THE INDIAN VILLAGE
OF "CUSH-OG-WENK."
BY THOMAS H. JOHNSON, COSHOCTON.
The generations who were active
participants in the events
which constitute the early history of
Ohio having passed away,
it seems to me the imperative duty of
those now living, whose
early life overlapped the survivors of
the active participants in
the stirring events of that earlier
period, to place on record any
recollections they may have of the
stories told by those old sur-
vivors tending to identify the
localities connected with such his-
torical events. I therefore venture to
submit the following com-
munication relative to certain
localities of historical interest, at
and near the town of Coshocton, with a
view to its preservation
in the Archives of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Society.
In so doing it is proper to state, in
explanation of my source
of information, that I was born and
raised in the town of Coshoc-
ton; that my Grand-mother, the widow of
David Johnson, of
County Tyrone, Ireland, married James
Renfrew, of Coshocton
and brought her five children to that
place about 1820, while some
of the Indians still remained in the
vicinity.
From statements of my father, W. K.
Johnson, and my
Uncle, John Johnson, and also of some of
the older settlers who
still survived in my boyhood days, among
whom I may mention
Captain Neff and Jesse Workman, I have
information which I
feel should be placed of record before
it is wholly lost.
First. The Indian Village of "Cush-og-wenk,"*
(improperly
*In the records of the several
expeditions into this region, the
name of this Indian Village is generally
misspelled Gosh-og-wenk. In
the Delaware tongue "Cush" is
Bear. "Cush-og," Black Bear, and "wenk"
is town. In central Pennsylvania
the word survives in the names of
certain streams, in the following forms,
viz.: "Cush Creek"-Bear Creek;
"Cushian Creek"-Cub Creek;
"Cush Cushian"-Bear and Cub Creek.
The termination "wenk" was
Anglicised by the early settlers, and the
place become known as "Cush-og-town,"
from which it derived the later
and present form "Coshocton."
(432)
The Indian Village of
"Cush-og-wenk." 433
written "Gosh-og-wenk" in some
of the early documents) was
situated in that part of the present
Town plat lying to the south-
west of the Court House, the street of
the Village being not far
from, and probably a little to the South
of Main Street.
Second. The Burying Ground of the Village was on the
rising ground or natural terrace east of
Fourth Street, at and in
the vicinity of Locust Street. Of this I
have personal knowledge
from having seen human bones exhumed
from excavations for
cellars in that vicinity.
Third. Col. Broadhead's expedition of 1780, which resulted
in the surprise and capture of the
Village of "Cush-og-wenk,"
was marked by two disgraceful
incidents:-the treacherous mur-
der of an Indian Chief, by Louis Wetzel,
while the Chief was ir
conference with Col. Broadhead; and the
equally treacherous
and disgraceful massacre of helpless
prisoners.
The former incident occurred while Col.
Broadhead and the
Chief were standing in the Street of the
Indian Village. Accord-
ing to reported statements of Mr.
Abraham Sells during his life,
the spot where this occurred was a
little south of the present
Main Street, and east of Water Street.
This is probably as
definite as the location can now be
fixed.
In Howe's "Historical Sketches of
Ohio" it is stated that the
massacre of the prisoners on the return
march began when they
were about one-half mile east of the
Village and continued along
the line of march until all were killed.
This differs from the story as told me
by old settlers, which
was that the army halted at a spring
about one mile east of the
village and that during that halt the
prisoners were killed, and
that the Indians had marked the site of
this massacre by cutting
a tomahawk and scalping knife in the
bark of a Beech tree grow-
ing on the spot.
The stump of this tree still existed in
my younger days, and
was often pointed out to me by my Uncle,
Mr. John Johnson, who
never did so without expressing regret
that the tree had been cut,
and waxing indignant at the wanton
sacrilege of the act.
It seems to me the latter version is the
more probable. This
act of barbarism is far more likely to
have occurred, while the
Vol. XXI - 28.
The Indian Village of
"Cush-og-wenk." 435
military formation was broken during the
halt at the spring than
while on the march; and the incident of
the symbols cut on the
tree is very strong confirmation of this
version.
Fourth. Col. Bouquet's Expedition in 1764, established its
camp "on the highlands about one
mile north of the mouth of the
White Woman (or Walhonding) River."
These "highlands"
consist of a narrow ridge extending for
about three quarters of
a mile in a southwesterly direction,
with the valley of the Tus-
carawas River on the one side, and of
Mill Creek on the other.
The exact site of the camp cannot now be
determined. I
have been told that as late as about
1840, the lines of earthwork
could still be traced, and that skulls
and horns of cattle and
sheep still marked the site where these
animals had been slaugh-
tered for food. But unfortunately no one
then thought to mark
the spot, nor to leave a record that
would make the site
recoverable.
The selection of this site is a
testimony to Col. Bouquet's
military genius. The top of the ridge is
comparatively flat or
gently rounding, and well adapted to the
purposes of a camp.
The sides are quite steep, made more so
near the top, especially
on the Mill Creek side, by an
outcropping ledge of Sandstone.
In all that region there is no other
spot that could be so easily
defended against attack. The extreme end
of the ridge falls
off with a more gentle slope affording
an easy approach for those
having lawful business with the camp or
its commander.
I enclose a blue-print map, from which a
cut may be made,
of the region showing the localities
referred to in this communi-
cation. The site of Col. Bouquet's camp
must be taken as only
indicating the ridge on which it was
located. The actual site
may have been any where within (say) a
half mile along this
ridge.