put petticoats on the men," and deprived them of all right to make war, change their habitation, or dispose of their land without the consent of their overlords, the Lenape, or Lenni-Lenape nation held dominion throughout the whole country west of the Hudson River, including the larger rivers of Pennsylvania, and the streams of Ohio, even as far south as the Carolinas. Their seat of government was on the Delaware, and they held autonomous power over all the tribes of the territory. Tradition has it, that sometime during the fourteenth century:

"There came to the west bank of the Mississippi River, each journeying eastward, two nations of Indians, called respectively the Lenni Lenapes and the Mengwe. Neither knew of the journey of the other, nor had they any former acquaintance. Their first meeting was upon the river. They found the country bordering on the river to be in the possession of a numerous fierce and -warlike nation of Indians calling themselves the Allegwi, who claimed all the territory for hundreds of miles around, and apparently were possessed of sufficient force to maintain that claim. The emigrants sent messengers with presents to the chiefs and sachems of the Allegwi, and asked of them permission to cross the river and settle in their country. After a council crossed the river, when, either deceived by the number of the emigrants and fearing them, or with malice in their hearts, the Allegwi fell upon them with great force, and slaughtered many, driving the others into the forests and scattering them far and wide. After a time each of the journeying nations was gathered and all united as a common people, and. returning, attacked the Allegwi, beat them in a long and terrific battle, and drove them from the country to the far south.

"The victorious forces then resumed their journey eastward, but with little feelings of friendship, for the Lenapes declared that the brunt of the battle fell upon them, and that the Mengwe hung in the rear."

Thus came the first estrangement, which finally involved the two nations in war, and eventually led to the entire subjugation of the Lenni-Lenape nation, by the powerful Five Nations, or Iroquois Confederacy, as the French named the alliance. The Five Nation tribes were supposed to have had common origin in the Mengwe, although when confederated the five tribes, or nations, were known by the names, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. Eventually the Tuscarora tribe joined the league. This combination remained the supreme power among the Indian peoples for more than two cen- turies; but long before that time tbe whole of the territory now embraced in the United States of America had passed, by parchment deed and declaration of discovery, if not by actual occupation, under the sovereign power and jurisdiction of nations of the white race.

According to D. W. Id. Howard, "for centuries" before the Revolutionary war determined that a republic and not a monarchy should be the form of government of white people, and of course necessarily of red, the Indian tribes inhabited the valley of the Maumee (Me-aw- mee) and its tributaries, the St. Mary's on the south, the St. Joseph on the north, the Au Glaize on the south, the Tiffin River, or Bean Creek, on the north, and the Turkey Foot, both north and south, and the smaller streams, such as Beaver Creek, joining the Maumee near Grand Rapids; the Tone-tog-a-nee, near the old Indian mission; and the Portage near its mouth. The Indian occupants were the Ot-ta-was, of the valley proper, and the hunting grounds on the Au Glaize; the Pot-ta-wa-to-mies of the St. Joseph and the upper portions of the Tiffin River, and the hunting grounds on the Raisin River, and along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The Pottawatomies were closely related with their neighbors, the Ottawas on the south, and the Ogibewas on the north, whose lands and hunting grounds adjoined theirs. The Mi-am-ies were on the upper Wabash and the Ell rivers; smaller bands of We-aws and Pi-an-ki-shaws made their home on the lower St. Mary's River; the Wvandottes on the Sanduskies, the Tousaint and their branches; the Shaw-won-no (Shawnees) on the Hog Creek and upper Blanchard's fork of the Au Glaize. These, tribes were all part of the Five Nations Confederacy, one of the main purposes of which league of nations was the necessity of preserving a united front to combat the encroachments of white men into their hunting grounds.

It is believed that the first attempt by white people to settle within the territory now within the jurisdiction and borders of the State of Ohio" was in the seventeenth century; of greater interest however to the people of Fulton county is the fact that the attempted settlement was in the Maumee Valley. It was in, about, the year 1680 that some adventurous Frenchmen established themselves along that river, constructing a small stockade not far from its mouth. By right of discovery, and by virtue of a "concession in perpetuity" made by Pope Alexander VI, however, Spain claimed a priority to all of northwest Ohio ; indeed the same concession, or another by the same papal authority, deeded in blank to the Kings of Castile and Leon practically the whole of tlie American continent, north and south, known or unknown. Francis I, King of France, however, disputed the claims of Spain and Portugal, refusing to recognize papal authority to so convey lands; and the French probably were in Ohio territory many decades before the British came. The original claim of France was based on the discovery of the St. Lawrence River by Cartier, in 1534, and confirmed by the subsequent explorations of Champlain, La Salle, Joliet, and others. France reasoned that the discovery of a river established a right to all the territory drained by that waterway and its tributaries. Hence the claim of France to the valleys of the Maumee and Sandusky, these waters being tributary to the St. Lawrence. Champlain visited the Wyandottcs, or the ITurons, at their villages on Lake Huron, in 1615, when he remained with them several months. And he is supposed to have travelled along the southern shores of Lake Erie. Louis Joliet also is believed to have sailed on that lake; and it is surmised that Chevalier de La Salle journeyed up the Maumee River, and then down the Wabash to the Ohio and the Mississippi in the year 1669. La Salle is generally credited as the first white man to discover the Ohio, and he built the first Fort Miami, near the site of Fort Wayne, on his return overland. In 1668 St. Lusson at Sault Ste Marie, formally, in the name of God and France, and in the presence of representatives of many Indian tribes, proclaimed possession of "Lake Huron and Superior and all countries, rivers, lakes, and streams contiguous and adjacent thereunto, both those that have been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in all the length and breadth, bounded on one side by the seas of the north and west, and on the other by the South Sea . . ."

Jesuit fathers, and coureurs des bois, two classes so opposite in character and purpose penetrated almost the entire Northwest Territory, not at the same time of course; and of the two classes, the Jesuit fathers made a lesser impression upon the Indian. The degenerate French adventurers, les coureurs des bois, with their stocks of brandy, trinkets and baubles and their carefree, roving, happy-go-lucky ways, were welcomed by the Indians, and received into their life, and were it not for the fact that the British treated the powerful Iroquois Confederacy with greater respect and circumspection than they showed other Indian tribes, and also the fact that the French devoted their efforts more to the Huron tribe, thus inculcating in the Iroquois mind a vindicative antipathy to the French people in general, the result of the struggle for supremacy in America between the French and the British would have been much different. The French laid claim to all of the Northwestern Territory, while the British claimed the whole of the continent as far west as the Mississippi River, and as far north as a line drawn directly west from their most northerly settlement on the Atlantic Coast. Thus Northwest Ohio became part of the disputed territory.

In 1700, the British governor of New York made the following report to the home government : "The French have mightily imposed on the world in the mapps they have made of this continent, and our Geographers have been led into gross mistakes by the French mapps, to our very great prejudice. It were as good a work as your Lordships could do, to send over a very skillful surveyor, to make correct mapps

Thereafter, the British paid more heed to cartagraphy, and as the decades passed added to the extent of their surveys. In Evans' map (1755) the Maumee and Sandusky rivers, and some of their tributaries, are pretty well outlined. Over the greater part of Northwest Ohio is printed the following: "These parts were by the Confederates (Iroquois) allotted for the Wvandottes when they were lately admitted into their league." The British also endeavored to cultivate trading with the Indians, the purpose being of course chiefly political. As early as 1740 traders from Virginia and Pennsylvania journeyed among the Indians of the Ohio and tributary streams to deal for peltries. The} threaded their way through the forests or along streams as far north as Michilimackinaclc, and sought to curry favor by out bidding the French for the peltries, at the same time selling merchandise to the Indians at lower prices. England based her claims on the discoveries by John Cabot, who left Bristol, England, in 1498, reaching American shores the same year, many decades, therefore, before the buccaneer Cartier first entered the St. Lawrence River. For nearly a century the two European powers contended actively for supremacy, the British surely colonizing the eastern states, and the French seeming to be making vast strides in the interior. Northwest Ohio at that time was stated to have been a region where "one vast continuous forest shadowed the fertile soil, covering the land, as the grass covers a garden lawn, sweeping over hill and hollow in endless undulation. Green intervals, dotted with browsing deer, and broad plains blackened with buffalo.

broke the sameness of the woodland scenery. Many rivers seamed the forest with their devious windings. A vast lake washed its boundaries, where the Indian voyager, in his birch canoe, could descry no land beyond the world of waters."

By Him After Hjs Defeat By

BY BRITISH TRADERS FROM < PENNA. AND VA. IN 17*6 UNDER. THE PROTECTION OF THE HURON , CHIEF NICOLAS AND DESTROYED BY HIM AFTER HJS DEFEAT BY IN 1748 PRIOR TO

Colonial Dames Of America

AND FINALLY DESTROYED AT THE OUTBREAK OF PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY 10TH MAY 1783 WHEN THE FORT WAS BURNED THE ENTIRE GARRISON MASSACRED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE COMMANDANT ENSIGN PAULI WHO WAS CARRIED OFF A PRISONER TO PONTIAC THEN BESIECINC DETROIT ERECTED BY THE OHIO SOCIETY COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA

At the opening the eighteenth century, efforts of both the French and British seem to have been focused on the Maumee River. Its easy route to the south and southwest, caused both people to diligently seek the favor of the Indians dwelling along its banks. The French Post Miami, near the head of the Maumee, had been built about

1680-86. It was rebuilt and strengthened, in 1697, by Captain de Vincennes; and it is claimed that the French constructed a fort a few years earlier, in 1680, on the site of Fort Miami, a few miles above the mouth of the Maumee. Fort Pontchartrain, at Detroit, was built in 1701, and many French expeditions, military and commercial, passed up and down the Maumee River. From Post Miami they would portage across to the Wabash, and from there descend to Vincennes, an important French post. At the beginning of King George IPs war, M de Longueville, French commandant at Detroit, used the Maumee River route, in passing with soldiers and Indians into Indiana; while in 1727, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia requested the British authorities to negotiate a treaty with the Miamis, on the Miami of the Lakes, so that a small fort might be built, which plan however was not carried out.

Twenty years later, Orontony, or Nicholas, a Wyandot chief, whose stronghold and villages were near the mouth of the Sandusky River, where he permitted the British to erect Fort Sandoski, which was the first real fort erected by white men in Ohio, conceived a plan whereby he hoped to capture Detroit and all other French outposts and annihilate the French power in the West. He enlisted in the adventure many neighboring tribes, the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, from Fulton county, and the Shawnees, as well as more distant tribes. The Miamis and Wyandots were to sweep the French from the Maumee country ; the Pottawatomies were to operate in the Bois Blanc islands, and other tribes were to attack the settlement at Green Bay. The plot was discovered before serious happenings could occur to the French; and in the following year Nicholas and his followers went further west, into Illinois.

possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, and burying leaden plates asserting the sovereignty of France. The last plate was buried at the mouth of the Great Miami River. From Pickawillany (Pkiwileni) they portaged to Fort Miami (Fort Wayne) and although Celeron went overland to Detroit, his followers descended the Maumee. In the following year, Christopher Gist, emissary for the British, accomplished very much more, entering into treaty relations with the Miamis, or Twightwees, as they were called by the British.

The many decades of strife between the French and British were fought elsewhere than in Northwest Ohio; or rather, no major battles were fought in that region. In 1752, French Canadians and Indian allies ascended the Maumee and Auglaise, capturing and destroying Pickawillany, where eight English traders were, the chief of the Pienkeshaws, known as "Old Britain" being slain, that being perhaps the most serious casualty the British suffered in that raid. "Old Britain," it has been stated, was boiled and eaten by the victors. The Turtle succeeded him as chief.

to the French side. It also brought serious unrest among the Indian tribes, hut was responsible for the uniting of Ohio tribes to more determinedly oppose the British. It brought prominently into history an Indian leader classed as "one of the greatest chiefs" of which there is record in American history. Pontiac who was horn near the Maumee River, and whose home and stronghold was the Maumee Valley, was of the Ottawa tribe, in paternal descent, and eventually "was greatly honored and revered by his subjects." With the passing of the French from Ohio territory, the British policy underwent radical change. Whereas formerly, when in competition with the French, they distributed blankets, rides, and brandy with lavish hand among the Indians, their attitude, with the political change, was, to say the least, parsimonious. The expedition of Rogers' Rangers, in the fall of 1760, was the first act of British authority over Northwestern Ohio, and although he contrived to prevent friction with the Indians under Pontiac in that year, he could not shake Pontiac's conviction that unless France was aided to retain her foothold in the region, the eventual destruction of the Indian race was inevitable. He rallied the remotest tribes to his side by his message, which in substance was: "Why do you suffer these dogs in red clothing to enter your country and take the land the Great Spirit has given you? Drive them from it. Drive them." Pontiac's conspiracy was carried on in great secrecy and he planned to have the attacks on the various forts made simultaneously. The Maumee post, Presque Isle, Niagara, Pitt, Ligonier, and every British fort was hemmed in by Indian tribes, "who felt that the great battle drew nigh which was to determine their fate and the possession of their noble lands." The first intimation the British had of the conspiracy was in March, 1763, when Ensign Holmes, commandant of Fort Miami, at the head of the Maumee, "was informed by a friendly Miami that the Indians in the vicinity had lately received a war belt, with the urgent request that they destroy him and his garrison, and that they were even then preparing to do so." Ensign Holmes confronted the chiefs, demanded the belt, and it was delivered to him. He forwarded it to his superior officer, Major Gladwyn, at Detroit, with the comment : "This Affair is very timely Stopt, and I hope the News of a Peace will put a stop to any further Troubles with these Indians." One morning however, Ensign Holmes was decoyed to "a number of Indian lodges . . . not far removed from the fort," and there treacherously slain. The Indians then overran the fort. On the 16th of May, Fort Sandusky was stormed, and the garrison massacred, entrance having been gained by typical Indian treachery. All the outposts of the British, with the exception of Detroit which successfully withstood a protracted siege, were destroyed, and settlers, throughout Ohio were murdered. The effort availed the Indians nothing, however. The receipt by Pontiac of a belt of wampum from "their great father, the King of France," while the conspiracy was still in embryo, had encouraged Pontiac to believe that the French king "had heard the voices of his red children," and would again take up arms with them; but when after much blood had been spilled, and the British were still in possession of Detroit, Pontiac received a letter from the French commander, informing him "that the French an English were now at peace," his rage was terrifying, his disappoi ment extreme. "He saw himself and his people thrown back upon their own slender resources." It has been stated that "for hours no man or woman dared approach him, so terrible was his rage. His fierce spirit was wrought into unspeakable fury." In rage and mortification, he soon afterwards removed his camp from Detroit, and returned to the Maumee River. Some time later, lie went into Illinois territory, where the French still were, but they were no longer his allies tor warlike operations, he found. His final submission was given to Sir William Johnson, at Oswego. That official "wrapped in his scarlet blanket, bordered with gold lace, and surrounded by the glittering uniforms of the British officers, was seen, with hand extended in welcome to the great Ottawa, who, standing erect in conscious power, his rich plumes waving over the circle of his warriors, accepted the proffered hand, with an air in which defiance and respect were singularly blended."

Pontiac returned to the Maumee, and "yielded more and more to the seduction of the firewater." In 1789 he appeared at the post of St. Louis, and a few days later, visited an assemblage of Indians at Oahokia, on the opposite side of the river. He had donned the full uniform of a French officer, one which had been presented to him by the Marquis of Montcalm. Undoubtedly he still harboured resentment against the British, but whether he had planned further resistance is not known. At all events, his career ended there, for a Kaskaskia Indian buried a tomahawk in his brain. His tribesmen exacted a bloody revenge; the Sacs and the Foxes practically exterminating the Kaskaskias.

In July, 1772, the Ohio Indians formed a strong confederacy on the Pickaway Plains, the Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamis, Ottawas, Delawares, and some western tribes uniting for mutual protection. They disputed the right of the Iroquois Confederacy to convey a title to the British for all the hunting grounds south of the Ohio. During the next two years "'many inhuman and revolting incidents occured," but then peace again reigned, and the decision of the Indians to remain loyal to the British was destined to greatly increase the difficulties of the American colonists when they revolted from British authority. During the first two years of the Revolutionary War, the Ohio Indians were inactive, not understanding the quarrel between the British colonists and the British nation. But eventually they were drawn into the struggle, on the side of the British. Henry Hamilton, who arrived at Detroit, in December, 1775, to take up administrative control of British affairs in that territory, by virtue of his appointment to the newly created office of lieutenant governor and superintendent of aborigine affairs, was in supreme control of the British and Indian operations in the territory, although the Indian operations being what might be classed as guerilla warfare were undertaken upon their own initiative, assisted undoubtedly by an ignoble group of renegade colonists, Simon Girty, Alexander McKee, and Matthew Elliott. In 1778, the British organized a large expedition, "consisting of fifteen large bateaux and several smaller boats, which were laden with food, clothing, ammunition, and the inevitable rum, together with other presents w the savages." There were 177 white soldiers, and a considerable 501110 nber of Indians. It required sixteen days for the forces to ascend the Maumee, to its head, and it was destined to suffer defeat in an attack by American troops, under Colonel Clark, who captured the governor, Henry Hamilton. The latter was sent, with all of his officers, to Virginia. Two years later, the British organized a larger expedition of Indians, Capt. Henry Bird being in command, with the three Girtys, as guides and scouts. The expedition, one thousand strong eventually, ascended the Maumee, to the mouth of the Auglaize, which river they traversed as far as navigable. Many settlers were massacred, Captain Bird being unable to control the Indians. He took many prisoners in Kentucky, and eventually returned to Detroit, by way of the Maumee.

In 1778 the Legislature of Virginia organized the Northwestern Territory into the country of Illinois, and eastern states claimed territory also west of the Alleganies. Finally, it was recommended that the states ceded their claims to the newly organized Union, and Congress, in 1780 provided that the territory so ceded should be disposed of for the benefit of the United States in general. New York State was the first to respond, assigning her western claim in 1781. Virginia, in 1784, ceded to the United States her claim to the country northwest of the Ohio River; in 1785 Massachusetts gave up her claims to all Ohio territory, excepting Detroit and vicinity; and in 1786 Connecticut waived her rights, excepting the section designated as the Western Reserve.

Simon Girty was one of the bitterest enemies of the new republic. He, a renegade, depraved, cruel, pitiless, exercised much influence over the Indian, and will ever be remembered, in execration, for Ids part in the torture and death of Colonel William Crawford, in 1782. Ilis last expedition against the Americans was in 1783, when he led a band of red men to Nine Mile River, within five miles of Pittsburg. But during the next decade, he was one of the most active influences present among the Indians to foment further trouble. In 1788, he attended an Indian council at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, and was received into the conference by the Indians as one of them. Lie was present at the grand council held in October, 1793, at the Glaize (Defiance), and also at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. He made good his escape, and the remainder of his life was lived in Canada, although during the War of 1812 he came back to American soil with the British troops, but fled precipitately to Canadian soil, when American troops approached Detroit. He deserved to be drawn and quartered, and perhaps dreaded some such punishment in case of capture by Americans. It is said that, when he incontinently fled, "he could not wait for the boat, but plunged his horse into the river and swam to the opposite shore."

The Treaty of Paris, concluded at Versailles in 1783, by which all the territory south of the middle of the Great Lakes and their connecting rivers," and east of the Upper Mississippi River, was granted to the United States, did not materially alter the opposition of Ohio Indian tribes to the American republic. But the infant republic was forced to protect the settlers, who were ever advancing westward. A treaty, between the United States Government and the Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa, and Wyandot tribes, entered into at Fort McIntosh, sought to restrict the settlers, and yet curb the Indians. The limits of Indian territory, as agreed upon, were the Maumee and the Cuyahoga

Rivers, on the west and east respectively. Within that territory, which included Northwest Ohio, and practically three-fourths of the entire state, the Delawares, Wyandots, and Gttawas, were to live and hunt at their pleasure; and a settler could enter only at his peril, the treaty authorizing the Indians "to shoot any person other than an Indian, whether a citizen of the United States or otherwise, who attempted to settle upon these exempt lands." Reservations provided for military posts at the mouth of the Maumee, and at Lower Sandusky. Nevertheless, the United States Government on July 27, 1787, granted the Ohio Company 1,500,000 acres of Ohio land, for settlement, and granted tracts also to other companies. The lands granted were on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. Arthur St. Clair was appointed first governor, and to him was committed the perilous task of allaying the restlessness among the Indians. Eventually this was effected by the payment of a "considerable sum of money" to the Indians, who however were not those in supreme authority. Many settlers were murdered, and eventually the unrest became so serious that General Harmar was ordered, in 1790, to conduct an expedition against the Maumee towns, winch were reported to be the headquarters at which all the depredations were planned. The army, under General Harmar, marched northward, from near Fort Washington, on October 4, 1790. It was composed of about 1500 soldiers, four-fifths of whom however were untrained militia. Certain Indian villages were destroyed, but the unreliability of the militia troops soon became evident, and forced General Harmar eventually to decide to return to Fort Washington, which he reached about October 30th. There was much adverse criticism, but a -court of inquiry acquitted General Harmar, who, however, resigned his commission soon afterwards.

The failure of General ITarmar to effect the main purpose for which the expedition had been organized, which purpose was the establishment of strong fortress communications throughout the Maumee country, caused General St. Clair to recommend the sending of another punitive expedition. Accordingly, in September, 1791, an army of 2,300 "effectives" departed, General St. Clair being in command. By the time it had reached the eastern fork of the Wabash, about a mile eastward of the Ohio-Indiana line, the effective force was only about 1400 men. And there, the next morning, the camp was suddenly attacked by Indians, who "shot down the troops, as hunters would slaughter a herd of standing buffalo." The officers could not stay the wild rout which followed. It was a far greater disaster than that which General ITarmar had sustained, and altogether the casualties exceeded half of the forces engaged. General St. Clair manifested signal personal valor, but had perforce to follow his troops in retreat. The inevitable court of inquiry sat, and its history duplicated that of the ITarmar inquiry, for General St. Clair was exonerated, and, like his predecessor in misfortune, he soon afterwards resigned his commission.

The defeat of two American armies, did not tend to instil into the Indian mind any clear recognition of the authority of the United States. The Maumee Indians, in particular, continued to be belligerently inclined, and not amenable to peace overtures. Almost daily, fresh and revolting stories of massacres reached Washington, and the undertaking of another expedition became imperative. Anthony Wayne was chosen to command the expedition. The choice was an excellent one, as events proved. "Mad Anthony," who gained that cognomen bv a daredevil feat of an earlier day, in forcing his way into The Citadel of Stony Point at the point of the bayonet, was a soldier of wellestablished reputation, quick and resolute in action, an ideal Indian fighter. He proceeded to Pittsburg to organize his army, and in December, 1792, the 'Legion of the United States,' assembled at Legionville, about twenty miles below Pittsburg. General Wayne proceeded carefully. His raw troops he made into seasoned capable soldiers before he put them to the test of actual combat. ITe remained at Legionville, encamped, until the spring of 1793, and then the army was transported down the river, and landed at Hobson's Choice, not far from Cincinnati. There for several months the army underwent incessant drilling. There were several attempts made to effect peaceful understandings with the red men, and some were inclined to "bury the hatchet." The Maumee Indians, with whom was Simon Girty, however, met the overtures with the curt rejoinder: "If you seriously design to make a firm and lasting peace, you will immediately remove all your people from our side of the river" (the Ohio). The peace commissioners, who were at Detroit, were forced to declare the negotiations at an end. They returned to Fort Erie, and reported to General Wayne, who decided to advance without further delay. He left Fort Jefferson, and the first skirmish occurred near Fort St. Clair, south of Hamilton, where the Indians routed a small detachment, and captured about seventy horses. Proceeding carefully, General Wayne established Fort Greenville, on the present site of the town of that name. There an encampment about fifty acres in extent was fortified, and a part of the army wintered in the stockade. Regular drill and teaching of devices of Indian warfare were continued during the entire winter. Where General St. Clair was defeated, a detachment from General Wayne's army erected a fort, on Christmas Day, 1793. It was named Fort Recovery. The Indians undoubtedly were cognizant of every move, and it is stated were encouraged in their defiance by the British at Detroit, or at all events by British officials stationed at Detroit. It appears that the local officials, whether with the knowledge and authority of the British Government, or not, is not on record, despatched British soldiers, "three companies of Colonel England's regiment," to Maumee Rapids, to assist in building a fort there. One official wrote that this fort "put all the Indians here in great spirits" to resist the Americans. The fort was situated on the left hank of the Maumee River, within the limits of the present village of Maumee; and to Fort Miami came regular reports of the progress of General Wayne's army. It was reported: "that the army marched twice as far in a day as St. Clair's, that the troops marched in open order ready for Immediate battle, and that the greatest precaution was exercised at night, by breastworks of fallen trees, etc., to guard against ambush and surprise."

On June 30, 1794, the Indians attempted to storm Fort Recovery, but were beaten back, after sanguinary fighting, which lasted for two days. This check disheartened some of the Upper Lake Indians, who began to return home. It seems that the attack had not been in accordance with the original plan of resistance to General Wayne's advance, but the opportunity and the impetuosity of the Mackinac tribesmen brought if about. General Wayne's forces had, a few months earlier been increased by 1600 Kentucky cavalrymen, so that his command exceeded 3000. All realized that defeat must not come to this, the third, expedition, and they entered into their preparations with grim seriousness. The army left Fort Greenville on July 28th, 1794, proceeding by way of Fort Recovery. The route led through the Black Swamp country, and it is thought by some that General Wayne's army passed over the ridge road near Wauseon. lie certainly would select the highest ground possible, and at best, his progress in such swampy territory was slow. He halted at Girty's Town, and built Fort Adams. On August 8th they reached the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers, seventy-seven miles distant from Fort Recovery. General

Wayne had planned to surprise the enemy a.t that point, but upon arrival found that the Indians had departed. It seems that General Wayne's plans were communicated to them by a deserter, and thus one of the main hopes of the American general was frustrated. Nevertheless, he was able to devastate the region, which was what might be termed one of the main granaries of the tribes of the Maumee and Auglaize. He sent strong detachments up and down the river, destroying the crops which were almost in the mature state. The Indians had acquired, from the French presumably, considerable skill in agriculture, and on the flat stretches bordering the river General Wayne found vast fields of ripe and ripening corn. In the many raids, his forces laid waste to a considerable acreage of growing crops, making the succeeding winter one of the most disastrous the Indians- of the neighborhood had experienced.

At the meeting of the rivers was an ideal location for the placing of a fort. Maybe, the general had purposed erecting one there. He probably had, for he ordered the construction of it almost immediately after the arrival of the army at that important point. And in all probability the news that came to him there, that the British garrison at Detroit was expected by the Indians to take active part in opposing his advance, influenced him to erect a very strong fortification. It was constructed in eight days, and pleased the general evidently, for after inspecting it, he turned to one of his staff, General Scott, and exclaimed : 'T defy the English, Indians, and all the devils in Hell to take it." "Then call it Fort. Defiance," suggested General Scott. By which circumstance the fort, and the subsequent city upon its site, happened to be so named, it is believed.

General Wayne proved himself to be a very efficient commander; very thorough, and ever alert. He gave the Indians no chance to surprise him. His intelligence department, or system of espionage, was very effective. He was served by a capable intrepid band of scouts and spies, men of the white race but, many of them, of almost life-long Indian associations. Some of the most effective of his scouts were white men who, in boyhood, had been captured by Indians, and had grown to manhood in Indian camps, thus naturally adopting Indian ways, and becoming as proficient as Indians in the general methods of life and warfare in the wilderness. They were wont to don Indian costumes, even to the war paint, and move freely and unsuspected among the Indians. Thus, General Wayne was well served, and able to circumvent the plannings of the enemy. As he proceeded on his march, and time after time maneuvered his forces so as to give no opening for successful attack by the Indians, the latter came to speak of him as "the chief who never sleeps." Later, after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, they came to know him bv another, and even more flattering, name.

At Fort Defiance General Wayne intuitively felt that a conflict with the enemy could not long be averted. His scouts advised him that below him were definite indications that the impending conflict was near. However, political considerations were ever present to effect the purpose of the American commander without further bloodshed if possible, the political position being complicated, and portentous, because of the presence of British troops on the line of march, resistance by which troops would, it was thought, inevitably involve the United States in another war with Britain. Therefore, at W ashington's request, General Wayne, before leaving Fort Defiance, despatched a soldier, under a flag of truce, to the enemy's camp, bearing an offer of advantageous terms to the Indians, provided the latter no longer resisted the advance. A council of the confederated chiefs was held under a large elm tree, at the Grand Rapids of the Maumee, and although most of the chiefs were still hostile and belligerently disposed, one of the most powerful chiefs, Little Turtle (Mis-she-kence) of the Miamis, a farseeing but brave man, was wishful to seek a peaceful solution to the trouble if possible. He argued: "We have beaten the enemy twice under separate commanders, but we cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and the day are alike to him. During all the time he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me it would be well to listen to his offers of peace." Blue Jacket, a Shawnee chieftain, is supposed to have leaped up in the council and accused Little Turtle of cowardice, whereupon the latter sought no further to plead for peace, but replied : "Follow me to battle." Colonel Howard stated, in writing of this council, that "the eloquence of the wily Pottawatomie chief, Turkey Foot (Mis-sis-sa-in-zit) , and the clamor of the braves for war, prevailed, and the council closed its deliberation at the dawn of day and declared for war." Meanwhile, General Wayne had not waited for an answer to his peace proposal. lie knew the character, in war, ot the Indian, and proceeded with his operations as planned while the Indians deliberated. A week after the peace messenger had been despatched, the American army left Fort Defiance, and three days later reached Roche de Boeuf, a massive frowning rock which rises from the western side of the river, about a mile above the spot where later the village of Waterville was established. It has been authenticated that General Wayne's march from Fort Defiance followed the left bank of the river, but actually how far inland from the river bank his route lay is not known. It is possible that it followed the ridge road. At

Roche de Boeuf, which he reached on August 18th, he met his returning messenger, who carried an evasive reply from the Indians, who intimated that if General Wayne would tarry ten days longer, the tribes would treat with him for peace. Wayne detected the ruse, and knowing that the Indians were immediately before him, and preparing to attack, he resolved to ignore the request, and attack the Indians forthwith, before they could be reinforced by British or Indian forces. His scouts reported that there were at least two thousand Indians, of the Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Chippewa, and Iroquois tribes gathered near Fort Miami, with their right resting on Swan Creek; also that the renegades McKee, Girty, and Ellioft, with about seventy white rangers, disguised as Indians, from Detroit, were with them. The Indians were under the supreme joint command of Little Turtle, of the Miamis, and Blue Jacket, of the Shawnees. The former had been the chief mainly responsible for the discomfiture of

General Harmar, and the disastrous campaign of General St. Clair. Following the council under the elm tree at Maumee, the Indians swept through the woods in long columns, and took up what they deemed to be an impregnable position on, and around, Presque Isle Hill, about two miles above Maumee. The position selected was one which had many natural advantages, and strategically it was rendered more desirable for defence by the fact that during a tornado of the previous year the trees had been torn down, and lay literally an interlaced stretch of fallen timbers, between which the Indians could lie and, as they thought, safely hurl defiance at the advancing army. It was thought that cavalry, in which arm General Wayne's army was so strong, would be useless over such ground, and that thus the American force would be reduced practically to one-half its full strength. The Indians formed in three long lines, their left resting on the river, and their right extending some two milas into the forest, at right angles to the Maumee. Wayne halted at Roche de P>oeuf on the 19th, but at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 20th moved forward. His plan of battle included the mock defeat of his advanced line, which was to fall back, apparently in disorder, upon the main body, which then would execute quick maneuvers depending upon opportunities then disclosed. Accordingly, he sent forward a battalion of mounted Kentuckians, with orders to maintain a position far enough in advance of the main body to give the latter time to form, after the first attack. An hour later, the battle began, the cavalry being fired on by the Indians who were concealed in the long grass, and among the timbers; and as prearranged, the mounted troops fell back. General

Wavne immediately reorganized his forces, maneuvering them into two lines, with cavalry on both flanks. He then gave the front line the order to charge with trailed arms. They were to administer the cold steel to the Indians while passing over the stretch of fallen timber, then turn, fire a well-directed volley into the Indians, and again charge with bayonets fixed, and before the Indians had a chance to reload their muskets. "Mad Anthony's" tactics were those of his Revolutionary days, and his characteristic impetuosity occurred to his aide, just as the general had given the order to attack. "General Wayne" said the aide, Lt. William H. Harrison, "I'm afraid you'll get into the fight yourself and forget to give me the necessary field orders."

It was very quickly over. Wayne's troops had not been drilled for so long and so thoroughly without being able to maneuver with alacrity and promptitude under fire. It has been stated that such was the impetuosity of the initial charge that the Indians and their white allies were driven from the coverts almost immediately. Prodded from their hiding places by cold steel, and subjected to a deadly fire, the impact was like that of a hurricane, and as Che-no-tin, meaning hurricane, or the wind, Wavne thereafter became known to the Indians. The American troops followed up the fleeing savages with such swiftness and fury, and poured such a destructive fire into their backs, that few of the second line of Wayne's legion arrived in time to participate in the action. "Such was the impetuosity of the first line of infantry" reported Wayne "that the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers, were driven from all their coverts in so short a time that, although every possible exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, Todd, and Barbie, of the mounted volunteers, to gain their troops proper positions, but part of each could get up in season to participate in the action, the enemy being driven in the course of an hour, more than two miles, through the thick woods already mentioned, by less than one-half their numbers." Many of the Indians endeavored to escape by swimming the river, but they were intercepted and cut down in mid-stream by the cavalry. Surprising to the Indians also, no doubt, were the feats of the cavalrymen, who, it seems, "galloped boldly among the Indians, leaping their horses over the fallen logs, and dodging in and out among the trees" swinging their long sabres with terrible effect among the dismayed Indians. The enemy was driven to the very palisades of the British fort, Miami, the gates of which fortress, however, did not open as had been expected, to offer refuge to the defeated and pursued Indians. It has been stated that the British looked on, with apparent unconcern, at this humiliation and defeat of their former allies, which was fortunate for both Britain and America, for had the garrison at that moment shown any sign of intervening, General Wayne would have attempted to storm the fortress, and international relations would have been strained probably to beyond the breaking point. In fact, General Wayne rode to within a few hundred feet of Fort Miami, and seemed to seriously contemplate storming it. The impulse passed, his impetuosity being at most times subordinate to his responsibility. His military experience also must have indicated to him the inadvisability of attacking, with but one small piece of artillery a fortification which mounted ten strong pieces of artillery. A letter came to General Wayne next day from the British commandant at Fort Miami, in which he, Major Campbell, stated: "I have no hesitation, on my part, to say that I know of no war existing between Great Britian and America," but he asked in what light he was to view the American action "in making such near approaches to this garrison" ; to which letter General Wayne replied that his army moved "far within the acknowledged jurisdiction of the United States of America," but that "were you entitled to an answer the most full and satisfactory one was announced to you from the muzzles of my small guns yesterday morning."

An interesting insight to the battle, as viewed from the Indian side, is given in a manuscript written by Jonathan Adler, who at the time lived with the Indians. His account reads as follows:

"We remained here (Defiance) about two weeks, until we heard of the approach of Wayne, when we packed up our goods and started for the old British fort at the Maumee Rapids. Here we prepared ourselves for battle, and sent the women and children down about three miles below the fort; and as I did not wish to fight, they sent me to Sandusky, to inform the Wyandots there of the great battle that was about to take place. I remained at Sandusky until the battle was over. The Indians did not wait more than three or four days, before Wayne made his appearance at the head of a long prairie on the river, where he halted, and waited for an opportunity to suit himself.

"Now the Indians are very curious about fighting, for when they know they are going into a battle, they will not eat just previous. They say that if a man is shot in the body when he is entirely empty, there is not half as much danger of the ball passing through the bowels as when they are full. So they started the first morning without eating anything, and moving to the end of the prairie, ranged themselves in order of battle at the edge of the timber. There they waited all day without any food, and at night returned and partook of their suppers. The second morning they again placed themselves in the same position, and again returned at night and supped. By this time, they had begun to get weak from eating only once a day, and concluded they would eat breakfast. Some were eating, and others, who had finished, had moved forward to their stations, when Wayne's army was seen approaching. Soon as they were within gunshot, the Indians began firing upon them, and finding Wayne too strong for them attempted to retreat. Those who were on the way heard the noise and sprang to their assistance. So some were running from and others to the battle, which created great confusion. In the meatime, the light horse had gone entirely around, and came in upon their rear, blowing their horns and closing in upon them. The Indians now found that they were completely surrounded, and all that could made their escape, and the balance were all killed, which was no small number. Among these last, with one or two exceptions, were all the Wyandots that lived at Sandusky at the time I went to inform them of the expected battle. The main body of the Indians were back nearly two miles from the battlefield. and Wayne had taken them by surprise, and made such a

The American casualties in that battle were thirty-three killed, and about one hundred wounded. The fatalities occurred almost wholly from the first fire of the Indians, their aim then being deadly in precision. Afterwards, in a panic-stricken state, their firing was haphazard. The casualties among the Indians cannot be accurately gauged. Undoubtedly hundreds were killed. More than one hundred corpses lay on the battlefield, and many other bodies were carried away by the Indians as was their custom for burial.

Turkey Foot, the Indian chief, lost his life in the battle. At the foot of Presque Isle Hill he endeavored to rally his warriors, and to make himself more conspicuous leaped upon a small boulder, since known as Turkey Foot Rock. Presenting so conspicuous a target, it is not surprising that he was soon wounded. He fell pierced by a

Following the Battle of Fallen Timbers, General Wayne swept the country, destroying all Indian villages, and all crops. Subsequent history proved that General Wayne's campaign had been won when he stampeded the Indians at Fallen Timbers, and that thereafter the general attitude of the Indians to both the British and the Americans changed radically, although not suddenly.

General Wayne returned to Fort Defiance, and on November 2, 1794, reached Greenville. There, on August 7, 1795, the famous Treaty of Greenville was entered into between Anthony Wayne, representing the United States, and the principal chiefs of the Indian tribes of Ohio. More than one thousand chiefs and sachems gathered for the council, which lasted for fifty days, and was well worth the time spent in deliberation, for the Treaty of Greenville was very satisfactory in operation, both to the Indians within the territory and to "our Father, the Fifteen Fires," by which appellation the Indians knew "Uncle

Sam, ' the name originating by the firing of fifteen guns, one for each state in the Union, as a salute, upon ceremonial occasions, during the meetings of the council at Greenville.

General V ayne died in 1796, being seized with a sudden attack of gout of the stomach while on passage down Lake Erie. He died before reaching land. It is interesting to note that one of his last acts was to receive, as representative of the United 'States, the Fort Miami, the British Government having resolved to formally surrender that and other posts to the rightful authority, the United "States.

rl hus, General Wayne was able before he died to gather the full fruits growing from his well-planned and carefully and skillfully executed campaign of 1794, which decisively and indisputably made obvious to the Indian tribes, as well as to the" British Government just where the British sphere of influence and authority ended, and where those of the United States began.

A period of comparative peace and substantial civil development followed the success of General Wayne's campaign. At the close .of 1796, it was estimated that there were then about five thousand white people resident within what are now the bounds of the State of Ohio. The settlers were for the most part in the southern and eastern parts of the territory; but with the establishment of a greater respect for the authority of the United States among the Indians, settlers were encouraged to settle in the western part. The Maumee and Sandusky region was organized in 1796, the British having evacuated the territory they were holding in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the decision of the British Government to evacuate, or abandon, British posts in United States territory in the Great Lakes region having been definitely and finally made when John Jay, U. S. Minister to England, concluded treaty with that nation in 1795. And after General Wayne had received the surrender of the fortifications from the British, the civil representatives of the Northwest Territory proceeded to Detroit, and proclaimed the establishment of the County of Wayne, the bounds of which reached far into what is now Michigan, and into Indiana, and Illinois. (Reference to the map will give a better idea of its extent.) The proclamation, creating the County of Wayne, was issued on August 15, 1796, and within its bounds came, of course, the territory now known as Fulton County.

A census taken in 1798 confirmed the impression that more than five thousand white people lived in the Northwest Territory, and that they could consequently take the privileges of representative government, in accordance with the Ordinance of 1787. Elections were held in December, 1798, and the first Territorial Legislature of Ohio convened at Cincinnati on January 22, 1799. The legislative body was composed of twenty-two representatives of the seven counties of the Northwest Territory, which extended from the Ohio to the Mississippi, with an area as large as that of modern Texas. The Wayne County representatives in the first legislature were : Solomon Sibley, Charles F. Chaubert de Joncaire, and Jacob Visger. Wayne County consisted of four townships, of vast extent, and that in which was the Northwestern Ohio basin was named Hamtramck. The three Wayne County representatives were all of Detroit and vicinity, and it may be imagined that attendance at legislative sessions entailed not an inconsiderable degree of hardship. The members of the Legislature were compelled to carry their provisions and blankets, camp in the open at night, swim their horses across streams, and follow the blazed trails through the dense forest ; and when they had at last arrived at Cincinnati they were destined to find not a well-established town, but only a small settlement founded ten years earlier by settlers from New Jersey.

By a vote of both Territorial houses. William Henry Harrison was selected to be the first delegate, or representative, of the Northwest Territory, in the United States Congress. The five development maps which are part of this chapter will give details of the important territorial arrangements and re-arrangements over the period between the Revolution and the War of 1812. Ohio was admitted to statehood on February 19, 1803, Edward Tiffin being elected its first governor. He was elected without opposition. At that time, the Maumee Valley had practically no white settlers. A few traders and pioneers had established themselves near the watercourses, but in reality northwest Ohio had no representation in the State Government until April, 1820, when the Indian Northwest region was reorganized. Following the decisive defeat of the Indians at Fallen Timbers, and the resultant Green- ville Treaty, the natives seemed contented with the annuities paid them by the United States Government, and although for some years garrisons were maintained in the forts established by General Wayne, the improvement in relations between the Indians and the Government gradually brought about a reduction in garrisons, and in some cases evacuation altogether of forts. Fort Miami was one of the first to be evacuated. In reality it was not necessary, for another stockade fort was built in its vicinity. The stockade fort, named Fort Industry, appears to have been built early in the nineteenth century, probably in 1804, although one historian states that it was in existence at, about, the time of the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It was built at the _ confluence of 'Swan Creek and the Maumee River, its exact site being, as nearly as it is possible now to determine, Summit street in the City of Toledo. Clark Waggoner's "History of Lucas County" cites an official War Department letter which refers to the erection of the fort in "about the year 1800." It was at Fort Industry that a treaty was negotiated with the Indians, on July 4, 1805, by the provisions of which agreement the Indian title to the Fire Lands (Huron and Erie counties) was cancelled. Present at the conference were chiefs of the Wyandot, Ottawa, Chippewa, Delaware, Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Seneca tribes. Another treaty, effected at Detroit in 1807, resulted in the transfer of title from the Indians to the United States of all the country north of the middle of the Maumee River, from its mouth to the mouth of the Auglaize, and thence extending north, as far as Lake Huron. Certain tracts were marked out as Indian reservations, for their exclusive use. These reservations, within what is now Northwest Ohio, were: a tract six miles square on the north bank of the Maumee, above Roche de Boeuf, "to include the village where Tondagame, or the Dog, now lives;" a tract three miles square in the vicinity of, and including, Presque Isle; and a tract miles square on the Miami (Maumee) Bay, including the villages where Meskemau and Waugau now live."

Fulton county territory had in the meantime passed under the jurisdiction of other Ohio counties, although, as a matter of fact, it was unorganized territory, for the simple reason that there were no settlers within it to make organization necessary. The First State Legislature organized eight new counties, including Montgomery, Green, and Franklin ; and in consequence Fulton county, by that act, which was passed March 24, 1803, became unorganized parts of Montgomery and Green counties. On January 16, 1807, the county of Miami was formed, and the Montgomery county portion of Fulton county territory passed to Miami. In 1819 the County of Shelby assumed jurisdiction over the F niton -county area.

With the outbreak of war in 1812, three points in the west, Fort Wayne, the Wabash, and the Maumee, needed defence. The troops at the first point were under the command of General Winchester; the Wabash district was under William Henry Harrison, who had gained a notable victory over the intractable Indian chief, Tecumseh, at Tippecanoe, in 1810; while Governor Edwards of the Illinois Territory was in command on the Illinois River. In September, 1812, however, General Harrison was appointed commander-in-chief of the west and northwest. He purposed to recapture the Michigan territory lost to the British by the incredibly poor tactics of General Hull. General Harrison, then subordinate to General Winchester, proceeded without authority to the relief of Fort Wayne, which was likely to fall to the Indians, and by his prompt action averted what might have been a bloody massacre. Immediately afterwards, he, without a murmur, relinquished his command to General Winchester, a Tennesseean of worthy Revolutionary record, but of little experience of Indian warfare. General Winchester advanced cautiously down the Maumee, and at one or two places along the river, not far from Defiance, saw indications of recent and apparently hasty retreat of British troops. In September, General Harrison was placed in supreme command, and immediately proceeded down the Auglaize with a strong force of cavalry. When he reached the camp of General Winchester, he discovered a deplorable state of affairs. A state verging almost on mutiny was present in the ranks of the army. However, after an animated address by the new and popular commander, the discontent passed, and all troops rallied enthusiastically to General Harrison.

(Fort Miami, at Maumee Rapids, was originally built by the French in 1680; was later rebuilt by the British; and was surrendered by the British, to General Anthony Wayne, in 1796.)

of the Auglaize and Maumee rivers, they found Fort Defiance in ruins. In any event, however, it would have been totally inadequate for the requirements of the much larger army that now needed fortifications in that strategically strong position. General Wayne's fort of 1794 could not have sheltered one-fourth of the troops which reached its site in 1812 ; and soon after General Harrison reached Defiance to take over the supreme command he drew a plan for a new fort a dozen times as extensive as was Fort Defiance. When erected, General Harrison named it Fort Winchester, in deference to the general who was formerly his superior officer, and whom he now superseded. Fort Winchester enclosed about three acres of land, and stood about eighty rods south of the old fort. It was erected on the precipitous left bank of the Auglaize River, and for a considerable time was the only obstruction against the incursions of the British and Indians in northwestern Ohio.

The troops suffered much during the winter campaign of 1812-13. They were clad in summer clothing, and were at times very short of food. The failure of contractors to properly provision the army prevented the undertaking of a fall campaign. Indeed, General Harrison, reporting to the Secretary of War stated: "I did not make sufficient allowance for the imbecility and inexperience of the public agents and the villainy of the contractors." General Tupper, brigadier-general of the Ohio quota of the American forces, made a raid on British and Indians in November at Maumee Raipids, at which point, according to General Winchester's original plan of campaign, the Ohio quota was to join his command; and when news came that General Tupper was at Maumee Rapids, a detachment of 400 men was sent from Fort Winchester to support him. When advance scouts reached the camp of Tupper, however, they found it deserted, and the only evidence of conflict was the scalped body of an American, although there were many evidences of hasty retreat. Colonel Lewis, thereupon, decided to return to Camp No. 3, near Fort Winchester. Early in January, General Winchester finally started down the Maumee with 1,300 men. His subsequent action was contrary to the instructions of General Harrison, who had ordered him southward to Fort Jennings. to protect supplies. On the 10th of January, 1813, General Winchester reached a point opposite the site of the battle of Fallen Timbers. There he camped, and improvised some temporary fortifications. The enemy was encamped, in considerable numbers, in the vicinity of the site of Fort Miami, when the American forces appeared, but they retreated, and a force despatched to rout a body of Indians said to be "in an old fortification at Swan Creek" (presumably Fort Industry) found it to be unoccupied. Soon afterwards a delegation from Frenchtown (now Monroe) arrived in General Winchester's camp, imploring protection for their settlement; and the main object of the expedition was forgotten in the circumstances and urgency of the local predicament. On January 17th General Winchester despatched 660 men under Colonels William Lewis and John Allen to the relief of Frenchtown. On the 19th, news that the Indians were gathering in force, alarmed General Winchester, who started for Frenchtown, taking with him all the troops he could detach from Maumee Rapids, in all only about 250 men. His force reached Frenchtown next day. General Winchester seems to have then rested in the belief that no immediate danger was possible, and, notwithstanding that spies reported that a large body of British and Indians were approaching, and would probably attack him . that night, he seems to have been caught unawares in the attack which was made upon his forces in the early morning of the 22nd. Winchester himself was separated from his forces, and taken prisoner by an Indian.

He was led to Colonel Proctor, the British commander, and presumably convinced that a massacre would result unless his force surrendered. He, therefore, ordered his troops to surrender. They however continued to fight until many had been slain, and the third request was received. Then followed the treacherous massacre. Several hundred American soldiers perished in this great disaster at the River Raisin, and the slogan "Remember the Raisin" later stirred many compatriots to enlist who would not otherwise have joined the military forces of the nation.

General Harrison was at Upper Sandusky when news reached him of the unauthorized advance to the Raisin River. He recognized the possibilities, and hastened to the Maumee River in advance of his troops. He arrived there on the day following that of the disaster, and immediately sent a strong detachment to support General Winchester. The troops had not proceeded far before they encountered several fugitives, who reported the total defeat of General Winchester's command. Returning to the Maumee, a council was held, and it was decided to retire temporarily to a safer position in the direction of the Portage River. Accordingly, the blockhouse at Camp Deposit, Maumee Rapids, was razed, and a fortified camp was established about equi-distant from that and Lower Sandusky. There the command rested, pending the arrival of advancing reinforcements. Soon afterwards, the American Army again advanced to the Maumee River, and erected a strong fort on the high right bank of the Maumee River, a short distance from the lowest fording place, and below the foot of the lowest rapids. They called the fortifications Fort Meigs, in honor of the Governor ot Ohio, and it became the centre of operations for the next few months. I lie Canadians, and their Indian allies, were concentrating, during March and April, for a determined attack upon it, hoping thereby to annihilate General Harrison's army. It was even promised that General Harrison himself would be delivered up to his inveterate enemy, Tecumseh. Meanwhile, the outlook for the American nation was serious. The garrison of Fort Meigs was deplorably weak, being only about five hundred men during the month of March, General Harrison's command having been sadly depleted through sickness and other causes. Men were leaving constantly, and could not be forcibly retained, the period for which they had enlisted having expired. Matters had come to such a pass that the Legislature passed an act adding $7 a month to the pay of any of the Kentuckians then in service who would remain until others had been sent to relieve them. By the time Fort Meigs was invested, General Harrison's command had been increased to 1100 effectives, with which small body he had to oppose the combined Canadian and Indian force of about 3000 men. The Canadians had embarked at Malden, while the Indians proceeded on foot. The white troops arrived at Maumee Bay on April 2-6th , and two days later landed near the ruins of Fort Miami, about two miles below Fort Meigs, on the opposite side of the river. The Indians, who had already gathered at the rendezvous, immediately crossed the river, and invested Fort Meigs. During the next couple of days the Canadians were mainly occupied in placing their artillery, but eventually the cannonading began. It has been stated that as many as 500 shells were daily fired at, or into, the fortress from the 1st to the 4th of May, without appreciable effect, and on the 4th, when the Canadian general. General Proctor, sent an officer, under a white flag, fo demand the surrender of the fort, General Harrison replied that he would never surrender the post upon any terms. That night, news came to him that General Green Clay's command, in eighteen large flatboats had reached the left bank of the Maumee, at the head of the Grand Rapids. General Harrison sent them orders to divide. Part were to land about a mile above Fort Meigs for the purpose of charging the British batteries, and spiking the guns, after which they were to return to their boats, and cross over to the fort. The remainder of the men were to land in the vicinity of the fort and fight their way through the investing Indians.

The forces that were to land on the Fort Meigs side accomplished that manoever successfully, and eventually reached the fortress, although only after they had been aided by sorties from the fort. The other detachment, under Colonel Dudley, reached and spiked the Brit- ish guns without much difficulty, but then, having been sniped at by some Indians, they became uncontrollable, and instead of returning to their boats they charged into the thickets from which the firing came. They were unused to Indian warfare, and in reality charged into an ambuscade; and of a force of 866 men, only 170 escaped to Fort Meigs. Colonel Dudley himself was killed in the conflict which lasted for three hours, during which the Indians tomahawked all they could detach from their companies, and practically all who fell wounded. It seems that the British either were indifferent to such murderous conduct, or were unable to control their savage allies; but the Indian chief, Tecumseh, on that day showed himself to be inher- ently honorable and merciful, notwithstanding his insatiable hatred of American authority. When he heard of the bloodthirsty work then proceeding, he leaped upon his horse and galloped to the spot, "rage showing in every feature." Beholding two Indians butchering an American, he brained one with his tomahawk, and felled the other. Seeing General Proctor standing near while the massacre was proceeding, Tecumseh rode up to him.

1 ecumseh then dashed into the melee, and, throwing himself between the American prisoners and Indians, dared an Indian to murder another prisoner. So ended the massacre, and so did Tecumseh pass into -American history as an honorable Indian chieftain, of noble traits.

rIhe American disaster had a somewhat unusual result, for instead ot its resulting to the advantage of the Canadians, the contrary was the case, the Indians withdrew, tired of the siege, and perhaps satiated by the butchery ot the 5th; and, General Proctor on May 9th found it advisable to withdraw his white forces, and return to Amherstburg, Canada, where lie disbanded the militia. Thus, it happened that an American force of not much more than one thousand men successfully withstood a siege by three times its strength. During the siege, eighty-one men of the garrison of Fort Meigs were killed, and 189 wounded. This of course does not include the casualties of the relieving force under Colonel Dudley.