Ohio History Journal

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KENTON'S GAUNTLET AT CHILLICOTHE

KENTON'S GAUNTLET AT CHILLICOTHE.

 

 

T. J. BROWN, WAYNESVILLE, OHIO.

The question of the identity of Old Town, near Xenia, with

the "Chillicothe" where Kenton ran the gauntlet the first time,

has been thoroughly discussed in previous issues of the QUAR-

TERLY, and in my opinion the evidence in favor of it is decidedly

satisfactory.

Prof. McFarland's testimony seems conclusive of itself, while

the traditions bearing upon the question reach back to the earliest

settlement of that locality and practically amount to authentic

history.

Tecumseh's home at that time was but a few miles north,

at old Piqua, or Pickaway, on Mad River. He may have been

present on this occasion, or at least he most likely assisted in

Kenton's reception at Piqua, as he passed through on his way

north, during which journey, as history says, he ran the gaunt-

let eight times; but the first time, that at Chillicothe, seems to

have been the most celebrated. Perhaps the fame of the desper-

ate strength and prowess he exhibited on that occasion preceded

him, and there was not such a general turnout of women and

children as at Chillicothe, and even the warriors themselves may

have been somewhat shy of coming in close touch with him, so

that all "gauntlets" but the first may not have been so hotly

contested.

We are told that the women were always among the most

active participants on occasions of the kind, and that he wrested

a club from the hands of one of them during his famous race,

which assisted him very materially in clearing a path to the goal,

and by that means securing a temporary reprieve.

After the destruction of Chillicothe and Piqua, it is likely

Tecumseh's home was in Miami county, at the Indian village

established by the refugees from the villages on the Little Miami

and Mad river, but he was a frequent visitor among the early

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