Paint Township (part 4 of 14)

The memoir of Clark proceeds : " Post Yincennes never being out of my mind, and from some things that I had learned I suspected that Mr. Gibault, the priest, was inclined to the American interest previous to our arrival in the country. He had great influence over the people at this period, and Post Yincennes was under his jurisdiction. I made no dou-bt of his integrity to us. I sent for him, and had a long conference with him on the subject of Post Yincennes. In answer to all my queries lie informed me that lie did not think it wortli my while to cause any military preparation to be made at the Falls of the Ohio for the attack of Post Yincennes, although the j)lace was strong and a great number of Indians in its neighborhood, who, to his knowledge, were generally at war; that the governor had, a few weeks before, left the place on some business to Detroit ; that he expected that when the inhabitants w^ere fully acquainted with what had passed at the Illinois, and the present happiness of their friends, and made fully acquainted with the nature of the war, their sentiments would greatly change ; that he knew that his appearance there would have great weight, even among the savages ; that if it was agreeable to me he would take this business on himself, and had no doubt of his being able to bring that place over to the American interest without my being at the trouble of marching against it ; that the business being altogether spiritual, he wished that another person might be charged with the temporal part of the embassy, but that he would privately direct the whole, and he named Dr. Lafont as liis associate. " This was perfectly agreeable to what I had been secretly aiming at for some days. The plan was immediately settled, and the two doctors, with their intended retinue, among whom I had a spy, set about preparing for their journey, and set out on the 14th of July, with an address to the inhabitants of Post Yincennes, authorizing them to garrison their own town themselves, which would convince them of the great confidence we put in them, etc. All this had its desired effect. Mr. Gibault and his party arrived safe, and after their spending a day or two in explaining matters to the people, they universally acceded to the proposal (except a few emissaries left by Mr. Abbo^ who immediately left the country), and went in a body to the church, where the oath of allegiance was administered to them in a most solemn manner. An officer was elected, the fort immediately [garrisoned], and the American flag displayed to the astonishment of the Indians, and everything settled far beyond our most sanguine hopes. The people here immediately began to put on a new face, and to talk in a different style, and to act as perfect freemen. With a garrison of their own, with the United States at their elbow, their language to the Indians was immediately altered. They began as citizens of the United States, and informed the Indians that their old father, the king of France, was to life again, and was mad at them for fighting for the English ; that they would advise them to make peace with the Americans as soon as they could, otherwise they might expect the land to be very bloody, etc. The Indians began to think seriously ; throngliout the country this was the kind of h^ngnage they generally got from the ancient friends of the Wabash and Illinois. Through the means of their correspondence spreading among the nations, our batteries began now to play in a proper channel. Mr. Gibault and party, accompanied by several gentlemen of Post Vincennes, returned to Kaskaskia about the 1st of August with the joyful news. During his absence on this business, which caused great anxiety to me (for without the possession of this post all our views would have been blasted), I was exceedingly engaged in regulating things in the Illinois. The reduction of these posts was the period of the enlistment of our troops. I was at a great loss at tlie time to determine how to act, and how far I might venture to strain my authority. My instructions were silent on many important points, as it was impossible to foresee the events that would take place. To abandon the country, and all the prospects that opened to our view in the Indian department at this time, for the want of instructions in certain cases, I thought would amount to a reflection on government, as having no confidence in me. I resolved to usurp all the authority necessary to carry my points. I had the greater part of our [troops] re-enlisted on a different establishment, commissioned French officers in the country to command a company of the young inhal)itants, established a garrison at Cahokia, commanded by Captain Bowman, and another at Kaskaskia, commanded by Captain Williams. Post Vincennes remained in the situation as mentioned. Colonel William Linn, who had accompanied us as a volunteer, took charge of a party that was to be discharged upon their arrival at the Falls, and orders were sent for tlie removal of that post to the mainland. Captain John Montgomeiy was dispatched to government with letters. ... I again turned my attention to Post Yincennes. I plainly saw that it would be highly necessary to have an American officer at that post. Captain Leonard Helm appeared calculated to answer my purpose ; he was past the meridian of life, and a good deal acquainted with the Indian [disposition]. I sent him to command at that post, and also appointed him agent for Indian affairs in the department of the Wabash. . . . About the middle of August he set out to take possession of his new command. Thus," says Cljirk, referring to Helm's success, " ended this valuable negotiation, and the saving of much blood. ... In a short time almost the whole of the various tribes of the different nations of the Wabash, as high as the Ouiatanon, came to Post Vincennes, and followed the example of the Grand Door Chief ; and as expresses were continually passing between Captain Helm and myself the whole time of these treaties, the business was settled perfectly to my satisfaction, and greatly to the advantage of the public. The British interest daily lost ground in this quarter, and in a short time our influence reached the Indians on the Riv^er St. Joseph and the border of Lake Michigan. The French gentlemen at the different posts we now had possession of engaged warmly in our interest. They appeared to vie with each other in promoting the business, and through the means of their correspondence, trading among the Indians, and otherwise, in a short time the Indians of various tribes inhabiting the region of Illinois came in great numbers to Cahokia, in order to make treaties of peace with us. From the information they generally got from the French gentlemen (whom they implicitly believed) respecting us, they were truly alarmed, and, consequently, we were visited by the greater part of them, without any invitation from us. Of course we had greatly the advantage in making use of such language as suited our [interest]. Those treaties, which commenced about the last of August and continued between three and four weeks, were probably conducted in a way different from any other known in America at that time. I had been always convinced that our general conduct with the Indians was wrong; that inviting them to treaties was considered by them in a different manner from what we expected, and imputed by them to fear, and that giving them great presents confirmed it. I resolved to guard against this, and I took good pains to make myself fully acquainted with the French and Spanish methods of treating Indians, and with the manners, genius and disposition of the Indians in general. As in this quarter they had not yet been spoiled by us, I was 'resolved that they should not be. I began the business fully j)repared, having copies of the British treaties."

At the first great council, which was opened at Cahokia, an Indian with a belt of peace in his hand, advanced to the table at which Col. Clark was sitting ; another chief, bearing the sacred pijje of the tribe, went forward to the table, and a third chief then advanced with fii-e to kindle the pipe. When the pipe was lighted it was figuratively presented to the heavens, then to the earth, then to all the good spirits, to witness what was about to be done. After the observance of these forms the pipe was presented to Clark, and afterward to every person present. An Indian speaker then addressed the Indians as follows : " Warriors - You ought to be thankful that the Great Spirit has taken pity on you, and cleared the sky and opened your ears and hearts, so that you may hear the truth. We have been deceived by bad birds flying through the land. But we will take up the bloody hatchet no more against the Big Knife, and we hope, as the Great Spirit has brought ns togetiier for good, as he is good, that we may be received as friends, and that the belt of peace may take the place of the bloody belt."

"I informed them," says Clark, "that I had paid attention to what they had said, and that on the next day I would give them an answer, when I hoped the ears and hearts of all people would be opened to receive the truth, which should be spoken without deception. I advised them to keep prepared for the result of this day, on which, perhaps, their very existence as a nation depended, etc., and dismissed them, not suffering any of our people to shake hands with thenr, as peace was not yet concluded, telling them it was time enough to give the hand when the heart could be given also. They replied that ' such sentiments were like men who had but one heart, and did not speak with a double tongue.' The next day I delivered them the following speech :

' Men and Warriors - Pay attention to my words : You informed me yesterday that the Great Spirit had brought us together, and that you hoped, as he was good, that it would be for good. I have also the same hope, and expect that each party will strictly adhere to whatever may be agreed upon, whether it be peace or war, and henceforward prove ourselves worthy of the attention of the Great Spirit. I am a man and a warrior - not a counsellor. I carry war in ray right hand, and and in my left peace. I am sent by the great council of the Big Knife, and their friends, to take possession of all the towns possessed by the English in this country, and to watch the motions of the red people ; to bloody the paths of those who attempt to stop the course of the river, but to clear the roads from us to those who desire to be in peace, that the women and children may walk in them without meeting anything to strike their feet against. I am ordered to call upon the Great Fire for warriors enough to darken the land, and that the red people may hear no sound but of birds who live on blood. I know there is a mist before your eyes. I will dispel the clouds, that you may clearly see the cause of the war between the Big Knife and the English, then you may judge for yourselves which party is in the right, and if you are warriors, as you profess to be, prove it by adhering faithfully to the party Mdiich you shall believe to be entitled to your friendship, and do not show yourselves to be squaws.

things from the English, from whom they are sprung. They live by making corn, hunting and trade, as yon and your neighbors, the French, do. But the Big Knives, daily getting more numerous, like the trees in the woods, the land became poor and hunting scarce, and having but little to trade with, the women began to cry at seeing their children naked, and tried to learn how to make clothes for themselves. They soon made blankets for their husbands and children, and the men learned to make guns and powder. In this way we did not want to buy so much from the English. They then got mad with us, and sent strong garrisons through our country, as you see they have done among you on the lakes, and among the French. They would not let our women spin, nor our men make powder, nor let us trade with anybody else. The English said we should buy everything of them, and since we had got saucy we should give two bucks for a blanket, which we used to get for one; we should do as they pleased ; and they killed some of our people to make the rest fear them. This is the truth, and the real cause of the war between the English and us, which did not take place until some time after this treatment.

' But our women became cold and hungry and continued to cry. Our young men got lost for want of counsel to put them in the right path. The whole land was dark. The old men held down their heads for shame, because they could not see the sun ; and thus there was mourning for many years over the land. At last the Great Spirit took pity on us, and kindled a great council fire, that never goes out at a place called Philadel]3hia. He then stuck down a post, and put a war tomahawk by it, and' went away. The sun immediately broke out, the sky was blue again, and the old men held up their heads and assembled at the fire. They took up the hatchet, sharpened it, and put it into the hands of our young men, ordering them to strike the English as long as they could find one on this side of the great waters. The young men immediately struck the war post and blood was shed. In this way the war began, and the English were driven from one place to another until they got weak, and then they hired you red people to fight for them. The Great Spirit got angiy at this, and caused your old father, the French king, and other great nations, to join the Big Knives, and fight with them against all their enemies. So the English have become like deer in the woods, and you may see that it is the Great Spirit that has caused your waters to be troubled, because you have fought for the people he was mad with. If your women and children

' You can now judge who is in the right. I have already told you who I am. Here is a bloody belt and a white one, take which you please. Behave like men, and don't let your being surrounded by the Big Knives cause you to take up the one belt with your hands while your hearts take up the other If you take the bloody path, you shall leave the town in safety, and may go and join your friends, the English. We will then try, like warriors, who can put the most stumbling-blocks in each other's way, and keep our clothes longest stained with blood. If, on the other hand, you should take the path of peace, and be received as brothers to the Big Knives, with their friends, the French ; should you then listen to bad birds that ma^' be flying through the land, you will no longer deserve to be counted as men, but as creatures with two tongues, that ought to be destroyed without listening to anything you might say. As I am convinced you never heard the truth b«fore, I do not wish you to answer before you have taken time to counsel. We will, therefore, part this evening, and when the Great Spirit shall bring us together again, let us speak and think like men, with but one heart and one tongue.'

" The next day after this speech a new fire was kindled with more than usual ceremony ; an Indian speaker came forward and said : They ought to be thankful that the Great Spirit had taken pity on them, and opened their ears and their hearts to receive the truth. He had paid great attention to what the Great Spirit had put into my heart to say to them. They believed the whole to be the truth, as the Big Knives did not speak like any other people they had ever heard. They now saw they had been deceived, and that the English had told them lies, and that I had told them the truth, just as some of their old men had always told them. They now believed that we were in the right ; and as the English had forts in their country, they might, if they got strong enough, want to serve the red peoi)le as they had treated the Big Knives. The red peojjle ought, therefore, to help us, and they had, with a cheerful heart, taken up the belt of peace, and spurned that of war. They were determined to hold the former fast, and would have no doubt of our friendship, from the manner of our speaking, so different from that of the English. They would now call in their warriors, and throw the tomahawk into the river, where it could never be found. They would suffer no more bad birds to fly through the land, disquieting the women and children. They would be careful to smooth the roads for their brothers, the Big Knives, whenever they might wish to come and see them. Their friends should hear of the good talk I had given them; and they hoped I would send 'chiefs among them, with my eyes, to see myself that they were men, and strictly adhered to all they had said at this great fire, which the Great Spirit had kindled at Cahokia for the good of all people who would attend it."

The sacred pipe was again kindled, and presented, figuratively, to the heavens and the earth, and to all the good spirits, as witness of what had been done. The Indians and the white men then closed the council by smoking the pipe and shaking hands. With no material variation, either of the forms that were observed, or with the speeches that were made at this council. Col. Clark and the officers concluded treaties of peace with the Piankashaws, Ouiatanons, Kickaj^oos, Illinois, Kaskaskias, Peorias, and branches' of some other tribes that inhabited the country between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi.

Gov. Henry soon received intelligence of the successful progress of the expedition under the command of Clark. The French inhabitants of the villages of Kaskaskias, Cahokia and Post Yincennes took the oath of allegiance to the State of Virginia.

In October, 17Y8, the General Assembly of the State of Virginia passed an act which contained the following provisions, viz : All the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia "who are already settled or shall hereafter settle on the western side of the Ohio, shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois county^ and the governor of this commonwealth, with the advice of the council, may appoint a county lieutenant, or commandant-in-chief, in that county, during pleasure, who shall appoint and commission so many deputy commandants, militia officers and commissaries as he shall think proper in the diiferent districts, during pleasure ; all of whom, before they enter into office, shall take the oath of fidelity to this commonwealth and the oath of office, according to the form of their own religion. And all civil officers to which the inhabitants have been accustomed, necessary for the preservation of the peace and the admin istration of justice, shall be chosen by a majority of the citizens in their respective districts, to be convened for that purpose by the county lieutenant, or commandant, or his deputy, and shall be commissioned by the said county lieutenant or commandant-in-chief."

Before the provisions of the law were carried into effect, Henry Hamilton, the British lieutenant-governor of Detroit, collected an army, consisting of about thirty regulars, fifty French volunteers, and four hundred Indians. "With this force he passed down the River

Wabash, and took possession of Post Yincennes on the 15th of December, 1778. No attempt was made by the population to defend the town. Capt. Hehn was taken and detained as a prisoner, and a number of the French inhabitants disarmed.

Clark was aware that Gov. Hamilton, now that he had regained possession of Yincennes, would undertake the capture of his forces, and realizing his danger, he determined to forestall Hamilton and capture the latter. His plans were at once formed. He sent a portion of his available force bj boat, called The Willing^ with instructions to Capt. Rogers, the commander, to proceed down the Mississippi and up the Ohio and Wabash, and secrete himself a few miles below Yincennes, and prohibit any persons from passing either up or down. With another part of his force he marched across the country, through prairies, swamps and marshes, crossing swollen streams - for it was in the month of February, and the whole country was flooded from continuous rains - and arriving at the banks of the Wabash near St. Francisville, he pushed across the river and brought his forces in the rear of Yincennes before daybreak. So secret and rapid were his movements that Gov. Hamilton had no notice that Clark had left Kaskaskia. Clark issued a notice requiring the people of the town to keep within their houses, and declaring that all persons found elsewhere would be treated as enemies. Tobacco's Son tendered one hundred of his Piankashaw braves, himself at their head. Clark declined their services with thanks, saying his own force was sufficient. Gov. Hamilton had just completed the fort, consisting of strong blockhouses at each angle, with the cannon placed on the upper floors, at an elevation of eleven feet from the surface. The works were at once closely invested. The ports were so badly cut, the men on the inside could not stand to their cannon for the bullets that would whiz from the rifles of Clark's sharp-shooters through the embrasures whenever they were suffered for an instant to remain open.

The town immediately surrendered with joy, and assisted at the siege. After the first offer to surrender upon terms was declined, Hamilton and Clark, with attendants, met in a conference at the Catholic church, situated some eighty rods from the fort, and in the afternoon of the same day, the 24th of February, 1779, the fort and garrison, consisting of seventy-five men, surrendered at discretion. The result was that Hamilton and his whole force were made prisoners of war. Clark held military possession of the northwest until the close of the war, and in that way it was secured to our country. At the treaty of peace, held at Paris at the close of the Revolutionary war, the British insisted that the Ohio River should be the northern boundary of the United States. The correspondence rehitive to that treaty shows that the only ground on which " the American commissioners relied to sustain their claim that the lakes should be the boundary was the fact that General Clark had conquered the country, and was in the undisputed military possession of it at the time of the negotiation. This fact was affirmed and admitted, and was the chief ground on which British commissioners reluctantly abandoned their claim."

Chaptek Xil The Title Of Virginia And Her Deed Of Cession

" Virginia acquired title to the great Northwest by its several charters, granted by James I., bearing dates respectively April 10, 1606 ; May 23, 1609; March 12, 1611. The Colony of Virginia first attempted to exercise authority in, or jurisdiction over, that portion of its extensive domains that was organized by the ordinance of '87 into ' the Territory Northwest of the Kiver Ohio,' when in 1Y69, the House of Burgess of said Colony passed an act establishing the county of Botetourt, with the Mississippi Eiver as its western boundary. The aforesaid act recited that, ' Whereas, the people situated on the Mississippi, in said county of Botetourt, will be very remote from the court-house, and must necessarily become a separate county, as soon as their numbers are sufficient, which, probably, will happen in a short time, be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the inhabitants of that part of the said county of Botetourt which lies on said waters shall be exempted from the payment of any levies to be laid by said county court for the purpose of building a court-house and prispn for the said county.'

" Civil government, however, between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers was more in name than reality, until in 1778, after the conquest of the country by General George Rogers Clark, when the Virginia Legislature organized the county of Illinois, embracing within its limits all the territory owned by Virginia west of the Ohio River. Colonel ^ohn Todd served, under appointment received from the Governor of Virginia, as civil commandant, and lieutenant of the county, until his death, at the battle of Blue Licks, in 1782, less than two years before Virginia ceded the country to the United States. Timothy de Montbrun was his successor.

A Sketch Of The History Of Ohio

"Pursuant to the foregoing action of the General Assembly of Yirginia, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, Yirginia's delegates in Congress, did, as per deed of session, on the first day of March, 1784, it being the eighth year of American independence, ' convey (in the name and for, and on behalf of, the said Commonwealth), transfer, assign, and make over unto the United States in Congress assembled, for the benefit of said States, Yirginia inclusive, all right, title and claim, as well of soil as of jurisdiction, to the territory of said State lying and being to the northwest of the river Ohio.' Upon the presentation of said deed of cession, Congress resolved, on the same day, 'that it be accepted, and the same be recorded and enrolled among the acts of the United States in Congress assembled.'

" The United States having thus secured title to the 'Great Northwest,' Congress soon deemed it advisable to take the preliminary steps looking to the permanent establishment of civil government in the new and extensive territory of which that body had just become the legal custodian. Accordingly, after much mature deliberation and careful consideration of the subject, as well as prolonged discussion of the important questions involved, they, on the 13th of July, 178 Y, gave to the world the results of their deliberations in 'An ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States IS^^orthwest of the river Ohio,' which has come to be best known as ' The Ordinance of '87,' sometimes also called ' The Ordinance of Freedom.' Said ordinance was the fundamental law, the Constitution, so to speak, of the great Northwest, upon which were based, and with which harmonized, all our territorial enactments, as well as ad our subsequent State legislation, and, moreover, it is to that wise, statesmanlike document that we are indebted for much of our prosperity and greatness.

" Up to the time of the passage of the above ordinance there had been no permanent settlements by white men established upon territory embraced within the boundaries given to the Northwest Territoiy, except the few French villages and their immediate vicinities, in the western and northwestern portions of it. If any such existed within the present limits of Ohio, they must have been situated along the

Maumee Kiver, and were of small extent. The Government had hitherto, for the sake of peace, discouraged, and by military force prevented, all attempts of white settlers to occupy lands belonging to the Indians. The chief of those French villages were Detroit, on the Detroit Eiver ; St. Yincents, on the Wabash ; Cahokia, five miles below St. Louis ; St. Philip, forty-eight miles below St. Louis, on the Mississippi ; Kaskaskia, on Kaskaskia River, six miles above its mouth, which empties into the Mississippi seventy-five miles below St Louis ; Prairie-du-Eocher, near Fort Chartres; and Fort Chartres, fifteen miles northwest from Kaskaskia. These were all small settlements or villages, whose aggregate inhabitants probably did not exceed three thousand.

" The inhabitants of these remote settlements in the wilderness and on the prairies, says a late writer, ' were of a peculiar character. Their intercourse with the Indians, and their seclusion from the world, developed among them peculiar characteristics. They assimilated themselves with the Indians, adopted their habits, and almost uniformly lived in harmony with them. They were illiterate, careless, contented, but without much industry, energy, or foresight. Some were hunters, trappers, and anglers, while others run birch-bark canoes by way of carrying on a small internal trade, and still others cultivated the soil. The traders, or voyageurs, were men fond of adventure, and of a wild, unrestrained, Indian sort of life, and would ascend many of the long rivers of the West almost to their sources in their birch-bark canoes, and load them with furs bought of the Indians. The canoes were light, and could easily be carried across the portages between streams.'

" There was attached to these French villages a ' common field,' for the free use of the villagers, every family, in proportion to the number of its members, being entitled to share in it. It was a large inclosed tract for farming purposes. There was also at each village a 'common,' or large inclosed tract, for pasturage and fuel purposes, and timber for building. If a head of a family was sick, or by any casualty was unable to labor, his portion of the ' common field ' was cultivated by his neighbors, and the crop gathered for the use of his family. ' The French villagers,' says the author of Western Annals, ' were devout Catholics, who, under the guidance of their priests, attended punctually upon all holidays and festivals, and performed faithfully all the outward duties and ceremonies of the church. Aside from this, their religion was blended with their social feelings. Sunday, after mass, was the especial occasion for their games and assem- blies. The dance was the popular amusement witli them, and all classes, ages, sexes, and conditions, united bj a common love of enjoyment, met together to participate in the exciting pleasure. They were indifferent about the acquisition of property for themselves or their children. Living in a fruitful country, which, moreover, abounded in fish and game, and where the necessaries of life could be procured with little labor, they were content to live in unambitious peace, and comfortable poverty. Their agriculture was rude, their houses were humble, and they cultivated grain, also fruits and flowers ; bur they lived on from generation to generation without much change or improvement. In some instances they intermarried with the surrounding Indian tribes.'

" Most of these far-off western villages were protected by military posts, and some of them (notably Detroit, which for .months had sue cessfully resisted, in 1763, when in possession of the English, the attacks of the great Pontiac) had realized something of the ' pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war.' The morning guns of these forts had sounded the merry reveille upon the early breeze, waking the slumbering echoes of the forests, daily, for a century or more ; the boom of their loud mid-day cannon across the broad prairies, and its reverberatioi.s from the cliffs beyond, had been heard for generations ; and their evening bugle had wailed plaintively its long-drawn, melancholy notes along the shores of the ' Father of Waters ' - the mighty river of the West - for more than a hundred years before the adoption of ' freedom's ordinance.'

Organization Of The Ohio Land Company

" While Congress had under consideration the measure for the organization of a territorial government north-west of the Ohio Kiver, the preliminary steps were taken in Massachusetts towards the formation of the Ohio Land Company, for the purpose of making a purchase of a large tract of land in said Territory, and settling upon it. Upon the passage of the ordinance by Congress, the aforesaid land company perfected its organization, and by its agents, Rev. Manasseh Cutler and Major Winthrop Sargent, made application to the Board of Treasury, July 27, 1787, to become purchasers, said board having been authorized four days defore to make sales. The purchase, which was perfected October 27, 1787, embraced a tract of land containing about a million and a half of acres, situated within the present counties of Washington, Athens, Meigs and Gallia, subject to the reservation of two townships of land six miles square, for the endowment of a college, since known as Ohio University, at Athens; also every sixteenth section, set apart for the nse of schools, as well as every twenty-ninth section, dedicated to the support of religious institutions ; also sections eight, eleven and twenty-six, which were reserved for the United States, for future sale. After these deductions were made, and that for donation lands, there remained only nine hundred and sixty-four thousand two hundred and eighty-five acres to be paid for by the Ohio Land Company, and for which patents were issued.

"At a meeting of the directors of the company, held November 23, 1787, General Rufus Putnam was chosen superintendent of the company, and he accepted the position. Early in December six boat builders and a number of other mechanics were sent forward to Simrail's Ferry (now West Newton), on the Youghiogheny River, under the command of Major Haffield White, where they arrived in January, and at once proceeded to build a boat for the use of the company. Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, of Rhode Island, Anselm Tupper and John Matthews, of Massachusetts, and Colonel Return J. Meigs, of Connecticut, were appointed surveyors. Preliminary steps were also taken at this meeting to secure a teacher and chaplain, which resulted in the appointment of Rev. Daniel Story, who some time during the next year arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, in the capacity of the first missionary and teacher from New England.

" Early in the winter the remainder of the pioneers, with the surveyors, left their New England homes and started on their toilsome journey to the western wilderness. They passed on over the Alleghanies, and reached the Youghiogheny about the middle of February, where they rejoined their companions who had preceded them.

" The boat, called the ' Mayflower,' that was to transport the pioneers to their destination, was forty-five feet long, twelve feet wide, and fifty tons burden, and was placed under the command of Captain Devol. ' Her bows were raking, or curved like a galley, and strongly timbered ; her sides were made bullet-proof, and she was covered with a deck roof,' so as to afford better protection against the hostile savages while floating down towards their western home, and during its occupancy there, before the completion of their cabins. All things being ready, they embarked at Simrall's Ferry, April 2, 1788, and passed down the Youghiogheny into the Monongahela,, and thence into the Ohio, and down said river to the mouth of the Muskingum, where tliey arrived April 7, and then and there made the first permanent settlement of civilized men loithin the present limits of Ohio. These bold adventurers were reinforced by another company from Massachusetts, who, after a nine weeks' journey, arrived early in July, 1788.

" Many of these Yankee colonists had been officers and soldiers in the Revolutionary army, and were, for the most part, men of intelligence and character, and of sound judgment and ability. In short, they were just the kind of men to found a State in the wilderness. They posssessed great energy of character, were enterprising, fond of adventure and daring, and were not to be intimidated by the formidable forests nor by the ferocious beasts sheltered therein, nor by the still more to be dreaded savages, who stealthily and with murderous intent roamed throughout their length and breadth. Their army experience had taught them what hardships and privations were, and they were quite willing to encounter them. A better set of men could not have been selected for pioneer settlers than were these !New England colonists - those brave-hearted, courageous hero-emigrants to the great Northwest, who, having triumphantly passed the hery ordeal of the Eevolution, volunteered to found a State and to establish American laws, American institutions, and American civilization in this wilderness of the uncivilized west. If any State in our American Union ever had a better start in its incipient settlement than Ohio, I am not aware of it. General Washington, writing of these bold pioneers, said that ' no colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at the Muskingum. Information, property and strength, will be its characteristics. I know many of the settlers personally, and there never were men better calculated to promote the welfare of such a community.' Having had a personal army acquaintance with Generals Putnam and Parsons, and with Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, and probably with many other leading members of this pioneer colony, his favorable opinion of them is entitled to great weight.

The First Settlement Under The Ordinance Of 1787

Of course no time was lost by the colonists in erecting their habitatations, as well as in building a stockade fort, and in clearing land for the production of vegetables and grain for their subsistence, fifty acres of corn having been planted the first year. Their settlement was established upon the point of land between the Ohio and Musk- ingum rivers, just opposite and across the Muskingum from Fort Ilarmar, built in 1786, and at this time garrisoned by a small military force under command of Major Doughty. At a meeting held on the banks of the Muskingum, July 2, 1T88, it was voted that Marietta should be the name of their town, it being thus named in honor of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.

Surveys And Gkaijts Of The Public Lands

" The first survey of public lands northwest of the Ohio river was the seven ranges of Congress lands, and was. done pursuant to an act of Congress of May 20, 1785. This tract of the seven ranges is bounded by a line of forty-two miles in length, running due west from the point where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses the Ohio river ; thence due south to the Ohio river, at the southeast corner of Marietta township, in Washington county ; thence up said river to the place of beginning. The present counties of Jefferson, Columbiana, Carroll, Tuscarawas, Harrison, Guernsey, Belmont, Noble, Monroe, and Washington are, in whole or in part, within the seven ranges.

"The second survey was that of the Ohio Company^ s purchase, made in pursuance of an act of Congress of July 23, 1785, though the contract was not completed with the Ohio Company until October 27, 1787. Mention of its extent, also the conditions, reservations, and circumstances attending the purchase, have already been given. One hundred thousand acres of this tract, called donation lands, were reserved upon certain conditions as a free gift to actual settlers. Portions of the counties of Washington, Athens, and Gallia are within this tract, also the entire county of Meigs. The donation lands were in Washington county.

"The next survey was the ^ Symmes purchase' and contiguous lands, situated on the north and west of it, and was made soon after the foregoing. The ^ Symmes purchase^ embraced the entire Ohio River front between the Big Miami and Little Miami Rivers, a distance of twenty-seven miles, and reaching northwards a sufficient distance to include an area of one million of acres. The contract with Judge Symmes, made in October, 1785, was subsequently modified by act of Congress bearing date of May 5, 1792, and by an authorized act of the President of the United States of September 30, 1794, so as to amount to only 31 1,082 acres, exclusive of a reservation of fifteen acres around Fort Washington, of a square mile at the mouth of the

History Op Ohio

Great Miami, of sections 16 and 29 in each township, the former of which Congress had reserved for educational and the latter for religious purposes, exclusive also of a township dedicated to the interests of a college; and sections 8, 11, and 26 which Congress reserved for future sale.

" The tract of land situated between the Little Miami and Scioto rivers, known as the Yii^ginia military lands, was never regularly surveyed into townships, but patents were issued by the President of the United States to such persons (Yirginians) as had rendered service on the continental establishment in the army of the United States (hence the name), and in the quantities to which they were entitled, according to the provisions of an act of Congress of August ^0, 1790. 'It embraces a body of 6,750 sc[uare miles, or 4,204,000 acres of land. The following counties are situated in this tract, namely: Adams, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Higliland, Madison, and Union entirely ; and greater or less portions of the following, to wit : Marion, Delaware, Franklin, Pickaway, Ross, Pike, Scioto, Warren, Grreene, Clarke, Champaign, Logan, and Hardin.'

" Connecticut ceded all lands in the Northwest to which she claimed title to the United States (except the tract wliicli has been known as the ' Western Rese7've^), by deed of cession bearing date of September 14, 1786 ; and in May, 1800, by act of the Legislature of said State, renounced all jurisdictional claim to the ' territory called the Western Reserve of Connecticut.' That tract of land was surveyed in 1796, and later into townships of five miles square, and in the aggregate contained about 3,800,000 acres, being one hundred and twenty miles long, and lying west of the Pennsylvania State line, all situated between forty-one degrees of north latitude and forty-two degrees and two minutes. Half a million of acres of the foregoing lands were set apart by the State of Connecticut in 1792 as a donation to the sufferers by fire (during the revolutionary war) of the residents of Greenwich, New London, Norwalk, Fairfield, Danbury, New Haven, and other Connecticut villages whose j)i"operty was burned by the British ; hence the name ''Firelands' by which this tract taken from the western portion of the Reserve has been known. It is situated chiefly in Huron and Erie counties, a small portion only being in Ottawa county. The entire Western Reserve embraces the present counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Trumbull ; also the greater portion of Malioning and Summit, and very limited portions of Ashland and Ottawa. ' ''''French grant is a tract of 24,000 acres of land bordering on the

Ohio River, within the present limits of Scioto county, granted by Congr6ss in March, 1795, to certain French settlers of Gallipolis, who, through invalid titles, had lost their lands there. Twelve hundred acres were added to this grant in 1798, making a total of 25,200 acres.

" The United States military lands were surveyed under the pro. visions of an act of Congress of June 1, 1796, and contained 2,560,000 acres. This tract was set apart to satisfy certain claims of the officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary war, hence the title by which it is known. It is bounded by the seven ranges on the east, by the Oreenmlle treaty line on the north, by the Congress and refugee lands on the south, and by the Scioto River on the west, including the county of Cosliocton entire, and portions of the counties of Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Muskingum, Licking, Franklin, Delaware, Marion, Morrow, Knox, and Holmes.

" The Moravian lands are three several tracts of 4,000 acres each, situated, respectively, at Shoenbrun, Gnadenhutten, and Salem, all on the Tuscarawas Rivei-, now in Tuscarawas county. These lands were originally dedicated by an ordinance of Congress dated September 3, 1788, to the use of the Christianized Indians at those points, and by act of Congress of June 1, 1796, were surveyed and patents issued to the Society of the United Brethren, for the purposes above specified.

" The refugee tract is a body of land containing 100,000 acres, granted by Congress February 18, 1801, to persons who fled from the British provinces during the Revolutionary war and took up arms against the mother country and in behalf of the Colonies, and thereby lost their property by confiscation. This tract is four and one-half miles wide, and extends forty-eight miles eastward from the Scioto River at Columbus into Muskingum county. It includes portions of the counties of Franklin, Fairfield, Perry, Licking, and Muskingum.

" Dohrman^ 8 grant is a townshij) of land six miles square, contain, ing 23,010 acres, situated in the south-eastern part of Tuscarawas county. It was given to Arnold Henry Dohrman, a Portuguese merchant of Lisbon, by act of Congress of February 27, 1801, ' in consideration of his having, during the Revolutionary war, given shelter and aid to the American cruisers and vessels of war.'

" The foregoing is a list of the principal land grants and surveys during our Tcrritoirial history, in that portion of the Northwest that now constitutes the State of Ohio. There were canal land grants, Maumee Road grants, and various others, but they belong to our State, and not to our Territorial, history.

History Of Ohio Treaties Made With The Indians

" By the terms of the treaty of Fort Stcmwix, conchicled with the Iroquois or Six Nations (Mohawks, Onoiidagas, Senecas, Cayiigas, Tuscaroras and Oneidas), October 22, 1784, the indefinite claim of said confederacy to the greater part of the valley of the Ohio was extinguished. The commissioners of Congress were Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee. Cornplanter and Red Jacket represented the Indians.

" This was followed in January, 1Y85, by the treaty of Fort Mcintosh, by which the Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas, and Chippewas relinquished all claim to the Ohio Valley, and established the boundary line between them and the United States to be the Cuyahoga River, and along the main branch of the Tuscarawas to the forks of said river near Fort Laurens, thence westwardly to the portage between the head waters of the Great Miami and the Maumee or Miami of the Lakes, thence down said river to Lake Erie, and along said lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. This treaty was negotiated by George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee for the United States, and by the chiefs of the aforenamed tribes.

" A similar relinquishment was effected by the treaty of Fort Finney (at the mouth of the Great Miami), concluded with the Shawnees January 31, 1786, the United States commissioners being the same as the foregoing, except the substitution of Samuel H. Parsons for Arthur Lee.

" The treaty of Fort Harmar, held by General St. Clair January 9, 1779, was mainly confirmatory of the treaties previously made. So also was the treaty of Greenville, of August 3, 1795, made by General Wayne on the part of the United States, and the chiefs of eleven of the most powerful tribes of the north-western Indians, which re-established the Indian boundary line through the present State of Ohio, and extended it from Loramie to Fort Rocovery, and from thence to the Ohio River, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky River.

"The rights and titles acquired by the Indian tribes under the foregoing treaties were extinguished by the General Government, by purchase, in pursuance of treaties subsequently made. The Western Reserve tract west of the Cuyahoga River was secured by a treaty formed at Fort Industry, in 1805. The lands west of Richland and Huron counties and north of the boundary line to the western limits of Ohio were purchased by the United States in 1818. The last possession of the Delawares was purchased in 1829 ; and by a treaty made at Upper Sandusky, March 17, 1812, by Colonel John Johnston and the Wyandot chiefs, that last remnant of the Indian tribes in Ohio sold the last acre they owned within the limits of our State to the General Government, and retired, the next year, to the Far West," settling at and near the mouth of Kansas River.

" Congress, in October, 1787, appointed General Arthur St. Clair Governor, Major Winthrop Sargent Secretary, and James M. Varnum, Samuel H. Parsons, and John Armstrong Judges of the Territory, the latter of whom, however, having declined the appointment, John Cleve Symmes was appointed in his stead in February, 1788. On the 9th of July, 1788, Governor St. Clair arrived at Marietta, and finding the Secretary and a majority of the Judges present, proceeded to organize the Territory. The Governor and Judges (or a majority of them) were the sole legislative power during the existence of the first grade of Territorial government. Such laws as were in force in any of the States, and were deemed applicable to the condition of the people of the Territory, could be adopted by the Governor and Judges, and, after publication, became operative, unless disapproved of by Congress, to which body certified copies of all laws thus adopted had to be forwarded by the Secretary of the Territory.

" The further duty of the Judges, who were appointed to serve during good behavior, was to hold court four times a year, whenever the business of the Territory required it, but not more than once a year in any one county.

The Second Grade Of Territorial Government

" After it shall have been ascertained that five thousand free male inhabitants actually resided within the Territory, the second grade of Territorial government could, of right, be established, which provided for a legislative council, and also an elective House of Eepresentatives, the two composing the law-making power of the Territory, provided always that the Governor's assent to their acts was had. He possessed the absolute veto power, ,and no act of the two houses of the Legislature, even if passed by a unanimous vote in each branch, could become a law without his consent. The conditions that authorized the second grade of Territorial government, however, did not exist until 1798, and it was not really put into operation until Sep.

Early Laws Of The Territory

" The first lav^^ was proclaimed July 25, 1788, and was entitled 'An act for regulating and establishing the militia." Two days thereafter the Governor issued a proclamation establishing the county of Washington, which included all of the territory east of the Scioto Kiver to which the Indian title had been extinguished, reaching northward to Lake Erie, the Ohio River and the Pennsylvania line being its eastern boundary ; Marietta, the seat of the Territorial government, also becoming the county seat of Washington county.

" Quite a number of laws were necessarily adopted and published during 1788 and the following year. From 1790 to 1795 they published sixty-four, thirty-four of them having been adopted at Cincinnati during the months of June, July and August of the last named year, by the Governor and Judges Syrames and Turner. They are known as the ' Maxwell Code,' from the name of the jDublisher, and were intended, says the author of ' Western Annals,' ' to form a pretty complete body of statutory provisions.' In 1798 eleven more were adopted. It was the published opinion of the late Chief Justice Chase, ' that it may be doubted whether any colony, at so early a period after its first establishment, ever had so good a code of laws.' Among them was that 'which provided that the common law of England, and all statutes in aid thereof, made previous to the fourth year of James I., should be in full force within the Territory.' Probably four-fifths of the laws adopted were selected from those in force in Pennsylvania ; the others were mainly taken from the statutes of Yirginia and Massachusetts.

Local Courts And Court Officers

" Among the earliest laws adopted was one which provided for the institution of a county court of common pleas, to be composed of not less than three nor more than five Judges, commissioned by the Governor, who were to hold two sessions in each year. Pursuant to its provisions, the first session of said court was held in and for Washington county, September 2, 1788. The Judges of the court were General Pufus Putnam, General Benjamin Tupjjer, and Colonel ^Archibald Crary. Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs was Clerk, and Colonel Ebenezer Sproat was Sheriff. Elaborate details of the open.

ing of this, the first court held in the Northwest Territory, have come down to us, showing it to have been a stylish, dignified proceeding. Briefly, ' a procession was formed at the Point (the junction of the Muskingum with the Ohio River) of the inhabitants and the officers from Fort Harmar, who escorted the Judge of the court, the Governor of the Territory, and the Territorial Judges to the hall appropriated for that purpose, in the northwest block house in ' Campus Martins.' ' The procession,' says Mitchener, ' was headed by the Sheriff, with drawn sword and baton of office.' 'After prayer by Rev. Manasseh Cutler, the court was organized by reading the commissions of the Judges, Clerk and Sherifl: ; after which the Sheriff proclaimed that the court was open for the administration of evenhanded justice to the poor and the rich, to the guilty and the innocent, without respect of persons ; none to be punished without a trial by their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and evidence in the case.'

" On the 23d day of August, 1788, a law was promulgated for establishing ' general courts of quarter sessions of the peace.' This court was composed of not less than three nor more than five Justices of the Peace, appointed by the Governor, who were to hold four sessions in each year. The first session of this court was held at ' Campus Martius ' September 9, 1788. The commission appointing the Judges thereof was read. General Rufus Putnam and General Benjamin Tupper,' says Mitchener, constituted the Justices of the quorum, and Isaac Pearce, Thomas Lord, and Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., the assistant Justices ; Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr., was Clerk. Colonel Ebenezer Sproat was Sheriff of Washington county fourteen years. The first grand jury of the Northwest Territory was impaneled by this court, and consisted of the following gentlemen : . William Stacey (foreman), Nathaniel Gushing, Nathan Goodale, Charles Knowles, Ansel m Tuj)per, Jonathan Stone, Oliver Rice, Ezra Lunt, John Matthews, George Ingersoll, Jonathan Devol,

Organization Of Counties

" Washington county, embracing the eastern half of the present State of Ohio, was the only organized county of the Northwest Territory until early in 1790, when the Governor proclaimed Hamilton county, which included all the territory between the Big and Little Miami Rivers, and extended north to the ' Standing Stone Forks,' on the first named stream.

History Of Ohio

" It will be observed that Hamilton was the second county organized. There were situated within its limits, when organized, several flourishing villages, that had their origin during the closing months of 1Y88 and early in 1Y89. Columbia, situated at the mouth of the Little Miami, was the first of these laid out, its early settlers being Colonel Benjamin Stites, of ' Bedstone Old' Fort ' (proprietor) ; William Goforth, John S. Gano, John Smith (a Baptist minister, who afterward became one of Ohio's first United States Senators), and others, numbering in all twenty-five persons or more, though some of them arrived a little later,

" Cincinnati was the next in order of time, having been laid out early in 1789, by Colonel Kobert Patterson, Matthias Denman and Israel Ludlow. Several not very successful attempts had also been made at various points between Cincinnati and the mouth of the Great Miami by Judge Syrames.

" The early settlers of Hamilton county were principally from New Jerse}^, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. Judges Synnnes and Burnet were representative men in the Miami Valley from New Jersey; Jeremiah Morrow and Judge Dunlavy from Pennsylvania ; William H. Harrison and William McMillan from Virginia ; and Colonel Robert Patterson and Rev, James Kemper from Kentucky.

" The Scioto Valley, the next in order of time, was settled chiefly by Virginians and Kentuckians, represented by Colonel Thomas Worthington and General Nathaniel Massie, two of its prominent settlers.

years of the eighteenth century, whose representative men were Governor Samuel Huntington and Hon. Benjamin Tajjpan, were established by men not a whit inferior to those above named. And the good that General Washington said of the New England Colony that settled Marietta could, with very slight modifications, be said of most of the settlers and pioneers of the aforesaid set-^ tlements.

Early Tekkitokial Villages And Towns

" The following is a list of the principal villages and towns of the I^orthwest Territory, started and built up during Territorial rule, with the time of the first survey of lots, together with the names of their proprietors :

" Cincinnati at the close of the Territorial government was the largest town in the Territory, containing about one thousand inhabitants. It was incorporated in 1802, with the following as its first ofiicers.

History Of Ohio Tekkitorial Officeks

Governor - General Arthur St. Clair, served from 1788 to 1802. Secretaries - Wintlirop Sargent, served from 1788 to 1798; William H. Harrison, served from 1798 to 1799; Charles Willing Byrd, served from 1799 to 1803.

" The latter gentleman was also acting Governor during the closing months of the Territorial government, Governor St. Clair having been removed from office, in 1S02, by President Jefferson.

Territorial Delegates in Congress - S^iWiom H. Harrison, served from 1799 to 1800; William McMillan, served from 1800 to 1801; Paul Fearing, served from 1801 to 1803.

Judges. - James Mitchell Yarnum, Samuel Holden Parsons, and John Armstrong were appointed Judges for the Northwest Territory, by Congress, in October, 1787; the latter, however, declined, and John Cleves Symmes was appointed to the vacancy in February, 1788, and he accepted.

" Judge Varuum died in January, 1789, and William Barton was appointed his successor, but declined the appointment ; George Turner, however, in 1789, accepted it. On the 10th of November, 1789, Judge Parsons was drowned in attempting to cross Big Beaver Creek, and Kufus Putnam became his successor, March 31, 1790. In 1796 he resigned, and Joseph Gilman succeeded him. The Territorial court was composed of three judges, two of whom constituted a quorum for judicial purposes, and also for the exercise of legislative functions, in co-operation with the Governor.

The Indian Tkibes Of The Upper Ohio

" Nothing reliable or authentic is known of the various Indian tribes that occupied the territory that now constitutes the State of Ohio from the time of the departure or disappeara'nce of the Mound- Builders until the closing years of the first half of the eighteenth century. Their history, therefore, anterior to the year 1750, is meager indeed. They had no annalist - no historian - and perhaps had made but little history worthy of record during many recurring generations, centuries, and ages. It is true that we have traditions running back to the year 1656, relating to the destruction by the Iroquois of the once powerful Eries, who inhabited the southern shores of Lake Erie, except a small remnant which ultimately intermingled with the Senecas ; but I look upon them simply as unverified traditions, and nothing more. And equally unreliable and unautlienticated are many of the other numerous traditions of the Indian tribes which bear date before the middle of the last century.

"About the year A.D. 1750, or a little earlier, some accurate knowledge of the Ohio Indians began to be acquired through the Indian traders operating among them, and from explorers ; but little comparatively, however, was known of them with the certainty of authentic history until after Colonel Bouquet's expedition to their towns on the Tuscarawas and Muskingum Bivers, in 1764. The intermediate period between those dates may therefore be regarded as the time of the inauguration of the historic epoch of the Ohio Indians, the principal tribes being the Wyandots (called Hurons by the French), the Delawares and the Shawanese (both of the Algonquin grouj)), the Miamis (also called Twigtwees), the Mingos (an offshoot from the Iroquois or a fragment of the Six Nations), and the Ottawas and Chippewas.

" The Wyandots occupied the valleys and plains bordering on the Sandusky Biver, and some other points ; the Delawares occupied the valleys of the Tuscarawas and Muskingum Bivers, and a few other places between the Ohio Biver and Lake Erie ; the Shawanese were found chiefly in the valleys of the Scioto and Mad Bivers, and at a few points on the Ohio Biver and elsewhere in small numbers ; the Miamis were the chief occupants of the valleys of the Little and Great Miami Bivers ; the Mingos were in greatest force on the Ohio Biver about Mingo Bottom, below Steubenville, and at other points on said river - also on the Scioto Kiver, and at a few places between the Ohio River and Lake Erie; the Ottawas occupied the valleys of the Maumee and Sandusky Rivers ; and the Chippewas, small in numbers, were chiefly confined to the southern shores of Lake Erie. By the treaty of Fort Mcintosh, formed in 1785, the Ottawas, with the Wyandots and Delawares, were assigned to the northern section of what is now the State of Ohio, and west of the Cuyahoga River, having relinquished by the terms of said treaty whatever of claims they had to other portions of the territory that now constitutes our State.

" The territory that now constitutes Ohio was first of all, so far as we can judge, in the full possession of the race of Mound-Builders ; afterwards, (but still in pre-historic times,) its sole occupants and owners for some centuries were unquestionably those Indian tribes or nations already named, and probably the Eries and others that had been subjected to expulsion or extermination. They, as well as the Mound-Builders, held titles acquired probably by priority of discovery - by conquest - by occupancy, or possession. Possessory titles they might be appropriately styled.

"It is stated by Parkman, and probably by other accredited historians, that the adventurous La Salle in 1670, accompanied by a few heroic followers, passed from Lake Erie south, over the portage into the Allegheny River, perhaps by the way of one of its numerous tributaries, and from thence down into the Ohio, which they descended as far as the " Falls " of said river (at Louisville) ; and that they were therefore the first white men - the first of European birth - to enter upon the soil of Ohio ; the first civilized men to discover and explore the territory that constitutes our now populous State. It must be admitted that some shades of doubt rest upon the foregoing problematical expedition of the distinguished Frenchman (Robert Cavelier La Salle), but whether he 'voyaged down the Ohio or not at the time named, his name must ever be identified with our State as one of its earliest explorers, if not its discoverer, so far as the white race is concerned, as will be made apparent in the following paragraphs. In 1679, the intrepid explorer. La Salle, accompanied by thirty-four Frenchmen, sailed along the entire length of the southern shore of Lake Erie in the " Griffin," a vessel of about sixty tons burthen, which he had built in the !Niagara Kiver above the " Falls," and which was the first vessel that ever unfurled a sail on said lake, or upon any waters within the present limits of Ohio.

"Again, in 1682, La Salle descended the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers to the mouth of the latter ; and in 1684 he sailed past the mouth of the Mississippi (which he intended to enter, but failed), and along the Gulf of Mexico to some point on the coast of Texas, and landing there, became its discoverer. And it is upon these three last named voyages, and upon the provisions of some European treaties, more than upon the somewhat doubtful and uncertain voyage of discovery by La Salle down the Ohio River to the ' Falls ' in 1670, that France rested her title, claiming that the Upper Yalley of the Ohio (at least the portion northwest of the Ohio River) was a part of Louisiana, thus acquired by La Salle for France, and held by said power by right of discovery and possession. There was, of course, little controversy between Great Britain and France as to title northwest of the Ohio River, before the formation of the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, when and by which certain matters in dispute between those governments were adjusted. And France not only asserted ownership and held possession of the territory that now constitutes Ohio, from the time of the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, until the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, by which peace was established between France and England, but also exercised authority therein and maintained control over it by military force. And this, too, in defiance of titles set up by Great Britain, one of which being based ujDon treaties with the Iroquois or Six Nations of Indians, who claimed to have conquered the whole country from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from the lakes to Carolina, and hence were its owners and authorized to dispose of it.

" By conquest and treaty stipulations, Great Britain came into possession in 1763, and substantially retained it until the close of our Revolutionary war, when, by the treaty of peace concluded at Paris in 1783, and ratified by the American Congress in January, 1784, ownership was vested in the government of the United States, which, in October, 1784, by the terms of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, extinguished the title of the Six Nations to the Ohio Yalley, and which, from time to time, by treaties concluded at various times and places, as given in my paper of last year, extinguished all other Indian titles, and thus acquired full right to the soil, and complete and undisputed territorial jurisdiction. By the treaties of Forts Mcintosh and Finney alone, held respectively in January, 1785 and 1786, all Indian titles to Ohio territory were extinguished, except that portion situated chiefly between the Cuyahoga and Manmee Rivers, as will be seen by reference to my paper in last year's volume of ' Ohio Statistics,' and which also gives the dates of the subsequent relinquishment of Indian titles.

" New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, after the ratification of the treaty of peace, in 178-i, between Great Britain and the United States, and for some time before, had asserted claims to portions of the territory now composing the State of Ohio, and Virginia claimed title to the tohoie of it and much more, even to the entire extent of the 'territory northwest of the river Ohio,' organized four years thereafter. Virginia had asserted ownership, and exercised a nominal jurisdiction over the territory of pur State, by establishing the county of Botetourt, in 1769, whose western boundary was the Mississippi River. That State's claim was founded, as heretofore stated, upon certain charters granted to the Colony of Virginia by James the First, bearing dates respectively, April 10, 1606 ; May 23, 1609 ; and March 12, 1611; also, upon the conquest of the country, between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and the northern lakes, by General George Rogers Clark, in 1778-79. But whatever the claim was founded upon, the State Legislature waived all title and ownership to it (excejDt to the Virginia Military District), and all authority over it, by directing the Representatives of said State (Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Monroe) to cede to the United States all right, title, and claim, as well of soil as of jurisdiction, with the exception named, ' to the territory of said State lying and being to the northwest of the River Ohio ; ' which was accordingly done, March 1, 1784.

" The charter of MasgJichusetts, upon which that State's title was based, was granted within less than twenty-five years after the arrival of the Mayflower ; and that of Connecticut, bearing date March 19' 1631, both embracing territory extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; and that of New York, obtained from Charles the Second, on March 2, 1664, included territory that had been previously granted to Massachusetts and Connecticut ; hence, the conflict of claims between those States, their several charters covering, to some extent, the same territory ; and hence, also, their contest with Virginia as to a portion of the soil of Ohio. Probably the titles of some or all of the aforesaid contesting States were in some way affected b}^ the provisions of treaties with the Iroquois, or by the fact of their recognition by them, as appendants of the government of New York.

committee of Congress, May 1, 1782 ; and by like acts of patriotism, magnanimity, and generosity to those of New York and Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut soon followed by similar acts of relinquishment of title, or by corresponding deeds of cession to the United States. The Legislature of Massachusetts, on the 13th day of November, 1784, authorized her delegates in Congress to cede the title of that State to all the territory west of the western boundary of the State of New York, to the United States, and the measure was consummated in 1785.

" Connecticut, in Sej^tember, 1786, ceded all her claim to soil and jurisdiction west of what is now known as the Western Reserve, to the United States. Five hundred thousand acres of the western portion of the Western Reserve was set apart for the relief of the Connecticut sufferers by fire during the Revolution, since known as the Tirelands,' the Indian title to which was extinguished by the treaty of Fort Industry (now Toledo), in 1805, Charles Jouett being the United States Commissioner, and the Chiefs of the Shawnees, Delawares, Wyandots, Chippewas, Ottawas, and some minor triljes representing the interests of the Indians. The remainder of the Western Reserve tract, amounting to about three millions of acres, was sold, and the proceeds dedicated to educational purposes, and has served as the basis of Connecticut's common school fund, now aggregating upwards of two millions of dollars. Jurisdictional claim to the Western Reserve was ceded by Connecticut to the United States, May 30, 1801.

"As early as 1680 the French had a trading station on the Maumee River, a few miles above the present city of Toledo, near where Fort Miami was erected in 1794 ; and Bancroft, the historian, asserts that a route from Canada to the Mississippi River, by way of the Maumee, Wabash, and Ohio Rivers, was established by the French in 1716. A little later a route was established from Presque Isle, now Erie, on Lake Erie, to French Creek, and thence down the Alleghany and Ohio Rivers. Yague traditions have been handed down of the establishment of trading posts upon the Ohio, by Englishmen, as early as 1730. In 1742 John Howard crossed the mountains from Virginia, and descending the Ohio in a canoe, was captured, somewhere on his voyage by the French. In 1748 Conrad Weiser, a German of Ilerenberg, who (says the author of ' Western Annals ') had in early life acquired a knowledge of the Mohawk tongue, was sent to the Shawnees on the Ohio as an ambassador, and held a conference with them at Logstown, on the Ohio River, seventeen miles below the ' Forks of the Ohio " (now Pittsburgh), but it is not quite certain that he came within the present limits of Ohio, though it is probable.

" In 1750, Christopher Gist, an agent of the ' Ohio Land Company,' which had been organized in 1748 by the Washingtons, one or two of the Lees, and other Yirginians, and some Englishmen, came over the mountains from Virginia, and crossing the Ohio at or below the ' Forks' (now Pittsburgh), passed over to the Tuscarawas River, which he descended to its junction with the Walhonding. From thence he traveled down the Muskingum, following an Indian trail, to the mouth of the Wakatomika (now Dresden, Muskingum county), where there was an Indian to^vn. He then followed the Indian trail across the Licking River to King Beaver's town, situated on the head waters of the Hockhocking River, about equi-distant from the present cities of Lancaster and Columbus. The trail he followed must have led him near the ' Big Lake,' as the Indians called it, now the ' Reservoir,' a famous fishing resort, situated in the counties of Licking, Fairfield, and Perry. In this exploring expedition Gist was joined' at the Walhonding by George Croghan, and probably by Andrew Montour, a half-breed, son of a Seneca chief, who often acted as an interpreter between the whites and Indians. They crossed the Scioto and traveled on to the Great Miami, which Gist descended to the Ohio, and voyaged down said stream to a point fifteen miles above the ' Falls,' from whence he traveled through Kentucky to his home in Virginia, where he arrived in May, 1751.

" Croghan and Montour were the bearers of liberal presents from Pennsylvania to the Miamis, who, in return, granted the right to the English to build a strong trading-house or stockade on the Miami River, at the entrance of Loramie's Creek into said stream, in the present county of Miami, and which was accordingly erected and called Pickawillany, and has been called by some historians ' the first point of English settlement in Ohio,' and ' a place of historic interest.' The presents were made on behalf of Pennsylvania, and the reciprocal favor secured, it was believed, would largely benefit the Indian traders there and in ' the regions round about,' who were princiiJally Pennsylvanians. The Pickawillany stockade was doubtless the first edifice erected upon Ohio's territory by English-speaking people ; but " it was of brief duration, for in June, 1752, a force of French, Canadians, and Indians (Chippewas and Ottawas) attacked and destroyed it, capturing or killing all the traders but two - fourteen of its defenders, chiefly Miamis, being killed in the action ; a number also being wounded. I transcribe, from a long list of names in Captain Trent's journal, a few of those who traded at this post with the Indians between the years 1745 and 1753, as follows : Peter Chartier, Conrad Weiser, Thomas McGee, George Cro2;!ian, James Denny, Robert Callender, George Gibson, James Lowry, Michael Cresap, Sr., Christopher Gist, Jacob Piatt, William Trent, John Findlay, David Hendricks, John Trotter, William Campbell, Thomas Mitchell, William West, and others.

" Before 1745 the traders among the Ohio Indians were principally Frenchmen, but about this time Pennsylvanians and Virginians entered into that business in augmented numbers, and continued in it persistently, while the French gradually relinquished it ; and after the capture of Fort Du Quesne, in 1758, the English also acquired a foothold as traders in the Upper Ohio Valley, and retained it until the peace of 1783-4.

" George Croghan, with a retinue of deputies of the Senecas, Shawanese, and Delawares, passed down the Ohio River in two bateaux from Fort Pitt to the mouth of the Wabash in 1765.

" It is also well known to persons familiar with our history, that George Washington came to Fort Pitt in 1770, and, with William Crawford, Dr. Craik, and a few other chosen friends, and two Indians, three servants, some boatmen, and an interpreter, voyaged down the Ohio River to the mouth of the Kanawha, and fourteen miles iip said stream, and, after some buffalo shooting and hunting generally, but mainly after extensive explorations with a view to the selection and ultimate location of lands, returned by way of the Ohio to Fort Pitt. From the journal of Washington, a copy of which is now before me, it appears that they lodged one night in the camp of Kiashuta, an Indian chief of the Six Nations, near the mouth of the Hockhocking River. Washington and Crawford also took a short walk of eight miles across the ' Big Bend,' now in Meigs county, while their canoes were being paddled around the bend, on their return voyage.

"Rev. David Jones (the Chaplain Jones of revolutionary fame) also made a voyage down the Ohio and up the Scioto to the " Old Chillicothe " Indian to^vns, thence across the Licking to the missionary stations on the Tuscarawas, and from thence to Fort Pitt and home, in 1772-3, making the journey from the Indian towns on the Scioto on horseback, in company with a Pennsylvania Indian trader named David Duncan.

" And, lastly, I mention a voyage made down the Ohio River in the autumn of 1785, from Fort Pitt to the mouth of the Great Miami, by Gen. Richard Butler, Gen. S. H. Parsons, Col. James Monroe, Major Finney, Isaac Zane, Col. Lewis, and others, who were then, or subsequently became, men of note.

" After the conquest of Canada by the English, in 1759-60, General Amherst, with a view to the establishment of English authority over the uncivilized regions of the west, organized an expedition under command of Major Rogers, who, on the 12th of September, 1760, received orders ' to ascend the lakes'and take possession of the French forts in the northwest.' This expedition, consisting of about two hundred men, coasted along the southern shore of Lake Erie, arrived at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on the 7th of November, and were probably the first English-speaking people that, in any considerable numbers, sailed upon it. The expedition sailed up the lake and on to Detroit, and there, on the 20th of said month, ' took down the colors of France and raised the royal standard of England.' In December, Major Rogers left the Maumee, and after reaching Sandusky Bay, (now Sandusky City,) he decided to cross the Huron River and travel to ' Fort Pitt ' by way of the north branch of the Whitewoman's River (now called Walhonding), which he did, arriving there January 23, 1761.

" The second expedition that came within Ohio territory, was organized at Albany, on the Hudson River, in 1763, by General Amherst, and consisted of six hundred British regulars placed under the immediate command of Major Wilkins. In ascending Lake Erie a violent storm was encountered, and a number of the vessels of the expedition were wrecked, losing fifty barrels of provisions, some field pieces, all their ammunition, and seventy-three men, including two lieutenants and a surgeon. The remnant returned to Albany without a further attempt to reach Detroit, the objective point of the expedition.

Moravian Missionary Stations

"In 1761, Rev. Christian Frederick Post visited the Delaware Indians, living on the Upper Muskingum River, and took the preliminary steps to establish a Moravian missionary station among them. After building a cabin he went to Pennsylvania to find a suitable associate, one qualified to teach the Indian children to read and write, and thus assist him in his missionary labors. This companion he found in John Heckewelder, of Bethlehem, who was then engaged at some mechanical employ mentr In March, 1762, they started for their western mission, Heckewelder being then a youth of only nineteen years. After thirty-three days of weary horse-back travel, they arrived at the Muskingum, (now called the Tuscarawas) and with expressions of gratitude for their protection during their long and perilous journey, they at once took' possession of the cabin built by the self-sacrificing missionary the preceding year. Other appropriate devotional exercises signalized their safe arrival in the wilderness of the Muskingum, which, however, was then to be the scene of their missionary operations for a ver/ brief period. They cleared some ground around their cabin and cultivated corn and vegetables for their subsistence, but before the autumn months had gone by, the jealousy and hostility of the Indians rendered their condition not only unpleasant but unsafe, and the mission had to be abandoned, the missionaries returning to Pennsylvania.

"Ten yeai-s later (1772), Eev. David Zeisberger renewed the attempt to establish missions on the Upper Muskingum. The first settlement, station, or village, that he founded was called Shonbrun, meaning a ' beautiful, clear spring,' and was situated on the west side of the Muskingum, two or three miles from the present town of ISTew Philadelphia, the county seat of Tuscarawas county. The second mission station was established later in the year 1772, and was called Gnadenhiitten, that is, ' tents of grace,' and was situated on the east bank of the Muskingum, seven miles below Shonbrun. In this year Eev. John George Jungman located as a missionary at Shonbrun, and in 1773 Rev. John Roth, also a missionary, commenced his labors at Gnadenhiitten.

" In 1776, the Moravians, under the lead of Rev. David Zeisberger, established the town and mission station of Lichtenau, within two miles of the 'Forks of the Muskingum' (now Coshocton); and in 1780, Salem, situated on the west bank of the Muskingum, about five miles below Gnadenhiitten, was established under the leadership of the same indefatigable missionary. Rev. John Heckewelder was its early minister, and it was here where, in July, 1780, he entered into the married relation with Sarah Ohneberg, a teacher at the Muskingum mission stations. Revs. Adam Grube, Edwards, Senseman, and others, were missionaries at the above named villages at various times.

Indians from tlie Muskingum to the Sandusky by Elliott, an emissary of the British, in September, 1781, and the murder of ninety-four of. them, who, in February, 1782, had returned to gather the corn they had raised the previous season, terminated Moravian missions for many years on the Upper Muskingum, Until 1786 there were none within the present limits of Ohio. During said year Rev. John Heckewelder, and others, established a mission on the Cuyahoga River, twelve miles from its mouth, which was composed mainly of those who had formerly lived on the Muskingum, and who spent the past few years at Gnadenhiitten, on Huron River, thirty miles north of Detroit. This mission station on the Cuyahoga, known in Moravian history as ' Pilgrim's Rest,' was abandoned in 1790, the members returning to the vicinity of Detroit, and ultimately locating near the river Thames, where they built the town of Fairfield.

"The subsequent history of Moravian missionary effort in Ohio belongs to territorial and later times, but 1 may be permitted to say that Revs. Heckewelder and Edwards, in 1798, again established a mission at the Muskingum, upon the site of Gnadenhiitten ; and in the autumn of said year their fellow-laborers. Revs. Zeisberger and Mortimer, established another upon the Shonbrun tract, and named it Goshen. It was situated seven miles from Gnadenhiitten, where the venerated Zeisberger labored until his death, in 1808, and where he and Edwards are buried. Tlie Muskingum Moravian mission stations were finally brought to a close in tlie year 1823, the general government having purchased at that time all the interests previously acquired by the Moravians.

" Rev, John Heckewelder was conspicuously identified with our Pre-territorial, our Territorial and State history, and has been called one of the founders of Ohio. He was a man of talents, of character and integrity, and was one of the Associate Judges of Tuscarawas county in 1808, 1809, 1810, when he finally left Ohio, and returned to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he died January 31, 1823, having passed into the closing months of his eightieth year. His influence as a philanthropist, philosopher, pioneer, teacher, author, diplomatist, statesman, ambassador, jurist, and as a Christian missionary, was invaluable.

Stjbsequent Military Movements Upon Ohio Soil

outraged Inimanitj by their brutality toward tlie frontier settlers, having barbarously murdered many of them and carried their wives and children into captivity, General Gage, commander-in-chief of the British troops in North America, decided, in 1764, to organize two armies, to be commanded respectively by Colonels Bradstreet and Bouquet.

" In pursuance of this purpose. Colonel Bradstreet, with a force of twelve hundred men, in August sailed up Lake Erie, by way of Sandusky Bay, to Detroit, which had been besieged by Pontiac for many months, confining the garrison to their ramparts. After relieving Detroit, he returned by way of Sandusky Bay to Niagara. Israel Putnam, who figures in our Kevolutionary history as a Major-General, and as one of the most distinguished men of those ' stirring times,' served as Major, commanding a battalion of provincial troops in the Bradstreet expedition.

-' Colonel Bouquet's army of fifteen hundred men, composed of two hundred Yirginians, seven hundred Pennsylvanians and six hundred English regulars belonging to the Forty-second and Sixtieth regiments, was organized at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, arrived at ' Fort Pitt ' September 17, and marched from thence for the Upper Muskingum River (now called Tuscarawas) October 3, reaching said stream on the 15tli of said month, at a point within the present limits of Tuscarawas county, and proceeded at once to erect a temporary fort. ' Here,' (says the historian of the expedition) ' Indian chiefs and warriors of the Senecas, Delawares, Shawanese, and others, numbering in all nearly fifty, met Colonel Bouquet, October 17, and sued for peace in the most abject manner. Turtle-Heart, Custaloga, Beaver, and another chief or two, were the speakers, who, in their harangues, vehemently accompanied with wild gesticulations, asserted that they had been unable to restrain their young men, who had participated with those of other tribes in the acts of barbarity charged, and generally palliated the conduct of the Indians towards the white settlers.' Tliej^ pledged themselves, however, in conclusion, to restore all captives, which had been previously demanded of them by Colonel Bouquet, who had doubtless authoritativel}" charged home upon them their perfidy and cruel barbarities, their violated engagements, their treachery and brutal murders of traders and frontiersmen, their unfaithfulness to all promises they had made, their untrustworthiness, their baseness generally, concluding with the affirmation that their crimes merited the severest punishment.

" "We also learn from the official account of the expedition that, by arrangement, Colonel Bouquet met them again on the 20th of October, when, after reiterating the charges, against them, he notified them that many of the friends and relatives of those that had been massacred or captured by them accompanied the expedition, and that they would not consent to a peace with them until full satisfaction was rendered, by the restoration of all captives under their control, or by making satisfactory arrangements for their return to their homes and friends at the earliest practical period. Moreover, he emphatically impressed upon them that his army would not leave their country until they had fully complied with eVery condition contained in any treaty or arrangement he would make with them, because their oft-time violated obligations, their repeated acts of perfidy, their general faithlessness, their oft-told falsehoods, their forfeited honor in numerous cases, had rendered them so infamous as to be wholly untrustworthy.

" ' The temper of the foregoing address,' says a writer in the Historical Record, ' was such as to extort a promise from those chiefs to secure the restoration promptly of all whites held in captivity by their people.' And it was then and there agreed that they would meet again in twelve days, at the junction of the Tuscarawas and Whitewoman (now called Walhonding) Rivers, when and where the Indians were to ' surrender all the prisoners now held by them, whether they were men, women or children ; whether they were English, French, African or American ; or whether they were adopted, or married, or living in any other condition among them.'

" In pursuance of the above agreement. Colonel Bouquet, on the 25th of October, reached the ' Forks of the Muskingum ' (now Coshocton), and then and there made preparation for the reception of <the prisoners. The Indians, realizing the necessity of keeping faith with the stern and determined commander of such a large army, brought in, from day to day, numerous captives, so that when the general meeting was held, on the 9tli of November (being some days later than the time first agreed upon), two hundred and six captives were delivered, and pledges given that about one hundred more, still held by the Shawanese, and whom it was impracticable to have present on so short a notice, would be surrendered during the next spring, Hos- tages were taken for the fulfillment of this part of the arrangement (for it was not a formal treaty), which (although some of the hostages escajDed) secured the delivery of the additional captives, numbering about one hundred, at ' Fort Pitt,' on the 9th of the following May.

" The scene at the surrender of the prisoners, in the midst of this far-off, western wilderness, far beyond the limits of the white settlements, was one that human language is too feeble to portray - which the pen of the historian and of the ready writer could not adequately describe - which the genius of the painter would utterly fail to present on canvas - which the skill of the renowned sculptor would be unable fully to exhibit in marble, and which could not fail to have stimulated into the most lively exercise all the variety of human passions, and, exceptionally, all the tender and sympathetic feelings of the human heart !

" ' There were seen,' said the aforenamed authority, ' fathers and mothers recognizing and clasping their once cajitive little ones, husbands hung around the newly-recovered wives ; brothers and sisters met, after long separation, scarcely able to speak the same language, or to realize that they were children of the same parents ! In those interviews there was inexpressible joy and rapture, while, in some cases, feelings of a very different character were manifested by looks or language. Many were flying from place to place, making eager inquiries after relatives not found, trembling to receive answers to their questions, distracted with doubts, hopes and fears ; distressed and grieved on obtaining no information about the friends they sought, and, in some cases, petrified into living monuments of horror and woe on learning their unhappy fate !

" Among the captives brought into camp was a woman with a babe, a few months old, at her breast. One of the Virginia Volunteers soon recognized her as his wife who had been taken by the Indians about six months before. She was immediately delivered to her happy husband. He flew with her to his tent and clothed her and his child with proper apparel. But their joy, after their first transports, was soon checked by the reflection that another dear child, about two years old, taken captive at the same time with the mother, and separated from her, was still missing, although many children had been brought in. A few days afterwards a number of other prisoners were brought to the camp, among whom were several more children. The woman was sent for, and one, supposed to be hers, was presented to her. At first sight she was uncertain, but, viewing the child with great earnestness, she soon recollected its features, and was so overcome with joy that, literally fori^etting her nursing babe, she dropped it from her arms, and, catching up the new-found child, in an ecstacy pressed it to her bosom, and, bursting into tears, carried it oif, unable to speak for joy, while the father, taking up the infant its mother had dropped, followed her in no less transport of affection and gratitude.

" Albacli says that 'in many cases strong attachments had grown up between the savages and their captives, so that they were reluctantly surrendered, some even not without tears, accompanied with some token of remembrance.'

" Colonel Bouquet, having accomplished his purpose, broke up his camp at the ' Forks of the Muskingum' on the IStli of Noveml^er, and, after a march of ten days, arrived at ' Fort Pitt.' His expedition wa? generally regarded as pre-eminently successful. Plis large army of well-equipped soldiers, led by a determined commander, struck terror into the hearts of the savages. They saw that resistance would be vain, and hence readily yielded to the conditions submitted to them. The results secured were the restoration to their frends of more than three hundred captives, a treaty of peace the next year, made with Sir William Johnson at the German Flats, and comparative exemption in the entire northwest, for about ten years, from the horrors of Indian warfare.

" The success of Colonel Bouquet's expedition secured him innnediate promotion to a Brigadier-Generalship, and he was also highly complimented by the Legislative Assembly of Pennsylvania ; also by the House of Burgesses of Virginia, and by his Majesty's Council of the same Colony, as well as by Governor Fauquier.

" General Henry Bouquet was a native of Rolle, a small town in the canton of Yaud, Switzerland, near the borders of Lake Geneva. He was born in 1719, and died at Pensacola, Florida, late in the year 1765. He was a man of sense and of science, of education, of ability and talents. He was subordinate in the Forbes expedition against Fort Du Quesne, in 1758. General Bouquet had a command while yet a very young man, in the army of the King of Sardinia, and passed through several of ' the memorable and ably conducted campaigns that monarch sustained against the combined forces of France and Spain.'

An Act Of The British Parliament

the Ohio River the sotithwestern boundary of Canada, and the Mississippi River its western boundary, thereby attaching the northwest to the province of Quebec, as it was called, thus placing the territory that now constitutes the State of Ohio under the local administration of said province. Some historians have 1766 as the time of the aforesaid parliamentary enactment, but I think they are in error as to date. " For ten years after the celebrated Bouquet expedition, the settlers on the western frontiers of the colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania enjoyed comparative immunity, from the marauding excursions and murderous raids of the western savages, and from the barbarities previously and subsequently practiced by the Ohio Indians. That decade of peace, however, may be fairly judged to have been more the wholesome result of the instructive lessons taught by Colonel Bouquet and of his large, well-equipped and formidable army than of the action of the English Parliament above named (even if said act was passed in 1766), or of any other cause or combination of causes whatever. When the army of the gallant Bouquet started on its long western march ' the wilderness was ringing with the war-whoop of the savage, and the frontiers were red with blood ' - when the return march was ordered the signs of the times were auspicious, promising a long season of peace and quietude to the courageous frontiersmen of those ' heroic times,' and those hopeful indications were, in a good degree, realized during the halcyon years of the succeeding decade.