OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 preecnteo ayvbrOfessor G.W.Kni eht 
 
CENTENNIAL SOUVENIR. 
 
 THE 
 
 PHIO VALLEY 
 
 A SKETCH 
 
 OF ITS PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS, ANTIQUITIES 
 DISCOVERY, anp SETTLEMENT. 
 
 BY 
 
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 CINCINNATI, 0,: 
 CouEen & Co., PRinrERs, 
 1888 
 
CopyrRiGHT BY WM. H. WETZ. 
 
PREFATORY. 
 
 a the following few pages will give the people 
 
 of the Ohio valley, and also those others who 
 may take an interest in our history, but a faint 
 notion of that historic thread which runs through 
 the many interesting and thrilling events con- 
 nected with the discovery, settlement and present 
 occupation of this valley and also give them a 
 glimpse into prehistoric times, the aim of this 
 sketch will be fully reached. If, however, they 
 should do so much as awaken in one persona real 
 desire for a deeper study of our history, it would 
 be more than we dared hope for, but that which 
 of all is most desired. 
 
 Those works that have been especially useful 
 in the preparation of this sketch are: MacLean, 
 ** Mound Builders ;’? Clarke, ‘‘ Prehistoric Re- 
 mains on the Site of Cincinnati ;’’ Schoolcraft, 
 Indians ; and ‘* Western Annals.”’ 
 
 Tue AUTHOR. 
 JUNE 14, 1888. 
 
 123989 
 
~ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 3 PAGE. 
 Mound Builders not the First Race that inhabited this 
 Country—Geological Evidences of Man’s Antiquity— 
 The Mound Builders—Mounds and Enclosures First 
 Noticed—Geographical Distribution—Different Tribes 
 or Nations—Their Intelligence—-Knowledge of Ge- 
 ometry — Civilization — Government—Military—Agri- 
 culture — Mechanics— Sculpture — Culture—Religious 
 Worship—Character—Methods of Burial—Personal 
 Appearance—Their Origin—Their a Dia ee 
 
 Became of Them. . 2 : . j : 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 These Earth-works likely Escaped the Notice of the 
 First White Inhabitants—Mounds—Different Classes 
 of—Effigies—Their Meaning—Sacrificial Mounds— 
 Temple Mounds—Sepulchral Mounds—Mounds of 
 Observation—Enclosures—Defensive and Sacred— 
 Fortifications—Sacred Enclosures—Ancient Works in 
 the Ohio Valley—Western Pennsylvania—Near Wheel- 
 ing—At Marietta—At Newark—At Portsmouth—In Ad- 
 ams County—Antiquities Found in Kentucky—Cave 
 near Louisville—Salt Cave—Short’s Cave—Mammoth 
 Cave—Ancient Remains on the Site of Cincinnati. 35 
 
 5 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTERS HE 
 INDIANS. 
 
 Who drove out the Mound Builders ?—Indian Traditions 
 Respecting Mound Builders—Recent Archzologists 
 Identify Mound Builders with Indians—Origin of the 
 Red Men—Two Views Respecting the Indian—Unity 
 of Type—Two General Classes—Most Advanced Na- 
 tions—Characteristics—Influence of Climate and Lo- 
 cality—Marriage—Dwellings—Form of Government— 
 _Their Conceptions of Nature—Mythology—Religion 
 —Fondness for Singing and Dancing—Music—Rev- 
 erence for Dead—Methods of Burial—Effect of the 
 Advent of the White Man on the Indian—The Influ- 
 ence of Intoxicating Liquors upon them—First Scene 
 of Intoxication among them—Personal Appearance— 
 Indians of the Ohio Valley—Miscellaneous Thoughts 
 from Schoolcraft. . : : ana : 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 DISCOVERY OF VALLEY. 
 
 Discovery of the American Continent—Spanish Discov- 
 eries in the South—Columbus, Ponce De Leon, Diego 
 Miruelo, Pamphilo De Narvaez, De Soto—English 
 Discoveries in the East—Discoveries in 1497 and 1498— 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Raleigh—Coloniza- 
 tion East of the Alleghanies between 1606 and 1616— 
 Land Ceded to English by Iroquois—French Discov- 
 eries in the North—Voyagers Reach Newfoundland in 
 1504—Discoveries of John Verrazzani in 1524—James 
 Cartier in 1534—French Colonists settle near Quebec 
 in 1541—Franciscan Monks among Northern Indians 
 in 1612—Le Caron, Father Claude Allonez, Dablon 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 and Marquette, Nicholas Parrot—Discovery of the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley—Marquette—La Salle—Many Forts 
 Built on the Mississippi by the French—English Begin 
 to move West, 1749—The First Englishman, John How- 
 ard, descends the Ohio—Conrad Weiser Sent West, 
 1748—The ‘‘Ohio Company’’—Gist Examines the 
 Lands of the West—French Try To Take Possession 
 of Ohio Valley—Destroy English Trading House on 
 Miami—English make Treaty with the Indians at 
 Logstown—Preparations for War in Virginia—George 
 Washington sent West—French take the Fort at the 
 Fork and name it Duquesne—Failure of an Attempt 
 To Compromise in 1755—Four French Points At- 
 tacked— Braddock’s Defeat—Indians Cross the 
 Mountains—England ‘Gains the Victory, both in 
 Europe and America—Canada Taken by the English 
 —English begin To Settle the West—Bitter Feeling of 
 Indians towards the English. : : 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 PIONEER HISTORY. 
 
 The Ohio Company Revives Interest in the West—Pam- 
 phlets on the Advantages of Western Settlements 
 Published—Pontiac’s War—Bradstreet and Pouquet 
 Restore Peace—Boundary Line between Indian and 
 Ceded Lands Fixed—Why Kentucky Remained so 
 long Unknown—Indians Cede their Land South of the 
 Ohio to the English—Colonel Smith Explores Ken- 
 tucky—Daniel Boone goes to Kentucky—Indians op- 
 pose Settlement South of Ohio River—Battle at Point 
 Pleasant—The West During the Time of the Revolu- 
 tinn of 1776—Geo. Rogers Clark becomes the Real 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 Founder of Kentucky—Ohio Company of 1786 
 founded in New England—Send Settlers to the Mus- 
 kingum—Symmes’ Grant between the Miamis—Lo- 
 santiville Laid Out. . ; ; : : : ES 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 HISTORY OF SOME OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 
 
 Motives that Guide Discoverers and Settlers of a Country 
 —The Value of Streams—The Ohio Jong Identified 
 with the Wabash—Various Names applied to the Ohio 
 -—The Floods of the Ohio—First Settlements in Ohio 
 Valley—Wheeling — Pittsburgh — Marietta—Louisville 
 —Cincinnati, . : > : ; : A . 126 
 
HE OHIO V ALLEY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Tue Mounp BUILDERS. 
 
 one taking up the subject proper of 
 this chapter, which is to treat of the origin 
 and character of that prehistoric race of people 
 which, from its characteristic monuments, has 
 received the name Mound Builders, we would 
 like merely to direct the attention of the reader 
 to the antiquity of man in the United States as 
 treated of in geology. This, though it be but 
 the mere mention of some of the leading facts, 
 we would not dare overlook in a chapter on the 
 prehistoric races of this as well as other 
 countries; for evidence is quite clear on this 
 point, and it has been shown that the race we 
 call Mound Builders was by no means the first 
 race that inhabited this country. As one writer 
 says: ‘‘Multitudes of nations have arisen upon 
 the American Continent and have disappeared, 
 leaving no trace but ruins, mounds, a few 
 wrought stones, or fragments of pottery.” 
 
IO MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 The geological evidences of the antiquity of 
 man may be briefly stated as follows: Flint 
 implements and weapons of various kinds as 
 well as human skulls, and even entire skeletons, 
 have been found imbedded in deposits which 
 belong to the two geologic ages which immedi- 
 ately precede the present, or the age which is 
 distinctively designated as the age of man. 
 The remains of man, such as weapons and 
 parts of skeletons, have been found associated 
 with the bones of animals, both in deposits and 
 in caves. These prehistoric animals, whose geo- 
 logic age is well marked, were very much like 
 many that exist at the present time, but much 
 larger. They were the mastodon, a large ele- 
 phant, the megatherium, the mylodon, a jaguar 
 larger than that of the present day, and a large 
 bear. These remains of both men and animals 
 are found so associated as distinctly to indicate 
 frequent conflict between them, man sometimes 
 being vanquished, indeed, but more frequently, 
 on account of his superior intelligence and skill, 
 the conqueror. These conflicts must have been 
 very severe, and many times hopeless for these 
 early men, when we consider the poor means of 
 defense they had—a few weapons, such as 
 hatchets and knives, rudely fashioned out of 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. II 
 
 stone. There is only one thing more in this con-_ 
 nection which we desire to mention, and that is 
 
 the evidence of the existence of man before the 
 Glacial period, or, the great ice age. This age 
 was characterized by a climate severely cold and 
 by the formation of immense glaciers, which 
 traveled slowly from north to south, destroying 
 all the immense forests, breaking off and carry- 
 ing with them huge rocks, and driving both men 
 and beasts before them and compelling them to 
 seek in the south a more comfortable dwell- 
 ing place. From what remote period this 
 glaciation dates, or how long it continued, can 
 scarcely be imagined. All we know is from the 
 traces it has left, and there are also similar facts 
 to show that when this period came to an end, 
 inundations characterized by violent torrents, 
 modified the valleys and rivers and gave them 
 about the appearance they have to-day. In these 
 glacial deposits various human relics have been 
 found, and indications are that they were origin- 
 ally thus deposited. Numerous stone imple- 
 ments and weapons have been discovered, and 
 also charred wood and ashes, in such a manner 
 as to indicate that fires had been built by man to 
 alleviate to some extent his sufferings from the 
 intense cold. Of the character of these people 
 
I2 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 absolutely nothing can be said or even imagined ; 
 neither can any thing in this regard be known of 
 those other races which immediately followed 
 the first inhabitants. Nothing can be established 
 beyond the bare fact that human beings existed 
 in those very early times. The investigations 
 made in caves and in the great shell-heaps found 
 both on our eastern and western coasts, indicate 
 that these races, which likely succeeded the first 
 inhabitants immediately, were very different in 
 their habits of life. Instead of being savages 
 roaming about from place to place, they seemed 
 to have dwelled in communities, and undoubtedly 
 developed alow form of society. Their industry 
 is shown by the discovery of bone needles, with 
 which they made their clothes, likely from skins 
 of animals. 
 
 Thus, after presenting this near outline of the 
 facts showing the great antiquity of man in this 
 country, we come now to our subject, whichis a 
 race of people who create in usa deeper interest, 
 because the number and variety of their monu- 
 ments and relics give us some insight into their 
 character, and concerning whose civilization and 
 arts we can speak in positive terms. This race is 
 the Mound Builders. 
 
 When this country became sufficiently settled 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. 13 
 
 by the race which is still in possession of it, the 
 existence of strange structures, such as high 
 mounds of various forms and sizes, walls and 
 enclosures, mostly out of earth, forced themselves 
 ‘ upon the attention of those people living near 
 them. The form, as well as other marks which 
 these works bore, showed to these observers that 
 they could not be otherwise than of artificial con- 
 struction. They at once attributed them to human 
 agencies, as there were very few reasons indeed 
 in favor of classifying them as natural edifices. 
 The real builders of these remarkable structures 
 being of necessity entirely unknown to these first 
 observers, the only race to whom they could at- 
 tribute them was the Indian. Even now, with 
 persons not versed in the literature on this sub- 
 ject, these structures go by the name of Indian 
 mounds. It was not until, perhaps by circum- 
 stances purely accidental, that these mounds be- 
 came known to contain relics of various sorts, 
 which led to a thorough and scientific investiga- 
 tion which showed that these works were not built 
 by the red man, but by a race of people in every 
 respect superior to the Indian. 
 
 This great nation of antiquity, as is shown by 
 the geographical distribution of their works, oc- 
 cupied the whole of the United States. The 
 
, i 
 14 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 central portion of this country, however, was 
 by far more densely populated than any other 
 part. Here were the great centers of their 
 civilization. The valley of the Ohio and those 
 of some of its tributaries together formed the © 
 territory of one of the greatest and most re- 
 markable of these centers, as shown by the 
 number, variety and complexity of the works. 
 The question now arises: was there unity 
 among this ancient people: did they constitute 
 one single nation under one and the same govern- 
 ment, or were there several nations, under sev- 
 eral governments, with different customs and 
 pursuits, notwithstanding that they may have 
 been similar in some general characteristics ? 
 Different authors have given different answers to 
 this question. Some seem to think that there was 
 but one nation and one government and support 
 their opinions by various minor facts in connec- 
 tion with the monuments ; but the greater number 
 of the best authorities think that there were 
 different nations or tribes with different charac- 
 teristics and pursuits. One author makes three 
 nations: 1. The Agricultural Nation which oc- 
 cupied the Ohio valley. 2. The A4@ktary Nation 
 on the Lakes, and 3. The Zfigy Wation between 
 the Mississippi and Lake Michigan. This is not 
 
“th 
 
 MOUND BUILDERS. 15 
 
 credited by another writer because, as the latter 
 says, fortifications are found as far south as the 
 Ohio River; but it is evident that the Agricul- 
 tural Nation would find it necessary. to fortify itself 
 against the Military Nation of the North. pek. 
 McLean, in his work on the Mound Builders, calls 
 attention to the following facts. He says: “A 
 map of the State of Ohio containing the earth- 
 works would indicate three distinct things. 1. 
 A belt of country running through Central Ohio 
 from east to west, entirely devoid of ancient earth- 
 works. 2. South of this belt are numerous 
 military and religious enclosures. 3. North of 
 the belt numerous military but no sacred enclos- 
 *zes. These works are not so formidable as those 
 #£ Southern Ohio. The soil of Central Ohio is 
 productive, and hence there must have been some 
 very strong reason for not occupying it. Again, 
 if the same nations occupied Northern Ohio that 
 occupied the southern part, we would certainly 
 meet with sacred enclosures. It appears that 
 there were in the State two distinct nations, hav- 
 ing different sympathies, and on account of this 
 disparity existing between them they placed them- 
 selves wide apart, being separated by the belt ot 
 neutral territory.”’ 
 
 ‘‘If the mounds of Wisconsin belong to the 
 
 ) 
 el 
 
16 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 same era as the mounds of Ohio, we have another 
 distinct nation. The animal mounds of Wiscon- 
 sin are very numerous, while in Ohio the animal 
 mounds probably do not number half a dozen, 
 and the greatest of all these is entirely separated 
 from any of the enclosures. If the sympathies 
 of these nations werethe same it would appear 
 that vast numbers of this class of mounds should 
 be found in Ohio.”’ 
 
 The fact that the enclosures of the northern 
 nation are less formidable than those of the 
 southern may signifiy to us that this warlike and 
 military nation was in very little danger of invas- 
 ion by any other nation. Its strength was in its — 
 armies, while that of the southern, peaceful agri__ 
 cultural nation had to be in superior fortifications. 
 When we take into consideration the various 
 circumstances relating tothe structure and position 
 of many of the southern fortifications and also of 
 the large and high mounds of observation and 
 the views they command over the fortifications 
 and also over other mounds which command other 
 more distant fortifications, it is quite plain that 
 this southern nation was compelled, by these 
 strong fortifications and high signal mounds, to 
 protect itself against a very formidable enemy 
 which threatened it on the north and east. 
 
MOUND BUILDERS, 17 
 
 As itseems to be tolerably clear that this ancient 
 people was divided into several nations or at least 
 tribes, it next becomes necessary to investigate 
 them further as a people, and see what can be 
 known of the intelligence, civilization, character, 
 government, arts, etc. 
 
 In studying this wonderful people with reference 
 to the above characteristics, we will direct our 
 attention more especially to that nation which 
 occupied the Ohio valley for the reason that they 
 concern us more particularly in this work and 
 they also seem to us to have possessed a culture 
 superior to that of the other nations belonging to 
 the same race. This will not, however, exclude 
 an occasional reference to facts of interest that 
 may be found among those other nations on the 
 north and west. 
 
 A careful survey of the various earth-works, 
 such as enclosures of different kinds as well as a 
 close examination of relics such as weapons, im- 
 plements, sculptured images and tablets, impress 
 us first of all with the intelligence of this people. 
 As direct marks and indications of the intelli- 
 gence we would refer to the complexity and syme- 
 try of many of their earthworks. In many of 
 *m a wide and accurate knowledge of geometry 
 
 loubtedly displayed. Back of this lies also 
 
18 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 the power to apprehend the adstract principles of 
 mathematics, especially of geometry. This 
 geometrical skill is particularly manifest when we 
 notice the regularity ot the various enclosures. 
 A writer who does not on the whole take the most 
 hopeful view of the Mound Builders, says, never- 
 theless, of these enclosures: ‘‘ They are always 
 of regular form, square or circular, more rarely 
 elliptical or polygonal. All thefiguresare perfect, 
 all the angles are right angles, all the sides are 
 equal. The men who built them certainly under- 
 stood the art of measuring surfaces and angles.” 
 To show their skill in measuring surfaces, anum- 
 ber of examples may be cited. The group at 
 Newark, Ohio, ‘‘includes an octagon covering 
 an area of fifty acres, a square of twenty acres, 
 and two circles of twenty and thirty acres, re- 
 spectively.” At Hopeton, Ross County, Ohio, 
 there is a circle and a square containing each ex- 
 actly twenty acres. Many more such examples 
 might be cited to show their skill in this direction. 
 We have good reasons to believe that they had 
 plans according to which they worked in the 
 erection of these extensive and complicated 
 structures, and it is not improbable that they also , 
 had instruments. Very many marks, indicative / 
 of their intelligence, will also appear as inferences, 
 j 
 
 / 
 
MOUND BUILDERS, 19 
 
 from the other characteristics which remain yet 
 to be considered. 
 
 The degree of civilization of a nation is indi- 
 cated by its government, its various industries, 
 and its military discipline. Culture is a wider 
 term, and would include also its moral, social 
 and religious life. While it is impossible to have 
 any exact knowledge of the nation in question 
 in regard to civilization and culture, and while 
 we cannot on this account fix their exact condi- 
 tion, yet we find indications pointing at least toa 
 degree of development in these various directions. 
 Many of the best writers on this subject seem to 
 think that the government of this ancient people 
 was despotic, and probably like that of the ancient 
 Mexicans and many other ancient nations, it was 
 a government of the priesthood. They think that, 
 judging from the vastness of many of the struct- 
 ures which remain, the government must have 
 been a powerful one in order to exact a sufficient 
 amount of labor from a population to erect these 
 mighty monuments. Considering that the popu- 
 lation was very numerous and that a great num- 
 ber of laborers were required to erect these 
 structures, it is reasonable to suppose that the 
 government was not one of mere force, but one 
 
20 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 with a religious power which laid hold on the 
 destinies of the subjects. 
 
 Of their military skill very little can be said 
 in detail. It can, however, be easily seen by 
 their fortifications that they possessed great skill 
 in this direction. They were powerful in defence, 
 and this indicates power also in the assailing 
 armies. Whether these forts were altogether 
 used as a protection against warlike neighboring 
 tribes, or against an invading nation which finally 
 conquered and supplanted them, will perhaps be- 
 come Clear further on. 
 
 As has already been stated, that tribe of 
 Mound Builders which occupied the Ohio valley 
 and the valleys of some of its tributaries was an 
 agricultural tribe. These fertile valleys were 
 immense districts where all sorts of produce was 
 cultivated. Judging from various things, their 
 system of farming must have been carried on 
 with considerable method, as were all their in- 
 dustries. As the population was very numerous, 
 itis but reasonable to suppose that nothing but 
 the strictest adherence to a good method in this 
 respect would result in a sufficient supply of food 
 for the people, a great number of whom must 
 have been occupied for a long time in construct- 
 ing and keeping up these immense monuments 
 
 a ee 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. 21 
 
 of various sorts. It is very evident that they could 
 not depend upon the naiural and spontaneous 
 yield of the soil, and upon the uncertain and 
 perhaps meagre chances of hunting and fishing. 
 With regard to this J. P. MacLean says: “It 
 has been estimated that in the hunter state it re- 
 quires 50,000 acres for the support of one hunter, 
 and as there are twenty-five millions, four hun- 
 dred and forty-six thousand, seven hundred and 
 seven acres in Ohio, we then could have, upon 
 the above estimate, but 509 able-bodied men 
 supported alone by the flesh of wild beasts in 
 Ohio.” 
 
 The chief product of their agricultural toil was 
 undoubtedly maize, as it also was their staple 
 article of food. The district in which they lived 
 was especially adapted to its cultivation. The 
 above quoted author says: ‘* No other plant was 
 better adapted to their use, for it is highly prolific, 
 easily cultivated, and the product of a single 
 acre is sufficient to sustain for an entire year 
 about 200 able-bodied men.’ They also culti- 
 vated other grain besides this.. Such plants as 
 would furnish fibrous substance suitable for the 
 making of clothes, must have been cultivated 
 also. The vast number of pipes of various kinds 
 show that they were ‘‘ sturdy smokers,” and this 
 
22 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 would necessitate the cultivation of tobacco. It 
 is also quite probable that, as the potato and 
 tomato are native to America, large quantities of 
 these were Cultivated. 
 
 They were also skilled in the various mechani- 
 cal arts, such as the manufacture of implements 
 of various kinds, tools, as also of ornaments. 
 There are also evidences that they understood the 
 artof bridging, at least to some degree, as there 
 are indications that certain small streams were 
 spanned by bridge-like structures. The making 
 of sun-dried brick was very extensively carried 
 on by them. Many of their mounds and the walls 
 of fortifications were faced with these brick. 
 Mining was one of their great industries, and 
 quite a number of metals as wellas mica and slate 
 were produced and used by them in the manu- 
 facture of implements and ornaments. They also 
 understood copper smelting and molding. A 
 great many of their weapons, implements and 
 ornaments, such as axes, hatchets, hammers, 
 badges of authority, etc., were made of stone by 
 grinding or rubbing until they had the desired 
 shape. ‘The flint instruments,” says MacLean, 
 are not made by blows, but by pressure. By 
 striking the flint it will be broken irregularly, but 
 by strong pressure the flakes are easily disen- 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. 23 
 
 gaged.” Their copper implements and also some 
 ornaments made of this metal were all hammered 
 out cold. They obtained their copper mainly 
 from the extensive mines on the shores of Lake 
 Superior ; and this seems to show that they were 
 also traders. They also understood the making 
 of cloth of various kinds, asis shown by fragments 
 which have been taken from mounds. 
 
 They have left many evidences, such as vases, 
 stone images, idols, ‘‘life-sized human masks in 
 hard stone,” and many minor works to show that 
 they understood the art of sculpture. Of their 
 methods of executing these a writer says: ‘‘ It was 
 by patient labor rubbing one stone against another, 
 that the Mound Builders executed their sculptures. 
 The Mexicans and Peruvians employed the 
 same processes, after having first rough-hewn the 
 stone with the help of obsidian implements. It 
 was natural that the owners of objects so labor- 
 iously obtained should attach very great value to 
 them, and we do, in fact, meet with pipes mended 
 with extremecare. The process was very simple: 
 holes were pierced at the edges of the fracture, 
 and little rivets of wood or copper were placed in 
 them to keep the pieces together.” 
 
 While the Mound Builders are thus shown to 
 have possessed no inconsiderable civilization, yet 
 
24. MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 because of the absence of a written language, we 
 can hardly call them a cultured people except in 
 a quite ordinary degree. It may be that if we 
 had some insight into their language, it would re- 
 veal much that would cause us to assign them a 
 higher place in every way. 
 
 It is quite fair to presume that they had their 
 social enjoyments, amusements, and games of 
 various sorts. These may have consisted mainly 
 "in trials of skill in different things. They may 
 have been exhibitions of skill in arms; skill in 
 shooting with bow and arrows, in using the lance, 
 etc. It is also known that they had other games 
 in which they frequently indulged. 
 
 They may also be called a religious people in 
 that they had certain forms of worship, as indi- 
 cated by some of the enclosures and idols which 
 have been found. All nations, however low inthe 
 scale of civilization, have some form of worship 
 or entertain some notion of the supernatural. 
 The form which the intellect gives to the idea 
 may and always does differ in different nations, 
 but all the forms rest on the same essential idea. 
 Quite frequently the various powers of nature 
 are objects of worship, and this was more than 
 likely true of the Mound Builders. Some of their 
 great mounds, which are now designated as tem- 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. 25 
 
 ple mounds, were erected for the worship of the 
 sun or the moon. We will quote here again from 
 the author above mentioned, J. P. MacLean, 
 who says: ‘‘ Upon these (temple) mounds were 
 erected other structures made of wood, and in 
 them the perpetual fires burned by day and by 
 night. Ifthe so-called altar-mounds were places 
 of sacrifice, then more light is thrown upon this 
 subject, and in imagination we may behold strange 
 and revolting rites. Upon these altars, then, 
 were offered up their most precious ornaments, 
 and the most skillful works of their hands. No 
 gift was too costly, none too highly esteemed. 
 Their most elaborately carved pipes, their gar- 
 ments woven with patient toil, their precious 
 materials brought from long distances, were 
 freely offered to appease the wrath of their deities. 
 Nor is this all. Around these altars the priest- 
 hood assembled, and with strange songs, marched 
 in solemn procession, while one or more of their 
 number offered up a human being as a sacrifice. 
 Not one, but many of their own nation, or some 
 poor victims taken in war, were condemned at 
 once to pour out their blood in obedience to the 
 forms of a superstitious and sanguinary religion.” 
 
 From the existence of large serpent mounds 
 and certain other representations of serpents, 
 
26 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 some archzoiogists have supposed that they also 
 worshiped the serpent. In the same way cer- 
 tain images of human beings which have been 
 found, have been taken to be idols, but both of 
 these suppositions are unsupported by the proper 
 evidence. 
 
 Of what is really meant by the character of 
 the Mound Builders, nothing can be directly 
 known, but must be inferred from other facts. A 
 great deal has already been brought out in the 
 preceding pages, and only afew more things re- 
 garding them remain yet to be shown. 
 
 The manner in which they disposed of their 
 dead may be of sufficient interest to be briefly 
 considered, and may give us some additional in- 
 sight into their characters. Their formsof burial 
 were quite numerous, including almost all known 
 forms. As man everywhere does, so the Mound 
 Builders also showed great respect for the dead 
 bodies of their friends. It is said that ‘‘ the most 
 numerous mounds are those which rise from 
 graves.”” These mounds, which are met with all 
 over the United States, resemble each other in 
 many respects, and this indicates that the differ- 
 ent nations or tribes, however dissimilar in other 
 important respects, had like funeral observances 
 and great respect for their dead. They placed 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. 2 
 
 the bodies of their dead in various positions—ex- 
 tended horizontally and also doubledup. There 
 are numerous instances to show that in some 
 cases they burned their dead. It can, however, 
 not be determined under what circumstances 
 these different rites were employed, or what cus- 
 toms governed them. The burning was done by 
 building large fires upon the bodies, which were 
 first covered with clay or stones. 
 
 There is some evidence that goes to show that 
 some of the races of Mound Builders, and per- 
 haps all, to some degree practiced cannibalism. 
 This is shown beyond all doubt of those races 
 which inhabited Florida, and also those of New 
 England. These were, however, very much 
 lower, and perhaps much earlier races than those 
 who inhabited the Ohio valley, and, in fact, the 
 whole of the central part of the United States. 
 Theevidences of cannibalism among the race 
 that occupied this valley are very rare, but if the 
 ancient Mexicans, who were much higher in 
 civilization and a much later people, were in the 
 habit of eating human flesh at their war-feasts, 
 it is not very improbable that the Mound Builders 
 of this part of the country had a similar custom. 
 
 Very little can be said as to the general appear- 
 ance of the Mound Builders, as evidence of this 
 
28 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 kind must, naturally, be wanting. Only a few 
 very general outlines in this particular can be 
 drawn. Most of the skulls found indicate a low 
 type and small brain capacity. Skeletons that 
 have been found are of different sizes. A skele- 
 ton from a stone grave in Tennessee measured 
 seven feet; one from Fort Wayne, five feet 
 eleven inches ; and two skeletons, one from Utah 
 and the other from Michigan, measured more 
 than six feet. It is the opinion of some that these 
 men were of ordinary size. We also gain some 
 knowledge as to their appearance from the carved 
 and sculptured images they have left us, though 
 some seem to think these are perhaps imitations 
 which are as imperfect as their representations of 
 the various animals and birds, yet we undoubt- 
 edly have the main outlines. We will be safe in 
 regarding the Mound Builder as a man of 
 medium size, with a small cranium, a low receding 
 forehead, which was much narrower at the top 
 than at the base, high cheek-bones, prominent 
 brows, and large and prominent jaws. Their 
 faces were short and broad, and their eyes were 
 rather large. Just what their complexion was 
 we cannot tell, but it was evidently dark. They 
 may be regarded as resembling the Indian 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. 29 
 
 slightly, but they resembled the ancient Mexican 
 more closely. 
 
 Having thus far studied some of the leading 
 characteristics of this remarkable and ancient 
 people, it would be of some interest to know 
 something of their origin. Who were they? 
 Whence did they come? How long did they 
 occupy this country? What finally became of 
 them? These are questions which naturally 
 suggest themselves to almost any reader. These 
 are very important and intensely interesting ques- 
 tions, but it is extremely difficult, if not altogether 
 impossible, to obtain a satisfactory answer to 
 them. 
 
 In regard to the origin of this people, two 
 questions suggest themselves. Did they originate 
 in this country, or did they migrate from some 
 other country? If we say that the Mound 
 Builders, or in fact any of the American races 
 originated here, then we assert by so doing the 
 diversity of the origin of the human race, deny 
 the unity of the race, are opposed by the various 
 sciences which deal with these problems, and set 
 ourselves at variance with the best scientific minds 
 that have ever dealt with these questions. If, 
 therefore, we cannot say that this race had its 
 origin in the New World, we are compelled to 
 
30 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 answer the second question in the affirmative, and 
 say they came from some oider country. We 
 are now led to inquire what other country they 
 inhabited before they came here, and by what 
 means and where they entered the country. Here 
 is where we meet with the real mystery. A great 
 many sources of evidence have been sought and 
 consulted, and numerous theories have been pro- 
 pounded, but the mystery is still unsolved. 
 - Indian traditions have been consulted, but these 
 do not help us much, as they seem to be conflict- 
 ing, for some Indian tribes possessed traditions 
 to the effect that the Mound Builders were a dis- 
 tinct race, while other tribes had traditions saying 
 that these mounds and enclosures were built by 
 the ancestors of the Indians. It has also been 
 shown that the knowledge of very important 
 events has been lost entirely among them in the 
 course of a few centuries, and that no traditions 
 relative to the events were preserved. 
 
 Quite numerous have been the theories as to 
 how and where man entered this continent. One 
 hypothesis is that man originally came from Asia 
 and entered the country at Behring Straits, and 
 another would have them entering at the western 
 coast of South America. A great many eminent 
 men favor this latter theory. Some investigators 
 
 ‘ 
 { 
 \ 
 ie 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. 31 
 
 seem to think that judging from the manner in 
 which the earthworks in their various grades oc- 
 cur, the ancient Americans must have entered in 
 the region of the gulf orthe southeastern part of 
 the United States. This suggests what may be 
 called the Atlantian theory. Plato, the celebrated 
 Greek philosopher, described an island which was 
 called Atlantis, and existed in very ancient times. 
 This island is said to have disappeared, sinking 
 into the ocean which surrounded it. It was fora 
 long time thought that this was only an ideal 
 creation by the philosopher, but some modern 
 scholars have taken the matter up again and seem 
 to be able to show that it was not fiction but fact, 
 and have located this island somewhere in the At- 
 lantic Ocean, east of this continent. Itis thought, 
 upon ground of this theory, that our ancient 
 Americans came from this wonderful island 
 either at, or before its destruction. 
 
 The most plausible theory seems to us to be 
 that of President Warren, of Boston University. 
 It is based upon a very wide range of evidence. 
 He shows from various physical facts as well as 
 from traditions of various nations, that in all prob- 
 ability the human race had its cradle in the ex- 
 treme north. In fact, he places this land, which 
 was the long-sought-for cradle of the race—the 
 
32 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 earthly paradise, at the north pole. The theory 
 comes to us well supported by fact, and seems to 
 us very pluasible indeed. There are traditions 
 which some of our northern Indians are said to 
 have preserved, and these say that their ancestors 
 came from the north, far beyond the Great Lakes. 
 The ancient Mexicans also claim to have come 
 from the north. Thus it is only ina very general 
 way that we can indicate the probable origin of 
 the race we have been describing. 
 
 The question regarding the antiquity of the 
 Mound Builders is also one of great difficulty. 
 From various sources it appears, however, that 
 they lived herea great many centuries ago, and 
 from the magnitude of their earthworks, it ap- 
 pears that they occupied this country for a con- 
 siderable length of time. One of the evidences 
 of the great antiquity of their works is the fact » 
 that when first discovered they were covered by 
 very dense forests, some of the trees found 
 growing on these earthworks measuring as much 
 as twenty-three feet in circumference. Another 
 evidence of their great antiquity is the position 
 of the works with reference to the river terraces. 
 ‘‘‘vhe streams generally show four successive 
 terraces, which mark four distinct eras of their 
 subsidence. The last, upon which these works 
 
MOUND BUILDERS. 33 
 
 do not occur, must have been the longest in form- 
 ing, because the excavating power necessarily 
 diminishes as the channels grow deeper. This 
 geological change proves for the mounds a very 
 great antiquity ; how long, we could only approx- 
 imate.” The state of extreme decay of the skel- 
 etons of the Mound Builders is another evidence 
 of their great antiquity. Skeletens have been 
 found in Europe, which are known to have been 
 buried two thousand years and under less favor- 
 able circumstances for their preservation than 
 those of the Mound Builders. This would indi- 
 cate a greater antiquity for the latter. 
 
 There remains yet one question to be consid- 
 ered, and that is: What became of them? We 
 have already called attention to the arrangement of 
 _the mounds, particularly by those of observation, 
 and of the fortifications, their strength and posi- 
 tion; and we said that these indicate that the 
 Mound Builders had a very strong and formidable 
 enemy to contend with, either in a neighboring 
 warlike tribe, or in an invading race. Their 
 total disappearance seems to indicate that this 
 enemy was a race which made repeated wars upon 
 them for ages, and finally succeeded in conquer- 
 ing and driving them out completely. This ex- 
 pulsion was only from the country north of the 
 
34 MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 Ohio River. They then occupied the southern 
 states and erected structures far superior to those 
 of their former home. They probably occupied the 
 entire southern country for many centuries and 
 perhaps, until quite recently, comparatively speak- 
 ing, and it was likely a remnant of this race that 
 the earliest explorers discovered inthe south. It 
 has been thought by some, that, on account of the 
 resemblance between them and some of the an- 
 ' cient Mexican races, the Mound Builders, mi- 
 grating towards the south and steadily advancing 
 in Civilization, became the progenitors of some of 
 these races. One thing strange, however, is that 
 these conquerors of the Mound Builders in Ohio, 
 who must have been superior to them in many 
 respects, left no traces whatever of their existence 
 here, 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ia describing the character of the Mound 
 Builders in the foregoing chapter, we found it 
 necessary occasionally to refer to certain earth- 
 works and other relics, which is all they have left 
 us from which to read their wonderful history, but 
 we made no attempt at describing them. A more 
 or less detailed description of these remains shall 
 form thecontents of this chapter on antiquities. 
 These remarkable earthworks most likely es- 
 caped the notice of the discoverers and earliest 
 white inhabitants of this country. And if they 
 attracted their attention at all, the thought that 
 they were artificial did not occur to them. 
 Carver, in 1776, and Harte, in 1791, were the first 
 to bring them into public notice. Breckenridge 
 also wrote of them in 1814. The first scientific 
 investigation of them was made by Squire and 
 Davis, 1845 to 1847. The results of this inves- 
 tigation were published by the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tute, and this is said to be still our best guide 
 on the subject. 
 These earthworks may be divided into two 
 
 general classes: Mounds and enclosures. We 
 35 
 
36 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 will direct our attention to the first of these, 
 namely: mounds. These again divide them~ 
 selves into several different classes, which we will 
 describe in their proper order. This class of 
 structures are very numerousindeed. It has been 
 estimated that in the State of Ohio alone, which 
 seems to have been one of the great centers of 
 this race, there are no less than 10,000 mounds ; 
 - and if these were in a line, their total length 
 would be no Jess than 306 miles. 
 
 The first class of mounds we wish to notice is 
 that class built by that race called by one writer 
 the ‘‘ Effigy race.” They have been called by 
 some ‘‘ animal mounds,” by others, ‘‘ symboli- 
 cal mounds,” and are found in many of the states 
 west and northwest of Ohio, but Wisconsin is 
 their chief centre. Dr. Lapham first called at- 
 tention to these mounds in 1836, R. C. Taylor | 
 wrote an article on them in 1838, and Dr. Locke | 
 extended the knowledge of them considerably in 
 1855. Under the auspices of the Smithsonian 
 institution and the American Antiquarian Society, 
 Dr. Lapham afterwards investigated them 
 thoroughly, and reported fully upon them. These 
 mounds in form represent various beasts, birds, 
 men, and also inanimate objects, and vary in 
 height from one to six feet. They are very numer- 
 
ANTIQUITIES, 3 7 
 
 ous, occurring ‘‘ by the thousands, representing 
 man, the lizard, turtle, elk, buffalo, bear, fox, 
 otter, raccoon, frog, bird, fish, cross, crescent, 
 angle, straight line, war club, tobacco pipe, and 
 other familiar implements and weapons. These 
 works are seldom isolated, but generally occur 
 in groups or ranges, and sometimes placed with 
 apparent design in respect to each other.’’ What 
 the real purpose of these mounds were cannot be 
 ascertained. Excavations have been made fre- 
 quently, but no relic of any kind has been found 
 in any of them. They may, however, and not 
 unjustly, be regarded as commemorating some 
 important event, some great deed, or, perhaps 
 the heroic death of a chief who died in battle. 
 An effigy, which is said to be thus significant, is 
 one which is regarded as representing a human 
 figure. An ancient tradition states that this figure 
 was erected in honor of a chief killed in battle. 
 There is a small mound between the feet of the 
 figure, ‘Sacred to the Memory of His Son, 
 Killed Fighting by the Side of His Father.” 
 There is another figure of a man in the act of 
 walking. This figure is said to be 214 feet long. 
 Many of these mounds are of much greater 
 length, some of them exceeding 300 feet. An- 
 other remarkable mound of this class is that in 
 
38 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the form of an elephant. This mound isin Grant 
 County, Wisconsin, and is situated near the 
 junction of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi 
 rivers. The length of this mound is 135 feet, 
 and its height five feet. 
 
 While, as arule, mounds of this class are found 
 principally in Wisconsin and some other western 
 states, yet there are some notable exceptions. 
 Two very remarkable effigies are found in Ohio. 
 
 “One of them represents an alligator. It is at 
 Granville, in Licking County. Its length is 250 
 feet; its height four feet. The other is the 
 ‘“‘oreat serpent’? in Adams County. The 
 ‘‘ serpent ’’ is represented as being in the act of 
 swallowing or ejecting an oval figure. Its body 
 is described as ‘‘ winding back for 700 feet, in 
 graceful undulations, terminating in a triple coil 
 at the tail.”’ 
 
 The four classes of mounds which are to follow 
 are those structures which really come under the | 
 general head of mounds proper, and are best 
 known of all the earthworks. Of. these we 
 will describe the sacrificial mound first. 
 
 This mound is by far the smallest of all mounds, 
 properly so-called. It is always found within or 
 near an enclosure, and is seldom much higher 
 than the walls of the enclosure, which would 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 39 
 
 make it about seven or eight feet in height. Its 
 construction is very regular, consisting of uniform 
 layers of sand, earth and gravel. In the centre 
 of the mound is located what is known as the 
 ‘s altar’? of the mound. This “altar” is symetri- 
 cal in form, and is generally built of clay, which 
 is burnt, but sometimes of stone. Its form varies 
 considerably, being either round, square, ellipti- 
 cal, orin the shape of a parallelogram. Upon 
 this “‘ altar’? are found burnt human bones, which 
 shows that the offering was generally a human 
 being. This offering was frequently a captive 
 taken in war, and was undoubtedly a thanks offer- 
 ing for a victory in battle. On this ‘‘altar”’ are 
 also found ornaments and weapons, which indi- 
 cate the greatest skill in execution, and some 
 very fine specimens of carving; also beads of 
 pearl and shell are found. These being their 
 choicest and most valuable possessions, the cause 
 to which they sacrificed them must have been a 
 very sacred one to them. 
 
 The most remarkable group of mounds of this 
 class is found three miles north of Chillicothe, on 
 the Scioto river. The group embraces an en- 
 closure, with an area of thirteen acres, contain- 
 ing twenty-six mounds. The group is known as 
 ‘© Mound City.” All these mounds have been 
 
40 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 opened, and their construction corresponds to the 
 general description given, though the contents of 
 these mounds vary considerably, but ashes and 
 charred human bones are invariably present. 
 The second class, temple mounds, is the most 
 remarkable of all. These mounds exceed all 
 others in height and dimensions, and are more 
 complicated in structure than the others. Their 
 form is also marked by great regularity, and is 
 chiefly that of a truncated pyramid. ‘In form 
 they are round, square, oblong, oval, or octangu- 
 lar, all having the appearance of being left in an 
 unfinished condition. They are generally high, 
 yet examples are known in which they are but a 
 few feet in elevation, although covering several 
 acres of ground. They are usually surrounded 
 by embankments. They are not numerous in 
 Ohio, occurring only at Marietta, Newark, Ports- 
 mouth, and in the vicinity of Chillicothe. The 
 farther south we go the more numerous and the 
 greater in magnitude they become, being very 
 abundant in Tennessee and Mississippi. The 
 summits of these mounds were probably covered 
 with temples constructed of wood, but no traces 
 remain to tell of their existence”? (MacLean). 
 The most remarkable example of this class was 
 the mound at Cahokia, Illinois. Itis situated in 
 
f 
 
 ANTIQUITIES. 41 
 
 the midst of sixty other mounds, whose heights 
 vary from thirty to sixty feet. It overlooks all 
 the other mounds, rising in four successive ter- 
 races to a height of ninety feet. It covers an 
 area of six acres, and it was estimated that be- 
 tween twenty and twenty-five millions of cubic 
 feet of earth was required for its construction. 
 The base of this mound measures 520 by 720 
 feet; the platform 146 by 310 feet. These 
 mounds being very high and steep, were reached 
 either by winding pathways or graded avenues. 
 
 The sepulchral mounds are very numerous, 
 and are usually conicalin form. They are gen- 
 erally removed at a distance from the enclosures. 
 ‘¢ Many are isolated, and others occur in groups, 
 sometimes connected at their bases. When they 
 are found immediately connected, one of the 
 group will be two or three times larger in dimen- 
 sions than any of the others, the smaller ones 
 being arranged around its base, thus evidencing 
 an intimate relation between them.’’—MacLean. 
 
 Mounds of this class invariably contain one or 
 
 ' more Mound Builder skeletons. The dead bodies 
 are placed on or near the surface of the original 
 
 soil, and the mounds are built over them. These 
 
 | mounds have also been used as burial places by 
 
 / 
 
 be 
 
42 ANTIQUITIES, 
 
 the Indians, and their skeletons are found fre- 
 quently and at various depths in them. 
 
 A very remarkable mound of this class is the 
 one at Grave Creek, twelve miles below Wheel- 
 ing, West Virginia. It is seventy feet high and 
 1,000 feet in circumference at its base. An ex- 
 cavation was made in 1838. It contained “ two 
 sepulchral chambers, one at the base, and the 
 other thirty feet above. These vaults had been 
 . constructed of timber and covered with stones, 
 which had sunk when the wood decayed, thus 
 giving the summit of the mound a dish-shaped 
 form. The lower chamber contained two skele- 
 tons, one of which was thought to be that of a 
 female; the upper chamber contained but one 
 skeleton, and that in an advanced state of decay.” 
 A great many shell beads, ornaments of mica, 
 copper bracelets, and other articles carved in 
 stone, were found with these skeletons, besides a 
 stone tablet, bearing a strange inscription, which 
 can not, however, be disciphered. Other mounds 
 of this class are found at Chillicothe, Newark, 
 and various other places. 
 
 The fourth class of mounds comprises those of 
 observation. These are also very large, often 
 rising to a height of sixty or seventy feet. They 
 are generally found on very high hills, and-com-, 
 
 iia 
 
 | 
 | 
 ; 
 
 me, 
 
| 
 
 ANTIQUITIES. 43 
 
 mand a good view of the fortifications for miles 
 around, and a signal fire lighted on one would 
 give the inhabitants a timely warning to flee from 
 an approaching enemy. ‘They are- principally 
 found in the valleys of the Scioto, the Little and 
 the Great Miami, the Wabash, and [Illinois 
 Rivers. 
 
 The second general class of earthworks erected 
 by the Mound Builders is that to which was 
 given thenameenclosures. Although the mounds 
 are calculated to attract the attention of a great 
 many people living near them, and also a great 
 deal more readily than the enclosures, yet the 
 latter are more remarkable, both as regards their 
 structure, and the great amount of labor required 
 to erect them. The walls of these enclosures are 
 sometimes very massive, especially of those 
 which served for the purpose of defence. A 
 great many of them are extremely interesting to 
 the student on account of the regularity with 
 which they are built. These works are quite 
 
 numerous, the State of Ohio alone containing 
 over 1,500 of them. One class of these enclosures 
 is always built in the form of an exact geometri- 
 _cal figure, and are either circular, square, or 
 
 polygonal. Very frequently an adjoining circle 
 and square will enclose the same number of acres 
 
44 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of surface. These enclosures have by archzolo- 
 gists been divided into two classes: defensive 
 and sacred. 
 
 The defensive enclosure or fortification is dis- 
 tinguished from the sacred, first of all, by the 
 site on which it is erected. They are generally 
 found on high tablelands, to which the ascent 
 from the valleys below is very difficult on account 
 of the bluffs and deep ravines formed by the 
 action of water. These natural strongholds are 
 further strengthened by artificial walls which 
 wind along the edge of the hill and along the 
 ravines, rising to various heights, as the abrupt- 
 ness of the bluff or ravine seems to demand. 
 The walls, gateways, and other artificial parts of 
 these enclosures are so constructed and placed as 
 to indicate the military character of the earth- 
 work. These fortifications frequently contain a 
 number of small mounds, which are placed so as 
 to suggest the thought that they are small mounds 
 of observation. The gateways are also very 
 suggestive of the military character of these 
 enclosures. These are frequently very compli-) 
 cated, consisting often of aseries of overlapping | 
 walls, each wall covering the entrance in the | 
 wall next to it, and thus presenting a number of — 
 entrances within the main entrance. Such a 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 45 
 
 gateway was plainly designed to serve the double 
 purpose of deceiving or misleading, and scat- 
 tering the enemy, and also to give a better oppor- 
 tunity and a number of points of attack upon 
 them from within. The character of these forts 
 also appears from their position with reference to 
 the mounds of observation, and unusually broad 
 and fertile valleys, which were undoubtedly 
 favorite settlements and were very densely popu- 
 lated. 
 
 The second class of enclosures, which form 
 their position in reference to the neighboring 
 heights, their form and size, and from the fact 
 that they always occur in the valleys, or where 
 the surface is level, and that they contain or are 
 near numbers of sacrificial mounds, are called 
 sacred, are next to be noticed. This is the 
 class of earthworks which has already been 
 spoken of as having the form of various geomet- 
 rical figures, which are found to be so perfect by 
 surveyors. Another characteristic of these en- 
 closures is that they have a ditch on the interior 
 of the embankment. J. P. MacLean gives the 
 following description of these enclosures: ‘* The 
 works are generally regular in their structure, 
 and principally found in groups. The circular 
 works are generally small, having nearly a 
 
46 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 uniform diameter of from 250 to 300 feet, and the 
 larger ones reaching more than a mile in circum- 
 ference. They are accompanied by a gateway, 
 usually facing toward the east. In the vicinity 
 of large works, small circles varying from thirty 
 to fifty feet in diameter, and consisting of a light 
 embankment with no gateway, are numerous. 
 The walls are, for the most part, comparatively 
 slight, ranging from three to seven feet, though 
 at times imposing and reaching a height of not 
 less than thirty feet. The walls are composed of 
 surface material and clay. Many of these works 
 are accompanied by parallel walls of slight em- 
 bankments, sometimes reaching a length of 800 
 feet. The square, circle, octagon, ellipse, and 
 parallel walls are sometimes found in combin- 
 ation.”’ On the use of these enclosures MacLean 
 gives the following: ‘The structures coming 
 under the head of sacred enclosures are supposed 
 by archzologists to be places devoted for pur- 
 poses of worship and the homes of the priest- 
 hood. The diameter of some of the enclosures. 
 is so great that they could not have served as the 
 walls of temples. Within these places, if we 
 are to judge by the manners and customs of the 
 ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, were erected, 
 
 1 
 ‘ 
 
 the shrines of their gods and the altars of a 
 
 || a 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 47 
 
 ancient people. Within the larger circles may 
 have been their sacred graves, and the temples 
 made of wood. ‘The smaller circles may have 
 been designed for the priesthood—the residence 
 of the priest—situated in such an enclosure as 
 was most compatible with his position in the 
 priesthood. The parallel walls were possibly in- 
 tended for protection during the mysterious 
 marches from one enclosure to another. Possibly 
 some of these structures were designed for pur- 
 poses of sport among the athletic, or else council 
 houses for purposes of legislature.”’ 
 
 Having thus given a brief description of the 
 different classes of earthworks, we will give a 
 brief enumeration of the principal works of the 
 Ohio valley and the places of their occurrence. 
 In the first place, the remarkable fact forces 
 itself upon our minds that this ancient people dis- 
 played similar judgment in locating their princi- 
 pal settlements, to that displayed by the present 
 race. All our principal cities along the Ohio and 
 Mississippi, and their tributaries, are founded on 
 the ruins of these ancient settlements. Thus we 
 find very important earthworks, indicating large 
 settlements, near the sites of Pittsburg, Wheeling, 
 Marietta, Newark, Portsmouth, Chillicothe, 
 
48 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Dayton, Hamilton, Cincinnati, Louisville, and 
 St. Louis. 
 
 A few mounds and a cave containing human 
 remains have been discovered in the valley of 
 the Susquehanna, but the portion of Pennsyl- 
 vania which was more especially occupied by 
 the Mound Builders is west of the Alleghanies. 
 A number of ancient enclosures are found near 
 Meadville, and a number of small mounds along 
 the Monongahela, which “increase in number 
 -and size as we descend toward the mouth of 
 that stream at Pittsburg.” 
 
 The next ancient structure we find, as we go 
 down the Ohio River, is near Wheeling. Itis a 
 sepulchral mound of extraordinary size, and is 
 the most noted mound of this class. It rises toa 
 height of seventy feet and measures nearly 1,000 
 feet in circumference at its base. Judging from 
 what excavations have yielded, this mound was - 
 the burial place of some royal personages.’ 
 There are in this neighborhood some smalles| 
 mounds and several enclosures, but of no great 
 importance. 
 
 At Marietta and at Newark are found some. 
 wonderful .works, which belong to the sacred 
 class. The works at Marietta have been classed 
 with mounds, while those of Newark are most 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 49 
 
 distinctively enclosures. The works at Marietta 
 consist of walls six feet high, with a base of 
 twenty feet, and enclose two irregular squares— 
 a largerandasmaller. These enclosures contain 
 a great many gateways, which are nearly all 
 guarded by small mounds on the inside of the en- 
 closures. Within the large enclosures are four 
 temple mounds with graded ways to the tops of 
 some of them. The principal one of these is ten 
 feet in height, 180in length, and thirty-two wide. 
 It has a graded ascent to its top, on each of its 
 four sides, sixty feet long and twenty-five feet 
 wide. The larger of these squares is said to en- 
 close forty acres, and the smaller twenty acres. 
 While these works are classed with mounds, prob- 
 ably because these seem to be the most promi- 
 nent feature about them, the works at Newark 
 form the most remarkable and complicated of the 
 so-called sacred enclosures. These works con- 
 sist of a great number of geometrical figures, 
 square, circular, and polygonal, in various pos- 
 itions relative to each other and connected in 
 various ways, by parallel walls. These works 
 are of considerable magnitude, extending over an 
 area of about four square miles. One of these 
 figures, a true circle, is 2,880 feet in circumfer- 
 ence, and its walls are sixty feet high. The 
 
50 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 longest of the parallel walls can be traced to the 
 distance of two miles, and many other remark- 
 able features might be mentioned to indicate the 
 magnitude of these enclosures. 
 
 Near Portsmouth are some earthworks worthy 
 of note. One series in Ohio, east of the Scioto 
 River, the other in Kentucky, opposite the mouth 
 of the Scioto. Those in Kentucky consist of an 
 enclosure, which would form an irregular square, 
 but the side on the north is formed by two walls 
 which curve outward, and two sets of parallel 
 walls, one on the east, and the other on the west 
 of the enclosure. These walls run from each 
 side of the enclosure, one east, the other west, 
 and connect with the enclosure by gateways. At 
 the southwest corner of the enclosure is a small 
 mound. The works on the Ohio side consist 
 mainly of parallel walls, and a series of small 
 mounds, all arranged in such a manner as tosug- 
 gest that the works on both sides of the river 
 must have been devoted to a religious purpose. 
 These works are so situated as to indicate that 
 they stood in connection with each other, and that 
 the irbuilders had some way of bridging the 
 stream to afford a rapid passage from one sic‘e 
 to the other, either in their daily intercourse at d 
 traffic or in times of war. 
 
ANTIQUITIES, 51 
 
 In the county which forms the western bound- 
 ary of the country containing the earthworks just 
 described, in Adams County, on Brush Creek, 
 on a hill 150 feet above the level of the creek, is 
 that remarkable effigy called the great serpent, 
 which has been already described. This wonder- 
 ful work is isolated from all other works of the 
 same people. The nearest works are some small 
 mounds, but they are eight miles distant. 
 
 In Kentucky the many remarkable caves at- 
 tract our attention more especially. There are 
 quite a number of these, and all are of interest 
 to the antiquarian, as they were all known to the 
 earliest inhabitants of this country, and were 
 used by them both as dwelling places and also as 
 places of burial. Various human remains were 
 at different times taken from these caves. From 
 a cave near Louisville six skulls, a hatchet, 
 mortar and some stone arrow points were taken. 
 A very remarkable cave for the antiquatian is 
 what is called Salt cave. This cave contains 
 many evidences that it once formed a dwelling for 
 some of the early inhabitants. A number of 
 hearths or places where fire had been kindled 
 were discovered. Near one of these hearths was 
 found a bundle of faggots tied together with 
 fibres of bark. ‘Jn a little dwelling place at 
 
52 ANTIQUITIES, 
 
 about three miles from the entrance of the cave, 
 Putnam made out the footprints of a man shod 
 with sandels, and a little further on he found the 
 sandels themselves, made with great skill of in- 
 terwoven weeds. The garments of the cave 
 men were woven of the bark of young trees. 
 Some black stripes traced on a piece of cloth so 
 prepared, and fragments of fringe also found in 
 the cave, bore witness to their taste in dress. 
 Another piece of stuff curiously mended gave 
 proof of their industry.’’ 
 
 Other caves have yielded similar relics. One 
 of these is Short’s cave, in which clothes similar 
 to those in Salt cave were found, and in 1813 a 
 mummy was also found in this cave. Mammoth 
 cave was also known to the prehistoric people of 
 Kentucky, and a number of so-called mummies 
 were also found in this cave. These bodies are 
 not what we generally call mummies, as they are 
 not embalmed bodies, but were simply preserved 
 from decay by some peculiar state of the atmos- 
 phere in these caves. This is thought to be due 
 to the existence of some chemical properties, such 
 as saltpetre, for instance, in the cave. 
 
 The site of Cincinnati has already been referred 
 to as having also been a favorite settlement of 
 the Mound Builders. Notice was first directed 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 53 
 
 to the antiquities on this site in a letter by Col. 
 Winthrop Sargent, Secretary and Governor gro 
 tem. of the Northwest Territory. This letter was 
 written to Dr. Benjamin S. Barton, of Phila- 
 delphia, and was dated Cincinnati, September 
 8,1794. A full account of them was given by 
 Daniel Drake in his ‘Natural and Statistical 
 View of Cincinnati,” published in 1815. 
 Cincinnati is built on two river terraces. On the 
 lower of these no earthworks occur. No works 
 of the Mound‘Builders are known to occuron the 
 first river terrace anywhere. The upper of these 
 terraces is very extended, and here is where these 
 earthworks are found. They consist of two en- 
 closures and four mounds. The large enclosure 
 occupied a central location, and was in the form 
 of an ellipse. Its wall had a height of three feet, 
 and a thirty feet base. Its length from east to 
 west was 800 feet, and its width from north to 
 south 660 feet. It extended from Race street 
 nearly to Walnut, and from a little above Fifth 
 street to a little below Fourth. It had a gateway 
 at the east end ninety feet wide. A wall one foot 
 in height, and having a base nine feet wide, pro- 
 ceeded from the southern wall of the central en- 
 closure, and continued to within a short distance 
 of the edge of the upper terrace, then turning 
 
54 ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 eastward it connected with a mound on the 
 corner of Third and Main streets. The entire 
 length of this wall was over 500 feet. On Fifth 
 street, east of Broadway, was a circle sixty feet 
 in diameter. The wall of this figure was one foot 
 high, and twelve to fifteen wide. About 600 
 yards north of the large enclosure, between Vine 
 and Elm streets, and the Miami canal and 
 Twelfth street, were two wallstwo feet high, and 
 460 feet long, and were connected at each end. 
 These walls were exactly parallel for two-thirds 
 of their distance, being forty-six feet apart, then 
 they converged to forty feet. In the southern 
 wall where the inclination begins was an opening 
 thirty feet wide. 
 
 The first of the four mounds was situated at the 
 northeast corner of Third and Main streets, and | 
 is the only one that is connected with the central 
 enclosure. It is an oval figure, eighty feet high, 
 120 feet long, and sixty feet broad. Quite a 
 number of stone and copper implements and or- 
 naments, also some human bones, were taken 
 from it and the surrounding graves. These bones 
 were sometimes enclosed in rude stone coffins, 
 more frequently, however, surrounded by earth, 
 and mingled with ashes and charcoal. All the 
 bones found in the neighborhood of this mound, 
 
ANTIQUITIES, 55 
 
 amounted to from twenty to thirty skeletons, 
 but they were very much decayed. One of 
 the early writers states that this mound was then 
 covered with large oak stumps seven feet in 
 diameter. This would indicate a great antiquity, 
 not only for these works, but for the Mound 
 Builders in general. The largest mound in this 
 group of earthworks is the one that stood near 
 where Fifth and Mound streets intersect. Its 
 height in 1815 was twenty-seven feet. It is about 
 500 yards west of the main enclosure. In 1841, 
 when Mound street was graded, this mound was 
 removed, and among other relics a wonderful 
 stone, which is known as the ‘‘ Cincinnati Tab- 
 let,” was found. This tablet was taken from 
 under the skull of a skeleton which was very 
 much decayed. The stone measures five inches 
 in length, three in breadth at the ends, two and 
 six-tenths at the middle, and is about half an inch 
 thick. It is covered with very strange carvings. 
 The two other mounds were small, the one nine 
 feet high and situated near the northwest corner 
 of Seventh and Mound streets, and the other was 
 but three feet high and was situated on the east 
 side of Central avenue, opposite Richmond street. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 INDIANS. 
 
 an treating of the expulsion of the Mound 
 
 Builders from the territory north of the Ohio, 
 which so great a number of them occupied and 
 cultivated for so long a time, we are under some 
 difficulties in regard tothe race which drove them 
 - outoftheir settlements, and even routed them out of 
 their strong fortifications, which have been briefly 
 described. That the race, which was able to wage 
 war so successfully with so strong apeople as the 
 Mound Builders, must have been far superior to 
 the latter in every way, would seem at first sight 
 evident. Some writers suggest that only a race 
 possessing a greater degree of civilization could 
 set up an army which would be able to over- 
 throw them. But it seems strange that this 
 invading nation has left mo traces  what- 
 ever, and no other marks of a high degree of 
 civilization. Could it be that this invading race 
 was one of the Indian tribes of which we have 
 knowledge ? Some of these tribes were very 
 strong, bothin numbers and as warriors. The 
 race that drove out the Mound Builders came 
 
 from the northeast. Many Indian tribes mi- 
 56 
 
 a 
 
INDIANS. 57 
 
 grated from the east and some of these were, when 
 discovered, in the attitude of invading nations ; 
 but this must have been many centuries after the 
 Mound Builders had already been driven out. 
 Besides, those tribes which occupied the southern 
 part of Ohio, which was also principally occupied 
 by the Mound Builders, ascribe their origin to the 
 south. 
 
 The Indians are also said to possess no tradi- 
 tions relating to the Mound Builders, but it has 
 been shown that traditions exist among some of 
 the tribes respecting a mighty people, which some 
 take to be the Mound Builders. The Iroquois, 
 which was one of the mightiest and most intelli- 
 gent of Indian nations, are said to have such a 
 tradition. This nation once inhabited the coun- 
 try about the St. Lawrence river, and were skilled 
 in warfare. The tradition states that south of 
 the great lakes there was once a great empire, 
 the chief ruler of which resided in a golden city. 
 The nations north of the great lakes forming a 
 confederacy, sent an embassador to visit the 
 emperor of the south. After this the emperor 
 built many forts throughout his empire, extend- 
 ing them almost to Lake Erie. The people of 
 the north considered this as an intrusion on their 
 territory, and the result was a long war. The 
 
53 INDIANS. 
 
 northern people being very skillful, finally gained 
 the victory and drove out the southern people. 
 This tradition seems, from what we have already 
 seen when considering this subject in its proper 
 place, a very plausible one, and it is easy after 
 all to see how a fierce and warlike tribe could 
 succeed in driving out a peaceable race, as we 
 have found the Mound Builders to be, and yet 
 not leave any traces of superiority in other ways, 
 _if indeed, they possessed any such marks. It 
 may be said then that it is possible that some of 
 the Indian tribes may have driven out the Mound 
 Builders. This must, however, have been done 
 long before any Europeans came to this con- 
 tinent, and likely by a parent race of the races 
 of Indians known to history. Nearly all the re- 
 cent archzologists are inclined to identify the 
 Mound Builders with the Indians. This mere 
 statement would be misleading, and has caused 
 great difference of opinion. It cannot be justly 
 claimed that the Indians, by which name we 
 generally designate those races which occupied 
 the country at the time of its discovery by the 
 Europeans, built these remarkable structures 
 found so profusely scattered throughout the 
 Mississippi and Ohio valleys. If we, on the 
 other hand, however, keep in mind the antiquity 
 
INDIANS. 59 
 
 of these structures and the distinguishing char- 
 acteristics of their builders, so far as they appear 
 from the structures, it is not very important what 
 name we give to this people—whether we call 
 them Mound Builders or village Indians. 
 
 The origin of the red men is also as much a 
 mystery as is that of any primitive race con- 
 sidered in and by itself. One of their most in- 
 telligent priests, however, stated that they had 
 their origin in this country, and even goes so far 
 as to state many particulars as to how they were 
 created by the Supreme Being. This seems to 
 us, however, as being a particular application of 
 their tradition respecting the creation of the 
 world and the origin of mankind in general- 
 Their real origin is a profound mystery, and all 
 we can do is to trace some of their migrations 
 from one part of the country to another. It is 
 by far more profitable for us to take them up just 
 as they were found by the Europeans, and study 
 their characters, manners and customs. 
 
 By the Indians, as has already been intimated, 
 we mean those tribes, which, taken as a single 
 race, inhabited this entire country at the time of 
 its discovery by the Europeans. That they re- 
 ceived this name from Columbus, who, when he 
 landed after a long voyage at a small island in 
 
60 INDIANS. 
 
 the West Indies, thought he had reached a part 
 of India, is well known. The views that have 
 been taken of the Indians may be specified as 
 two general ones: The one is the popular 
 view, which is that the Indian is a worthless, lazy, 
 deceitful, revengeful, bloodthirsty creature, who 
 is good for nothing but to be shot down, and that 
 the race as a whole should be wiped from the 
 face of the earth. The other is rather a bright 
 _ and hopeful view of him, such as we find set 
 forth in a great many beautiful romances and 
 poems which have for their subjects some par- 
 ticular phases of Indian life and character. It 
 is true, that if we view the Indian as he is at 
 present, we see very many things in him that wedo 
 not admire, but the time was when he possessed a 
 great many admirable traits of character. When 
 he was kind, truly grateful for a kindness or 
 favor shown him when he was honest, truthful, 
 and had many other noble qualities in which 
 hose Europeans with whom he had his first deal- 
 ings fell far below him. We need but cast a 
 glimpse at some of these great Indian nations 
 while at the zenith of their glory and power, to 
 be convinced that the Indian is, after all, some- 
 thing more than ‘a few instincts on legs, flour- 
 ishing a tomahawk.” 
 
INDIANS. 61 
 
 As we have already said, upon its discovery 
 this country was found to be inhabited by a num- 
 ber of tribes possessing essentially the same gen- 
 eral characteristics, so much so that they were 
 all regarded as belonging to a single race. 
 ‘*From New Mexico to Patagonia, including the 
 West India islands, the Spanish navigators and 
 explorers found this singular people universally 
 distributed, and bestowed upon them all alike 
 the name of Indian. They observed no differ- 
 ence in type, but on the contrary abundant evi- 
 dence of a common type. The English and 
 French met the aborigines from near the confines 
 of the Arctic Sea to New Mexico, and from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific, and pronounced them, 
 without distinction, American Indians.”’ 
 
 This race, however, was divided into a number 
 of different tribes, many of which were so large 
 that they are frequently spoken of as nations, 
 and these nations were again divided up into 
 tribes. The tribes of Indians may, according to 
 their habits of life, be divided into two general 
 classes: One class had no fixed abode, but were 
 wandering nomads, roving about and depending 
 upon hunting and fishing for their subsistence. 
 The other, known as village Indians, lived in 
 towns with walls of earth and palisades, depended 
 
62 INDIANS. 
 
 upon agriculture chiefly for a living, possessed 
 systems of government and religion, and a knowl- 
 edge of a great many of the mechanical arts in 
 addition to those possessed by the wandering 
 tribes. While these two distinctive classes of 
 Indians are the two extremes in either of which 
 we can find just grounds for one or the other of 
 the above views of their life and character, we 
 also find many gradations between these two ex- 
 tremes ; that is, many tribes which live partly by 
 the chase and partly by agriculture. It is not 
 best to take any one of these views exclusive of 
 the other, for immediately there will be some one 
 to point out to us the other. If we give a glow- 
 ing description of the bright side of the subject 
 and present it as the proper view of Indian life 
 and character, any one would be justified in hold- 
 ing up before us the dark side, which is by no 
 means small; and if we desired to be so unjust 
 as to present only the dark side, we would feel 
 condemned for ignoring all the higher and nobler 
 qualities which many of them possessed, not 
 only as individuals, but as tribes as well. In 
 order to avoid these two extremes we will take 
 first some of the highest and best nations among 
 them and follow them as they indulge in their 
 various amusements, festivals and social enjoy- 
 
INDIANS. 63 
 
 ments. We will view their systems of religion, 
 their government in times of war and peace. 
 their laws, and the punishment of various crimes, 
 We will try to gain some knowledge of the con- 
 tents of their minds, get their view of nature, 
 and study their mythology. On the other hand, 
 we desire to cast also a glimpse at the dark side 
 of Indian life, and note some of the principal 
 causes that have contributed so much toward in- 
 creasing the original darkness. 
 
 Among the most advanced and intelligent tribes 
 of Indians were the Algonquins, who occupied 
 at the time of their discovery regions north of 
 the great lakes and thence a wide range of coun- 
 try extending east to the Atlantic coast and west 
 to the Rocky mountains; the Iroquois, who 
 occupied portions of the State of New York, and 
 the Florida tribes, occupying the southern states. 
 Among the four Algonquin nations we find such 
 tribes as the Wyandotes, Chippewas, (Ojibwas), 
 Ottawas, Narragansetts, Massachusetts, Mohe- 
 gans, Illinois, Miamis, etc. The six tribes of 
 the Iroquois were the Tuscarawas, Senecas, 
 Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas and Cayugas. 
 The Florida tribes include such as the Creek, 
 Natchez, Cherokees, Shawnees, etc. With the 
 mere mention of these as the most remarkable of 
 
64. INDIANS. 
 
 Indian tribes, we will proceed at once to consider 
 their character as a whole. 
 
 As has been suggested, our popular notions of 
 the Indians are gathered from story books, the 
 thrilling accounts of adventurers, the incidents of 
 the early wars of thiscountry, and the sad stories 
 of many captives, all ot which of necessity 
 emphasize but that which will make them ap- 
 pear onlyas merciless, bloodthirsty, murderous 
 wretches, who are hardly to be regarded as 
 human. Such writings as these would naturally 
 render the word Indian, as Mr. Schoolcraft says, 
 ‘synonymous with half the opprobrious epithets 
 in the dictionary.” It was not until the heat and 
 fervor of the early wars were over, and a few 
 thinking men began to reflect more coolly upon 
 Indian affairs, that people began to see that be- 
 neath the murderous propensities there was some- 
 thing more than they expected to find. This 
 being could after all do more than swing the 
 tomahawk and handle the scalping knife. It was 
 seen that the red man possessed many traits of 
 character which were truly admirable, and that 
 his systems of government and religion, his 
 philosophy, mythology, and his language, were 
 at least worthy of an intellectual interest. 
 
 The Indian appears to us first as the sturdy, 
 
 at nee 
 
INDIANS. 65 
 
 fieree, fearless warrior, inflicting the severest tor- 
 tures upon his enemies, he, himself, bearing sim- 
 ilar tortures with remarkable fortitude. He also 
 appeared proud, cautious, suspicious, and with a 
 bearing extremely rigid, in his contact with the 
 race he had very early learned to hate. In order 
 to detect other phases of his character, we must 
 see him in the camp, far removed from all causes 
 which tend to call forth the characteristics just 
 named. Here the Indian appears to us as a 
 social being also. He indulges freely in feasting, 
 and to these feasts all the adults, without regard 
 to rank, and many of the young men are invited. 
 On such occasions all severity is thrown off, and 
 while partaking of the repast, they indulge freely 
 in conversation, the drift of which is generally 
 along the line of personal adventure. These 
 anecdotes are related in a lively, cheerful, and 
 often in a humorous manner. The old men and 
 chiefs, and the middle-aged men carry on the con- 
 versation, while the young only occasionally ven- 
 ture forth with a very modest remark, and the 
 women sit quietly by and indicate their participa- 
 tion in this social enjoyment by smiles. 
 
 The habits of life, the daily occupation, and 
 such characteristics as depend on the abundance 
 or scarcity of the various means of subsistence, 
 
66 INDIANS. js 
 
 vary considerably among different tribes. The 
 rigid climate of the north, the mild climate of the 
 south, in connection with the fertile lands which 
 favor the cultivation of various kinds of grain, 
 the vast prairies of the west with their herds 
 of buffalo, which the hunter pursues on horse~ 
 back, and many other similar conditions and cir- 
 cumstances impress different characteristics upon 
 those particular tribes that came under their in- 
 fluence. But these various characteristics, never- 
 theless, attach only to their manner of gaining a 
 livelihood, while others, such as tribe and 
 family government, religious beliefs, mythology, 
 certain mental characteristics, etc., are very sim- 
 ilar among them all. It will be very desirable to 
 get some idea of their tribe and family life, their 
 dwellings, the character of their women, etc., at 
 this place. 
 
 As among civilized races, much of the comforts 
 of home, the happiness in the family, the social 
 life of the community, the strength ofthe govern- 
 ment, and the intelligence and culture of the 
 nation, depends upon the various natural re- 
 sources with which a country is blessed ; so, also, 
 much in the life of the Indian is conditioned upon » 
 the productiveness of the soil, and the abundance 
 or scarcity of game. While these conditions and 
 
INDIANS. 67 
 
 circumstances produce marked differences among 
 the various tribes, yet ‘“ they really present,” as 
 Mr. Schoolcratt says, ‘‘ the same idea, the same 
 sentiments, and the same round_ of duties and 
 obligations, of father and mother, sister aid 
 brother, wife and husband.” 
 
 The Indian is said to have a true idea of matri- 
 mony, and his sentiments on this subject are 
 right, although outward ceremonies are almost 
 entirely wanting, and its sacred character almost 
 lost. Polygamy is rarely met with among the 
 Indians, and is never considered reputable. 
 ‘The relation between husband and wife in the 
 forest,’’ says Schoolcraft, ‘* are formed under cir- 
 cumstances which are generally uniform. Some- 
 times it is brought about by the intervention of 
 friends ; sometimes from a sudden impulse of ad- 
 miration ; sometimes with, and sometimes against 
 the wishes of the graver and more prudent rela. 
 tives of the parties. When the husband is ace 
 cepted, and has not before been married, which 
 covers the majority of cases, he comes to live for 
 a while after the marriage, in the lodge of his 
 mother-in-law ; and this relation generally lasts 
 until the increase of children, or other circum- 
 stances determine his setting up a lodge for him- 
 self. Presents are still a ready way for a young 
 
68 INDIANS. 
 
 ‘hunter to render himself acceptable in a lodge. 
 There are some instances, where considerable 
 ceremony, and the invitation of friends, have at- 
 . tended the first reception of the bridegroom at 
 the lodge ; but these are in most cases what we 
 should denominate matches of state or exped- 
 iency, in which the bravery, or other public serv- 
 ices of a chief or leader, has inclined his village 
 to think that his merits deserve the reward of a 
 _ wife. Generally, the acceptance of the visitor by 
 the party most interested, and her mother and 
 father, and their expressed, or tacit consent is 
 the only preliminary, and this is done in a quiet 
 way. The only ceremonial observance of which 
 I have ever heard, is the assigning of what is 
 called an abbinos, or permanent lodge seat to the 
 bridegroom. When this has been done by the 
 mother, or mistress of the lodge who governs 
 these things, he is received and henceforth in- 
 stalled as a constituent member of the lodge and 
 family. The simple rule is, that he who has the 
 right to sit by the bride, is her husband.” The 
 women are the supreme rulers in the house, as- 
 signing to each member of the family his or her 
 place, and the men have nothing to say at all; 
 and the author just quoted, says that he never 
 heard of an instance in which the husband would 
 
INDIANS, 69 
 
 interfere with her household arrangements. In 
 the chase, in affairs of war, or government, at 
 the feasts, and round the council fire, is the man’s 
 place to exercise his authority, and the woman in 
 her turn, does not interfere with him here. The 
 division of labor between the husband and wife 
 undoubtedly differed among different tribes. 
 Among some they were about equally divided, 
 while among others a great deal of drudgery was 
 imposed upon the woman, who was regarded as 
 little more than a beast of burden. 
 
 The dwellings which the Indian families occu- 
 pied differed very widely in size, character, andin 
 construction. The small hut of the hunter gener- 
 ally called wigwam, was a very simple structure 
 indeed, consisting mainly of several poles which 
 met and were joined atthe top. This frame was 
 covered with the bark of trees and coarse matted 
 goods made by the women. An Opening was 
 leftin the top to allow the smoke from the fire 
 which was kindled in the center of the wigwam to 
 pass out. Around this fire the family was seated 
 on mats. These wigwams are said to be very 
 dry, warm, and comfortable, even in protracted 
 Seasons of wet and cold weather. The more 
 complicated, stronger, more durable, as well as 
 more commodious buildings of the so-called vil- 
 
70 INDIANS. 
 
 lage Indians, were much more desirable than these. 
 They were generally large enough to give shelter 
 to several families, and some have been found large 
 enough to shelter 500 individuals. These were 
 generally found among the most intelligent tribes, 
 suc’ asthe Iroquois,of New York State,and others. 
 The form of government among the Indians 
 was that known to students of the history of 
 civilization as the tribunal form, which means 
 _ government by council. It would also imply 
 that they did rot live undera general govern- 
 ment as do civilized people, but each tribe had a 
 government of its own—choosing its own chiefs 
 from among the brave and wise men of that 
 tribe. Itis true we recognize great nations among 
 the North American Indians, such as the Algon- 
 quin Nation, whose territory was very large, ex- 
 tending over the northern part of the United 
 States from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky moun- 
 tains, and also including a portion of Canada. 
 Each of these tribes, however, was independent in 
 its government and had its own peculiar dialect, 
 though all these dialects show that they are but 
 forms of one and the same national language. 
 In times of war these different tribes of the same 
 nation would form confederacies in order to 
 Oppose more successfully a common enemy. 
 
INDIANS, 71 
 
 Thus, we see that the tribal form is the per- 
 manent form in the government of the Indians. 
 The tribe, however, has its subdivisions such as 
 the phratry or brotherhood, the Gens and the 
 family. While it is said that this term may be 
 regarded merely as representing the various sub- 
 divisions of a tribe, yet this division is not to be 
 regarded as something arbitrary, but itis the natur- 
 al outgrowth of that form of society. ‘The tribe is 
 divided into a number of phratries, these are 
 made up of a number of Gens, and the Gens are 
 made up of a number of families. Those families, 
 however, which compose the Gens must be re- 
 garded as bound together by the tie of con- 
 sanguinity, if we would arrive at the true nation 
 of the Gens. In order to illustrate this division 
 we take an example given by E. A. Allen in the 
 ‘Prehistoric World.” It is an outline of the 
 Seneca-Iroquois tribe: 
 
 ( Bear, 
 
 Ist, Phraty or | Wolf, | Gene 
 
 Brotherhood. | Beaver, | ; 
 Turtle, 
 
 Deer, 
 2d, Phratry or [ Snipe, 
 Brotherhood, Hare, 
 
 Hawk, 
 
 Gens, 
 
 ( 
 | 
 TRIBE, | 
 ( 
 
72 INDIANS. 
 
 The names of the various animals, as will be 
 readily seen, are the symbols of the various 
 Gens. Each tribe has its chief, as have also the 
 phratries and Gens their chiefs or sub-rulers. 
 The various chiefs form the council on occasions 
 of war, or when other important matters make 
 advisement necessary. The Indians were great 
 warriors—war among the different tribes was not 
 an uncommon occurrence. These wars would 
 
 sometimes end in the expulsion of a tribe from 
 _ their territory, and its occupation or control by 
 the conquerors. Some of the stronger tribes, 
 such as the Algonquins, held other tribes under 
 subjection, and received an annual tribute from 
 them. 
 
 Although the Indian generally impresses us as 
 being rather sluggish in body and in mind, and 
 that he does not act or think except when com- 
 pelled to do so by very pressing circumstances, 
 yet we know that he is capable of manifesting 
 remarkable physical activity when the occasion 
 requires it; and there are many instances on 
 record where he has manifested also remarkable 
 intellectual power when the interest of his people 
 seemed to demand it. Even if the Indian waits 
 until he is compelled to think before he will 
 think, there was much in the forest primeval 
 
 a oe 
 
INDIANS. 73 
 
 which was calculated so to move upon him. 
 What is a more active promoter of thought than 
 the various forces of nature as manifested 
 especially to this inhabitant of the forest in so 
 many remarkable and striking ways? ‘There is 
 the sun giving light and heat, waking the earth 
 from the death of winter in a most wonderful 
 manner ; there is the moon shedding its cool and 
 magical beams over hill and valley; there is 
 the terrible storm with flashes of lightning and 
 peals of thunder, striking terror into man and 
 beast; there is also the wind bearing on its 
 wings the rosy morning from the east, the soft 
 and gentle spring from the south, coming 
 in the form of the tempest trom the west, and 
 burdened with snow and ice from the north. 
 What can be more suggestive of thought to the 
 Indian than these various facts ? They force 
 themselves upon him and demand from him an 
 explanation. All minds have an innate tendency 
 to seek for causes. He also seeks for the causes 
 of these strange manifestations, for a solution of 
 the wonderful enigmas that surround him, and 
 the solution invariably comes. Man has never 
 failed yet to find some answer to the questionings 
 within him. He observes his own actions and 
 the actions of his fellow beings. These he sees 
 
74 INDIANS. 
 
 invariably attached to and going out from their 
 personality, and so action and personality become 
 inseparably associated with each other. Hesees 
 the action, though on a grander scale, of the 
 various forces of nature, and by analogy at- 
 iributes the various manifestations of power to 
 great personal beings, to whom he gives attributes 
 which correspond to the characteristic effects of 
 the forces. The north and west winds are con- 
 trolled by persons fierce and cruel, the others by 
 beings mild and gentle. Every sound was to 
 him a voice, every wind a breath, and every 
 motion an action. He explains, as one writer 
 says, all the phenomena of the outer world by 
 those of the inner world. His philosophy is a 
 mythologic philosophy. Of this philosophy there 
 are various degrees or stages, according as 
 various natural objects or mental characteristics 
 are personified. Mr. J. W. Powell in ‘‘ Bureau 
 of Ethnology,” Vol. I., makes four stages of 
 this philosophy: st. All things have personalty 
 and are gods. 2d. Here inanimate objects are 
 excluded, but beasts are yet regarded as having 
 personality and are worshiped as gods. 3d. In 
 this stage gods who have the form and attributes 
 of human beings are regarded as presiding over 
 the various powers of nature. 4th. In this stage 
 
INDIANS. vi 5 
 
 we have the personification and deification of the 
 different human passions and mental and moral 
 characteristics. | While one or more of these 
 stages have been found among nearly all the 
 nations of the earth, they did not exist among 
 the Indians in their full force. His mythology 
 did not prompt him to worship the personalities 
 whom his imagination created, but it terminated 
 rather in a poetic conception. Schoolcraft says: 
 “The pagan world not only believes in a myriad 
 of gods, but worships them also. It is the 
 peculiarity of the North American Indian that 
 while he believes in as many he worships but 
 one, the Great Spirit.” 
 
 Thus we see that the religion of the Indian 
 rests on quite a different basis than does his 
 mythology. His conception of the various gods, 
 or personages of his mythology, rests on the 
 various external manifestations of power in the 
 operations of nature, but his conception of the 
 Great Spirit comes from within. It is a purely 
 spiritual conception. We can, however, natur- 
 ally expect that around this notion, however pure 
 it may be in itself, a great many rites, ceremon- 
 ies, doctrines, beliefs, and superstitions, which 
 are not to be credited in the least, would natur- 
 ally attach themselves. This is unavoidable in 
 
76 INDIANS. 
 
 him, for all these things depend, like his notion 
 of mythology, upon intellectual development. It 
 hardly seems worth our while to enumerate all 
 these wild beliefs and notions, which none of us 
 would credit in the least, as they can very readily 
 be found in all books that treat on Indians. It 
 would be of some use, however, to mention a 
 few of his beliefs which serve to show the purity 
 of his religious concepts, properly so called. 
 Manitou is the Indian name for God. Thisisthe 
 general name, and is applied by him to the mytho- 
 logical personages also. He has other names, 
 however, for the Great Spirit: the Good God,the © 
 Creator, the Giver of Life. To Kietan, the Good 
 God, he ascribes all the benefits of life. He had 
 also Hobbamock, or the Evil Spirit, whose striv- 
 ing was to dothemharm. This spirit received a 
 great share of their worship. They offered pray- 
 ers to him for mercy, and offered sacrifices to him 
 to appease his wrath. ‘* All the North American 
 Indians,’”’ says Schoolcraft, ‘‘ know that there is 
 a God, but their priests teach them that the devil 
 is a God, and as he is believed to be very malig- 
 nant, it is the great object of their ceremoniesand 
 sacrifices to appease him.” The belief in the 
 immortality of the soul, as is well known, was 
 very strong among them, and is shown in their 
 
INDIANS. "7 
 
 reverence and care for their dead. They also 
 had a legend of a person of miraculous birth, who 
 was sent among them as a benefactor, to teach 
 them war and agriculture, but, as many other 
 nations, they did not extend this notion of a bene- 
 factor to that of a savior, as this is beyond the un- 
 aided intellect of man. Most of us willcall to 
 mind this legend, so beautifully told by Long- 
 fellow in his ‘‘Song of Hiawatha.” All these 
 notions are, however, so surrounded by super- 
 stitious doctrines and practices that we usually 
 cast from us the good with the bad. It seems to 
 us, however, that in our attempts to christianize 
 the Indian, we must make the pure religious no- 
 tions which he possesses the foundation upon 
 which to rest our own system. Had the early 
 missionaries recognized this fact, how much better 
 it would have been for both parties concerned. 
 A very prominent characteristic of the Indian 
 seems to be a fondness for singing and dancing. 
 Of these two, the dance may be said to be most 
 requently resorted to on very many occasions. 
 With war, with religious worship, and with all 
 their many festivals, do we invariably find the 
 dance associated. In the proud, lofty, and heroic 
 spirit of the Indian, as well asin his tender regard 
 for young children, it would seem that we would 
 
78 INDIANS. 
 
 not look in vain for many lofty and tender poetic 
 sentiments. ‘‘The great storehouse of Indian 
 imagery,’’ says the author already quoted, ‘‘ is the 
 heavens, the clouds, the planets, the sun, the 
 moon, the phenomena of lightning, thunder, elec- 
 tricity, aerial sounds, electric or atmospheric, and 
 the endless variety produced in the heavens by 
 light and shade, and by elemental action. These 
 constitute the fruitful themes of allusion in their 
 songs and poetic chants. But these are mere al- 
 lusions, or broken descriptions, like touches on 
 the canvas, without being united to produce a per- 
 fect object. The strokes may be those of a 
 master, and the coloring exquisite; but without 
 the art to draw, or the skill to connect, it will re- 
 main but a shapeless mass.” This gives a good 
 idea of their poetry and song. While the senti- 
 ment seems to be good, yet their poetry lacks con- 
 nected thought and is without metre. 
 
 In regard to the music of the Indians, very lit- 
 tle of scientific value is known, in fact, there is 
 very little among them that is worthy of thename 
 of music. The principal uses of music and sing- 
 ing among the Indians was to accompany the 
 various dances. They used the tambourine and 
 a drum. These were only to mark time and 
 to keep up the rhythm of the dance. Another in- 
 
INDIANS. 79 
 
 strument, and the only wind instrument they had, 
 was a species of flute made of two pieces of cedar 
 wood, covered with the skin of a snake, and con- 
 tained eight holes or keys. This instrument was 
 played like a flageolet, and was capable of pro- 
 ducing a variety of sounds. There is no melody 
 to their songs, for they seem to be simply a 
 rythmical succession of monotones, with an oc- 
 casional change to higher tones, and then usually 
 a return to the first tone. Their music seems to 
 be essentially rhythm, and their songs, both as to 
 words and melody, but mere improvisations, 
 whose composition is purely extempore. 
 
 The Indians are well known for their reverence 
 for and the extreme care they take of the dead 
 bodies of their friends. They exhibit much dis- 
 tress and grief on funeral occasions, and fre- 
 quently give vent to their feelings in the most 
 pitiable lamentations at the burial places of their 
 dear ones. They are also very attentive in the 
 way of bringing food to the graves of their rela- 
 tives, as this is believed to be necessary for the 
 comfort and happiness of the dead friend, one of 
 whose souls is believed to repose in the tomb with 
 the body. Mr. H. C. Yarrow, in “ Bureau of 
 Ethnology,” Vol.1, gives a summary of the many 
 different methods which the Indians had of dis- 
 
80 INDIANS. 
 
 posing of their dead. They are as follows: 1. 
 By inhumation in pits, graves, or holes in the 
 ground, stone graves or cists, in mounds, beneath 
 or in cabins, wigwams, houses or lodges, or in 
 caves. 2. By embalmment, ora process of mumi- 
 fying, the remains being afterwards placed in the 
 earth, caves, mounds, boxes on scaffolds, or in 
 charnel houses. 3. By deposition of the remains 
 inurns. 4. By surface burial, the remains being 
 placed in hollow trees or logs, pens, or simply 
 covered with earth, or bark, or rocks forming a 
 cairn. 5. Cremation, or partial burning, gener- 
 ally on the surface of the earth, occasionally be- 
 neath, the resulting bones and ashes being placed 
 in pits in the ground, in boxes placed on scaffolds, 
 or trees, in urns, sometimes scattered. 6. Aerial 
 sepulchre, the bodies being left in lodges, houses, 
 cabins, tents, deposited on scaffolds or posts, or 
 placed on the ground. Occasionally baskets have 
 been used to contain the remains of children, these 
 being hung on trees. 7. By aquatic burial, be- 
 neath the water, or in canoes, which are turned 
 adrift. 
 
 The advent of the white people to this country 
 has had a remarkable effect upon the Indian. It 
 would indeed be a very unpleasant task to sketch 
 the history of the Indian since the first white man 
 
INDIANS. 81 
 
 set his foot upon American soil. It would be only 
 a record of crimes, cruel wars, massacre, and 
 bloodshed, from the beginning totheend. It was 
 not only the new, strange, and seemingly super- 
 natural mode of warfare that surprised the Indian, 
 _ but also the bad traits of characterof his European 
 conquerors. The deceitfulness, the treachery, the 
 dishonesty, and the immorality of many of the 
 first Indian traders, and even of government 
 officials, were traits of character unknown to the 
 Indian in his primitive condition, and created 
 within him a hatred for all Europeans, which has 
 now become almost a second nature to him. 
 This enmity and waring between whites and In- 
 dians, has always been steadily going on ever 
 since the massacre of the thirty-six Spaniards 
 whom Columbus, on his first. voyage, left on one 
 of the islands he discovered, and whom on his 
 second voyage, he found had been killed by the 
 natives, on account of various offences and op- 
 pression. Nearly all the associations of the In- 
 dians with the whites have had a very depressing 
 effect upon the former. “The uniform result,” 
 says Allen, “was that the Indian tribes were 
 steadily driven away from their ancient homes, 
 until we now find them but a sorry remnant on 
 scattered reservations, or grouped together in the 
 
82 INDIANS. 
 
 Indian Territory. Their ancient institutions are 
 nearly broken down, and it is with difficulty that 
 we can gain an understanding of their early con- 
 idtion.”’ 
 
 Intoxicating liquor was a very potent factor in 
 the degradation of the red race. It is not desired 
 to go into details in regard to the suffering and 
 misery entailed upon those who drink at this 
 fountain-head of disease and sin. The effects of 
 a life of intemperance are all too well known in 
 our day to need any mention at this place. Its 
 vile and engulfing stream was very early turned 
 upon the Indian, and had on him its character- 
 istic effects. It made enemies out of friends, and 
 prompted those to destroy each other who before 
 had thought no ill. All the nations, without ex- 
 ception, which were represented by the early ad- 
 venturers and explorers, contributed their share 
 toward the supply of ardent spirits to the Indian. 
 ‘Under the French government,” says School- 
 craft, ‘‘ they were liberally supplied with brandy. 
 Under the English, with Jamaica rum. Under 
 the Americans, with whisky. These constitute 
 the fire, the gall, and the poison ages of the In- 
 dian history. Under this triple curse they have 
 maintained an existence in the face of a white 
 population. But it has been an existence merely. 
 
 ae 
 
INDIANS. 83 
 
 Other nations are said to have hada golden age. 
 But there has been no golden age for them.” 
 The following scene, which Mr. Schoolcraft 
 takes from Heckwelder’s ‘‘ Account of the In- 
 dians,” is one which is very characteristic, and 
 will not be out of place here: ‘¢ The first inter- 
 view of Hudson with the Mohegan tribes took 
 place at the mouth of the river which now bears 
 his name. It is remarkable as the scene of the 
 first Indian intoxication among them. He had 
 no sooner cast anchor and landed from his boat, 
 and passed a friendly salutation with the natives, 
 than he ordered a bottle of ardent spirits to be 
 brought. To show that he did not intend to offer 
 them what he would not himself taste, an attend- 
 ant poured him out a cup of the liquor, which he 
 drank off. The cup was then filled and passed 
 to the Indians, but they: merely smelled of it and 
 passed iton. It had nearly gone round the circle 
 untasted when one of the chiefs, bolder than the 
 rest, made a short harangue saying it would be 
 disrespectful to return it untasted, and declaring 
 his intention to drink off the potion if he 
 should be killed in the attempt. He drank it off. 
 Dizziness and stupor immediately ensued. He 
 sank down and fell into a sleep—the sleep of 
 death, as his companions thought. But in due 
 
84. INDIANS. 
 
 time he awoke, declared the happiness he had 
 experienced from its effects, asked again for 
 the cup, and the whole assembly followed his 
 example.” 
 
 The following short description of the personal 
 appearance of the Indian we take from a paper 
 by Mr. L. Ray, published in ‘‘ Indian Miscel- 
 lany,”’ edited by Beach: 
 
 ‘Almost without exception the Indians were 
 tall, straight and muscular. Their manner ot 
 life from the earliest period of youth was such as 
 to insure a free and full development of the 
 physical system, and born as they were of sturdy 
 mothers, they inherited none of those bodily 
 weaknesses which, self-caused or otherwise, so 
 heavily curse the females of a Jater race. Nearly 
 white when new-born, the young Indian turns 
 more and more to the tawny hue as he advances 
 in years, until the copper color of his nation is 
 finally fixed upon him. A broad, square face, 
 with considerable elevation of features; hair 
 black and coarse, but never curling ; eyes small, 
 dark and keen. These complete his outward 
 personal description.” 
 
 In studying the Indian tribes of the Ohio 
 valley—who they were and where they came 
 from—it is necessary to understand something of 
 
INDIANS, 85 
 
 Indian migration in general. In doing this we 
 will not touch again upon their origin, but merely 
 consider briefly such migrations which they made 
 since their discovery, and a few of thoseof which - 
 they have preserved traditions. Again, in order 
 to understand the migrations of the various tribes, 
 ‘we must understand something of the natural 
 products of the various parts of the country, and 
 see how these localities are calculated to furnish 
 the Indian with a desirable and abundant means 
 of subsistence. The two chief sources from 
 which the Indian derived his subsistence was 
 hunting and fishing. This vast country yielded 
 an abundance of game, and its extended sea 
 shores with their numerous gulfs and bays, also 
 the great lakes in the north, supplied them with 
 fish. The Indians being chiefly fishers, we would 
 look for their largest settlements along the sea 
 coast and at the lakes, and so we find them. The 
 Florida tribes occupied the southern portion of 
 the United States east of the Mississippi river, 
 and the four great Algonquin nations, as we have 
 already seen, originally occupied the New Eng- 
 land states, but spread westward until the entire 
 country surrounding the great lakes was in pos- 
 session of their different tribes. This was the 
 
86 INDIANS. 
 
 greatest center of Indian population, merely on 
 account of the fisheries. 
 
 For this reason the Ohio valley was never in- 
 habited much by the Indians. It is true there 
 was some game here, but no fisheries. Lewis 
 H. Morgan says: ‘‘ There is a wide district o1 
 country upon both sides of the Ohio River, oc- 
 cupying half the space between the great lakes 
 and the gulf, which formed the poorest part ot 
 the area west of the Mississippi. It was not des- 
 titute of game, but poor in fisheries, and there- 
 fore uninhabitable without cultivation of the soil. 
 The absence of lakes throughout this area, and 
 the turbid character of the waters of the Missis- 
 sippi which excluded ocean fish, furnished a 
 sufficient reason why this entire region was a 
 solitude at the period of European discovery.”’ 
 It is said that when Kentucky was first explored 
 and settled it was almost entirely uninhabited by 
 the Indians. The Chickasaws near the Missis- 
 sippi River, and a small settlement opposite Ports- 
 mouth, O., is allthat were found within what is 
 now known as Kentucky. Ohio, about the year 
 1656, was also entirely uninhabited. It was not 
 until the Iroquois, or Six Nations who occupied 
 the State of New York, began their migra- 
 tions southwestward, that Ohio was occupied 
 
INDIANS. 87 
 
 by the Indians. It is said that before the year 
 1680, the entire country from the lakes to the 
 Ohio, and west to the Mississippi, was under the 
 control of the Six Nations. It is not likely that 
 they occupied the Ohio valley very long, for they 
 received opposition from the western division of 
 the Algonquin Nation, who occupied the lake 
 regions north of Indiana and Illinois. The con- 
 federacy of these tribes was known as the Miami 
 Confederacy, which in the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century was at the zenith of its power. In 
 about the year 1700, we find these tribes entering 
 Ohio. At the time of settlement, we find in the 
 valley on the Ohio side, two tribes in possession 
 of the country: The Miamis and the.Shawnees. 
 The Miamis, who occupied the western portion of 
 this territory, probably came originally from Lake 
 Michigan; the Shawnees, which included the 
 Piqua, Chillicothe, and other tribes, came orig- 
 inally from Florida, and occupied the eastern part 
 of the territory. They are described as being a 
 restless people, always engaged in war with their 
 neighbors. When they first came from the south 
 they located in Western Pennsylvania in 1608. 
 In 1728 they were again in motion toward the 
 west, and at that time they located in Ohio, in the 
 
88 INDIANS. 
 
 valley of the Scioto. This river formed the di- 
 viding line between this tribe and the Miamis. 
 
 The following short sayings are by Schoolcraft, 
 and are found scattered through his work: 
 
 ‘* Wild thoughts are often bright thoughts, but 
 like wild leaps of a mountain torrent, they are 
 evanescent and unequal. We are dazzled by a 
 single figure in Indian speech, but it is too often 
 like a spark amid a shower of ashes.” 
 
 ‘«¢ Singing and dancing are applied to political 
 and religious purposes by the Indians. Whenthey 
 wish to raise a war party, they meet to sing and 
 dance; when they wish to supplicate the divine 
 mercy on a sick person, they assemble in a lodge 
 to sing and dance. No grave act is performed 
 without singing and dancing.” 
 
 ‘¢The Indian formerly worshiped the sun as 
 a symbol of divine intelligence.”’ 
 
 ‘‘ Fire isan unexplained mystery to the Indian ; 
 he regards it as the connecting link between the 
 natural and the spiritual world. His traditionary 
 lore denotes this.”’ 
 
 ‘* To be governed, and to be enslaved, are ideas 
 which have been confounded by the Indians.” 
 
INDIANS. 89 
 
 ‘“‘The poetry of the Indians is the poetry of 
 naked thought. They have neither rhythm nor 
 metre to adorn it.” 
 
 ‘* Tales and traditions occupy the place of books 
 with the red race. They make up a kind of oral 
 literature, which is resorted to on long winter 
 evenings for the amusement of the lodge.” 
 
 ‘* The love of independence is so strong with 
 these tribes that they have never been willing to 
 load their political system with the forms of a 
 regular government, for fear it might prove op- 
 pressive.”’ 
 
 ‘‘ Hunting and war are arts which require to be 
 taught. The Indian youth, if they were not fur- 
 nished with bows and arrows, would never learn 
 to kill. The same time spent to teach them war 
 and hunting, if devoted to teach them letters, 
 would make them readers and writers. Educa- 
 tion is all of a piece.”’ 
 
 eR ty, 
 
 ‘‘Example is more persuasive than precept, in 
 teaching the Indian. Tell him that he should not 
 touch alcohol, and he may not see clearly why ; 
 but show him by your invariable practice, that 
 
go INDIANS. 
 
 you never do, and he may beled to confidein your 
 admonitions.”’ 
 
 ‘¢An Indian war song sung in public by 
 
 the assembled warriors on the outbreak of hos- 
 tilities, is a declaration of war.” 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 je order to gain aclear notion of the discovery of 
 
 the Ohio valley and the neighboring territory, 
 and in what way and by whom the various dis- 
 tricts were first entered, it is perhaps well to 
 notice briefly the discovery of the American con- 
 tinent in general, and the portions first occupied 
 by those European powers who were most active 
 in this discovery, and which were the starting 
 points of the subsequent discovery of this valley. 
 We find three European nations who were 
 especially active in furthering discoveries on the 
 American continent—the Spanish, English and 
 French. The period of active discovery dates 
 from that of Columbus in 1492. This and also 
 quite a number of subsequent discoveries in that 
 part of the continent were made by the Spanish 
 government. The Spanish efforts extended 
 rather westward and southward than northward 
 from the point of Columbus’ discovery. Their 
 attitude was that of adventurers and conquerors. 
 They were attracted by the gold of Mexico and 
 
 the splendor of the Aztec empire under Mon- 
 gr 
 
92 _ DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 tezuma, and it was here that they saw an oppor- 
 tunity of gratifying their highest ambitions. In 
 1512, however, before the conquest of Mexico 
 occurred, Ponce de Leon, one of the old com- 
 panions of Columbus, discovered the coast of 
 Florida. He called the country by this name 
 both in honor of the day on which he discovered 
 it, (Easter Sunday, Spanish name Pascua Florida, 
 holy day of flowers,) and because the trees along 
 
 the shore were all loaded with blossoms. In 1516 
 _ this same country was visited by a Spanish sea 
 captain, Diego Miruelo, who, in trading with 
 the natives, received from them quantities of 
 gold. Meanwhile the several years of conquest 
 in Mexico, which Cortez began in 1519, claimed 
 the attention of the Spanish. But Florida and 
 its gold was not forgotten, and in 1526 Pamphilo 
 de Narvaez undertook an examination of the coun- 
 try north of the Gulf of Mexico. The native 
 tribes, however, were suspicious, each referring 
 him to others in the interior of the country until 
 he finally, after a six months’ journey, returned 
 weary and disappointed, with but four or five 
 men left out of three hundred. 
 
 It was not until the year 1538 that DeSoto, 
 who had been with Pizarro in the conquest of 
 Peru, and who desired to become equally famous 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 93 
 
 and wealthy, obtained permission from the King 
 of Spain to conquer Florida at his own expense. 
 
 This he began to do in May 1 539, and until 
 November he had reached Appalachee bay with- 
 out much success. In 1540 he entered what is 
 now the State of Georgia, then turning westward 
 he reached, in October of this year, the Mobile, 
 where he conquered an Indian town. The fre- 
 quent attacks from the Indians, however, ren- 
 dered his stay here very undesirable, and he 
 marched westward toward the Mississippi, pass- 
 ing the winter probably on the Yazoo. In the 
 spring of 1541 he reached the Mississippi, and 
 set about preparing barges to convey his party 
 and their horses across the stream. Having 
 crossed the river he journeyed northward until 
 he reached the neighborhood of New Madrid. 
 He was then probably less than fifty miles from 
 the mouth of the Ohio river. Turning again 
 westward, he marched to the source of the White 
 - Yiver, a distance of 200 miles. Still he saw no 
 indications of the objects of his search. He then 
 marched southward, passing the winter on the 
 Washita. In the spring of 1542 he descended 
 this river to its junction with the Mississippi. He 
 then attempted to make his way down along the 
 banks of the Mississippi, but found it impossible 
 
94 DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 on account of the endless swamps. Being also 
 threatened by the Indians, he became disheart- 
 ened, died May 21st, and his body was sunk into 
 the river. This was the first European who en- 
 tered the western country. His expedition is said, 
 however, to have been attended by no results but 
 arousing the hostility of the natives. It was not 
 until about a century after this expedition of De 
 Soto that other Europeans entered the western 
 territory, but from another direction. 
 
 The English made several voyages to this con- 
 tinent as early as 1497 and 1498, landing on the 
 coast of Labrador. But for the next century, 
 England entirely checked her adventures and dis- 
 coveries in the new world. It was not until after 
 the reformation in England, that, under the reign 
 of Edward VI, the spirit of adventure was again 
 awakened. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert con- 
 ceived the plan of colonizing America. He 
 sailed in company with Walter Raleigh, with 
 five vessels in June, 1583, and in August of the 
 same year he reached Newfoundland. Nothing, 
 however, was accomplished in this voyage. 
 
 Between the years 1606 and 1616, or there- 
 about, discovery and colonization went on more 
 rapidly under the English merchants, All their 
 energies were directed to the vasttract extending 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 95 
 
 from the mouth of Cape Fear River to Passama- 
 quody Bay—trom the point furthest south on the 
 coast of North Carolina, to the northern limit of 
 the coast of Maine. Under various English land 
 companies, settlement was rapidly carried for- 
 ward, and the English became firmly established 
 east of the Alleghanies. By various treaties they 
 obtained a great deal of land from the Indians, 
 and made them their allies. In 1726 a formal 
 deed was drawn up and signed by the chiefs of 
 the Six Nations (Iroquois), by which they placed 
 their entire possessions under England. The Six 
 Nations at that time claimed to own the Ohio val- 
 ley, and it was upon this ground that England 
 afterward claimed dominion over the valley. 
 This Iroquois possession, however, was as we 
 have seen in another chapter, previous to the year 
 1680, and it is likely that in 1726 the valley was 
 occupied by other tribes. 
 
 We see then, that the English gained posses- 
 sion of the New England, Eastern, and some of 
 the Southern States very early, and became 
 firmly established. The efforts of the French, 
 however, were directed to another part of the 
 continent. In 1504 some French voyagers reached 
 the shore of Newfoundland. John Verrazzani 
 reached the mainland in the latitude of Wilming- 
 
96 DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 ton in 1524, and sailing northward, explored the 
 coast of New Jersey. He continued going north, 
 and traced carefully the coast of New England, 
 reaching Newfoundland in May, and in July, re- 
 turning to France. James Cartier sailed to New- 
 foundland in 1534, passed up the St. Lawrence 
 River as far as Montreal, where he found several 
 Indian townsof importance. In 1 541 five ships 
 of French colonists, under Cartier’s guidance, 
 came over, passed up the St. Lawrence, and set- 
 tling near Quebec they built a fort. Colonization 
 went forward very rapidly inthis region from this 
 time on, and in 1612 Franciscan monks began 
 pressing their way very rapidly westward, preach- 
 ing the gospel, and to a certain degree opening 
 the way for discoverers, traders, and settlers. 
 
 In 1616, LeCaron, the French Franciscan, had 
 explored Upper Canada, and penetrated the 
 country of the Wyandottes as far as the streams 
 that empty into Lake Huron; and in 1634 a mis- 
 sion was founded on the shores of the lake by two 
 Jesuits. It was, however, in 1641, just one hun- 
 dred years after DeSoto’s discovery of the Missis- 
 sippi, that the first Canadian envoys came in con- 
 tact with the savage nations of the northwest, at 
 the falls of St. Mary, below the outlet of Lake 
 Superior. ‘This visit, however, led tono perma- 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY, 97 
 
 nent result, and it was not till 1659 that even any 
 of the adventurous fur traders spent a winter on 
 the frozen and inhospitable shores of the vast lakes 
 of the north, nor till 1660 that the unflinching de- 
 votion of the missionaries caused the first station 
 to rise upon its rocky and pine-clad borders. But 
 Mesnard, who founded that station, perished in 
 the woods a few months afterward, and five more 
 years slipped by before Father Claude Allouez, 
 in 1665, built the earliest of the lasting habitations 
 of white men among the kindly and hospitable 
 Indians of the northwest. Following in his foot- 
 steps, in 1668, Claude Dablou and James Mar- 
 quette founded the mission at St. Mary’s Falls ; 
 in 1670, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for Talon, the 
 intendant of Canada, explored Lake Michigan as 
 far as Chicago; in 1671 formal possession was 
 taken of the northwest by French officers in the 
 presence of Indians assembled from every part of 
 the surrounding region, and in the same year 
 Marquette gathered a little flock of listeners at 
 Point St. Ignatius, on the mainland north of the 
 Island of Mackinac” (Annals of the West). This 
 will give some idea of the discoveries made by 
 the French, and the region of country occupied 
 by them. 
 
 Thus, we find the Spanish established in the 
 
98 DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 south, the English in the east, and the French in 
 the north. It is to these first discoveries and settle- 
 ments that we’ must look as the starting points 
 of those efforts which led to the discovery of the 
 Ohio valley. The Spanish never made any at- 
 tempts at its discovery, and the English made no 
 serious move westward prior to 1749, so we must 
 give the credit to the French. After they became 
 established to some degree in the regions of the 
 lakes, their zeal for the spread of the gospel 
 urged them on from tribe to tribe. Many of the 
 early discoverers were also led on by some phan- 
 tom or other which presented itself to their minds 
 sometimes in one form, sometimes in another. 
 The Spaniards were in search of fabulous quan- 
 tities of gold, or a fountain of perpetual youth, 
 which was supposed to exist somewhere in the 
 interior of North America. Some of the early 
 French explorers of the north when they reached 
 Lake Michigan, not knowing the vast extent of 
 the continent, were seeking for a passage from 
 some of the lakes to the Pacific ocean, and hoped 
 thus to discover a short passage to China. Many 
 of these early discoverers had repeatedly heard 
 from the Indians of the great river of the west, 
 and called by them a name which signified 
 ‘‘ Father of Waters.’’ Marquette heard of this 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 99 
 
 greatriver. ‘He fancied upon its banks—not 
 mighty cities, mines of gold, or fountains of 
 youth, but whole tribes of God’s children, to 
 whom the sound of the gospel had never come. 
 Filled with the wish to go and preach to them he 
 obeyed with joy the orders of Talon, the wise in- 
 tendant of Canada, to lead a party into the 
 unknown distance, and having received as com- 
 panions on behalf of the government a M. 
 Joliet, of Quebec, together with five boatmen, in 
 the spring of 1673 he prepared to go forth in 
 search of the much talked of stream,” (Annals 
 of the West). 
 
 On the 13th of May, 1673, this band of seven 
 set out on their search with two canoes and a 
 small supply of food. Passing across Lake 
 Michigan and through Green Bay, they entered 
 Fox River. There they came upon an Indian 
 village where Allouez had preached. Beyond 
 this point no one of the discoverers had yet gone. 
 On the roth of June they left this place with 
 some Indian guides to accompany them. They 
 carried their canoes across the country to the 
 Wisconsin River, and then floated down that 
 stream till they reached the Mississippi on the 
 17th day of June. Floating on down the Mis- 
 sissippi they discovered the mouths of the 
 
100 DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY, 
 
 Mllinois, Missouri and the Ohio. The latter, how- 
 ever, is said to make but a small figure on Mar- 
 quette’s map compared to the Illinois, which he 
 explored more fully. He went as far south as 
 Arkansas ; then fearing to go further he returned 
 to the Illinois, through which he reached the 
 lake. This was the first voyage on the Missis- 
 sippi by Europeans, and Marquette is to be re- 
 garded as the discoverer of the Ohio. 
 
 La Salle, hearing the account of Marquette, 
 was the next to undertake a similar voyage, but 
 his object was to discover the mouth of the Mis- 
 sissippi. Some time in December of 1679 he 
 crossed the country from Lake Michigan to the 
 Illinois River, which he descended, reaching 
 Peoria Lake January 4, 1680. Here he built a 
 fort. He then returned to Canada and sent 
 Louis Hennepin to explore the northern regions 
 of the Mississippi. It was not until 1682 that 
 La Salle descended the Mississippi to its mouth. 
 He then named the entire country through which 
 hehad passed Louisiana, in honor of the King 
 of France, from whom he had received his com- 
 mission. This Louisiana comprised the entire 
 territory watered by the Mississippi and its trib- 
 utaries. Thus, La Salle laid the foundation of 
 the French claims to the Mississippi valley, All 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. IOI 
 
 this was done with the consent of the Indians 
 dwelling in this region. Although La Salle’s 
 work was without any immediate result, yet by 
 his several voyages to the Mississippi, and by a 
 number of forts which he built upon it and some 
 of its tributaries, he succeeded in calling the at- 
 tention of his nation to his grand Louisiana. By 
 his enterprise and the forts which he built he was 
 instrumental in laying the foundation for the first 
 settlements in the Mississippi valley. During the 
 year which immediately followed the discoveries 
 of LaSalle and others, settlement in the Missis- 
 Sippi valley went actively forward. Forts were 
 built and trading points were established, and a 
 number of missions were founded. 
 
 We find in the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century the French tolerably well established all 
 along the Mississippi valley, while the English 
 occupied the entire country east of the Al- 
 leghanies. The country between the Alleghanies 
 and the Mississippi was as yet practically unex- 
 plored ; in fact, had hardly yet been penetrated 
 by any Europeans except by a few traders. It 
 was in 1749 that the English began to turn their 
 serious attention to the west. As has already 
 been stated, the territory that we have already 
 seen the French taking possession of, the Eng- 
 
I02 DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 lish claimed by right of purchase from the Six 
 Nations and others of the Indian tribes of the 
 east who claimed dominion over the Ohio valley. 
 This claim of the English proved in time a serious 
 contention between them and the French, and 
 resulted in many wars and massacres, in which 
 the various Indian tribes who were at enmity 
 with one another became allied on the respective 
 sides. At this time the ‘‘ present states of Ohio, 
 Indiana and Kentucky ” were ‘‘substantially in 
 the possession of the Indians.” <‘* From this, 
 however, it must not be inferred that the English 
 were ignorant of or indifferent to the capacities 
 of the west, or that the movements of the French 
 were unobserved up to the middle of the eigh- 
 teenth century. Gov. Spotswood, of Virginia, 
 as early as 1710, had commenced movements, 
 
 the object of which was to secure the country be- 
 yond the Alleghanies to the English crown.” 
 Gov. Keith and Secretary James Logan, of Penn- 
 sylvania, also represented to England the neces- 
 sity of securing the lands of the west. 
 
 England’s first claim was from the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific, on the ground that they had dis- 
 covered and taken possession of the sea coast. 
 which was in reality a discovery and possession 
 of the entire country. 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 103 
 
 The earliest visit by an Englishman to the 
 west was that of John Howard, who came from 
 Virginia, crossing the mountains in 1742, and, as 
 the story goes, ‘‘ sailed in a canoe made of a 
 buffalo skin down the Ohio, and was taken by 
 the French on the Mississippi.”” After this it is | 
 likely that traders from across the Alleghanies 
 came to the Ohio valley, and in 1748 Conrad 
 Weiser, of Philadelphia, was sent with presents 
 to the Indians at Logstown, on the Ohio River. 
 This was for the double purpose of quieting the 
 Indians who were beginning to demand an ad- 
 ditional amount of money which had been 
 promised them at the treaty of Lancaster, and 
 also to sound them as to the proposed settlements 
 of some Virginians in the west. ‘‘ The object of 
 these proposed settlements was not cultivation of 
 the soil, but the monopoly of the Indian trade, 
 which, with all its profits, had been in the hands 
 of unprincipled men, half civilized, half savage, 
 who, through the Iroquois, had from the earliest 
 period penetrated to the lakes of Canada and 
 competed everywhere with the French for skins 
 and furs.’”” It was proposed by these Virginians 
 to organize a great company, which could take 
 possession of lands, build trading houses, furnish 
 the Indians with European goods, and exporting 
 
104. DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY, 
 
 the furs obtained from them. The Indians at 
 Logstown regarded this very favorably. In 
 1748, therefore, a petition for half a million of 
 acres of land beyond the Alleghanies was granted 
 by the king, and the company formed was known 
 as the ‘* Ohio Company.” 
 
 “~ These movements made by the English served 
 to awaken the French to the necessity of assert- 
 ing their claims to that portion of the west. In 
 1749 they resolved to ‘place plates of lead on 
 
 - which were written out the claims of France in 
 the mounds and at the mouths of the rivers.” 
 They had hoped by this act to secure to them- 
 selves beyond contest the title to the Ohio, but 
 the English paid no attention to this whatever, 
 for it was in this same year that they built alarge 
 trading house as far west as the Great Miami 
 River. The French were determined to oppose 
 all moves that the English made, and in this same 
 year they seized two English traders on the 
 Maumee. During the following year we find 
 neither English nor French taking any import- 
 ant steps toward occupying the disputed terri- 
 tory. In 14751, however, both powers made 
 definite moves, the English to survey and settle 
 the country, the French to stir up the savages 
 and to fortify some of the streams. The “ Ohio 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 105 
 
 Company” appointed Christopher Gist to ex- 
 amine the lands of the west. This he did, going 
 west as far as the trading house on the Miami, 
 and descending the Ohioas far as the falls. He 
 made but a general examination of the lands on 
 the Ohio, but made a thorough survey of that 
 part of West Virginia lying between the Ohio, 
 ‘Kanawha and the Alleghanies. This was the 
 tract on which the ‘‘ Ohio Company ”’ proposed 
 to make its first settlements. 
 
 The purpose of the French was to gain posses- 
 sion of the Ohio River. This they sought to ac- 
 complish by building forts on its upper waters. 
 This was done in order that they might easily at- 
 tack the lower points held by the English. They 
 began at Erie on the lake, and opened a wagon 
 road in order to establish a line of communica- 
 tion to the Alleghany. This road extended from 
 Erie to a smail lake at the head of French Creek, 
 where they then built a fort. This was some time 
 in 1752. While they were thus fortifying them- 
 selves they also took care to prevent the English 
 from doing the same thing. A party of soldiers 
 were sent to keep the Ohio clear. These hearing 
 of the English trading house on the Miami, went 
 and demanded the traders, whom they regarded 
 as intruders on French lands. This demand was 
 
agree 
 
 y 
 
 106 DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 made of the Indians (Twigtwees), who had lo- 
 cated there for the purpose of trading with the 
 English. The Indians refused, however, to de- 
 liver them up, and consequently the French, as- 
 sisted by the Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked 
 the trading house, and after a severe battle the 
 French gained the victory, carrying the traders 
 into Canada as prisoners. This trading house 
 ~was called by the English, Pickawillany. 
 
 Thus was the first blood shed between the Eng- 
 lish and the French in the Ohio valley, and also 
 the first English settlement here destroyed. The 
 English then saw the importance of setting mat- 
 ters aright between themselves and the Indians, 
 who were somewhat displeased with the Lancas- 
 ter treaty. They were, however, anxious for Eng- 
 lish protection since the attack of the French 
 upon the Twigtwees, and consequently they met 
 the English at Logstown, on the Ohio, seventeen 
 
 “miles and a half below Pittsburg, and conferred 
 
 with them there in June 1752. The Indians were 
 at first not inclined to yield to the requests of the 
 English as they had not granted them any posses- 
 sions west of the Alleghanies in the Lancaster 
 treaty, the English, however, having assumed 
 such possessions. After a good deal of persuasive 
 argument, however, had been presented to their 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 107 
 
 interpreter and an Indian chief, the Indians all 
 signed a deed which confirmed the Lancaster 
 treaty, and consented to a settlement west of the 
 Ohio. They also guaranteed not to disturb the 
 settlers. This was the first treaty with the Indians 
 in the Ohio valley. 
 
 At the close of 1752, matters were in a very un- 
 settled state in the west. The English were set- 
 tling in the tract of land granted them by the In- 
 dians, and the French were fortifying themselves 
 more securely in the north, while the Indians, 
 displeased with all their treaties with the English, 
 admiring, however, the way in which they had 
 always been treated by the French, occupied a 
 neutral ground, not knowing whether to join the 
 French or English. They finally sought protec- 
 tion from the English, and wanted them to build 
 a fort on the site of Pittsburg. They also sent 
 messengers to warn the French, but these in turn 
 stated their intentions to build forts all along the 
 upper Ohio. George Washington, at that timea 
 young man of twenty-oneyears and eight months 
 of age, was next sent by the Governor of Virginia 
 to confer with the Indians at Logstown, but noth- 
 ing satisfactory could be gained from them as 
 they had been intimidated by the threats of the 
 French, so he left Logstown to deliver his mes- 
 
108 DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 sage from the Governor to the French, who were 
 at that time on French Creek, and having received 
 an answer he returned to Virginia. During 
 Washington’s absence steps were taken to build 
 the fort at the junction of the Alleghany and the 
 Monongahela. While the English were building 
 this fort, the French also built a fort at Venango, 
 gathered troops, had in their possession about 300 
 canoes, and were ready to descend the Ohio 
 River. This was about April, 1754. Preparations 
 for war were also actively going on in Virginia, 
 but the French in the meantime, descended the 
 Alleghany and took the fort at the fork of the 
 Ohio, which they held and called Fort DuQuesne. 
 This opened the war between these two powers. 
 It was a severe one, lasting for nine years (1754 
 to 1763). 
 
 The year 1755 opened with various negotiations 
 between England and France. Various compro- 
 mises were proposed, but could not be agreed 
 upon. At the same time, however, both powers 
 were making active preparations for war. Ves- 
 sels were fitted out, and troops were gathered and 
 sent at once across the Atlantic. The English 
 contemplated a complete attack on all the princi- 
 pal French postsin this country, which were four: 
 Fort DuQuesne, Crown Point, Niagara, and the 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 109g 
 
 posts in Nova Scotia. On the 20th of April, Brad- 
 dock left Alexandria and marched toward Fort 
 DuQuesne. Here a battle, in which he was de- 
 feated completely, was fought on the gth of July. 
 James Smith, who was a captive in the fort at the 
 time of the battle, says, as to the result of this 
 battle, in his memoirs: ‘‘ From the best inform- 
 ation I could receive, there were only seven In- 
 dians and four French killed in this battle, and 
 500 British lay dead on the field, besides what 
 were killedin the river on their retreat.” 
 
 The expedition which left Boston on the 2oth 
 of May to conquer Nova Scotia was more suc- 
 cessful, for they gained the victory over these 
 posts some time in June. During this time Shir- 
 ley, who was to attack Niagara, and Johnson, 
 who was to attack Crown Point, were gathering 
 their troops at Albany. With all these move- 
 ments and a number of battles which had been 
 fought during 1755, it was not until in May, 1756, 
 that war was declared. Braddock’s defeat caused 
 the Indians to push their way eastward acrcss 
 the mountains. In consequence of this the gov- 
 ernment appointed Major Lewis to. lead troops 
 to invade the Indian towns on the Ohio. This, 
 however, proved a failure. In 1757 the capture 
 of the Fort William Henry, by Montcalm, and 
 
IIo DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 the destruction of the British fleet by a gale off 
 Louisburg, were the leading events. ‘‘ But the 
 year 1758 opened under a new star. Onsea and 
 land, in Asia, Europe and America, Britain re- 
 gained what had been lost. The Austrians, Rus- 
 sians and Swedes all gave way before the great 
 captain of Prussia, and Pitt sent his own strong 
 and hopeful and energetic spirit into his subal- 
 terns. In North America Louisburg yielded to 
 Boscawen ; Fort Frontainac was taken by Brad- 
 street, and DuQuesne was abandoned upon the 
 approach of Forbes through Pennsylvania. From 
 that time the fort at the fork of the Ohio was 
 Fort Pitt’ (Annals of the West). 
 
 The taking of this fort ended the contest be- 
 tween the English and French in the west, but in 
 Canada war was still carried on between them. 
 Success seemed to attend the British there also, 
 for ‘‘in 1759 Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara, 
 and at length Quebec itself yielded to the Eng- 
 lish, and on the 8th of September, 1760, Mon- 
 treal, Detroit and all Canada were given up by 
 Vandreuil, the French Governor,” (Annals of 
 the West). The difficulties between England and 
 France were finally settled by the treaty of Paris 
 on the 10th of February, 1763. The Engiish 
 now set actively to work to settle the west. This, 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO VALLEY. IIt 
 
 however, was attended by many difficulties, as 
 the Indians did not like the English. All their 
 meetings with them for the purpose of making 
 treaties had been very unsatisfactory. The Eng- 
 lish had made many unfair attempts to claim the 
 lands of the west, and by ‘‘ rum and bumbo”’ 
 did they attempt to obtain from the Indians grants 
 to these lands, ‘‘ but when the rum had evaporated 
 the wild men saw how they had been deceived, 
 and listened not unwillingly to the French pro- 
 fessions of friendship, backed as they were by 
 presents and politeness, and accompanied by no 
 attempts to buy or wheedle land from them.”’ 
 
 While the English had conquered the French, 
 they yet retained a bitter enemy in the Indian. 
 Especially among the northern tribes was the 
 feeling against the English strong, and every- 
 where in the massacres and the burning huts of 
 settlers do we see the terrible results of this bitter 
 feeling which the English had aroused. 
 
 Weare now at the period of the history of the 
 Ohio valley, where the history of its discovery 
 passes over into the history of the first settlers, 
 or the pioneer history, which we will consider in 
 the following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 PIONEER History. 
 
 WAV ee have in the preceding chapter seen how 
 
 the Ohio valley was entered by the 
 French going out from their posts on Lake Michi- 
 gan, and also afterward from those on Lake On- 
 tario, and by the English from their posts in the 
 eastern states. It seems that the French claimed 
 the valley by right of discovery, and the English 
 by right of treaty with the Iroquois and by pur- 
 chase. We have also seen how both of these 
 powers held their claim firmly, and how they 
 were involved in a war which ended in the vic- 
 tory of the English, not only in the Ohio valley 
 but elsewhere also, and how they made another 
 attempt to settle the valley. In considering the 
 pioneer history of this valley we must not forget 
 the enmity which the Indians had toward the 
 English. 
 
 While therefore, interest in settling the west 
 was revived by the ‘‘Ohio Company,” and by the 
 pamphlets which were published in the east, on 
 the advantages of settlements on the Ohio, and 
 people had already begun moving westward, there 
 
PIONEER HISTORY. Il3 
 
 came another interruption of perhaps a more 
 serious nature than the first. The Indians formed 
 a conspiracy, and all the various tribes from Lake 
 Michigan to the frontiers of North Carolina, laid 
 by for the time being, their hostile feelings and 
 uniting under Pontiac, proposed to fali on the 
 whole line of English posts and kill every white 
 man. ‘The voice of this great leader was heard 
 crying in the north: “ Why, says the Great 
 Spirit, do you suffer these dogs in red clothing to 
 enter your couniry and take the land I have given 
 your Drive them from it! Drive them! When 
 you are in distress, I will helpyou.” This voice, 
 however, was audible only to the ear of the red 
 man. The whites were pressing their way 
 farther and farther into the western country with 
 the utmost confidence and Satisfaction; but dur- 
 ing this time the Indians were making active 
 preparations for war, and were gathering to- 
 gether in various parts of the country, waiting 
 for the word of their great leader. At last the 
 command was given, and the Indians everywhere 
 fell upon and captured the white traders, took 
 their goods from them, and murdered more than 
 a hundred. Nine of the English forts yielded in- 
 stantly to the Indians who had all along made 
 friendly pretentions. In Western Virginia more 
 
Il4 PIONEER HISTORY. 
 
 than 20,000 of the settlers were driven from 
 their homes. The three most important English 
 forts, however, did not yield to the first, though 
 sudden, attack of the red men, nor could they be 
 conquered by a siege, however well conducted 
 and long continued, and at the close of 1763, 
 Forts Detroit, Pitt, and Niagara, were still in the 
 hands of the English. The Indians having un- 
 ited mainly for immediate success, became dis- 
 heartened at their failure to take these forts. The 
 old jealousies and enmities began to revive 
 among them, and one by one the tribes deserted 
 Pontiac, who was left with but a few followers. 
 The Indians having thus failed in their plans, 
 and being disorganized, the various tribes were 
 anxious for peace. In 1764 the English govern- 
 ment sent two men to restore peace in the west: 
 General Bradstreet being ordered to Lake Erie, 
 and Colonel Bouquet to the tribes on the Ohio. 
 Peace was concluded at Detroit, August 21st, and 
 on the Muskingum November oth, the Indians 
 agreeing to return all prisoners, and protection of 
 their lands was guaranteed them by the govern- 
 ment. Inthe year 1765, all that lay beyond the 
 Alleghanies, with the exception of a few forts and 
 some French settlements on the Wabash, Illinois, 
 and Kaskaskia, was yet wilderness. In 1766, as 
 
PIONEER HISTORY. II5 
 
 white settlers were again crossing the mountains 
 in greater numbers, which did not please the In- 
 dians, it was deemed necessary to fix the bound- 
 ary line which had been spoken of, and which 
 should divide the ceded land from the Indian 
 lands. This was effected at Stanwix, October 
 24th, 1768. In this treaty the line which ex- 
 tended from the mouth of the Tennessee River, 
 up the Ohio and Alleghany, as tar as Kittaning, 
 was fixed. Thus all the land south of the Ohio 
 was ceded to the British, and on this treaty rests 
 the title, by purchase, to Kentucky, Pennsylvania, 
 and Western Virginia. 
 
 Hitherto all efforts to settle the Ohio valley 
 were directed to those portions lying north of the 
 Ohio River. Kentucky was practically un- 
 known to the whites, although Dr. Walker had 
 in 1747 or 1750, been among the mountains in 
 the eastern part. Dr. Connoly is said to have 
 had some acquaintance with the lands south of the 
 Ohio, and it is probable that Gist, who was sent 
 to explore the western lands in 1751, had passed 
 through the central portion along the Kentucky 
 River. The reasons why the,Ohio valley remained 
 unknown for so long a time are very clear. We 
 know that the southern portion of Ohio and the 
 whole of Kentucky were uninhabited by Indians. 
 
116 PIONEER HISTORY. 
 
 One reason for this undoubtedly is that this tract 
 of land was disputed ground among them. As 
 we have seen, the Iroquois had invaded and 
 owned this territory prior to 1680, and even 
 claimed it at a later date when they placed it 
 under England. It is likely that the Iroquois 
 were feared by all the western tribes until the 
 formation of the Miami Confederacy, which oc- 
 cupied a portion of Ohio. After this, other strong 
 tribes, such as the Shawnees, also entered and oc- 
 . cupied portions of Ohio, but Kentucky was not 
 inhabited by Indians, but was used by them as a 
 common hunting ground. We must also keep 
 in mind that the earliest explorers were the In- 
 dian traders and these, as is natural, sought out 
 those tracts which wereinhabited by the Indians, 
 and thus Kentucky remained for a long time un- 
 explored while Ohio was better known. 
 
 After the treaty, however, by which the Indians 
 ceded all their lands south of the Ohio—their 
 favorite hunting grounds—to the English, those 
 who had before been active in exploring and set- 
 tling western lands went again to work. Among 
 these were George Washington and a London 
 merchant by the name of Walpole. While these 
 men were at work organizing companies for the 
 purpose of occupying the ceded territory, some 
 
PIONEER HISTORY. LI? 
 
 other men entirely unknown to them, took steps 
 which actually resulted in its settlement. The 
 first actual explorer of these lands was Colonel 
 James Smith. He heard in 1766 of the purchase 
 of the lands in question from the Indians, and 
 having conversed with them in regard to the land, 
 which they told him was a large tract of rich 
 land, he concluded to take a trip westward for 
 the purpose of exploring that country. He, in 
 company with several other gentlemen, explored 
 pretty thoroughly the valleys of the principal rivers 
 of Kentucky. The persons who followed Smith 
 were traders who came from ‘North Carolina by 
 the Cumberland Gap. It is probable that they 
 sought by this way to reach the Cherokees and 
 other southern Indians with whom they had been 
 trading for some time. It appears that they 
 afterward journeyed northward along the Ken- 
 tucky River, crossed the Licking, and went to 
 the mouth of the Scioto, perhaps to trade with 
 the Indians north of the Ohio. In those times, 
 John Finley was also engaged in trading withthe 
 Indians from Ohio, who had been hunting in the 
 central portion of Kentucky. On his return to 
 North Carolina, he described the country to 
 Daniel Boone, who, on the tst of May, 17609, 
 in company with five companions, began to cross 
 
118 PIONEER HISTORY. 
 
 the mountains for the west. This party was led 
 by Finley. They did not always remain to- 
 gether, however, as we hear of Boone being alone 
 a great part of the time. He explored the entire 
 central portion of what now forms the State of 
 Kentucky. His remaining for so long a time un- 
 discovered by the Indians, who continued some- 
 what hostile and jealous, was perfectly miracu- 
 lous, though he was afterwards in captivity but 
 succeeded in making his escape in a very remark- 
 able manner. In 1771 he and his brother returned 
 to North Carolina, and was detained there until 
 the year 1773, when he sold his farm, took his 
 family, and in company with five other families, 
 started for the west. This company was increased 
 by a party of forty men at Powell’s valley, on 
 the east side of the Cumberland mountains. 
 While attempting to cross the mountains, how- 
 ever, they were attacked by a party of Indians, 
 and six of the emigrants were killed and another 
 wounded ; but they succeeded in repulsing the In- 
 dians without much difficulty and then turned 
 back, going as far as Clinch River. 
 
 During this time people were rapidly going to 
 the west, both as settlers and as explorers and 
 hunters. This did not please the Indians, for 
 they saw that their best hunting grounds were 
 
PIONEER HISTORY. IIg 
 
 being rapidly tak.n from them. They began to 
 oppose the settlers in many ways, and at last for- 
 bid their locating south of the Ohio entirely. 
 During the summer of 1773, whea Thomas Bul- 
 litt with a large party descended the Ohio, he 
 heard that the Indians would not permit any set~ 
 tlements in the south unless their hunting grounds 
 were left undisturbed, This party having de- 
 scended the river, separated, part ascending the 
 Kentucky River, while the remainder went on 
 as far as the falls and laid out the plat of . Louis- 
 ville. As settlement went on the Indians’ hatred 
 grew stronger and became more bitter, and dur- 
 ing the earlier part of the year 1774. many mur- 
 ders were committed by both Indians and 
 frontiersmen, until by the middle of the same 
 year a bloody war was again at hand. The 
 principal battle of this war was fought at Point 
 Pleasant between General Lewis and the Dela- 
 wares, Iroquois, Wyandottes and Shawnees, 
 under their most noted chiefs. The conflict was 
 long and severe, but Lewis finally gained the 
 victory, and, the Indians seeing that their struggle 
 against the whites was a useless one, sought for 
 peace. This was granted. them in a treaty at 
 Camp Charlotte, the Indians agreeing not to 
 hunt south of the Ohio river. 
 
120 PIONEER HISTORY. 
 
 Immediately after this settlement and survey- 
 ing were again actively recommenced in Ken- 
 tucky, and Daniel Boone, who had served in the 
 war under Lewis, was one of the first to re-enter 
 the rich valleys of the south, and was in the serv- 
 ice of a new land company formed in North 
 Carolina, called the “ Transylvania Company.” 
 This company purchased from the Cherokees 
 two large tracts of land, which. included the 
 greater part of the present State of Kentucky. 
 This transaction, however, was not recognized by 
 the Virginia government, and so these pioneers 
 were again in danger on all sides, for they also 
 learned that a party of settlers lead by Boone 
 were attacked and several killed. Boone’s men, 
 however, repulsed the Indians, and marching 
 forward they reached, in April, 1775, a point on 
 the Kentucky River, where they erected a fort 
 and called the place Boonesboro. 
 
 The year 1776 was now at hand, and with it 
 the revolution. As the English had dealt with 
 the Indians, taking their land from them without 
 remuneration, except when the latter, finding 
 that complaints and murmurs would not answer, 
 lifted up their tomahawks, so they also dealt with 
 the Americans in those days, exacting from them 
 and burdening them with more than they could 
 
PIONEER HISTORY. I2I 
 
 bear. All the interest was concentrated upon 
 the colonies ; even that of the Indians, for both 
 parties in that conflict sought their assistance. 
 Because of this the Indians did not molest the 
 settlers in Kentucky for one whole year. From 
 the middle of the year 1775 to the middle of 
 1776 the Indians made no hunting excursions 
 south of the Ohio. This was not, however, be- 
 cause they wished or intended to keep their 
 agreement to that effect, for in the same 
 year hostilities were renewed to such an 
 extent that many of the Kentucky settlers 
 were driven from their new homes back 
 across the mountains. This year had also 
 its advantages—the other event for which it 
 was remarkable in the history of Kentucky being 
 the recognition of the ‘¢ Transylvania Company” 
 by Virginia as part of the “Old Dominion.” 
 While much distress was among the colonists of 
 Kentucky during this year, and the woods were 
 full of straggling parties of the northwestern 
 tribes, who had been enlisted in the service of 
 England, and no one outside a fort was safe, 
 yet during this very time the step which was the 
 making of Kentucky was taken by George 
 Rogers Clark, who became truly her founder 
 and the most prominent hero of the west. He 
 
I22 PIONEER HISTORY. 
 
 was a Virginian by birth, a surveyor by pro- 
 fession, and had served as major in Dunmore’s 
 war in 1774. He was quick of perception, and 
 at once conceived the notion of making Ken- 
 tucky an independent commonwealth. During 
 the next few years the Kentucky settlers re- 
 ceived much annoyance from the Indians, who 
 were continually being urged by English agents 
 to deeds of violence against them. Clark then 
 resolved to conquer the English posts in Illinois 
 so that peace might again be secured to the 
 colonists, and in the latter part of 1777 he opened 
 his plans to Patrick Henry, who was then Govy- 
 ernor of Virginia. On January 2, 17478, he re- 
 ceived orders to attack the Illinois posts. and be- 
 tween this time and the year 1780 he conquered 
 all these posts, and thus secured peace to the 
 Kentucky settlers. Emigration was now pouring 
 into Kentucky at a rapid rate. In November, 
 1780, it was divided into three counties, and in 
 October of the following year it was organized. 
 Thus, in 1781 there was many a fine and flourishing 
 settlement in Kentucky, and its inhabitants living 
 comparatively in peace, while in Ohio scarcely a 
 single hut of a white settler was to be found. 
 Here all was yet war and bloodshed. So it went 
 on for a number of years, and it was not until 
 
PIONEER HISTORY. 123 
 
 about the year 1788 that settlement began to be 
 made in Ohio with any prospects for permanence 
 whatever. While settlement went forward during 
 this year, yet the colonists were by no means 
 safe. The Indians, notwithstanding the fact that 
 a number of treaties had been made with them 
 during several of the preceding years, still re- 
 mained very hostile, and the settlers were fre- 
 quently endangered by their malicious incur- 
 sions. 
 
 The ‘‘ Ohio Company” of 1786, which was 
 formed in New England in March of this year, 
 was the first that was authorized by the govern- 
 ment to found acolony northwest of the Ohio. 
 An outline of the company was drawn and sub- 
 scriptions immediately taken. A fund of a mill- 
 ion dollars was to be raised for the purchase of 
 lands in the western territory. On March 8th, 
 1787, General Parsons, General Putnam, and 
 Reverend Manasseh Cutler were chosen directors 
 of the company, and these immediately appointed 
 Dr. Cutler, whothen went to New York for the 
 purpose of negotiating with Congress for the de- 
 sired tract of land. On the 28th of October they 
 closed a contract with the Board of Treasury for 
 this tract, which included a million and a half of 
 acres between the Scioto and the Ohio. In July 
 
124 PIONEER HISTORY. 
 
 of this year, Congress passed an ordinance for 
 the government of the northwest territory, and in 
 December of the same year, John Brown, who 
 was the first representative from the west, was 
 sent to Congress. In November of this same 
 year, the Ohio Company made active prepara- 
 tions to send settlers to the west. The first party 
 of these started, traveling during the winter and 
 in April of 1788, reached the spot they had 
 chosen, which was on the Muskingum, and thus 
 became the real founders of Ohio. This settle- 
 ment was first known as ‘‘ The Muskingum,” but 
 at a meeting of directors and agents held July 2d, 
 it was named Marietta, in honor of Mary An- 
 toinette. At this time emigration to the west was 
 very great. The commandant at Fort Harmar, 
 which was on the Ohio near the mouth of the 
 Muskingum, reported that between February and 
 June, 1788, no less than 4,500 persons had passed 
 that point. Other settlements were now rapidly 
 forming and other lands granted. Immediately 
 after the New England grant, and the ordinance 
 of 1787, John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, 
 applied to the government for a grant between the 
 Miamis, which was given him, and he proceeded 
 at once to take steps which would induce settlers 
 to occupy his land. In August, 1788, Mathias 
 
PIONEER HISTORY, 125 
 
 Denman, Robert Patterson, and John Filson ob- 
 tained sections of Symmes’ land opposite the 
 mouth of Licking River, and agreed to lay out 
 a town, which Mr. Filson, who had been a school- 
 master, was appointed to name. He called it — 
 Losantiville, which, when interpreted, means: 
 ville, town ; antz, opposite to ; os, mouth; and Z, 
 for Licking. This name was afterwards changed 
 on the 1st or 2d of January, 1790, to Cincinnati, 
 by St. Clair, in honor of a society by that name. 
 
 Settlement went rapidly forward, and although 
 there were many dangers and disturbances from 
 the Indians, yet it had gained too firm a hold 
 to be again entirely interrupted. We will now 
 notice briefly in the next chapter, the history of 
 some of the early towns. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 History OF SOME OF THE EARLY Towns. 
 
 ig we foliow closely the accounts of the discov- 
 
 ery and settlement of a country, or any partic- _ 
 ular part of a country, we will see that the leaders 
 in these enterprises are governed by different mo- 
 tives, and have their attention fixed on different 
 objects. We have seen that the first men that en- 
 tered the west went to those parts which were 
 densely populated, for various purposes, as trade, 
 and also out of religious promptings. ‘The settlers, 
 however, were looking about for the finest land 
 and the most fertile valleys, both of which were 
 of no direct importance to those who preceded 
 them. To both of these classes, however, the 
 water-courses are of great importance. We will 
 always notice that discoverers find their way to 
 the interior of a country by means of its various 
 streams. We have seen that in this country the 
 French explorers made their way westward by 
 the Si. Lawrence and the great lakes, thence 
 down the Mississippi, and finally descended also 
 the Ohio from the region of Lake Erie. Like- 
 wise the early settlers found it convenient to launch 
 
 126 
 
HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 127 
 
 their boats upon the rivers and allow the current 
 
 to bear them quietly down to some desirable spot, 
 
 __ where they landed and founded the first settle- 
 
 ments. The Ohio River and its valley were early 
 known for their beauty. It was long known 
 among the French as “ Belle Riviere” (Beautiful 
 River). In connection with the Mississippi and 
 the Alleghany, it forms a remarkable water- 
 course, starting within a few miles of Lake Erie, 
 and ending at the gulf, a distance of 2,400 miles. 
 
 When the French first discovered that part of 
 the Ohio between the Mississippi and the mouth 
 of the Wabash, they for a long time identified it 
 with the latter and called it by the same name, 
 which in their mode of spelling was Ouabach, 
 Ouabache, or also Ouabachi. The name by 
 which we know it is its Indian name, and has 
 been variously spelled by early explorers as 
 Oyo, Oio and finally Ohio. 
 
 Within the history of the Europeans in this 
 valley the Ohio has a number of times over- 
 flowed its banks and filled its valley with de- 
 structive masses of water. The first of these 
 great floods occurred in June of 1772, and was 
 one of vast height, and if the valley had then 
 been inhabited ag itis now “ it would have spread 
 
128 HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 
 
 ruin and destruction over every town and hamlet 
 on its border.” 
 
 ‘‘After General Wayne’s treaty with the Indians 
 in 1795, the natives frequently visited the settle- 
 ment at Marietta for the purpose of trade. Seeing 
 the dwelling houses erected and the improve- 
 ments making on the bottom lands, the aged In- 
 dians, with a shake of the head, would point with 
 their hands to the elevated branches of the syca- 
 more trees on the banks of the river, Saying that 
 they had seen the water that high, and at some 
 future day the white man would see it there also. 
 All who heard it at that time believed it to be 
 mere Indian hyperbole, but recent events have 
 proved the Indian legend to be true.”—[S. P. 
 Hildreth’s ‘* Floods of the Ohio.’’] 
 
 The flood in 1778 was not near so high as that 
 of 1772, but the one that occurred in 1784 was 
 very high again, being very nearly as high as 
 the great flood in 1832, but fortunately the coun. 
 try along the banks was yet thinly settled, and 
 consequently not much damage was done. 
 
 For many years after the settlement of Marietta 
 by the second ‘Ohio Company ” in ¥788, there 
 was no flood of importance. The first flood that 
 attracted any attention among the settlers of the 
 valley was that of 1809. The water filled some 
 
HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 129 
 
 of the lower streets of Marietta, but did no great 
 damage. In 1813, twenty-five years after Marietta 
 was founded, a very destructive flood occurred. 
 It was caused by snow several feet deep at the 
 headwaters and a general heavy rain. The water 
 rose very rapidly. ‘‘In twenty-four hours after 
 the commencement of the rise the water was 
 over the banks, and was rising at the rate of 
 eight inches per hour.” This was a very de- 
 structive flood, doing a great deal of damage to 
 property. In the flood of 1815, though the water 
 at Marietta stood a little higher than two years 
 previous, the damage was not so great, because 
 the rise was much slower, being only one inch 
 per hour. 
 
 The next flood of importance was that of 
 1832. This winter was an unusually cold one, 
 heavy ice forming on the river and deep snows 
 falling all over the surrounding country. These 
 snows were in the region of Marietta over one 
 foot, and at the headwaters of the river from 
 three to four feet in depth. These were followed 
 by a spell of very warm and rainy weather, and 
 hence this remarkable flood. The rise of the 
 water was very rapid, being twelve inches per 
 hour, and continued until the water stood fifty 
 feet above low water mark at Marietta. This 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 
 
 flood proved a very destructive one to the various 
 towns along the river. 
 
 All these floods, however, are comparatively 
 insignificant when contrasted with the recent 
 floods—1883 and 1884. Considering the great 
 amount of property that came within reach of 
 these floods, they were incomparably more de- 
 structive than perhaps all the other floods taken 
 together. In that of 1883, the water stood sixty- 
 four feet, five inches above low water mark at 
 Cincinnati. The flood of 1884 occurred in Feb- 
 ruary, and was very much higher than the other. 
 It reached its greatest height on the 14th, the water 
 then being seventy-one feet and three-fourths of 
 an inch above low water mark at Cincinnati. 
 
 To refer now briefly to the early history of 
 some of the settlements in the Ohio valley, we 
 will recollect that in that part of the ‘‘ Old Do- 
 minion ’? west of the mountains, known now as 
 West Virginia, were about the first settlements 
 on the Ohio. We hear of Logstown, “a little 
 village, seventeen miles and a half below Pitts- 
 burg, upon the north side of the Ohio.” This 
 was a trading point, and the place where Conrad 
 Weiser was sent in 1748, and where a short time 
 afterwards a treaty was made, relative to forming 
 the first “Ohio Company.” The Zanes founded 
 
HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. E3i 
 
 Wheeling in 1770, and on this site Connolly 
 built a fort in 1774. This fort went by the nameof 
 Fincastle until 1776, when, in honor of the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, it was called Fort Henry. Inthe 
 neighborhood of this fort were built some twenty 
 or thirty log huts of the settlers, which were all 
 destroyed, besides three hundred cattle by the In- 
 dians in the siege of September 26th—November 
 7th, 1777. Wheeling is ninety-two miles below 
 Pittsburg, and 365 miles above Cincinnati on the 
 river. The population in 1850 was 11,435 ; in 
 1860, 14,083; in 1870, 19,280; in 1876, 30,000; 
 and in 1880, 30,737. Itis a port of delivery and 
 and a great manufacturing city. In this latter 
 direction it has rare advantages. The principal 
 manufacturing establishments are iron and nail 
 mills, glass works, foundries and machine shops. 
 It is the seat of the Wheeling Female College, 
 which was chartered and organized in 1848. 
 Wheeling was made county seat in 1797, incor- 
 porated in 1806, and was the capital of the State 
 from the organization of the latter till 1870, when 
 Charleston became the seat of government. 
 
 At the treaty of Logstown, in June, 1752, the In- 
 dians desired the protection of the British against 
 the French and wished them to ‘build a fort 
 at once at the fork of the Ohio.” This fort they set 
 
132 HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 
 
 about to build in the spring of 1754. During 
 this time the French were busy building forts in 
 the north, on French Creek, and were making 
 active preparations to descend the Alleghany and 
 take possession of the Ohio valley. On the 17th 
 of April of this year, when the walls were but 
 partly finished, the French, under Contrecceur, 
 floated down the Alleghany ‘‘in sixty batteaus 
 and 300 canoes, filled with men, and laden deep 
 with cannon and stores.’”’ Contrecceur, accom- 
 panied by a force of a 1,000 men, then com- 
 manded Ensign Ward to surrender, which the 
 latter dared not refuse. The French then took 
 possession of the fort and called it Fort Du- 
 Quesne. Braddock attempted to take this fort 
 in July, 1755, but was defeated, and it was not 
 until November, 1758, that the French abandoned 
 it on Forbes’ approach through Pennsylvania, 
 from which time it was called Fort Pitt. As all 
 these various forts formed centres around which 
 the early settlers located, built their log houses, 
 and tilled the soil, so during all these years they 
 had also gathered about this fort until quite a vil- 
 lage had risen which was already known as Pitts- 
 burg. In 1774, when the dispute arose between 
 Virginia and Pennsylvania, as to the possession 
 of Pittsburg and surrounding country, Dr. Con- 
 
HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 133 
 
 nolly, under command of Lord Dunmore, and in 
 the interest of Virginia, went and took possession 
 of the fort, which had nearly been destroyed, re- 
 built it and named it Fort Dunmore. 
 
 Although Pittsburg had been long settled and 
 once surveyed, it was not until in March, 1784, 
 that it was again surveyed and regularly laid out 
 by Tench Francis. The following view of Pitts- 
 burg is taken from Arthur Lee’s journal, who 
 passed through the town in the fall of this same 
 year: ‘* Pittsburg is inhabited almost entirely by 
 Scotch and Irish, who live in paltry log houses 
 and are as dirty as if in the north of Ireland, or 
 even Scotland. There isa great deal of trade 
 carried on, the goods being brought at the vast 
 expense of 45 shillings per one hundred from 
 Philadelphia and Baltimore. They take in the 
 shops money, wheat, flour and skins. There are 
 in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and not 
 _ 4 priest of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel. 
 The rivers encroach fast on the town, andto such 
 a degree that, as a gentleman told me, the Alle- 
 ghany had within thirty years of his memory 
 carried away 100 yards. The place, I believe, 
 will never be very considerable.” N otwithstand- 
 ing this opinion, however, the town increased 
 very rapidly. In 14786, on the 29th of July, the 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 
 
 Pittsburg Gazette was published for the first time. 
 It was incorporated as a borough on the 22d of 
 April, 1794, and as a city March 18, 1816. ‘In 
 1817 it contained five glass houses, four air 
 furnaces, 109 stores, eight steam engines in 
 mills, 1,303 houses, 8,000 people, and manu- 
 factured 400 tons of nails by steam,” (Annals of 
 the West). The abundance of the natural re- 
 sources of the country surrounding Pittsburg 
 have helped it rise and have made it the great 
 manufacturing city which we now know. The 
 population in 1870 was 86,076, and in 1880 
 156,389. 
 
 We are informed that ‘‘ in the autumn of 1785 
 Major Doughty descended the Ohio to the mouth 
 of the Muskingum, and upon the point north of 
 the former and west of the latter river began 
 Fort Harmar,” and it was nearly three years 
 later that, as we have already seen, a company 
 of emigrants landed at the mouth of the Musk- 
 ingum and founded Marietta on the east side of 
 that river. This was the first settlement in Ohio, 
 being made by the second ‘¢ Ohio Company ”’ in 
 1788. In 180 the population was 3,175; in 
 1860, 4,323, and in 1870, 5,218. Harmar forms 
 part of the town, and with this the population is 
 
HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 135 
 
 7,000. Marietta Coilege, which is located here, 
 was founded in 1835. 
 
 The tract of land upon which Louisville is 
 built was surveyed by Thomas Bullitt, under the 
 direction of John Connolly, as early as 1773, and 
 he then also laid out the platof thetown. In the 
 early part of the year 1780 we are told ‘‘ 300 
 large family boats ”’ arrived at the falls, and in 
 this same year an act was passed establishing 
 Louisville asatown. ‘In 1784 Louisville con- 
 tained sixty-three houses finished, thirty-seven 
 partly finished, twenty-two raised but not cov- 
 ered, and more than 100 cabins.’’ It is the prin- 
 cipal city. of Kentucky, and the county seat of 
 Jefferson County.” It is on the Ohio River, 
 about 600 miles below Pittsburg, 400 miles from 
 the mouth of the river, and about 150 miles below 
 Cincinnati. Being situated on the falls of the 
 Ohio, it has received the name of Falls City. It 
 was incorporated February, 1828. The growth 
 of the city since 1810 has been very steady and 
 rapid. The population in 1810 was 1,357; in 
 1820, 4,012; in 1830, 10,352; in 1840, 21,210; in 
 1850, 43,194; in 1860, 68,033; in 1870, 100,753 ; 
 in 1880, 123,758, and in 1887, 185,000. It is 
 very nicely laid out, having wide streets and 
 large squares. Its system of drainage and sew- 
 
136 HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 
 
 erage is excellent, which renders the city very 
 healthy. Itisaportof delivery, and an immense 
 shipping business is done, which amounted in 
 1873 to $250,000,000. The chief articles of com- 
 merce are dry goods, groceries, provisions, to- 
 bacco, leather and whisky. It is said to be one 
 of the largest leaf tobacco markets in the world, 
 and shipments are made annually to Germany, 
 England and Canada. Various kinds of manu- 
 factured tobacco and cigars are also produced in 
 abundance. The property in 1873 was assessed 
 at $78,000,000. It has quite a number of col- 
 leges. The College of Pharmacy was organized 
 in 1870, and the School of Pharmacy for Women 
 was organized in 1882. The Medical College 
 was organized in 1869. Louisville also has a 
 Female College. In addition to these there are 
 also the Hospital College of Medicine, the Ken- 
 tucky School of Medicine, and the University of 
 Louisville, which has a medical department. 
 
 We have already seen in the preceding chapter 
 how Symmes obtained a large grant of lands be- 
 tween the two Miamis, and how in August, 1788, 
 three men, Denman, Patterson and Filson, ob- 
 tained a small tract from him opposite the mouth of 
 the Licking River and built there a town, which 
 they named Losantiville, and also how St. Clair, 
 
HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 137 
 
 who was appointed Governor of the Northwest 
 Territory on the 5th of October, 1787, came to 
 this town in January, 1790, and changed its name 
 to Cincinnati. It was Symmes’ purpose to found 
 a great commercial city somewhere on his grant, 
 but his notion was that such a city should be 
 located at the mouth of the Great Miami. In 
 February, 1789, he landed at this point, formed 
 his encampment, and by fall of the same year he 
 had his city laid off. This town seemed to im- 
 prove for atime, but an attack by the Indians 
 upon a party who were going up the Miami in a 
 boat so frightened the inhabitants that a great 
 many left the place. The superior natural ad- 
 vantages of Losantiville over the town at the 
 bend cannot be denied, and the fanciful story 
 which states that Ensign Luce, who was about to 
 build a fortat the bend, being charmed by a black- 
 eyed female, on which account her husband found 
 it expedient to remove to Cincinnati, changed his 
 plans and thought Cincinnati the proper place for 
 the garrison, and that thus “the beauty of a 
 female transferred the commercial emporium of 
 Ohio from the place where it was commenced to 
 the place where it now is,” is hardly to be cred- 
 ited. 
 
 In July, 1787, the ordinance for the government 
 
138 HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 
 
 of the Northwest Territory was passed, in October 
 St. Clair was appointed Governor of the territory, 
 and in December John Brown, the first represen- 
 tative, was sent to Congress. In December, 1708, 
 the representatives to a general assembly from the 
 various districts of the territory were chosen. 
 This assembly organized in Cincinnati in Sep- 
 tember, 1799. In 1800, Congress changed the 
 seat of the territorial government, and made 
 Chillicothe the capital of the Northwest Territory. 
 In 1801, however, it was again changed to Cin- 
 cinnati. 
 
 This city is about 466 miles below Pittsburg, 
 and about 500 miles from the mouth of the Ohio. 
 Hamilton County was organized in 1790, and 
 Cincinnati was made county seat. It wasincor- 
 porated as a city in 1814. In 1816, the first 
 steamboat was built in Cincinnati. Fort Wash- 
 ington, which so much furthered the early 
 growth of the city, was situated between Law- - 
 rence and Ludlow, and Pearl and Fourth streets. 
 
 The population increased very rapidly after 
 Wayne’s victory over the Indians in 1795. In 
 1800 it was 750; in 18ro, 2,540; in 1820, 9,602 ; 
 in 1830, 24,831 ; in 1840, 46,338; in 1850, 115,436; 
 in 1860, 161,044; in 1840, 210,335; in 1880, 
 255,139; and in 1887, 300,000. 
 
HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 139 
 
 There are here quite a number of colleges and 
 schools of higher education. The following is a 
 list of the principal ones, with the dates of their 
 organization: The Miami Medical College, 1852; 
 Ohio Medical College, 1820; Cincinnati College 
 of Medicine and Surgery, 1851; Cincinnati 
 Normal School, 1868 ; Bartholomew English and 
 Classical School, 1875; Cincinnati Wesleyan 
 College, 1842; Hebrew Union College, 1873; 
 Cincinnati University, 1873 ; St. Xavier College, 
 1831; St. Joseph’s College, 1871. Besides these 
 there are a great many others, such as music 
 schools, themost important of which is the College 
 of Music of Cincinnati, founded in'October, 1878. 
 
 As already stated elsewhere, this city was 
 named in honor of the society of ‘* the Cincin- 
 nati,” which was founded by the officers of the 
 Revolutionary army after the peace of 1783. ‘Its 
 object was to commemorate the success of the 
 revolution, and perpetuate sentiments of patriot- 
 ism, benevolence and brotherly love, and mem- 
 ory of hardships experienced in common.’’ The 
 original draft of the constitution was made by 
 General Knox. In order that the society may 
 continue to exist, the constitution provides that 
 the ‘‘eldest’’ of the ‘male posterity” of the 
 original members, may become members of it. 
 
140 HISTORY OF THE EARLY TOWNS. 
 
 This, however, is subject to the consideration 
 whether they be ‘‘ judged worthy to become its 
 supporters and members.” In 1787, Washington 
 was elected President-General, and was re-elected 
 every three years for the rest of his life. 
 
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