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L'exemplaira film* fut reproduit grAce * la g*n*rosit* da r*tablissement prAteur suivant : La bibliothAqua dee Archives publiques du Canada Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour Atre reproduites en un seul clichA sont filmAes A partir da I'angle supArieure gauche, de gauche A droite et de haut en bas, an prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la mAthode : Y- i 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 /Iftunsell's Ibistorical Series. mo. 17. ''"% ' ■ s 4 #■ THE OHIO VAIvIvKY ■{% IN COLONIAL DAYS. BY BERTHOLD FERNOW, Honorary and Corresponding Member of the Historical Societies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Buffalo and Waterloo: Member of the Am. Historical Association: late Custodian of the State Archives, and Assistant State Librarian at Albany, N. V. ■- i-A> ALBANY, N. Y.: JOEL MUNSELl's sons, PUBLISHERS. 1 890. i'' rjr Tt 11 .ugT|7.iii'i «a PREFACE. A reviewer of "The Family: An Historical and Social Study," published a few years ago, criticised this volume in the following words: " Perhaps the greatest lack of this book is a preface, for the merit of a compilation of this sort depends upon the end aimed at and the method followed." The writer of the following pages desires to obvi- ate such criticisms and to assist the above reviewer in what is evidently his practice of reviewing, namely to depend on the preface for his idea of the book The history of all ages and of all nations offers the most abundant sources for romancing, and many an historian has paid more attention to the picturesque and romantic sides of the questions be- fore him, than to the bare matter of fact. Prescott's Conquest of Mexico," Abbot's " History of Napo- leon, are delightful reading for everybody, but also most unfaithful guides to the earnest historian. Another stumbling block for the historical writer IS to look upon events, occurred in past ages, with the eyes of to-day, and thus to impute to the actors m these events motives, which must remain hidden 6 Preface. and cannot be understood, unless brought to cotem- poraneous light by the actors themselves. The writer of this volume has tried to avoid both, Scylla and Charybdis, and has at the same time taken care, not to become a mere annalist. How far he has succeeded, the reader must judge. It is perhaps proper, that a citizen of New York should write of the Ohio Valley, because by the trea- ties of 1 701, 1726 and 1768, made on New York territory and by New York influences, the former owners of the Ohio territory, the aboriginal rulers of the eastern half of this continent, placed the largest share of their country under the protection of New York, and because the latter State made a union of the Colonies possible, by ceding to New England claimants — claimants under Royal paper titles — so much of the territory, derived from the original owners. The student of American history will find some hitherto unpublished and unknown material in this volume; beyond that it is only an arrangement of already known facts, scattered through a library of books on the subject. ■ CONTENTS. PACK. Chapter I. Discovery 9 II. Geographical Knowledge ,y III. The Indians of the Ohio Valley 30 IV. The Beginning of the Struggle for Supremacy g V. The Contest Transferred to the Ohio Valley » oj VI. The French Masters of the Ohio Val- ley 134 VII. The Flag of St. George Floats again over the Valley j-^ VIII. Indian Wars . 105 IX. North and West of the Ohio 17, X. South of the Ohio jg Appendix 217 r CHAPTER I. DISCOVERY. Who was the first man of European race, to see the waters of the Ohio Valley ? Was it Ferdinand de Soto, the Adelantado of Cuba, upon whom Emperor Charles V, had conferred the title of Marquis of all the lands, which he should conquer on his exf>o lition to Florida in 1539 ? Luis Hernandez de Biedma, who accompanied this expe- dition, tells us, that after marching about in what are now the States of Florida, Georgia and Alabama, for eighteen months, the explorers found themselves in November, 1540, in the Province of Chicaza, or Chicaca, where they suffered extremely from the cold, and where " more snow falls than in Spain." According to a map of Carolana,* Chicazas was an Indian village on the Casqui or Cusates river, and if the Indian tribe of the Chickasaws had not moved their habitations since De Soto's visit, we must assume, that this expeditionary force of 1539 were the first Europeans, who entered the valley of Ohio, as they were the first to see the Mississippi. In the same account we find a river mentioned under * In Daniel Coxe's Description of the English Province of Carolana, London, 1722. Ikl lO The Ohio Valley the name of Sasquechana ; is the Susquehannah meant ? De Witt Clinton said, in a paper on the Ohio In- dians, that De Soto and his army built forts at the m ^f the Muskingum. What was his authority foi ti.. statement? In 1568, Sir John Hawkins left England with a squadron of ships on an errand, which to-day might be considered piracy and high-handed robbery. He expected, to make himself a rich man by pillaging Spanish settlements in Central America. Occur- rences, which it is not necessary to detail here, com- pelled him to put part of his crew ashore, probably within the limits of modern Nicaragua. Some of these sailors made their way across the North Ameri- can continent to within fifty miles of Cape Breton, where a French fishing vessel picked them up and carried them home to England. Did they enter the valley of the Ohio? We may suppose so. The story of their wanderings, as told to " Sir Francis Walsingham, one of her Majesty's (Queen Elizabeth) principal Secretaries, Sir George Peckham and others of good judgment" in 1582, hardly mentions any locality, by the peculiarities of which their route might be traced, except the Crystal mountain, now Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, until they came to Ochala and the Saganas.* Of the few Indian words, given in the recital, it is possible to identify only one. Ingram, o.'^e of the * Probably Hochelaga, now Montreal, and the Saguanah or Saguenais river. In Colonial Days. II sailors, tells, that the Indians called the sun — Kerucca; the Onondaga Dictionary of Father Bruyas,* missionary among this tribe about 1688, gives the Onondaga word for sun as " Garrakoua." Garricona, Ingram's Indian word for king, may be the same as the Iroquois Corachkoo, great chief, but it is also similar to the Quappas Indians (Arkan- sas) word Karikeh, king. An essay on the tale of this trampf says: " It would appear, that he (Ingram and his two compan- ions), left the border of Texas and started for the Atlantic coast (presumably due east), where he hoped, to find some English vessel. He appears to have reached or have heard of, the Altamaha, in Georgia and kept on north-easterly, passing through the present territory of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts." If the travellers had reached the shores of the Atlantic ocean as far south as Georgia or even farther north, why then should they have again gone inland as far as Hochelaga and the Saguenay? The mention of these Indian names, already known since the middle of the sixteenth cen- tury, seem to indicate, that Ingram had some idea, of where on the continent, with the dimensions of which he had probably become acquainted during his life at sea, a chance for a return to England might be found ; that therefore these men started on their weary tramp in a direction north-east by east * Published by J. G. Shea, 1859. -| Mag. of Am. History', March, 1833. 12 The Ohio Valley and thus crossed somewhere the waters of the Ohio Valley. Domine Johannis Megapolensis, the first Christian minister at Albany, N. Y., wrote to his ecclesiastical superiors, the Classis of Amsterdam in Holland, on the 28th of September, 1658:* " Le Moynef told me that during his residence among the Indians, he had found a salt spring about 100 (Dutch) miles from the sea. J * * * Also another spring, from which oil issued, at least water, upon which oily matter floats, used by the Indians to grease their hair." Was this the first discovery of Oil creek in Alle- gany county, N. Y., which makes its way into the Ohio, passing through one or two Pennsylvania counties, and must we allow the honor of having also discovered the waters of the Ohio Valley to Le Moyne, or did the Jesuit refer to oil, found on the waters of Seneca lake ? Champlain gave to the world the first positive information concerning the great inland sea, which though not belonging to the Ohio VaPey, borders it on the north. He saw its neighbor, Lake Ontario, and received, in 161 5, his knowledge of Lake Erie from Etienne Brule, a traveller on its waters or along its shores. But Champlain's map of 1632 has nothing to say of the Ohio river, of which neither Etienne Brule nor any of the coureurs des bois ^Amsterdam Correspondence, MSS. in the possession of the Genl. Synod of the Reformed Church. f A French Jesuit, a missionary among the Onondaga and Seneca Indians. X Onondaga Co., N. Y. In Colonial Days. n after him seemed to have heard any thing, although like the Jesuits they penetrated west beyond Lake Erie. Here we recognize the fingers of the Five Nations in the pie of colonial Indian policy. French- men, knowing of the tribes south of the lakes, had to go, if they wanted to trade with them, by the so-called Ottawa route, because the Iroquois hated the French and would only in exceptional cases allow them to enter into, but not pass through their territory. Nearly half a century had passed after Brule's discovery of Lake Erie, when a French missionary was told, in 1663, of a river nearly as large as the St. Lawrence, taking its course south- west and west. A few years later Dallier, another missionary, received also some vague information concerning this western river, which, after having fol- lowed it for seven to eight months, would bring the traveller to a place where the land was cut off, that is, where the river fell into the sea. Dallier's inform- ants called this river the " Ohio."* The Delawares called it Alliwegi Sipee, that is the river of the Alliwegi, hence our modern Allegany. Many Indian tribes were said to live on this river, none of whom had ever been seen in Canada, and some of them were so numerous, that they had twenty villages. These reports inflamed the adventurous spirit of Robert Cavelier de la Salle and inspired him with a desire to discover a new route to the South sea or !3lv ''*'According to Bruyas this is a Mohawk word and means "Beautiful River;" Bruyas says lo in composition expresses the beauty of the object. 14 The Ohio Valley the Pacific ocean. He obtained from the governor of Canada not only liberty to go on this venturesome journey, but also a patent authorizing him, to make all kinds of discoveriei: and soldiers to assist him. Fathers Dallier and Gallinee were sent with him, and on the 7th of July, 1669, the travellers started from La Salle's seigneurie of La Chine. After thirty days of toiling up the St. Lawrence and breasting the waves of Lake Ontario, they reached the Seneca village on the Genesee river, where they hoped to obtain guides, who could lead them to the Ohio. They learned, that the head-waters of the river were not far, but instigated, it is suspected, by the Jesuit, Pere Fremin, stationed there, the Senecas tried to dissuade La Salle and his companions, the missionaries of the Sulpitian order, from the journey because, they said, "if you go to the Ohio, the In- dians there will kill you." After a tedious delay of a whole month, a Ganastogue Indian from near the head of Lake Ontario, offered to help them and con- ducted the party to his village, where they were given two Indian slaves as guides. La Salle re- ceived a Chaouanon (Shawanoe), the other, who fell to the Sulpitians, was a Nez Perce. These guides told, that it would take a march of one and a half months to reach the first tribe on the Ohio. While preparing to start, a countryman of the travellers arrived at the same village. It was Joliet, a native of Canada, who had originally been destined for the church, but who driven by a restless spirit to adopt In Colonial Days. 15 the life of a coureur des bois and Indian trader was now returning from a western journey, made to dis- cover the copper mines on Lake Superior. He told of a tribe of Poutaouatamies, living on the great ri\er, leading to the Chaouanons, and this induced ^he Sulpitians, who probably mistook\jiem for Out- aouacs, to decide that they would go there and try to convert them. After spending the fall and winter at Long Point, during which time, in October, 1669, they took formal possession, in the name of Louis XIV, of the lands on Lake Erie, they continued their journey along the north side of the lake, but while camping at Point Pelee, the lake robbed them of their altar service, and they decided to make their way home, via Detroit and the Ottawa river and to leave the Potawatomies to wallow in spiritual darkness a little longer. La Salle, who had been ill or feigned illness, when the Sulpitian brothers left him, continued his journey to Onondaga, New York., and finding a guide there soon after, embarked with his party on the Allegany branch of the Ohio, which river he descended as far as the falls at Louisville. Here his men deserted him and he was compelled to make his way back to Canada all by himself. A biped of the genus tramp of to-day would perhaps not consider such a march a very great undertaking, but as may be imagined, it was a very different thing two hun- dred years ago, when there were no roads or rail- way tracks to follow, no hen-roosts to visit, no farm- i6 The Ohio Valley In Colonial Days. \ I ! I i I i er's wife to frighten into the dispensation of a boun- tiful meal. We derive very little information through La Salle, concerning the river Ohio or the country, through which he travelled, beyond the fact that he discovered the river and was the first white man who undoubtedly traversed the present State of Ohio. (See Appendix A.) Two years later, in 1671, Gen- era] Wood of Virginia was attacked by the discover- ing fever. Not that he went himself and like La Salle braved the terrors of an unknown wilderness ; the dignity of his exalted position as Major-General probably forbade that, — but he sent others to do the discovering for him, whose journal and remarks are given in the Appendix B.* These adventurers, sent out by General Wood, did not reach the Ohio, but came to several of its tributaries and were thus the first white men to visit Eastern Kentucky and Ten- nessee. *This paper and the one in App. C, are in the Sparks Collection of Har- vard College Library; copies of them were kindly furnished by J. Winsor, Esq. il CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE. These were the first information of and explora- tions into the valley of the Ohio. Notwithstanding the claim made by Dr. Mitchell (see Appendix C*), we must apparently concede the honor of first discovery to a Frenchman, although Wytfliet's map of "Florida et Apalche,"f shows us a river starting under 40° North Latitude and 293° East Longitude, which after a mainly south-west course, empties into the Santo Spirito or Mississippi, under 35° North Lati- tude and 284° East Longitude, with two branches, while a third branch goes directly into the Gulf of Mexico. This nameless river receives a tributary from the south-east. Is the main stream meant for the Ohio and the tributary for the Great Kanawha ? Then we must ask, whence did Wytfliet derive his information ? From Biedmas' account ? Another Frenchman, Joliet, is the first to give us the name on his map of 1673-4; he tells us that the Ohio was then called Ouabouskigon, whence prob- ably is derived the name later given to it, of Wabash. * See note on preceeding page concerning Appendix B. f Acosta, Cologne Edition of 1598. 3 i8 The Ohio Valley On his larger map of 1674, he describes the river as •* la route du Sieur de la Salle pour aller dans le Mexique" (the route taken by Sieur de la Salle to go to Mexico), without giving it a name. A map without title or maker's name, number three in Mr. Parkman's collection and probably belonging to the time, when little was as yet known of the newly dis- covered river and territory, calls it " la Riviere Ohio, ainsi appellee par les Iroquois k cause de sa beaute, par 0(1 le Sr. de la Salle est descendu," but places it in some parts almost parallel to and within a short distance of Lake Erie. The jealousy with which the various discoverers and their friends looked upon each other, is well shown by a map, entitled "Carte de la nouvelle de- couverte que les Peres Jesuites ont fait en I'annee 1672," etc., which shows us nearly the whole course of the " Mitchisipi," of its tributaries, the Illinois, the Wisconsin on the east side and several large rivers on the west side, as the Missouri and the Arkansas, but not the faintest indication of the Ohio river. The next cartographer, p obably Franquelin, in his " Carte de I'Amerique Septentrionale et partie de la Meridionale" of 1682 restores the Ohio to its place, but again too near Lake Erie. On his map of 1684 the river is not only in a fairly correct place, but is also given various tributaries without names. Some of these he had learned when he made his map of 1688, for by that he tells us of the Ohio or Belle Riviere and calls a tributary coming from the east In Colonial Days. 19 the Ohoio, while the Riviere Ouabache has for its tributary the R. Oiapigaming ( ). Father Raffeix, S. J., has not yet learned in 1688, that other streams empty into the Ohio, but he gives us the first carto- graphical information of the " Petit Sault," the rapids near Louisville, Kentucky. A map of the same year, 1688, called ** Partie occidentale du Canada ou de la Nouvelle F" ranee , ou sont les Nations des Ilinois, de Tracy, les Iroquois, etc., avec la Louisiane, nouvellement decouverte * * * par le P. Coro- nelli, Cosmographe de la Ser""^ Republic de Venise," has the Riviere Ouabache without tributaries. Raudin, Frontenac's engineer, again ignores the Ohio, while a map made three years before in 1685 by Minet, **la Carte de la Louisiane" has the river in its full length, though without most of its tribu- taries and calling it in its middle course Ouabache, which name is changed in the lower to "le Chou- cagoua." The Hennepin map of 1697 has again the Ohio or Ouye without tributaries, running almost completely in the direction of its degree of latitude and parallel to and between two ranges of mountains, the Mons Apalach on the south and an unnamed range on the north. A map in the Parkman collection, without date or title, of which we find a sketch in Mr. Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. IV, p. 206, and which Mr. Parkman considers the work of the Jesuits and " the earliest representation of the 20 The Ohio Valley upper Mississippi, based perhaps on the reports of the Indians" shows in a fairly correct location for the Ohio river a stream, called Chaboussioua. Mr. Bellin, Ingenieurdu Roi et de la Marine, pub- lished, also in 1755, two maps, which must find a place here. The " Carte de I'Amerique Septentrio- nale " informs us of the location of Joncaire's fort a little below Venango, near the mouth of French creek. Another French post is on the Chiningu6 R. A settlement, called "le Baril" is mentioned as at the mouth of White Woman's creek and La Da- moiselle, another settlement or Indian village, is on the creek of that name. Ouitanon, a French fort, is on the Ouabache or S' Jerome about midway from its mouth, and at its mouth we have Fort Anne or Fort Vincene. The embouchure of the Cherakee R. is guarded by another French fort, " commence depuis longtemps " and at its head we find Quanese, an Eng- lish post. Walker's settlement at the head of the " Old Chaouanon " is marked as destroyed. His other map of the same year, " Partie Occidentale de la Nouvelle France" is here mentioned only because according to it, the south shore of Lake Erie " is al- most unknown." The dedication to " Monseigneur le Comte d'Ar- genson. Secretaire pour le Departement de la Guerre," which position he filled from 1743 to 1757, gives us an approximate date of a map by Robert de Vau- gondy fils, Geographer to the King up to 1 760, en- titled ** Carte des Pays connus sous le nom de Canada In Colonial Days. 21 au Nouvelle France." It adds nothing that we do not find upon other PVench maps. Two other maps must be mentioned on behalf of French geographical knowledge, although it is pos- sible that English maps or information, derived from English sources, guided the cartographer. Both were published at Amsterdam in Holland without date. The first one has the title : " Carte de la Nouvelle France, etc., etc., Amsterdam chez la veuve de Jo. Van Keulen et Fils." The river Ouabache, Orabac, * autrement nommee Ohio ou belle Riviere (other- wise called the Ohio or Beautiful river) comes from the Onondaga country. It has an affluent, rising not many miles south of its own source and running almost parallel to it, until the two rivers join, which is called Riviere d'Oubache or Akansea Septentrio- nale. This is stated as being on the route taken by the French, when they go to Carolina. On the Coskinampo branch of this tributary live the Chic- achas, Taogarias, Coskinampos and Chaouanons. The upper course of this Akansea is called Riviere d'Ohio or Acansea Sipi. Some fifty miles from its junction with the Mississippi we find the legend : Chaouanon Mines of Iron in English and at the mouth of a tributary coming from the north, the R. Wabashe, is a fort. The second of these undated maps is the " Carte Nouvelle de I'Am^rique Angloise * * * par le Sieur S., Amsterdam chez Pierre Mortier. Accord- I 23 The Ohio Valley ing to it the Ohio, which is not named, rises in the longitude of the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. A tributary coming from the south-east is called Sabsquigs and it mentions the mines of iron of the preceding map. Several legends show the English origin in their Anglicized French, as Perres San- guines, Fort des mi Amis. William Smith, the historian of New York, de- plores in his work the ignorance of his countrymen, the English, in regard to American geography. A recent writer, Charles Dudley Warner, says of it in a happy, terse way : " Ignorance of America is taught in English schools." Apparently the earliest English map, which gives information to the geographical student in Great Britain, of Lake Erie is " A New Map of the English Plantations in America," etc., by Robert Morden, London, without date. The same Morden pub- lished a map of Carolina in 1687 and a map, which will be mentioned hereafter, with Herman Moll about 1 71 5. This gives us an approximate date for his above-named production, of which nothing more need be said, than that Felis Lake (Lake Erie) would be divided according to it by the extension, due west, of the boundary line between Maryland and Virginia. The same geographer published a " Geography of the World." The copy which the writer of this chapter has consulted, is without title page, but a passage in the account of New York, reading " pre- In Colonial Days. n sented by the late King to the present King James the Second," tells us, that the book in question must have been published before 1689. A map of Florida shows the Ohio, without name, and the Illinovik rivers entering the Mississippi. The Ohio rises not far from the head of a river, going into Lake Michi- gan from the south-east. In the account accompany- ing this map nothing is said about the rivers empty- ing into the Mississippi, which is called the Holy Ghost river. Morden and Moll's map of 171 5 "The Seat of War in the West Indies, etc., together with the adjacent Dominions" represents only the lower half of the " Ochio or Belle R., which empties into the Miss- issippi in two branches. Near the mouth of the north- ern branch we find the " Port des Anguilles." Edward Wells, M. A. and Student at Christ Church, Oxford, attempted in 1701 to enlighten his countrymen by a " New Set of Maps * * * ,"ore of which is a map of North America. The Hotico river, as he calls the Ohio, runs almost parallel to its degree of latitude, breaking through the chain of the Apalachia Mountains, which extend from the southwestern end of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Illinois river and thence into unknown regions. " A New Map of the most Considerable Plantations of the English in America" in the same "Set of Maps" does not go far enough west to give the Ohio. Christophori Cellarii, Smalcaldensis, Geographia 24 The Ohio Valley I 11 Antiqua is the work of a German scholar, but hav- ing been published at London in 1 731, it must be classed among the English geographical sources of information. A map in it of the whole American Continent has the course of the Ohio fairly correct, without giving its name. "A New Map of America according to the Best and Latest Observations" by Henry Overton, with- out date, belongs to the period, when the English evidently had but little knowledge of this Continent. It is dedicated to Queen Caroline, wife of George I, who died in 1 738, and this dedication gives us a clue to the time of its production. Lakes Huron, Ontarius and Erius are placed one south of the other, the Ohio is not known and the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico, after having traversed about 60 miles. H. O. dedicates his " New and Correct Map of the Trading Part of the West Indies, including the Seat of War between Great Britain and Spain, likewise the British Empire in America " etc. etc. to the Hon''^® Edward Vernon, Vice Admiral of the Blue and Commander in the West Indies, which post the Admiral held in 1740. An advertisement on this map, concerning some other publications by H. O., is dated March 25, 1741. The Nation of Chat lives still on the south shore of Lake Erie, and the Salt river, as the Ohio is called, rises in their territory. It receives the Ou- bach from the north-east and the Hogohegee with !■<■, In Colonial Days. 25 an affluent, called the Illinos R., from the south- east. " The Modern Gazetteer" by Mr. Salmon, London, 1746, says, the " Hohio is a river in North America, which rises in the Apalachian Mts. near the confines of Carolina and Virginia and running south-west falls into the Mississippi and is by some reckoned the principal stream, which forms the Mississippi." When we consider the frequent intercourse be- tween the two capitals, London and Paris, which must have made the English familiar not only with French fashions, but also with French literary and scientific works, we cannot help wondering at the slowness, with which the English grasped French geographical information. They waited until 1752. In the said year appeared "North America, per- formed under the patronage of Louis, Duke of Orleans, first Prince of the Blood, by the Sieur dAnville,* greatly improved by Mr. Bolton." We learn from it, that the Oyo or Bell or Allegany river has as tributaries the S* Jerome or Ouabach, the Old Chaouanon, the Cherakee and several smaller ones. The Monongahela and Great Kan- awha are unknown. An English fort is located on the Cherakee, where the Pelesipi enters from the north-east, an " ancient fort " at the mouth of the Ohio. A "Map of the British Empire in America" by Henry Popple, 1756. demonstrates a most lamenta- *Jean B. d'Anville was Royal Geographer of France in 1718; he died 1782. iijii:' i Kill ■ !'. ' 26 T/ie Ohio Valley ble confusion in British geographical knowledge of America. The Cat Nation, destroyed about one hundred years before, is still existing. La Riviere aux Boeufs, now French Creek, enters the Ohio from the east-south-east coming out of a name- less lake. The Monongahela and Kanawha are not known. The Cherakee is called, as on an English edition of d'Anville, the Hogohegee. Near the mouth of the Pelesipi we read, that there is ** a fit place for an English factory," and we find again the " Old Fort" at the mouth of the Ohio. Dr. Edmund Halley, Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, published a new edition of Popple's map under the title of " Nouvelle Carte Particuliere de TAmerique " without date. His " improvements " on Popple are, that he shortens the Ohio, which rises in the present State of that name, and that the sources of the Hogohegee are "little known." The " New and Accurate Map of the English Em- pire in North America," by a Society of Anti-Galli- cans, 1755, tells us, that " Walkers, an English settle- ment " had existence in the forks at the head of the Cumberland river in 1750 and that the mouths of the Ohio and of the Ouabache were guarded by French forts. The French and Indian war, which ended the French claims to the Ohio valley, was productive of a number of maps on both sides, of which only a few English prints will be mentioned here. John Huske's " New and Accurate Map of North In Colonial Days. 27 America (wherein the errors of all preceding British, French and Dutch maps respecting the rights of Great Britain * * * are corrected), London, 1755, gives us the names of the French trading posts and stations. Of " A Map of the British Colonies in North America, with the roads * * *" by Dr. John Mitchell, F. R. S., London, 1755, the New York his- torian. Smith, says: " Dr. Mitchell's map is the only authentic one extant. None of the rest concerning America have passed under the examination or re- ceived the sanction of any public board and they generally copy the French." But if, with our present knowledge of geography, we look upon this " only au- thentic " map, we discover, that the Ohio rises not far south-west from Oswego. It gives us, however, the location of English settlements and posts in the Ohio valley and must, therefore, be considered as a valuable source of information by the historical stu- dent. Thus we find an "English Settlement" on Shenango or Cheninque creek, another at Venango; Allegany above Fort du Cane (Du Quesne) has also an English settlement in the Old Shawnoe Town. At the mouth of the Scioto or Chianotho is an Eng- lish factory. The falls of the Ohio, " passable up or down in canoes," are six miles long, 300 miles from Shawnoe, at the mouth of the Scioto, and the same distance by water from the Mississippi. On the Beaver creek, entering the Ohio near Logstown, is Owendoes, "the first settlement on the Ohio," and w i'l' m\'. 28 T/ie Ohio Valley below it, Kuskuskies, "the Chief Town of the Six Nations on the Ohio" and an English factory. A similar factory is established on the Muskingum. The Great Miami river is guarded, 150 miles from its mouth, by an English fort " established 1748, the Extent of English Settlements." The country on the Kanawha near the Carolina boundary is "well settled," and near the head of this river we discover a settlement, the German origin of which its name " Freydeck " betrays. Walkers, near the head of the Cumberland, is the ''Extent of English Settlements in 1750." At Tel- lico, between the Tanassee and Euphasee branches of the Hogohogee, is an English factory, while the country along the Holston branch of the same river is "settled." A " Chart of the Atlantic Ocean with the British, French and Spanish Settlements in North America and the West Indies" by T. Jefferys, is given in two parts, of which the first shows, that the French claimed all the territory west of an almost straight line from Crown Point in New York to Pensacola bay in Florida, while Part II shows the propositions, made in 1761 by M. de Bussy, in regard to a bound- ary line, including a neutral territory, which was to divide the French from the English dominions. This neutral district begins at the head of the Ohio and includes the land on the north shore of Lake Erie and the present State of West Virginia with Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, but does ii,; : llllilll In Colonial Days. 20 not comprise the left side of the Ohio in these parts. Contemporaneous English knowledge of American geography is best Illustrated in the paper from the Sparks Collection in Harvard Library, mentioned above, in Appendix C. . ■-■ P': ^ H' i i II! 11 1 11 I ill, ill ill!" It' U I CHAPTER III. The Indians of the Ohio Valley. Gallatin in his "Synopsis of Indian Tribes" dis- tributes the Indians, in whom we are interested on this occasion, as follows in the year i6oo : The Wyandots and the Neuter Nation live be- tween the Lakes Ontario and Erie on the south and Lake Huron with the Ottawa river on the north. On the southern shore of Ontario and Erie we find the Five Nations, west of them along the Allegany river the Andastes, and close upon the Lake Erie the Erigas. These Iroquois tribes, just mentioned, appear upon Gallatin's map like an island in the sur- rounding sea of Algonquin tribes, who are divided into Miamis on the east side of the Wabash river, Piankishaws,* south of them, but north of the Ohio ; Shawanoes along and east of the Cumber- land but south of the Ohio, the Chicasaws on the lower Tennessee, the Cherokees on the upper part of the river, as far as the Carolinas, form the southern contingent of the aborigines under consideration. The American Antiquarian, published at Cleve- land, the old Indian Cayuhaga, brings in its num- ber for A pril, 1879, an article by Mr. C. C. Bald- * Piankashas, Peanguichias, Pianquichias. ::!! Hi! The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. 31 win on " Early Indian Migration in Ohio," with a map, giving the location of tribes in 1600. Accord- ing to this map the Andastes are on the Susque- hannah, the Eries on the upper Allegany, Shawnoes on both sides of the Ohio, from near the head of Monongahela to the little Miami, the Cherokees are relegated to the mountains, from which the Great Kanawha comes, the Illinois take the place of the Miamis and Piankashaws on the east side of the Wabash, extending to the north side of the Ohio, the Miamis have been moved to the Miami river of Lake Erie or Maumee, as now called, and the Arkan- sas live east of the Mississippi, along the Cumber- land and Tennessee rivers, west and north-west of the Cherokees. I shall not attempt to prove or dis- prove the correctness of either Mr. Gallatin or Mr. Baldwin, but the following pages will bring the his- tory of the Indians, as told by eye witnesses of and actors in the Colonial drama. The localities occu- pied by Indian tribes before they came into contact with Europeans cannot interest us so very much at this day, and I will, therefore, take the reader to the first graphic record, which gives us any knowledge of some of them. That is Champlain's Map of 1632, on which the " Hirocois" are placed south of Lake Ontario, on the head water'; of a stream running from north to south into the Riviere des Trettes, to- day the Hudson. South-south-west of them live the Carantouanons on the head of Susquehannah, west- ward we come to the Antouoronons at the head of 1% 32 T/ie Ohio Valley ;i iiiiiii \ liiM:.,! Lake Ontario. On the south side of the unduly lengthened Niagara river la Nation neutre is seated, and adjoining them on the west are Les gens de feu, Assistagueronons, or the Cat Nation. In the center of the present State of Ohio, with rivers all running northward, lives a nameless nation, oil il y a quan- tite de beuffles (where plenty of buffaloes are found). So far extended Champlain's knowledge. Creux- ius, who next, in 1660, attempted to enlighten his countrymen on the geography of the New World by a map, accompanying his Historia Canadensis, gives apparently correct locations to Five Nations of New York from the eastern end of Lake Erie to the Mohawk and Delaware rivers, both issuing from a small lake. At the west end he places the Natio Felium, the Cat Nation, while gens neutra, has emigrated to the north-west of Lake Ontario. According to No. 3 of the Parkman Collection of Maps, mentioned before, the Antouaronons, nation detruite, sat on the north shore of Lake Erie ; the Pouteatamis (Poutowatomies) occupy the north-west corner of it and the country along Niagara river is in the hands of the Gantastogeronons, "ce qui en eloigne les Iroquois" (which keeps away the Iro- quois). South of the Ohio and within a short dis- tance of it is the lake Onia-sont, around which the Oniasont-Keronons live.- To begin the detailed survey of the Indians of the Ohio Valley with the Five Nations, who played such an important part in the Colonial history of New In Colonial Days, Z'S York, may appear to many a reader an unwarranted diversion. But if the same reader remembers, that the war-cry of the Mohawks and their fellow clans struck terror into the hearts of the Hurons in Can- ada, of the Miamis of Ohio and Illinois, of the Cha- ouanons of Kentucky and Tennessee, and of the Cherokees and Chicasaws of Carolina, not to speak of the eastern tribes, this diversion will be found excusable. When this powerful nation first came in contact with European settlers, they occupied the territory from Lake Champlain in the east to and along part of the southern shore of Lake Erie on the west. John Smith of Virginia knew them as the Massawomecks in 1608, and we are told by Father Ragueneau in his Relations of 161 8, that when the Hurons sent agents to ask the Andastes in Pennsyl- vania for help against the Five Nations, these mes- sengers had to make a detour through Western Ohio, in order to escape falling into the clutches of their enemies. Next to them on the west livefl the Fries and Neutrals, who were completely extin- guished by the Five Nations, although they belonged apparently to the same distinctive branch of Indian nationality, to the Iroquois. After having thoroughly decimated the fur-bearing animals in their own coun- try and in the territory of their immediate western neighbors and kinsmen, the Five Nations extended their hunting expeditions still further west and reached thus the Mississippi in a manner, which Mr. S . .. . . .. . \\ Illlll ll lilS: 34 T/te Ohio Valley Parkman, in his " Discovery of the Great West," has so graphically described. In their warfare against the Illinois tribes, they knew how to make allies of the Miamis, sitting between the Illinois and the Eries. The Jesuit Relations of 1654 inform us that in May of that year some Onnontaehronons (Onondagas) came to Montreal to return some French prisoners in their hands. With their sixteenth string of wampum they told Onontio : ** Our young men will no longer fight against the French ; but as they are too great warriors to do any thing else, we let you know that we shall carry our arms against the Eriehronons (Cat Nation) ; this summer we'll lead an army against them. The earth shall tremble on that side, while every thing is quiet here." This war, thus announced, settled the fate of the Eries, as an independent tribe, and another war, begun two years later, in 1656, but lasting sixteen years, until 1672, nearly wiped out another tribe of the Ohio Valley. A treaty between the Five Nations and the French, ratified by the Senecas in May, 1666, men- tioned this tribe, the Andastes, Andastaeronons or Guyandots as seated on the Alleghany and Ohio. Their chief town is supposed to have been near Pittsburgh.* In the same year, 1672, the Five Nations subdued and incorporated the Chaouanons, or Shawanoes, who, according to Mitchell, were the original propri- etors of the country west of the Alleghanies. *N. Y. Col. Docts., Ill, 125. I ! ii.i In Colonial Days. 35 The efforts, successfully made by the Five Nations to push westward, did not please the F'rench, for these Indians, still faithful to Corlear and Quidor,* brought the English to the western lakes, and after extinguishing the Cat Nations, made war upon the Chichtaghicks (Twightwees) and other nations, who yielded the most profitable trade to the French. In consequence of all these wars upon their own race the Five Nations claimed, in 1701, possession by inheritance from their ancestors, who held by right of conquest from the Aragaritkas (Hurons), the land west and north-west from Albany, begin- ning on the north-west side of Cadaraqui (Ontario) lake and including all the waste land between Otta- wawa lake (Lake Huron) and Sahsquage (Swege, Erie) lake, and " runs until it butts upon the Twitch- wichs (Miamis), and is bounded on the right hand (west) by a place called Quadoge,f containing in length about 800 miles and in breadth 400 miles, in- cluding the country where the beavers, the deers, elks and such beasts keep, and the place called Ti- engsachrondio, alias Fort de Tret (Detroit), or Wawyachtenoch, and so runs round the lake of Swege till you come to a place called Oniadaronda- quat (Irondequoit), which is about twenty miles from the Sinnekes castle " . . . J * Names given to the Governor of New York: Corlear, after Arent van Corlear, and Quidor, after Peter Schuyler, both highly esteemed by the Five Nations. f Chicago, see Mitchell's Map of North America, 1755, and Map in Charlevoix. X N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 108. \ 36 The Ohio Valley IIHll! '' m Iillii' ii !!^i| This quit-claim of 1701 was not considered quite sufficient authority by the Government of New York to prevent the French from getting a foothold in the territory of the Five Nations and from building a fort at Niagara. Governor Burnet, therefore, urged them at a conference, held at Albany, September 14, 1726, to fulfill their promise of 1701, which was to submit and give up all their hunting country to the King of England and to sign a deed for it. Then, the Governor told them, England could defend them against the French and secure to them a quiet enjoy- ment of their own lands. The sachems of the Sen- ecas, Cayugas and Onondagas signed then for themselves a deed of trust to King George for the country from Salmon river, in Oswego county, N. Y., west to Cleveland, Ohio, and sixty miles to the south of this east and west line.* Neither the treaty of 1701 was called a deed of sale, a conveyance, or whatever legal term may be applied to ceding the rights of property in land, nor the deed of trust made in 1 726. Apparently neither the Five Nations nor the Colonial authorities con- sidered it so, for in November, 1763, Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northern Department, writes to the Lords of Trade and Plantations :t "They (the Five Nations) claim by right of conquest all the country, including the Ohio, along the great ridge of Blue mountains at the * N. Y. Col. Hist., V, 800, and MSS. Parchment, State Library, Albany. t lb. VII, 573. iii In Colonial Days, 37 back of V^irginia; thence to the head of Kentucky river and down the same to the Ohio above the rifts; thence northerly to the south end of Lake Michigan; then along the east shore to Missillimackinack ; thence easterly across the north end of Lake Huron to Ottawa river and Island of Montreal . . . Their claim to the Ohio and thence to the lakes is not in the least disputed by the Shawanese, Delawares and others, who never transacted any sales of land or other matters without their consent." In their intercourse with the French these same Indians, either as separate tribes or as a confedera- tion, asserted their claim to the Ohio lands,* and in 1 78 1, Croghan, for many years Indian agent under Sir William Johnson, confirmed this claim of the Five Nations to the Ohio territory on the south side as far as the Cherokee river and on the north-west side as far as the Big Miami. We must, therefore, admit the Five Nations of New York Indians as an important factor in the Indian history of the Ohio Valley. Almost equally important or at least as frequently mentioned in official reports of the period is the tribe of the Shawanese (Chaouanons of the French). Readers, who have made a study of Indian lan- guages, may be able to tell, whether the name of the Shawangunk or Showangunk mountains in Ulster county. New York, has been derived from this tribe, which was first brought to notice by de Laet, the * See Instructions to Du Quesne, N. Y. Col., Hist., X, 244. '";:! i BMil 'I i i^^ i!li i^ i liil I i I i i 38 The Ohio Valley ■I'll 'I historian of New Netherland, in 1632, who following some reports places them on both sides of the Dela- ware river in the neighborhood of the Capitanasses tribe, mentioned on the Carte Figurative of 1616. Next we read the name in the account of Lederer's travels from Virginia to the west of Carolina in 1669 and 1670. He calls a river coming from near Lake Ashley the Rorenock or Shawan.* A few years later Joliet published his map of 1673-4, showing his discoveries on the Mississippi and we find the Chaouanons south of the Ohio along the greater river as far south as the mouth of the Basire or Arkansas river. The investigator of Shawanese mi- grations cannot fail to be puzzled by Joliet, for on his *' Carte Generale" we see the Chaouanons with fifteen villages placed into the Ohio valley, but as the river is not carried as far east, as where the name of this tribe occurs, it is impossible to tell on which side of the river the villages were situated. The above-mentioned map. No. 3 of the Parkman collec- tion, places them north of the Ohio and the tribe of the Illinois south of it, while Joliet's ma^> gives to the latter what we must consider their true location west of and near to Lake Michigan and north of the river named after them. A map of Delislef (170") calls a tributary of the Wabash " Riviere des Indiens, par ce que les Chaou- • Sketch of his map in Hawk's North Carolina, II, 52. f In the Amsterdam (1707) edition of Garcilasso de la Vegas Histoire des Incas et de la conquSte de la Floride, vol. II; reproduced in French's His- torical Collections of Louisiana. s i III'" 1 ;;i: In Colonial Days. 39 anons y habitent " (because the Ch. live here), while the present Pedee (?) is called R. des Chaouanons and a village of this tribe is marked, as lying on both sides of it. Another settlement of the same tribe is to be found on the Alabama river. According to a map, mentioned in a previous chapter,* they lived on a tributary of the Akansea Septentrionale, which is really the Ohio, while the country at the heads of the Alabama and Apalach- icola rivers is called "Pays des Chaouanons." The map of 1740-41, dedicated to Admiral Edward Ver- non, places this tribe on the south side of the Hogo- hegee, while d'Anville's map, improved by Mr. Bolton, locates them in 1752 above Fort DuQuesne, and a German edition of the same map by d'Anville, published in 1756, has moved them to the mouth of the Scioto or Sikoder. In the " Conspiracy of Pon- tiac,"f Mr. Parkman says of the Shawnees : " Their eccentric wanderings, their sudden appearances and disappearances, perplex the antiquary and defy re- search." According to Joliet, they were on the Ohio in 1673. Ten years later, 1683, La Salle, the discov- erer, writes, J that the Cha6anons, Chaskpes and Ouabans, have at his solicitations abandoned the Spanish trade and eight or nine villages, occupied by them, for the purpose of joining the French inter- est and settling near Fort S* Louis on the upper * Carte de la Nouv. France, widow Jo. van Keulen. fl. 32. tN. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 799. ff 40 The Ohio Valley ■!;i M: 11 !;1 li I ! \ ill Illinois river. Franquelin's map of 1688, mentions in that vicinity the Ouabans and Chaskpes, but no Chaouanons. At a conference, held by the French with the Five Nations at Kayahoge, now called Cleveland, Ohio, in 1684, the Indians gave as one reason for their war against the Twightwees or Chictaghicks, that these latter had brought the Satanas (Sawanons, Chaou- anons of the French, Shawanoes, Shawnees of the English) into their country to assist them in their struggle and armed them. The war was disastrous to the western nations and others in the interest of the French, for the Five Nations added to the popu- lation of their castles a large number of prisoners, taken from the Shawanoes.* In August, 1692, the then Commander-in-Chief of New York, Major Ingoldsby, was informed that Sat- taras Indians, late in war with the Five Nations, had come, numbering 100 warriors, as far as the Dela- ware river, to negotiate a peace with the New York Indians. It was considered that such a peace would vastly contribute to their Majesties' interest, as then the Five Nations could more forcibly wage war on the French, while a war with the more distant Sha- wanoes " much diverted and hindered them in their efforts against Canada. "f The Council of New York ordered, that Capt. Arent Schuyler should forthwith be dispatched to * Golden, Five Nations. t N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., VI, 115. In Colonial Days, 41 these Indians with two belts of wampum in order to conduct them safely to the city of New York, and seven days later Capt. Schuyler had so far accom- plished his task, that he could present himself be- fore Governor and Council with the Far Indians, called the Showannes, and some Senecas, who had traveled amongst them for nine years. The chief of these Senecas, Malisit, reported that on his way toward his former home on Lake Ontario, he had met Monsieur Tonty, captain of a French castle at the head of the lakes ; that Tonty had asked whither he was going, and upon Malisit's reply " Home," had said, " What need you return there, I have killed your father, the Corlear, your brethren and relations, and burnt all the country? Tarry with me and I'll give you my laced coat." The Seneca may have known by experience, how much reliance he could place on a Frenchman's report and promise and con- tinued on his way with his Shawanoe companions, who wanted first to see the country, new to them, and open the path, promising to come the next year in greater numbers and with more of the rich pro. ducts of their country. Malisit confirmed these promises with a beaver coat, but he had not considered, what his tribal brothers would say to this plan of opening a direct intercourse between their enemies, the Shawnees, and their friends, the English. As soon as the news of these intentions reached the villages of the Five Nations, they informed Governor Fletcher through n\ 42 The Ohio Valley liH I ! i'' nil ,|!r' pi!!! liii the Mayor of Albany, that a treaty, as proposed, could not be made without their consent and only in their presence. Their jealousy was cleverly appeased by a message from Fletcher,* and in a conference held with them in July, 1693, they said: "We are glad that the Shawanoes, who were our enemies, have made their application to you last fall for pro- tection, and that you sent them hither (to Albany) to make peace with us."t , This seems to have been the first contact, which the English colonists had with the distant tribe from the south-western corner of the Ohio valley, although we must consider as simultaneous an application made to Governor Fletcher in September, 1692, by some Hudson River Indians, who had long been absent from their native haunts, and lived among the Show- aneos. In an audience with the Governor and Council of New York, they set forth " that they had long been absent from their native country, and did desire to be kindly received, as they in former days received the Christians, when they first came to America, — they pray the same likewise in behalf of the strange Indians they have brought along with them. They add, moreover, that they are now come to their own river and those Far Indians have accompanied them by the Great God's protection ; they are poor, but come to renew the covenant-chain with Corlear, the Mohawks and Five Nations, and *N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., VI, 126. fN. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 43. In Colonial Days. 43 confirm it with the fruits of their far country, whither they intend to depart in twenty days." A Minissink Indian, present at this interview, declared that they had accepted the Far Indians " as their ♦ friends and relations," and that his tribe, being very poor, intended to go with the Showanees and hunt in their country. Governor Fletcher told the Showanees delega- tion that they first must make peace with the Five Nations, and this done, he would extend to them the same protection as to the rest of the Indians.* The result of these interviews, in August and September, 1692, were the before-mentioned message, sent by the Five Nations in July of the following year, and a cessation of hostilities between the two most im- portant tribes in the valley of the Ohio. The various cessions of territory, made by the Five Nations, and other sources enable us to locate these tribes almost definitely, but it is difficult to say, where the Shawanese came from, when they first appeared upon the stage of Colonial Indian politics. In 1692 some of them appeared nearly one thou- sand miles east of the location, given by Joliet, as stated before. From this time we must assume, that they became important factors in Indian politics, for in August, 1694, they have again, in company of Mohicans, an interview with Governor Fletcher at Kingston,t in which the River Indians say, that they *N. Y. Council Minutes, MSB., VI, 126. fN. Y. Col. MSS., XXXIX, i88. ^ HI 44 The Ohio Valley m Miii! i'!':l^! !•' I !i; 'I';' 1 I ! in I! have had great difficulties in bringing the Shawanees and Far Indians to see Corlear. The Showanees and the Far Indians are here named as two distinct tribes, but as the name of " Far Indians" is arbi- trarily applied in Colonial days to all tribes west of the Five Nations, it is very likely that a subdivision or a tribe in close alliance with the Shawnees is meant. They were now admitted to the covenant chain, and reported that three hundred of their tribe were to follow them east in a short time. Their ad- herence to the English interest lasted for some time, for during Queen Anne's war, they sent war parties to assist the Senecas of New York against the French.* But twenty years later, in 1732, we read in a letter from King Louis XIV to his Governor of Canada, Beauharnois,f that the Chaouanons have come down to Montreal during the preceding sum- mer, to demand of Onontio % the place, where he wished to locate them. In the same year, Joncaire, the French agent on the Ohio, reported that the Shawnees were settled in villages on the other side of "Oyo," six leagues below the river Atigue.§ Negligence on the part of the English authorities and skillful management by the French changed the feeling among the Chaouanons so much, that in 1736, the same Joncaire could write to the Governor of Canada, the tribe had rejected the evil advices, *N. Y. Col. Hist., V, 270. fib., IX, 1033. r :j: Indian name for the Governor of Canada. ^ R. au Boeuf, now French Crcck, Bellins Carte de la Louisiane. ijiil ' -r : In Colonial Days. 45 given by their old allies, the Iroquois, and would not take up the hatchet against the French. They said, a? Onontio had located them on the Ohio, they would not leave there without his orders.* In the following year they were again expected at Montreal and Governor Beauharnois was directed, not to neg- lect any thing, to make them settle near Detroit, especially as Cherokees and Chickasaws had made settlements on the Ohio.+ In the course of time the Shawnees became a fixture on Ohio territory. According to an official report of the " Occurrences in Canada during 1747 and 1748 "J they refused to leave their village of Sonioto,§ where they formed a league to destroy the upper country posts, in which league Senecas and Mohegans, with whom the Shaw- nees seem to have entertained special friendly rela- tions, participated. These eastern Indians living then on the Ohio, were very m.ich incensed by the news that four of their people had been killed by French from Detroit, and two war parties set out with the avowed intention to make war against the French at the Miamis** and at Detroit. At the same time news from Ostandausket (Sandusky) reached Montreal, that the Chaouanons of Chartier's tribe,f f *N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 1050. fib., p. 1059. tIb.,X. 138. § Now Scioto. ** Fort S' Joseph. ffA map of Pennsylvania, by T. Kltchin, 1756, locates Chartier's Old Town about thirty miles above Pittsburgh. hi:,: 1 46 The Ohio Valley ili Ill il! ill I I i 111':; ill i''!!| lilillii had not come to Detroit on an invitation, extended to them, but had surprised some forts on Cherokee (Tennessee) river ; they were reported to be in a fort with the Cherokees and Alibanons, though Chartier, who seems to have had much influence over his tribe, excused that evasion and gave assur- ances that he and his people would remain friends of the French. It is evident that the Shawnees were vacillating ; they had probably seen and learned that, although the French descended to their level of savage and uncivilized life with more readiness than the English, commercial benefits were easier ob- tained from the latter than from the former. All their actions at this time point to a desire of sever- ing the alliance with Canada. The Miamis, a tribe allied with the Shawnees, but unfriendly to the French, had resolved to send a deputation under their chief, La Demoiselle, to Detroit and to return to their duty in the French interest, but messengers from the Chaouanons dissuaded them. In 1750, when according to some authority this tribe first ap- peared in Ohio, the Indians of the Six Nations, then settled on the Ohio, the Shawnees and the Dela- wares with their new allies, the Owendaets and Twightwees, formed a body of 1500 to 2000 men,* a factor in English-French politics important enough to cause both sides to make all endeavors for secur- ing their alliance. Joncaire, well versed in Indian affairs, and a companion were sent from Canada, to *N. Y. Council Minutes, MSB., XXI, 397. I ! ! In Colonial Days, 47 bring the Ohio Indians firmly back into the French interest, while goods were expected from London for the same purpose and to pay for lands bought from them by the Treaty of Lancaster. The French were apparently successful, for in 1756, Governor Hardy of New York has to confess in a letter to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, that there was little hope for inducing the Shawnees and Delawares, settled on the Ohio, to leave the French and come over into the English interest, although Sir William Johnson, the Indian Commissioner, thinks that their defection is not general. But at the end of the year Edmund Atkins, the Superintendent of Indian affairs for the Southern Department, writes, " that Sir William had told him, the Six Nations were weakened and dis- tressed, some of the western Nations having fallen off from their alliance and the Shawanese and such of the Delawares living on the Ohio, who had been subject to them, having been set up and supported in an inde- pendency by the French, still continuing hostilities." At the close of the French war, which necessarily set- tled the difficulty, the Shawnees had moved back from the Ohio and established a village about ninety miles up the Scioto, where numbers of the Delawares and others joined them. The defeat of their French friends had not made the Shawnees very friendly to the Eng- lish victors. They continued to harass the frontiers and caused considerable anxiety to the ofificers of the Indian Department.* The Indian outbreak under *N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 603. 'vr I'l: ! I II':'! !iil :l!;;| 48 77/6' O/ii'o Valley Pontiac found the Shawnees willing to follow this great leader against the English, and after the cessa- tion of hostilities, they were employed, through Pon- tiac's agency, by a nation beyond the Chickasaws, as peace negotiators among all other tribes, because they spoke all languages. In the decade preceding the War of Independence, they moved further down the Ohio and were severely taken to task for this withdrawal by Thomas King, a chief of one of the Six Nations, who, while on his way to a great Indian Congress on the Scioto, harangued them at Fort Pitt and arrived at Scioto, addressed himself to all nations present, upbraiding the Shawnees again for the same reason. The Shawnees answered, that they had moved down the Ohio, because they felt neg- lected by the Six Nations, who disregarded the promises to give them the lands between the Ohio and the lakes, therefore they had taken their canoes and went down the river. But the Six Nations had stopped them at Scioto, fixed them there and charged them to live in peace with the English. They were astonished afterward to see the same Six Nations take up the hatchet against the English on the lakes. Then the Iroquois again ill-treated them and they became allies of the Illinois and the Ten Confederate Nations.* Sir William Johnson, who reports the above in a letter to Lord Hillsborough in 1772, gives, to a certain extent, an explanation for the dissatisfaction and hostile feeling of the Shawnees *N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 864. i!l /;/ Colonial Days. 49 in his allusion to land transactions. He says : " It appears to me, the Shawanese who, to my knowledge, grasped at the lands on both sides of the Ohio, though at the late conference they only mention the north side, repenting y° sale of lands on the south side, had sent belts to the Senecas to stir up the Six Nations to disavow their own act. Another meeting, I am informed, is to be held at Scioto. I ought to remark that the Shawnees have spoken of the sale to the Crown extending to the Ohio ; that it is not that part, which for the several reasons I formerly gave, I ventured to continue from Kanhawa to Cherokee river, but this pretended ojection is to the part above the Kanhawa."* A play-bill always gives the names of all the per- sons who are to appear upon the stage, whether they have much to say or not. Following this rule, we must look up the Indian tribes, who were brought forward on the political stage of the Ohio Valley in Colonial days. Next in importance to the two powerful native clans, already mentioned, were the Delawares or Lenni-Lenapes. We have nothing to do with their history when they were living on the lower Delaware and Susquehannah rivers, except to know that they had been subdued by the Five Nations, and though not bodily wiped from the surface of the continent like the Fries, they had been deprived of all political rights and had been given the petticoat with the title *N. Y. Col. Hist., VIII, 292. 50 The Ohio Valley ill , : (I Wy\ \m Mii of women, unfit for warlike work. A treaty with the Indians of his department in 1756, which the Dela- wares attended, was concKided by Sir William John- son with the ceremony of taking off from the Algonquin or Lenni-Lenape followers of the Iroquois the petticoat and that invidious name of women. This was done in the name of their " father, the great King of England," with the promise to induce the Six Nations to do the same.* As soon after the Delawares acted independently from their former masters, it is most likely that the Six Nations fol- lowed Sir William's example. Another chapter will show how impolitic and subsequently disastrous this well-meant, good-natured act of Sir William turned out for the English of the Ohio Valley. At the time of the just mentioned treaty Delawares were seated in the forks of the Allegany and Monongahela rivers where Pittsburgh now stands, and Shingiss, their chief, was in 1754, a terror to the frontier settle- ments. They had obtained, between 1 740 and 1 750, from their ancient allies and uncles, the Wyandots, a grant of land on the Muskingum river, and hither the Delawares with their allies in the war, the Sha- wanoes, moved in 1768.* "At the present day," says Parkman in his Pontiac, " the small remnant settled beyond the Mississippi are among the bravest marauders of the west." General Fremont bears witness to their usefulness ,*N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 119. /;/ Colonial Days. 51 to him on his expedition and the Federal generals who, during the late war, commanded in that depart- ment knew their value as scouts and outposts. The original location of another Algonquin tribe, the Miamis, seems to have puzzled the historians of the aboriginal race of America, as much as the Sha- wanoes. Gallatin in his "Synopsis of Indian Tribes" places them upon the banks of the Wabash, C. C. Baldwin, who wrote on the " Early Migrations of the Indians in Ohio,"* locates them upon the river form- erly called after them as the River Miami of Lake Erie, now the Maumee. The first Europeans, who must have traversed their territory, La Salle, Joliet, Tonty and the earlier Jesuits, do not mention their name of Miamis, but may have reported about them under a name so different, that neither the French name of Miamis nor the English of Twightwees is to be recognized. Later Jesuit miss! ^.laries, Charlevoix and Allouez, think that the Miamis and the Illinois have been the same people, because of the great affinity of their language. When the Twightwees first appear in history, they were allies of the French and at war with the Five Nations. The Five Nations admitted in 1687, that to make peace with the Far Indians (which title in- cluded the Miamis, the Shawanoes theOttawais, also called Waganhaes or Dowangahaes, and the Dionon- dadee of the Huron nation), was well-meant advice,f * American Antiquarian, April, 1879. fN.Y. Col. Hist., IV, 650. I 52 The Ohio Valley i I Hill; but in 1699 they had not yet made up their minds to follow this advice, and in 1 700 the secretary to the Commissioners of Indian Affairs, Robert Livingston of Albany, N. Y., again advises after a journey to Onondaga, that it is necessary to obtain a peace be- tween the Five Nations and Dowangahaes, Twight- wees and other Far Indians and to build a fort between Lakes Sweege (Erie) and Ottawawa (Huron), 744 miles from Albany. To such a fort, he thinks all the Twightwees, Kichtages (Illinois), Wawyachtenokes and Shawanoes would come. In 1721 the Miamis (Twightwees) are still settled upon the river, named after them and running into Lake Erie, to the number of 2,000. To gain this nation as allies and friends of the English was considered as a matter of great im- portance and it was proposed and recommended, — the Board of Trade in London and Governor Spots- wood of Virginia being of this opinion, — to establish a trade with them and build a small fort on Lake Erie, where, up to 1718, the French had as yet no settlem 'int.* Two years later, in 1 723, they were first seen in the colonies of England. Deputies of their nation arrived in New York with an interpreter, who informed the Governor and Council, that they were called Miamis by the French and lived upon the branches of the Mississippi. A peace between the Five Nations and the Far Indians was evidently not concluded, as Livingston had suggested, for in 1 736 the Miamis had dwindled *N. Y. Col. Hist., V, 620-2. In Colonial Days. 53 down to 200 fighting men, while their sub-tribes of the Ouyattanons, Peanguichias and Petikokias num- bered only 350. The peculiar social division into families, distinguished by totems, but belonging to the same village, extended to these western tribes. Mr. Parkman, in his " Conspiracy of Pontiac," and Schoolcraft, in his "Oneota," have explained this system of totems so fully, that it is superfluous to dilate on it here beyond stating, that the Miamis had for totems of their principal families the Hind and the Crane, a third family was of the Bear. The Serpent, Deer and Small Acorn were the totems of the sub-tribes. The first half of the eighteenth century had nearly passed and the Iroquois were still at war with the Miamis. A sachem of the Five Nations tells the Mar- quis de Beauharnois, Governor of Canada, in 1 745 : "This spring your children, the Ouyatonons, Miamis and Peanguichias have struck me. I* did not carry the hatchet back to them, as I bore in mind your or- der to keep peace."f Beauharnois promised to rep- rimand his children, the Miamis, etc., and did it so well, that three years later, the Iroquois presented at the treaty, held at Lancaster, Pa. (1748), some depu- ties from their former enemies, to have them admit- ted to the covenant chains with the English and their Indian allies. Apparently the Miamis did not *The speaker means by I the whole of the Confederacy of Iroquois, for whom he speaks. fN. Y. Col. Hist., X, 25. The Ohio Valley include their sub-tribes of Pianguichias and Wawi- oughtones in this covenant, or the tie between them was of such a character, that one tribe could not act politically for the others. For George Croghan, who traded along the south shore of Lake Erie and was for some time Sir William Johnson's agent to the Indians in the Ohio Valley, reported, that while among the Twightwees in 1 749-50, to deliver them presents, chiefs of the Pianguichias and Wawiough- tonas living on the Wabash came to him and re- quested admission to the Covenant chain with the English and the Five Nations. Croghan, well versed in Indian politics and knowing the necessity of draw- ing over to the British interest as many of the west- ern tribes as possible, was in favor of having these new applicants received into the English alliance, but the Assembly of Pennsylvania rejected this friendly offer of the Pianguichias and Wawiough- tones, "condemned Croghan for bad conduct in drawing an additional expense on the Government and the Indians were neglected."* Gist, an agent of Virginia, who was sent out west on a mission to the Indians in 1751, found Twightwees, whom Harrison, in his " Aborigines," calls the most eastern of the Miami tribes, in villages on the Scioto. The same author places Hurons or Wyandots into the territory eastward from Miami bay along what is now called the Western Reserve and southward as far as the Ohio. West of them sit, according to * N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 268. iiilii! i In Colonial Days. 55 him, the Miamis. Numerous villages were to be found in the extensive territory occupied by them on the Scioto, the headwaters of the two Miamis of the Ohio, also on the Miami of Lake Erie and the Wabash, but none on the Ohio. In 1763 the Wyan- dots, numbering 250 men, had some villages near Fort Sandusky, while the Twightwees, living near the fort on the Miami (Maumee) river, numbered only 230 men. The official report, from which these figures are taken,* calls them an originally very powerful people, who, having been subdued by the Six Nations, were permitted to enjoy their landed possessions. The report continues by calling the Kickapous, Mascoutens, Piankashaws and Wawiagh- tonas, altogether 570 fighters, sub-tribes of the Miamis on the Wabash. They resided in the neigh- borhood of the fort at Wawiaghta, and though the reporter has heard of more tribes and villages there, he confesses that the just named are all, who are per- fectly known. Of the Far Nations, not already spoken of, much need not be said here, for they were not residents of the Ohio Valley. But as the term " Far Nations " is sometimes used in colonial documents without giv- ing the tribal name, a short resume of their relations with the Colonies, may interest the reader. The Governor and Council of New York directed in 1687, that an inquiry should be made among the Five Nations of how long since they first traded with *N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 583. itii! I I ■ji^s I i 56 The Ohio Valley the farther Indians and the Indians with the Straws or Pyres through their noses.* [Quaere? the mod- ern Nez Perces.] This inquiry was instigated by commercial reason, as the subsequent action of the Representatives of Albany and Esopus (Ulster county) in the General Assembly of the Province showed. Both places were more or less the fur and peltry market of the Eng- lish Colonies, and as the Five Nations had practi- cally depopulated their country from fur-bearing ani- mals, it became necessary to go farther afield for the valuable products of the chase, by the trade for which the Dutch inhabitants of the named districts laid the foundation for their wealth. The Represen- tatives mentioned urged in 1691, that commu- nications opened and peace made with the Far Na- tions would be of great benefit and revenue for the Province. The Assembly concurred in this view of the matter and ordered, that Albany should send six Christians and Esopus also six with twenty- five In- dians to treat with the Far Nations.f In 1694 Far Indians, settled in the Minissink country, came to thank Corlear for the care taken of them and put themselves under the protection of New York. J These Far Indians were probably Shawanese, who have been shown above to have come to New York at this time. The Indians of the *N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., VI, p. v. fib., 27. tib., VII, 99. I'll i|i 1 y^ liiiiL:!: In Colonial Days. 57 Minissink country were of the Lenni-Lenape or Delaware tribe and the alliance between them and the Shawanese, which later became so fateful to the English colonists, dates probably from the time of their settlement in the valley of the Delaware river. Onondagas acquainted the Governor of New York in 1 701, that the Waganhaes or Far Nations wanted to make peace with the Five Nations, and had ap- pointed the "hunting place, called Tiughsaghronde " (Detroit) for the meeting. They wanted an agent of New York to be present. If none should be sent, Dekanisore, the great Sachem of the Onondagas, declared, he would never concern himself again in public affairs. Lawrence Claese, the Indian inter- preter of the Commissioners for Indian Affairs, was first sent to look into the matter in hand, and upon his report, that a treaty of peace with the Wagan- haes was really meant to be negotiated. Captain John Bleeker and David Schuyler were sent to represent New York at the treaty and tell the Five Nations that they must be on their guard a. Detroit, for Onondaga ought to have been selected as the place of meeting, their Long House or Coun- cil chamber standing there.* The negotiations at Detroit were apparently not quite satisfactory or re- sulted only in a truce between the warring tribes, for in April, 1 709, a message reached the Governor of New York from the Five Nations, that four nations of the Waganhaes, with whom the New York tribes *N. Y. Col. xMSS., XLIV, 170. 8 il ! PI !> ^!li! illlill iMl I 58 The Ohio Valley had been at war, wanted to make peace and had again named the place for a conference. The Five Nations remembered the reminder given them on the former occasion, refused to go to the place ap- pointed by the Far Indians and named places in their own territory for the meeting. A New York agent was again sent to be present at the meeting, in order to secure for the Province free trade with the Waganhaes.* Indian peace-treaties seem to have had very little binding force and required always ad- ditional negotiations. In 1710 the Far Nations wanted to come mto the Covenant chain, f but a year later the Five Nations of New York again in- tending to go to war with the Waganhaes, were re- fused powder and lead for that purpose, when they called for it upon Corlear. We do not know when the peace between these warring tribes became final, but may presume it was perfected in the following decade, as Captain Peter Schuyler, who was sent as agent to live among the Indians, received the follow- ing instructions in September, 1721: "You are to acquaint all the Far Nations, that the road through the Five Nations for trade with this Province shall be kept open and clean. "J Captain Abraham Schuy- ler was sent on the same errand in the following year and told to use all means to draw the Far In- dians to the Province of New York, by giving them notice, that he was settled in the Seneca country for *N. Y. Col. MSS., LIII. 56; Council Min., MSS., X, 299. fib., 526. JN. Y. Council Min., MSS., XIII, 169. In Colonial Days. 59 their ease and encouragement. He was also to promise them a free passage through the country of the Iroquois.* The southern intervales of the Ohio Valley seem to have been principally inhabited by the Cherokees or Cherakees. Joliet, to whom we owe the first knowl- edge of the tribes living along the Mississippi, does not mention their name on his map, while Dr. John Mitchell says on his map of 1755, the western part of Kentucky, " The country of the Cherakees, which extends westward to the Mississippi and northward to the confines of the Six Nations, was formally sur- rendered to the crown of Great Britain at Westmin- ster, 1729." Delisle's map of 1707 has "gros vil- lages des Cheraquee " on the Cosquinambaux river and at the heads of the rivers passing through South Carolina on their way to the ocean. The " improved " d'Anville map places them near the head of the river called after them ; in the German edition of d'Anville they are moved to the mouth of the Holston river, while Henry Popple has them at the sources of the Ganahooche or Apalachicola. A map of "Carolina nebst einem Theile von Florida" (with a part of Florida), published by the Homans, tells us the Cherokees had thirty villages ; t the head of the Cusatzes and ten on that of the Savan- nah river * N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., XIII, 350. 1 ■,;i|i' I! Ml 1 1 ii Illlj I! I ill ill I IS l!i CHAPTER IV. The Beginning of the Struggle for Supremacy. The discoveries by the Portuguese in the four- teenth and by the Spaniards in th! fifteenth cent; law asTt":^ °"! "''^""^y *° '""^ international law as ,t then existed. According to a maxim of the av,l aw(wh,ch said. -.qu. nulliussun, in bonis dan! HeTf ?K ^'"^^'^°P'^'^- ^hich gave title to newcoun- that no Christian prince or nation had already taken possession of it." England, however, seems t'o have never adopted this principle; for to them discovery without occupancy meant possession. Hakluvt savs Te^Y "xfT' !:-'^---"("i. '55. ZZ: I A f If ^'f discovery of these coasts, neve^ heard of before (of North-America), was wel begun by Jean Cabot and Sebastian, his son, who were^the first finders out of all that great tract of land stretch! mg from the Cape of Florida unto those islands which we now call the Newfoundland, or which they brought and annexed to the crown of England in ll?7_AndNionongbefore the American Revolu- ijii The Ohio Valley m Colonial Days. 6i tion Edmund Burke said in his " Account of the European Settlements in America:" "We derive our rights in America from the discovery of Sebas- tian Cabot,* who first made the northern continent in 1497. The fact is sufficiently certain to establish a right to our settlements in America." At the time when Hakluyt wrote the words, quoted above, and later, when the English came to establish colonies on this continent, nothing was known of the vast territory, stretching westward from the Atlantic ocean. It has been told in a previous chapter, how the country back "of these coasts, never heard of before " and then partly held by the English, was dis- covered by a Frenchman. His, LaSalle's, further discoveries and journey to the Gulf of Mexico con- cern us here only so far, as that on the 9th day of April, 1682, long before an Englishman had heard of his discovery, he took possession, in the name of Louis XIV of France, of "all the seas, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits and all the nations, peoples, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams," within the extent of Louisiana from the mouth of the great river St. Louis, other- wise called Ohio,f and including the Olighin (Alle- ghany), Sipou and Chuckagoua (our present Ohio). " On that day," says Parkman in " Discovery of the Great West," France received on parchment a stu- pendous possession. The fertile plains of Texas, the * He ought to have said John Cabot. f This was the Iroquois name for the Mississippi. 62 The Ohio Valley vast basin of the Mississippi, from its frozen northern springs to the sultry borders of the gulf, from the woody ridges of the Alleghanies to the bare peaks of the Rocky mountains, all was declared French domin- ion." Part of this vast territory, the northern coun- ties of the present State of Ohio, along the south shore of Lake Erie, had long before, in 1669, been taken possession of for France by the two Sulpitian brothers, Dollier de Casson and Gallinay, mentioned in a former chapter. The discovery of the hitherto unknown country and the formal act of declaring it part and parcel of the French dominions, ought, according to English cus- tom of the day, to have been sufficient, to hold it in- violable in times of peace. It is likely that the French, suspicious of their English neighbors, tried to follow the example set by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the preceding century, of concealing their discovery of new countries, whence an abundant supply of furs and even valuable metals, as copper, could be ob- tained, but their attempts to do so proved futile within a decade. Frontenac, the Governor of Canada, had at an early day recognized the importance of a fortified settle- ment at the foot of Lake Ontario, as first suggested by his predecessor, de Courcelles. He intended by it to prevent the Iroquois from carrying to Albany the peltries, for which they went to the Ottawas, and thus to oblige them to seek a market at Montreal, which, he thought, was only just, as they hunted on In Colonial Days. 63 French territory. Thoroughly convinced of the ne- cessity of such a step Count Frontenac went to the place where the fort* was to be built. *' On approach- ing the first opening of the lake, the Count wished to proceed with more order and in line of battle. He accordingly arranged the whole fleet as follows: Four squadrons, as vanguard, in front and in one line, two batteaus. After these came Comte de Frontenac at the head of all the canoes of his guards, of his staff and of the volunteers attached to his person ; having on his right the squadron from Trois Rivieres and on his left those of the Hurons and Algonquins."f Although this somewhat theatrical mise en scene was witnessed by only few members of the Indian tribes for whose benefit it was intended, it had the desired effect upon the Five Nations, whom Fronte- nac had summoned to meet him at Catarakoui, for the Indians declared themselves satisfied and glad, to have an establishment for trade so near their homes. Astute as the children of the forest were, they failed to see the ulterior purposes which Fort Frontenac was to serve. Four days after Fron- tenac had begun negotiations with the Indians, the fort was almost ready for its new tenants. A year later, when Joliet had returned from his tour of dis- covery, which had led him to the Mississippi, the Governor could write to his superiors in France : * Now Kingston, Canada. fN. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 102. 64 The Ohio Valley " Sieur Joliet, whom Monsieur Talon* advised me, to dispatch for the discovery of the South sea, re- turned three months ago and found some very fine countries and a navigation so easy through the beautiful rivers, that a person can go from Lake On- tario and Fort Frontenac in a bark to the Gulf of Mexico, there being only one carrying place, half a league in length, where Lake Ontario communicates with Lake Erie. A settlement could be made at this post. . . . He believes that water commu- nication could be found leading to the Vermillion and California Seas, by means of the river that flows from the West." Thus was outlined the French policy of the subse- quent period, which tended to link together their pos- sessions in Louisiana and on the St. Lawrence by a chain of forts on the Ohio. The injunction of Louis XIV, given to Frontenac in i676,t not to turn his intention to new discoveries without necessity and a very great advantage, as it was better to occupy less territory and to people it thoroughly, than to have feeble colonies of large territorial extents and easily destroyed, as well as the same king's order, to keep peace with the English, delayed for some time a col- lision between the two rival nations. If the English had at first remained in ignorance of the newly-opened fur market in the west, they were soon to be informed of it by Frenchmen. * Intendant of Canada. IN. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 126. , In Colonial Days. 65 Notwithstanding the orders and laws, made by the new Intendant, Duchesneau, in 1679, Canadian coureurs des bois obtained peltries from the Indians and then carried them to the English market. Of course, this had to be done stealthily and, therefore, the supply could not be a very great one. Afraid that the English traders might be prevented access to the as yet unknown, but nevertheless promising territory, and that consequently her trade, always the first consideration in the English mind, might suffer, England suddenly saw fit to ignore the maxim of international law, established by herself, that " dis- covery establishes title " and although not yet in- tending to occupy the territory, covered by a French paper title, they boldly invaded it for the purposes of trade with the Far Nations, and soon a report came to the ears of the French Governor, de Denon- ville, that the English intended to have a post on Lake Ontario. To counteract the bad effect such an English establishment would have on Canada and French influences in America he proposed a fort, like Frontenac, on Lake Erie and some vessels on the lake, which would make the journey to Missili- mackinack an easier one and enable the French to take the Illinois in hand.* To do this, however, it was necessary to subdue the Iroquois. Before the French Governor could obtain the King's sanction for carrying out his plans, his Eng- lish neighbors in New York took steps to extend * N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 282. 66 The Ohio Va..ey their commercial enterprises. Governor Dongan began to issue licenses in the summer of 1686 for trading, hunting and making discoveries to the south- west.* Two of these parties, under Captain Rose- boom of Albany and Patrick MacGregory, went to trade under such licenses with the Ottawawas on Lake Huron, where Jesuit missionaries from France had established themselves as early as i634.f We do not know which route these intrepid traders took to reach their market, but may safely suppose that they skirted the Ohio shore of Lake Erie, to avoid en- countering French parties on the so-called Ottawa route along the Canada shore. Their precaution was, however, frustrated and near their destination they fell into the hands of the French. In defending this invasion of territory, belonging to or claimed by a nation with whom his own master was then at peace, Governor Dongan claimed, that it was as free for the English to trade with the Far Nations, as to the French. J His assertion that "the situation of those parts bespeaks the King of England to have a better right to them, than the French, they lying to the south of us, just on the back of other parts of our dominions and a very great way from your terri- tories," — discloses a lamentable Ignorance of geo- graphical knowledge among the English. This was the first move In the game of chess, for which the *N. Y. Col. MSS., XXXIII, 282 etseq. f Le Jeune, Relation de cequi s'est pass6 en la Nouvelle France en I'ann^e 1635- X N. Y. Col. Hist., Ill, 469. >l In Colonial Days. 67 valley of the Ohio furnished one side of the board. The epistolary discussion of the affaire MacGre- gory drew out some further sentiments from Gover- nor Dongan, which throw interesting side lights upon the question. "I believe," he says in 1688,* " it as lawful for me to send to the Ottawawas, as for the Governor of Canada, but think it very unjust in Monsieur de Denonville to build a fort at Onyagaro or to make war upon the Five Nations, who have long been subjects of the King of England. If the sheep's fleece be the thing in dispute, pray let the King of England have some part of it." That he objected to see the friends and allies of the English, the Five Nations, disturbed by war, was natural, but at the same time he could not overlook the benefit which the " sheep's fleece," the trade with the Five Nations and others, would bring to his master's pocket. Trade, profitable trade above all, by fair or by foul means, was evidently the motto of the English of that day. On what did the English base their rights to trade on so-called French territory? Simply on the treaties of friendship, the "covenant-chain," made with the Five Nations, which secured to the European intruders immunity from Indian invasions, but had nothing to say about English traders going beyond the territory under the jurisdiction of the Five Nations and of their friends or their enemies. Inter- national law and comity were of only secondary im- portance, when trade was in question. *N. Y. Col. Hist., III. 538. 68 The Ohio Valley i>!!!l it ■ I I'M' We need not wonder, therefore, that the French Governors attempted to protect not only the trade of their people, but also the sheep, whom they shore.* They kept spies at Albany, who informed them of all hunting parties, going to trade with the Far Nations and when convenient, French parties were sent after them to arrest the Englishmen of the party and if possible induce the French coureurs des bois, in English pay, to return to Canada.f Governor Dongan had learned about 1684, ^s we have seen above, that there was considerable terri- tory west of the country known to the English colo- nists, perhaps in consequence of a message sent to him by Governor de la Barre of Canada, for he writes about that time: "I send a map by Mr. Spragg,t whereby your Lo^^ may see the several Governm^^etc., how they lye where the Beaver hunt- ing is & where it will be necessary to erect our Country Forts for the securing of Beaver Trade & keeping the Indians in community with us. Alsoe it points where there's a great River discovered by one Lasal, a Frenchman from Canada, who .... brought two or three vessels with people to settle there, which (if true) will prove very inconvenient to us (the River running all along from our Lakes by the Back of Virginia and Carolina to the Bay of Mexico."§ *N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 501. f lb., 715 et seq. X Secretary of the Province. It is to be regretted, that the map is no longer in existence or its whereabouts known. § N. Y. Col. Doc, III, 396. In Colonial Days. 69 To assert the English right to the new discoveries, made by a Frenchman, he sent the arms of the King of England to be set up near Niagara and asked per mission to erect a fort there, although he knew, that the French claimed the country "as far as Mexico, for which they have no other argument, than that they have had possession this twenty years by their fathers living so long among the Indians." But trade required the maintaining of a correspondence with the Far Nations and, therefore, the French claims could not be considered, even though justified by international law. In the meantime the French again took possession of the settlement at Niagara, which had first been established by LaSalle in 1668, and been burnt by the Senecas twelve years later. They built a fort there in 1687 and manned it, according to an Indian report, with 400 men and great guns, while Governor Dongan pushed his usurpation of French territory so far, as to send men to make themselves masters iti their King's name of the post at Michilimackinack. The Five Nations were not well pleased to see the French, the first disastrous meeting with whom un- der Champlain in 1609 they never forgot, settle on their territory, and were glad to hear Governor Don- gan propose an English fort at Cajonhage on the Great Lake,^ but he was overruled by the Indian Commissioners, who favored Oswego, at the mouth of the Onondaga river. * Supposed to be Salmon river, Oswego Co., N. Y. ^o The Ohio Valley Nothing was done. The French abandoned their fort at Niagara after a year's occupancy, a disastrous war against the Iroquois having shown them, that this advanced post could not altogether protect their trade to the far west. King William's war drew the attention of the English from the subject, and nothing was heard of it until about 1699, Robert Livingston, Secretary of the New York Commis- sioners for Indian Affairs, submitted some observa- tions on the decay of the Albany trade, in which he was personally interested, to the then Governor of New York, Lord Bellomont. He gives as reason for this decay the impoverished state of the inhabit- ants, brought about by the late war and the French intrigues among the Far Indians, by which they are kept constantly on the warpath against the Five Nations of New York. As a remedy and tonic for the drooping trade he advises, that New York should endeavor to negotiate a peace between these warring tribes, which would enable Englishmen to trade again to the west and increase his Majesty's revenues. This could be done, he suggests, by sending a party of 200 white men, natives of the Colonies and as such good woodsmen, with 300 to 400 Iroquois to make a fort at Wawayachtenock (now Detroit) and " so pro- ceed to the respective Far Nations, who will undoubt- edly receive them, although the French are there among them and have a pretended sort of possession by a laying a Jesuit and some few men in a small fort ; for wherever a Frenchman has once set his foot, he mm In Colonial Days. 71 claims a right and title to the country." After the peace had been made between the Iroquois and the Dowaganhaes, Twightwees, Ottawas and other Far Indians, all these tribes will resort to Albany to dis- pose of their furs, and the trade there will be in- creased tenfold, while now the French deprive the English of it by their frivolous pretenses of subduing those Far Nations and converting them to the Chris- tian faith.* Livingston, the son of a minister of the gospel, ought to have known the biblical parable of the beam in his own eye and the mote in that of his neighbor, for he proposes to do, what he reprimands the French for having done ; the English claimed the whole continent, not because their seamen had first trodden upon its soil, but because they had first seen it. Lord Bellomont approved of building a fort in the Onondaga country. He foresaw, that the French designed first to annihilate the Iroquois, which could easily be done under the dilatory policy of the Brit- ish government, and then with the help of the west- ern Indians to drive all the English into the ocean, f and the next year, 1 700, he suggested a fort at the mouth of the Onondaga river, thus adopting the formerly expressed plan of the more experienced In- dian commissioners. This fort at Oswego would se- cure the rivers, by which the French had obtained access to the Seneca country in 1687, while it would * N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 500. t lb.. 505. 72 The Ohio Valley enable the Dowaganhaes and other western tribes, at war with the Five Nations, to come and trade with the English in spite of their Iroquois enemies.* Again nothing was done. Jealous of the increasing power of the Bourbons, King William III declared war against Spain and France, both countries under kings of the Bourbon family. His death shortly after the declaration of war did not bring peace, and Queen Anne's war, as it was called after his succes- sor, lasted for eleven years, to 1713. The waves of the bloody contest did not reach the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie, but all suggested enterprises in that direction were laid aside, and the English colon- ists of the last century, as well as their descendants, can congratulate themselves, that the allies at war against France found so much employment for Louis XIV, that he could send neither men nor money to prosecute his plans in America. The Treaty of Utrecht, which ended this war in I 713, by its fifteenth article meant to settle the dis- puted questions concerning the boundaries between the French and the English in the west. It said : " The subjects of France, inhabiting Canada, shall hereafter give no hindrance or molestation to the Five Nations or Cantons of Indians subject to the dominion of Great Britain, nor to the other natives of America, who are friends to the same. In like manner the subjects of Great Britain shall behave themselves peaceably to the Americans, who are sub- * N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 717. luaiituiii In Colonial Days. 73 jects or friends to France, and on both sides they shall enjoy full liberty on account of trade, as also the natives of those countries shall with the same liberty resort as they please to the British or French colonies for promoting trade on the one or the other, without any molestation or hindrance either on the part of the British subjects or the French, but it is to be exactly and distinctly settled by commissaries, who are and who ought to be accounted the ubjects and friends of Britain and of France." Eight years later the English Lords of Trade and Plantations admitted in a memorial on the American plantations,* that " the French territories extend from the mouth of the River St. Lawrence to the embou- chure of the Mississippi, forming one continued line from north to south on the back of your Majesty's plantations, and although their garrisons in many parts are hitherto but very inconsiderable, yet as they have, by the means of their missionaries, debauched several of the Indian nations to their interest, your Majesty's subjects along the continent have the ut- most danger to apprehend from the new settlement (on the Mississippi), unless timely care be taken to prevent their increase." At the same time they concede the discovery of the inland communication between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico to French enterprise, but consider it a " very late discovery," fifty years after it had been made, and in the succeeding parr^aphs of their memorial they * N. Y. Col. Doc, V, 620. 10 74 The Ohio Valley describe the routes taken by the French, as if they had only just heard of them. But had this matter of discovering new countries, they think, been sooner considered, then undoubtedly the English colonists would have been the first to make them, for the British colonies are so much more convenient to the lakes than Canada. One such attempt to discover new territory, that of General Wood of Virginia, in 1671, has already been mentioned ; Governor Spotswood, also of Virginia, sent another equally unsuccessful exploring expedition to the west in 1710,* and started in person with a large retinue in 1716 " over the great mountains, to satisfy myself whether it was practicable to come at the lakes. Having on that occasion found an easy passage over that great ridge of mountains, which were before judged impas- sable, I also discovered by the relation of Indians, who frequent those parts, that from the pass, where I was, it is but three days' march to a great Nation of Indians living on a river, which discharges itself in the Lake Erie."t Which great river Governor Spotswood can mean, we must leave to the inter- preter of English geography in the eighteenth century. He calls it thr River Mic, three miles from the River Occabacke, going into the Mississippi. Neither of these names appear on any map, and though it may be thought, that Occabacke stands for Ouabache, Governor Spotswood certainly did not get within * Spotswood Letters, I, 42. + lb., II, 295. billAlilnll f /« Colonial Days. ' 75 three [days' march of the head-waters of the Ohio. Thus much for Colonial British enterprise in dis- covering new territory. He advises a settlement on Lake Erie in order to entitle the English to a right of possession, for the French could not dispute such a title which the law of nations gives to the first oc- cupant. It is evident the law of nations had a hard time of it among English statesmen of the last cen- tuty. Before Governor Spotswood had recommended this simple way of obtaining possession of a new coun- try, the English seem to have adopted this plan, for already in 1715 Father Louis Marie de Ville, mis- sionary among the Peorias, and Sieur de Vincenne, a trader among the western Indians, write, that the English of Carolina have recourse to every expe- dient to attract the southern Indians by means of the Iroquois; and Sieur Bezon, a French official, re- ports, that Father Jacques Marmet, missionary at Kaskaskias, Illinois, tells about the encroachments of the English in the Rivers Ouabache and Mississippi, where they are building three forts.* A few years after the peace of 1713, the French saw again how necessary for their plans the close friendship of the Iroquois was. This was the only nation of Indians, where they never had been able to obtain, through their courtly manners and cajo- leries, the footing, which first the Dutch, and later the English had had, notwithstanding their somewhat *N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 931. '< The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. The boundaries between the French and English possessions on this continent had not yet been fixed thirty years after the Utrecht Treaty had provided h?t >t should be done. The English based their titles to land principally upon the purchases from the Indians, and on this principle the Governor of Pennsylvania, with commissioners from Virginia and Maryland, acquired at the Indian treaty of Lancaster m 1744, "all the territory which is or may be within the limits of the Colony of Virginia, according to his Majesty s order." The French looked upon this purchase with unqualified distrust and resented this invasion of what they claimed as their territory, by a declaration of war in March, 1744, which waged until 1 74«, but left the lake country again undisturbed 'liili !)Hi m PI'I' ill CHAPTER V. THE CONTEST BETWEEN THE TEUTONIC AND THE LATIN RACES TRANSFERRED TO THE OHIO VALLEY. From Champlain to Montcalm the French, by diplomacy and religion, by threats and by flatteries, and by all the resources of Gallic wit, address and force, had endeavored to gain over the Iroquois to their king and cause ; but ever loyal to the covenant, made in early colonial days, with the Dutch at Albany and confirmed upon the surrender of New Netherland to the English, they adhered to the Teu- tonic race. They stood as a stone wall, a break- water, keeping off the storm and tide of French aggression and assisted the English colonies, who nourished the Indians' strength to win from the Gaul and from Latin ideas of civilization, what are now some of the most important States of the Union. Oswego was soon ii' a position to threaten the French trade at Niagara with complete annihilation. The following report, made by the Commissary at Oswego in 1 749, tells us, that nearly one-third of the Indians, intending to come to Oswego, had been intercepted and forcibly detained at Niagara, and 84 The Ohio Valley mw.M yet the number of those who reached Oswego is considerable. Names of each Nation. Wayactenacks Potawimmies Miamis Missassagas Monomunies Michilimackimaks Oroonducks Shepawees Cocknawagas and Shoenidies . . . . French Traders (A • u c o o S - 0) rt 3 o 39 20 II 25 lO 9 I 32 43 3 ^93 o lU o 318 160 88 200 80 72 8 256 344 in M u c4 Oh u 9 o 1,562 293 140 77 175 70 63 7 224 301 35 1,385 He computes the value of each pack at £1^, which gives for the whole number of packs from the Far Nations, 1,349, the amount of ;^i8,886,* or $47,215, as probably pounds, New York currency, are given. The French, having discovered, how futile their attempts were to break the covenant chain between Corlear, or rather Quidor, and the Iroquois, and see- ing that the fort at Oswego not only interfered with their trade at, but also threatened the very existence of Niagara, tried to counteract this injurious effect by establishments at Presqu'ile (now Erie, Penna.), * N. Y. Col. Hist., VI, 538. In Colonial Days. 85 French creek,* and Venango, which appear as mili- tary posts on d'Anville's map of " Amerique Septen- trionale " in 1 746, and thus entered the valley of the Ohio with territorial and no longer purely commer- cial intentions. To this end the Marquis de la Galis- soniere. Governor of Canada, sent in 1749, Captain Bienville de Celoron to take once more possession of the Ohio country for the King of France. His letter to Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania, dated " From our Camp on the Beautiful River, at an old Shawnee Village," shows, that the act was to be un- derstood not as a mere formality, for he came with troops and drove out all the English traders in the country. " We, Celoron, Captain, Knight of the Military Order of St. Louis," said he,f ** commanding a detachment sent by the Marquis de la Galissoni^re, Governor-in-chief of New France, have on the banks of the Beautiful River summoned the Englishmen, whom we have found in an Indian town, situate on the bank of the Beautiful River, to retire with all their effects and baggage to New England on pain of being treated as interlopers and rebels in case of refusal ; to which summons they have answered, that they were going to start for Philadelphia, their coun- try, with all their effects." The Indians on the Ohio were told by him, that the French were again coming to trade with them a/id that he was going with his soldiers to chastise * Riviere aux Boeufs of old maps. f N. Y. Col. Doc, VI, 132; Penn. Col. Records, V, 425. 86 The Ohio Valley the Twightwees and Wyandots for trading with the English. The Indians were not pleased with this announcement. They declared, that the land was their own and that while there were any Indians in those parts, they would trade with their brothers, the English. The threat of whipping the Twightwees was considered by them as a jest* Celoron, how- ever, left a memorial of his visit and of his act of tak- ing possession all along his route down the Ohio, in the shape of leaden plates, of which several are still in existence.f Mr. Charles P. Keith, of Philadelphia, tells, in an article on Sir William Keith, J of the first project, to make the newly-discovered country of use to the English. He says: " Chief Justice Marshall's ' Life of Washington,' attributes to Sir William Keith the conception of the project of taxing America by Act of Parlia- ment. It was suggested by him some time before the Spanish War, as the means of providing for the common defense of the Colonies, and as such it was urged by a company having interests there, or a * Club of Americn Merchants,' of which he was a member, probably the Ohio Company. The propo- sition, as embodied in the two papers on the sub- ject, emanating from this source, and supposed to * N. Y. Col. Hist., VI, 533. f Fac-similes are given in the Pennsylvania Archives, 2d series, VI, 80 ; see, also, for accounts of them, Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe, I, 62, and Dinwiddie Papers, I, 95. |Penn. Mag. of History and Biography, April, 1888. In Colonial Days, 87 have been written by him, was to raise and maintain a military force for the protection of the British col- onies, and to establish a general council of their Governors to assist the Commander-in-Chief, and to defray the expense by stamp duties similar to those in England, supposed to be the easiest method of taxation. These were to be imposed by Parliament because the several Assemblies * never could be brought in voluntarily to raise such a Fund by any general and equally proportioned Tax among them- selves.' Coxe's ' Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole ' (page 753), saying that soon after the excise scheme, which failed in 1733, Sir William Keith, 'who had been deputy-governor of Virginia {sic), came over with a plan of an American tax,' then relates, on the authority of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, that Lord Chesterfield, having asked Walpole what he thought of it, Walpole replied, * I have old England set against me, and do you think I will have new Eng- land likewise?' Yet, it is probable that, had the plan then been carried into execution, with as popu- lar an official as Sir William for stamp-master, which he may have hoped to be, it would not have had the same consequences as a quarter of a century later, when the Colonies had become more powerful and more warlike, and the proceeds of the tax were to go into the British treasury. Years after the death of the subject of this sketch some of his ideas were acted upon by the British government, and the two papers were reprinted for its vindication as the senti- 88 The Ohio Valley m 'i'li' !; l!HlMi&'i^ ii !.,! ijii !■ ;:i' ■:?" ments 'of the greatest friends to America.' In let- ters to John Adams, written in 1813, Thomas Mc- Kean says, 'The Congress at Albany in 1754 . . . was ... in reality to propose the least offensive plan for raising a revenue in America. In 1739, Sir William Keith, a Scotch gentleman, who had been a Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania, proposed such an assembly to the ministry. He also proposed the extension of the British stamp duties to the Colonies. He was then, I believe, in the Fleet prison. The hints he gave were embraced, the first in 1 754, the second in 1764.' (Works of John Adams, vol. X, p. 'Jl, edit. 1856.) 'The anecdote of Sir William Keith's proposal to the British ministry is to be found in the latter end of the first volume of Ameri- can tracts, printed by J. Almon, in London, 1767. It had been published in London in 1739, ^^^^ ^^ titled 'A proposal for establishing by act of Parlia- ment the duties upon stamped paper and parchment in all the British Colonies.' Part of the anecdote I had by tradition, and in a novel, ' Peregrine Pickle.' (Ibid., p. 80.) " About this time* John Hanbury, a Quaker mer- chant of London, Thomas Lee of the Virginia Coun- cil, Lawrence and Augustus Washington, brothers of George, and others, obtained from the Crown a grant of 5oo,cxdo acres of land in the present Jeffer- son and Columbiana counties of Ohio, and Brooke county of West Virginia. The principal object of * See Appendix D. 1 !ii! In Colo7ttal Days. 89 this company, called the Ohio Company, was trade with the Indians, for we may call the plans of colonizing the country west of the Alleghany moun- tains an after-thought, although their patent de- manded, that 200,000 acres of the grant should be settled within a few years. The troubles with the French and the Indians suspended the operations of the company until the close of the war. Intrigues, started by counteracting interests, caused an unau- thorized merger of the Ohio Company into the Wal- pole or Grand Company, and while the shareholders of the former were still protesting against this action of their London agent, the War of the Revolution broke out and put out of existence both companies.* This started the " boom," to use a modern expres- sion, for western lands. The Governor and Council of Virginia granted, July 12, 1749, leave to John Lewis, Thomas Walker and others, to take up and survey 800,000 acres, in one or more surveys, begin- ning on the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, and running west and north. This " Loyal Company " was also prevented by the events of the succeeding years from carrying out the necessary surveys, and obtained in June, 1753, an order extend- ing the time for a return of surveys. They could now begin operations and actually sold several par- cels of 100 acres at £2>' War again interfered in 1 754, and when in 1 763 the company petitioned for a renewal and confirmation of their grant, the authori- * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 17. 12 T^ 90 The Ohio Valley ties of Virginia were of opinion, that the King's in- structions restrained them from granting such renewal. One hundred thousand acres of land on Green- briar river,* north-west and west of the " Cow-Pas- ture " and Newfoundland were granted to the Green- briar Company, October 29, i75i.t Their opera- tions were likewise brought to a standstill in 1754, by the breaking out of the war, after they had already succeeded in selling several tracts of land. The royal proclamation of December 16, 1763, prohibiting the settlement or grant of any lands on the western waters, suspended the undertaking until 1773, when the Governor and Council of Virginia, considering the grant to the company still in force, allowed the surveys and settlements to be resumed. The French looked with jealousy upon this new English interpretation of the international maxim of premier seisin, that first discovery, even without oc- cupation, should establish title. The remarkable claim, that Englishmen from Connecticut had dis- covered the Ohio valley,J had not yet been made public, but we see that the English authorities dis- posed of lands there without hesitation. French travelers had called the attention of their govern- ment and countrymen long ago to the importance of the greatwater-way which facilitated the communi- cation between Canada and Louisiana.§ " A free *A tributary of the Great Kanawha. f Call, Virginia Reports, IV, 21 et seq. X See Appendix C. § Charlevoix, VI, 157. ; In Colo7iial Days, 91 and certain passage," says Governor de la Gallison- niere of Canada in a Memoir of December, 1750,* " from Canada to the Mississippi, is an absolute neces- sity. This chain once broken would leave an open- ing, of which the English would doubtless take ad- vantage, to get nearer to the silver mines. * * * * The Governors of Canada have been deterred from making settlements there, fearing contraband trade between French traders and the English. Neither have the English any posts there, nor did they come to trade, except clandestinely, until the last war, when the revolt of some neighboring nations against the French encouraged them to come more boldly. They have been summoned since the peace, to retire, and if they do not do so, force must be used, otherwise the case would be the same as at Chouegen,f and that would be still more disastrous; for a post on the Ohio would possess more opportunities to do dam- age than Chouegen alone. 1. They would have much greater opportunities there than at Chouegen, to seduce the Indian nations. 2. They would possess more facilities to interrupt the communication between Canada and Louisiana, for the Beautiful river affords almost the only route for the conveyance from Canada to the River Missis- sippi of detachments capable of securing that still feeble Colony against the incursions of the neighbor- ing Carolina Indians, whom the English are un- ceasingly exciting against the French. *N. Y. Col. Hist, X, 229. \ Oswego, N. Y. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 11.25 _L8 IZ5 US ■tt Ui |22 L° 12.0 m m ^m S^. ^ w /A w 4? s:^ k fV ;\ \ ..<■'* \ 92 The Ohio Valley 3. If the English ever become strong enough in America to dare attempt the conquest of Mexico, it will be by this Beautiful river, which they must ne- cessarily descend." The English did not dare to take immediate pos- session of the Ohio country, although as yet only few French troops were there to defend it, and did not move at all, notwithstanding they received warnings from different sources. Captain Marshall, command- ing at Albany, received notice in 1749, and trans- mitted it to his superiors, that an army of nearly 1,000 Frenchmen were moving toward the Ohio, in order to prevent the English from settling there.* Almost a year later, April, 1750, Sir William Johnson writes : *' The French have had ever since the peace officers and interpreters with great quantities of goods for presents to all the foreign nations, but much more at the settlements of Indians on the Ohio, than any- where else."t Even the warning given a few weeks later, that the French have made an alliance with western tribes and intend to destroy the Indians on the Ohio, who are in the British interest, J had no effect upon either New York or Pennsylvania, the Colonies most affected by such a move. Governor Clinton of New York thought it prudent to send the Indians, adherents of the English, some powder to defend themselves, but the Council would not hear of it and nothing was done. The home government was * N. Y. Col. MSS., Council Minutes, XXI. 354. t lb. 375. X lb. 380. m\ In Colonial Days. equally inactive and paid no or very little attention to Governor Clinton's letter of the ist of October, 1 751, in which he said : "If the French go on in this manner without obstruction or any thing done on our part, to secure us and the Indians in friendship with us, the French in a little time must obtain an abso- lute influence over all the Indian nations on the Con- tinent; and a vessel of such force [as the French were said to be building on Lake Ontario] will be sufficient to dispossess us of Oswego."* Charles Townshend, one of the Lords of Trade and Planta- tions, was a better statesman than his colleagues, but he could not induce them to advocate in Council his plan of aggressive measures in taking possession of the Ohio region by force. The French were not so dilatory. They sent one of their most astute Indian agents, Chabert de Jon- caire, to the Ohio in 1 750, to build a house at the carrying place between Lake Erie and the Ohio, where all western Indians should be supplied with whatever goods they might need, and thus be saved the long journey to Oswego. f In the following year four English traders were taken prisoners by the French for trading on the Ohio contrary to an ordi- nance of the Governor of Canada, although it was claimed, on the English side, the country belonged to the Six Nations and Twightwees, allied to the Eng- lish by a covenant chain for a long time past. J There * N. Y. Col. Hist., VI, 538. " ~ ~ t lb. 609. i lb. 735. . .. I III 94 The Ohio Valley was some talk of reprisals, but competent authorities declared it inconsistent with the laws of nations, while peace reigned between the two rival nations.* In the same year George Croghan, Indian agent, and, through many years of trading among the In- dians, well acquainted with the territory and its condi- tions, was sent by the Governor of Pennsylvania to the Ohio, with presents for the Indians. In one of the speeches which he proposed to make, but had to submit to the Governor for approval before starting out on his journey, it was " strongly expressed " that Pennsylvania should build a fort on the Ohio for the protection of the Indian trade from insults and injuries III by the French. The Governor did not approve of it and ordered Croghan first to sound the Indians on this subject. Scaroyadi, the Half King, and his friends and advisers in the tribe, were willing to have such a representation of English protection in their country and had wished for it ever since Celoron's expedition in 1749, when the proceedings of the French did not all meet favor in the Indian eyes. They designated the forks of the Monongahela as the best place for such an establishment. However, when Croghan reported the result of his negotia- tions, the government of Pennsylvania did not approve, and again nothing was done, because it was thought the Six Nations would not allow the erec- tion of a trading house at the indicated place, although Scaroyadi had been able to tell Croghan, * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 17. In Colonial Days. 95 that such an establishment had been agreed upon by his tribe and the Long House at Onondaga, that is the Supreme Council of the Iroquois.* The Council of Virginia was of all the English authorities on the Continent the first to make a move, although a very insignificant one. The English gov- ernment had sent over a present to be made to the Six Nations, and the Council advised Governor Dinwiddle to deliver it with all due ceremony, expecting to make a favorable impression on the natives.t Commis- sioners were appointed to meet the Indians at Loggstown, J and after the presents had been handed over and evidently approved by the recipients, the request for building a fort in the same place as des- ignated before, was renewed, but, says Croghan, to no effect. Celoron's report of what he had seen in 1 749 had in the meantime worked on the minds of his country- men. They understood the importance of securing a foothold at the junction of the Ohio and Monon- gahela so well, that Governor Dinwiddle wrote in February, 1 753, with some alarm, about some fifteen or sixteen Frenchmen, arrived at Loggs Town and building houses, etc., there, and "that it is to be feared they will take possession of the Ohio, oppress our trade and take our traders prisoners, etc. We would fain hope these people are only French * N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 268-9. f Dinwiddie Papers, I, 17. X Near Pittsburg, Penna. 96 The Ohio Valley traders, and they have no other view but trade."* This trading^ post at Loggstown was, however, only the link, stretched out farthest, of the antenna, which the French army worm threw out as a feeler. In May, 1753, the commandant at Oswego saw thirty French canoes, part of an army going to Ohio, pass his post, who were to make good the French claim upon that region, but as war had not been declared between the two nations, he could not interfere, even though one of these French told him, that M. Marin was coming with 6,000 men to the Ohio, in order to settle the boundaries between his nation and the English, that the French laid claim to all lands on any rivers or creeks running into the great lakes ; that one fort was to be built at Ka-sa-no-tia- yo-ga (a carrying place), another at Diontaroga. Five hundred Cochnawagas, Scenondidies, Onogan- gas, Oroondoks and Chenundies went with this French detachment, not to fight the English but to supply the French with the results of their chase,t and thus answer Governor Dinwiddie's question in the above quoted letter, of how the French would subsist their army so far from their base of supply. The Senecas, Cayugas and Shawnees looked upon this movement of the French with distrust ; they did not want them to build forts on the Ohio, upon which they looked as their property, J and notified * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 22. t N. Y. Col. MSS, LXXVII, 87. ilb. 143. In Colonial Days. 97 the Indian Commissioners of New York that they had resolved to go to war against the French, and desired the co-operation of the whole of their confederacy. Of the thi 2e English Colonies, whose special inter- est it was to keep the French out of the Ohio terri- tory, New York did nothing, while Pennsylvania and Virginia quarreled about the boundary line to the westward. Governor Dinwiddie writes to Cresap and Trent in February, 1 753*: " Till the line between Pennsylvania is run and our limits ascertained, I cannot restrain the many abuses done in the back- woods, as by the last treaty at the Ohio. The Indians having given us full power to settle all the lands this side of the Ohio, I conceive that the treaty fully establishes the British right to those lands, there- fore some method must be found out to dispossess the French, if they presume to oppose our settle- ments." In the following year he commenced build- ing a fort, where now stands the city of Pittsburgh, and issued the following proclamation : * Virginia, ss. By the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie, Esq ; His Majesty's Lieutenant-Governor, and Comman- der-in-Chief of this Dominion. A PROCLAMATION, For Encouraging Men to enlist in His Majesty's Ser- vice for the Defence and Security of this Colony. WHEREAS it is determined that a Fort be im- Dinwiddie Papers, I, 22 and 23. 13 98 The Ohio Valley mediately built on the River Ohio, at the Fork of Monongahela, to oppose any further Encroachments, or hostile Attempts of the French, and the Indians in their Interest, and for the Security and Protection of his Majesty's Subjects in this Colony ; and as it is absolutely necessary that a sufficient Force should be raised to erect and support the same : For an Encouragement to all who shall voluntarily enter into the said Service, I do hereby notify and promise, by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's Council of this Colony, that over and above their Pay, Two Hundred Thousand Acres, of his Majestys the King of Great Britains Lands, on the East Side of the River Ohio, within this Dominion, (One Hundred Thousand Acres whereof to be contiguous to the said Fort, and the other Hundred Thousand Acres to be on, or near the River Ohio^ shall be laid off and granted to such Persons, who by their volun- tary Engagement, and good Behaviour in the said Service, shall deserve the same. And I further promise, that the said Lands shall be divided amongst them immediately after the Performance of the said Service, in a Proportion due to their respec- tive merit, as shall be represented to me by their Officers, and held and enjoyed by them without pay- ing any Rights, and also free from the Payment of Quit-rents, for the Term of Fifteen Years. And I do appoint this Proclamation to be read and published at the Court-Houses, Churches and Chapels in each In Colonial Days. 99 County within this Colony, and that the Sheriffs take Care the same be done accordingly. Given at the Council Chamber in Williamsburg, on the 19th Day of February, in the 27th Year of his Majesty's Reign, Annoque Domini, 1754- ROBERT DINWIDDIE. GOD save the KING.* Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania had been in- structed by the Proprietors of the Province to assist Virginia in the proposed measures, but also to require an acknowledgment, that the projected settlements should not be continued to the prejudice of the rights of Pennsylvania. Governor Dinwiddle, however, was more alive to the necessities of all the Colonies, than Hamilton and preferred security of the British interest on the Ohio and perhaps on the whole Con- tinent, to additions to the treasury of his Province. He therefore agreed that the quit-rents for the lands to be granted by him, might be collected by Penn- sylvania, until the dispute was settled by a definitely established boundary line. This was not done in English times ; the war of the Revolution had broken out, before in 1779 *^^ Commissioners appointed for that purpose agreed upon a line " due west five de- grees of longitude, completed from the river Dela- ware, for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and a meridian drawn from the western boundary thereof ♦ From an original in N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXVIII, 68. lOO The Ohio Valley to the northern limit of said State, be the western boundary of said State forever."* Meanwhile r'^peated informations came to the authorities, who ought to have acted upon it, that French troops were moving to the Ohio from Canada, and others were to join them from the Mississippi in order to build forts and drive the English from t^i^ Ohio.f At the same time the Indians pro- claimed, that many southern Indians and others, friendly to the English, intended to oppose the French. J In October of 1753, the operations for the year came to a close. The French had erected forts twenty or thirty miles from each other, and by these means and the lakes kept the communication open between Quebec and the Mississippi," § but they had lost the hearty support of their Indian allies, who left them dissatisfied, because, contrary to the promise, made by the Governor of Canada, Englishmen had been taken prisoners. J The appearance of the French army — large for those days, for it consisted of 400 regulars, 5,000 militia and 600 Indi?.ns, a levy which bore heavy upon the resources of the Colony and made the French inhabitants very dissatisfied | — at last opened the eyes of the English. The Assembly of Virginia voted during the session of 1753-4, *Craig, Olden Times, I, pp. 433-524. fN. Y. Coll. MSB., Council Min., XXIII, 95. I lb. § lb. 140. I lb. 134. II In Colonial Days. lOI ;^ 1 0,000 ''for the support of his Majesty's rights to the lands on the Ohio,"* and with these Governor Dinwiddie expected to raise five or six companies, which were to march to Wills Creek, where the Ohio Company established that year a store-house or magazine. The Colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York were called upon for as- sistance, but were either careless or dilatory, and another appropriation of ;^2o,ooo, also intended by Dinwiddie for the prosecution of the Ohio expedition, miscarried through an internal dispute. The Gov- ernor insisted upon the fee of one pistolef for every patent exceeding 400 acres, which had been granted, but not signed or issued by his predecessor. The Virginia Assembly was so strongly opposed to this, that they sent a representation against him, to Eng- land with the result, that he should not receive any fee for those patents, but might exact a pistole fee for every grant made by him, exceeding fifty acres. This cost the Assembly ;^2,5oo Virginia currency, and to pay the sum they tacked a clause to the bill for ;^20,ooo, which the Council would not pass, and they were prorogued. J When Governor Dinwiddie had received from the Virginia Assembly the first grant of ;^ 10,000 for supporting the British interest against the insults and invasions by the French, he notified the other English Colonies of his intentions, asking for their * Dinwiddie, I, 80. f About $5 in gold. % N. Y. Col. MSS., Johnson Papers, I, 130. f 'ft 3! I02 The Ohio Valley assistance. The Council of New York advised the Governor, Admiral George Clinton, that "as the present state of affairs seems to threaten a rupture, and as the frontiers of this Province are in a very defenseless condition, the Assembly will most likely not incline to give any money for this service, at least not r.ntil a general plan is concerted for attack- ing and dislodging the French."* But, they continue, we are informed that a number of Connecticut people intend to buy from the Indians a tract of land to the westward of one hundred miles square, and to settle it immediately. Let them know of Governor Dinwiddle's proclamation, promis- ing 200,000 acres, etc., that will probably be an in- ducement to settle on the Ohio under the govern- ment of Virginia, and thereby that part of the country would be greatly strengthened, Governor Belcher of New Jersey tried every argu- ment in his power " to urge the Assembly to a sense of their duty to the King, by complying with his Majesty's most reasonable orders, for maintaining the honor and interest of the British Crown," but the Assembly turned a deaf ear to his appeals and he could do nothing for the accomplishment of the Virginia projectf The Maryland Assembly refused to vote any money for military operations,!]; North Carolina, the poorest *N. Y. MSB. Council Min., XXIII, 164. t N. J. Archives, VlII, 287. fDinwiddie Papers, I, 126. In Colonial Days. 103 of all the Colonies, however, granted ;^i 2,000 and ex pected to raise 750 men for the Ohio expedition. Pennsylvania had allowed a sum of money in the pre- ceding year, 1753, for distribution among the Indians, but it appears, the religious principles of the majority in the Assembly prevented them from granting money for an expedition which might lead to bloodshed, and they forgot over it the first law of nature, self- preservation. South Carolina sent one of her inde- pendent companies, and New York sent two, follow- ing orders from the Earl of Holderness, the British Secretary of State. In his instructions to Colonel Joshua Fry, com- manding the Virginia regiment. Governor Din- widdie explains (March i, 1754) his plan for the Ohio campaign.* Colonel Fry was, after taking com- mand of all the forces assembled at Alexandria, to march to Wills Creek, above the Potomac Falls, and from there " with the great guns, ammunition and provisions you are to proceed to Monongahela; when arrived there, you are to make choice of the best place to erect a fort for mounting your cannons and ascertaining His Majesty the King of Great Britain's undoubted right to those lands." Two weeks later Captains Trent and Cresap inform him, that the French are already expected down the Ohio, and he ordered, March 15, Colonel George Washington to march with whatever number of soldiers he might have enlisted, to the Ohio. " I would gladly hope," * Dinwiddle Papers, I, 88. .1 ..■.-; I04 Th'' Ohio Valley I I he continues, *' as Captain Trent has begun to build a fort at Allegany, that the French will not imme- diately disturb us there ; and when our forces are properly collected, we shall be able to keep posses- sion and drive the French from the Ohio."* The worthy Governor did not dream how disastrous this campaign of 1 754 would end for the Virginia troops engaged in it. Pennsylvania had voted only money enough to make a present to the Indians, and thereby to keep them in the British interest; New Jersey had utterly refused " to raise any supplies for the common defense and security of the Colonies against the hostile en- croachments of a foreign power."f The New Eng- land Colonies were engaged in an expedition against Canada in another quarter, and had to bear that bur- den, which deprived them of the means to assist Vir- ginia in the Ohio expedition, and while Virginia is already sending a part of her great army of 700 men, poorly provisioned and without tents, New York is still debating how to send the two independent com- panies, detached from the regiments in New York by orders from the home government for service on the Ohio. In May, 1754, the Council comes to the con- clusion, that it is best to send them by water "be- cause so long a march over land, if practicable, must be attended with many desertions, and cause great delay."J The companies are finally embarked, and *Ib. 106. f N. J. Archives, VII, 294. tN. Y. Col. MSS. Council Min. XXIII, 178. ilil! In Colonial Days. 105 the man-of-war, which carries them, has sailed down the Bay to the Watering Place, when another delay is occasioned by the objections of Captain Diggs, who has relieved Captain Kennedy in command of the above man-of-war ; Captain Diggs declines going to Virginia because he has orders for home. But here the Council of New York is firm, though wordy.* The dis- tance from New York to the Ohio is about 400 miles, through a country almost wholly inhabited, and, therefore, the forces could not be subsisted with pro- visions, were it practicable to march thither, which the Council thinks impracticable in the absence of roads; were the troops to march by way of Virginia, they could not arrive in time to be of any service this year, and even were all these difficulties surmounted there are no tents in the King's store, and no money to buy them and the provisions necessary for a long march. Therefore the troops must go by water and any delay must be prejudicial to the service at this juncture, when the French have already taken an English fort on the Ohio, and may, if not prevented by sufficient strength, advance even to the settle- ments of Virginia, and it appears by late advices from the Ohio, that the Indians there are apprehen- sive they '11 be destroyed by the French, if not sup- ported soon, or forced to relinquish the British and join the French interest." This was communicated to Captain Diggs, who then sailed for the James river, in Virginia, and arrived there in June, too *N. Y. Col. MSB., Council Min. XXIII, 178. 14 I io6 The Ohio Valley late to help in averting the first disaster of the cam- paign. Pierre Claude Pecaudy, Seigneur de Contrecoeur, had reached the neighborhood of the fort, built by the advanced detachment under Ensign Ward at the embouchure of the Monongahela, and immedi- ately sent the following : " Summon, by order of Contrecoeur, Captain of one of the Companies of the Detachment of the French Marine ; Commander in Chief of his most Christian Majesty's Troops now 'on the Beautiful River ; To the Commander of those, of the King of Great Britain, at the Mouth of the River Mononga- hela, " Sir. " Nothing can surprise me more, than to see you Attempt a Settlement upon the Lands of the King my Master, which obliges me now. Sir, to send you this Gentleman Chevalier Le Mercier, Captain of the Bombardiers, Commander of the Artillery of Canada, to know of you. Sir, by Virtue of what Au- thority you are come to fortify yourself within the Dominions of the King my Master. This Action seems so contrary to the Jast Treaty of Peace con- cluded at Aix La Chapelle, between his most Chris- tian Majesty and the King of Great Britain, that I do not know, to whom to impute such a Usurpation, as it is incontestable, that the Lands Situated along the Beautiful River belong to his most Christian Majesty. In Colonial Days. 107 "I am Informed, Sir, that your undertaking has been concerted by none else, than by a Company who have more in view the Advantage of a Trade, than to endeavour to keep the Union and harmony which Subsists between the Crowns of France and Great Britain ; altho' it is as much the Interest, Sir, of your Nation, as ours to preserve it. " Let it be as it will. Sir, if you come into this place charged with Orders, I summon you in the name of the King my Master by Virtue of orders which I got from my General to retreat Peaceably with your Troops, from off the Lands of the King (and not return ; or else I find myself obliged to fulfill my Duty, and compel you to it. I hope. Sir, you will not defer an Instant, and that you will not force me to the least Extremity) in that case, Sir, you may be persuaded, that I will give orders, that there shall be no Damage done by my Detachment " I prevent you. Sir, from the Trouble of asking me one Hour of delay, nor to wait for my consent to receive Orders from your Gov*. He can give none within the Dominions of the King my Master ; those I have received of my General are my Laws, so that I cannot depart from them. " If on the Contrary, Sir, you have not got orders and only come to Trade I am sorry to tell you, that I cant avoid seizing you and to confiscate your Ef- fects, to the use of the Indians, our Children, Allies and Friends : as you are not allowed to carry on a Contraband Trade. It is for this reason Sir, that io8 The Ohio Valley we stopped two Englishmen last Year, who were Trading upon our Lands, moreover the King my Master asks nothing but his Right, he has not the least Intention, to trouble the good Harmony and Friendship which Reigns between his Majesty and the King of Great Britain. " The Governor of Canada can give Proof of having done his utmost endeavours, to maintain the Perfect Union which Reigns between two Friendly Princes, as he had learned that the Iroquois and Nepissingues of the Lake of the two Mountains* had struck and destroyed an English Family towards Carolina, he has barred up the Road and forced them to give him a little Boy belonging to that Family, which was the only one alive and which Mr. Wlerick a Merchant of Montreal has carried to Boston : and what is more he has forbid the Savages from Exer- cising their Accustomed Cruelty upon the English our Friends. " I coud complain Bitterly Sir, of the means taken all last Winter to instigate the Indians to accept the Hatchet and to strike us while we were striving to maintain the Peace. ** I am well Persuaded Sir of the Polite manner in which you will receive Mr. LeMercier, as well out of Regard to his Business, as his Distinction and Per- sonal merit. I expect you will send him back with one of Your Officers, who will bring me a Precise Answer. As you have got some Indians with you, * North East of Lake Huron. (?) In Colonial Days. 109 Sir, I Join with Mr. LeMercier an Interoreter, that he may inform them of my intentions upon tha Sub- ject. I am with great Respect Sir, Your most humble and most obedient Servant CONTRECOEUR."* " Done at our Camp April i6th 1754 This courteous and dignified invitation to leave comparatively comfortable quarters proved irresist- ible, as the following letter of Colonel Geo. Wash- ington to the Governor of Pennsylvania shows : " It is with the greatest Concern I acquaint you that Mr. Ward Ensign in Capt. Trents Company was compelled to surrender his small Fort in the Forks of Mohongialo to the French on the 17th inst. who fell down from Weningo with a Fleet of 360 Battoes and Canoes with upwards of One Thousand Men and Eighteen Pieces of Artillery, which they planted against the Fort, drew up their Men and sent the enclosed summons to Mr. Ward, who having but an inconsiderable number of Men and no Cannon to make a proper Defence was obliged to surrender ; they suffered him to draw off his Men, Arms and Working Tools and gave Leave that he might retreat to the Inhabitants. * * * " I have arrived thus far with a Detachment of 150 Men, Col. Fry with the Remainder of the Regiment and Artillery is daily expected. In the meantime, we *From a copy in N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXVIII, 113, certified to by Rich<* Peters, Sec^ of Penn« May 6, 1754. no The Ohio Valley advance slowly across the Mountains, making the Roads as We march, fit for the Carriage of our Guns &c* and are designed to proceed as far as thn Mouth of the Red Stone Creek which enters Mohongialo ab< ut 37 miles above the Fort taken by the French, from whence we have a Water Carriage down the River — And there is a Store House built by the Ohio Company, which may serve as a Recepticle for our Ammunition and Provisions. " Besides these French that came from Weningo, We have credible Accounts that another Party are coming up Ohio — We also have Intelligence that 600 of the Chippoways and Ottoways are marching down Sciodo C' to join them." * * * " P. S. James Foley the Express says he left Mr. Washington at the new Store on Patowmack about 130 miles from Capt. Trents Fort at the Mouth of Mohongialo on Saturday if^ April."* Governor Dinwiddie was not discouraged by this first check, which his small army had received. Some of the troops, one company of 100 soldiers, had ar- rived from South Carolina and the New York com- panies were, as he writes,f daily expected. As the main body, in advance, could not make more than two, three or four miles a day, J because they were obliged to clear roads for the provision train, it was possible for the South Carolinians to keep up with * From a copy in N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXVIII, iii, certified to by Rich** Peters, Secy of Penn» May 6, 1754. f Dinwiddie Papers, 1, 150. lib. 151. III In Colonial Days, 1 1 1 them ; the New Yorkers, who arrived only in June, could not be expected to do so. Meanwhile unpleasant news came from the Ohio. Washington writes under date of May 4, 1 754, from Little Meadows,* that the French at the fort lately taken by them have received a reinforcement of 800 men, that another French detachment of 600 is building a fort at the falls of the Ohiof and intend to move up river from there to erect another fort at the mouth of the Scioto. But an Indian message, arriving simultaneously with the news of Ward's dis- aster, put a more hopeful face to the matter. It showed that the English had not yet lost the friend- ship of the Indians, who were in so many respects an important factor in the Ohio drama. Scruniyattha, the Half King; that is, the Head Chief, of a tribe dependent upon the Iroquois, said : " We have been waiting this long Time for the French to strike us ; now we see what they design to do with us, we are ready to strike them now and wait for your assistance ; be strong and come as soon as possible you can, and you shall find us your true brothers and shall find us as ready to strike them as you are. "J Relying on this promised assistance from the In- dians and buoyed up by the arrival of a company of " icx) fine Men" from South Carolina, Governor * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 152. f Near Louisville, Ky. X N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXVIII, p. 112. 112 The Ohio Valley Dinwiddie did not relinquish the hope of driving the French from the territory, which he claimed to be English, but which was still in dispute between Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania. Washington's successful encounter with a detachment of French near the Great Meadows, in which the English killed ten, wounded one and took twenty-one prisoners, out of a French force of about seventy-five,* must have ap- peared as the beginning of a realization of Dinwid- dle's expectations. As the Governor puts it in a let- ler to Washington, congratulating him on his victory, the success gained "may give testimony to the In- dians, that the French are not invincible when fairly engaged with the English. "f Another cause for re- joicing was the news that a body of Cherokee In- dians were on the march to join the small English forces. On the other side, the French were also endeavor- ing to secure the support of Indians near enough to be of any use. Early in the spring of 1 754, they sent messages to the Twightwees, Wyandots and other tribes in alliance with them, asking that they should take up the hatchet, start for the Ohio and there cut ofif the inhabitants and all the English among them. J But for once they were not success- ful, for Big Kettle informed the Half King, a staunch ally of the English, of the French intrigues, and " at * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 179. t lb. 186. tib. 191. ;; In Colonial Days. "3 the same time assured him of their good intention to assist the Six Nations and their brethren the English." The next meeting between the contending nation- alities was a disastrous one for the English. "A few days ago," writes Governor Dinwiddie to the Lords of Trade on the 24th of July, 1754, "Col. Washington, * * * ^ arrived from our camp at the Meadows, near the Ohio river, who gave the following melancholy account of an engagement be- tween our forces and the French. On the 3** of this Month they had intelligence, that the French were reinforced (at the fort they took from us, last May, near the Ohio) with 700 men and that they were in full march with 900 men to attack our small camp, which consisted of few more than 300 men besides Officers. They immediately connected and prepared to make the best defence their small number would admit of."* But a successful defense was almost an impossibility, seeing the superiority of the attacking force and the blunder of the English commander, who, in locating his camp, had left standing around trees enough to shelter the French against the fire from the English trenches. The English troops were again allowed to march out with all the honors of war, colors flying and drums beating. The other Colonies' troops, with the exception of the South Carolina Company, had not yet joined and Dinwiddie is undoubtedly right in attributing to their * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 239, et seq. 15 114 The Ohio Valley li'iti slowness the disaster of July, 1754. The two New York Companies had reached Winchester, the North Carolina Company was still on the march and " the other Colonies have not given any assistance, and I fear do not intend to do any thing, unless obliged by an act of Parliament, for a general poll tax of half a crown stlg. for conducting this expedition."* The forces which were to contend against the French were, 100 men from South Carolina, 350 from North Carolina, 3CX) Virginians, 100 Marylanders and 160 from New York, a total of loio men, to whom Din- widdle expected to add 200 more. The Indians of the Ohio characteristically, had partly joined the French after the first defeat of the English and this second mishap, it was feared, would induce many more of the Iroquois to desert Corach- koof and go to Onontio.J And while hard at work in other directions, there came to Dinwiddle the disheartening news, that the Cherokees, who had constantly protested they were friends of the English, had conferred with the French and made peace with them. The exertions of Richard Pears, an Indian trader among the Cherokees on Holston river, § however, induced Attakullakulla, the chief of this tribe, also called Little Carpenter, to break the peace. He and the Catawbas were also • Dinwiddie Papers, I, 239, et seq. f Indian name for the King of England. X Indian name for Governor of Canada. § Branch of the Tennessee. In Colonial Days. "5 relied upon to prevent the building of a French fort on the Holston or Choto river, where the French had begun such a structure and where a settlement by Englishmen had sprung up.* But even if the Indians should fail him, the Gover- nor of Virginia did not intend to give up his pet scheme of driving the French from the territory dis- covered by them, and taken possession of long before the English had any knowledge of its existence. He applied to his work all the experience, gathered dur- ing his military life on the battle-fields of Europe and sent orders to Colonel James Innes, commanding the forces, to gather all his soldiers at Will's creek, a tributary of the Potomac, to march them across the ridge of the Allegheny mountains and after expelling the French from the fort, so lately taken by them, to build another strong place at the crossing place Red Stone creek, or where it was thought most advisable in that neighborhood of the Monongahela. But a few weeks later, Dinwiddle gave Governor Sharpe of Maryland, the following doleful account of the situation :t " The plan of operations that I proposed for this fall are entirely defeated : ist. By the No. Car. forces disbanding themselves, which was occasioned by a monstrous mismanagement of them from the begin- ning; they raised ;^ 1 2,000. The President of that Colony (Rowan) gave the private men 3 sh. Procla- * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 267. fib. 304- ii6 The Ohio Valley mation money per day and the officers in proportion, so that their money was wholly expended before they joined the other forces and would serve no longer without assurance of the above pay. . . . Next is the reduction of the No. of our forces, those killed and wounded unfit for service, and desertion, which has reduced the number to 150. If the appropria- tion of ;^20,ooo had passed, I fully intended to aug- ment our regiment to 8 Companies of 70 men each, . . . and in course made up the deficiency oc- casioned by the No. Car. people, but the obstinacy of our Assembly have defeated my intentions and I am now persuaded that no expedition can be conducted here with dependence on American Assemblies. . . . Under these great disappointments I de- termined to keep the few people we have in pay and propose 100 of them to march to Will's creek to join the Independent Companies and to endeavour to secure a pass over the Allegany mounts by erecting a fort ... to facilitate our operations next spring ... I am of opinion with our handful of men, v/e can only be on the defensive till we in- crease our numbers." The French, in the meantime, were not idly sitting in their newly acquired foothold on the forks of Mo- nongahela, but made many depredatory descents upon the English settlers in the neighborhood, in Augusta county, and prepared for a vigorous defense of what they considered French territory, by new forts on Holston, Green Brier's and other rivers, In Colonial Days, 117 whose waters found their way to the Ohio. These attempts, in fact only the mention of such intention, aroused, however, the ire of the Iroquois, who looked upon themselves as the rightful owners of the terri- tory in dispute between the two foreign white races. Already at the Albany Congress in June and July of this year, 1754, the speaker of the Mohawks had said :* " We cannot find after the strictest inquiry, that any leave to build forts has been given or land sold to the French. They have gone there without our consent. The Governors of Virginia and of Canada are both quarreling about lands belonging to us. Virginia and Pennsylvania have made roads through our country without acquainting us of it." Governor de Lancey, of New York, appeased their anger toward the English Colonies by telling them, that the invaded country was still acknowlc dged to be theirs under English protection, and that the inroads were made for the purpose of protecting them. This assertion was confirmed bv Conrad Weiser, a Ger- man possessed of great ii.fluence among the Six Nations, and the latter were so well satisfied with this notion of English protection that in the latter part of the summer of 1 754, they sent messages to Virginia asking for aid and assistance to be given to their friends and allies on the Ohio,t which was readily promised by Governor Dinwiddle, who was very soon after compelled, by the failure of the appropriation, to * N. Y. Col. Hist., VI, 870 etseq. t N. Y. Col. MSS., Council Min., XXIII, 220. ii8 The Ohio Valley countermand his orders to Colonel Innes, and direct him to secure a good position back of the mountains, at the same time maintaining the Ohio company's warehouse for storing his supplies. The time for active operations in 1 754 was rapidly drawing toward its close when Governor Dinwiddle, still obedient to the orders received in the previous year, wrote to Hor- ace Walpole, the Secretary of War :* ** The French are left to perpetrate all their mischievous schemes against the British subjects with 1,500 men ; what a dangerous condition are these Colonies in from the obstinate and imprudent behaviour of the Assem- blies ? New York lately has voted ;^5,ooo and Maryland ^6,000, their moneys, but these sums are trifling for the support of so essential and necessary (an) expedition. . . . Without a British act of Par- liament to raise a general poll-tax all over the conti nent no money can be raised here, though for their own safety, and I fear that would not do. I there- fore have humbly recommended a supply from home of men, money and ammunition, without which I dread much the consequence. For I do not con- ceive the French views are confined to the lands on the Ohio, but for a general conquest of all the British Colonies, and without immediate assistance I dread their success. . . . So. Car. and Pennsylvania have not as yet granted any aid whatever to this expedi- tion." It is difficult, at this day, to fully understand the * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 343. In Colonial Days. 119 supine lethargy, evinced by the other English Col- onies in regard to the efforts made by Virginia for extending British territory. The New England Colonies had too much to do in defending themselves against the common enemy ; but their neighbor, New York, was, on account of her Indians, the Six Na- tions, as much interested in keeping the French out of the Ohio valley, as in securing the safety of her own frontiers. The slackness of Pennsylvania must be attributed partly to jealousy, that Virginia might establish a prescriptive right to the Ohio lands by her exertions against the French, partly to the dis- inclination of the dominant party in the Colony, the Quakers, to assist, even if only in an indirect manner, in the shedding of blood. That the Assem- bly of Virginia should fail, at a decisive moment, to grant the needed moneys, is almost incomprehensible, unless we ascribe their action to personal motives, to a dislike against their Governor, arising out of Dinwid- die's former service in the Colony as Surveyor of Customs. The other Colonies, New Jersey, Mary- land, the Carolinas and Georgia, were evidently actuated by the feeling, displayed by a rabbit, which, if it cannot see the danger, considers itself safe, and won't run. Governor Dinwiddie's urgent appeals for aid, di- ercted to the British government, finally were crowned with success. At the re-assembling of the Virginia House of Burgesses on the 17th of October, 1754, he could inform them, that in view of the dangerous con- I20 The Ohio Valley dition of his Colonies, the King had sent over ;^ 10,000, and 2,000 stand of arms, and he appealed to their sense of duty and self-preservation so effectively, that they granted further ;^20,ooo out of the revenues of the Colony. A new Governor for North Carolina, Dobbs, arriving, gave to Dinwiddie a chance of hold- ing a council of war with this new comer, and with Governor Sharpe of Maryland, who had been ap- pointed to command the combined forces of the pro- posed expedition. The Virginia militia, numbering about 20,000, could not be ordered out of the Province; to make it available for the proposed expulsory measures, Governor Dinwiddie intended to have the Assem- bly pass an act, allowing him to draft one man in ten, altogether 2,000, to march across the Alleghanies. The Cherokees and Catawbas, having been noti- fied that the French had taken up the hatchet and were invading their hunting grounds on the Ohio, promised to send from 800 to 1,000 of their warriors against the French, but were dissuaded from it by Governor Glen of South Carolina, who acted very much like a dog in the manger ; he could not see any advantage for his Colony arising from this expedi- tion, and, therefore, would allow no other one to reap any. A renewed appeal to them, made by Dinwiddie in November, 1754, with promises of plenty of powder and of sincere friendship, had the effect of counter- acting Governor Glen's promptings, and the plan of In Colonial Days, 121 sending warriors to join the English troops on their march to the Ohio, was resumed, but none came to help Braddock.* The Twightwees continued steadily in the British interest, and sent messages, that they were going to war against the French, after having killed a number of them. Other Indians re-affirmed their loyalty to the Eng- lish, also. "On the i8th of October last," writes Governor Dinwiddie,f *' there was a small treaty at our camp at Will's Creek, between Col. Innes and some Indians, viz.: Scaruniata and Moses, warriors of the Six Nations, Laputhia, the Shawna King, Jescoma, a Delaware, and Monecatoocha, chief on the Ohio, when after long consultation they unani- mously took up the hatchet against the French, and sent Monecatoocha with a black belt of wampum and a hatchet, to Onondaga, desiring the Six Nations to declare themselves against the French and desired, that this Colony, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York should each of them send a black belt and hatchet to engage them to declare against the French." Within a fortnight after the date of this letter, Scarroyadi, the Oneida chief, and a chief of the Senecas, probably the two warriors of the Six Na- tions mentioned above, appeared before the Gover- nor and Council of New York with messages from the western Indians and on their way to Onondaga * Dinwiddle Papers, II, 51. fib., I, 430. 16 122 The Ohio Valley with Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania belts.* Scarroyadi, the Half King, explained, that they were about to consult the Six Nations upon the present situation of affairs and intended, to effect a union between them and the western Indians, who had al- ready taken up the hatchet against the French, but meant to keep it in their bosom, still all their breth- ren, English and Indians, should strike with it to- gether. They were further charged with an invita- tion for the Six Nations to come to Winchester and asked for a New York belt, to give weigh v. to the others. Governor De Lancey told them in reply, that at the conference in Albany, held during the preceding summer, a large belt had been given to the Six Na- tions, to unite all governments with them and their friends, when it was agreed that whenever their brethren, the English, called upon them, they, the Six Nations, would join and attack the French. New York, he said, is ready to strike, but must wait until the General, appointed by the King to com- mand this expedition,f has arrived. About the same time Governor Dinwiddie lost for this expedition an officer whose knowledge of the country and experience in frontier warfare had ren- dered his services conspicuously valuable. The reason was a question of rank, pardonable in any officer, but in this case deplorable. Colonel George Wash- *N. Y. Col. MSB., Council Min., XXIII, 259. f Braddock. Awak In Colonial Days, 123 ington resigned his commission because, under the new military establishment planned by Governor Dinwid- dle, the Virginia forces were to be divided into ten independent companies of 100 men each under the command of a captain, who were severally subordi- nate to officers with royal commissions. This might have placed Colonel Washington at the orders of men, to whom he had formerly given orders himself and, therefore, he resigned in a pet, without waiting for the result of the Governor's application for royal commissions, to be issued to the officers of the inde- pendent companies.* The winter of 1 754 to 1 75 5 was spent in preparations for an early spring campaign. The other Colonies, more or less interested in the object of it, began to throw off their lethargy, one after the other, and granted money or men, or both, for the expulsion of the French from the Ohio valley. New York, from which Colony troops were already in this service and which was called upon also for the defense of its northern frontiers, raised 800 men and voted ^4,500. In the Jerseys 500 men were enlisted, Pennsylvania gave ;^i 5,000, Maryland ^6,000 with a promise of perhaps doubling that sum ; Virginia had to pay ;^30,ooo besides refunding the money received from England; North Carolina had contributed ^8,000 and South Carolina — nothing. Governor Glen, of this colony, which gave nothing, was, however, dissat- isfied, that he could not have a share of the ;^ 10,000 *Dinwiddie Papers, I. 124 The Ohio Valley granted by England for the defense of the Colonies, and he boldly demanded from Governor Din- widdle ;^7,ooo for the purpose of building a fort in the Upper Cherokee country, basing this demand on the instruction which had accompanied the money grant. " It is likewise His Majesty's pleas- ure, you [Dinwiddie] should concert with Mr. Glen, Gov. of S. Car., the necessary measures for securing the Cherokee Indians by a proper present and for obtaining forthwith permission for the building a fort in their country, for which purpose you are hereby empowered to remit to Mr. Glen such sums out of the money (;^io,ooo) as shall be agreed be- tween you and the said Governor."* Before the Colonies had bestirred themselves, as stated above. General Braddock and troops from England had arrived, and it is likely that the Colo- nial Assemblies, who had hitherto always opposed the royal prerogatives, felt ashamed, when they saw that these same objectionable prerogatives were ex- erted for their benefit, while they themselves had been doing nothing for their own defense; hence they made liberal appropriations. While the Colonists under either crown were thus preparing for and already engaged in actual hostili- ties, peace still reigned in their trans-Atlantic homes; but the governments of both France and England recognized the portent of the ominous clouds gather- ing over their American Provinces, and hastened to * Dinwiddie Papers, I, 484. In Colonial Days. 125 send assistance. Irony of fate decided that the two European generals, Braddock, the English com- mander, and Baron Dieskau, the French, should come across the ocean, to meet defeat at the hands of their foes. General Braddock with two regiments of the Royal army* reached Virginia about the middle of March, 1755, and immediately set to work upon a plan of campaign. Governor Dinwiddie pro- posed that the attack upon the French should be made all along the line, from Niagara to the Ohio, General Braddock commanding the southern or left wing. After the capture of Fort Du Quesne, of which the Governor seems not to have doubted, this southern wing was to march toward Lake Erie, join the forces at or before Niagara, and, if success- ful here, direct their attentions to Crown Point, New York. At a Council of War, held in April, by Gen- eral Braddock, Commodore Keppel, and the Gov- ernors of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and New England, this plan was adopted, with the additional feature that Sir William Johnson, of New York, with 5,000 men, should make an attack on Crown Point at the same time as the other troops, 3,000 under Braddock, and two regiments of Pro- vincials, under Shirley, attempted the expulsion of the French from the upper Ohio and Niagara. Sir Peter Halkett's and Colonel Dunbar's commands were already on the march to the Ohiof and were joined *44th and 48th Regts., R. A. f Dinwiddie Papers, II, 14. 126 The Ohio Valley by a company of 84 men from North Carolina, the only Provincial help given to Virginia for the undertak- ing, except the two companies from New York, which had remained in this service since the preced- ing year. Although the General in command of this army of operation, marching westward, had been trained in a good military school in Europe, — on the battle- fields of Fontenoy, and in Flanders, — and, there- fore, may be presumed to have acquired some knowl- edge of warfare, and to have been a man of courage, the English government could hardly have sent a man more unfit for this undertaking, than Braddock. His arrogance, profligacy and profanity* soon made him unpopular with the Provincials under his com- mand, and their Indian allies. Of these, the Six Nations were not only the most important, but also the most dissatisfied. Uneasiness and jealousies had been aroused among them by the claims made upon the Ohio lands by the English, especially by the Ohio company. They knew of this and other grants of land, which they considered their own, by Virginia, upon which settlements had already been attempted or effected. They, therefore, disliked Virginia, and as they looked upon Braddock and his army, as upon the Governor and people of this Colony, and were arrogantly treated by the General, who endeavored to drill his white and Indian troops, as he would drill European soldier^, * He had learned to swear " with our army in Flanders." ill In Colonial Days, 127 they refused to help him at the decisive moment.* The General's efforts to impart European military discipline to his troops, a long delay in procuring wagons and horses for the provisions and the forage, kept the army in the camp near Fort Cumberland until late in May. " The 28th of that month the first division of his army began the march over the Alleghany Mts."+ and could reasonably expect to be successful, for it was supposed that " not above 500 Frenchmen, besides Indians, were at the fort on the Ohio;" the newsj sent by Lieutenant Holland, May 10 and 12, 1755, that two parties of 300 French each besides Indians, and by Captain Broadstreet, May 29, that 950 French with nine cannons had passed Oswego on their way to Ohio, and that others were said to be under orders for the same place, could as yet not have reached Virginia. Indian report was also of a nature to buoy up the hope of success for the English arms. The French were said to intend retreat from and perhaps dismantling of the fort on the Ohio on sight of Braddock's army,§ and Brad- dock made his plans accordingly. He sent for guns and ammunition to be used in the fort on the Ohio " if he should succeed in taking it, which I do not in the least doubt of,"§ says Governor Dinwiddle. On the loth of June the last detachment of the 3,000 men, composing General Braddock's army, marched * N.Y. Col. Hist., VII, 22. ~ ~~^. f Dinwiddie Papers, II, 50. X N. Y. Col. MSS.,Coun. Min., XXV, 32 and 43. § Dinwiddle Papers, II, 69. • 128 The Ohio Valley ,.:| over the Alleghany mountains* and was about to meet the fate, of which they did not dream, while parties of French and Indians devastated the Eng- lish settlements on the frontiers of Virginia and Maryland, in Hampshire, Frederick and Augusta counties and on Holston river.f Governor Dinwiddle, though distressed by the ac- count of ravages committed by the French, was still in buoyant hopes, that the army, sent to drive them from their stronghold on the Ohio, would put a stop to their further proceeding in this direction, when the news came, which wiped away all these hopes at one fell blow. " I wrote you two days ago the account,"J he writes to Lord Halifax on the 25th of July, 1755: "we had from the Ohio of the defeat of our forces, death of Gen' Braddock &c. I then was in hopes these acc^" were false, but alas ! last night I had an express confirming these melancholy news." The battle of the 9th of July, 1755, has been so often described, that a relation of it would appear superfluous, were it not by one of the participants in the expedition, though not in the battle. Captain John Rutherford, the writer of the following letter, was a member of the Council of New York and com- manded one of the New York companies. " I have delayed writing this week past out of vex- ation at our proceedings here, but now a Retreat is * Dinwiddie Papers, II, 73. f lb. 90-1. X lb. 117. In Colonial Days. 129 ordered and the blow struck to our shame and the Glory of the Indians who with a very few Canadians amongst them have entirely defeated our General and the Division of our Troops which he carried alongst with him and what is worst of all our Train of Artillery is left in their hands which ruins all hopes of doing any thing this way. Sir Peter Halket was killed in the field regretted by all mankind and his son Lieut. Halket, his son Major Halket came off unwounded with a few ofificers more, all the rest killed or returned wounded, many very dangerously amongst whom are the General and Sir John S* Clair, Capt. Gates has a slight wound, L' Semain killed and L* Miller returned unwounded, Capt Gates with 50 of his men having marched with the first division and my Company and Capt. Demires with the re- mainder of his under Lieut. Spearing marched in the second division, except a few of our men who had gone up to the first division with a convoy of Pro- visions ; the slaughter on our side is surprising con- sidering General Braddock had 1,500 and I dont believe the Indians had 300 but they chose a very advantageous Ground within 9 miles of Fort Du- quesne. The general Told us he would never be 5 miles from us, so that the one division might support the other whenever attacked ; what made him change his resolution and order Col° Dunbar to keep us be- hind with Provisions and tired Waggon Horses, God knows, it seems Infatuation : he thought he had Men enough and was vain of his Artillery. 17 I30 The Ohio Valley We had no attacks upon us but small scalping parties." Another letter gives a pict'ire of a warfare in those days. It is from Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, to Governor Morris, of Pennsylvania. " Annapolis, /«/v 15, 1755. ... "I have not received any letters from the General or the Camp since the 22** of June, but one M' , who belongs to the train wr. a letter to a Gentleman of this town, dated near the Great Meadows the i"* of this month, says on the 9*** of last month the whole Army except 600 men with Sir Jn° St Clair, who march** two days before, went from Wills Creek & with Infinite difificultys thro the worst roads in the world arrived 10 days afterwards at the little Meadows, where an Abatie was made by Sir John & two Engineers encircling the whole Camp — here the whole halted 3 days, then the Baronett with his party moved forward & the second day after the General with four Howitzers, four twelve pounders, 13 Artillery Waggons, beside Ammunition Carts fol- lowed him & have kept marching ever since & this Evening tis Expected his Excellency will be within 25 miles of the fort — Coll° Dunbar with the re- mainder of the Army, four Artillery Officers, 84 Car- riages with Ordinance stores and all the provision waggons form the rear amongst whom I am. The night before last we were Alarm** four different times by the Sculking Indians, on whom our out Guards & Gentries fired — tis said this morning the General In Colonial Days. 131 has had advice that 5cx> regulars are in full march to the fort, which is the reason he is determined to be there before them. As we had but very little pro- visions since we left the post at Wills Creek, the Officers as well as private men have been & still are Extremely 111 with the flux, — many have died, — to- morrow morning we march again & are to Encamp on the Western side of the great meadows, from whence we are to proceed after the General, but am fearfull it will not be before we have built some fortyfications there & Leave a strong Party of men with a Great Deal Provisions & Artillery Stores — our horses being so weak for want of food & rest, that It is Impossible for the whole Rear to joyn the front in five & twenty Days."* To complete the account of the battle a French report is given here, which says :f " M. de Contre- coeur, Captain of Infantry, Commandant at Fort Duquesne on the Ohio, having been informed, that the English were taking up arms in Virginia for the purpose of coming to attack him, was advised, shortly afterwards, that they were on the march. He dispatched scouts, who reported to him faithfully their progress. On the i f^ (?) instant, he was ad- vised, that their army consisting of 3,000 regulars from Old England, were within six leagues of this fort. That officer employed the next day in making his arrangements : and on the 9**^ detached M. de * N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXXI, 78; Penn. Col. Records, VII, 477. f N. Y. Co St., X, 303, reprinted in Pennsylvania Archives, 2d Ser.. VI. 256. 132 The Ohio Valley h f.'! iMfl^^j Beaujeu, seconded by Mess" Dumas and de Lignery, all three Captains, with four Lieutenants, 6 Ensigns, 20 Cadets, 100 Soldiers, 100 Canadians and 600 Indians, with orders to lie in ambush at a favorable spot, which he had reconnoitred the previous evening. The detachment, before it could reach its place of destination, found itself in the presence of the en- emy within three leagues of that fort. M' de Beaujeu, finding his ambush had failed, decided on an attack. This he made with so much vigor as to astonish the enemy, who were waiting for us in the best possible order ; but their artillery loaded with grape {h. cartouche), having opened its fire, our men gave way in turn. The Indians also, frightened by the report of the cannon rather than by any damage it could inflict, began to yield, when M. de Beaujeu was killed. M. Dumas began to encourage his de- tachment. He ordered the officers in command of the Indians to spread themselves along the wings so as to take the enemy in flank, whilst he, M. de Lig- nery and the other officers, who led the French, were attacking them in front. This order was executed so promptly, that the enemy, who were already shouting their " Long live the King," thought now of only defending themselves. The fight was obstinate on both sides and success long doubtful ; but the enemy at last gave way. Efforts were made, in vain, to introduce some sort of order in their retreat. The whoop of the Indians, which echoed through the forest, struck terror into the hearts of the entire In Colonial Days. m enemy. The rout was complete. We remained in possession of the field with six brass twelves and sixes, four howitz-carriages of fifty, 1 1 small royal grenade mortars, all their ammunition and generally their entire baggage. Some deserters, who have come in since, have told us, that we had been en- gaged with only 2,000 men, the remainder of the army being four leagues off. These same deserters have informed us, that the enemy were retreating to Virginia and some scouts, sent as far as the height of land, have confirmed this by reporting, that the thousand men, who were not engaged, had been equally panic stricken and abandoned both pro- visions and ammunition on the way. On this intelli- gence a detachment was dispatched after them, which destroyed and burnt everything that could be found. The enemy have left more than 1,000 men on the field of battle. They have lost a great portion of the artillery and ammunition, provisions, as also their General, whose name was M"" Braddock and almost all their officers. We have had 3 officers killed, 2 officers and 2 cadets wounded. Such a victory, so entirely unexpected, seeing the inequality of the forces, is the fruit of M. Dumas' experience and of the activity and valor of the officers under his com- mand." CHAPTER VI. The French Masters of the Ohio Valley. Although the defeat of the English troops, who had encountered the enemy, could hardly have been more decisive and humiliating, because 300 French and 600 Indians had almost annihilated 1,300 English soldiers, Governor Dinwiddle was still intent upon carrying out his plan of driving the French from the Ohio. The feeling, that this defeat was a disaster which could be made use of in obtaining further help against the French, was shared by others. Secretary Richard Peters, of Pennsylvania, writes to Governor de Lancey, of New York, July 19, 1755 :* .... ** The defeat is not general. The Army was in 2 Divisions in the First of which marched the General, having with him 1300 men, 4 Howitzers, 4 12 pdrs. & 13 Art^ Waggons. The second was com- manded by Col. Dunbar and had not marched further than Two Miles West of the great meadows, distant from Fort Duquesne Sixty Miles, having with him the heavy baggage. Ordinance Stores, the Provisions and greatest part of the waggons. — The General was advanced within Five miles of Fort Duquesne and * N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXXI, 85. The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. 135 marching in a narrow Way on the S^** or 9^ Instant when he was attacked b\ a large Number of French and Indians and beat, but not killed as was said, and was making a fine Retreat to Col. Dunbars part of the Army." The reader may ask, where were the Indians, friendly to the British, a so important factor in Colo- nial warfare ? Governor Dinwiddie propounds the same question and answers it as follows :* " The Six Nations, so many as are in the British Int't, were engaged with Gen^ Shirley and Johnson on the Expedit's to Niagara and Crown Point. The Twightwees, who I verily think are in our interest, are on the other Side the Ohio and I believe [were] prevented from serving us by the Fr. being between them and us. Those Indians on the Ohio, who I had reason to think were in our Interest, were over- awed by the Fr. and their Indians, only Moneca- toocha their Chief, and a few of their People, rem'd at F* CumbTd, march'd with the Gen'' and shew'd their attachm't to us by doing every Th'g in their Power for our Service. The So'ern Ind's, viz*: the Cherokees and Catawbas, I have been these 18 mo's endeavour'g to get a No. of them to join our Forces, they seriously promised. The Fr., who are w ch always on the watch, knowing their Intent's, in March last sent 14 of their Ind's to perswade to lie Neuter, or declare War ag'st So. Caro. and they would assist them, or get a Meet'g with the Go'r of y't Province * Dinwiddie Papers, II, 224. 136 The Ohio Valley il ' to have some Presents for their Interest. The last Proposal prevailed, w*^^ answer'd the Ends of the Fr. They kept them at a distance from the Scene of Action." Governor Dinwiddie was eager to renew the at- tempt against the French. He wrote to Colonel Dunbar, July 26, 1755 :* " Dear Colonel, is there no Method left to retrieve the Dishonor done to the British Arms ? As you now Comm'd all the Forces y* remain are you not able, after a proper Refreshm't of your Men, to make a second Attempt to recover the Loss we have Sustained ? You must still have remain'g upwards of 1600 Men and I have called the Assembly of this Dom'n to meet next Tuesday next come Week, w'n I think I can promise You a Rein- forcement of at least 400 Men. . . . Why cannot we recover the Train [of Artillery] in the same Manner as the Enemy took them. You have four Mo's now to come of the best Weather in the Year for such an Expedition. As our Forces under Gen^ Shirley are marched and before y^ I suppose attacked Niagara and Colo. Johnson, f I believe, has prevailed with the Six Nations to take up the Hatchet ag^* the French, and I suppose that Gent, is gone ag^* Crown Point, w*^** no doubt the Forces at F^ Duquesne are appris'd of and naturally will go up the River Ohio to the Assist'ce of these Places, and will remain satisfied and secure y* no Attempt y^ Year will be made on * Dinwiddie Papers, II, ii8. f Sir W" Johnson of New York. .iili In Colonial Days. 137 the Ohio, under y', y"" Security, w* may You not do if You march over the Mount^ the Beginning of Septbr. . . . . It's my duty to H. M'y, as Gov"^ of y^ Domi'n, to make the above Proposal to You, w*'** if it meets ^th yr Approbat'n or that of a Council of War, will give me much Pleasure." The Virginia Assembly roused itself to energy and voted quickly ;^40,ooo, with the help of which the Governor was to raise a force of 1,200 men. But the Council of War decided against this project of Dinwiddie and Colonel Dunbar's unauthorized action made it impossible. Although more than forty miles from the scene of Braddock's defeat and therefore not in immediate danger of an attack, which consid- ering the number of troops under his command he might easily have repulsed, he destroyed all the am- munition and provisions in his camp and in the mid- dle of summer marched with his whole force to Philadelphia to go into winter quarters. Governor Dinwiddie was in despair over this untoward break- ing down of his calculations and now could do nothing more than to make arrangements to protect the Eng- lish settlers and Indian allies on the frontiers. Unin- tentionally the French helped him by outrages, " devastation and murders "* in Indian villages on the Holston and New rivers. He ordered forts to be built on these two streams, probably next to Walker's, the first European establishments in that part of the present United States. Doctor Thomas * Dinwiddie Papers, II, 189. 18 138 The Ohio Valley J. Ill ; liii $ Walker, belonging to an even at that time old or long-settled Virginia family, had crossed Powell's valley in 1 748 and gave the name of Cumberland to the lofty range of mountains west of Virginia. The remarkable depression in this chain received from him the name of Cumberland Gap, and the Sha- wanese river that of Cumberland. In a previous chapter a map is mentioned which speaks of " Walk- er's, an English settlement," in 1 750. Doctor Walker crossed Clinch and Powell rivers into Kentucky again in 1 760, probably with Daniel Boone. Gover- nor Dinwiddle, through his agents, asked the Chero- kees to assist in keeping the French with their Shawanese allies out of this territory, and a party of 130 Cherokees* joined 200 Virginia Rangers to attack the French Indians in their towns.f Their hoped for success was expected to be of great service, for these allies of the French committed " monstrous and barbarous murders in the back country." But French diplomacy and statescraft prepared unforeseen difficulties. The Creek Indians were induced by it to make war on South Carolina and their native allies, of whom the Chickasaws bore the first brunt, while French emissaries and priests were busy among the Catawbas and Cherokees. To coun- teract their efforts Governor Dinwiddle was obliged to put his hands into the public treasury and draw out ;^5oo for presents, which two members of his * Dinwiddle Papers, II, 294. f lb. 320. Illlii In Colonial Days. 139 Council, Peter Randolph and William Byrd, were commissioned to bring to them. These agents had authority to enter into a treaty of alliance with the Cherokees and their allies, and for a wonder ! they succeeded, for which we may assume they were more indebted to the hatred of the French, aroused in the Indians* hearts, than to their skill in treating with a race, which though God's creatures like themselves, the English-speaking nations do not consider any more entitled to reasonable treatment, than an hun- gry wolf. The experiences of the preceding winter had already demonstrated that it would be necessary to punish our erratic friends, the Shawanoes. In No- vember, 1755, they were reported as having gone south to join the Creeks, who were enemies of the Cherokees.* This tribe, faithful to their English friends, sent, as stated before, a detachment of 130 warriors to co-operate with Virginia Rangers in an attack upon the Shawanoe towns, and Major Andrew Lewis was appointed to the chief command of this expedition,t but after struggling for six weeks through the woods, it had to be declared unsuccess- ful. The rivers which were to be crossed, had over- flowed their banks, swollen by thawing snow and spring rains; canoes with provisions and ammunition were upset, and the valiant warriors were finally obliged to kill their horses for food. The Sandy * Dinwiddie Papers, II, 279. I40 The Ohio Valley Creek expedition, though well prepared and fairly well managed, had proved a failure, because no atten- tion had been paid to climatic conditions. A possible retaliation upon their Cherokee enemies by the Sha- wanoes and their friends, Indian and French, had, however, to be made ineffectual, and the best means for doing so was the construction of a fort in the Cherokee country. The Cherokees were willing to have an English fort in their country and Major Andrew Lewis was appointed to superintend the con- struction of it. In pursuance of the instructions given him by Governor Dinwiddie, Major Lewis was to march to Chotte,* in the country of the Cherokees, and to build there the fort, in which undertaking it was hoped, men sent by the Governor of South Caro- lina would assist. Although the South Carolinians were rather slow in coming to the work. Governor Dinwiddie could write to Major Lewis in August, 1 756 :f •* I am very glad the fort was so forward when you wrote me, and that it was so agreeable to the Cherokees, w*^^ they write is entirely to their sat- isfaction." Governor Dinwiddie was wedded to the idea of driving the French out of the Ohio valley and having now secured a firm alliance with the Cherokees and presumably their friends, he began to plan a new expedition against the French, but he was met by unexpected obstacles to carry it out. " I am glad," * On or near Holston river, f Dinwiddie Papers, II, 486. In Colonial Days, 141 he writes to Colonel Washington, May 8*^ 1756,* "the Ind'* are gone over the All'y Mount's, but I can't believe them so numerous as represented, unless they have prevailed upon the Twightwees to join with 'em, and I am of Opin'n if You c'd send a Message to them by some trusty Ind'n to let *em know our Intent's ag* the Fr., and the No. of War- riors sent by Y"^ Father, the King, to exterpate the Fr. and to protect Y' Lands, they w'd continue Steddy in our Int't, for they will never forget the Insults and Murd's comitted ag^' 'em by the Fr. in 1752. .. . As to a Plan of Operation, what can I concert, when our neighbouring are asleep and afford us no assistance ? No great Gunns or Engineers to attack their Fort, which I much desire to be on the offensive, but as we are now situated, we can only remain on the de- fencive to protect our frontiers." If the plan of union, proposed and discussed at Albany in 1754, had become operative. Governor Dinwiddie's plans might have found support in the other Colonies, for through Sir William Johnson's clever management the Shawanoes and Delawares, important allies of the French, had been induced to join the British. He had been stirred up to use his best efforts for this purpose, among others by the following letter, writ- ten at Philadelphia, by Daniel Claus,t April 5, 1756: " This Province is at present in the most deplorable * Dinwiddle Papers, II, 406. ■ ■ f Lieutenant and later Captain 60*'' (Roy* American) Reg*. Son-in-law of Sir W"* and one of his deputies in Indian affairs. 142 The Ohio Valley situation. The Governors Party and the Quakers (whose head is Mr. Franklin) are continually in dis- pute with one another and nothing but Confusion reigns here. The Enemy as reported is descending upon them with a body of 1600 strong. Mr. Peters is sometimes most distracted and dreads its ruin if things go on as they do. The 60,000 pounds raised lately are expended to one quarter and nobody knows, what good was done thereby. *' The young man, that made his escape from King Shingo, the Delaware, says, that the Indians told him, how they found out, that the English and French had made an agreement to cut them off & then take their lands in possession, but that they would pre- vent that if possible, for saith they, if we only subdue the English first, we may do afterwards what we please with the French, for we have them as it were in a sheeps pen and may cut them off at any time, for they had no liberty to plant any co'-n yet, tho' they tried but it was forbid them & we told them, that we did not give them liberty to build that fort in order to make improvements, but only to fight against the English. ** The people here were surprised, that the 6 Nations at the last treaty had not agreed upon knocking the Delawares and Shawanoes in the head. Skarouyade told them, that the 6 Nations were re- solved to cut them off in case they would not listen to the message they sent now ; the Gov*^ & Council then were wondering that the treaty was mentioning In Colonial Days. 143 nothing of the nature. I told them I did not hear the 6 Nations say any such thing in public nor be- lieved they believed they would undertake it, then Mr. Montour* said, it was agreed upon in some of their private councils. They are now upon promising rewards for scalps, ;^30 a scalp & £

' iljliin 156 TAe Ohio Valley ifi"" cation of Canada with Louisiana The soil at these falls invites settlements. If we could have some permanent ones, we should hold the Flatheads and Cherakis in check."* The attitude of all the Indian tribes, living in or connected with the Ohio Valley, was a matter of importance not only to the French, but also to the English authorities. The purchase of large tracts of land, made at Albany by Pennsylvania in 1 754, although consented to by some of the tribes in in- terest, had not the approval of all. The Six Nations expressed their dissatisfaction unreservedly at a meet- ing with Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania, held at Lancaster in May, 1757; they confirmed a report brought to Sir William Johnson by Margaret Wil- liams,f who had been a prisoner among the Dela- wares and upon her release had told, that she heard the Indians frequently and solemnly declare, they would never leave off killing the English as long as there was an Englishman living on their lands . . . . " which the English had cheated them out of." Other reports were still more alarming. Alexander McClure, of Pennsylvania, an Indian trader at Chenussio in the Seneca country, was told by a Delaware, coming from Niagara, that all the French Indians from the north side of the lakes were to destroy the Mohawk country and the Indians, living south of the lakes, and then attack Fort Cumberland and the Southern * N. Y. Col. Hiot., X, 539, and Penn. Arch., 2d Series, VI, 395. fib., VII, 331. In Colonial Days. 157 Colonies.* But British gold, added in large quanti- tities to British diplomacy, proved an irresistible agent and kept the wavering Indians fairly in the British interest. George Croghan, Sir William John- son's deputy in Pennsylvania, labored with the Dela- wares and some of the Six Nations so successfully at Easton, Pennsylvania, during July and August, 1757, that he could report, " the grand Council of the Six Nations, which sat two months, has unanimously agreed to oppose the French measures and hold fast by the chain of friendship subsisting between the English and them."t Mohawks and Senecas of the Six Nations and Cherokees from the south verified this to Sir William in a meeting at Fort Johnson, New York, in the following September: "We are warriors and our nation have lifted their ax against the French and are determined not to lay it down, whilst there is a man amongst us left alive. "J The Cherokees appear to have been specially aroused against the French. Delegates from this nation with "several others from the Southward, viz.: Oghna- goes, Nanticokes and Connoys, had first consulted with the Six Nations, with the above result, and then extended an invitation to the English to renew and strengthen the covenant chain."§ The year 1757, now drawing towards its close, had been an uneventful one in the Ohio Valley, as far as * Sir Wm. Johns'*!! Papers, IV, 31. t N. Y. Col. Hi VII, 285. X lb., 325. § Sir Wm. Johnson Papers, IV, 148, 154. ' M ''li 158 7!^^ Okto Valley military operations are to be considered. But the political movements of the same year had been of importance for the whole question of French do* minion. The weakness of the English Ministry had become so patent in the spring of 1757, that Pitt, one of the most able statesmen of his day, had been called to its head. America was to him the object of the greatest solicitude. He relieved Loudoun from the command in the Colonies, for which he had shown only mediocre ability. The Colonies were admonished to recruit troops for an active campaign and encouraged to do so by a promise of having the expenses, incidental to such an increase of the army, refunded by the home government ; the Colonial military officers were given equal rank with the offi- cers of the Royal troops. All this infused new life into the attempts to drive the French out. Three expeditions were planned by the English, two of which must be mentioned here, because their results affected the proceedings of the third against Fort du Quesne. The first against Louisburg, under Amherst and Wolfe, deprived the French of about 6,000 soldiers, who became prisoners of the English forces upon the fall of Louisburg. The second, un- der Abercrombie and Howe, which was to attack Crown Point and Ticonderoga and thereby open a new road to Canada, was not so successful. Lord Howe fell and the more or less incompetent Aber- crombie, his successor in command, managed to lose 2,000 men. But a detachment of this army, com- I In Colonial Days. 159 manded by Colonel Bradstreet, had the good luck to strike a blow, which was decisive for the fate of Fort du Quesne. Fort Frontenac and the French navy on Lake Ontario, fell into the hands of this officer on the 27th of August, 1758. This loss threw the French authorities into consternation. " Every thing is now to be feared for Fort Niagara," says M. Doreil, commissioner of war, in a letter to Marshall de Belle Isle, announcing the disaster. " Canada is lost, if peace be not made this winter."* " We are expecting news from the Beautiful River, where a corps of 8,000 men was to operate under the orders of General Forbes," writes Montcalm to M. de Cremille, Assistant Minister of War, in Octo- ber, 1758.+ He probably did not expect these news to be very cheerful, for he writes at the same time to Marshall de Belle Isle, the Minister of War, that M. de Ligneris, the commander at Fort du Quesne, and M. de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, are of opinion General Forbes would have, besides his white troops, a great many Indians with him. " The Five Nations," says he, " are always assuring us of their attachment and receiving presents from the English. Their hearts are with the latter and their fears with us. "J The first attempt of the English to recover Fort du Quesne was not successful. General Forbes had, for good military reasons, followed Washington's ad- * N. y. Col. Hist., X, 819. t lb., 856. t lb., 861. i6o The Ohio Valley % vice and taken a different road from that of Brad- dock's. On his march through the wilderness he built Fort Bedford, at Raystown, and finally reaching the Loyalhannon creek, fifty miles from du Quesne, he established his head-quarters there settling, down for a diplomatic campaign with the Indians, in which he was effectually assisted by an agent, Christian Frederik Post, sent by Governor Denny, of Penn- sylvania.* Military operations were, however, not neglected, and at first they led to disaster. Major James Grant, of the Montgomerie Highlanders, started out with a command of about 800 men from the camp on the Kiskiminitas, for an expedition against Fort du Quesne. On the third day of their march, the 15th of September, 1758, they were within a quarter of a mile from the fort. From here Major Grant sent out a detachment to attack all the Indians and others found outside of the fort ; they saw none nor were they seen by any body of the enemies, but in returning they foolishly announced their presence by setting fire to a large store-house, upon which they had stumbled. This, very naturally, aroused the French, who immediately made a sally and drove the enemy off. French accounts claim that the English speedily took to their heels and were pursued for two hours, losing between 600 and 700 men. Major Grant, four other officers and about 100 men were taken prisoners. From English reports we know * See Second Journal of C. F. Post, London, 1759. IHi In Colonial Days. i6i only, that Major Grant was captured and the whole expedition frustrated.* But the days during which the French could main- tain themselves at Fort du Quesne were nu'^bered. The capture of Fort Frontenac and of the fleet on Lake Ontario made it impossible to increase the gar- rison of the fort or to supply it with provisions. Even the small victory gained in September became a source of increased weakness, for the Indians, hith- erto acting under French orders, who had helped to repulse Major Grant's command, immediately on re- turning from their pursuit, quitted Fort du Quesne to seek their villages. De Ligneris and his officers found it impossible to retain them. This defection of near 600 Indian warriors reduced the number of troops garrisoning du Quesne, to barely 1,000, commanded by Marchand de Lignery, an offi- cer of considerable military experience, gained during more than twenty years' service in America.f Vau- dfeuil and Montcalm were not in position to send suc- cor to the threatened post, the occupants of which had learned by intuition, that Forbes intended to capture it, even if it took the whole of the ensuing winter to do it. Illness kept this General more abed, than he prob- ably liked. He complained that he had to spend, his time " between business and medicine," but his stub- born Scotch head knew not such words as " give up." * N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 884, 888, 902. \ He made the campaign against the Fox Indians (1732), against the Chica- saws at Fort I'Assomption. Tenn. (1739), against the Mohawks with Chev. de la Corne (1747). 21 l62 The Ohio Valley i ! •* I have the Pleasure and Honour," he writes to Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania, from " Fort du Quesne or now Pittsburg," on Nov*"" 26, 1758, "of Acquainting you with the Signal Success of his Majesty's Troops over all his Enemys on the Ohio, by having obliged them to Burn and abandon their Fort du Quesne, which they effectuated on the 24*'* Instant, And of which I took Possession with my little Army the next Day."* Captain de Ligneris having destroyed all he could, according to orders received for such an emergency, retired to Fort Machault.f He was to remain here for various purposes, first to support the Indians who had remained faithful to the French interest, and then to annoy the English and force them to a diver- sion. The Marquis de Vaudreuil argued that the enemy would find it extremely difficult to make a movement towards Lake Erie because of the consid- erable preparations and obstacles attending efforts to provision a large force in a country "where the ground is capable of being defended inch by inch."J He had ordered the commanders at the Illinois and at Detroit to send to Presqu'ile all the men they could spare, and did not relinquish the hope of once more having the Fleur de Lys replace the Cross of St. George over Fort du Quesne. It appeared to him an easy matter, if he or his subordinates, only could * Pennsylvania Archives, VIII, 232. f At the mouth of French Creek, Pennsylvania. X N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 952. In Colonial Days. 163 induce the Indians of that section to take up the hatchet against the English. But the Indians had discovered, that the French treasury had become so thoroughly depleted, that the officers of this nation could no longer compete in quantity and quality of presents with the English, hence the reports from Canada in April, 1759, had to say, that the Indian nations on the Beautiful River had undoubtedly made their peace with the English since the loss of Fort du Quesne. For the security of their reconquered possession troops poured into the disputed territory to reinforce the post of Fort Pitt and assist in establishing and garrisoning the new fortifications considered necessary. The first of these new posts on the Attique river,* built be- fore the preceding winter had set in, had already served the English at a somewhat critical moment. Captain Aubry, commanding some Louisiana troops, sent to help their brethren on the Ohio, had fallen upon a detachment of British soldiers, killed and cap- tured about 150 of them, and sent the rest to take refuge in this fort in November, i758.f Other strongholds were built by the English, " one above the village of the Shawanoes,J another at the river aux Cannes,§ whence they proposed to proceed to the * Loyalhannon, later Fort Ligonier, Westmoreland Co., Penn. fN. Y. Col. Doc, X, 901. X A. map in the " American Gazetteer, London, 1762, has " Shawnoah or Lower Shawnoes (at the mouth of Elk creek), an English factory 400 miles from the Forks (of the Mississippi) by water." Another English factory is marked near " White Woman's creek, a tributary of the Muskingum." § Perhaps Cane Creek, Lincoln Co., Tenn. 164 The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. Illinois, and a third, which they called Fort Loudon, on the river of the Cherakis, whereby they are en- abled to keep in check the nations toward Louisiana. Half the Flathead nation is entirely on their side and the other half wavers. The Cherokees have allowed themselves to be gained by the presents of the English ; so that above and below the Beautiful River we need not flatter ourselves with finding any allies among the Indians."* The result was that M. de Lignery was compelled to abandon Fort Machault in July, 1759, and the Ohio Valley saw no more French troops marching to meet or to evade an English foe. *N. Y. Col. Doc, X. CHAPTER VIII. Indian Wars. "While the sovereigns of France, England and Spain were signing the treaty of Paris (Febry Io^^ ^7^2))y countless Indian warriors in the American forests were singing the war-song and whetting their scalping knives."* We must look for the reason of this distressing state of affairs to the ignorance and arrogance of the English race. Their contact with other races has, even now, not yet taught them that these other races are as much creatures of the God whom all worship, as the English. They forget that the red Indian is a being who has, like everybody else, certain rights, which must be respected, if no bloodshed and ravage is desired. In the days of which this chapter Is to speak, the Indians were still a powerful factor in Colonial politics and required diplomatic treatment ; the more so as many tribes regretted to see the French overpowered. But British diplomatic acumen had been dulled by the victory and the English agents became now over- *Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac. 1 66 ill' W'i ml • i iiii' 1 TAe Ohio Valley bearing, instead of conciliating the former allies of the French and making them firm friends of the con- querors. The dissatisfaction of the Ohio Indians, dating since the Albany conference in 1 754, and since then smoothed over, revived and spread into all the tribes from Lake Superior to the Great Kanawha, and from the Alleghany mountains to the Mississippi. These sentiments of discontent grew with the injus- tice and neglect meted out to the Indians by the English, who thought that their friendship was now of no consequence, and curtailed the supplies of powder, etc., upon which the red man had learned to rely for gaining a livelihood. Sir William Johnson had warned the Lords of Trade in August, 1762, of the uneasiness among the Indians and had stated, what he feared would be the consequences, giving at the same time his opinion on the best method of preventing an outbreak.* While still continuing his warnings, the first blow was struck by the Indians. Pontiac, an Ottawa chief of great intrepidity and eloquence, who with his warriors had helped to de- feat Braddock in 1755, had gathered about him the dissatisfied members of the Chippeways, Miamis, Delawares, Shawanese and other tribes with inten- tion of driving the English from the territory west of the Alleghany mountains. We cannot help ad- miring the successful manner, in which he concealed his designs, when we consider the large number of * Sir Wm. Johnson Papers. In Colonial Days. 167 individuals necessarily cognizant of this conspiracy and the vast area affected by it. A detachment of English troops, commanded by Lieutenant Cuyler and on the way to relieve Detroit, had been defeated, Sandusky had been destroyed. Forts St. Joseph at the mouth of the river St. Joseph, near the head of Lake Michigan, and Fort Michilli- mackinack had fallen into the hands of the Indian conspirators before lue Ohio Valley proper was made to feel the disturbance. Fort Ouatanon, on the Wabash, a little below the present town of la Fayette, was taken by a stratagem on the ist of June, 1763. It might perhaps be more appropriate to say the Eng- lish garrison of Ouatanon became the prisoners of the Indians by the careless arrogance of the command- ant. Lieutenant Edward Jenkins, who had walked into the Indian quarters unattended, for a confer- ence, and was immediately bound, whereupon the rest of the garrison surrendered without resistance.* Presqu 'Isle, on the shore of Lake Erie, followed with considerable loss of English lives, and this neces- sarily led to the fall of the neighboring little posts of Le Boeuf and Venango. Le Boeuf had been built by the French when they first came to occupy the Ohio Valley in 1753. It stood on the south or west fork of French creek, almost surrounded by it and a small branch, of which it foims a kind of island. Four housesf composed * Parkman, Conspiracy. f " Built of wood stokadoed Triangularwise and has two Logg Houses in the inside." Deposition of Stephen Cotfen, prisoner of the French since 1747, made January 10, 1754. N. Y. Col. MSS. 1 68 The Ohio Valley 1 the sides ; the bastions were of poles driven into the ground, standing more than twelve feet above it and sharp at the top, with port-holes cut for cannons and loop-holes for small arms. Eight cannons were mounted in each bastion and one four-pounder before the gate. In the bastions were a guard-house, a chapel, surgeon's lodgings and commandant's private store. It stood on the present site of Waterford, Erie county, Pennsylvania, and the Indian name of the place was Casewago.* Venango, at the confluence of French creek and the Alleghany river, was still an Indian town when Washington passed through it on his mission to Le- Gardeur de S* Pierre, the commander of the French at le Boeuf, in 1753. An English trader. Eraser, had established himself here and had been the first to suffer from the Gallic invasion. The forces sta- tioned at le Boeuf constructed here, about 1755, a fort or an outpost for the upper posts, and in 1855, i^ is said, the ruins of Fort Venango or Fort Machault were still visible at Franklin, Pennsylvania. It had been 400 feet square, with embankments eight feet high.f Up to the latter end of May the Indians around Fort Pitt and the growing settlement there had re- frained from doing harm to the white intruders. It is true, they acted in a manner to excite suspicion, but it would not have done for an Englishman to * Penna. Archives, XII, 387, and Penna. Col. Rec, V, 659. f Sargent, Braddock's Expedition, p. 41. Egle's Pennsylvania, 694, 1123. In Colonial Days, 169 take any notice of it. The blow came sudden. " We have most melancholy Accounts here. — The Indians have broke out in several places and murdered Colonel Clapham and his Family ; also two of our Soldiers at the Saw-mill, near the Fort, and two Scalps are taken from each man. . . . Last Night eleven Men were attacked at Beaver Creek* eight or nine of whom, it is said, were killed — And Twenty- Five of Macrae's and Allison's Horses, loaded with Skins, are all taken. "f The Delawares and Shawa- nese did not intend to be behind their red brethren on the lakes, in avenging themselves on the Eng- lish for more or less real and fancied wrongs, suffered at their hands. Captain Ecuyer, in command at Fort Pitt, was able to keep the enemy out of this, by them so cov- eted stronghold. " The Savages have absurdly made a show of attacking Fort Pitt and some of the Posts below, but have not made any impression on the smallest post on that communication," writes Sir Jeffrey Amherst, July 23, 1763. J In this part of the country the Indians fared even worse. Not only could they not make " any impression " on any post, but they even suffered de- feat. They had extended operations to the eastern side of the Alleghany river as far as Fort Augusta§ * Beaver creek empties into the Ohio below Pittsburg, f From Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1798. X N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 529. § Now Sunbury, Pennsylvania. 22 170 Thf^Ohio Valley '!ii.i on the Susquehanna and other places outside the valley of the Ohio. But within the Ohio limits Fort Ligonier, on Loyalhannon creek, had been furiously attacked by Indians about the same time as le Boeuf and Venango to the north. They had been beaten after a hard day's fighting. Meanwhile troops were advancing from the east to take a hand in this Indian drama. They were commanded by Lieutenant- Colonel Henry Bouquet,* a Swiss officer of the Royal Americans, who had marched over this road with General Forbes a few years before. He met the foe near Bushy Run, about ten miles east of Pittsburgh, on the 5th and 6th of August, " engaged them from noon to night successfully, but returned at night to cover the provisions and the wounded. The next day the Indians surrounded the little army and advanced to the attack furiously, but Colonel Bouquet had made such a disposition to receive them, and the behavior of the troops was so firm and reso- lute, that the Savages gave way, had not the courage to support their attempt and were pursued for a con- siderable distance with great slaughter. The Eng- Hsh loss was 50 men killed and 60 wounded. "f A few days later, on the nth of August, Colonel Bouquet could date his report to the Commander-in- Chief, Sir Jeffrey Amherst, from Fort Pitt, and say : "We Arrived here Yesterday without further Oppo- * He had originally been an officer in the army of the King of Sardinia, joined the troops of Holland in 1755 and then the Royal Americans. fN. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 545. In Colonial Days. 171 sition than Scattered Shots along the Road. The Delawares, Shawanese, Wyandots and Mingoes had closely Beset and Attacked this Fort from the 27'** July to the First Instant, when they Quitted it to March against us."* The (Country south of Fort Pitt and further down the Ohio was not allowed to remain undisturbed. The population of the intervales in the present West Virginia was still a thin one and scattered, but large enough t.o excite the bloodthirstiness of the Indians. Virginia had contributed her share for the protection of the frontier settlements by sending Colonel Adam Stephens with 400 to 500 militia to Forts Cumber- land and Bedford in the Potomac region, while a similar body of men under Colonel Lewisf marched to the southwestern frontier for the same purpose, but could not prevent the butchering of the people living at the little settlement of Greenbrier and as- sembled at the fortified house of Archibald Glenden- ning.J Pennsylvania had done nothing to protect her fron- tiers and the people there, so that Sir Jeffrey Amherst cannot be blamed for writing : " What a contrast this [the sending of troops under Stephens and Lewis] makes between the conduct of the Pennsyl- vanians and Virginians, highly to the honor of the * Extract from MS. Letter in Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, 342. f Colonel Andrew Lewis commanded in the Sandy Point expedition, 1774, and was a brigadier-general during the War of the Revolution. X Parkman, Conspiracy, 383. 172 The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. latter, but places the former in the most despicable light imaginable."* It required Bouquet's march and the victory at Bushy Run to show to the Pennsylva- nians, that the savage foe could be checked in his bloody proceedings, but the operations of James Smith, Armstrong and others, took place east of the Ohio Valley limits. The success at Bushy Run allowed Bouquet to take possession of Fort Pitt without further contest and to follow up his warfare against the Indian set- tlements beyond the Ohio and near the Muskingum. The appearance of Bouquet and his army in this neighborhood spread terror and awe among the na- tive tribes, who now reluctantly surrendered the white captives made during the disturbance.f ♦N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 546. f Historical Account of Bouquet's Expedition, 1764, reprinted by Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, 1868. CHAPTER IX. North and West of the Ohio River. The first white man to erect a dwelling in Ohio was the Moravian missionary, Christian Frederic Post, known to be a sagacious and able man, who had great influence among the Indians ; he was sent in 1 75 1 and 1758 by the Governor of Pennsylvania on a mission to the Delawares, Shawanoes and Min- goes living then on the Ohio and its northern tributaries, a territory which, after its acquisition by the treaty of Paris, was declared Crown land by King George's proclamation of October 7, 1763. This proclamation forbade the King's "loving sub- jects" to make purchases of land from the Indians or to form settlements " westward of the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea from the West and North- West."* The royal proclamation gave as reason for this ^jolicy, that it was necessary to con- vince the Indians of English justice by preventing irregularities, and it may be that in 1 763, this was thought to be a good and sufficient reason. Royal proclamations and orders had, however, * London Magazine, 1763, pp. 541, et seq. 174 The Ohio^' Valley aniiiifii; little weight with the settler and the hunter, who lived principally by the products of the chase, and who, by penetrating into the tabooed regions, had helped to bring on the Indian war of 1/64. This war had put a stop to the enterprises of the Ohio and the other land companies which were now re- vived under a plan to buy out the French settlers in the Illinois country.* But the scheme proved infeas- ible and the earlier projects were all merged into " Walpole's Grant," later called the " Colony of Van- dalia." The Lords Commissioners for Trade and plantations were opposed to this scheme, fathered by Thomas Walpole, and reported against it.f A recent writer on this pointj says : " Such in clear and specific terms was the cold and selfish policy, which the British crown and its ministers habitually pursued towards the American Colonies." Lord Hillsborough, as Secretary of State, had ap- proved and recommended to the King for confirma- tion the treaty made at Fort Stanwix in 1768, by which the boundary line between the Colo, .js in America and the Indians was settled. The territory west of that line was acknowledged to be Indian property. This was not always considered an obstacle ill English eyes preventing the issue of a patent,§ * Bigelow's Franklin, I, 537; II, 112. f Appendix F. ± Dr. W. F. Poole in Chap. IX, The West, Winsor's Narrative and Crit- ical History, Vol. VI. § N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 913, " An Indian conveyance of the soil is un- necessary." lii i In Colonial Days. 175 but it seems Lord Hillsborough had what was most likely then called " old-fashioned ideas" on the sub- ject, for it was then, as to-day, an accepted truth, that the Indian had no rights, which a white man was bound to respect. We can, therefore, hardly call it a "cold and selfish policy" if the Secretary of State recalls the principle of confining the western extent of settlements to the boundary line established by treaty, especially as the English ministers had been warned that " the affairs of land are more imme- diately interesting and alarming to the Indians than any thing else."* Lord Hillsborough further says in the above-quoted report, that the object of colonizing in North America had been to improve and extend commerce, and that if the western wilderness were invaded by settlers the fur trade would suffer. This is truly a selfish policy, but it was not so much ministerial as de- manded by the dealers in American goods scattered all over England, while the policy of the people living in the Colonies was no less selfish. They were all concerned either in trade or in lands ; that is, in the pursuit of gain, and, therefore, were opposed to all limitations by the government, without considering that though these limitations might be inconvenient to a few adventurous traders and pioneers, the weal of the community demanded them. Sir V/illiam Johnson, the Superintendent for In- *N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 913, "An Indian conveyance of the soil is un- neccessary." ft "J ?.- ■'I '> 176 T^e Ohio Valley dian Affairs in the Northern Department, a man than whom probably no one else was better acquainted with Indian policy, had several years before Pontiac's war warned the authorities in the respective Colonies, not to exasperate the aborigines along the Ohio by too much land-grabbing At the Congress held at Albany, New York, in 1754, the Indians proposed the Alleghany mountains as the western boundary of the Colonies,* but the purchase made then by Penn- sylvania and the subsequent appearance of surveyors on the Juniata and Susquehannah, induced the Dela- wares, Shawanoes, Nanticokes and others settled in that vicinity, to withdraw either to Diohogo or to the Ohio. The hatred of the Delawares against the English had become so intense, that they swore to themselves never to leave off killing Englishmen as long as there was one of this nation living on their lands.f George Croghan, Sir William's deputy, who had long lived and traded with the natives west of the Ohio river, suggested to the Lords of Trade in 1 764, J that a natural boundary should be made be- tween the Indians and the English from the heads of the Delaware river in New York, to the mouth of the Ohio, in order to prevent a general defection of the Indians, which was always probable if the upper Senecas and a few other tribes settled near Detroit *Sir William Johnson Papers, IV, 124. f lb., 156. See, also, Appendix G. X lb., V, 603, 605. In Colonial Days. 177 and Michilimackinack, while Shawanoes and Dela- wares sat on the " branches " of the Ohio. The men in authority, hundreds of miles away from the " frontiers," paid no attention to the warnings of their agents, and Pontiac's war was the consequence of arousing the Indians' jealousies by encroaching too near upon them, by taking possession of the lakes and by stopping the distribution of ammunition, etc., among them.* Can we, under these circumstances, call Lord Hillsborough's adverse report on the petition of Thomas Walpole, **cold and selfish policy?" The report did not meet with the approval of Doctor Ben- jamin Franklin, upon whose extended and vigorous reply to itf the Privy Council granted the prayer of the petitioners. The grant made provisions for se- curing to the Virginia soldiers, who had served in the French war, the lands promised for their respective services, but the breaking out of the Revolution stopped all further proceedings and the Colony of Vandalia died in its inception. Although this in- tended new colony was partly outside of the limits of the Ohio Valley, it requires mention here, for some flourishing towns in the same valley owe their prosperity to the scheme. George Croghan, when in London in 1 764, reported that there was a talk in town about " settling a colony from the mouth of * Sir William Johnson Papers, VII, 162. f Sparks' Franklin, IV, et seq. 23 178 The Ohio Valley I*,-.-. the Ohio to the Illinois."* This region had already a French settlement at Fort Chartres on the Kaskas- kias river, built in 1720, repaired in 1750, and finally abandoned in i772.f It was thought, that by the cession of territory made by the treaty of Paris, the country lying west of the Ohio to its mouth and up the Mississippi had become the boundary between the two nations late at war, and that as the French would undoubtedly settle on the west side of the Mississippi it might be good policy to purchase from the Indians the lands east of that river. J But the French still had pos- session of their establishment in this coveted terri- tory and the proposition was made to capture Fort Chartres, as that would establish English authority among the savages with respect and safety. § The expedition planned against the fort by Colonel Brad- street, did, however, at first, not meet with the ap- proval of the Indians, and when they finally withdrew their objection to the plan of dispossessing the French, they stipulated that the taking possession of the forts formerly held by the French should not be considered as a title for the English to possess the country, as they never had sold any part of it to the French. || It is difificult to understand the Colonial Indian * Sir William Johnson Papers, VIII, 202. f Stoddard, Sketches of Louisiana, 234. % N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 605. § lb., 693. II lb., 781. In Colonial Days, 179 policy of the English authorities. Traders, from whom the western Indians could draw their supplies of powder and other Indian goods, were not allowed to go from Detroit or Michilimackinack and there- fore, says Croghan in 1765, "I am of opinion the Indians will be supplied this year chiefly from the Illinois, which is all French property, and if trading posts are not established at proper places in that country soon the French will carry the best part of the trade over the Mississippi."* The proposition to take possession of the territory near the mouth of the Ohio, made by Colonel Bradstreet in 1764, had not yet been acted upon in 1766, when Sir William Johnson reported to the Lords of Trade on ''the Artfull measures taken by the French in that (the Illinois) Country, for securing the Indians affections and engrossing the Trade, the better to accomplish which they have begun two settlements on the West side of the River above Fort Chartres, where they have already large Magazines for Trade and Presents, with able agents to carry on their designs, in which they will be farther aided by the French of Illinois and it is added that many of the latter are withdraw- ing from their old abode to the side occupied by the French."t Sir William continued to urge the neces- sity of occupying the French posts in that distant part of the British dominions, although he saw how difficult it would be to keep them in case of a new *N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 788. fib., 816. i8o The Ohio Valley <•■ ! war with France, and in September, 1767, he could report, that Fort Chartres was held by an English garrison. Maps, mentioned in a previous chapter, speak of an old fort at the mouth of the Ohio, without giving its name. M. de MacCarty, the French officer com- manding at Fort Chartres in 1760, placed some Indians near Fort Massiac, in June, who abandoned this position in October of the same year, being menaced by a strong party of the enemy. He then caused the fort to be " terraced, fraized and forti- fied, piece upon piece, with a good ditch."* Was this the first settlement of Cairo, Illinois ? In 1735 a Canadian, M. Vincennes, opened a trad- ing house on the Wabash, which was later called Post Vincent, but which we know to-day as the flour- ishing town of Vincennes. ** Thus began the com- monwealth of Indiana."t M. Vincennes was cruelly put to death by Chickasaw Indians in the following year, but the settlement did not die with its founder, growing with the necessary slowness of such enter- prises in the past ages. George Croghan, sent to the Western Indians with messages, arrived there in June, 1765, and found Post Vincent, **a French vil- lage of about 80 houses, and an Indian village of the Pyankeshas."J Further up the same river Wabash Frenchmen were settled at Ouiatanon, *N. Y. Col. Doc, X, 1092. f Monette, I, 165; Bancroft, III, 346. X N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 780. I In Colonial Days, i8i now Lafayette, Indiana, of whom with others at Post Vincent, Miamis, etc., Sir William complains as " sufficient to engross all the trade in them parts."* He calls them " French familys of the worst sort."f In a representation made by the Lords of Trade and Plantations upon the general state of Indian affairs and the establishment of posts on March 7, 1768,1 they discuss the question of a new govern- ment or colony at the mouth of the Ohio river and point out that the great distance of this and two other Colonies in the Illinois country and at Detroit, would increase instead of lessening the expenses of the civil as well as military establishment, but in the main they are in favor of such undertakings. Not- withstanding this propitious report. Lord Hills- borough, as President of the Board of Trade and Plantations in 1772, disapproved of the Walpole scheme of colonization, as has been told above. At the same time he had been informed by Sir William Johnson,§ that as the Kickapoos and Poutawatamies, incited by the jealousy of French traders, were con- stantly committing robberies and murders, the estab- lishment of some kind of authority on the Wabash was required, the more so perhaps, as the lawless colony of French there daily increased in numbers. But the indecision of the home government delayed matters in this quarter. The Earl of Dartmouth, *N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 777. t lb., 71b. X lb., VIII, \<^et seg § lb., 292. 1 82 The Ohio Valley who had succeeded Lord Hillsborough as Colonial Secretary, was, in 1773, still in doubt whether a gov- ernment on the Ohio could be established, and required the assurance by Sir William Johnson that the Six Nations were unanimously in favor of the proposition. We may suppose that all steps for creating the new Colonial government were being considered with proper English slowness, when Michael Cresap's onslaught on some Ohio Indians imperiled the execution of the plan. The traders living in the country were driven away or murdered by the infuriated Shawanoes and it required all the skill of which Alexander McKee, Sir William John- son's deputy on the Ohio, and Captain Arthur St. Clair, then in command at Fort Ligonier, Pennsyl- vania, were capable, to prevent a general Indian out- break, which might have proved disastrous to the population west of the Ohio, characterized by Sir William as "dissolute fellows, united with debtors, and persons of wandering disposition, who have been removing from Pennsylvania and Virginia etc for more than ten years past into the Indian Country, towards & on the Ohio and had made a considerable number of settlements as early as 1765, when my Deputy [Croghan] was sent to the Illinois, from whence he gave me a particular account of the un- easiness it occasioned amongst the Indians, many of these emigrants are idle fellows, that are too lazy to cultivate lands & invited by the plenty of game they found, have employed themselves in hunting, in which V&'^'Uf. l!*!il In Colonial Days. 183 they interfere much more with the Indians, than if they pursued agriculture alone, and the Indian hunt- ers .... already begin to feel the scarcity this has oc- casioned, which greatly increases their resentment."* Cresap's attack on the Indians brought on what is known as " Cresap's" or '* Dunmore's War." Lord Dunmore had been transferred from the government of New York to that of Virginia and has been sus- pected of having brought on this conflict by his agent, Doctor John Connolly, in order to prevent the Virginians from taking up arms against the British ministry in the impending struggle for liberty. Two columns were to invade the Indian country. Lord Dunmore placed himself at the head of one, assembled at Fort Pitt, and dropping down the Ohio intended to meet the other, under General Andrew Lewis, coming from Lewisburg, in Greenbriar county, Vir- ginia, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. Lord Dunmore, however, changed his plans, intending to land at the Big Hockhocking. In the meantime General Lewis fought the battle of Point Pleasant October 10, 1774, compelling the Indians to retreat, and then, contrary to Lord Dunmore's order, to make a halt at Salt Licks,t pressed on to Chillicothe, where he joined his superior officer. Here the Governor made a treaty with the Ohio Indians, who promised not to hunt south of the Ohio and not to molest voyagers on the river. *N. Y. Col. Doc, VIII, 460. f Now Jackson, Ohio. w*' 184 T/ie Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. Settlements had been made before this time in the Muskingum valley. The Moravian community at Friedenshuetten, Pennsylvania, had gathered about them during the seven years of their labors there a number of Indian converts, but had also suffered much from persecution of their English neighbors. Cordially invited by the Delawares in 1772, to come to their country near the Muskingum, the Moravian settlers and their Indian friends had removed, and in their new homes among savages it seemed to them that their trials were ended.* * Winsor, Narr. and Crit. Hist., VI, 734. CHAPTER X. South of the Ohio River. Reverend Hugh Jones, Chaplain to the Virginia Assembly and Minister at Jamestown, wrote in 1750: " If New England be called a receptacle of Dissent- ers and an Amsterdam of religion, Pennsylvania the nursery of Quakers, Maryland the retirement of Roman Catholics, North Carolina the refuge of Run- aways, etc." Yet this same North Carolina may be called an offshoot of Virginia, which our Reverend friend designates as the " happy retreat of true Britons and true Churchmen." The truth is that North Carolina was originally settled by several shiploads of respectable English people coming from Barbadoes, who were followed by the French, Swiss and German Protestant fugi- tives from despotic Roman Catholic countries, and in 1745 by Scotch Jacobites, who found themselves en- dangered in their homes after the failure of their attempt to replace a Stuart on the throne of Eng- land. Runaways there were too, but they came from the " happy retreat " to which they had been trans- ported out of the slums and prisons of England. The result was necessarily and unavoidably, that we 24 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /q ^.5.^ .V4 ^ 1.0 1.1 Ul^ 125 ■50 "^ ■ 2.2 L25 III 1.4 M m 1 f <^ iV I i86 The Ohio Valley encounter "a marked absence of individuality in the history of North Carolina, and that she was sadly deficient in men of great abilities and commanding character, such as made Virginia illustrious."* Another result was the absence of men belonging to the learned professions, for everybody was either planter or storekeeper, and in the western part of the Colony a hunter. When in the course of years these hunters had depleted the east side of the moun- tains of the animals, whose products were required for the purchase of the necessaries of life, they de- scended on the west side into the Ohio Valley. A map, spoken of in a previous chapter, tells us that one Walker had an establishment on the Cumberland river as early as 1750, and perhaps earlier. This Walker had been probably Doctor Walker, who about this time had crossed from Powell's Valley, in Virginia, over to Cumberland. Another mapf in- forms us that in 1 755, this, most likely the first white, settlement in the southern intervales of the Ohio, had been destroyed. " A place called Kentucky," had become known about that time, for in May, 1 753, Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, wrote to Gov- ernor Clinton, of New York, of robberies committed upon English traders at that place by French In- dians.;]; A nameless French author§ speaks of James Mc- * H. C. Lodge, Short History of the English Colonies in America. f See Chapter II. X N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., XXXIII, 71. g Voyage au Kentoukey, etc., par M. . . . , Paris, 1821. . In Colonial Days. 187 Bride, who crossed the Ohio river with a party of friends in 1 754, and near its mouth cut his name and the date of his arrival into an old lime-tree, still stand- ing when the writer came to the same place. His reports of the beautiful country seen were not be- lieved. Marshall treats this account of McBride as a tradition. John Findlay or Finley, whose name is perpetuated in the counties of Hancock, Ohio, and of Alleghany, Pennsylvania, was one of a party of hunters who, driven to look for new hunting grounds, found them- selves upon the waters of the Kentucky river in 1 767. " Of Finley and his comrades and of the course and extent of their journey little is known. That they were of the pure blood and endowed with the gen- uine qualities of the pioneers, is manifestly unde- niable. That they passed over the Cumberland and through the intermediate country to the Kentucky river and penetrated the beautiful valley of the Elk- horn, there are no sufficient reasons to doubt. It is enough, however, to embalm their memory in our hearts and to connect their names with the imperish- able memorials of our early history, that they were the first adventurers that plunged into the dark and enchanted wilderness of Kentucky, — that of all their cotemporaries they saw her first, — and saw her in the pride of her virgin beauty — at the dawn of summer — in the fullness of her vegetation — her soil instinct with fertility, covered with the most luxuriant ver- dure — the air perfumed with the fragrance of flowers 4.1 1 88 The Ohio Valley and her tall forests looming in all their primeval magnificence. How long Finley lived or where he died, the silence of history does not enable us to know. That his remains are now mingled with the soil that he discovered, there is some reason to hope, for he conducted Boone to Kentucky in 1 769 — and there the curtain drops on him forever."* The country beyond the Cumberland mountains "appeared in 1767 to the dusky view of the gener- ality of the people of Virginia almost as obscure and doubtful as America itself to the people of Eu- rope before the voyage of Columbus. A country there was ; of this none could doubt, who thought at all ; but whether land or water, mountain or plain, fertility or barrenness preponderated ; whether inhab- ited by men or beasts, or both, or neither, they knew not. If inhabited by men, they were supposed to be Indians; for such had always infested the frontiers. And this had been a powerful reason for not exploring the region west of the great mountain, which con- cealed Kentucky from their sight, "f If Judge Marshall is right in thus describing the reasons for not exploring a region, we must, in com- paring this pusillanimity of the colonial English with the intrepidity shown by colonial Frenchmen, cer- tainly wonder, that the former could drive the latter from this Continent. Daniel Boone's family had moved from Berks * Address of Governor Morehead at Boonesborough, Ky., May 25, 1840. f H. Marshall, History of Kentucky, I, 7. ' In Colonial Days. 189 county, Pennsylvania, to North Carolina, where they settled on the Yadkin river in 1753, and soon after their arrival there Daniel married, having provided a hut Jor his young wife in a solitary part of the Yadkin valley, where no neighbor could crowd him. But his solitude was soon disturbed by other settlers and he decided to move, if possible, to a wild and unex- plored region beyond the neighboring mountains, of which he heard strange stories.* The white settlers around his cabin in the Yadkin valley began to increase and they added thereby to Boone's desire to move. Perhaps other things helped this determination to leave the frontier and plunge into the wilderness. Taxes, fees and costs were the necessary following of increased population and Boone was not inclined to fill the pockets of the officials, who were benefited by them. At this juncture Boone fell in with Finley, returned from his excursion to the west, and his heart and imagination were soon ablaze * A modern writer relates of an expedition, which Daniel Boone appears to have undertaken about this time and says, that there is still standing on the bank of Boone's creek — a branch of the Watauga river — not far from Jonesboro, East Tennessee, a large beech tree, with the following inscription : D. Boon CillED A. BAR On Tree in ThE yEAR 1760. (Edmund Kirke, Rearguard of the Revolution following Ramsey, Annals of Tennessee.) The distance from Boone's settlement in the Yadkin valley to the above Boone's creek could not .have been more than perhaps 200 miles. We may, therefore, consider that the occasion, on which Boone cut the inscription into the ttee, was not an exploring, but only a somewhat ex- tended hunting excursion, such as the exigencies of their life often required the professional huntsmen to take. I I I „ I 190 The Ohio Valley with the wild and romantic stories of the traveler. Boone had seen a little of this enchanted region, when in 1 764 he had been sent on a tour of inspec- tion to a branch of the Cumberland river by a com- pany of land speculators. Now Finley and Boone set to work to form a new expeditionary party, but they did not succeed in recruiting the desired number until early in 1769. Boone tells the story of this expedition as follows :* ** It was on the first of May, 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time and left my family and peaceful habitation on the Yadkin river, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America, in quest of the country of Kentucky, in company with John Finley, John Stewart, Joseph Holden, James Monay and William Cool. We proceeded successfully and after a long and fatiguing journey through a mountainous wilderness, in a westward direction, on the seventh day of June following, we found ourselves on Red river,f where John Finley had formerly been trading * W. H. Bogart, in his " Daniel Boone," says of this narrative by John Filson: John Filson, who claimed to have been an early witness of the set- tlement of Kentucky, wrote, ostensibly from Boone's dictation, a life of the great Pioneer, but i^s style of language is so ornate and ambitious, as greatly to lessen its value. Evidently Filson received the leading facts from Boone and disdaining the simple words of the Pioneer, preferred the use of a dic- tion far beyond good taste or probability. Junlay, the editor of the book, calls it, curiously, " a narrative, written in a style of the utmost simplicity, by ... . one of the hunters, who first penetrated into the bosom of that delectable region." f Either the tributary of the Cumberland river flowing through Robertson and Montgomery counties, Tennessee, or a small tributary of the Kentucky river, rising in Morgan county and flowing between Clark and Estill counties, Kentucky. Probably the latter. In Colonial Days, 191 with the Indians and from the top of an eminence saw with pleasure the beautiful level of Kentucky. . .* At this place we '^ncamped and made a shelter to defend us from the inclement season and began to hunt and reconnoiter the country. We found every- where abundance of wild beasts of all sorts, through this vast forest. The buffalo were more frequent than I have seen cattle in the settlements. . . .* In this forest .... we practiced hunting with great suc- cess until the 2 2d day of December following. This day John Stewart and I had a pleasant ramble ; but fortune changed the scene in the close of it. We had passed through a great forest, on which stood myriads of trees, some gay with blossoms, others rich with fruits. . . .f In the decline of the day, near Kentucky river, as we ascended the brow of a small hill, a number of Indians rushed out of a thick cane- brake and made us prisoners." After having been plundered and carried about as captives for a while, the two hunters managed to escape, but they found their camp on the Red river deserted and plundered. " About this time," con- tinues Boone, " my brother. Squire Boone, with an- other adventurer, who came to explore the country shortly after us, was wandering thro' the forest, deter- mined to find me if possible and accidentally found our camp Soon after this my companion in * General reflections in ornate language are omitted. f Neither Boone nor his biographer seem to have thought of the contra- diction — of blossoms and fruits on the trees in December. I);!: 192 The Ohio Valley captivity, John Stewart, was killed by the Savages and the man that came with my brother returned home by himself. We were then in a dangerous, helpless situation, exposed daily to perils and death amongst the savages and wild beasts — not a white man in the country but ourselves. . . . We continued not in a state of indolence, but hunted every day and prepared a little cottage to defend us from the winter storms. We remained there undisturbed through the winter. On the first day of May, 1770, my brother returned home to the settlement by himself, for a new recruit of horses and ammunition, leaving me by myself without bread, salt or sugar, without company of my fellow creatures or even a horse or dog." Boone and his companions were, to a certain extent, trespassers. The territory, to which their expedition had extended, had originally belonged to the Chero- kees, who had been subjugated by the Six Nations of New York. But the claim of the Cherokees to this region had never been substantiated and hence the title of the Six Nations to it, which they had ceded to the British Crown by the treaty of Fort Stanwix* in 1768, was a very vague one. However, Boone and his party only anticipated for a short time, what they perhaps knew must come in the course of events. A treaty made at Lochaber, in South Caro- lina, October 5, 1770, extinguished the Indian claim completely. * Now Rome, New York. In Colonial Days. 193 We can only briefly follow Boone's adventures ; how he and his brother, after thoroughly exploring the country, determined to settle in it ; how, in Sep- tember, 1773, they started with their families from their homes in North Carolina ; how, after joining company with a party of forty odd people, near Powell's valley, bent on like removal, he had the misfortune to lose his eldest son in an Indian fight, and how, after this sad affair, in which five other men were killed, the disheartened majority of the party, after a council on Walden's mountain, compelled a return to the Clinch river in Virginia, where they made a welcome addition to an older settlement. The " place, called Kentucky " had, in the mean- time, become more extensively known. In 1771, a hunting company, which acquired fame under the name of the "Long Hunters," and consisted of Casper Mauser, James Knox, John Montgomery, Isaac Bledsoe and others, had gone on such a long and extensive hunt that we might be inclined to think they had been as far as the Mississippi and back. Their reports led the Assembly of Virginia to reward her soldiers, who had helped to drive the French from the Ohio Valley, with allotments of lands on the Kentucky river. Governor Dunmore, of Vir- ginia, knowing that Daniel Boone had demonstrated by his own experiences, that this was a country where people could live, sent surveyors into the regions to give some form and shape to the donations made in so liberal a manner by the Assembly. Captain in 194 The Ohio Valley m i'li!' ' Thomas Bullitt, an officer who had seen and done good service in the expedition against Fort du Quesne, was placed in charge of a party of survey- ors, Taylor, Harrod and McAfee, and penetrated through the wilderness, as far as the Falls of the Ohio. Here they made the fortified head-quarters for their operations and thus laid, unwittingly, the foundation for the present city of Louisville, Ken- tucky. Sir W. Johnson complained in September, 1773, that Bullitt and a large number of people had gone beyond the limits of the new purchase and that Shawanoes weke excited over it and treating with the Spaniards. Other surveyors followed. James Douglas, intending to join Captain Bullitt, explored the country about Big bone Lick creek. He saw ** the lick and the large bones, of which fame had said so much, the learned risked so many conjectures, and everybody knew so little."* He revisited Ken- tucky the next year, exploring the country on Elk- horn, Hickman and Jessamine creeks, and became so enamored of the country, that he intended to settle there. But death, interfering in so many human plans, said "No." Handcock Taylor, perhaps one of the original party, was killed by Indians in the execution of his duties, but his field notes were secured by his assist- ant, Hamptonstall, and later legalized by act of Legislature In May, 1774, Captain James Harrod, at the head of a party of forty-one men, in descend- * Marshall, History of Kentucky. In Colonial Days, 195 ing the Monongahela and the Ohio, reached the site of the present Harrodsburgh, or as first called, Har- rodstown or Old Town, which he laid out in lots of munificent size. They were the first white men who raised a crop of corn on Kentucky soil. John Floyd, " a deputy surveyor of Fincastle county,"* was en- gaged in this business also in 1774, and could in later years play an important role, as civil and as military officer, in the new territory. He made his station on the Bear Grass creek, some ten miles from the falls of the Ohio, and settled there. Doctor Wood's inten- tion in 1773 to descend the Ohio in quest of a new country and rich land, came to the knowledge of Simon Kenton, a young man of Fauquier county. For justifiable reasons he changed his name to Butler and joined Doctor Wood, with whom he went as far as Cabin creek, "making various improvements on the bottoms. "f Two years later Butler went down the Ohio again as far as the present site of Augusta, Bracken county, Kentucky, and striking inland made a settlement near the present town of Washington, Mason county. Another pioneer of these days was William Whit- ley, also a Virginian. Hearing the reports of the marvelous country, Kentucky, he decided to have a look at it with a view of settHng there. He set out with his brother-in-law, George Clark, and seven others, and found what he and his companions desired in the south-eastern section of Kentucky. * Marshall, History of Kentucky; Botetourt county is probably meant, fib. 196 The Ohio Valley Lord Dunmore, Governor of New York, later of Virginia, had, in 1 770, considered the scheme of estab- lishing a Colony on the Ohio as impracticable. All the men, who were supposed to have any knowledge of such affairs and whom he consulted, concurred in a condemnation of such a project, giving as their reasons for doing so the great distances from the set- tled parts, an impossibility to establish commercial communications. " Such Colony must therefore be their own Manufacturers," he continues,* ** and the great expense of maintaining Troops there for their protection be a dead weight on Govern* without the hopes of reaping any advantage hereafter Add to this the great probability, I may venture to say with certainty, that the attempting a settlement on the Ohio will draw on an Indian war ; it being well known how ill affected the Ohio Indians have always been to our interest and their jealousy of such a settlement, so near them, must be easily foreseen." Lord Dunmore was not wrong in his anticipations. In the beginning of the following year, 1771, Sir William Johnson had to report that the Northern and Southern Indians were negotiating for a closer union between them to prevent further encroachments by the white intruders. " If a very small part of these people have been capable of reducing us to such straits as we were in a few years since, what may we not expect from such a formidable alliance as we are threatened with, when at the same time it is well * Marshall, History of Kentucky, 253. . In Colonial Days, 197 known, that we are not at this time more capable of Defence, if so much, as at the former period."* Neither Sir William Johnson nor Lord Dunmore's warnings against pushing settlements to the west- ward were heeded by the home authorities in Eng- land. A grant of land was made in 1772 to Thomas Walpole, Benjamin Franklin, John Sargent and Samuel Wharton, the representatives of a land com- pany. This company offered to pay ^10,460, the sum paid to the Six Nations for the land purchased from them at the Fort Stanwix treaty, and desired to receive therefor the title of a tract " beginning on the South Side of the River Ohio opposite to the mouth of Sioto, thence southerly through the pass in the Ouasioto Mountains, to the South side of the said mountains, thence along the side of the said Mountains North Easterly to the Fork of the Great Kenhawa, made by the junction of Green Briar and new River, thence along the said Green Briar on the Easterly side of the same unto the Head or termi- nation of the North Easterly branch thereof, thence Easterly to the Allegheny mountains, thence along the said Allegheny mountains to Lord Fairfax's Line, thence along the same to the Spring head of the North Branch of the River Powtomack, thence along the Western Boundary Line of the Province of Maryland to the Southern Boundary Line of the Province of Pennsylvania to the End thereof, thence along the Western Boundary Line of the said prov- * Marshall, History of Kentucky, 262. m 'ill' liii E iilii SI'.' ; I'l. Hi mv lii ,1, 198 TAe Ohio Valley ince of Pennsylvania until the same shall strike the River Ohio, Thence down the said River Ohio to the place of beginning."* A glance at the map will show that this tract covered most of the present State of West Virginia and a small part of Eastern Kentucky. The lands granted had already partly been settled and were not " beyond the reach of ad- vantageous intercourse." The above warning was written while Lord Dunmore was still Governor of New York. As Governor of Virginia he visited the back settlements and remained some time at Pitts- burgh, engaged in a territorial dispute between Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania. He is accused of having excited the Indian war, which devastated the western settlements in 1774, with a view of distracting the councils of the patriots of those days. This conflict ended by the battle of Point Pleasant, above the mouth Kii the Great Kanhawa, on the loth of October, 1774. A letter from Sir William Johnson to Governor Tryon, of New York, speaking of the Indian situa- tion, says in 1774 :f "The disorderly behaviour of the Frontier Inhabitants will confirm the Indians in their suspicions against us. . . . For more than ten years past the most dissolute fellows united with debtors and persons of a wandering disposition have been removing from Pennsylvania, Virginia, etc., into the Indian Country, towards and on the Ohio and a ♦N. Y. Coll. MSB., XCVIII, 127. fN. Y. Col. Hist,, VIII, 460. _L In Colonial Days, 199 considerable number of settlements were made as early as 1765.* The Cession to the Crown at the Treaty of 1 768 was secured by the plainest and best natural boundaries and the Indians freely agreed to make it the more ample that our people should have no pretext of narrow limits and the remainder might be rendered the more secure to themselves and their posterity ; neither did they expect that we should push settlements immediately over the whole of their cession and His Majesty with great wisdom and dis- cretion was pleased to direct that none should be now made below the Great Kanhawa River, with which I acquainted the Indians agreeable to my orders, but number of settlements had been made there previous to the cession, attempts made since to form others on the Mississippi and great numbers in defiance of the cession or the orders of Government in conse- quence thereof have since removed not only below the Kanhawa, but even far beyond the limits of the Cession . . . . ; the body of these people are under no restraint, they perceive that they are in places of secu- rity and pay as little regard to Government, as they do to title for their possessions, whilst at the same time not only individuals but bodies of men are inter- ested in the growth of these settlements, however in- jurious to the old colonies and dangerous to all ; but 'till better order is restored elsewhere, little can be expected in that quarter & in the interim these set- tlements increase and what is much worse the disor- * North of the Ohio. 1 !i 200 The Ohio Valley jiijlj ! i ders, of which the Indians principally complain grow to an enormity, that threatens us with fresh wars." The warlike attitude of the Indians threatened danger not only to the settlers within the territory, ceded by them, but also to the surveying parties, sent out by the Governor far beyond the limits thereof. They had to be protected or at least must be warned of the danger threatening them and here we must retrace our steps to the settlement on Clinch river, where Daniel Boone and his party had retreated after the failure of their expedition in 1 773. For, although it is not intended here to write a biography of Boone, however worthy a subject he is of one, we must recur to him again, as the history of his wanderings is more or less also the Colonial history of Kentucky, of the " Dark and Bloody Ground." His former exploits as an intrepid pioneer had gradually become known to Governor and Council of Virginia, and when the question of warning their sub- ordinates, the surveyors way out west, came up before them, they decided to employ Boone as the most trustworthy messenger. He undertook the service expected from him and set out on his journey with only one companion, Michael Stoner. Stoner was, like Boone, a pioneer and had already traversed part of the new country, having hunted on the Cum- berland river. The two intrepid messengers reached the surveying camp at the falls of the Ohio and suc- ceeded in piloting the threatened party safely back to less dangerous regions. Very little is known of this In Colonial Days. 20I remarkable journey of 800 miles in sixty-two days. Boone speaks modestly of it and affirms that " many difficulties" were encountered. Tradition has, of course, so much more to tell about it. A party, be- longing to the Harrod company was attacked by Indians, and tells the story, that one of the men in his fright, having succeeded to make his escape in a canoe, paddled down the Ohio, down the Mississippi and returned to his home in Pennsylvania or Vir- ginia by way of the Gulf and Atlantic ocean. One of the results of this journey may be learned from the following certificate, issued to Stoner : " Michael Stoner this day appeared and claimed a right to a settlement and preemption to a tract of land lying on Stoner's F"ork,* a branch of the South Fork of Licking, about 12 miles above Licking sta- tion,t by making corn in the country in the year 1775 and improving the said land in the year 1776 ; satisfactory proof being made to the Court, they are of opinion, that the said Stoner had a right to a set- tlement of 400 acres of land, including the above mentioned improvements and a preemption of 1000 acres adjoining the same and that a certificate issue accordingly." Boone's successful performance earned him the thanks of Lord Dunmore in the shape of a military commission, by virtue of which he was " ordered to take command of three garrisons" on the frontier. * Now Stoner's creek, Bourbon county, Kentucky, f In Morgan county, Kentucky. 26 ^ad "f. 202 m The Ohio Valley In this capacity he took part in the battle at Point Pleasant on the loth of Occober, 1774, which secured peace for the settlers on ceded territory. But this Indian war had not taught any more respect for treaties, made with the Indians, nor shown to would- be settlers on Indian lands, how dangerous such at- tempts would be. Governor Morehead tells of the next attempt:* " In the autumn of the year 1774 there originated in North Carolina one of the most extraordinary schemes of ambition and speculation, which was ex- hibited in an age pregnant with such events. Eight private gentlemen — Richard Henderson, William Johnston, Nathaniel Hart, JohnTuttrel, David Hart, John Williams, James Hogg and Leonard Henley Bullock — contrived the project of purchasing a large tract of country in the West from the Cherokee In- dians and provisionary arrangements were made, with a view to the accomplishment of their object, for a treaty to be held with them in the ensuing year. This was the celebrated Transylvania Company, which formed so singular a connection with our early annals. In March 1775 Col. Henderson, on behalf of his asso- ciates, met the chiefs of the Cherokees, attended by 1200 warriors, at a fort on the Watauga, the south- eastern branch of the Holston River. A council was held, the terms were discussed, the purchase was consummated — including the whole tract of country between the Cumberland and Kentucky Rivers." ■*■ First settlement of Kentucky, 1740, quoted above. In Colonial Days. 203 But the purchase, thus made, was not a legal one. Both the Colonies, Virginia and North Carolina, claiming by their charters jurisdiction as far as the Mississippi and therefore including this tract, had at different times enacted laws which, though not as stringent as the New York laws on that subject, made a direct conveyance of land from the Indian to the white man void.* This principle was re-affirmed in the Constitutions, which the two Colonies adopted on entering the Union of the States : " No purchase of land shall be made of the Indian natives but on be- half of the public by authority of the General As- sembly." Doctor O. F. D. Smyth, traveling through Vir- ginia as agent for Lord Dunmore, throws the light of cotemporaneous opinion on this gigantic land-job- bery of Henderson : " Under pretence of viewing some back lands, he [Henderson] privately went out to the Cherokee nation of Indians and for an insig- nificant consideration (only ten wagons loaded with cheap goods, some fire arms and spirituous liquors), made a purchase from the chiefs of the nation of a vast tract of territory, equal in extent to a kingdom and in the excellence of climate and soil, extent of its rivers and beautiful elegance of situations inferior to none in the universe. A domain of no less than 100 miles square, situated on the back or interior * William W, Hening, Statutes of Virginia, I, 391, 396, 468; II, 139; Johns Hopkins University Studies, III, 123, and Iredell Laws of North Caro- lina, I, 32, Chap. LIX. 204 The Ohio Valley \ '■ part of Virginia and of North and South Carolina ; comprehending the rivers Kentucky, Cherokee [Curn- berland] and Ohio, besides a variety of inferior rivu- lets. . . . This transaction he kept a profound secret, until such time as he obtained the final ratification of the whole nation in form. Then he immediately in- vited settlers from all the Provinces, offering them lands on the most advantageous terms and proposing to them, likewise, to form a government and a legis- lature of their own, such as might be most convenient to their particular circumstances of settlement Mr. Henderson by this means established a new colony, numerous and respectable, of which he him- self was virtually proprietor as well as Governor, and indeed Legislature also. ... In vain did the different Governors fulminate their proclamations of outlawry against him and his people ; in vain did they offer rewards for apprehending him and forbid every person from joining or repairing to his settle- ment ; under the sanction and authority of a general law that renders the formal assent of the Governors and Assemblies of the different Provinces absolutely necessary to vindicate the purchase of any lands from the Indian nations. For this instance being the act of the Indians themselves, they defended him and his colony, being in fact as a bulwark and barrier between Virginia as well as North and South Caro- lina, and him ; his territory lying to the westward of their nation."* Henderson's scheme failed and the • O. F. D. Smyth, Travels in Virginia, 1773. 'jri In Colonial Days. 205 Commonwealth of " Transylvania " had only a short existence. He had not thought it necessary to in- quire, whether the Cherokees, from whom he bought this territory, had a right and title to it. At the time when they made over to Henderson the great domain of Transylvania they lived ir towns, either on the head waters of the Savannah river, the Keowee and Tugelo, or on the Tennessee, above the mouth of the Holston. They occupied as hunting grounds the counties of Franklin and Elbert in Georgia, the western counties of South Carolina, North Carolina and of Virginia ; they would occasionally go down the Tennessee, but very rarely on the Cumberland, and when they visited this river they considered themselves as hunting on grounds not their own. On the other hand the Chickasaws, as Governor Blount of the South-West Territory* says, lived for a long time on the north side of the Tennessee, at least fifty miles lower down the river, than the lowest Cherokee town, and the greatest contiguity to hunting grounds, as well as the prior use of them, is the best claim Indians can establish to them. At a treaty between the Cherokees and Governor Blount, representing the United States, made on Long Island of Holston river, a Cherokee chief said to Henderson: "You, Carolina Dick, have deceived your people ; you told them, we sold you the Cumberland lands ; we only sold you our claim ; they belong to our brothers, the Chickasaws, as far as the head waters of Duck and * American State Papers, Indian Affairs, I, 433. 2o6 The Ohio Valley Elk Rivers." Daniel Boone was employed by Hen- derson in carrying out the plans for organizing this new Colony. He was assigned to the command of a company sent "to mark out a road in the best passage from the settlement, through the wilderness to Kentucky." Boone pushed this work rapidly, so that on the ist of April, 1775 he had reached the place where the first fort in the present State of Ken- tucky was erected, and could begin to lay the founda- tion of Boonesborough.* Henderson joined Boone in the new village and opened a land office, disposing of over half a million of acres in a short time, for which only questionable titles could be given in the name of " The Proprietors of the Colony of Tran- sylvania in America." Other settlements sprung up in the new Colony — Harrodsburgh, Boiling Spring and St. Asaph's — which formed a legislature to meet at Boonesborough in 1775. The battles of Lexington and Concord were fought ; and the shot which was soon to be " heard around the woHd " echoed in the woods of Kentucky. The days of Colonial Kentucky were numbered as the few inhabitants joined their kinsmen along the seaboard in throwing off the dominion of England, and Henderson was obliged to give up his scheme of establishing a separate and independent government similar to the other British Colonies. He addressed a memorial to the Continental Congress in 1775, Madison county, Kentucky. In Colonial Days. 207 asking that Transylvania might be added to the United Colonies, rising against English tyranny. In going south from Kentucky ve come to the upper intervales of the Ohio Valley, to Tennessee. As Rafinesque* claims that Kentucky was discov- ered by Colonel Wood in 1654, so Ramseyf thinks it possible, that Fernando de Soto, on the march which he made in 1539 from Florida to the Missis- sippi, may have passed through Tennessee. But we must leave such speculations to special investigators and will here confine ourselves to documentary evi- dences, although maps of the sixteenth century indicate some vague knowledge of the country between the Mississippi and the Atlantic ocean. J A map of de risle§ shows de Soto to have come to the head waters of the Tennessee river. The first Europeans, whom we positively know to have been in the Tennessee country, came by way of New Orleans up the Mississippi. M. de Crozat * Marshall, History of Kentucky. f Annals of Tennessee, 26. X I. Americae pars borealis, Florida, Baccalaos, Canada, Corterealisa Cor- nelio de Judaeis in lucem edita, 1593, has two rivers, both starting under the 40th degree N. L., one from the west, the other from the east, which after running under the same degree join and immediately separate, to flow par- allel to each other into the gulf. 2. In the Wytfiiet Map of 1597, already mentioned, very similar to No. 1. 3. The De Bry Map of 1596, has the Mississippi and a tributary running from the east fairly correct. 4. Quadus, in his " Geographisches Handbook " (Geographical Handbook), 1600, fol- lows Judaeus. § Amsterdam edition of Garcilasso de la Vega's Histoire des Incas et de la conquSte de la Floride, 1707. Other maps of the route are given by Rye (in Hakluyt), McCulloch (Antiquarian Researches in America, Baltimore, 1829), and by J. C. Breevort (in Smith's Narratives of Hernando de Soto). ,I(III 208 The Ohio Valley had obtained a grant of the exclusive trade in the territory of Louisiana from the French King* and established in 1714 a trading store, under charge of M. Charleville, " upon a mound near the present site of Nashville, on the west side of the Cumberland river, near French Lick creek, and about seventy yards from each stream. "f Hunters and traders of both the French and the English nationalities must have resorted to the country east of the Mississippi. In 1718 the French could describe the road taken by the Indians of Michigan and Lake Huron, " when going to war with the Flatheads and other nations toward Carolina, such as the Cheraquis, residing on the river Casqui- nampoj and the Cha6anons."§ They had also a fort on Tennessee soil, Fort Assomption, though not in the Ohio Valley. Fort Assomption on Chickasaw bluff, where Memphis now stands, formed a link in the chain of footholds, more or less fortified, which the French had established for securing the communi- cation between Canada and New Orleans. But from an English source we have, for a wonder, the most complete description of the country given in these days : . . . . " The great nation of the Chicazaws [Chicka- saws] whose country extends above forty leagues to the river of the Cheraquees, which we shall describe * N. y. Col. Hist., IX, 671. f Ramsey, Annals, 45. X Old name of the Tennessee river, de Lisle's map. § N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 886. In Colonial Days. 209 when we come to discourse of the great river Hohio. . . . . Thirty leagues higher on the East side is the opening of a river that proceeds out of a lake twenty miles long, which is about ten miles from the Mescha- cebe. Into this lake empty themselves four large rivers. The most northerly, which comes from the North East is called Ouabachicou or Ouabache, upon which dwelt the nations Chachakingua, Pepepicokia, Peanguichia. The next South of this is the vast river Hohio, which comes from the back of New York, Maryland and Virginia, and is navigable for 600 miles. Hohio in the Indian language signifies the fair river ; and certainly it runs from its heads through the most beautiful fertile countries in the universe and is formed by the confluence of ten or twelve rivers and innumerable rivulets. A town set- tled upon this lake or the entrance of the river Hohio thereinto, would have communication with a most lovely fruitful country 600 miles square. Formerly, divers nations dwelt on this river, as the Chawanoes, a mighty and very populous people, who had above fifty towns and many other nations, who were totally destroyed or driven out of their country by the Irocois, this river being their usual road, when they make war upon the nations who lie to the South or to the West. " South of the Hohio is another river, which about thirty leagues above the lake is divided into two branches ; the northerly is called Ouespere, the south- erly the Black River ; there are very few people upon 27 2IO The Ohio Valley either, they having been destroyed or driven away by the aforementioned Irocois. The heads of this river proceed from the West side of the vast ridge of mountains which run on the back of Carolina, Vir- ginia and Maryland ; on whose opposite or East side are the sources of the great river Pctomack. . . . The mountains afford a short passage or communication between those two rivers, which the Indians are well acquainted with. . . . " The most southerly of the above said four rivers, which enter into the lake, is a river some call Kasqui, so named from a nation inhabiting a little above its mouth ; others call it the Cusates or the river of the Cheraquees, a mighty nation, among whom it has its chief fountains ; it comes from the South-East and its heads are among the mountains, which separate this country from Carolina, and is the great road of the traders from thence to the Meschacebe and intermediate places."* To counteract the French influences among the Indians, Sir Alexander Cumming start,ed in 1730, to hold a conference with all the chiefs of the Cherokee townsf at Nequassee, on the Hiawassee river,J at which Moytoy of Telliquo§ was appointed head chief of the Cherokee Indians. Moytoy had the crown brought from the village of Tenassee on the Little Tennessee river and presented it to the English Com- * Dkiniel Coxe, Description of Carolina, 1722. f See Appendix E. X A small tributary of the Tennessee. § Probably the modern Tellico. mL Tn Colonial Days. 2 1 1 missioner, Sir Alexander dimming, in token of his submission. Upon his advice some chiefs of the tribe were sent to England and did homage there to King George.* English state-craft appears not to have been able to secure by treaty permanent immunity from Indian invasions. A memorial from the Governor, the President of the Council and the Speaker of the As- sembly of South Carolina sent to King George in 1734, says : " The Cherokee nation has lately become very insolent to our traders, and we beg leave to in- form Your Majesty that the building and mounting some forts among them may keep them steady in their fidelity to us and that the means of the province are inadequate to its defence."f But it took the English government twenty-two years to arrive at a decision in this matter, when the Earl of Loudon, commanding the Royal troops in America, and Gov- ernor Dinwiddie of Virginia, sent Andrew Lewis to build a fort on Tennessee river near ;he head of navi- gation and about thirty miles from the present city of Knoxville. The erection of this fort. Fort Lou- don, although at all times a place very difficult and in case of an Indian war, impossible to reach with supplies, had the hearty approval of the Cherokees, who, says Haywood, J " invited artizans into Fort Loudon by donations of land, which they caused to be signed by their own chief and, in one instance, by § Hewitt, History of South Carolina, \l, 5. t lb.. II, 37. t Haywood, Civil History of Tennessee, p. 28. . ;! 212 The Ohio Valley I Gov. Dobbs of North Carolina." Colonel Byrd, of Virginia, marched into the country in 1 758, and built Fort Chissel, garrisoning it with part of his regi- ment. Another fort was established by him on the north bank of the Holston river. These forts and the garrisons in them seemed to make the country desirable for permanent settlement and people began to stream in ; when estranged from their allegiance to the English by dexterous French agents, the Cherokees commenced again hostilities. The ensuing war was bitter and disastrous ; the only white settle- ment within the boundaries of the present State of Tennessee, around Fort Loudon, was entirely broken up, and quiet was only restored when, in 1761, the Cherokees, much weakened, sued for peace and en- tered into a new treaty of amity with the Colonial troops. Either the expedition of Colonel Bouquet, spoken of in a former chapter, had an effect on the Indians south of the Ohio, or the absence of settle- ments, to be plundered, kept them on their good be- havior, and the parties of hunters and explorers, who began to traverse the country in every direction had no cause to complain of the treatment by the abo- riginal inhabitants. But no new farms were made until 1 768, when ten families came from near the present Raleigh, North Carolina, and established themselves on the Watauga.* Other people from North Caro. lina and Virginia followed, and " about the years 1768, 1769 and 1770, such was the reigning fashion * A branch of the Holston. In Colonial Days. 213 of the time as eminently promoted the emigration of its people from North Carolina."* The same causes, which induced Daniel Boone to remove from the Yadkin, made a body of the North Carolinians rise, under the name of Regulators, against the oppression of Royal officials, and when defeated in a fight on the Alamance creek.f some of them fled to the fast- nesses on the Holston river. The taxation of the people had become so unbearable, that the land-owner had to seek new fields in which to repair his broken fortunes, and the poorer classes were compelled to go somewhere in search of independence and a respect- able existence. These were powerful incentives and the people obeyed them by streaming into the country west of the mountains. At the head of the little Colony, formed on the Watauga, was James Robertson, who distinguished himself during the war of the Revolution and became in many ways closely identified with the history of the State of Tennessee. The new settlement in- creased rapidly in population, and within three years was able to muster about three hundred men able to bear arms. The policy of a government will gradually warp the intellect of the people. As the British govern- ment claimed to be the owner of all lands east of the Mississippi by the conquest of the French, without consideration for Indian rights, so this settlement on * Haywood, p. 39. f Runs into Haw river, North Carolina. 214 The Ohio Valley i the Watauga found itself on Indian territory as tres- passers. For the treaty, made between Virginia and the Cherokees, established the boundary line from White Top mountain westward to Holston river, on a parallel of about 36° N. L. Alexander Cameron the Deputy Agent of Indian Affairs residing among the Cherokees was, therefore, only fulfilling his duty when he ordered the settlers to move off. But some of the Cherokees expressed a desire that the tres- passers might be permitted to remain, provided they would make no further encroachments. The settlers took advantage of this favorable and friendly disposition shown by the owners of the land. They deputed James Robertson and John Bean, in 1 771, to treat with their landlords on a basis of accommodation and amicable intercourse. The nego- tiations resulted in a lease for eight years, for although unwilling to give up their lands for no equivalent, they consented to lease all the country along the waters of the Watauga for a stipulated amount of merchandise, muskets and other Indian goods. The next year a similar settlement was made on the Noli- chuky river, under like circumstances, by Jacob Brown, and two other families from North Carolina. The sums paid out under the above conditions were recovered by sales of land to new comers and thus a nursery of population was planted in East Ten- nessee. To our modern mind the situation of these pioneers of European civilization in the heart of the great In Colonial Days. 215 American wilderness offers a most romantic picture. They were far removed from the parent provinces, separated from them by trackless forests and high mountain ranges ; their governments could neither control nor protect them and had most likely forgot- ten their very existence. It was almost a repetition of the story told by the Good Book of Adam and Eve in Paradise. And this story happened not much more than 100 years ago. Apparently the peaceful spirit of Paradise pervaded the new settlements, for we hear of no discords among the inhabitants and of no hostile encounters with the Indians. The rapid increase of population told the leading men on the Watauga and on the Nolichuky, that a code of laws was indispensable for the maintenance of this no less remarkable, than beneficial condition. It was drawn up to be signed by every individual. If any one should refuse, he was to be debarred from its benefits, but every settler signed it. The new laws provided for the election of magistrates, called trustees, by whom all controversies were to be de- cided conformably to the written code. Thus organ- ized, their affairs continued prosperous till the commencement of the war for Independence. The population had then increased to such an extent, that about 800 riflemen could join their friends in the con- test for libertv. The settling of West Tennessee falls into a period a few years later and therefore is not to be treated of iir 216 The Ohio Valley here. But like that of East Tennessee it was full of incidents, which compel our admiration for the courage and astuteness of the men who followed the advice of the late Horace Greeley, ** Go West, young man," before it was given. They were surrounded by so many concentric circles of danger and perplexities, that human assistance was out of the question. Their nearest neighbors, at Lexington, were 200 miles away and scarce able to protect themselves. The settlement at Holston was 3CXD miles from them and no roads led there. But notwithstanding these diffi- culties they were preserved and prospered and are now a rich and vigorous people. I In Colonial Days. 217 APPENDIX A. Extract from the Journal of Galin:6e.* After thirty-five days of very difficult navigation we arrived at a small river, called by the Indians " Karontaguat," which is the nearest point on the lake to " Sonnontouan," and about 100 leagues South West of Montreal 43° 12 N. Lat. . . . M. Col- lier, M. de la Salle and myself consulted together, in order to determine in what manner we should act, what we should offer for presents and how we should give them. It was determined, that I should go to the village with M. de la Salle for the purpose of obtaining a captive taken from the nation, whom we desired to visit, who could conduct us thither and that we should take with us eight of our Frenchmen, leaving the rest with M. Dollier in charge of our canoes. . . . When we were within a league of the village the halts were more frequent until we finally came in sight of the great village. ... In order to reach it we had to ascend a small hill, on the edge of wh'ch the village is situated. As soon as we had ascended the hill, we saw a large number of old men seated on the grass, expecting our approach. They * Ren6 de Brehan de Galin6e, a missionary of the Order of St. Sulpitius, who became one of la Salle's companions, as stated in the text, is the writer of this journal. He was we'l acquainted with the Algonquin dialect and had some reputation as survevor and astronomer. 28 2l8 The Ohio Valley had left a convenient place in front, in which they invited us to sit down. * 'k ^ * # * The third and last present, which we gave, were two coats, four kettles, six hatchets and some glass beads, with which we announced, that we had come on the part of Onontio,* to see the people called by them "Toagenha"f living on the river Ohio and we asked from them a captive of that country, to be our guide. They considered it was necessary to think over our proposition. . . . We thus consumed the time for eight or ten days. . . . During our stay at that village, we inquired particularly about the road we must take to reach the Ohio river and were told to go in search of it from Sonnontouan. That it required six days' journey by land of about twelve leagues each. J This induced us to believe, that we possibly could not reach it in that way, as we would hardly be able to carry for so long a journey our necessary pro- visions, much less our baggage. But they told us at the same time, that in going to find it by the way of Lake Erie, in canoes, we would have only a portage of three days before reaching that river, reaching it at a point much nearer to the people, whom we de- sired to find, than by way of Sonnontouan. * Onontio means Great Mountain and was the Iroquois name for Gov- ernor Montmagny, and later all the other French Governors. fOtoagannha= People speaking corrupt Algonquin. Relation, 1661-2, p. 9. X Probably by portages from the head of the Genesee to the Alleghany. In Colonial Days. 219 What troubled us however more than all else was, what the Indians told our Dutch interpreter. They called him insane for wishing to go to the Toagenhas, who were a very bad people, sure to k'll us. Besides this, we would run great risk along the river Ohio of meeting the Ontastoes,* who would most certainly break our heads. Therefore the Senecas were not willing to go with us, as they feared that our deaths would be charged to them. . . . We were relieved of all this difficulty by the arrival from the Dutch of an Indian, who lodged in our cabin. His home was the village of one of the Five cantons of Iroquois at the end of Lake Ontario. This Indian assured us, that we would have no trouble in finding a guide, as a number of captives from the tribes we desired to visit were in his village and he would cheerfully con- duct us to his home. It was under the influence of these hopes, that we left the Sonnontouans We waited here (at Ganastogue Sonontoua O-tin-a-oua-ta-oua) until the chiefs of the village came to meet us with some men to carry our effects. . . . They made us still another present of about 5000 wampum and afterwards two captives for guides. One of them belonged to the Chouanons nation, the other to the Nez Perces. The Chouanon fell to M. de la Salle, the other to us. * The Andastes or Guyandots may be meant. They lived, according to Gallatin (Syn. Ind. Tr. 76), on the Alleghany river. The war with the Iro- quois, in which they were engaged at this time, ended in their destruction, 1672. 220 The Ohio Valley APPENDIX B. A Journal from Virginia Beyond the Appala- chian Mountains in SEPT^ 1671, sent to the Royal Society by M" Clayton, and Read Aug. I, 1688, before the said Society. 1671 Sep^' I. Thomas Batts, Thomas Woods, and Rob- ert Fallam, having received a commission from the Hon'ble Major General Wood for the finding out the ebbing and flowing of the Water on the other side of the Mountains, in order to the discovery of the South Sea, accompanied with Perecute, a great Man of the Apomatack Indians, and Jack Neasam, for- merly Servant to Major General Wood with five horses set forward from the Apomatacks Town about eight of the Clock in the morning, being Friday Sept'. I'S 1 67 1. That day we travelled about 40 Miles, took up our quarters, and found, that we had travelled from the Okenechee path due West. Sep*' 2. We travelled about 45 Miles and came to our quarters at Sun set, and found we were to the North of the West. Sep*' 3. We travelled West and by South Course and about three o'Clock came to a great swamp a Mile and a half or two Miles over, and very difficult to pass. We led our horses thro' and waded twice over a River emptying itself into Roanoke River. After we were over we went North west and so came In Colonial Days. 221 round and took up our quarters West this day we travelled 40 Miles good. Sep' 4. We set forward and about two of the Clock arrived at the Sapony Indians Town. We travelled South and by West course till about noon, and came to the Sapony West. Here we were very joyfully and kindly received with firing of Guns and plenty of provision. We here hired a Sapony Indian to be our Guide towards the Totoras a nearer way than usual. Sep"- 5. I wot as we were ready to take horse and March from the Sapony's, about seven of the Clock in the morning we heard some guns go off from the other side of the River. They were seven Apoma- tack Indians sent by Major General Wood to accom- pany us in our Voyage. We hence sent back a horse belonging to M"" Thomas Wood which was tired, by a Portugal belonging to Major General Wood, whom we here found. About eleven of the Clock we set forward and that night came to the Town of the Flanakaskies which we judge to be 25 Miles from the Sapony's and received the like or better entertain- ment than from the Sapony's The Town lying west and by North is an Island on the Sapony River, rich land. Sep**- 6. About 1 1 of the Clock we set forward from the Flanakaskies but left M"" Thomas Wood at the Town dangerously sick of the Flux and the horse he rode on belonging to Major General Wood was likewise taken with the staggers and a failing in ii'. .,;S'' I m i 2 22 T/ie Ohio Valley his hinder parts. Our course was this Day West and by South, and we took up our quarters West about 20 Miles from the Town. This afternoon our horses stray'd away about one of the Clock. Sep*"^ 7. We set forward about three of the Clock. We had sight of the Mountains. We travelled 25 Miles over very hilly and stony Ground, our course westerly. Sep*"^ 8. We set out by sun rise, and travelled all day a west and by north course, about one of the Clock we came to a Tree mark'd in the path with a Coal M A. N J about four of the Clock we came to the foot of the first Mountain went to the Top, and then came to a small descent, and so did rise again, and then till we came almost to the bottom was a very steep descent. We travelled all day over very Stony Rocky ground and after 30 Miles travell this day we came to our quarters at the foot of the Moun- tain due West. We past the Sapony River twice this Day. Sep**^ 9. We were stirring with the Sun and trav- elled West and after a little riding came again to the Sapony River, where it was very narrow, and ascended the second Mountain which wound up west and by South with several risings and fallings, after which we came to a steep descent at the foot whereof was a lovely descending Valley about six Miles over, with curious small risings : indifferent good way. Our course over it was South West, after we were over that we came to a very steep descent at the foot i mi In Colonial Days, 223 where of stood the Tatera Town in a very rich swamp between a branch of the main River of Roanoke, circled about with Mountains, we got thither about three of the Clock, after we had travelled 25 Miles. Here we were exceedingly civilly entertained. Sat- urday night Sunday, and Monday we staid at the Toteras Perecute being taken very sick of a fever and ague every afternoon notwithstanding on Tues- day Morning about nine of the clock we resolved to leave our horses with the Toteras and set forward. Sep'"^ 12. We left the Town West and by North. We Travelled that day sometimes southerly some- times northerly, as the path went over several high mountains and steep Vallies crossing several branches and the River Roanoke several times, all exceedingly stony ground untill about four o Clock Perecute being taken with his fit and we were very weary, we took up our quarters by the side of Roanoke River almost at the head of it at the foot of the Great Mountain. Our course was West and by North, having travelled 25 Miles, at the Toteras we hired one of their Indians for our Guide, and left one of the Apomatack Indians there sick. Sep*"" 13. In the Morning we set forward early, after we had travelled about three Miles we came to the foot of the great Mountain, and found a very steep ascent, so that we could scarce keep ourselves from sliding down again. It continued for three Miles with small intermission of better way. Right up by the Path on the left we saw the proportion of 224 The Ohio Valley the Man* there growing very high weeds and grass about it, but nothing but moss on the place. When we were got up to the top of the Mountain and set down very weary we saw very high Mountains lying to the north and South as far as we could discern. Our Course up the Mountain was West and by North a very small descent on the other side, and as soon as over we found the Vallies tending westerly. It was a pleasing tho dreadfull sight to see the Moun- tains and Hills as if piled one upon another. After we had travelled about three miles from the Mountains easily descending ground about 1 2 of the Clock we came to two Trees mark'd with a Coal M. A. N J the other cut in with M. A. and several other scrable- ments hard by a run just like the swift Creek at M"^ Randolphs in Virginia, emptying itself sometimes westerly sometimes northerly, with curious meadows on each side, going forward we found rich ground but stony curious rising hills and brave meadows with grass above man's height many Rivers running West north West and several runs from the South- erly Mountains, which we saw as we marched, which run northerly into the great River. After we had travelled about 7 Miles we came to a very steep de- scent where we found a great run, which emptied itself as we supposed into the great River northerly our Course being as the path went, west south west, We set forward West and had not gone far, but we * Whereof they had given an account it seems in a former Relation which I have not. (Note of Mr. Clayton.) In Colonial Days. 225 met again with the River still broad, running West and by North. We went over the great run empty- ing itself northerly into the great River. After we had marched about 6 Miles north West and by North we came to the River again where it was much broader than at the two other places. It ran here west and by South and so as we suppose wound up westerly. Here we took up our quarters, after we had waded over, for this night due west. The soil the farther we went, the richer. Stony, full of brave meadows and old fields.* Sep'' 14. We set forward before sun rise our pro- vision being all spent. We travelled as the path went sometimes southerly sometimes northerly over good ground but stony, sometimes rising hills, and then steep descents, as we marched in a clear place at the top of a hill we saw ag' us lying south West a curious prospect of hills like waves raised by a gentle breese of wind rising one after another. M*^ Batt supposed he saw houses : but I rather think them to be white Cliffs. We marched about 20 Miles this day and about three of the Clock took up our quarters to see if our Indians could kill us some Deer, being West and by North very weary and hungry and Perecute continuing very ill yet desirous to go forward. We came this day over several brave runs and hope to- morrow to see the Main River again. * Old fields is a common expression for Land that has been cultivated by Indians, and left fallow, which are generally overrun with what they call broome grats. (Note in the original MSS.) 39 ill ii^lii I nil li:,-. ir IW: 'm6 The Oh JO Valley Scp"^ 15. Yesterday in the afternoon and this day we lived a dog's Hfe hunger and Ease Our Indians having done their best could kill us no meat. The deer they said were in such herds and the ground so dry that one or other of them would spy them. No remedy. About one of the Clock we set forward and went about 16 Miles over some exceeding good and some indifferent ground a West and by North course till we came to a great run, that empties. itself west and by North, as we suppose into the great River which we hope is nigh at hand. As we marched we met with some wild geese, berries and exceeding large haw's, with which we were forced to feed ourselves. Sep^' 16. Our Guide went from us Yesterday and we saw him no more till we returned to the Toteras, Our Indians went a ranging betimes to see and kill us some Deer as Meat. One came and told us they heard a drum and a gun ^<> off to the northward. They brought us some exceeding good grapes and killed two turkies, which .ere very welcome and with which we refreshed ourselves, and about ten of the Clock set forward and after we had travelled about ten miles, one of our Indians killed us a Deer and presently afterwards we had sight of a curious River like Apamatack River Its Course here was north and so at; we suppose runs West about certain curious Mountains we saw westward. Here we took up our quarters our course having been West. We understand the Mohecan Indians did here formerly In Colonial Days, 227 live. It cannot be long since for we find corn stalks in the ground. Sep'' 1 7. Early in the Morning we went to seek some trees to mark, our Indians being impatient of longer stay, by reason it was like to be bad weather and that it was so difficult to get provision. We found four Trees exceeding fit for our purpose, that had been half barked by our Indians, standing one after the other. We first proclaimed the King in these words : " Long live Charles the Second by the " Grace of God King of England, Scotland, France, " and Ireland and Virginia and of all the Territories *' thereunto belonging. Defender of the Faith &c " fired some guns and went to the first tree which we marked thus I i I with a pair of marking Irons Majesty then the next thus WB hon'ble Governor S' William for his sacred for the right Berkley the third thus J^ for the hon'ble Major Gen- eral Wood the last thus '^ : R V. V for Perecute who said he would turn Englishman and on another tree hard by these letters one under another E. N. TT. N P. VER. after we had done we went our selves down to the River side, but not without great diffi- culty it being a piece of very rich ground whereon the Moketans {sic) had formerly lived and grown up so with weeds and small prickly locusts and thistles' to a very great hight that it was almost impossible to pass. It cost us hard labour to get through. When we came to the River side we found it better and broader than we expected much like James River at 228 The Ohio Valley Col. Staggs the falls much like these falls, we imag- ined by the Water marks that it flows here about three feet. It was ebbing Water when we were here. We set up a Stick by the Water side, but found it ebb very slowly. Our Indians kept such a hallowing, that we durst not stay any longer to make farther trial. Immediately upon our coming to our quarters, we returned homewards, and when we were on the Top of the hill, we turned about and saw over against us westerly over a certain delightfull hill a fog arise and a glimmering light as from Water. We suppose there to be a great Bay. We came to the Toteras tuesday night, where we found our horses well and ourselves well entertained. We immediately had the news of M' Byrd and his great Company Discovery three miles from the Toteras Town. We here found a Mohekan Indian who having intelligence of our coming were afraid it had been to fight them, and had sent him to the Toteras to inquire. We gave him satisfaction to the contrary and that we came as friends, presented him with three or four Shots of Powder. He told us by our Interpreter, that we had from the Mountains half way to the place they now lived at. That the next town beyond them lived upon plain level, from whence came abundance of Salt. That he could inform us no farther by reason that there were a very great company of Indians that lived upon the great Water. Sep^' 21. After very civil Entertainment, we came from the Toteras, and on Sunday Morning the 24^*" we In Colonial Days. 229 came to the Flanakaskies. We found M' Wood dead, and buried, and his horse likewise dead, after Civil Entertainment with firing of Guns at parting which is more than usual. Sep*' 25. On Monday morning we came from thence and reached to the Sapony's that night where we stayed till Wednesday. Sep*"" 27. We came from thence, they having been very courteous to us. At night we came to the Apomatack Town being very wet and weary. Oct' I. Being Sunday Morning we arrived safe at Fort Henry. God's holy name be praised for our Preservation.* Extract of a Letter of M^ Clayton to the Royal Society, read to them Octob"* 24, 1688. Wakefield ^2/^. 17. 1688. My last was the Journal of Thomas Batts Thomas Woods, and Robert Fallam. I know Col. Byr'd that is mentioned to have been about that time as far as the Toteras. He is one of the intelligentest Gentle- man in all Virginia and knows more of Indian affairs than any Man in the Country. I discoursed him about the River on the other side the Mountains said to ebb and flow, which he assured me was a mistake in them, for that it must run into a Lake now called Petite which is fresh Water, for since that time a Colony of the French are come down trom Canadas and have seated themselves in the back of Virginia, *This J- irnal is also given in N. Y. Col. Doc, III, 196. 230 The Ohio Valley where Fallam and the rest supposed there might be a Bay, but is a Lake, which they have given the name of Lake Petite, there being several large Lakes be- twixt that and Canada. The French possessing themselves of these Lakes no doubt will in a short time be absolutely Masters of the Beaver trade, the greatest number of Beavers being caught there. The Colonel told me likewise that the common notion of the Lake of Canada, he was assured, was a mistake, for the River supposed to come out of it had no Communication with any of the Lakes nor they with one another, but were distinct. APPENDIX C. Remarks on the Journal of Batts and Fallam in THEIR Discovery of the Western Parts of Vir- ginia IN 1671. By John Mitchell, M. D., F. R. S. [about 1755]. This Discovery of Batts and Fallam is well known in the history of Virginia, and there is no manner of doubt of its being authentic, altho' it has not yet been published by the Royal Society. 1 he account given of this Discovery by R. B.* (Robert Beverly Esq'^ a gentleman of note and distinction in the Countrey who was well acquainted with it and its his- tory) agrees very well with this original account of * History of Virginia. In Colonial Days. 2"?! it; altho he is not so particular in describing the Place that these Discoverers went to, that we may be able to fix upon the spot, which I think we may do from the Journal itself, and that from the following considerations. 1°. The Appamatrick Town, the place that they went from, is well known in Virginia to this day, at least the River it stood upon, which is the Southern branch of James River, that is well known by the name of Appamatox : and Capt. Smith, who was at this Town of Appamatrick, as he calls it laies it down on the River of Appomatox a little below the Falls opposite to where the Towns of Petersburgh or Blandford now stand : as may be seen by comparing his Map of Virginia with our Map of North America. 2\ From this Town of Appamatack they set out along the path that leads to Aconeechy, which is an Indian Town on the borders of Virginia and Caro- lina, marked in all our maps, from which path they travelled due west, now you will see both these Roads laid down in our map of North America, and exactly as they are described in this Journal, they being the two Roads that lead from the Falls of Appamatox River Southward to Carolina, and Westward to our Settlements on Wood River in Virginia. 3**. This Road that goes to the Westward which was the one that our Travellers went crosses three branches of Roanoke River a little below the Moun- tains, just as it is described in the Journal as may be seen by comparing the Journal with our Map above m 232 The Ohio Valley mentioned. This branch of Roanoke River is called Sapony River in the Journal which has been called Staunton River (in memory of the Lady of the late Governor of Virginia) ever since the Survey of those parts in running the boundary line between Virginia and Carolina in 1729. The Sapony and Totera In- dians mentioned in the Journal were then removed farther South upon the Islands of Pidee River, as may be seen in the Map of Carolina by M"^ Mosley one of the Surveyors in running that line, and they are now removed to the Southward of that among the Catawbas as it is well known that all the Indians of those parts have gone for many years, in order to protect themselves against the Iroquois who have overrun all those parts, and here we find a River that still retains the name of Sapony or Johnston River, but a great way to the Southward of the River men- tioned in the Journal by that name. 4°. From the branches of Roanoke River they passed over the Mountains and came to a large river west of the Mountains running North and South, which plainly appears from this account of it to have been what we call Wood River in Virginia which is well known and well settled by our People there, both above and below the Place where these People dis- covered it, and they frequently pass the Mountains now in going to and from Wood River about the same place that is described in the Journal. 5°. Nigh this River they saw from the Tops of the Mountains an appearance of a Water at a distance, In Colonial Days. 233 like a Lake or Arm of the Sea. The same observa- tion is made by another Person M' Christopher Gist who lately surveyed this Country hereabouts, and indeed upon the spot described in the Journal, as appears from both their Routes as laid down in our Map abovementioned, which cross one another about the place where these discoverers fell in with the great River, as they call it. The water seen by Gist was known by him to be Wood River a little lower down, where it passes a great ridge of the Mountains that lye to the Westward. 6°. When they arrived at this River, they were in- formed of a numerous and warlike nation of Indians, that lived on the great water, and made Salt, the accounts of whom prevented their going any farther ; all which is agreeable to the History of those Times. The Indians they mean were the ancient Chawanoes, or Chaouanous, who lived to the Westward and North- ward of the Place that these Discoverers were at : and were at this time, 1671, engaged in a hot and bloody war with the Iroquois in which they were so closely pressed at this time that they were entirely extirpated or incorporated with the Iroquois the year following. These people might make salt no doubt as the present inhabitants of those parts do, from the many Salt Springs that are found on the Rivers Ohio and Missisipi. And as for the great water that they lived upon that appears even by name to have been the Missisipi, which is so called from Mescha, Cebe two words in the Indian Language that signify the 30 234 The Ohio Valley great River or Water, so that if we had the Indian name of this great water mentioned by our Travel- lers, instead of the interpretation of it in English it is impossible it might have been the Name they give it we see means the same thing. 7°. The distance that these people travelled was 338 Miles, besides what they went on the fourth day of their Journey, which they do not mention, but by their usual rate of travelling might be about 18 or 20 Miles, which makes about 360 Miles in all and allmost due West. This is much farther to the Westward than we lay down Wood River at present, when we have had its true Western Distance actually measured in running the Boundary between Virginia and Carolina. But it is very probable as M"^ Beverly saies in his History, that these Travellers in passing the Mountains in particular might not advance above three or four Miles a day in a Strait Course. It has been generally found by our Surveyors in the Woods of America as I have been told by some of them, and as appears indeed from their surveys compared with the accounts of Travellers that a true measured distance on a strait course is about one third of the usual distance completed by Travellers in the Woods where they have no strait Roads and known distances ^.o guide them, accordingly we find from these Sur- veys of the Countrey that it is about 140 Miles in a strait course from the Falls of Appomatox River to Wood River in Virginia which is a little more than one third of the distance computed by our Discoverers. In Colonial Days, 235 Again : it is an usual way to compute distances in the Woods of America by Dayes Journeys and those that are used to it come pretty nigh the truth by allowing 25 or 30 Miles a day according to the Road, which makes about 10 Miles a Day in a strait course. Now these People travelled 15 Daies, and by this rule must have t^velled 150 Miles on a strait Road and accordingly we find it just 160 Miles from the falls of Appomatox River in Virginia, where they set out to Wood River upon the Road as it is laid down in our Map of North America in which the longitude or Western distances are laid down from the late Surveys of those parts. From these several considerations compared to- gether, it plainly appears, that the great River as they call it which these People discovered on the West side of the Mountains of Virginia, was this branch of the River Ohio that is well known by the name of Wood River :* which is the chief and prin- cipal branch of the Ohio, that rises in the Mountains of South Carolina and Virginia, falls into the Ohio about midway between Fort du Quesne and the Mis- sisipi and the place they discovered it at seems to be about the middle of that River, which has always re- tained the name of Wood River, from this Major General Wood, or Col. Wood as he is called in Vir- ginia who we see by the Journal was the Author of this Discovery. This Journal then is a plain Narration of well * Also called New River in Colonial times and now Great Kanahwa. ji , 236 The Ohio Valley known matters of Fact relating to the discoveries of those Western Parts of Virginia and that many years before any others even pretend to have made any Discoveries in those or any other of the Western Parts of North America beyond the Appalachean Mountains. It contains likewise plain proofs of the other Discoveries that were made here and here abouts some time before, which were made by one Needham, by order of Col. Wood of Virginia : and the inverted letters M. A, N. E. found on the Trees by our Travellers, seem to have been the Names of these two Persons, cut on the Trees as a memorial of their Discoveries as is usually done by Travellers in the Woods, and as we see was done by ours at this time. The many letters they found on the Trees on Wood River are likewise plain proofs of others having been there before them. This is a plain con- firmation of what is related by M"" Coxe's Hist, of Carolina in a memorial presented by him to King William in 1699, and by several others, that all those Western Parts of Virginia were discovered by Col. Wood in several Journies from the Years 1654 to 1664. These Discoveries are the more interesting at this time, as those parts are now claimed by the French merely and solely upon a frivolous pretext of a prior discovery by M*^ La Salle in 1680:* who built the Fort Crevecoeur on or below the Lake Pimiteone in that year, which seems to be the Lake Petite alluded * The discovery by La Salle in 1669 was apparently either forgotten or willfully ignored. In Colonial Days. 237 to in the extract of M' Claytons letter, from a very imperfect knowledge of it, which Lake upon the River Illinois is not less perhaps than a thousand Miles beyond or to the Westward of Fort du Quesne and the other places that the French now claim on the River Ohio in consequence of that discovery as they call it. Besides M' La Salle had even that discovery of his, that has been so much extolled and magnified, from the English, who by being so well settled in so many parts of this Continent, might surely very nat- urally conclude and easily know from many accounts of the Natives, that there was a very extensive con- tinent to the Westward of them which these discov- eries in Virginia as well as the Travels of Ferdinando Soto through Florida and over the Rio Grande as he calls it or the Missisipi in 1541, that had been pub- lished to the World, might give them some more particular account of and excite their curiosity to make farther Discoveries in it.* accordingly in the year 1678 a Party of People from New England dis- covered all these Western Parts of America to the Northward of Virginia as far as the Missisipi, and a great way beyond it which discovery of the English gave occasion to the discovery of the same parts two years afterwards by M"^ La Salle, for the Indians who .vere with the English and served them as Guides in this Discovery went to Canada upon their return and * No authentic account of this expedition of a party of New England people has ever been discovered. (Note by Mr. Sparks.) 238 The Ohio Valley t gave an account of these discoveries, of the English to the French, who thereupon set out to make the same Discovery, by Virtue of which they now pre- tend to claim nine tenths at least of all the known parts of the Continent of North America, and all the rest that is not known which may be as much more by all accounts. It is true our People have not wrote as many His- tories of their Discoveries as the French have nor even published those that have been wrote we see any more than the Spaniards but then we have made many such discoveries, appear best from the Settle- ments that we have made which compared with those of the French are about twenty to one. (In the year 1 714, immediately after the Treaty of Utrecht, Col. Spottiswood Governor of Virginia went over the Apalactean Mountains himself in Person in company with several Gentlemen of the Countrey that are and have been well known to me who had a good Road cleared over them and many settlements were made beyond those Mountains soon afterwards, both in the Northern and Southern parts of Virginia, but chiefly in the Northern Parts leading towards the Ohio, which Settlements extended to Logs Town on the River Ohio long before the late encroachments and usurpation of the French there. The English first settled on the Ohio from Pensalvania in the year 1725, as appears from their treaty with the Indians at Albany in 1 754 and many other accounts. In 1 736 those Parts were duly Surveyed and laid off by a com- In Colonial Days, 239 pany of Surveyors as far as the Head Springs of the River Potowmack and in 1739 or 1740, a party of People were sent out by the Government of Virginia and traversed the whole Countrey, down Wood River and the River Ohio to the Missisipi and down that River to New Orleans, whose Journals I have seen and perused and have made a draught of the Coun- trey from them and find them agree with other and later accounts. About that time a number of People petitioned the Government of Virginia to grant them a Settlement upon the River Missisipi itself about the mouth of the River Ohio which they offered to maintain and defend as well as to settle at their own charge, so well were all those Western Parts of Vir- ginia then known and frequented by our People : But they were refused this request by our Govern- ment itself, wh have always prudently thought it more expedient to continue their Settlements con- tiguous to one another than to suffer them to be straggling up and down in remote and uncultivated Desarts, as we see the French have done in order thereby to seem to occupy a greater Extent of Ter- ritory, while in effect they hardly occupy any at all. Yet we are not without many of those Settlements among the Indians likewise and that in a Country which we have purchased from them three several times. In the year 1749 our People made a settle- ment among the Twightwee Indians at Pickawillany, which is reckoned by our Traders 500 Miles beyond Fort du Quesne, to which they were invited by the 24 ' The Ohio Valley Natives themselves, who came down to Lancaster in Pensylvania for that purpose and made a treaty to that effect with our People there Jul. 22'* 1749. I^y this means we made several Settlements all along the River Ohio and all over the Countrey between that River and Lake Erie and that long before the French ever set a foot upon it, or knew anything about it, but by hearsay. And on the south side of the Ohio, wc are not only well settled on Wood River, that is described in this Journal but likewise on Holston River that lies upwards of 150 Miles to the Westward of the Place that these Peopled Dis- covered on Wood River in 1671 and again on Cum- berland River that lies as much farther to the West- ward of that : all which places and Settlements you will see marked in our map abovementioned." — APPENDIX D. ' 1 Papers Rklajing to the Ohio Company (from the Archives of the Board ok Trade and Planta- tions IN London.)* I. Sir W"" Gooch, Governor of Virginia to the Lords of Trade, Novbr 6, 1747, B. T. V* vol 19 Having been lately much sollicited by several Per- sons in Partnership for Grants for Lands lying on * I am indebted to Mr. Robert Clarke, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for copies of these documents. liii In Colonial Days. 241 the Western side of the Great Mountains, where we have already two Counties well peopled, very near, if not upon the Borders of some of the Branches of Mississippi, extending to the Lake Erie (which would cut off the communication the French have from that Place to Canada), in order, as it is the Center of all His Majesty's Provinces, to the carrying on a more extensive Skin Trade with several Nations of Indians, who are willing to enter into Commerce with us : tho' I am persuaded that the granting such Peti- tions would in the course of a few years be productive of many national advantages, as well as a great In- crease of his Majesty's Quit rents, yet I thought and the Council concurred with me in opinion, that we ought not to comply therewith, till His Majesty's Permission was first obtained 4. Order of the committee of Council for Planta- tions on the preceding letter. P'ebr 23, 1747-8 B. T. V^ Vol 20 His Majesty having been pleased by His Order in Council of the lo''* of this instant to referr unto this Committee a representation from the Lords Commis- sioners for Trade and Plantations together with an Extract of a letter they had lately received from S' William Gooch Bart., Lieutenant Governor of His Majesty's Colony of Virginia dated the 6^** of No- vember 1747, wherein he acquainted the said Lords Commissioners, that application had been made to him by persons in Partnership for Grants of lands, lying on the western side of the great Mountains 3' 242 The Ohio Valley but that he did not think proper to comply therewith, until he had received His Majesty's directions therein, The Lords of the Committee this day took the same into their consideration and are hereby pleased to order that the said Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations do consider, whether it may be for His Majesty's Service, and the advantage of the said Colony to empower the said Lieut-Governor to make grants of lands to Persons in Partnership on the western side of the great Mountains as desired and that they do make Report thereof to this Committee. 2. Lords of Trade to the Duke of New Castle, one of the Principal Secretaries of State, January 19, 1747-8 Lib. 38, p. 410. Having lately received a letter from Sir William Gocch, Bar*, Lieut-Governor of His Majestys Col- ony of Virginia, dated the 6^** of November 1747, wherein he acquaints Us that application had been made to him for Grants of Lands lying on the Western side of the Great Mountains, but that he did not think proper to comply therewith, until he received his Majesty's directions therein, We take leave to inclose to your Grace an Extract of so much of the said Letter as relates thereto and desire your Grace will please to lay the same before his Majesty for his Majestys Directions 3. Same to Sir W" Gooch, January 19, 1747-8 B. T. V^ No. 38 p. 408-9. .... (Your letter) of the 3** (sic) November last relating to Applications that have been made to you In Colonial Davs, 243 for Grants of Land lying on the Western side of the Great Mountains. . . . We have read. . . . and trans- mitted a Copy thereof to the Duke of New Castle, in order to be laid before His Majesty. In the mean- time as His Majesty's Governor of Virginia is em- powered by a Clause in his Commission to make Grants of Land to any Person or Persons provided that he take Care of the Reservation of the Quit Rents and for settling & cultivating the land agree- able to the several laws relating thereto, We desire you will acquaint us, as soon as possible, what Diffi- culties you are under with Respect to making such Grants as you mention, or what further Power may be necessary for that Purpose together with an account on what Termes the Grants are desired and of the Nature & Situation of the Lands. . . . 5. Sir W" Gooch, Governor of Virginia, to the Lords of Trade, June 16, 1748 B T. V% Vol. 20 .... Your Lordships desire to know, what diffi- culties L was under about granting lands beyond the great Mountains. As these lands lye upon some of the chief Branches of the River Mississippi, I was apprehensive such Grants might possibly give some Umbrage to the French, especially when we were in hopes of entering into a Treaty for establishing a general Peace. This, my Lords, was the only objec- tion I had and which made the Council and me think it advisable to wait for his Majesty's Pleasure and directions the terms, upon which the Grants are respect 244 The Ohio Valley desired, the Petitioners pray that four years time may be allow'd them to survey and pay rights for the lands upon return of the plans to the Secretary's office, which is an indulgence that has been often given to the Grantees of lands lying in very remote parts of the Government, when the Grant is for a large number of acres, as this is, no less than Two hundred thousand acres being petition'd for, for it will require a considerable time to seat it, which they expect to do with Strangers and to build a Fort, without which or some such work for their defence, it would be dangerous for them to venture out so far 6. Report of the Lords of Trade to the Privy Council, Septbr 2, 1748, B T. V* 38 p. 411 Pursuant to your Lordships Order of the 23** of February 1 747, referring to us an extract of a letter from Sir William Gooch, Bar*, Lieutenant Governor of His Majesty's Colony of Virginia, dated the 6*'' of November 1747, "setting forth, that an application •* had been made to him by persons in Partnership " for Grants of lands lying on the Western side of " the Great Mountains, but that he did not think " proper to comply therewith, until he had received " His Majesty's orders thereupon " & directing us to consider, whether it may be for his Majesty's service and the advantage of the said Colony to impower the said Lieut. Governor to make Grants of Lands to Persons in Partnership on the Western side of the Great Mountains as desired, We take leave to In Colonial Days. 24s report to your Lordships, that since our former rep- resentation in our Letter to his Grace the Duke of New Castle, dated the i^"^ of January 1747, We have received a letter from Sir William Gooch, His Maj- esty's said Lieutenant Governor, dated the 16^" of June last in Answer to Our Letter to him mentioned in the said Representation wherein he acquaints us " That with respect to the Difficulties he was under II about granting lands beyond the Great Mountains, " as these Lands lye upon some of the chief Branches " of the Mississippi, he was apprehensive such Grants " might possibly give some umbrage to the French, " especially when we were in hopes of entering into " a Treaty for establishing a general Peace, which " was the only objection he had and made him and " the Council think it advisable to wait for his Maj- " esty's Pleasure and Directions, That in respect to " the Terms etc,* Whereupon We further take leave to represent to your Lordships That the settlement of the Country lying to the Westward of the Great Mountains is the Colony of Virginia, which is the Center of all His Majesty's Provinces, will be for His Majesty's interest and ad- vantage, and security of that and the Neighbouring Provinces, in as much as His Majesty's subjects will be thereby enabled to Cultivate a friendship and carry on a more extensive Commerce with the Nations of Indians inhabiting those parts and such settlement may likewise be a p 'ope r step towards disappointing * Verbatim repeated from the previous letter. ami m 246 The Ohio Valley the views and checking the Encroachments of the French by interrupting part of the Communication from their Lodgements upon the great Lakes to the River Mississippi, by means of which Communica- tion His Majesty's Plantations there are exposed to their Incursions and those of the Indian Nations in their interest. We cannot therefore but be of Opinion that all due Encouragement ought to be given to the extending the British settlements beyond the great Mountains and submit to your Lordships, whether it may not be adviseable to impower the said Lieut. Governor to make grants of Lands there to persons in Partnership as desired. As the Persons applying for the said Lands pro- pose to settle the same with strangers and to build a Fort at their own expense, that is a further reason with us to think they may deserve his Majesty's Countenance & Encouragement, and the rather be- cause their example may induce the neighbouring Colonies likewise to turn their thoughts towards de- signs of the same nature. We are further of Opinion, that it may be for His Majesty's Service, that four years be allowed them to survey & Pay rights for the Lands upon return of the Plans to the Secretary's office, which indulgence has been given even for a longer term to Grantees of Lands lying in remote parts of the same Govern- ment, when the Grant has been for a large Number of Acres, as this is, especially as there is just ground to expect that His Majesty's revenue will, at the expi- In Colonial Days. 247 ration of the Term proposed be considerably increased and a Barrier formed to that and the neighbouring plantations by means of such settlement, which can- not be supported without some advantages at the first establishing of it, but lest such or any other ad- vantage, which may be thought Proper to be given as an encouragement to this undertaking should tempt Persons already settled in other Parts of the Colony upon Lands, for which the usual Quit rent is paid, to desert their former settlements and seat themselves upon these lands, we would further sub- mit to your Lordships, whether it may not be advise- able, that it should be a condition of the Grants to be made by the said Lieutenant Governor, that no person already possess'd of Lands in any other part of Virginia held by Quitrent from the Crown be admitted to take up or settle upon any of the Lands to be granted to the said Petitioners without giving security for continuing the Payment of the Quit rents for the Lands by him already possess'd notwith- standing his removal. And as it is not likely that any number of inhab- itants will be induced to settle beyond these Moun- tains, unless they are sure of rotection there We would further submit to your Lordships, whether the Building a Fort and placing a sufficient Garrison therein at the expense of the Grantees, should not be another condition of the said Grants. These Regulations if they meet with the Appro- bation of your Lordships, together with any others, 1" Si 248 The Ohio Valley which shall be thought proper to be inserted in the Grants of the Lands petitioned for, may be made by Instructions to the said Lieut. Governor of Virginia. 7. Order of the Committee of Council on the pre- ceding Report, Novbr 24, 1748, B. T. V*. Vol 20 The Lords of the Committee this day took into their consideration a Report of the Lords Commis- sioners for Trade and Plantations, dated the 2^ of September last relating to the making Grants of Lands on the western side of the great Mountains in Virginia, to persons in Partnership, And do agree in opinion with the said Lords Commissioners, that the settlement of the aforementioned part of Vir- ginia will be for His Majesty's interest and the ad- vantage and security of that and the neighbouring Provinces, and that therefore it may be advisable for His Majesty to impower the Governor or Lieuten- ant Governor of that Province to make the Grants desired, under the Conditions and regulations pro- posed in the Report of the said Lords Commissioners and to that end. It is hereby ordered, that the said Lords Commis- sioners do prepare a Draught of Instructions for the Gov"^ or Lieutenant Governor of the said Colony of Virginia accordingly and that in case any thing fur- ther shall occur to them as proper and necessary to be inserted therein, that they do add the same to the said Draught of Instructions and lay the same before this Committee for their consideration. 8 Order of the Committee of Council, referring In Colonial Days. 249 to the Lords of Trade the petition of John Hanbury et. al., incorporators of the Ohio Company, Febr 9, 1 748-9 B, T. V^ Vol. 20 Whereas His Majesty was pleased by His Order in Council of the 1 1^** of last month to referr unto this Committee the humble Petition of John Hanbury of London Merchant in behalf of himself and of Thomas Lee Esq. a Member of His Majesty's Council and one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature in His Majesty's Colony of Virginia, Thomas Nelson, Esq'*, also a Member of His Majesty's Council in Vir- ginia, Colonel Cressup, Colonel William Thornton, William Nimmo, Daniel Cressup, John Carlisle, Law- rence Washington, Augustus Washington, George Fairfax, Jacob Gyles, Nathaniel Chapman and James Woodrop Esq"^", all of His Majesty's Colony of Vir- ginia and others their Associates for settling the Coun- trys upon the Ohio and extending the British Trade be- yond the Mountains on the Western confines of Virginia humbly praying (for the reasons therein con- tained), that His Majesty will be graciously pleased to encourage their undertaking by giving instructions to the Governor of Virginia to grant to them and such others as they shall admit as their Associates a Tract of 500,000 acres of land betwixt Romanettos and Bufallo's Creek on the south side of the River Aligane otherwise the Ohio and betwixt the two Creeks and the Yellow Creek on the north side of the River or in such other parts of the West of the said Mountains as shall be adjudged most proper by 32 |] ti 250 The Ohio Valley 111 the Petitioners for that purpose and that 200,000 acres, part of the said 500,000 acres, may be granted immediately without rights on condition of the Peti- tioners Seating at their proper expense a hundred Familys upon the lands in seven years, th^ lands to be granted free of Quit rents for ten years on condi- tion of their erecting a Fort and maintaining a Gar- rison for protection of the settlement for that time the Petitioners paying the usual quitrent at the expi- ration of the said ten years from the date of their Patent And further praying that the said Governor may be further instructed, that as soon as these 200,000 acres are settled and the Fort erected 300,000 acres more residue of the said 500000 acres of land may be granted to the Petitioners adjoining to the said 200000 acres of land so first granted with the like exemptions and under the same covenants and to give all such further and other encouragements to the Petitioners in their so useful and publick an un- dertaking as to His Majesty in His great Wisdom shall seem meet. — The Lords of the Committee this day took the said Petition into their consideration and are hereby pleased to referr the same (a Copy whereof is hereunto annexed) to the Lords Commis- sioners for Trade and Plantations to consider thereof and Report their Opinion thereupon to this Commit- tee of Mississipi and those of Potomac are only separated by one small Ridge of Mountains, easily passable by Land Carriage, So that by the Con- venience of the Navigation of the Potomac and a In Colonial Days. 251 short land carriage from thence to the West of the Mountains and to the Branch of the Ohio and the Lake Erie British Goods may be carried at little expense and afforded reasonably to the Indians in those parts. In case the lands to the west of the said Mountains were settled and a Fort erected in some proper place there for the protection and encourage- ment of your Petitioners and others your Majesty's subjects in adventuring their persons and fortunes in this Undertaking In which if your Petitioners meet with that success they have the greatest reason to expect It will not only be made the best and strong- est frontier in America, but will be the means of gaining a vast addition and increase to your Majesty's Subjects of that rich Branch of the Peltry and Furr which your Petitioners propose by means of Settle- ment hereinafter mentioned to carry on with the Indians to the westward of the said Mountains and on the said Lake and Rivers and will at the same time greatly promote the Consumption of our own British Manufactures, enlarge our Commerce, in- crease our Shipping and Navigation and extend your Majestys Empire in America and in a short space of time very considerably increase your Majesty's Reve- nue of Quit rents as there is little room to doubt, but that when this (who claim all the lands west of Virginia and ?' o to and on the Waters of the Mis- sisippi and the Lake by right of Conquest from several Nations of Indians, who formerly inhabited that Country and have been extirpated by the said 252 The Ohio Valley % ■A Six Nations) did yield up and make over and for ever quit claim to your Majesty and your successors All their said lands west of Virginia with all their right thereto so far as your Majesty should at any time thereafter be pleased to extend the said Colony. That most of the Nations of Indians west of the Mountains and upon the Lakes and the River Ohio have entered into an Alliance with your Majesty's Subjects and with the Six Nations in Friendship with the British Colony's and have desired your Majesty's Subjects the Inhabitants of Virginia to send them British Goods and manufactures as they inclined to trade solely with Your Majesty's Subjects. That by laying hold of this opportunity and im- proving this favourable disposition of these Indians they may be forever fixed in the British Interest and the prosperity and safety of the British Colonys be effectually secured and which your Petitioners are ready and willing to undertake. That your Petitioners beg leave humbly to inform your Majesty, that the lands to the West of the said Mountains are extreemly fertile, the Climate very fine and healthy and the waters And whereas there was likewise laid before the Lords of the Committee a Report made by the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, dated the 13*'' of December last, together with a Draught of an additional In- struction prepared by the said Lords Commissioners for Sir William Gooch, His Majesty's Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Virginia, impowering him In Colonial Days. 253 to make Grants of Lands on the western side of the great Mountains to persons in Partnership who have applied for the same And their Lordships observing that the lands, proposed to be granted by the said Instruction, are situated in the same place with those prayed for by the aforementioned Petition of John Hanbury and others and may probably have some relation to each other, Do therefore think it proper hereby to referr back to the said Lords Commission- ers for Trade and Plantations the said Report and additional Instruction for their further consideration. To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty in Coun- cil The humble Petition of John Hanbury of London Merchant etc etc (Names as above) for settling the Countrys upon the Ohio and extending the British Trade be- yond the Mountains on the Western con- fines of Virginia Most humbly Sheweth That by the Treaty of Lancaster and also by Deed bearing date the 2^ day of July 1744 the Northern Indians by the name of the Six Nations Settlement is once begun by your Petitioners but that a great number of Foreign Protestants will be desirous of settling in so Fertile and delightful a Country under the just and mild administration of your Majesty's Government, especially as they will be at little more charge than the transporting themselves from their Native Country. That your Pet" for these great and national ends I 254 The Ohio Valley ill Ml and purposes and in order to improve and extend the British Trade amongst these Indians, and to set- tle these Countrys in so healthy and fine a Climate and which are your Majesty's undoubted right have entered into Partnership by the name of the Ohio Company to settle these Countrys to the West of the said Mountains and to carry on a Trade with the Indians in those parts and upon the said Lakes and Rivers. But as effecting the same and more especially the erecting a sufficient Fort and keeping a Garrison to protect the Infant Settlement will be attended with great Expense Your Petitioners who are the first Adventurers in this beneficial Undertaking, which will be so advan- tageous to the Crown in point of Revenue, to the Nation in point of Trade and to the British Colonys in point of strength and security, most humbly pray that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to en- courage this their said Undertaking by giving Instructions to your Governor of Virginia to grant to your Pet" and such others as they shall admit as their Associates a Tract of Five hundred thousand acres of land betwixt Romanettos and Buffalo's Creek on the South side of the River Aligane otherwise the Ohio and betwixt the two Creeks and the Yellow Creek on the Ncrth side of the said River or in such parts to the West of the said Mountains as shall be adjudged most proper by your Petitioners for that purpose and that two hundred thousand acres, part of the said five hundred thousand may be granted In Colonial Days. 255 immediately without rights on condition of , your Petitioners seating at their proper expence a hundred Familys upon the land in seven years, the lands to be granted free of quitrent for ten years on condition of their erecting a Fort and maintaining a Garrison for protection of the Settlement for that time your Pet" paying the usual quit rent at the expiration of the said ten years from the date of their Patent — And your Pet'^ further pray, that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to send your said Governor a further Instruction that as soon as these two hundred thousand acres are settled and the Fort erected. That three hundred thousand acres more residue of the said Five hundred thousand acres may be granted to your Petitioners adjoining to the said Two hundred thousand acres of land so first granted with the like exemptions and under the same covenants and to give all such further and other encouragements to your Petitioners in this their so usefull and publick an undertaking as to your Majesty in your great wis- dom shall seem meet. 9. Additional Instructions to Sir William Gooch, Lieut-Gov"^ of Virginia, submitted by the Lords for Trade and Plantations to the Committee of Council, Decbr 13, 1748. Whereas it hath been represented unto Us, that application hath been made to you by persons in Partnership for a Grant or Grants of two hundred thousand acres of land on the western side of the Great Mountains within our Colony of Virginia in 256 The Ohio Valley order to settle the same with Strangers — And WHEREAS such Settlement will be for our interest and the advantage and security of our said Colony as well as the neighbouring Colonys inasmuch as Our loving Subjects will be thereby enabled to cultivate a Friend- ship and carry on a more extensive commerce with the Nations of Indians inhabiting those parts and such examples may likewise induce the neighbouring Colonys to turn their thoughts towards Designs of the same nature, It is therefore our will and PLEASURE and you are hereby authorized and required to make a' Grant or Grants of Two hundred thousand acres of land beyond the great Mountains to the said Persons in Partnership, who have applied for the same — Provided that you take especial care in making such grant or grants for the reservation of our quit rents and for settling and cultivating the said lands agreeable to such Laws as now are in force in Our said Colony for that purpose and conformable to Our Instructions to our Governor of the said Colony upon that head. And WHEREAS it hath been further represented unto Us that the said persons in Partnership have proposed that four years may be allowed them to survey the said lands and pay the usual rights for the same upon return of the plans to Our Secretary's Office of Our said Colony, which indulgence has been represented to us to have been heretofore given even for a longer term to Grantees of lands lying in remote parts of Our said Colony, when the Grant In Colonial Days. 257 has been for a large number of acres as this is, espe- cially as there is just ground to expect, that at the expiration of the term proposed Our Revenue will be increased and a barrier formed to that and Our neighbouring Colonys by means of such Settlement, Now having considered the said proposal together with the Opinion of Our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations thereupon We are graciously pleased to agree thereto, But lest such indulgence should tempt persons already settled in other parts of Our Colony upon lands for which the usual quitrent is paid to desert their former Settlements and seat themselves upon the lands so to be granted. It is our FURTHER WILL AND PLEASURE, that it be an express condition of the said Grant or Grants, that no person already possessed of lands in any other part of Our said Colony held of us by quitrent be admitted to take up or settle any of the lands to be granted to the said persons in Partnership without giving secu- rity for continuing the payment of the quit rents for the lands by them heretofore possessed, notwith- standing their removal. And as it is not likely, that any number of Inhab- itants will be induced to settle beyond the great Mountains, unless they are sure of protection there, It is OUR I'^URTHER WILL AND PLEASURE, that the building a Fort and placing a sufficient Garrison therein at the expence of the Grantees be a further condition of the said Grant or Grants. (This Additional Instruction was somewhat changed 33 2S8 The Ohio Valley I^ u! Jll m Febr^ 23, 1749 and then sent out to Sir W" Gooch, Gov"" of Virginia,) 10. Letter from Col. Thomas Lee, President of the Council of Virginia to the Lords of Trade, Oct 18, 1 749, B T, V* Vol. 20 .... The Ohio Company, imediately after your Lordships letter with His Majesty's additional In- structions came to Sir William Gooch, had a meeting, and, as Mr. Hanbury will inform your Lordships, gave him an order to ship the necessary goods for carrying on a trade with the Indians — they than sent out into those back parts to discover a proper place to settle their factory on and begin their survey, but those very Indians that had encouraged them at the first, had been persuaded to believe, that our design was to ruin, not trade with them and such a spirit of jealousy is raised among them y^ without a treaty and presents we shall not be able to doe any thing with them, this was not the case, when the Ohio Company petitioned ; the bulk of these Indians are such as being ill used by the French removed from the Lakes of S^ Lawrence a short time before the end of the Warr, in order to join the English in mak«^ warr upon the French and they have been invited ; refuse to return and with these are some of the Six Nations, these are all friends, but friendship with these people must be kept firm by presents, which make way for trade. It will therefore I apprehend be necessary for this Governm* to treat with them and by presents fix them in the English interest. The Pennsylva- In Colonial Days. 259 nians claim as I am told to the 39'** degree, this will take from Virginia a considerable quantity of land and prevent the Ohio Company setling with any cer- tainty, as noe such line has ever been run ; there seems to be the same reason for setling the North- ern, as there was for settling the Southern bounds of Virginia and if your Lordships think soe, the same way may be taken by appointing Commissioners. The last and great difficulty of that Company will be the erecting and garrisoning a Fort, this will be such an expence to a private Company, that have noe pretence nor desire to an exclusive trade, that it will make them much less able to carry on a trade suff' to engage the Indians effectually in the Brittish intrest. The Indians as far as I have observed seldom or never breake their faith, but from mere necessity. If they are not supplyed with Guns, Ammunition & Cloths, by presents and trade, they must starve, soe they are obliged to cultivate a friendship with those y* will help them. I refer your Lordships to what Mr. Hanbury will lay before your Lordships more at large, and we hope for your Lordships favourable representations to His Majesty in favour of the Ohio Company, whose views I am convinced are for the public good, to extend His Majesty's Empire in America and by an honest trade to strengthen the Brittish Intrest against any enemy whatever. The French claim to the Missisippi is not just, since if your Lordships turn to your books ab* the 26o The Ohio Valley Jt;l;l latter end of King Williams reign, it will appear by a representation to the King y^ that River and farr beyond it was granted by King Charles the first to S*^ Robert Heath & setled by the English, long be- fore the French had been in them parts, and the King's claim is continued by the bounding of the Carolines by the South Sea. If by these further Indulgences from His Majestye the Ohio Company are allowed to carry on their trade and make their Settlement, they hope to engage the Indians of the several Nations soe effectually in the Brittish intrest, y* the encroachments of the French will be prevented. * * * Very incomplete abstracts of papers relating to the Ohio Company, made for me in London : Virginia Aug^ 21^' i75i- My Lords [He transmits a map of Virginia, & information showing it to be correct, has referred these matters to a gentleman of considerable mathematical & geo- graphical knowledge, he sends a book relating to Virginia & an account of John P. Salley's travels, his own journey to Bath, notwithstanding grants made by the Kings of England, France, or Spain, the right to uninhabited lands must depend on prior occupancy ; letter and instructions reed.; order from Lords Justices re Quit-rents ; state of the Indians ;] This Fall I shall send a Messenger to acquaint them [the Indians] that I purpose next May to send Com- missioners to meet them at the Place they desire ; In Colonial Days. 261 and at the Conference I shall endeavour to obtain a Confirmation of the Grant of the Lands made to his Majesty at the Treaty of Lancaster in Order to give the Ohio Company an Opportunity of surveying the large Tract of Land his Majesty was pleased to Grant to them. [Intended remonstrance to the In- dians re ill-treating inhabit .nts [of Virginia] ; audience with ambassador from the Cherokees ; proceedings of Court of Oyer and Terminer ; Land Law passed by the General Assembly.] I have the Honour to be with the greatest Regard and Esteem your Lordships most obedient and most humble Servant [To the Board of Trade] Lewis Burwell Some Additions to the Accounts sent from Vir- ginia, concerning the Extent and Limits of that Colony, and the Encroachments that have been made upon it. [Original grant of Virginia was made to Sir W. Raleigh in 1584 ; limits of the province at that time ; reversion to the Crown ; grants made in 1606 & 1609 J second reversion to the Crown in 1624, colonies which border on Virginia ; Lake Erie suggested as boundary between New York & Virginia ; inaccu- racy of n .ps ; district claimed by the French ; prior settlement by the English of lands near the Missis- sippi ; purchase from native proprietors ; encroach- ments on the colony by the French ; uninhabited portions ; French maps ; most important place is the 262 The Ohio Valley .nil | 95- de Contrecoeur, Pierre Claude Pecaudy, 106, 131- Index. 285 de Courcelles, Gov. of Canada, 62. de Crozat, M., . 37. de Denonville, Gov. of Canada, 65. Dekanisore, Sachem of the Onondagas, 57. de la Barre, Gov. of Can- ada, 68. de la Gallissoni6re,Gov. of Canada, 85, 91. de Lancey, Lt -Gov. of N. Y., 117, 122, 134. de Ligneris, Capt. Mar- chaud, 132, 159, 161 et seg, Demire, Captain, 129. de Muy, M., 153. Denny, Gov. of Penna., 156, 160, 162. de St. Pierre, Le Gardeur, 168. de Soto, Ferdinand, 9, 207, 237- Detroit, Mich., 35, 45, 57, 153. 167, 176, 179, 187. de Vaudreuil, Gov. of Can- ada, 145, 152, 159, 161. de Ville, Louis Marie, missionary, 75. de Villiers, Chevalier, 146. de Vincenne, Sieur, 75. Dieskau, General, 125. Dinwiddie, Gov. of Virg*, 95' 96, 97» 99 et seq., 112 et seg., wj et seg., 121, 134, 138, 148, 211, 263 et seg. Dobbs, Arthur, 273. Dobbs, Gov. of North Carolina, 120, 212. Dollier de Casson, mis- sionary, 13, 14, 62, 217. Dongan, Gov. of N. Y., 66 et seg. Doreil, M., 159. DouglaS; James, 194. Duchesneau, Intendant of Canada, 65. Dumas, Captain, 132, 146. Dunbar, Colonel, 125, 129, 134, 136 et seg. Dunmore, Lord, Gov. of N. Y., 183, 196, 198, 276; of Virginia, 183, 196, 198. Ecuyer, Captain, 169. Elbert Co., Georgia, 205. Erie, Penna., 84. Estill Co., Ky., 1^0, Fairfax, George, 249. Fallam, Robert, 220, 229. Filson, John, 190. Fincastle Co., Va., 195. Findlay (Finley), John, 187, 190. Fletcher, Gov. of N. Y., ^\ et seg. 286 Index. Floyd, John, 195. Foley, James, 1 10. Forts and settlements: at the mouth of the Ohio, 25, 26. du Quesne, 27, 39, 143, 145 et seq., 149, 153, 158, 159, 160, 162, I94» 235, 237, 239. St. Joseph, 45, 167. St. Louis, 39. Wawiaghta, 55. English: at Allegany, 104. on the Attiqu6 River, 163. Fort Augusta, 169. Fort Bedford, 160. at Cajonhage, proposed, 69. on theCheninque River, 27. at Chenussio, 156. on the Cherakee River, 25. Fort Chissel, 212. at Chotte, 140. Fort Cumberland, 150 et seq., 154, 756. at Detroit, proposed, 70. Easton, Penna., 157. on Elk Creek, 163. Freydeck, 28. Glendenning's, 171. Forts and settlements: on the Great Conaway, 265. on the Great Miami, 28. on HoLston River, 212. Kuskuskies, 28. Fort Ligonier, 163, 170, 182. Fort Loudon, 149, 151, 1 64, 211 et seq. Loyalhannon, 163. Monongahela, 106, 109. Oswego, 69, 71, 80. on the Ouabache and Mississippi, 75. Owendoes, 27. Fort Pitt, 162 et seq., 168 et seq., 183. at Pittsburgh, proposed, 97. Quanese, 20. on the Scioto, 27. on Shurtees Creek, 265, 272. Tellico, 28. Venango, 27, 167, 168, 170. Walker's, 20, 26, 28, 1 70, 186. on the Watauga River, 202. on White Woman's Creek, 163. on Yadkin River, 189. Index. 287 Forts and settlements: French: Fort Anne, 20. Fort L'Assomption, 161, 208. Le Baril, 20. Le Boeuf, 167, 170. Fort Chartres, 178 et seq. on Cherakee River, Fort Crevecoeur, 236. at Diontaroga, 96. at Detroit, 35. Fort des mi Amis, 22. Fort de Tret (Detroit), 35. Fort Frontehac, 63, 159, 161. on Green Brier's River, 116. on Holston River, 116. Irondequoit, 76, 80. Joncaire's, 20. at Ka-ke-no-tia-yo-ga, 96. at Logstown, 95. near Louisville, Ky., Ill, 146, 155. Fort Machault, 152, 162, 164. Fort Massiac, 180. Fort Michilimackinack, 167. Fort Niagara, 70, 80, 159. Forts and settlements: on the Ohio and Oua- bache, 26. Ouitanon, 20, 167, 180. on the Scioto, proposed, III. Tiengsachrondio (De- troit), 35. Fort Vincene, 20, 180. Wawyachtenoch (De- troit), 35. Forbes, General, 1 59, 1 70. Franklin, Benjamin, 142, ^n^ 197. Franklin, Penna., 168. Franklin Co., Georgia, 205. Fraser; an English trader, 168. Frederick Co., Maryland, 128. Fremin, P^re, S. J., 14. Fremont, General, 50. French, marching to the Ohio, 92. Friedenshuetten, Penna., 184. Frontenac, Gov. of Can- ada, 62, 63. Fry, Colonel Joshua, 103, 109. Galinee TGallinay), Rene de Brehan de, mission- ary, 14, 62, 217. 288 Index. Gates, Captain, 129. Gist, Christ., 233 269. Glen, Gov. of So. Caro- lina, 120, 123 et seq. Glendenning, Archibald, 171. Gooch, Sir Wm., Gov. of ^irga., 240 et seq. Grant, Major James, 160. Great Meadows, 112, 130. Greenbriar Company, 90. Greenbriar County, Va., 183. Gyles, Jacob, 249. Halket, Sir Peter, 125, 1 29. Halket, Lieut, 129. Halket, Major, 129. Hamilton, Gov. of Penna., 99, 186. Hampshire Co.y Va., 128. Hamptonstall, , 194. Hanbury, John, 88, 249, 253, 258 et seq., 273. Hancock Co., Ohio, 187. Hardy, Gov. of New York, 47» 147- Harrod, James, 194, 201. Harrodsburgh, Va., 195, 206. Hart, David, 202. Hart, Nathl., 202. Hawkins, Sir John, 10. Heath, Sir Robert, 260. Henderson, Richard, 202, 203, 204, 205. Hillsborough, Lord, 48, 174, 177, 181, 276^/ j^^. Hochelaga, 10, 11. Hogg, James, 202. H olden, Joseph, 190. Holland, Lieut, 127. Howe, Lord, 158. Illinois Country, 1 79. Indian names: of Chicago, Ills., 35. of Cleveland, Ohio, 30, 40. of Detroit, 35, 57, 70, 76. for Governor of Canada, 34, 44, 114, 218. for Governor of New York, 35, 84. for King of England, 114. of Sandusky, Ohio, 45. of Waterford, Penna., 168. of Wyoming, Penna., 145- Indian Totems, 53. Indian Tribes: Aragaritkas (Hurons), 35. Algonqums, 30, 50, 51. Alibanons, 46. Andastes, 30»3i»33»34- Index, >2, .8, 3, I, V Indian Tribes: Antouorons, 31 et seq. Arkansas, 31. Assistagueronons, 32. Canawhaga, Cockna- waga, ^^, 84, 96. Capitanasses, 38. Carantouanons, 31. Catawbas, 114, 120, 135, 138, 232. Cat Nation (Eries), 32, 35. Cayugas, 96. Chachakinguas, 209. Chaouanons (Shawa- noes) 21 33, 233. Chartier's Tribe, 45. Chaskpes, 39, 40. Chenundies, 96. Cherokees (Flatheads), 30, 3i»33-» 45. 59. 112, ii4» 120, 124, 135, 138 et seq., 148. 149, 150 et seq., 164, 192. 202 et seq., 208 et seq., 212, 214. Chickasaws, 9, 21, 30, 2i2>^ 45. "i^Z^, 180, 205, 208. C h i c h t a g h i c k s , j-^^ Twightwees. Chippoways, no, 166. Choctaws, 153. Connoys, 157. Coskinampos, 21. 37 289 Indian Tribes: Creeks, 138 et seq. Delawares, 37,46^/j^^., 57. 121, 141 et seq., H7> 166, 169, 173, 176 et seq., 184. Dionondadee, 51. Dowaganhaes (Wagan- haes), 71, 72. Eries, Eriehronons(Cat Nation), S3, 34, 39- rar Nations, 42 et seq., 51. 55 ^^ seq., 65, 66, 70, 79- Five (Six) Nations, Iro- quois, 30, 32, 34, 35, 40 et seq., 57, 67, 70, 72, 7^, 93, 113, 117, 121, 126, 156 et seq., 159. 192. Flanakaskies, 221, 229. Flatheads (Cherokees), 76, 153 et seq., 164. Ganastogue, 14. Gantastogeronons, 32. Gens de Feu, 32. Guyandots, 34. Hurons (Wyandots), 33».5i» 54 ^^ seq., 63. llhnois, 31, 51, 52. Iroquois (Five Na- tions), 30, 32, ss, 48, 59. 62, 75 et seq., 95, III, 114, 117, 146, 210, 232, 290 Index. Indian Tribes: Kichtages, 52. Kickapous, 55, 181. Lenni-Lenapes (Dela- wares), 49, 50, 57. Mdscoutens, 55. Massawomecks, 33. Miamis (Twightwees), 30, 31, 33, 46, 51, 55, 84, 166, 181. Michilimackinacks, 84. Mingoes, 173. Minissincks, 43. Mississagas, 84. Mohawks, -^i, 78, 117, 157- Mohegans, 45, 226, 228. Monomunies, 80. Nanticokes, 157, 176. Neuter Nation, Neu- trals, 30, 32, 33. Nez Perces, 14, 56, 219. Oghnagoes, 157. Oneidas, 121. Oniasont - Keronons, 32. Onondagas (Onnontae- heronons), 34, 57. Onogangas, 96. Ontastoes (Andastes), 219. Oroonducks, 84, 96. Ottawas, Outaouaes, 15, 51, 62, 66, 67, 71, no. Indian Tribes: Ouabans, 39, 40. Ouyattanons, 53. Peanguichias, Piankas- has, Pianguichias, Pyankeshas, 30, 31, 53 ^/ seq., 180, 209. Pepepikoicias, 209. Petikokias, 53. Poutaouatamies, Pota- wimmies, 15, 32, 84, 181. Praying, 78. River, 78. Sapony, 221, 229, 232. Sat anas, Sataras, 40. Scenondidies, 96. Senecas, 34, 41, 81, 96, 121, 157, 176. Shawanoes, Shawanese, Shawnees, Showan- nes, Chaouanons, 14, 37, et seq,, 41 et seq., 51,96, 121, \i<^et seq., 146 et seq., 153 et seq., 163, 166, 169, 173, 176 et seq.y 182, 208 et seq. Shepawees, 84. Shoenidies, 84. Susquehannah, 143. Taogarias, 21. Ten Confederate Na- tions, 48. Toagenhas, 218. Index. 291 Indian Tribes: Totoras, 221, 223, 226, 228, 232. Twightwees (Chichtag- hicks, Miamis), 35, 40, 51 et scq., 70, 86, 93» 112, 121,135,239. Waganhaes (Dowagan- haes), 51, 57. Wawyachtenokes, 84. With Straws thro' their Noses, 56. Wyandots (Hurons), 30, 50, 86, 1 1 2. Indian Villages: Apomatacks Town, 220, 231. Chartier's Old Town, 45. Cherokee Towns, 273 et seq. Chicazas, 9. La Demoiselle, 20. Delaware on the Ohio, .152. Diohogo, 176. Ganastogue Sonnon- toua, 219. Kuskuskies, 28. Neguassee, 210. Old Shawnee Town, 27. Pickawillany, 239. Quadoge (Chicago), 35. Shahandowana (Wyo- ming), 145. Indian Villages: Tatera Town, 223. Tallico, Telliquo, 28, 210. Tenassee, 210. Venango, 168. Indian Words, 11. Ingoldsby, Major, 40. Innes, Colonel James, 115, 118. International Law, 60. Irondequoit, 35. Jacksotiy Ohio, 183. Jefferson Co., Ohio, 88. Jenkins, Lieut. Edward, 167. Johnson, Sir William, 36, 37, 47 ^/j^^., 54, 92, 125, 135 et seq., 141, 143 et seq., 147, 156, 166, 175, 179, 181, 194, 196, 198, 279. Johnston, Wm., 202. Joliet, , 43. 51. 63. Joncaire, Chabert de, 44, 46, 93. Jones, Rev. Hugh, 185. Jonesboro, Tenn., 189. Kaskaskias, Ills., Keith, Charles P., 86. 292 Index. m ! I 4 Keith, Sir Wm., Gov. of Penna., 86. Kenton, Simon, 195. Kentucky, 12^, 59, 186 et seq., 191, 193, 194, i^^^ 2cx>, 206 et seq. Keppel, Commodore, 125. King, Thomas, Indian Chief, 48. Knox, John, 193. Knoxville, Tenn., La Demoiselle, Indian Chief, 46. La Fayette, Inda., 1 67, 1 8 1 . Lake Cadaraqui (Onta- ^ 70)' 35- Lake Erie (Sweege), 12 et seq., 52; Long Point in, 15; Point Pel^e in, 15. Lake Huron (Ottawawa), Lake Michigan, 2,7- Lake Onia sont, 32. Lake Ontario (Cadara- qui), 161. Lake Ottawawa (Huron;, 35» 52. Lake Petite, 229, 236. Lake Pimiteone, 236. Lake Sahsquage, Sweege or Erie, 35. Lancaster, Penna., 240. Laputhia, the Shawnee King, 121. La Salle, Robert Cavelier de, 13^^^^^., 39,51, 61, 68, 69, 217, 219, 236. Lee, Thomas, 88, 249, 258. Le Mercier, Chevalier, 106. Le Moyne, Simon, S. J., missionary, 12. Lewis, Major Andrew, iZ^^etseq., 171, 183,211. Lewis, John, 89. Lewisburg, Va., 183. Little Meadows, in. Livingston, Robert, 52, 70. Logstown, Penna., 27, 95. Long Hunters, 193. Loyal Company, 89. Loudon, Earl of, 211. Louisville, Kenty., 15, 19, 194. McAfee, 194. McBride, James, i^'j. Mac Carty, M. de, 180. McClure, Alexr., 156. McKee, Alexr., 182. McGregory, Patrick, 66, 67. Macrae, , 169. Madison Co,, Ky., 206. Malisit, Seneca Chief, 41. M vf i h g s .ait naT i m ii h a Index. 293 Manuscripts consulted: Amsterdam Correspon- dence, 12. New York Colonial, 43, 57, 58, 66, 96, 99, no et seq., 131, 134, 149, 151, 167, 198. New York Colonial (Council Minutes), 40, 42, 46, 56, 58, 92, 100, 102, 104 et seg., 117, 122, 127, 186. New York Colonial (In- dian Treaties), 36, 81. New York Colonial (Johnson Papers), loi, 143 et seq., 157, 176 et seq., 279. Sparks* Collection, 16, 29. Maps, consulted and re- ferred to: Anti-Gallicans, 26, 186. Bellin, 20, 44. Bolton, 25, 39. Champlain, 12, 31. Charlevoix, 35. Cellarius, 23. Coronelli, 19. Creuxius, 32. d'Anville, 25, 39, 59, 85. de Bry, 207. Delisle, 38, 59, 153,207, 208. Franquelin, 18, 40. Maps, consulted and re- ferred to: Gallatin, 30. Halley, 26. Hennepin, 19. H. O., 24, 39. Homans, 59. Huske, 26. Jefferys, 28. Jesuits, 18. Joliet, 17, 18, 38, 59. de Judaeis, 207. Kitchin, 45. Lederer, 38. Minet, 19. Mitchell, 17, 35. Morden, 22. MordenandMoll,22,23. Mortier, 21. Mosley, 232. Overton, 24. Parkman Collection, 19, 32. 38. Popple, 25, 59. Quadus, 207. Raffeix, 19. Raudin, 19. Spragg, 68. van Keuler, 21, 39. Vaugordy, 20. Wells, 23. Wytfliet, 17, 207. Marin, M., 96. Marmet, Jacques, mission- ary, 75. 294 Index, Marshall, Captain, 92. Marshall, Judge, 187. Mauser, Casper, 193. Megapolensis, Rev. Jo- hannes, 12. Memphis, Tenn., 208. Michilimackinack, 7,7^ 65, ^^69* ^77. 179- Minissinck Country, 56 Mitchell, Dr. John, 17,59, 230. Monay, John, 190. Monecatoocha, Chief on the Ohio, 121, 144. Montcalm, General, 161. Montgomery, John, 193. Montgomery Co., lenn., 190. Montmagny, Gov. of Can- ada, 218. Montour, Mr., 143. Moravians, 184. Morehead, Gov. of Ken- tucky, 202. Morgan Co.,Ky., 190, 201. Morris, Gov. of Penna., ^/30. 143, 145. Mount Washington, 10 Moytoy, Chief of Chero- kees, 210. Nelson, Thomas, 249. Nelson, William, 268. Newfoundland, W. Va., 90. Nicaragua, 10. Nimmo, William, 249. Ohio Company, 86, ^^, loi, 240, 259, 263, 266, 273. Okenechee Path, 220, 231. Onondaga, N. Y., 15, 95, 121. Oswego, N, K {Chouegen), .83, 91, 93, 127. Ouasioto Mts., 197. Nashville, Tenn., 208. Neasam, Jack, 220. Needham, , 236. Pears, Richard, 112. Peckham, Sir George, 10. Peters, Richd., Secy, of Penna., 134. Pitt. Sir Wm., 158. Pittsburgh^ Penn., 197. Point Pleasant, \'^'7>^ 198. Pontiac, Ottawa Chief, 48, 166, 176, 177. Post, Christ. Fred., 160, "^71- Powell's Valley, 138, 186, 193- Presqu'ile, Penna., 162. Index. 295 Ragueneau, P^re, S. J., 33. Raleigh, N. Ca., 212. Randolph, Peter, 139. Randolph, Mr., 224. Raystown, Pa,, 160. Rivers: Acansea Sipi, 21. Akansea Septentrio- nale, 21. Alabama, 39. Alamance Creek, 213. Allegany (Olighin), 25, 30, 31, 50, 61, 168, 169, 249, 254, 267. Alliwegi Sipi, 13. Apalachicola, 39, 59. Arkansas (Basire), 18, 38. Atigu6 (French Creek), 44. 163. Aux Boeufs (French Creek), 26, 146 Aux Cannes, 163. Basire (Arkansas), 18, Bear Grass Creek, 195. Beaver Creek, 27, 169. Belle Riviere (Ohio), 18, 21, 23, 25, 155, .i59» 163. Big Bone Lick, 194. Big Hockhocking, 183. Black Creek, 209. Boone's Creek, 189. Rivers: Buffalo's Creek, 249, 254, 267. Bushy Run, J70, 172. Cabin Creek, 195. Cane Creek, 163. Casqui, Kasqui, 9, 210. Chaboussioua, 20. Cherakee, Cherokee (Tennessee), 20, 25, 37, 46, 49. Chiningue, Skenango, Chenango, 20, 27. Choto (Holston), 115. Choucagoua (Ohio), 19, 61. Clinch, 138, 193, 200. Cosquinambaux, 21, 59. Cumberland, 30, 31, 138, 186, 190, 202, 204 et seq. Cusates, Cusatzes, 9, 59, 210. Delaware, 32, 49. Duck, 205. Elk Creek, 163. Elkhorn, 187, 194. Elk River, 206. Euphasee, 28. French Creek (Atigue, Aux Boeufs), 26, 44, 85, 152, 162, 167,168. French Lick, 208. Ganahooche, 59. 296 Index. Rivers: Green Brier, 90, 116, 197, 265, 272. Haw, 213. Hiawassee, 210. Hickman Creek, 194. Hogohegee, 24, 26, 28, 39. Holston (Choto), 28, 59, 114, 116, 128, 137, 140, 202, 205, 212 et seq., 240. Illinois, 18,25, i45» 146, 164, 174, 178. 237. Jessamine, 194. Johnston, 232. Juniata, 176. Kanawha, Great Ken- awha. Big Conhaway, 17, 25, 26, 28,49, 166, 183, 197 et seq., 235, 265, 270, 272. Kanantaguat, 217. Kaskaskias, 178. Kentucky, 187, 190, 193, 202, 204. Keowee, 205. Kiskiminitas, Kiskomi- nettoe Creek, 1 60, 265, 270, 272. Licking, 201. Loyalhannon, 1 70. Maumee, 31, 51. Miami, 28, 31, 37, 270. Mic, 74. ......... Rivers: Monongahela, Mohon- galy, 25, 26, 31, 50, 94, 98, 106, 109, 116, 195, 265, 270, 272. Muskingum, 10, 50, 163, 172, 184. Ne\v, 137, 197, 235, 270. Nolichuky, 215. Occabacke, 74. Ohio, first heard of, 13; name on first map, 1 7; names of, 19. Oiapigaming, 19. Oil Creek, 12. Olighin (Allegany), 61. Old Chaouanon, 25. Ouespere, 209. Ouabache (Wabash), 26, 74. 155. 209. Ouabouskigon, 17. Pedee, 39, 232. Pelesipi, 25, 26. Powell's, 138. Red, 190. Red Stone Creek, no. Roanoke, 220, 223, 232. Romanettos Creek, 249, 254, 265, 267, 270, 272. Rorenock, 38. Sabsquigs, 22. St. Jerome (Wabash), 20, 25. St. Joseph, 167. Index. 297 \\ Rivers: St. Louis, 61. Salmon, 36, 69. Salt, 24. Sandy Creek, 140. Sapony, 222, 232. Savannah, 59, 205. Sciota, Chianotho, Si- koder, Sonioto, 27, 39, 45, 47 et seq., 54 et seq., iii, 153. Shawan, 38. Shenango, Chiningue, 27. Shurtees Creek, 265 et seq., 270. Staunton, 232. Stoner's Creek, 201. Susquehannah, 10, 31, 49. Tanassee ] 28, 30, 31, >-205, 210 et Tenessee ) seq. Tugels, 205. Turtle Creek, 149. Watauga, 189, 202, 212. White Woman's Creek, 20, 163. Will's Creek, loi, 103, \\^ et seq., 269. Wisconsin, 18. Wood River, 232, 239, 270. Yadkin, 1 89 et seq. NyYauyaugain, 269. 38 Rivers: Yellow Creek, 249, 267. Robertson, James, 213 et seq. Robertson Co., Tenn., 190. Roseboom, Captain, 66. Rowan, Prest. of N. Ca., 115. Rutherford, John, 128. St. A sap lis, 206. St. Clair, Arthur, 182. St. Clair, Sir John, 129, 130. Salt Licks, Ohio, 1 83. Sandusky, Ohio, 45, 167. Sargent, John, 197. Scaroyady, the Half King, 94, 121 et seq., 142. Schuyler, Abrm., 58. Schuyler, Arent, 40. Schuyler, David, 57. Schuyler, Peter, 35, 58. Scruniyattha, the Half King, III. Sharpe, Gov. of Maryland, "5. 130. Sharpe, W., 266. Shawangunck Mts., Ulster Co.,N. v., ^y. Shingiss Shingo, Indian Chief, 50, 142. Smith, Captain John, of Virga., 3s* 231. 298 Index. Smith, Samuel, 273. Smith, William, 22. Smyth, Dr. O. F. D., 203. Spearing, Lieut, 129. Spotswood, Gov. of Va., 74> 238. Staggs, Colonel, 228. Stanwix, Colonel John, 150. Stephens, Colonel Adam, 171. Stewart, John, 190, 192. Stoner, Michael, 200 et seq. Sunbury, Penna., 169. Talon, Intendant of Can- ada, 64. Taylor, , 194. Taylor, Handcock, 194. Thornton, Wm., 249. Tonty, Henry, 41, 51. Townshend, Charles, 93. Transylvania, Colony of, 206. Transylvania, Common- wealth of, 204 ei seq. Treaties: with Indians, at Ft. Stanwix, N. Y., 174, 192, 197. with Indians, at Lancas- ter, Pa., 47, 53, 82, .i 56, 253. with Indians, at Locha- ber, S. Ca., 192. of Paris, 165, 178, 27,3. of Utrecht, 72, 76, 80, ^2, 238. Trent, Captain, 97, 103. Trois Rivieres, Canada, Tryon, Governor of N. Y., 198. Tuttrel, John, 202. van Corlear, Arent, 35, 41. Vandalia, Colony of, 174, 177. Venango, Pa., 20, 85, no. Vincennes, M., 180. Walden's Mountain, 193. »v,o.xcx. ^x, zK,a,e, seq. Walden's Mountain, lor Transylvania Company, | Walker, Thomas, 89, 137, 138, 186. 202. Treaties: with Indians, in 1701, .35» 36. with Indians, in 1726, 36. Walpole Company, 89. Walpole's Grant, 1 74. Walpole, Horace, 118. Walpole, Thomas, 1 74, 197.277. i:^„.;,.x Index. Walsingham, Sir Francis, lO. Ward, Ensign, io6, 109. Warner, Charles Dudley, 22. Washington, Augustin, 88, 249. Washington, George, 88, 103, 109, III etseq., 122, i4i» i5i> 159' 168, 263. Washington, Lawrence, '^^y 249. Waterford, Penna., 168. Weiser, Conrad, 117. Western Reserve, Ohio, 54. 299 I Wharton, Samuel, 197. 'Whitley, Wm., 195. Williams, John, 202. Williams, Margaret, 1 56. Winchester, Va., 114, 122. Winsor, Justin, 16. Wolfe, General, 158. Wood, Colonel or Gen- eral, 16, 74, 207, 220 et ^^9'y 235 etseq. Wood, Doctor, 195. Woods, Thomas, 220, 230. Woodrop, Wardrop, James, 249, 273.