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LOGAN AND THE LOGAN LEM *
BY DR. HOWARD JONES
I have been asked to tell you something
about this
piece of land upon which we have
assembled today and
what this meeting commemorates. This is
easy and
yet difficult; easy because the subject
is replete with in-
teresting history; difficult because
the time allotted is
too short to treat the subject in a
very comprehensive
or even an understandable manner.
It was in 1911 that I made the proposal
to Mrs.
Wallace to purchase this site and give
it to the State of
Ohio as a public park to memorialize
the name and fame
of a great Indian and to protect the
giant elm which
bears his name as long as it may live.
For nearly one
hundred years this land was owned by
some member
of the Boggs family. Major John Boggs
obtained a
title for it in the year 1798, this
being the date he came
here with his father, Captain John
Boggs from Wheel-
ing, Virginia. John Boggs, Sr., moved
to Wheeling
from Pennsylvania in 1771 and he was
familiar with
the events of the Dunmore war. He knew
personally
many of the men who were here and at
Camp Charlotte
at the time of the treaty and John
Boggs, Jr., received
from his father the historical facts
which cling to this
day about this land and elm. Major John
Boggs was
the father of James Boggs and he built
the brick house,
which you can see across the field, in
the year 1816 and
he died there in 1862. He told his son
James of the
* An address delivered under the
branches of the Logan Elm,
October 2, 1922.
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316
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
events connected with his land, and
James, who died in
1888, left to this generation the words
of his grand-
father. Since 1798 the tree has been
protected by some
member of the Boggs family. A fence was
built around
it many years ago, and the pioneers as
well as succeed-
ing generations called the tree
"The Logan Elm."
After the death of James Boggs the land
passed by
sale to Mrs. Wallace of Chillicothe,
and later she sold
four and six-tenths acres now known as
Logan Elm
Park, to Mrs. Howard Jones and myself,
with the
understanding that the traditions of
the spot be pre-
served by the final presentation of the
land to the State
of Ohio. Miss Elizabeth Ruggles of Circleville
furnished
the money for the purchase. It was
mutually under-
stood that the land, the tree and the
Boggs monument
were to be held in perpetuity by the
State as a memorial
to Logan, the Mingo Chief, and his
famous speech,
while at the same time preserving the
elm as long as it
may live.
Mrs. Howard Jones and myself deeded the
land ob-
tained from Mrs. Wallace and paid for
by Miss Ruggles,
to the Ohio State Archaeological
Society according to
arrangement. The deed transferring the
land to the
State says in part: "It is
understood between the parties
hereto that the said conveyance is for
the purpose of
preserving the said real estate herein
conveyed to the
State of Ohio and the citizens thereof
as an historical
site, and it is mutually agreed between
the parties hereto,
* * * if at any time hereafter the land
should not be
so preserved or used for any other
purpose than the
aforesaid, then the grantors shall have
the right" * * *
to purchase it back at the sale price
of $1.00 paid by the
State.
Logan and the Logan Elm 317
As one of the parties to the
conveyance, and having
personally talked freely with the
representatives of the
Archaeological Society at the time of
the acceptance of
the land by said Society, I know there
was no misunder-
standing or doubt for what historical
purpose the land
was being preserved. Unfortunately the
deed is not as
specific as it might have been, and yet
it is specific
enough, because it is evident that the
land was not given
to memorialize some person or some
event never alluded
to by any of the parties to the
transaction. Since ac-
cepting the land the State has done
somewhat to im-
prove and beautify the place and also
somewhat to mar
and divert the use to which it: was
dedicated.
Undoubtedly there should be a monument
to Corn-
stalk, the intelligent chief of the
Shawnees, who lived
on Scippo creek a few hundred yards
east of the Circle-
ville and Columbus pike. Also one to
his sister, the
Grenadier Squaw, who controlled her
tribe with ability
in the village on the opposite side of
the creek. At Camp
Charlotte, where Lord Dunmore and his
army camped,
there should also be a marker, for the
treaty of peace
signed by him and the Indians is an
historical event of
the first magnitude.
But this particular site upon which we
stand should
memorialize none of these men or
events. It was set
aside solely to the memory of Logan and
his speech.
The efforts of interested citizens of
Pickaway and Ross
counties have provided a suitable
monument for this
park. A monument in granite and bronze,
where the
cameo of the Logan Elm and a profile of
Logan, to-
gether with his speech to Lord Dunmore
will endure
for centuries to come.
History, like science, should consist
of a record of
318 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
events and facts. Unfortunately,
history is more human
than science and hence less dependable.
The history of
the early days of this Ohio country we
all know, as it
has been compiled by the white man.
From these his-
tories we read that the white man had
many virtues
and few vices. How different would be a
history of
those early times if written by the
Indian! The vocabu-
lary of the Indian was very limited. He
never had a
written language. He was a speaker of
power, using ges-
tures to emphasize his few but well
chosen words. All
authorities agree he was a convincing
and logical
speaker. I wish I had the time to
repeat to you some of
the numerous speeches made by Indian
Chiefs at the
treaty councils. I wish I were able to
write the history
of the winning of this country from the
viewpoint of an
Indian. I believe it might do the white
man good to
read such an history. We have been
educated since
childhood to believe that the Indian
was a treacherous
SAVAGE spelled in red capitals. But let
me tell you
and insist upon it, that the Indian of
this Ohio country,
the Indian of the Pickaway Plains, was
a very intel-
ligent human being. His virtues were those
of his en-
vironment and his necessities. His
crimes and vices were
those of the human race since history
began to record
them to the present day at Herrin,
Illinois. He knew
how to torture and finally sell the
scalps to the gentle-
manly Englishman Hamilton, at Detroit.
He knew how
to ambush his antagonists and he knew
so well the mind
of the white men that he often cheated
the wily Eng-
lishman, Frenchman and Virginian, some
of whom were
undoubtedly familiar with all the
tricks and sharp prac-
tices which sent them to Newgate. But
granting all the
charges made against him by the white
man, he has
Logan and the Logan Elm 319
been outdone in horrible deeds by the
very races which
have written him into history as a
cruel and deceitful
savage. The North American Indian was outclassed
for cruel punishments and sports by a
long line of
Roman Emperors. The Caesars outdid him,
and so did
the kings of merry old England when it
came to tortur-
ing enemies, either personal or of
State. Artaxerxes
and his spouse could have given the
Indian many points
in the game and easily have beaten him
for awful and
protracted tortures. The Indian of
these plains was a
pigmy in cruelties compared to the
Spaniard in Peru.
In fact, the cruelties of the
inquisition and the horrors
of the religious crusades would have
taxed the ingenuity
of the meanest Indian to despair. The
mention of
Salem and witches will suggest the
close relationship
between white man and red man. Perhaps
the Indian
was right in always addressing the
white man as "My
Brother." One hundred and fifty
years have passed
since the torturing and burning at the
stake, of Colonel
Crawford by the Indians. The practice
of burning at
the stake is still in vogue by the
white man. The Indian
has abandoned it.
The North American Indian in days past
was no
more cruel than mankind the world over.
During our
colonial and post revolutionary times
he knew he was
between two fires and that his country
and his life were
sought by the invaders. He saw 'his
chief men kid-
napped by the white man and exhibited
as curios before
the kings and queens of Europe. He saw
his chief men
made drunk on board the sailing vessels
of the invaders
and, with a few gilded gifts, enticed
to part with their
country. He saw his chief men that he
permitted to be
held as hostages for the faithful performance
of con-
Vol. XXXII--21.
320 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
tract, foully murdered pending the
performance of the
agreement, as in the case of the
eminent Cornstalk who
lived near here on the banks of the
Scippo. He saw the
Christianized Moravian Indians, always
friendly to the
white settlers, butchered like a lot of
chickens. They
were tomahawked and scalped in cold
blood by the very
white settlers they were befriending.
No more das-
tardly act can be named during the
settling of this whole
United States. The Indian felt that
from the first he
had been tricked and deceived and that
the white man
wanted nothing but his home. And was he
not right?
In all our histories, patriotism and
deeds of valor in
war are lauded, but patriotism and
valor in the Indian,
in an effort to save his country and
his wigwam, are de-
rided. The British obtained this great
tract of land by
an atrocious war from a party who did
not inhabit it
and never had a clear title to it. The
revolutionists took
it by arms from the British. There
never was an honest
ownership of it by the white man,
except that kind of
honesty that is made right by might.
My grandfather who came to this Scioto
valley in
1798 used to tell me a story when I was
a boy illustrat-
ing the fairness with which the white
man treated the
Indian in all his dealings with him. He
said: "A white
man and an Indian who were friends
started hunting
with the agreement that upon their
return to camp at
night they would divide the game
equally. They each
had poor luck, the Indian killing only
a turkey and the
white man only a crow. The white man
said to the
Indian, "We have had bad luck but
you have done better
than I have so I shall give you the
first choice in the
divide. You take the crow and I will
take the turkey,
or, I will take the turkey and you take
the crow."
Logan and the Logan Elm 321
I may paraphrase some verses written
about the time
of the events of which I have been
speaking, taken from
Defoe's 'History of the Devil."
Bad as he was, the Indian may be abus'd,
Be fasely charg'd, and recklessly
accus'd,
White men unwilling to be blam'd alone,
Shift off those crimes on him which are
their own.
The Indians were naturally inclined to
be friendly to
the white man and gave away much land
to the white
man by persuasion and for gewgaws, but
when these
milder methods of obtaining land
failed, whiskey, rum,
tomahawk, musket and cannon were
resorted to. It was
the Christian civilization of the white
man that taught
the Indian to become a drunkard. It now
comes with
poor grace for a would be maker of
Colonial history to
point his finger with scorn at Logan
and call him a
drunken old Indian reeking in human
blood. By the
same measure what of George Rodgers
Clark? You
read in your history no such degrading
words about
him. No. He was a white man after this
Ohio Coun-
try. Undoubtedly Clark was a hero, but
what would
history say of him if it were written
by an Indian of
the time?
Logan's speech to Dunmore, which you
have en-
graved upon that imperishable monument,
has been
called the "Outburst from a
blood-stained savage, ex-
cited as well by the cruelties he had
committed as by
liquor." John Gibson said under
oath, the great Chief
was in tears when he spoke to him, and
certainly his
words carry the anguish of his heart.
Do not believe
for one second that the speech is that
of a drunken In-
dian. Logan's speech is as well
authenticated as any
322
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
piece of history of its time and
character. It was sworn
to by John Gibson, the confidential
interpreter of Lord
Dunmore and a man of upright character
and sterling
honesty. You may believe what Logan
said or not; the
Mingo Chief believed he was telling the
truth when he
uttered it and he never took back what
he said. It is
true he died an outcast and a drunkard
some years after
the massacre of his family at Baker's bottom;
but no
reproach should ever be cast upon his
sobriety and
humanity by white lips. Even if his
mind was influenced
by liquor, which I do not believe, when
he defied the
treaty council and dictated his regrets
to Lord Dun-
more, he but followed in the footsteps
of many great
white men in every age of history. When
you judge
Logan you must think of him as one who
had been
robbed of his country and deprived of
his family by
uncalled for assassinations; as one who
saw extermina-
tion for his race or conformity to the
dictates and cus-
toms of the Englishman.
Logan was born in the state of New
York. His
family was a distinguished one among
his tribe. When
a young man he moved to Pennsylvania
where he was
well known by many of the prominent men
of the day.
His friends and acquaintances liked and
extolled him
and considered him a kind, intelligent,
brave and honest
Indian and well disposed toward the
white man. He
had forgiven the brutal treatment
accorded his people
in the East in early days and so wrote
to Colonel Cresap;
but he could not forgive the unprovoked
murder of his
family at Baker's bottom. What Indian,
what white
man could have forgiven it? It was so
cold blooded in
its conception and carried out in such
revolting detail
that even the hardened Indian fighters
of the day has-
Logan and the Logan Elm 323
tened to disclaim complicity in it. But
the time came
when his trained intelligence told him
it was useless to
carry revenge further. It told him that
the existence
of the red man in this wonderfully
beautiful and fruit-
ful country was doomed. Accordingly, as
he saw his
hunting ground taken from his race he
raised no ob-
structive protest except by his absence
from the treaty
council at Camp Charlotte. When he was
sent for by
Lord Dunmore he dictated a message
through tears of
anguish, a message from his very soul,
which stands
unequalled in any language of any age.
Is this not sufficient reason for us
assembled here
today to re-dedicate ourselves to the
spirit of this great
man; to re-dedicate this tree and this
monument to his
memory? And, let us hope, that each
year through the
coming centuries there may be performed
here some act
which will keep alive the memory of
Logan, although
the tree may have gone to dust.
Nearly one hundred and fifty years have
passed since
the events transpired upon this land
which hurried along
the war of the Revolution. I may
truthfully say the
first and last guns were fired on these
plains. It is both
useful and desirable that we should
frequently recall
these events and keep fresh in our
minds the conditions
of that time. The Anglo-Saxon has
finally displaced
the red man, as Logan and Cornstalk so
plainly saw he
would. It is but another instance of
the survival of the
fittest, with all the attendant murder,
cruelties, treachery
and deceit. Let us not be too haughty
in our victory
for it was not always nobly won. Let us
be great enough
to be honest; let us be great enough to
admit the weak-
nesses of human nature as they cropped
out on each
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Logan and the Logan Elm 325
side in the winning of this land of
plenty. It is not
necessary to belittle and calumniate
the red man in order
to emphasize our own exalted position.
The Indian of
these plains was a man of many
excellent qualities if
I read his history aright. He was
treated in what was
to him an unusual manner by an invading
race and it
is coming time when we should make
public recognition
of his good qualities and write him in
history as he
really was.
Think of this proud Indian Chief living
alone at
Westfall, alone in this vast
wilderness, separated from
his people because he no longer sought
revenge. Yet he
was haughty and true to his Indian
blood as he refused
the demand of Lord Dunmore to appear at
once at
Camp Charlotte and with the other
chiefs sign away the
rights of his tribe to their country.
Consider what were
his sorrows as he saw slipping away
from his people
forever the land of the Shawnees,
With its wonderful streams and beautiful
trees,
With its flowers abloom and the wild
perfume,
That floats like a bloom on the evening
breeze.
Logan knew what had happened along the
Atlantic
country for he had been forced to move
from there. He
saw with his prophetic eye what would
soon happen
here. The bison, the deer, the bear,
the fur-bearing ani-
mals and other wild game would soon be
gone and the
Indian would have nowhere to lay his
head. I say put
yourself in the place of this man and
you can easily
understand the emotions of his mind
when he declined
the command of Lord Dunmore and sent
him this
message:
326 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications
SPEECH OF LOGAN
I appeal to any white man to say, if
ever he entered Logan's
cabin hungry and he gave him not meat;
if ever he came cold and
naked and he clothed him not. During the
course of the last, long
and bloody war, Logan remained idle in
his cabin, an advocate
for peace. Such was my love for the
whites that my countrymen
pointed as they passed and said,
"Logan is the friend of white
men." I had even thought to live
with you but for the injuries
of one man. Colonel Cresap the last spring in cold
blood and un-
provoked murdered all the relatives of
Logan; not sparing even
his women and children. There runs not a
drop of my blood in
the veins of any living creature. This
called on me for revenge.
I have sought it. I have killed many. I
have fully glutted by
vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at
the beams of peace. Yet
do not harbor the thought that mine is
the joy of fear. Logan
never felt fear. He will not turn on his
heel to save his life.
Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not
one."
But nothing could turn back the white
man.
In 1774 this message was copied by the
press from
the official reports of Lord Dunmore.
Thomas Jeffer-
son stated that he heard it at Lord
Dunmore's quarters.
In 1781 Thomas Jefferson said: "I
may challenge the
whole orations of Demosthenes and
Cicero and of any
more eminent orator, if Europe has
furnished any more
eminent, to produce a single passage
superior to the
speech of Logan, a Mingo Chief, to Lord
Dunmore.
President Roosevelt said of Logan's
speech: "It is
one which will always retain a place as
perhaps the
finest outburst of savage eloquence of
which we have
any authentic record."
Mr. Alfred Lee, secretary to Governor
Hayes and
a man of much learning and fairness,
says of Logan's
speech: "Taken in connection with
the circumstances,
which are said to have inspired it,
this is one of the
most pathetic deliverences in all
literature. In brevity,
simplicity and directness of appeal, as
well as in the im-
Logan and the Logan Elm 327 mortality of its thoughts, it bears a striking resemblance to Abraham Lincoln's dedicatory address at Gettys- burg." It is both seemly and right that we assemble here each year and with pride and reverence honor the name of Logan. |
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