Ohio History Journal

Monument at Fort Jefferson.                   129

 

named after the primitive red men of the forest, a people that were not

much different from what we are to-day. As I told you, they were a

God-fearing people, the same as we. Their word was as sacred to them

as their lives, and I am not so sure that that is true of all of us. I am

proud to say that I belong to an order that was named after a people

as proud and noble as they. Then you might say, why this war? I believe

and honestly believe that the white man's greed for land, their superior

intelligence, the mistreatment of the red man was the cause of the war,

and if I had time I could go back in history and prove the assertion I

have made.

Whether that war was right or whether it was wrong great minds

have differed and they still differ. At any rate, the red man was driven

from the east, driven westward. At that time this country was a wild

wilderness. The wild beast roamed at will, and the cry of the stealthy

panthers could be heard at any time. The rippling waters of the humblest

brooks ran on undisturbed to the great rivers in the great beyond.

The Indians now being driven westward we can imagine that we

see the tepee of the Indians placed on those distant hills and the smoke

from the tepee ascending into the heavens. We can imagine that we

see the dusky squaw. We can also imagine that we see the little dusky

papoose playing and roaming at will. Then we can also imagine that

we see the band of soldiers that stole, as we are told, through yonder

valley and arrived at this spot and built this fort, and no tongue can tell

nor no pen thoroughly describe the privations and tortures that they en-

dured before that fort was built.

This is all that I have to say in regard to the Order of Red Men.

The Historical Society being acquainted with the history of the Order of

Red Men invited us to be here on this occasion and that is why we are

here. In regard to the building of the fort and the circumstances con-

nected with it you have been told.

 

REMARKS BY WESLEY VIETS.

Not having the slightest hint of my name being called on this oc-

casion I am entirely unprepared to come before you, and I do not feel

that I can add anything to what has been said in regard to the history

of this old fort. All I can say is what I know from my own experience.

I came to this place nearly seventy-three years ago, and it was

then comparatively a wilderness. I have played on this spot hundreds

of times as a boy and we always called it the war ground. We would

say: "We will go over to the war ground and hunt bullets." We would

pick up 6-ounce bullets that were shot from the old guns, the old flint

lock that we had to load and prime it. Powder was ignited through a

flint and we still had them when I was old enough to shoot squirrels

in that woods. Pocket money was a little scarce and we boys would

Vol. XVII.- 9.

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130        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

come over here and hunt bullets and then mold them into small bullets

to use in squirrel hunting.

In regard to the fort, a great many asked me where the old fort

was. Now I can't tell that. I am not old enough to remember. I re-

member very distinctly what we called a magazine stood right about

where that apple tree stands, and here was another magazine right here,

and down below the hill was a large spring. There was an under-

ground ditch dug from that magazine and it was dug deep enough that

a man could walk underneath from that magazine to this one and from

there it extended to the spring below. That was covered with what we

called puncheon laid across the ditch and then covered with dirt, and

this underground ditch was used for protection in going from one place

to another for water. You can see the low place right along there ex-

tending to that magazine and from that on down it goes to that old

spring, which has been running ever since I can remember and still af-

fords water. Then across on the other hill there is another place that

there was said to be a magazine. And I remember when there was a

dam from the road across the creek there, which was called the beaver

dam, but what it was put there for I don't know.

I can remember when there was but one frame house in this place:

that stood on the corner there and was burned down three years ago.

There was at that time eight or ten log cabins. I can remember when

every frame house in the town was raised. Our first school house was

built all of round logs. The fire place took wood in four feet long.

The wood was hauled by the patrons of the school and piled up, and

the pupils would go out and chop it. It would take two or three boys to

carry the back log, as we called it. The chimney was made of sticks.

That was burned down finally and we put up a frame school house on

the same site. We would have school generally three months in the

year. About the holidays we had great times. We turned the teacher

out, and if he was a little obstinate and didn't like to come to our

terms about a treat we would take him down to the creek, cut a hole

in the ice and put his head in the water a while.

My father came here between 1813 and 1815. In looking over old

papers a few years ago I found a license reading something like this:

"This is to certify that Hezekiah Viets has the privilege of bringing

a store to and selling goods in Fort Jefferson from this date until the sit-

ting of the next court, which will probably be in July."

This small tract of ground which was called the old war ground was

all cleared off, not even any stumps on it. We didn't consider it any-

thing to pick up a bayonet, a musket barrel, an old lock, Indian toma-

hawk and bomb shells. In clearing the farm above here I found in the

fork of a tree a part of a bomb shell half as large as my hand. I found in

1860 one bomb shell that was called an eight pounder. That was filled with

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Monument at Fort Jefferson.                 131   powder yet and had the cork in where the fuse was attached, but the powder had been wet and would not ignite. We had not yet learned to appreciate these old relics and failed to take care of them, consequently they were mislaid or destroyed. Only a few years ago I picked up a half dozen grape shot, a scalping knife, and what they called a bullet puller, to draw the loads from the guns. I picked them up right here, just north of the house there. But in regard to the old fort, I have paid but little attention to its history.

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