A CENTURY OF STATEHOOD.
ADDRESS BY GEORGE K. NASH.
[On the evening of Saturday, December 27, 1902,-the members of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce participated in their "Annual Christ- mas Dinner." It was an elaborate banquet held in the spacious hall of the Chamber of Commerce. Many distinguished speakers were present, among them being Major-General Henry C. Corbin, Major-General Samuel B. M. Young, Major-General Adna R. Chaffee, Hon. John G. Milburn, of Buffalo. One of the speakers of the evening was Governor George K. Nash, whose topic was "A Century of Statehood." The address was so timely in this centennial year, that we publish it in full.-E. O. R.] The Governor said: The subject which your committee has set aside for me to speak upon is, "A Century of Statehood." I suppose that they desired when they gave me this toast, |
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villages, Marietta, Chillicothe and Cincinnati, each with less than 1,000 people. In the state we had but 45,000 peo- ple. From this you see that our population was entirely rural in its character. Fifty years went by, and in 1850 the census showed that we had but nine cities with more than 5,000 people. 25 |
26 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
The largest was Cincinnati with 115,000, and in them all there
were less than 200,000 of population. The
following year the
convention assembled which framed the
new constitution for the
state of Ohio. That convention provided
and laid down an iron-
clad rule that all cities should be
governed by a general law,
and that there should be no special
charters. That, perhaps, was
not an unreasonable rule at that time,
for then there were but
the nine cities, the largest 115,000,
altogether less than 200,000
people. It would not be a very hard
thing to provide one law
which should control those nine cities.
Another fifty years went by, and the
supreme court of the
state had reaffirmed the iron-bound rule
of the constitution.
The general assembly was called in extra
session. Then we found
that Ohio had seventy-one cities with
more than 5,000 people.
The largest was your own splendid city
of Cleveland with its
370,000. In them all there were
1,800,000 people to be governed
by the new law. What was an easy task in
1851 was a most diffi-
cult task in 1902. A new general law was made for the govern-
ment of our cities. The general
assembly, considering all its
difficulties, did the best that it
could; but, from the din which
has surrounded my ears for the last few
months, I am quite
sure there are quite a few people among
the 1,800,000 who are
not satisfied. (Laughter.) But I trust,
fellow citizens and mem-
bers of the Chamber of Commerce, that
you will remember that
the best code can be spoiled by bad
administrators, and that
the poorest code will seem to be the
best with good adminis-
trators. I therefore hope that you as
good citizens of Cleveland,
that all good citizens of the state,
will take the new code and do
the best they can with it by seeing that
honest, intelligent and
upright men are elected to your
municipal offices in April next.
(Applause.)
Going back to 1805, I discover that Cleveland under the
census had but 17,100 inhabitants, and I
also discover that my
own city of Columbus had 17,800. We were
ahead of you then,
but we have given up the race. We are
willing to take off our
hats and say 'Cleveland men go ahead,
for this place belongs to
you.' (Applause.) But Cincinnati still thinks that she is in
the
race. To be sure, since 1850, Cleveland has
become twenty-two
A Century of Statehood. 27
times as large as she was then and
Cincinnati only three times
as large as she was then. (Applause.)
Sometimes I have won-
dered at the growth and prosperity of
this great city of Cleveland.
It has been a mystery to me, but tonight
the mystery is solved.
When I have looked upon this splendid
assemblage of represen-
tatives of Cleveland citizenship I do
not wonder that you have
grown and prospered. I almost believe if
the great lake was
taken away from your doors that
Cleveland would still continue
to grow and prosper.
In these 100 years not only has our
population increased,
but we have also increased in
manufacturing, in mining, and in
all the paths of industry. There were no
mines developed in
Ohio when she became a state. Now, last
year 25,000 men were
employed
in coal mining; they produced more than 20,000,000
tons of coal of the value, upon the cars
at the mines ready for
shipment, of more than $23,000,000. Our
railroads not only have
been commenced, but they have grown
until all parts of the state
are crossed by them and last year we had
8,700 miles of railroad.
Their employes numbered more than 67,000. The wages paid
to these employes amounted to more than
$42,000,000. The gross
income of these railroads was
$101,000,000 and their net earnings
about $13,000,000.
Then in agriculture we have grown and
prospered as well
as in the other industries. The value of
all the farm products
produced in Ohio during the year 1900
was more than
$200,000,000. I want to call attention to our manufacturing
industries. In our manufacturing
establishments last year we
employed an army of 345,000 men. Their
wages amounted to
$123,000,000, and the things
which they made were of the value
of more than $800,000,000. (Applause.)
This shows how our
state has grown and prospered.
But it is not of our material wealth of
which we should be
most proud. Ohio has been engaged in
better business. During
all these 100 years she has been engaged
in the work of raising
splendid men and women, who have added
fame and luster to
her name, have done splendid service for
our state as well as
for our whole nation. (Applause.) This has been the result,
because one of the characteristics of
the state, from the very
28 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
beginning has been the pride which our
people have taken in their
public schools. During the last
thirty-five years the people of
Ohio have spent upon her public schools
the sum of $360,000,000
(applause), and during her whole history
the sum thus expended
has been more than half a billion
dollars.
Then, again, the people of Ohio have
been and are a patriotic
people. Our foundation stone was the
great ordinance of 1787.
It has been said that a better law for
the government of mankind
has never been conceived by the mind of
man. One of the pro-
visions of that great ordinance was,
that human slavery should
never exist in the states created out of
that territory. Another
of its provisions declared that
education and religion are necessary
for the happiness of mankind. Therefore,
our people have made
provision for that.
Butt of all the
good provisions of that great law, I think
the one was the best which declared the
said territory, and the
states which may be formed therein,
shall forever remain a part
of this confederacy of the United States
of America. (Applause.)
Calhoun and his followers, those who
afterwards took part as
members of the southern confederacy,
contended that this nation
was a mere confederation of states,
which could be broken at the
will of any state. The people of the
north contended that this
was not the case. About this controversy
we waged cruel war
for four long years. It seems to me that
this extract from the
ordinance of 1787 destroyed forever the
argument then put forth.
If the old constitution was an unstable
compact from which any
state could be withdrawn, the passage of
this ordinance of 1787
by the congress of the United States,
with all the votes of the
members of that congress, north and
south, except one destroyed
that doctrine, and declared that this
union should last forever,
because they provided that the states
erected in the northwest
territory should be forever a part of
the confederacy of the
United States. (Applause.)
When Ohio sent forth her soldiers
from 1861 to 1865 to
fight for the union of states she was
simply upholding the declara-
tions of their fathers put forth in this
ordinance of 1787. Hap-
pily, this contest is over. Every state
in this union, not only
those which existed in the northwest
territory, not only the states
A Century of Statehood. 29
of the north, but also the states of the south, are united in the declaration of the old ordinance of 1787, and now are willing to say that the confederacy of the United States of America shall last forever. |
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THE WYANDOT CHIEF, LEATHER LIPS.
HIS TRIAL AND EXECUTION.
BY WM. L. CURRY. Away back in the thirties of the 19th century, a literary magazine of high order called "The Hesperian of the West" was published in Columbus, Ohio. In fact, it is the only literary periodical that ever was published in the Capital City of Ohio. In the publication of this magazine, |
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several articles which are of historical interest to the citizens of Columbus and Franklin County. Almost within sight of the capitol building on the west bank of the Scioto River, ten miles north of Columbus, where the "Wyandot Club" has erected a monument to mark the spot where the noted Indian Chief, Leather Lips* was executed was enacted a thrilling tragedy in the summer of 181O. While some of the pioneers residing along the Scioto can relate incidents connected with the execution of this Indian Chief, handed down by their ancestors, the Sells' Davis' Currys' and others, still these stories are largely traditional. *His Indian name was Shateyaronyah. 30 |
The Wyandot Chief, Leather Lips. 31
When a young boy, I remember distinctly
hearing my father
and my Uncle Captain James Curry who
served in the war of
1812
with Asa Davis and who was also an intimate friend of
Captain Samuel Davis a famous Indian
fighter with Simon Ken-
ton and Lewis Whetzel, relate in every
detail the story of Leather
Lips, as told to them by these old
pioneers. In a volume of the
Hesperian, published in 1838, is an
article written by Otway
Curry which gives the full particulars
of the execution as related
to the writer by Mr. Benjamin Sells and
other witnesses to the
execution who were living at the time
the article was written
and so far as can be ascertained, it is
the only authentic history
ever published. The article written by
Mr. Curry is prefaced by
a brief history of the Wyandot tribe to
which Leather Lips be-
longed, as follows:-
THE DOOMED WYANDOT.
The great northern family of Indian
tribes which seem to
have been originally embraced in the
generic term Iroquois, con-
sisted, according to some writers, of
two grand divisions, the
eastern and the western. In the eastern
division were included
the five nations or Maquas, (Mingos) as
they were commonly
called by the Algonkin tribes and in the
western the Yendots
or Wyandots, (nick-named Hurons by the
French) and three or
four other nations, of whom a large
proportion are now entirely
extinct. The Yendots, after a long and
deadly warfare, were
nearly exterminated by the Five Nations,
about the middle of
the seventeenth century. Of the
survivors, part sought refuge
in Canada, where their descendents still
remain; a few were
incorporated among the different tribes
of the conquerors, and
the remainder, consisting chiefly of the
Tionontates retired to
Lake Superior. In consequence of the
disastrious wars in which
they afterwards became involved with
other powerful nations of
the northwestern region, they again
repaired to the vicinity of
their old hunting grounds. With this
remnant of the original
Huron or Wyandot nation, were united
some scattered fragments
of other broken-up tribes of the same
stock, and though com-
paratively few in number they continued
for a long period, to
assert successfully the right of
sovereignty over the whole extent
of country between the Ohio River and
the Lakes, as far west as
32 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications.
the territory of the
Piankishaws or Miamies, whose eastern bound-
ary was probably an
irregular line, drawn through the valley
of the Great Miami,
(Shimeamee) and the Ottawah-se-pee or
Maumee, river of Lake
Erie. The Shawanese and the Dela-
wares, it is
believed, were occupants of a part of the fore-men-
tioned country,
merely by sufferance of the Wyandots, whose
right of dominion
seemed never to have been called in question,
excepting by the
Mingoes or Five Nations. The Shawanese
were originally
powerful and always war-like. Kentucky re-
ceived its name from
them, in the course of their migrations
between their former
place of residence on the Suwanee river,
adjacent to the
southern sea-coast, and the territory of the Yendots
in the North. The
name (Kantuckee) is compounded from the
Shawanese, and
signifies a "land or place at the head of a river."
The chosen residence
of the Wyandots, was at an early
period, as it is now,
on the waters of the Saun-dus-tee or San-
dusky. Though greatly
reduced in numbers, they have, perhaps,
attained a higher
degree of civilization, than any other tribe in
the vicinity of the
north-western Lakes. For the following speci-
men of the Wyandot
language and for the greater part of the
statements given
above, we were indebted to the Archaeologia
Americana.
One, Scat. It
rains, Ina-un-du-se.
Two, Tin-dee. Thunder,
Heno.
Three, Shaight. Lightning,
Tim-men-di-quas.
Four, An-daght. Earth,
Umaitsagh.
Five, Wee-ish. Deer,
Ough-scan-oto.
Six Wau-shau. Bear,
Anu-e.
Seven, Soo-tare. Raccoon,
Ha-in-te-roh.
Eight, Aultarai. Fox,
The-na-in-ton-to.
Nine, Ain-tru. Beaver,
Soo-taie.
Ten, Augh-sagh. Mink,
So-hoh-main-dia.
Twenty,
Ten-deit-a-waugh-sa. Turkey,
Daigh-ton-tah.
Thirty,
Shaigh-ka-waugh-sa. Squirrel,
Ogh-ta-eh.
Forty,
An-daugh-ka-waugh-sa. Otter,
Ta-wen-deh.
Fifty,
Wee-ish-a-waugh-sa. Dog,
Yun-ye-noh.
Sixty,
Wau-shau-waugh-sa. Cow,
Kni-ton-squa,ront.
Seventy, Soo-tare-waugh-sa. Horse,
Ugh-shut te.
Eighty,
Au-tarai-waugh-sa. Goose,
Yah-hounk.
Ninety,
Ain-tru-waugh-sa. Duck,Yu-in-geh.
One Hundred,
Scute-main-gar-we. Man,Ain-ga-hon.
The Wyandot Chief,
Leather Lips. 33
God, Ta-main-de-zue. Woman, Uteh-ke.
Devil,
Degh-shu-re-noh. Girl,
Ya-weet-sen-tho.
Heaven, Ya-roh-nia. Boy,
Oma-int-sent-e-hah.
Good, Ye-waugh-ste. Child,
Che-ah-hah.
Bad, Waugh-she. Old Man,
Ha-o-tong.
Hell, Degh-shunt. Old Woman,
Ut-sin-dag-sa.
Sun, Ya-an-des-hra. My wife,
Uzut-tun-oh-oh.
Moon,
Waugh,sunt-yu-an-des-ra. Corn,
Nay-hah.
Stars, Tegh-shu. Beans,
Yah-re-sah.
Sky, Cagh-ro-niate. Potatoes,
Da-ween-dah.
Clouds, Oght-se-rah. Melons,
Oh-nugh-sa.
Wind, Izu,quas. Grass,
E-ru-ta.
The foregoing sketch
of the history and language of the
Wyandots, though
certainly not strictly necessary, will, it is hoped,
be deemed not
altogether inappropriate as an introduction to the
following narrative
of the circumstances attending the death of
a chief of that
nation. The particulars have been recently com-
municated by persons
who were eye-witnesses to the execution,
and may be relied
upon as perfectly accurate.
In the evening of the
first day of June in the year 1810,
there came six
Wyandot warriors to the house of Mr. Benjamin
Sells on the Scioto
River, about twelve miles above the spot where
now stands the City
of Columbus. They were equipped in the
most war-like manner
and exhibited during their stay, an un-
usual degree of
agitation. Having ascertained that an old Wyan-
dot Chief, for whom
they had been making diligent inquiry was
then encamped at a
distance of about two miles farther up on the
bank of the river,
they expressed a determination to put him to
death and immediately
went off, in the direction of the lodge.
These facts were
communicated early in the ensuing morning,
to Mr. John Sells,
who now resides in the City of Dublin on the
Scioto about two
miles from the place where the doomed Wyan-
dot met his fate. Mr.
Sells immediately proceeded up the river
on horse-back in
quest of the Indians. He soon arrived at the
lodge which he found
situated in a grove of sugar trees, close
to the bend of the
river. The six warriors were seated, in con-
sultation at a
distance of a few rods from the lodge. The old
chief was with them,
evidently in the character of a prisoner.
3 Vol. XII.
34 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
His arms were confined by a small cord,
but he sat with them
without any manifestation of uneasiness.
A few of the neigh-
boring white men were also there and a
gloomy looking Indian
who had been a companion of the Chief,
but now kept entirely
aloof,-sitting sullenly in the camp. Mr.
Sells approached the
Indians and found them earnestly engaged
in debate. A charge
of "witch-craft" had been made
at a former time against the chief
by some of his captors, whose friends
had been destroyed as they
believed by means of his evil powers.
This crime, according to
the immemorial usage of the tribe
involved a forfeiture of life.
The chances of a hunter's life had
brought the old man to his
present location, and his pursuers had
sought him out in order
that they might execute upon him the
sentence of their law.
The council was of two or three hours
duration. The ac-
cusing party spoke alternately with much
ceremony, but with
evident bitterness of feeling. The
prisoner, in his replies, was
eloquent, though dispassionate.
Occasionally, a smile of scorn
would appear, for an instant, on his
countenance. At the close
of the consultation it was ascertained
that they had affirmed the
sentence of death which had before been
passed upon the chief.
Inquiry having been made by some of the
white men, with refer-
ence to their arrangements, the captain
of the six warriors pointed
to the sun and signified to them that
the execution would take
place at one o'clock in the afternoon.
Mr. Sells went to the
captain and asked him what the chief had
done. "Very bad
Indian," he replied, "make
good Indian sick"-"make horse sick,
- make die, -very bad chief." Mr.
Sells then made an effort
to persuade his white friends to rescue
the victim of superstition
from his impending fate, but to no
purpose. They were then in
a frontier situation, entirely open to
the incursions of the northern
tribes and were, consequently unwilling
to subject themselves to
the displeasure of their savage visitors
by any interference with
their operations. He then proposed to
release the chief by pur-
chase-offering to the captain for that
purpose a fine horse of the
value of $300. "Let me see
him," said the Indian; the horse
was accordingly brought forth, and
closely examined; and so
much were they staggered by this
proposition that they again
The Wyandot Chief, Leather Lips. 35
repaired to their place of consultation
and remained in council
a considerable length of time before it
was finally rejected.
The conference was again terminated and
five of the Indians
began to amuse themselves with running,
jumping and other
athletic exercise. The captain took no
part with them. When
again inquired of, as to the time of
execution, he pointed to the
sun, as before, and indicated the hour
of four. The prisoner
then walked slowly to his camp,-partook
of jerked venison -
washed and arrayed himself in his best
apparel and afterwards
painted his face. His dress was very
rich -his hair grey, his
whole appearance graceful and
commanding. At his request,
the whole company drew around him at the
lodge. He then
observed the exertions of Mr. Sells in
his behalf, and now pre-
sented to him a written paper, with a
request that it might be
read to the company. It was a
recommendation signed by Gov.
Hull and in compliance with the request
of the prisoner, it was
fixed and left upon the side of a large
tree, at a short distance
from the wigwam.
The hour of execution being close at
hand, the chief shook
hands in silence with the surrounding
spectators. On coming to
Mr. Sells he appeared much moved, -
grasped his hands warmly,
spoke for a few minutes in the Wyandot
language and pointed
to the Heavens. He then turned from the
wigwam, and with a
voice of surpassing strength and melody,
commenced the chant
of the death-song. He was followed
closely by the Wyandot
warriors, all timing with the slow and
measured march, the
music of his wild and melancholy dirge.
The white men were
all, likewise, silent followers in that
strange procession. At the
distance of seventy or eighty yards from
the camp, they came
to a shallow grave, which, unknown to
the white men, had been
previously prepared by the Indians. Here
the old man knelt
down, and in an elevated, but solemn
voice, addressed his prayer
to the Great Spirit. As soon as he had
finished, the captain of
the Indians knelt beside him and prayed
in a similar manner.
Their prayers, of course, were spoken in
the Wyandot language.
When they arose, the captain was again
accosted by Mr. Sells,
who insisted that if they were
inflexible in their determination to
shed blood, they should at least remove
their victim beyond the
36 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
limit of the white settlement.
"No!" said he, very sternly, and
with evident displeasure, "No; good
Indian fraid,--he no go
with this bad man-- mouth give fire in
the dark night, good
Indian fraid-he no go!" "My
friend," he continued, "me
tell you white man, bad man, white man
kill him, Indian say
nothing."
Finding all interference futile, Mr.
Sells was at length com-
pelled reluctantly, to abandon the old
man to his fate. After
a few moments delay, he again sank down
upon his knees and
prayed, as he had done before. When he
had ceased praying, he
still continued in a kneeling position.
All the rifles belonging to
the party had been left at the wigwam.
There was not a weapon
of any kind to be seen at the place of
execution, and the specta-
tors were consequently unable to form
any conjecture as to the
mode of procedure, which the
executioners had determined on for
the fulfilment of their purpose.
Suddenly one of the warriors
drew from beneath the skirts of his
capote, a keen, bright toma-
hawk, walked rapidly up behind the
chieftain brandishing the
weapon on high for a single moment and
then struck with his
full strength. The blow descended
directly upon the crown of
the head and the victim immediately fell
prostrate. After he
had lain a while in the agonies of
death, the Indian directed the
attention of the white men to the drops
of sweat which were
gathering upon the neck and face;
remarking with much appar-
ent exultation that it was conclusive
proof of the sufferer's guilt.
Again the executioner advanced and with
the same weapon in-
flicted two or three additional and
heavy blows.
As soon as life was entirely extinct,
the body was hastily
buried with all its apparel and
decorations and the assemblage
dispersed. The Wyandots returned
immediately to their hunting
ground and the white men to their homes.
The murdered chief
was known among the whites by the name
of Leather Lips.
Around the spot where the bones repose
the towering forest has
given place to the grain fields and the
soil above him has for years
been furrowed and re-furrowed by the
plow-share.
ANCIENT WORKS AT MARIETTA, OHIO.
BY J. P. MACLEAN, PH. D.
The ancient earthworks at Marietta,
Ohio, have received
much attention, and have been written
about more than any of
the prehistoric remains of the Ohio and
Mississippi valleys.
These structures were great and ranked
high in importance, al-
though not so extensive and complicated
as certain other remains
which have been fully considered. At the
time of the opening of
the great West the Ohio river was the
main artery that led into
the wilderness, and hence the Marietta
antiquities invited early
notice; but the first to be recorded
were those at Circleville.
Rev. David Jones, of Freehold, New
Jersey, in 1772-3, spent
some time among the western Indians, and
in his journal makes
mention of some of the works on the
Scioto. On October 17,
1772, he made a plan and computation of
the works at Circleville.
The company of settlers, organized by
Gen. Rufus Putnam,
arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum
April 7, 1788, and then
took possession of the land purchased of
the United States Gov-
ernment. The Directors of the company,
appreciating the im-
portance of the ancient remains, took
immediate measures for
their preservation. One of their
earliest official acts was the
passage of a resolution, which they
caused to be entered upon
the journal of their proceedings,
reserving the two truncated
pyramids and the great conical mound,
with a few acres attached
to each, as public squares. The great
avenue, named "Sacra
Via," by special resolution was
"never to be disturbed or de-
faced, as common ground, not to be
enclosed." These works
were placed under the care of the
corporation of Marietta, with
the direction that they should be
embellished with shade trees
of native growth, the varieties of which
being specified.
It is of no credit to the people of
Marietta to examine into
the cause of their falseness to their
trust. When I visited these
works in 1882, I found the truncated
pyramids denuded and
the walls of the Sacra Via gone. On
inquiring what had become
(37)
38 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
of these walls I was informed that the material had been moulded into brick; that a brick-maker had been elected a member of the town council, and he had persuaded the other members to vote to sell him the walls. This unpleasant fact has also been reported by Prof. Wright. Quite a voluminous report of the Centennial Celebration of Marietta is given in volume II, OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, replete with ora- tory and glorification, but no word concerning what has really made Marietta known. The editor of the QUARTERLY, more con- siderate, accompanies the account with a cut of the remains, taken |
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from Squier & Davis' "Ancient Monuments," and an original picture of the conical mound in the cemetery. With but little exaggeration it may be stated the antiquities at Marietta are principally obliterated. What few remain do not exhibit the value of what existed at the time the Ohio Com- pany took possession. For all archaeological purposes we must depend on the integrity of those who made surveys and plans of the works when they were practically complete. Fortunately we are not at a loss in this matter. The works were of sufficient note, not only to call the attention of military men and travellers, but also to excite the curiosity of the intelligent in the older states. The descriptions and plans of these early observers have |
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 39
been preserved. The changes that have
taken place in the con-
dition of these structures, and the
variations noted by the dif-
ferent observers, all point to value in
summing up the evidence.
When the works were denuded of their
trees and the iconoclastic
hand of the white man protruded itself,
the change in the appear-
ance of the remains must have been very
rapid.
EARLY NOTICES.
In all probability the first of the
ancient earthworks west
of the Alleghanies that were carefully
surveyed were those under
consideration. During the years 1785 and
1786 many letters
from army officers found their way into
the public prints giving
an account of these remains, some of
which were highly exagger-
ated. It was due to Gen. Samuel H.
Parsons, that an authentic
character should be given to the
reports. In a letter addressed
to President Willard, of Harvard
College, dated October 2, 1786,
he described the Grave Creek mound -
Moundsville, W. Va. -
and referred to the remains at Marietta,
a description of which
he had sent previously to President
Stiles, of New Haven.
The first plan and description of the
works have been ascribed
to Capt. Jonathan Heart. General Harmar,
in a letter dated Fort
Pitt, March 17, 1787, to General
Thomas Mifflin, of Philadelphia,
says: "Be pleased to view the
inclosed plan of the remains of
some ancient works on the Muskingum,
taken by a captain of
mine (Heart), with his explanations.
Various are the con-
jectures concerning these
fortifications. From their regularity
I conceive them to be the works of some
civilized people. Who
they were I know not. Certain it is, the
present race of savages
are strangers to anything of the
kind." *
Daniel Stebbens states,+ under date of
Northampton, Mass.,
May 1842, that the drawing sent to Dr. Stiles, was copied by
him, to be preserved in the archives of
Yale College. In his
letter he explains the drawing.
"No. I, Town. No. 2, The Fort.
No. 3, The Great Mound and Ditch. No. 4,
The Advance Work.
No. 5, Indian Graves. No. 6, Covered Way
from the town to
the then locality of the river, which is
supposed at that time to
* Butterfield's Journal of Captain
Jonathan Heart, p XIII.
+ American Pioneer, Vol I, p. 339.
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 41
have run along the edge of the second
bottom. These walls are
now twenty feet high, and the graded
road between them was
one hundred feet wide, and beautifully
rounded like a modern
turnpike. No. 7, A Second Covered Way
with walls of less
elevation. No. 8, Caves. Nos. 9 and 10, Elevated Squares.
These works were interspersed with many
small mounds as repre-
sented in the drawings."
The Columbian Magazine, for May 1789,
contains Capt.
Heart's plan with an elaborate
description.
The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 22, 1788, contains
a
letter from a gentleman at Marietta, to
his friend in Massachu-
setts, dated September 8, 1788, from
which the following is ex-
tracted: "An accurate survey of the
ancient ruins within the
limits of our city has been made in
presence of the governor,
judges, directors of the company, and a
number of other gentle-
men, that we may be able to ascertain
all the facts respecting
them; in the course of this survey we
had several of the large
trees, on the parapet of those works,
cut down, and have examined
their ages by the rings of grains from
the heart to the surface,
computing each grain to be one year's
growth. We found
one tree to have stood 443 years,
another 289, situated so as to
leave no room to doubt of their having
began to grow since those
works were abandoned. We find the
perpendicular height of
the walls of this covert to be at this
time twenty feet and the
base thirty-nine, the width twelve
rods."++
In the third volume of the American
Philosophical Society,
appears Captain Heart's replies to
inquiries, which he wrote in
January 1791. In this paper he treats
the subject in a judicious
manner observing "that the state of
the works and the trees grow-
ing on them indicated an origin prior to
the discovery of America
by Columbus; that they were not due to
the present Indians or
their predecessors, or some tradition
would have remained of
their uses; that they were not
constructed by a people who pro-
cured the necessaries of life by
hunting, as a sufficient number
to carry on such labors could not have
subsisted in that way;
and, lastly, that the people who
constructed them were not alto-
gether in an uncivilized state, as they
must have been under the
* Journal and Letters of Colonel John May, p. 58.
42 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
subordination of law, with a strict and
well-governed police, or
they could not have been kept together
in such numerous bodies,
and been made to contribute to the
execution of such stupendous
works."*
It was most unfortunate that two such
intelligent observers
as Gen. Parsons and Capt. Heart should
meet with death so soon
after their interest in western
antiquities had been awakened.
The former was drowned in the Ohio river
in December 1791,
and the latter was slain in the
disastrous defeat of St. Clair, in
November 1791, while, with a handful of
men, he was covering
the retreat of the army.
Col. Winthrop Sargent, in March, 1787,
wrote a more
elaborate and finished sketch than that
of Capt. Heart, and sent
it to Governor Bowdoin, which was not
published until 1853,
when it appeared in "Memoirs
American Academy of Arts and
Sciences."
DESCRIPTION BY HARRIS.
In the year 1803, Rev. Dr. Thaddeus M. Harris,
of Massa-
chusetts, examined some of the ancient
structures, and published
his "Journal of a Tour" in 1805. The following
is the oft
repeated description taken from his book
(Page 149) : "The situ-
ation of these works is on an elevated
plain, above the present
bank of the Muskingum, on the east side,
and about half a mile
from
its junction with the Ohio. They consist of walls and
mounds of earth, in direct lines, and in
square and circular forms.
The largest square fort, by some called
the town, contains
forty acres, encompassed by a wall of
earth, from six to ten feet
high, and from twenty-five to thirty-six
in breadth at the base.
On each side are three openings, at
equal distances, resembling
twelve gateways. The entrances at the
middle, are the largest,
particularly on the side next to the
Muskingum. From this out-
let is a covert way, formed of two
parellel walls of earth, two
hundred and thirty-one feet distant from
each other, measuring
from center to center. The walls at the
most elevated part, on
the inside, are twenty-one feet in
height, and forty-two in breadth
at the base, but on the outside average
only five feet in height.
* Haven's Archaeology of the United
States, p. 24.
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 43
This forms a passage of about three
hundred and sixty feet in
length, leading by a gradual descent to
the low grounds, where
at the time of its construction, it
probably reached the river.
Its walls commence at sixty feet from
the ramparts of the fort,
and increase in elevation as the way
descends towards the river;
and the bottom is crowned in the center,
in the manner of a well
founded turnpike road.
Within the walls of the fort, at the northwest
corner, is an
oblong elevated square, one hundred and
eighty-eight feet long,
one hundred and thirty-two broad, and
nine feet high; leve on
the summit, and nearly perpendicular at
the sides. At the center
of each of the sides, the earth is
projected, forming gradual
ascents to the top, equally regular, and
about six feet in width.
Near the south wall is another elevated
square, one hundred and
fifty feet by one hundred and twenty,
and eight feet high, similar
to the other, excepting that instead of
an ascent to go up on the
side next to the wall, there is a hollow
way ten feet wide, leading
twenty feet towards the center, and then
rising with a gradual
slope to the top. At the southeast
corner, is a third elevated
square, one hundred and eight, by
fifty-four feet, with ascents
at the ends, but not so high nor perfect
as the two others. A
little to the southwest of the center of
the fort is a circular
mound, about thirty feet in diameter and
five feet high, near
which are four small excavations at
equal distances, and opposite
each other. At the southwest corner of
the fort is a semicircular
parapet, crowned with a mound, which
guards the opening in
the wall. Towards the southeast is a
smaller fort, containing
twenty acres, with a gateway in the
center of each side and at
each corner. These gateways are defended
by circular mounds.
On the outside of the smaller fort is a
mound, in form of a
sugar loaf, of a magnitude and height
which strikes the beholder
with astonishment. Its base is a regular
circle, one hundred and
fifteen feet in diameter; its
perpendicular altitude is thirty feet.
It is surrounded by a ditch four feet
deep and fifteen feet wide,
and defended by a parapet four feet
high, through which is a
gateway towards the fort, twenty feet in
width. There are other
walls, mounds, and excavations, less
conspicuous and entire."
44 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Mr. Harris adopted from Clavigero his
account of the emi-
gration of the Toltecs, and to them
ascribed the construction of
all similar works, and maintained that
the mural works had been
surmounted by palisades, intended for
protection in the gradual
progress made by these people through
the territories of less
civilized tribes.
OPINIONS OF JAMES MADISON.
At the same time Mr. Harris was engaged
in making his
observations on one side of the Ohio
river, on the other, James
Madison, then episcopal bishop of
Virginia, was likewise enter-
taining himself. The result of his
observations he communicated
in a letter which was read before the
Philosophical Society, and
subsequently appeared in one of its
volumes. It appeared to
Bishop Madison that such remains were
too numerous and vari-
ous in form, besides being too
unfavorably situated to be re-
garded as places of defence; and their
striking figures indicated
one common origin and destination. He
regarded the mounds as
burial places.
ATWATER'S SURVEY.
At the request of the President of the
American Anti-
quarian Society, and by him assisted
with pecuniary means, Caleb
Atwater undertook to prepare a
comprehensive account of the
antiquities of the Western States. This
contribution was pub-
lished by the society in 1820, and comprises
164 pages of Vol.
I. of its Transactions. Seven pages are
devoted to the Marietta
works. The text is accompanied by a plan
taken from a survey
made by B. P. Putnam.
The contribution, with accompanying
plates, was republished
by the author, in 1833, together with
his Tour to Prairie Du
Chien, under the title of "Western
Antiquities." A reduced
plan of the work is given in Howe's
"Historical Collections of
Ohio." The account given by Atwater
is drawn from descrip-
tions written by Dr. Hildreth and Gen.
Edward W. Tupper.
He quotes in extenso from
Harris's "Tour." He concludes
his
narrative in the following language:
"It is worthy of remark, that the
walls and mounds were not
thrown up from ditches, but raised by
bringing the earth from a
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 45
distance, or taking it up uniformly from the plain; resembling in that respect, most of the ancient works at Licking, already described. It has excited some surprise that the tools have not been discovered here, with which these mounds were constructed. Those who have examined these ruins, seem not to have been aware, that with shovels made of wood, earth enough to have constructed these works might have been taken from the sur- |
46 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
face, with as much ease, almost, as if
they were made of iron.
This will not be as well understood on
the east as the west side
of the Alleghanies; but those who are
acquainted with the
great depth and looseness of our
vegetable mould, which lies on
the surface of the earth, and of course,
the ease with which it
may be raised by wooden tools, will
cease to be astonished at
what would be an immense labor in what
geologists call 'primi-
tive' countries. Besides, had the people
who raised these works,
been in possession of, and used ever so
many tools, manufactured
from iron, by lying either on or under
the earth, during that long
period which has intervened between
their authors and us, they
would have long since oxydized by
rusting, and left but faint
traces of their existence behind
them."
Under the genius of Atwater a highly
creditable and au-
thentic representation of the ancient
structures and other objects
of interest and curiosity was
systematically connected. Some of
the structures he believed to have been
fortifications; others
sacred enclosures, such as mounds of
sacrifice, or sites of temples;
other mounds were for burial, and some
places were for diver-
sion. The accuracy of the regular works,
which enclose large
areas, is adduced as proof of scientific
ability, and that the grad-
ual development of the works would
indicate that the strain of
migration was toward the south. The
growth of generations
of forest trees over the remains, and
the changes in the courses
and bends of the streams on whose banks
the ancient works are lo-
cated are given as evidence of
antiquity.
OBSERVATIONS OF SAMUEL P. HILDRETH.
Dr. Hildreth's "Pioneer History of
the Ohio Valley" and
"Biographical and Historical
Memories of the early Pioneer Set-
tlers of Ohio," will long remain
standard works. For upwards
of forty years he was a constant
contributor to scientific jour-
nals. While he published no book on
western antiquities, yet he
wrote fully on the works at Marietta,
all the details of which
were perfectly familiar to him, as well
as all that had been writ-
ten on the subject. He was very much
interested in those at
Marietta, besides being well informed on
the general subject,
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 47
What he has written is worthy of candid
consideration. In a
letter sent to Caleb Atwater, and dated
June 8, 1819 he says:
"Mr. Harris, in his 'Tour,' has
given a tolerably good account
of the present appearance of the works,
as to height, shape and
form. The principal excavation or well,
is as much as sixty feet
in diameter, at the surface; and when
the settlement was first
made, it was at least twenty feet deep.
It is at present twelve
or fourteen feet; but has been filled up
a great deal from the
washing of the sides by frequent rains.
It was originally of the
kind formed in the most early days, when
the water was brought
up by hand in pitchers, or other
vessels, by steps formed in the
sides of the well.
The pond, or reservoir, near the
northwest corner of the
large fort, was about twenty-five feet
in diameter, and the sides
raised above the level of the adjoining
surface by an embankment
of earth three or four feet high. This
was nearly full of water
at the first settlement of the town, and
remained so until the last
winter, at all seasons of the year. When
the ground was cleared
near the well, a great many logs that
laid nigh, were rolled into
it, to save the trouble of piling and
burning them. These, with
the annual deposit of leaves, etc., for
ages, had filled the well
nearly full; but still the water rose to
the surface, and had the
appearance of a stagnant pool. In early
times poles and rails have
been pushed down into the water, and
deposit of rotten vege-
tables, to the depth of thirty feet.
Last winter the person who
owns the well undertook to drain it, by
cutting a ditch from the
well into the small 'covert-way;' and
he has dug to the depth
of about twelve feet, and let the water
off to that distance. He
finds the sides of the reservoir not
perpendicular, but projecting
gradually towards the center of the
well, in the form of an in-
verted cone. The bottom and sides, so
far as he has examined,
are lined with a stratum of very fine,
ash colored clay, about
eight or ten inches thick; below which,
is the common soil of
the place, and above it, this vast body
of decayed vegetation.
The proprietor calculates to take from
it several hundred loads
of excellent manure, and to continue to
work at it, until he has
satisfied his curiosity, as to the depth
and contents of the well. If
48 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
it was actually a well, it probably
contains many curious articles,
which belonged to the ancient
inhabitants.
On the outside of the parapet, near the oblong
square, I
picked up a considerable number of
fragments of ancient potters'
ware. This ware is ornamented with
lines, some of them quite
curious and ingenious, on the outside.
It is composed of clay and
fine gravel and has a partial glazing on
the inside. It seems to
have been burnt, and capable of holding
liquids. The fragments,
on breaking them, look quite black, with
brilliant particles, ap-
pearing as you hold them to the light.
The ware which I have
seen, found near the rivers, is composed
of shells and clay, and not
near so hard as this found on the plain.
It is a little curious, that
of twenty or thirty pieces which I
picked up, nearly all of them
were found on the outside of the
parapet, as if they had been
thrown over the wall purposely. This is,
in my mind, strong pre-
sumptive evidence, that the parapet was
crowned with a palisade.
The chance of finding them on the inside
of the parapet, was
equally good, as the earth had been
recently ploughed, and planted
with corn. Several pieces of copper have
been found in and near
to the ancient mounds, at various times.
One piece, from the de-
scription I had of it, was in the form
of a cup with low sides, the
bottom very thick and strong. The small
mounds in this neighbor-
hood have been but slightly, if at all
examined.
The avenues or places of ascent on the
sides of the elevated
squares are ten feet wide, instead of
six, as stated by Mr. Harris.
His description as to height and
dimensions, are otherwise cor-
rect"*
In the "American Pioneer," for
Oct. 1842, (Vol. I. p. 340),
Dr. Hildreth has the following extended
notice of the conical
mound:
"The object of the present article
is not to describe the whole
of these works, but only 'the mound,'
which beautiful structure is
considered the pride and ornament of
Marietta.
The venerable and worthy men, who were
the directors of
the Ohio company, and superintended the
platting of the city of
Marietta, viewing with admiration this
beautiful specimen of the
*Archaeologia Americania, Vol. I, p 137, also Western Anti-
quities, p. 39.
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 49
arts amongst the ancient proprietors of this region, reserved a square of six acres around this mound, and appropriated it to the use of a burying ground, thus giving a hallowed aspect to that spot, and preserving it front the violation of private individu- als. It yet remains in all its pristine beauty, a monument of the industry and arts of the ancient inhabitants of the valley, and a lasting memento of the classic taste of the directors of the Ohio company. Every provision was made that could be, for the pro- tection of the two elevated squares, or truncated pyramids, about half a mile northwest of the mound, by appropriating three acres around each of them as public squares, and placing them under the authority of the future mayor and corporation of the city. |
|
They also remain uninjured; while some of the parapets of the ancient fort and city have been dug away in grading the streets, and in some instances by individuals, where they fell within their inclosures; but to the credit of the inhabitants, it may be said, that the old works have been generally preserved with more care, than in any other towns in Ohio. 'The mound,' a drawing of which accompanies this article, was, when first measured, fifty years since, about thirty feet in height; it is now only about twenty-eight feet. It measures one hundred and thirty yards around the base, and should be one hundred and thirty feet in diameter. It terminates not in a regular apex, but is flat on the top, measuring twenty feet across it. The shape is very regular, being that of a cone, whose sides rise at an angle of forty-five degrees. It stands in the center of a level area, which is sixty- 4 Vol. XII. |
50
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
six yards in diameter. This is
surrounded by a ditch one hun-
dred and ninety-seven yards in
circumference; it is now about
four feet deep, and ten feet wide at the
top, sloping evenly and
regularly from the top of the parapet,
and inner edge of the
ditch to the bottom. Outside the ditch
is a wall of earth, being
apparently that thrown out of the ditch,
and elevated about four
feet above the adjacent surface of the
earth. The parapet is two
hundred and thirty-four yards in
circumference. On the north
side is an avenue, or opening of fifteen
feet in width, through
the parapet, across which no ditch is
dug. A few rods north,
in a line with the gateway or opening,
are three low mounds;
the nearest is oblong or elliptical,
sixty feet in length, and about
twenty in width, with an elevation of
six or eight feet in the
centre, tapering gradually to the sides.
These mounds communi-
cate with the fort, as seen in the old
plan.* The parapet, ditch,
circular area, and mound itself, are now
covered with a vivid
and splendid coat of green sward of
native grasses, which pro-
tects them from the wash of the rain.
There are several beauti-
ful oaks growing on the sides of the
mound. When first noticed
by the settlers, it was covered with
large forest trees, seven of
them
four feet in diameter. A few years since, sheep were
allowed to pasture in the cemetery
grounds. In their repeated
and frequent ascents of the ground, they
had worn paths in its
sides, down which the wintry rains
taking their course, cut deep
channels, threatening in a few years to
ruin the beauty of the
venerable structure, if not to destroy
it entirely. Some of the
more intelligent inhabitants of Marieta,
observing its precarious
state, set on foot a subscription for
its repair, and for building a
new fence, and ornamenting the grounds
with shade trees.
Four hundred dollars were raised by
subscription, and four
hundred were given by the corporation,
and a very intelligent man
appointed to superintend the work. Three
hundred dollars went
to the mound, and five hundred to the
fencing, planting trees,
and opening walks, etc. Inclined planes
of boards were erected,
on which to elevate the earth in
wheel-barrows. At this day it
would require a sum of not less than two
thousand dollars to
erect a similar mound of earth. At the
same time a flight of
* Reference here is made to Figure 2.
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 51
forty-six stone steps, was made on the north side, making an easy ascent to the top. A circular seat of planks is built on the summit, protected in the outer edge by locust posts, with iron chains from post to post. The scene from this elevation is one of the finest in the country, commanding a prospect of eight or nine miles up and down the Ohio river, with a broad range over the hilly region which skirts the Muskingum. No examination has ben made by digging, to discover the contents of this mound, |
|
with the exception of a slight excavation into the top, many years ago, when the bones of two or three human skeletons were found. The public mind is strongly opposed to any violation, or dis- figuring the original form of this beautiful structure, as well as of the old works generally. Several curious ornaments of stone and copper have been brought up at various times in digging graves in the adjacent grounds. From the precaution taken to surround this mound with a ditch and parapet which was probably crowned also with palisades, it has been suggested that it was a place of sacrifice, and the de- |
52
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
fenses for the purpose of keeping off
the common people, while
the priests were engaged in their sacred
offices."
The last article taken from Dr. Hildreth
appeared in the
"American Pioneer" for June,
1843 (vol. II, No. VI), and treats
of the mounds; "PYRAMIDS AT MARIETTA.-This beautiful
specimen (see Fig. 5) of the skill and
good taste of that ancient
race of inhabitants who once peopled the
rich bottoms and hillsides
of the valley of the Ohio, stands on the
western border of that
high sandy plain which overlooks the
Muskingum river, about
one mile from its mouth. The elevation
of this plain is from
eighty to one hundred feet above the bed
of the river, and from
forty to sixty feet above the bottom
lands of the Muskingum. It
is about half a mile in width, by
three-fourths of a mile in length,
and terminates on the side next the
river by a rather abrupt
natural glacis, or slope, resting on the
more recent alluvious or
bottom lands. On the opposite side, it
reclines against the base
of the adjacent hills, except where it
is cut off by a shallow ravine
excavated by two small runs, or
branches, which head near each
other at the foot of the hills. On this
plain are seated those an-
cient works so often mentioned by
various writers. The main
object of this article is to describe
the two truncated pyramids, or
elevated squares, as they are usually
called. Since reading the
travels of Mr. Stevens in Central
America, and his descriptions
of the ruins of Palenque and other
ancient cities of that region,
I have become satisfied in the belief,
that these two truncated
pyramids were erected for the purpose of
sustaining temples or
other public buildings. Those which he
describes were generally
constructed of stone, and the temples
now standing on them are
of the same material. He however saw
some that were partly
earth, and part stone. They are the work
of a people further
advanced in the arts than the race who
erected the earthworks
of Ohio; but that they were made by a
people of similar habits
and policy of government, there can be
little doubt by anyone
who has taken the trouble to compare the
two. It may be ob-
jected that they are too distant from
each other ever to have
been built by the same race. Allowing
that they were not of
the same nation; yet similar wants, and
similar habits of think-
ing, would probably lead to very similar
results. But there can
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 53
be no reasonable objection to their
being erected by a colony from
Mexico, where the same works are found
as in Central America.
Neither is there any serious objection
to their being the parent
tribe of the Mexicans, driven away
southerly by the more north-
ern and warlike tribes; and these the
structures which precede
the more perfect one of stone. In
Illinois there are similar
earthen structures nearly one hundred
feet high and three hun-
dred in length.* Broad, elevated basements of this kind were
no doubt intended for the support of
public buildings or temples
and must have been thrown up by the
joint labor of the tribe for
their general benefit.
While the structures of this character
in the valley of the
Mississippi were made of earth, and the
superstructures or build
ings which crowned them, of wood, those
in Central America
were built of stone, the imperishable
nature of which has pre-
served them to this day. The wood has
decayed and returned
again to its parent earth hundreds of
years since, while the clay
on which the buildings rested, being
also imperishable, remains
to this day, bearing the outlines of the
truncated pyramid in all
its original beauty of form and
proportion. The sides and top,
where not covered with buildings, were
probably protected from
the action of rains and frosts by a
thick coating of turf, which
prevented the wasting action of these
powerful agents of destruc-
tion. And when, in the course of after
years, the primeval forest
had again resumed its empire, that
served as a further protec-
tion and preserved them in the state in
which they were found
by the first white inhabitants of this
valley. Our own opinion
is, that these earthworks of the valley
of the Ohio, were more
likely to have been built by the
ancestors of the Mexicans,
lather than by a colony from that
country. One principal rea-
son is, that if they proceeded from
Mexico they would have left
some relics of their labor in stone, as
the Mexicans worked the
hardest varieties with their indurated
copper tools, with great
neatness and facility. Nothing, however,
of the kind has yet
been discovered, unless the sculptured
impressions of two human
* In all probability Dr. Hildreth refers
here to the great Cahokia
mound near East St. Louis, which is
ninety feet high, seven hundred feet
long and five hundred in breadth.
54 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
feet in the hard limerock near St. Louis
be samples of their skill
in the use of metallic implements.
Further researches and care-
ful analysis of known facts may yet
throw more light on this
dark subject. Dr. S. G. Morton, of
Philadelphia, who has spent
several years in examining the skulls of
the aboriginal inhabitants
of America, collected from the mounds
and cemeteries from all
parts of this continent, has come to the
conclusion that the numer-
ous tribes of dead and living Indians
form but one race, and
that race is peculiar to America. (Here follow several excerpts
taken from Dr. Morton's paper delivered before the 'Boston
Society of Natural History,' in April,
1843.*)
But to return to the description of the
truncated pyramid, a
figure of which stands at the head of
this article. The spectator
is standing on the top of one of the
earthen parapets which
form the walls of this 'ancient city,'
within which the pyramid
is situated. It is distant less than one
hundred yards, north-
easterly, from the opening of the 'via
sacra,' or covered way,
which leads down to the Muskingum river;
a drawing and de-
scription of which also accompanies this
article. The dimensions
are as follows: The form is a
parallelogram, one side of which
is forty yards and the other sixty-five
yards; the longer direction
is southerly. The height is four yards,
or twelve feet, above the
adjacent surface of the plain; a regular
glacis or avenue of
ascent is thrown up on each side near
the centre of the work;
these are ten yards wide and eighteen
yards long, rendering the
ascent very easy. The foot of the south
glacis terminates directly
opposite the north wall of the 'via
sacra,' which is about one
hundred yards distant. The top of the
pyramid is entirely level.
LESSER TRUNCATED PYRAMID: - This
work is seated near
the southeast corner of the 'ancient
city,' distant about forty rods
from the larger one. Its dimensions are
as follows: Fifty
yards long by forty-five yards wide; its
height is eight feet above
the surface of the plain. It has a
glacis or avenue of ascent on
three sides only, viz. the south, west,
and east. Those on the
west and east sides are not in the
centre, but near to or only nine
* Dr. Hildreth contributed to crania
taken from the mounds, in Mor-
ton's Crania Americana. See pp.
219, 220, and also from the caves, pp.
235-6. None from Marietta.
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 55
yards from the north side; that on the
north side is near the
centre. On the south side there is a
recess or excavation in place
of a glacis. It is sixteen yards long,
and ten yards wide, and
eight feet deep. This opening was
probably covered by the
building which stood on the pyramid, and
formed a dark or secret
chamber, in some way connected with
their religious rites. The
other three glacis are each ten yards
wide and sixteen yards long.
The whole is in fine preservation, and
coated over with a nice
turf of native grasses.
'VIA SACRA,' OR COVERED WAY.- This work, which exceeds
all the others in magnitude of labor, is
finely represented in the
drawing. The observer is standing a
little past the middle of the
work towards the upper end of the way
next to the truncated
pyramid, and facing upon the Muskingum
river, which runs at
the foot of the little ridge between the
trees figured on its banks.
On the opposite shore are the Harmar
hills. This road or way
is two hundred yards long, and proceeds
with a very gradual
descent from near the western parapet
walls of the city to the
present bottom lands of the Muskingum.
It is supposed that at
the period of its construction the river
ran near the termination
of the road; but this is quite
uncertain. It is fifty yards or one
hundred and fifty feet in width, and
finished with a regular
crowning in the centre like a modern
turnpike. The sides of
this ancient 'Broadway' are protected by
walls of earth rising in
height as they approach the river,
commencing with an elevation
of eight feet and ending with eighteen
feet on the inside; on
the outside the wall is about seven feet
above the adjacent sur-
face in its whole length; the increased
height within, as it ap-
proaches the river, being made by the
depth of the excavation in
digging away the margin of the elevated
plain to the level of
the Muskingum bottom lands. The average
depth of the exca-
vation in constructing this avenue, may
be placed at ten feet,
which will make one million of cubic
yards of earth to be removed
in constructing this grand way into the
city. This earth was
probably used, as we see no other source
from which it could
come so readily, in the erection of the
larger truncated pyramid,
and a portion of the adjacent walls of
the 'fenced city.' But as
this would consume but a small portion
of the earth removed,
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 57
the balance was probably used in
constructing a quay for the
convenience of their boats. The earth
from which the pyramid
is made, was apparently not taken from
the immediate vicinity,
as there is no appearance of holes, or
sunken spots, or vestiges of
my earth being removed.
The transportation of this earth must
have been an immense
labor, as there is no probability that
the inhabitants had any
domestic animals to assist them in the
work. The supposition
is, that it was carried away in baskets
on the shoulders of the
men and women, a distance of one or two
hundred yards, and
placed where we now see it. This mode of
removing earth is
still practiced by several rude nations.
The population of this
ancient city must have been very
considerable to have required
so broad an avenue for their ingress and
egress from its gates.
Traces of their hearths may yet be seen
by digging away the
earth in the inside of the parapets or
walls, along the borders of
which their dwellings would seem to have
been erected. Numer-
ous relics of copper and silver have
been found in the cinders
of these hearths. They are generally in
the form of ornaments,
rings of copper, or slender bars of
copper that had been used as
awls. In the mounds have been found
several curious articles
of metal. The bowl of a brass spoon is
in the possession of the
writer, taken from one of the parapets
in the northwest corner
of the old city, at the depth of six
feet below the surface. Large
quantities of broken earthenware was
found when Marietta was
first settled, lying on the surface, and
especially in the bottom
of an excavation called 'the well,'
about one hundred yards from
the lesser pyramid in a southerly
direction. It was sixty or
eighty feet wide at the top, narrowing
gradually to the bottom
like an inverted cone, to the depth of
fifty feet. Numerous frag-
ments of broken vessels were found here,
as if destroyed in the
act of procuring water from the
well."
JOSIAH PRIEST'S "AMERICAN
ANTIQUITIES."
The work of Josiah Priest, entitled
"American Antiquities,"
originally published in 1833, is a sort
of curiosity shop, made up
of odds and ends of theories and
statements pertaining to Amer-
58 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ican antiquities. It is of value in this
connection only as contain-
ing a plate of the Marietta works made
from a survey by S.
De Witt in 1822. (See Fig. 7).
WORK OF SQUIER AND DAVIS.
In the year 1848 "Ancient Monuments
of the Mississippi
Valley," by Squier and Davis, was
published by the Smithsonian
Institution. The result of this work was
to promote a more
active spirit of inquiry upon all
questions connected with the
ancient remains in the valleys of the
Ohio and Mississippi. In
one form or another it has become the
real basis of all books
written on the subject since its advent.
In short it is the one
standard authority on the subject.
Although it has been criti-
cised and even assaulted, yet it has
maintained its position while
its detractors have either or else are
passing into oblivion. Both
men, who engaged in its compilation,
were singularly fitted for
the task they essayed to perform.
"Ancient Monuments" publishes
a map (Plate XXVI.) of
the Marietta works taken from the survey
and plan made by
Colonel Charles Whittlesey in 1837. At
that time Colonel Whit-
tlesey was topographical engineer of the
state. The great ability,
well known accuracy and integrity of the
man will always make
this survey the authoritive one, however
meritorious the others
may be. The plan of the works (Fig. 8.)
is supplemented
(Fig.9) by cross and longitudinal
sections which greatly enhance
the value of the plate.
"Ancient Monuments" gives a
view (Fig. 1) of the remains
as they appeared just after the forest
trees were cut away.
This illustration has been made to do
service in several different
publications. A full page, colored
illustration (Fig. 10) of the
conical mound also appears in the
contribution.
The account accompanying the plan
embraces four and one-
half pages. The description of the two
truncated pyramids is
taken from that of Dr. Hildreth which
first appeared in the
"American Pioneer," for June
1843, and as I have already given
it, there is no necessity for its
repetition.
"In the vicinity (of the conical
mound) occur several frag-
mentary walls, as shown in the map.
Excavations, or 'dug holes,'
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 61
are observable at various
points around these works. Near the
great mound are several of considerable
size. Those indicated by
m and n
in the plan have been regarded and described as wells.
Their regularity and former depth are
the only reasons adduced
in support of this belief. The
circumstance of regularity is not
at all remarkable, and is a common
feature in excavations mani-
festly made for the purpose of procuring
material for the con-
struction of mounds, etc. Their present
depth is small, though it
is represented to have been formerly
much greater. There is
some reason for believing that they were
dug in order to procure
clay for the construction of pottery and
other purposes, inas-
much as a very fine variety of that
material occurs at this point,
some distance below the surface. The
surface soil has recently
been removed, and the manufacture of
bricks commenced. The
'clay lining' which has been mentioned
as characterizing these
'wells,' is easily accounted for, by the
fact that they are sunk in
a clay bank. Upon the opposite side of
the Muskingum river
are bold precipitous bluffs, several
hundred feet in height.
Along their brows are a number of small
stone mounds. They
command an extensive view, and overlook
the entire plain upon
which the works here described are
situated.
Such are the principal facts connected
with these interesting
remains. The generally received opinion
respecting them is, that
they were erected for defensive
purposes. Such was the belief
of the late President Harrison, who
visited them in person and
whose opinion, in matters of this kind,
is entitled to great weight.
The reasons for this belief have never
been presented, and they
are not very obvious. The numbers and
width of the gateways,
the absence of a fosse, as well as the
character of the enclosed
and accompanying remains, present strong
objections to the hypo-
thesis which ascribes to them a warlike
origin. And it may be
here remarked, that the conjecture that
the Muskingum ran at
the base of the graded way already
described, at the period of its
erection, seems to have had its origin
in the assumption of a
military design in the entire group.
Under this hypothesis, it was
supposed that the way was designed to
cover or secure access
to the river,- an object which it
would certainly not have re-
quired the construction of a passage-way
one hundred and fifty
62 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
feet to effect. The elevated squares
were never designed for
military purposes,--their very
regularity of structure forbids
this conclusion. They were most likely
erected as the sites for
structures which have long since passed
away, or for the celebra-
tion of unknown rites, - corresponding
in short, in purpose as
they do in form, with those which they
so much resemble in
Mexico and Central America. Do not these
enclosed structures
give us the clue to the purposes of the
works with which they
are connected? As heretofore remarked, the sacred grounds of
almost every people are set apart or
designated by enclosures of
some kind. * * *
There are no other works in the
immediate vicinity of
Marietta. At Parkersburgh, Virginia, on
the Ohio, twelve miles
below, there is an enclosure of
irregular form and considerable
extent. There are also works at Belpre,*
opposite Parkersburgh.
The valley of the Muskingum is for the
most part narrow,
affording few of those broad, level and
fertile terraces, which
appear to have been the especial
favorites of the race of Mound-
builders, and upon which most of their
monuments are found.
As a consequence, we find few remains of
magnitude in that
valley, until it assumes a different
aspect, in the vicinity of Zanes-
ville, ninety miles from its
mouth."
The supplemental plan (Fig. 9) is of
very great importance
on account of the relative proportions
of the works. The section
marked z h gives the Via Sacra, and
i u the conical mound with
accompanying wall.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS.
As heretofore remarked all books
published since that by
Squier & Davis, and which treat of
the Marietta antiquities,
are largely indebted to "Ancient
Monuments." Some of these
later publications are of value, while
others use the descriptions
to bolster up a theory. It is not the
object here to give an
* In my paper on Blennerhassett's Island
(Smithsonian Report for
1882, p. 767), I called attention to the
miniature representation of the
conical mound at Marietta, located on
the plain of Belpre, opposite the
isle, having the wall, interior ditch,
and the elevated gateway leading
from the mound to the gateway.
Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.
account of these more recent books, however interesting and important their contents may be.
SUMMARY. With the mass of information now before us we learn the following: At the junction of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers is a high sandy plain, from eighty to one hundred feet above the bed of the river, and from forty to sixty above the bottom lands of |
|
64
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the Muskingum, being about three-fourths
of a mile long by
half a mile in width.
Upon this plain, in 1785, and for many
years afterwards,
were located a series of ancient works,
consisting of two irregu-
lar squares, containing respectively
fifty and twenty-seven acres
area, in connection with a graded way,
truncated pyramids, sundry
other mounds, exterior embankments, and
large artificial wells or
reservoirs.
The Graded Way, or Via Sacra, was
exterior to and discon-
nected from the major square and was six
hundred and eighty feet
long and one hundred and fifty feet in
width, the bottom of which
was regularly finished by a crown form of construction. This
ancient way was covered by exterior
lines of embankment seven
feet in height above the adjacent
surface. The depth of the exca-
vation near the square was eight feet,
but gradually deepened to-
wards the farther extremity where it
reached eighteen feet on the
interior,-the average depth of the
avenue being about ten feet.
The largest of the truncated mounds was
one hundred and
twenty feet by one hundred and
ninety-five feet, and twelve in
height, while the second is one hundred
and fifty feet long, by one
hundred and thirty-five in breadth and
eight in height. The coni-
cal mound, when first measured was
thirty feet in height, with a
diameter at the base of one hundred and
thirty feet. This mound
is surrounded by a ditch five hundred
and ninety feet in circumfer-
ence. On the exterior of this ditch was
a wall four feet in height.
It will be noticed that in Fig. 8
Colonel Whittlesey gives a
single embankment between the circle and
the lesser square. I ex-
amined the structure in 1882 and noticed
the double wall, with
slight depression between them, as given
in Fig. 10.
Partly enclosed by an exterior wall, the
lesser square and the
conical mound was a well fifty feet deep
and between sixty and
eighty feet in diameter at the top.
From the general study of these and
other ancient remains of
the Ohio valley, we may obtain the
following results:
That it was the same race who built the
mural structures and
great mounds.
The extent of teritory covered by this
people prove them to
have been very numerous.
66 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
The people had arrived at a considerable
degree of civilization
and had made great progress in the arts.
The builders were skilled in the art of
fortification and the
construction of regular geometrical
works.
The ancient remains show an antiquity
long ante-dating the
advent of the white man.
The crania, from the mounds, indicate
that the people belonged
to the great divisions, denominated by
Cuvier, the "American
Family." The ancient structures
prove they were greatly re-
moved from the wild tribes that
inhabited the Ohio valley at the
time of the discovery. There is not a
scintilla of proof that the
wild tribes descended from the Mound
Builders, or vice versa.
The regular structures are usually
classed as sacred en-
closures. The graded avenues are only
found in connection with
such works. The object of the Via Sacra
at Marietta must be left
to our consideration of the Graded Way
at Piketon, in Pike
county, Ohio.
Franklin, O., Nov. 9th, 1902.
CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST.
BY E. O. RANDALL. The French were the first to discover and explore the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. While the English were establishing colonial settlements between the Alle- |
|
|
was a million and two hundred thousand, while the French in- habitants of New France numbered but eighy thousand. For a century and a half these rival races, the Latin and the Teuton, had contended for the American possessions. That rivalry cul- The material for this article was found mainly in "Clark's Letter to Mason;" "Joseph Bowman's Journal;" "Clark's Memoir;" and the un- published manuscript of "Clark's Illinois Campaign," written by Consul Wilshire Butterfield. The writer has also freely availed himself of "The Conquest of the Northwest" by William H. English, and "The Winning of the West," by Theodore Roosevelt. The Butterfield manuscript is a most valuable and accurate account of the Illinois Campaign. It is now the property of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, which expects to publish the same at no distant day.-E. O. R. 67 |
68
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
minated in the dramatic battle between
the forces of the in-
trepid Montcalm and the invincible Wolfe
on the Plains of
Abraham before Quebec. It was the decree
of destiny that the
Anglo-Saxon civilization should conquer,
and by the treaty
of Paris, 1763, the French empire in
North America ceased to
exist. The Northwest with its French
stations became the prop-
erty of England. But this vast domain
was still to be forbidden
ground to the American colonists. The
British government pre-
empted the country between the
Alleghanies and the Mississippi
and the Ohio and the Great Lakes, as the
exclusive and peculiar
reservation of the Crown. It was to be
directly administered
upon from the provincial seat of
authority at Quebec. It was to
remain intact and undisturbed for the
continued abode of the
Indians whom the British power thus
proposed to propitiate and
secure. Thus matters stood until
Dunmore's War, the prelude
to the Revolution, opened the Kentucky
country to the Virginian
settlers. The exclusion of the colonists
from the Northwest was
one of the causes of the revolt against
the mother government.
The fire of the Revolution swept the
seaboard colonies. The
Northwest was in the powerful and
peaceful clutch of Great
Britain. It was almost solely inhabited
by the Indians and the
few and far between French settlements,
which had now become
British garrisons and supply posts. It
was not only the policy
of England to hire Hessians to fight its
battles on the colonial
front, but also its more dastardly
determination to subsidize the
Savages of the West and bribe them to
assault and massacre the
colonial settlers on the western
frontier. The commander of the
British posts at the west and northwest
spared no effort to insti-
gate the Indian tribes against the
Americans. They armed, sent
forth and directed the hostile and
merciless expeditions of the
red men. It remained for some brave and
sagacious colonial
leader to comprehend the vast importance
of checking and de-
stroying this British power in the
Northwest and conquering that
territory for the colonial confederacy.
The man to conceive that
idea, plan and carry out its execution,
was George Rogers Clark.
George Rogers Clark, deservedly called
the "Washington of
the West," was born in Albemarle
county, Virginia, November
19, 1752. His birthplace was within two
and a half miles of
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 69
that of Thomas Jefferson, who was nine
years the elder of Clark,
but through life his steadfast
friend. Clark's schooling was
that of the frontier boy, rude and
slight, consisting mostly of
mathematics and surveying, the subjects
most useful to the back-
woodsman. When but nineteen years of age
he caught the
"western fever," and from Fort
Pitt went down the Ohio to the
Kentucky country on an exploring and
surveying tour. In 1774
he was with Dunmore's army in that
famous expedition to the
Shawnee villages on the Scioto. The
subsequent year (1775) he
spent mostly in the interior of Kentucky
where he decided to
locate, and among the settlers of which
he became a recognized
leader. It was at this time that the
Henderson company under-
took to establish a political
organization in this section of Ken-
tucky to be known as the state of
Transylvania.*
This proposed new colonial state was,
however, short lived.
The people of Kentucky not in the
"Transylvania state" did
not favor it, and Virginia annulled the
Henderson purchase and
plan. All Kentucky at this time was
still considered part of
Fincastle county, Virginia, and the
inhabitants thereof were
unrepresented at the state capital. They desired representation,
and in June 1776, a meeting of the
settlers was held at Harrods-
town, at which two delegates were chosen
for the state legis-
lature. These proposed members were
George Rogers Clark
and John Cabriel Jones. These delegates
did not reach Wil-
*Richard Henderson, of North Carolina,
with whom were associated
Daniel Boone, James Harrod, and others,
purchased of the Cherokee
Indians for a few wagon loads of goods a
great tract of land on the banks
of the lower Kentucky river (Madison
county, Ky.) Delegates, seven-
teen in all, from Boonesboro,
Harrodsburg and two other settlements
(Boiling, Spring and St. Asaph) met at
Boonesboro, May 23, 1775, and
organized themselves into an assembly of
a state, which they named
Transylvania, desiring that it be added
to the United Colonies. They
endeavored to perfect a political
organization with methods of election,
taxation, courts, et cetera, and
choose one James Hogg a delegate for
Transylvania to the Continental
Congress, then in session at Philadelphia.
But the claim of Virginia to the same
territory was a bar to his ad-
mission. The Legislature of Virginia
afterward annulled the purchase
of Henderson, and the inchoate state of
Transylvania disappeared. This
state scheme is interesting as being the
first organized attempt of an anglo-
American government west of the
Alleghany Mountains.
70
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
liamsburg, the Virginia state capital,
seven hundred miles distant
from Harrodstown, until the legislature
had adjourned. They
found, however, "much doing"
in that part of the country. The
colonies had declared their
Independence. The British troops
after the victory of Long Island had
entered New York and later
taken Fort Washington. The tide seemed
to be against the
fight for liberty. Commissioners had
been sent to France to solicit
her aid. Clark was fired with the desire
to assist the new, and
his, struggling nation. He conferred
with the Virginia gover-
nor who was none other than the
patriotic Patrick Henry. The
Legislature again met. Clark and Jones
were not admitted as
members but were heard as advisors on
the condition of Ken-
tucky affairs. They succeeded in
securing legislation creating
the Kentucky section and its
organization into a county, with
the same name and boundaries it now has
as a state. This was
a great achievement for Clark. With
Jones and a party of ten
he started in January 1777, from Fort
Pitt (Pittsburg) down
the Ohio on their return to
Harrodstown.* They had with them
a large supply of ammunition for the
Kentucky settlements. It
was a perilous journey in which some of
their number were
killed by the Indians. On his arrival
the fort at Harrodstown
was strengthened as were the adjacent
settlements. The settlers
were encouraged and enthused by the new
order of things.
Clark had secured a regularly organized
government for Ken-
tucky and a supply of ammunition. Thus
far his effort had
been for preparation and defense. He
next turned his thoughts
to an aggressive warfare against the
enemies of his young
country. In the fall, winter and spring
of 1776-7, the British
authorities were active in the
Northwest, preparing to prosecute
the war in that region. Henry Hamilton
was the British lieu-
tenant-governor of the northwestern
region with headquarters
at Detroit. The conduct of the war in
the west, as well as the
entire management of frontier affairs,
was intrusted to him. He
was ambitious, energetic, unscrupulous
and cold-blooded. From
the beginning he was anxious to engage
the Indians against the
American settlers. He summoned great
councils of the North-
western tribes, persuading them by every
possible means to
*Harrodstown was later, and now, known
as Harrodsburg.
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 71
espouse the British cause and combine in
hostility to the "rebels"
as he called the colonist settlers. He
openly offered premiums
to the Redmen for every white rebel
scalp they would bring to
Detroit. Naturally the backwoodsmen held
him in peculiar ab-
horrence and called him the
"hair-buyer" general. Hamilton in
all this brutal, but thoroughly British
business, was sustained,
if not actually directed, by Sir Guy
Carleton, governor-general
of the Province of Quebec and even by
Lord George Germain
(Viscount Sackville) Colonial Secretary
in the British cabinet
and appointed by George III to
superintend the British forces
during the Revolutionary War. Surely the
settlers in the Ohio
country were facing a war more appalling
and savage than that
waged against the colonists east of the
Alleghanies. On the
Pennsylvania and Virginia frontier the
panic was wide spread.
They fled to their village centers and
block-houses and defended
themselves as best they could. The
Indians armed by the British,
and roused to fury with rum and urged on
with bribes, scoured
the forests far and near for their prey.
Their deeds of atrocity
baffle description. The events that were
being enacted in the
thirteen colonies, had for their
background, this great North-
west wilderness with its scenes of
terror, rapine and savagery,
to which civilized warfare was not to be
compared.
Clark proposed to strike this monstrous
power in its very
heart. He proceeded to organize his
military expedition for the
conquest of the Northwest. He would
march to Detroit by way
of the chief British strongholds,
capturing them as he went. It
was a bold and brave undertaking. It was
the project of a
courageous general and a far-seeing
statesman. In the fall of
1777 he again visited Williamsburg. The
Revolution in the east
had assumed a more hopeful aspect. The
battles of Trenton,
Princeton and Bennington in the winter,
spring and summer of
1777 had brought victory to the American
arms. The defeats
at Brandywine and Germantown were
followed by the surrender
of Burgoyne at Saratoga in October.* In
November the articles
of confederation of the United States
were adopted by Congress.
*Trenton, December 26, 1776; Princeton,
January 3, 1777; Benning-
ton, August 6, 1777; Brandywine,
September 11, 1777; Germantown, Oc-
tober 4, 1777; Saratoga, October 17,
1777.
72 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
It was in December that Clark presented
his deep laid plans to
Governor Patrick Henry. The latter
called in as counsellors
Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe and
George Mason. This il-
lustrious trio appreciated the dangers
and the extent of the
enterprise, but also comprehended its
importance and possibility.*
They approved the proposed campaign, for
they had confidence
in Clark's ability and hardihood to
succeed. On their approba-
tion the Virginia Legislature authorized
the governor "to or-
ganize an expedition to march against
and attack any of our
western enemies, and give the necessary
orders for the expe-
dition."
Governor Henry gave Clark the commission
of Colonel and
authorized him to raise seven companies,
each of fifty men, who
were to act as militia, and be paid as
such. But these soldiers
were to be raised solely from the
frontier counties west of the
Blue Ridge, "so as not to weaken
the people of the seacoast
region in their struggle against the
British." Colonel Clark's
troops did not belong to the regular
Continental Army. His
"regiment" was authorized and
entirely paid for by Virginia,
though some of the soldiers were
from Pennsylvania. Many
were from the Kentucky country, which it
must be remembered
was at this time a county of Virginia.+
As a further incentive to recruits for
Clark's regiment, it
was held out by the Virginia authorities
that in case of success
each volunteer would be given three
hundred acres of land, and
officers in proper proportion, "out
of the lands which may be
conquered in the country now in the
possession of the Indians."++
* Clark's plans were fully and minutely
thought out. He had weighed
the consequences and, moreover, had in
the summer of 1777 sent two spies
through the Illinois and Wabash country
to get information of the
enemies' situation and strength.
+ The main burden of the expedition was
on Clark's shoulders.
He is rightfully entitled to the whole
glory. It was an individual, rather
than a state or national enterprise.- Roosevelt.
++ The Virginia Legislature in 1781-3
set aside 149,000 acres located in
Clark, Floyd and Scott counties,
Indiana. This is the "Clark's Grant,"
and was divided among 300 soldiers,
including officers, according to their
rank. Clark received 8,000 acres.
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 73
Clark estimated it would require at
least five hundred men to
successfully carry out this campaign. He
only succeeded in rais-
ing about one hundred and fifty, which
were divided into three
companies respectively under captains
Joseph Bowman, second in
command, Leonard Helm and William
Harrod. All three had
seen much frontier service and had been
associated with Clark in
his Kentucky experience. They were
worthy subordinates of
the doughty colonel.
Governor Henry gave Clark the sum of
twelve hundred
pounds and an order on the authorities
at Pittsburg for boats,
supplies and ammunition. With this
outfit the "army" that was
to conquer the Northwest, a territory of
2,400,000 square miles,
inhabited by countless savages and
occupied at various points
by British garrisons, set out May 12, 1778 from Redstone on the
Monongahela. His expedition comprised "those companies"
- named above -"and a considerable
number of families and
private adventurers." * Touching at
Pittsburg and Wheeling to
get his supplies, "his flotilla of
clumsy flat boats, manned by tall
riflemen" floated down the Ohio.
His voyage down the Ohio occupied about
two weeks when
he landed at the Falls, where the river
broke into great rapids
of swift water. He selected as his
camping ground an island in
the center of the stream widely known as
"Corn Island," located
immediately opposite the present site of
Louisville, Kentucky.+
At this point a fourth company under Captain
John Mont-
gomery, was added to Clark's forces,
which still numbered, all
told, less than two hundred.++ Simon
Kenton, the famous scout
and Indian fighter was one of Clark's
new recruits. The ap-
parent insufficiency of his army was a
severe disappointment,
In the whole I had about one hundred and
fifty men collected and
set sail for the falls. - Clark's
Memoirs.
+ This island, which has since
disappeared, was about four-fifths of
a mile in length and five hundred yards
wide at its greatest breadth.
Several of the families who came with
Clark permanently settled on the
island. Some of these islanders moved
over to the Kentucky shore and
thus Clark was the real founder of
Louisville (1778), thus named at
the time in recognition of the friendly
ally, the French King Louis XVI.
++ Actual number said to be 179.
Butterfield says about 180.
74 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
though not a decisive discouragement to
Colonel Clark. His
heart was never faint. "I
knew," he wrote, "my cause was des-
perate but the more I reflected on my
weakness the more I was
pleased with the enterprise." His
bravery was further buoyed
by the reception of the news that the
American colonies had
formed an alliance with France. He
realized this would have
great and favorable influence with the
French in the garrison
towns which he proposed to occupy.
THE KASKASKIA CAMPAIGN.
Clark remained on Corn Island about a
month getting a
"good ready," when on June 24
he embarked in big flat boats
prepared to transport his force down the
Ohio. Their setting
forth and shooting the river rapids was
signalized by the singular
event of an almost total eclipse of the
sun. But these backwoods
soldiers were too hard-headed and steady
nerved to give way to
any superstitious foreboding. Rather did
they regard it as a
propitious omen. Doubtless they jested
that it meant the sun
which the British boasted never set on
Britain's domain was at
last to be obscured by the new American
nation. They valiantly
pushed on, double manned their oars and
proceeded day and night
until they ran into the mouth of the
Tennessee river. Here he
was met by a small party of hunters who
had left Kaskaskia
but a week before and who imparted much
information as to
the condition of that post. They desired
to join Clark's forces.
He cautiously received them "after
their taking the oath of al-
legiance" and one, John Saunders,
was chosen by Clark as his
guide to Kaskaskia. Rejecting all
unnecessary luggage, Clark
now crossed the Ohio to the north side
at about the site of Fort
Massac, and after "reposing
themselves for the night," set out
in the morning upon their route for
Kaskaskia. The little army
had boldly struck into the northwest
wilderness nearly a thou-
sand miles from their base of supplies.
Did any Continental regi-
ment in the east display greater
hardihood or patriotism? Rey-
nolds in his Pioneer History of Illinois
says; "Clark's warriors
had no wagons, pack horses or other
means of conveyance of
their munitions of war or their baggage
other than their robust
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 75
and hearty selves.* Colonel Clark
himself was nature's favorite
in his person as well as mind." He
adds that "the country be-
tween Fort Massacre (Massac) and
Kaskaskia at that day (1778)
was a wilderness of one hundred and
twenty miles, and contained,
much of it, a swamp and difficult
road." On the 4th of July,
according to Clark's Memoirs, he arrived
within three miles of
the town of Kaskaskia, having the river
of the same name to cross
in order to reach the town. Having made
themselves ready for
anything that might happen they marched
after night to a farm
that was on the same side of the river
about a mile above the town,
took the family prisoners, and found
plenty of boats to cross in,
and in two hours transported themselves
to the other shore with
the greatest silence. Preparing to make
the attack he divided
his little army into two divisions,
ordered one to surround the
town, with the other he broke into the
fort and secured the Gov-
ernor, Phillip Rochblave. In Mason's
letter Clark reports, "In
fifteen minutes had every street
secured, sent runners through the
town, ordering the people, on pain of
death, to keep close to
their houses, which they observed, and
before daylight had the
whole town disarmed." Curious
capture and seldom, or never,
one so important in so brief a time, and
in so bloodless a manner.
Not a gun was fired, not a man was
injured, no property de-
stroyed. A town of twenty-five hundred
inhabitants, a fort in
prime condition, well equipped with
soldiers, cannon and pro-
visions - a garrison "so fortified
that it might have successfully
fought a thousand men" -taken in
silence at night by less than
two hundred worn and weary, footsore and
hungry backwoods-
men with no accoutrements, but their
trusty rifles. They had been
four days on the river rowing day and
night, and six days march-
ing through a dense and almost trackless
wilderness, picking their
way slowly but steadily through thickets
and swamps. This
strategic seizure was not without its
romantic touches. One ac-
count+ relates that the night of the
capture the lights in the
fort were ablaze, and through the
windows came the sound of
* Butterfield says they had no tents or
other camp equippage and not
a horse.
+ Memoir of Major Denny who claimed to
get the story from Clark
himself.
76 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
revelry. The officers of the fort were
giving a dance, and the
merry makers were tripping the
"light fantastic" to the tune
of violins in which the unsuspecting
sentinels, deserting their
posts, were taking part. Clark, some recounters state, unob-
served entered the room of the revellers
and stood "silently and
with folded arms," gazing at the
scene. His discovery was
made known by the war whoop of an
Indian, creating instant dis-
may and dire confusion, but Clark bade
them dance on, only to
remember they were now dancing to
Virginia and not Great
Britain. At any rate then fell
Kaskaskia.*
Its commander was Governor Philip
Rochblave a defiant but
evidently careless officer, devoted to
the British cause. He was
peacefully sleeping by the side of his
wife when Clark and some
of his officers entered his bedroom and
aroused+ him with the
startling news that he and his quarters
were in the hands of the
Americans. He was promptly sent, under
escort, as a prisoner to
Williamsburg, where he was paroled and
whence he escaped to
New York. His family were retained in
Kaskaskia, and his slaves
and property, of which he had a goodly
amount, were sold and the
proceeds distributed among Clark's
soldiers.
Naturally the surprise and consternation
of the Kaskaskians
was great when they became fully aware
of the fact that the
Americans had "met" them and
won them. They were moreover
in mortal terror as the British officers
had made them believe that
Americans were little better than savage
brutes, and would inflict
untold indignities. They plead most
piteously for mercy. Among
* Kaskaskia had a memorable history. It
is situated upon the Kas-
kaskia river five miles above its mouth,
but owing to the river's bend,
but two miles from the Mississippi. From
the days of La Salle (1682),
during the dominion of France, England
and Virginia, it was the capital
of the Illinois country. The flags of
three nations respectively, floated from
the battlements of its block fort. It
was the leading town of the North-
west Territory from its organization to
1800, and then of Indiana ter-
ritory to 1809. It was the capital of
Illinois during the territorial period
and for sometime after the organization
of that state. It was a Jesuitical
stronghold. In 1721 it became the seat
of a Jesuit Monastery and Col-
lege. Kaskaskia was, so to speak, a
western metropolis before Pittsburgh,
Cincinnati or New Orleans sprang into
existence.
+ Other authorities say Simon Kenton
"woke up" Rochblave. Very
likely he was with Clark.
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 77
their number was the illustrious Father
Pierre Gibault++ who for
ten years had been their trusted and
devoted spiritual advisor.
Father Gibault, with many followers,
waited upon Colonel Clark
and requested that the captive citizens
be permitted to assemble in
their church to confer together on
"their desperate condition and
to hold religious services."
Colonel Clark graciously assented
and took occasion to correct their
mistaken ideas of the intentions
and character of their American captors,
and to assure them of
courteous and generous treatment. He
explained to them the po-
litical situation, the cause of the
American Revolution, the friendly
alliance between the United Colonists
and France. It was a wel-
come revelation to them. They were
convinced, and appeased.
Clark announced that those who chose
"were at liberty to leave the
country with their families." From
those who decided to re-
main he should require the "oath of
fidelity." They were given
a few days to ponder and conclude this
matter. In all this Colonel
Clark displayed great tact, diplomacy
and knowledge of human
nature. The French were not only
persuaded to his cause, but be-
came his personal adherents, admiring
his bravery and humanity,
and confiding in his integrity. Father
Gibault, of all others,
quickly understood and appreciated the
noble qualities of the
sturdy and straightforward Clark, and
was thenceforth, not only
the warm and steadfast friend of the
colonel, but of the American
nation, and his subsequent loyal and
sacrificing services were of
greatest value to the promotion of
Clark's plans and purpose.
Gibault was to be a conspicuous and
unique figure in the events
leading to the conquest of the
Northwest.
BOWMAN'S CAHOKIA CAMPAIGN.
The ulterior destination of Clark was
Detroit, but the more
immediate point for attack and occupancy
was Vincennes on the
Wabash river. Before entering upon the
movement to secure that
important station be decided to take
possession of the French vil-
lages up the Mississippi, and especially
Cahokia, which was then
a place of one hundred families on the
east side of that river, a few
miles below where St. Louis is now
located, and some seventy
++ Butterfield says Gibault was
Vicar-General of the Bishop of Quebec
for the Illinois and adjacent countries.
78
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
miles from Kaskaskia. Colonel Clark
remained in Kaskaskia to
hold matters in the proper level and
still further win the inhabi-
tants to his side. He detailed Captain
Joseph Bowman for the
Cahokia expedition. The captain was
assigned thirty mounted
men. They were weary from fatigue and
loss of sleep, but it was
thought no time should be lost in
hastening upon the French vil-
lages before the citizens of the latter
could hear of the capture of
Kaskaskia and prepare to defend
themselves. Captain Bowman
and his chosen "cavalrymen"
therefore set out the evening of the
first day that Kaskaskia was occupied.
Bowman wrote a very
concise account of this trip.* His
company in the journey to Ca-
hokia was three successive nights and
days. The first town they
reached was Prairie du Rocher about
fifteen miles distant from
Kaskaskia. "Before they (the
inhabitants) had any idea of our
arrival we had possession of the town.
They seemed a good deal
surprised and were willing to come to
any terms that were re-
quired of them."+ Bowman then
hastened on to St. Phillips about
nine miles higher up. It was a small
town and straightway capit-
ulated to the invader. Bowman says:
"Being in the dead time of
the night they seemed scared almost out
of their wits, as it was im-
possible they could know my
strength." From St. Phillips, Bow-
man hurried on to Cahokia where he
arrived on the third day, and
riding up to the Commander's house
demanded a surrender. The
commandant and all the citizens promptly
complied, whereupon
Bowman stated they must take "the
oath to the states," or he
would still treat them as enemies. They
waited till the next morn-
ing to consider. That night Bowman's
force "lay on their arms"
to prevent surprise, a precaution well
justified as one of the inhab-
itants proposed "to raise one
hundred and fifty Indians" and rush
on Bowman. The next morning, however,
the Cahokians were
compelled to swear allegiance to the
American cause. And so
Cahokia was added to the peaceful
captures of Clark's army. Ca-
hokia was at that date a town of much
importance. It is a site
with a past reaching into the realms of
the pre-historic, for here
are located some remarkable earthworks
of the Mound Builders.
* This account of Bowman is copiously
quoted from as found in
English's conquest of the Northwest.
+ Bowman's account.
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 79
It is claimed by some authors that
Cahokia was the location also
of the earliest white settlement on the
Mississippi river, the name
at first being Cohos, indeed Clark so
spoke of it in his letter to
Mason describing Bowman's capture. In
1764, when the terri-
tory passed from France to England and
the last French com-
mandant withdrew to give way to the
English occupancy, many
French families at Cahokia and the other
towns removed west or
south out of the British jurisdiction in
order to escape being sub-
ject to English rule. The population
still remaining at these
points was mainly French or French
descent and maintained an
antipathy to their Great Britain
conquerors. They therefore
readily "fell into the hands"
of Clark's forces and espoused the
side of the united Colonies in their
contest with the mother but
oppressing country. Both Kaskaskia and
Cahokia were not only
French settlements and British posts,
but also rallying places for
the Indian tribes of the adjacent
country. Generally the Indians
were in greater or less force at these
stations receiving aid or
advice from the British commanders. At
the time of Clark's in-
vasion of the towns named the redmen
happened to be mostly
absent and thus the savages could not be
summoned to Clark's
discomfiture. The reception of Clark's
forces were rendered
therefore not only bloodless but really
sympathetic. In view of
these facts the procedure of Clark's
troops from Fort Massac to
Cahokia has, by some writers, been
described as an expedition
without peril and without any credit to
Clark. The danger, how-
ever, was there, the well equipped
garrisons, the lurking savages,
the roadless country, the fatiguing
forced march. Be that as it
may, Clark took complete possession of
the country as he pro-
ceeded.
THE VINCENNES VICTORY.
Clark had secured without diminution of
his number or
detriment to his project all the towns
of the white people in the
Illinois country west of the Wabash.
"Post St. Vincent, a town
about the size of Williamsburg was the
next object in my view,"
wrote the hopeful Colonel. Vincennes was
next to Detroit, the
greatest stronghold of the enemy in the
Northwest. Father Gi-
bault had become the warm friend and
ally of Clark. From the
faithful priest the Colonel learned that
Edward Abbott, the Brit-
80
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ish governor of the town, had left
Vincennes shortly before
Clark's entrance into the enemy's
country, and that both fort and
town were then almost exclusively in the
possession and con-
trol of the French settlers. Father Gibault believed that he
could "win over" Vincennes by
proceeding there without martial
accompaniment, or warlike demonstration
and by presenting to
the citizens the true inwardness of the
situation. He could tell
them of the French and American
alliance, give them assurance of
their security under and friendly
treatment by the Americans, and
that if this logic was not sufficient,
gently remind them that Clark
had an army and might, if compelled, use
arguments other than
those of reason. Clark says, "the
priest (Gibault) gave me to
understand that although he had nothing
to do with temporal busi-
ness, yet he would give them (people of
Vincennes) such hints
in a spiritual way, that would be very
conducive to the business."
Evidently the Jesuitical disciple of the
Prince of Peace was as
"foxy" in his methods as were
his more distinguished papal proto-
types Wolsey and Richelieu. The plan was
immediately accepted
by Clark. Pierre Gibault, accompanied by
one Doctor Jean Le-
font, as a "temporal and political
agent," with a few compan-
ions who served as a retinue and
confidential observers for Col-
onel Clark, started out on the 14th of
July carrying a pronun-
ciamento of Clark to the people of
Vincennes authorizing them
to garrison their own town themselves,
which concession was
well calculated to convince them of the
implicit confidence the
American Colonel had in them. Father
Gibault and escort safely
reached Vincennes and diplomatically
made known their peculiar
errand. The few emissaries, left by the
British commander Ab-
bott, naturally resisted the proposal,
but being helpless were al-
lowed to leave the town, the French
inhabitants of which readily
acceded to Gibault and all "went in
a body to the church, where
the oath of allegiance was administered
to them in the most sol-
emn manner" by Father Gibault. The
people at once proceeded
"to elect an officer, the fort was
immediately garrisoned," says
Clark in his Memoir, "and the
American flag displayed to the
astonishment of the Indians, and
everything settled far beyond
our most sanguine hopes. The people
immediately began to put
on a new face and to talk in a different
style, and to act as perfect
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 81
freemen. With a garrison of their own
and with the United
States at their elbow, their language to
the Indians was immedi-
ately altered. They began as citizens of
the state, and informed
the Indians that their (people of
Vincennes) old Father the
King of France, was come to life again
and joined the Big Knives
(Americans) and was mad at them
(Indians) for fighting for
the British; that they advised the
Indians to make peace with
the Americans as soon as possible or
they might expect the land
to be very bloody," and then Clark
laconically adds, "the Indians
began to think seriously." Father
Gibault and his party returned
to Kaskaskia about the first of August
with the welcome news
of the tranquil occupation of Vincennes
and the transfer of that
station from British to American
control. Clark's advance and
achievements seemed to be under the star
of propitious fate.
But at this point in his proceedings the
plucky Colonel faced a
serious situation. He was master of a
vast territory and many
posts with but a bare handful of
soldiers. He was hundreds of
miles from the nearest station harboring
any American troops,
and still farther from the seat of
government. It would be
months before he could get any
re-enforcements. He was without
instructions or authority as to further
action. He had to rely en-
tirely upon his own resources and
judgment. His soldiers were
getting restless and dissatisfied. Their
time of service had ex-
pired, and they were ready and anxious
to return home. Clark
was beset with troubles. But he was
resourceful and determined.
His perplexities only served to test the
strength of his character
and the qualities of his mind. He could
not abandon the country;
that would be to relinquish all he had
so adroitly gained. He re-
solved to "usurp authority"
and continue unflinchingly in his
plans. He at once, by presents and
promises, succeeded in re-en-
listing most of his soldiers on a new
basis for eight months. He
then publicly threatened to leave
"the French station to their
fate to which they naturally
remonstrated and renewed their al-
legiance and offers of assistance."
He thereupon commissioned
some French officers and recruited a
sufficient number of ad-
venturous young creoles to fill up his
four companies to their ori-
ginal complement. He established a
garrison at Cahokia under
6 Vol. XII.
82
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Captain Bowman. He placed Captain
Williams in command of
Kaskaskia, Captain Montgomery was
dispatched to the Virginia
capital, Williamsburg, to report to the
governor the result of the
expedition and ask for re-enforcements
and supplies. Captain
Helm, with a contingent of French
volunteers and friendly In-
dians, was sent to assume direction of
Post Vincennes. Clark
now gave his attention to strengthening
his situation. He drilled
his men, both Americans and French,
entered into friendly rela-
tions with the Spaniards of the
scattered creole towns on the op-
posite side of the Mississippi. The Spanish were hostile to the
British and readily sympathized with the
Americans. Clark now
took up the more difficult task of
pacifying the various Indian
tribes, the "huge horde of
savages" who roamed the forests
from the Great Lakes to the
Mississippi. Clark followed the
tactics of Hamilton at Detroit. He
summoned the chiefs and
their braves to Cahokia for a council.
"It was," he says, "with
astonishment that he viewed the amazing
number of savages that
soon flocked into the town of Cohos to
treat for peace and to
hear what the Big Knives had to
say." They came from all over
the Illinois and Wabash country, some of
them from a distance
of five hundred miles; "Chipaways,
Ottoways, Potowatomies,
Misseogies, Puans, Sacks, Foxes, Sayges,
Tauways, Maumies
and a number of other tribes, all living
east of the Mississippi,
and many of them at war against
us." Clark in handling these
treacherous redmen showed great
alertness, shrewdness, ability
and tact. Some Indian leaders conspired
to capture Clark. He
learned of the plot, promptly seized the
chiefs of those guilty and
put them in irons, though the town was
then swarming with the
savages. He taught them to fear him and
to trust him. His suc-
cessful treatment of the Indians was
notably remarkable for the
fact that he was wholly destitute of
presents for the children of
the forest, and presents they had always
received in profusion
from the British. Clark under all the
adverse circumstances sur-
rounding him secured treaties of peace
with a dozen different
tribes. He knew the Indians, however,
and secretly sent spies
throughout all the Indian country, even
as far as Detroit, toward
which he "was now casting a wistful
eye." The result of
Clark's policy with the tribes was to
secure peace in the Illinois
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 83
country. The Indians remained friendly
for a long time and the
French were of course more than ever
attached to the American
cause.
Clark's expedition thus far had been so
stealthily, swiftly
and skillfully executed that the British
authorities scarcely knew
of it until its success was complete. On
the 8th of August,
however, a French missionary reached
Detroit and imparted to
Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton the
startling intelligence that the
American "rebels" had invaded
the Illinois country, captured
Kaskaskia and Cahokia and were
approaching Vincennes. The
British at once began to bestir
themselves. Hamilton hurried
the news on to the commander-in-chief at
Quebec, Governor Guy
Carleton, to Lieutenant Colonel Bolton,
Commandant at Niagara
and to Captain De Puyster, Commandant at
Michilimackinac. The
order was speedily passed around that
the American soldiers must
be dislodged from the Illinois and
Wabash country, and the In-
dians set upon the warpath to devastate
the American frontier
settlements.
HAMILTON'S CAPTURE OF VINCENNES.
On October 7 Hamilton set out from
Detroit for a journey
of six hundred miles to Vincennes with a
force less than two
hundred, indeed, just about the same
number as Clark had
started with on his expedition from the
Ohio Falls to Kaskaskia.*
Hamilton provided himself with some
fifteen boats well
loaded with food, clothing, ammunition
and presents for the
Indians. With this armament Hamilton
went down the Detroit
river, thence thirty miles across lake
Erie to the mouth of the
Maumee, up which he proceeded arriving
at the "Miami Town"
(site of Fort Wayne) on the 24th.
Here several parties of
Indians were met and united to the army.
From the head-
waters of the Maumee (or Miami as then
called) they fol-
lowed the portage, a distance across
land of nine miles, to a
stream called the Little River, one of
the sources of the Wabash.
* Hamilton gave his number on leaving
Detroit as 179. There were
41 of the Kings Eighth Regiment of
regulars, 8 "irregulars;" 70 trained
militia and 60 Indians, altogether with
himself, 180. This number was
increased by Indians on the way until he
had 500 on reaching Vincennes.
The statistics given by Roosevelt vary
in detail but make the aggregate
about the same.
84 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Over this portage they were obliged to
carry their boats and
baggage. The journey down the Wabash--
(Ouabache) -was
beset with many difficulties and
obstacles. The water was shal-
low and often frozen over with a thin
layer of ice, and the boats
had to be lifted over or carried around
the shoal places. When
within a few days' journey of Vincennes
they were met by a
scouting party sent out from Fort
Sackville, the fort lying
partly within and protecting the town of
Vincennes. Captain
Helm was therefore warned of the enemy's
approach. Helm's
force, less than fifty soldiers, only
two of whom were Americans,
was utterly inadequate to defend the
fort and town against the
attack of Hamilton. The fort was a
"wretched, miserable stock-
ade without a well, barrack, platform
for small arms, or even lock
to the gate. Helm knowing he could not
make a successful de-
fense, determined to play a brave part,
and this he did to an
astonishing degree. Major Hay with a
company advanced to
the fort. Demanding admittance Captain
Helm pointing a loaded
cannon at the enemy ordered them to
halt, exclaiming, "No man
shall enter here until I know the
terms." The reply was given,
"You shall have the honors of
war," whereupon Captain Helm
surrendered and Fort Sackville and
Vincennes was once more
in the possession of the British. This
was on December 17, 1778,
seventy-two days after Hamilton had left
Detroit. Two days
after the occupation Hamilton required
the inhabitants* to fore-
swear the oath of allegiance they had
taken a few months before
to the American cause, and to renew
their fealty to the British.
Thus the French victims of Vincennes
were shifted from side
to side as the fortunes of circumstances
demanded. And to this
shifting they seemed easily adjusted.
They readily fell in with
the winning party. Hamilton restored the
Fort to good condi-
* The citizens of all ages in Vincennes
at this time were estimated
by Hamilton to be 621, of whom 217 were
qualified for military service.
The oath to which they were obliged to
subscribe was as follows: "We
the undersigned, declare and aver that
we have taken the oath of allegiance
to Congress, and, in so doing, we have forgotten
our duty towards God
and have failed towards men. We ask the
pardon of God, and we hope
for the mercy of our legitimate
sovereign, the King of England, and
that he will accept our submission and
take us under his protection as
good and faithful subjects, which we
promise and pray to be able to
become before God and before men."-Butterfield
manuscript.
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 85
tion; built a guard house and barracks;
sunk a well, erected
two large blockhouses and embrasures
above for five pieces of
cannon. Hamilton now rested securely on
his laurels. He felt
no uneasiness over the situation. He
knew Clark's force was
paltry and widely scattered, he
(Hamilton) with five times the
number of Clark was safely intrenched at
Vincennes which lay
directly in the path between Clark's
posts and his source of
supplies in Virginia or Kentucky. In due
time he could move on
to the towns occupied by Clark and
retake them.
CLARK'S CAPTURE OF VINCENNES.
Colonel Clark clearly understood that
Hamilton would in
due time move upon the American garrison
at Kaskaskia and
Cahokia. With Napoleonic nerve he
decided to move on Vin-
cennes. It was the extreme of bold
determination. He had only
about one hundred American soldiers. His
French soldiers num-
bering about the same were uncertain in
their courage and sta-
bility. The French settlers of the
Illinois towns were scared
and "shaky" in their
allegiance. The Indians were wavering and
susceptible of influences from the
British. The way to Vincennes
was long and the country flooded with
the winter waters. None
but a leader of indomitable pluck and
consecrated patriotism
would have entered upon such an
undertaking against such des-
perate odds.*
His resolve to push on to Vincennes was
strengthened by
the arrival of Francis Vigo from
Vincennes. Vigo was an Ital-
ian, who had been a soldier in a Spanish
regiment and was now
a trader among the French, British and
Indians and resided at
St. Louis. He was made a prisoner by
Hamilton and paroled. He
hastened to Kaskaskia+ and offered his
services to Clark, in-
* Clark's soldiers and the citizens of
both Cahokia and Kaskaskia
were constantly in more or less of a
panic, caused by rumors that Ham-
ilton was coming. Clark was at a ball in
Cahokia when the alarm was
sounded that the British were without
the city. A few days later similar
false reports caused him to resolve to
burn the fort at Kaskaskia, and
he did tear down some of the adjacent
buildings. At another time while
going to Cahokia he barely escaped being
captured by a party of Ottowas
and Canadians - scouts from Vincennes.
+Vigo arrived at Kaspaskia January 27,
1779. He was caught by
Hamilton's scouts while on his way to
take supplies to Captain Helm,
not then knowing Hamilton had
repossessed Vincennes.
86 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
forming the latter that Hamilton
proposed to rest on his
oars till spring and had sent his Indian
allies out about
the country in various foraging and
devastating parties. Clark
must start instanter. He summoned
Captain, now Major Bow-
man, from Cahokia, who was to be second
in command. He
marshalled his land forces Into three
companies officered re-
spectively by Captains Richard M'Carty,
John Williams and
Francis Charleville, the latter a
Frenchman, with a company of
Kaskaskia recruits.+ This army was
augmented by a "navy"
consisting of "a large boat
prepared and rigged, mounting two
four pounders (each), four large swivels
with a fine company
commanded by Lieutenant John Rogers."++
This "gunboat" was named the Willing
and was manned by
forty-six soldiers. "The
vessel," says Clark, "when complete was
much admired by the inhabitants as no
such thing had been seen
in the country before." The Willing was loaded with supplies
and was to be rowed down the Kaskaskia
river to its mouth at
the Mississippi, thence up the Ohio and
the Wabash to a desig-
nated point below Vincennes, probably
the mouth of the White
river and there await further orders. On
the afternoon of Feb-
ruary 4, (1779), the Willing cast her
moorings and dropped
down the river amid the cheers of her
"crew" and the shouts
of the soldiers on shore and the excited
populace of Kaskaskia.
On the 5th Colonel Clark with his force
of one hundred and
seventy men marched out of Kaskaskia,
with Father Gibault's
blessing, and the farewells of the
citizens. It was to be a tedious
tramp of two hundred and forty miles, as
the route was selected,
it being what was then known as the St.
Louis trail or trace.*
Both Clark and Bowman wrote accounts of
this marvelous march.
It is to be recalled that it was
conducted in the late winter or
early spring when the streams were
swollen, the rains frequently
interspersed with sleet and snow. The
land was everywhere
water soaked and more or less ice
crusted. The fatigues, hard-
+ Bowman's old company was probably
captained by one of the
Worthingtons, Edward or William, it is
not certain which.
++ Description from Clark's
letter to Mason.
* It led through the later sites of
Sparta, Coultersville, Oakdale,
Nashville, Walnut Hill, Salem. Olney and
Lawrenceville.
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 87
ships and privations of those plucky,
patient, persistent and patri-
otic soldiers are not surpassed by the
annals of any similar expedi-
tions in history. It was the Valley
Forge of the American Revo-
lution in the Northwest, and of Clark's
men, Bancroft might have
written as he did of Washington's
soldiers: "Love of country,
attachment to their general, sustained
the army under unparalleled
hardships. Under any other leader the
armies would have dis-
solved and vanished." Day after day
for nearly three weeks
they waded the creeks, the swamps, and
the flooded districts,
sleeping on the water-soaked or hard
frozen ground; without
sufficient food, often without any,
frequently submerged to their
waists and sometimes almost to their
armpits, they struggled on.
Clark, in his own account, says:
"It was a difficult and very
fatiguing march. My object was to keep
the men in spirits. I
suffered them to shoot game on all
occasions and to feast on it
like Indian war dancers. Each company by
turns invited the
others to the feasts, which was the case
every night, as the com-
pany that was to give the feast was
always supplied with horses
to lay up a sufficient store of wild
meat in the course of the day,
myself and personal officers betting on
the woodsmen, shouting
now and then and running as much through
the mud and water
as any of them. Thus insensibly, without
a murmer, were those
men led on to the banks of the Little
Wabash which was reached
on the 15th through incredible
difficulties far surpassing any-
thing that any of us had ever
experienced." Often in wading
the streams or wide fields of water is
was necessary to stop and
make boats or rafts with which they
could transport their bag-
gage and accoutrements. Captain Bowman,
in his Journal, has
the following: "16th. Marched all
day through rain and water,
crossed Fox river, our provisions began
to be short. 17th.
Marched early, crossed several runs very
deep. Sent Mr. Ken-
nedy our Commissary with three men to
cross the river Embar-
rass,* if possible and proceed to a
plantation opposite to Fort
Vincennes in order to steal boats or
canoes to ferry us across the
Wabash. About an hour by sun we got near
the river Embarrass,
found the country all overflowed with
water. We strove to
* Embarrass was a stream running
southeast and emptying into the
Wabash about three miles below
Vincennes.
88 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
find the Wabash, traveling till eight o'clock (at night) in mud and water but could find no place to encamp on. Still kept marching on. After some time, Mr. Kennedy and his party returned. Found it impossible to cross Embarrass river. We found the water fallen from a small spot of ground; stayed there the remainder of the night. Drizzly and damp weather. And 18th. At break of day heard Governor Hamilton's morn- ing gun; set off and marched down the river. About two o'clock came to the bank of the Wabash. Made rafts for four men to cross and then up to town and steal boats, but they spent |
|
a day and night in the water to no purpose and there was not one foot of dry land to be found. 19th. * * * Captain M'Carty's company made a canoe which was sent down the river to meet the batteau (the Willing) with orders to come on day and night that being our last hope and we starving. No pro- visions now of any sort for two days." On the 21st, the whole army was transported across the river "rain all day and no provisions," the continued exposure without suitable food, shelter or rest began to wear out the men, especially the French. Clark resorted to every ingenuity to keep up the spirits and strength of the soldiers. The sea of water seemed to be unending. Upon one occasion Clark em- ployed the following amusing expedient. In Bowman's com- |
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 89
pany was a little fourteen year old
drummer boy, also a giant
sergeant, six feet two inches in his
stockings. Clark mounted
the little drummer on the shoulders of
the stalwart sergeant and
gave orders to him to advance into the
half-frozen water. He
did so, the little drummer beating the
charge from his lofty
perch, while Clark with sword in hand
followed them, giving
the command forward march as he threw
aside the floating ice.
Elated and amused at the scene, the men
promptly obeyed, hold-
ing their rifles above their heads, and
in spite of all obstacles
reached the high land opposite them,
taking care to have the
boats try to take those who were weak
and numbed with the
cold, into them.* Other expedients were employed to stimulate
the dejected and despairing soldiers,
such as blacking the face
with powder, raising the Indian
warwhoop, joining in patriotic
songs, etc., but after all the most
potent and least jocose per-
suasion was no doubt Clark's order to
Captain Bowman, who
was his second self, to keep in the rear
twenty-five picked men
with orders to shoot down anyone
refusing to march, or attempt-
ing to desert. But the flood, like
Tennyson's brook, went on
forever. It grew worse as they neared
Vincennes. Clark him-
self says: "This last day's march
(the 21st) through the water
was far superior to anything the
Frenchmen had an idea of.
The nearest land to us was a small
league called the Sugar Camp.
A canoe was sent off and returned with
signs that we could pass.
I sounded the water and found it as deep
as my neck. We had
neither provisions nor horses. Finally
they found a sort of a
path or elevated ridge of earth which
they followed and upon
which they walked, though even above
that the water was nearly
waist deep. That night was the coldest
fight we had, the ice
in the morning was from a half to
three-fourths of an inch thick.
I addressed the soldiers after
breakfast, such as it was, telling
them that beyond the immediate woods
they would come in full
view of the town which they would reach
in a few hours. They
gave a cheer and courageously stepped
into the water once
more. They still continued to be waist
deep. A canoe with a
few inmates was sent forward with
instructions to cry out
'land' when they found a dry lodging
place. Many of the men
*English's Northwest.
90 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
were so weak they had to be supported by companions and had to be literally carried out of the water. Some of them hung to trees and floated on the old logs. Finally dry land was reached at last."* One of the most remarkable forced marches on record which had lasted fourteen days was at an end. Hamilton had had no intimation of the approach, indeed was entirely disarmed by the idea that no troops could reach the Fort through the watery surroundings, therefore when Clark's soldiers appeared before |
|
Fort Sackville, Hamilton was as startled and amazed as if he had received an electric shock. Clark's men had halted "on a delightful dry spot of ground of about ten acres." They found that the fires which they built had little or no effect upon the men who were literally water-soaked and cold-benumbed. The weak ones had to be walked about and their limbs exercised by the stronger ones. They took what little refreshment they had, and * The strong and the tall got ashore and built fires. Many on reach- ing the shore fell flat on their faces, half in the water, and could come no farther. It was found the fires did not help the very weak, so every such a one was put between two strong men who run him up and down by the arms, and thus made him recover. - Clark's Memoirs. |
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 91
faced the attack upon the Fort. They
were in a truly critical
condition no prospect of retreat
presented itself in case of defeat.
They faced in full view a town that had
some six hundred men in
it, troops, inhabitants and Indians.
Clark, with the bravery of
Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga, wrote out
and sent to the Fort the
following proclamation: "To the
inhabitants of Fort Vincennes,
Gentlemen: Being now within two miles of
your village with my
army determined to take your fort this
night and not being able
to surprise you I take this method to
request such of you as are
true citizens and willing, to enjoy the
liberty I bring you to
remain still in your houses -and those
if any there be that are
friends to the King will instantly
repair to the Fort and join
the Hair Buyer General and fight like
men, and if any such as
do not go to the Fort shall be
discovered afterward they may
depend on severe punishment. On the
contrary those who are
true friends to liberty may depend on
being well treated and I
once more request them to keep out of
the streets. For every one
I find in arms on my arrival I shall
treat him as an enemy. Signed
G. R. Clark." The sending of this
proclamation was followed
by a bold advance upon Fort Sackville
and the town, in full view
of the inhabitants. They made themselves
appear as formidable
as possible, marching and
countermarching in such a manner as
to apparently double the number of the
soldiers, and nearly all of
them had flags which they waved in such
a manner as to dis-
guise their actual number, and increase
the formidableness of
their appearance. The land just before
the village lay in ridges
so that the soldiers as they scrambled
over them would appear
above and then dissappear in the
declivities. This aided them
again in appearing to be far more
numerous than they really
were.* They reached the space
immediately in front of the
Fort walls on the evening of February
23d. The drums were
beat and the firing upon the Fort
commenced. At the same time
portions of the force entered the town,
where they received im-
mediate assistance from friendly
inhabitants who furnished them
with ammunition, and Tobacco's son,
Chief of the Piankeshaw
* This account of Clark's advance upon
Vincennes is from the
Memoir of Clark supposed to have been
written about 1791. Many state-
ments in it have been discredited.
Roosevelt, in his "Winning of the
West," particularly doubts the
accuracy of this Vincennes parade.
92 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications.
tribe, promptly
mustered his warriors and offered his services
to Colonel Clark. This
Indian assistance was diplomatically de-
clined with thanks as
Clark was afraid to allow the Indians any
license, not wishing
to be responsible for savage barbarities upon
the British. The siege
of the Fort and town continued during
the night. Clark's men
had decidedly the advantage of position,
for they could conceal
themselves behind the houses and fire upon
the Fort from all
directions without being injured or even seen.
On the morning of the
24th Colonel Clark sent a flag of truce
to Governor Hamilton
with a message which read as follows:
"In order to save
yourself from the impending storm that now
threatens you I order
you to immediately surrender yourself with
all your garrison,
stores, etc. For if I am obliged to storm, you
may depend on such
treatment as is justly due to a murderer.
Beware of destroying
stores of any kind or any papers or letters
that are in your
possession, or hurt one house in town; for by
heavens if you do,
there shall be no mercy shown you. Signed
G. R. Clark."
Hamilton replied: "Lieut. Governor Hamilton begs
leave to acquaint
Colonel Clark that he and his garrison are not
disposed to be awed
into any action unworthy of British sub-
jects." The
firing was resumed and was continued for some time
when a second exchange
of messages was made. Governor Ham-
ilton with an aid then
held a consultation with Colonel Clark and
Captain Bowman in St.
Xavier's Church. While the negotia-
tions were ensuing a
party of Indians friendly to the British
approached the Fort,
were captured by the Americans and toma-
hawked, and their
bodies thrown into the river in full view of the
British occupants of
the Fort. This horrifying spectacle was
reluctantly enacted by
the men under Clark in order to terrorize
the British soldiers.
It was successful, and Lieutenant Governor
Hamilton promptly
surrendered upon the conditions laid down
by Clark. The
soldiers, seventy-nine in all, marched out of the
Fort and delivered
themselves as prisoners of war.* The
cam-
paign and siege of
Fort Vincennes was at an end.+ Two
days
* Hamilton
subsequently acknowledged, in a letter, his chagrin in
having to yield
"to a set of uncivilized Virginian woodsmen armed with
rifles."
+ Clark had but one
man wounded. Six or eight of Hamilton's
force were killed or
severely wounded.
Clark's Conquest of the
Northwest. 93
after the capture the batteau "The
Willing" which had come by
water arrived with her forty-six men. It
was the extinguish-
ment of the British domination in the
Wabash and Illinois country.
Captain Leonard Helm immediately
proceeded up the Wabash
river, where at a point about one
hundred and twenty miles from
Vincennes, they surprised and captured
seven British boats
manned by forty men and loaded with
valuable goods and pro-
visions intended for Fort Sackville, and
sent from Detroit. If
Clark had then been in a condition to
march against Detroit he
would probably have been successful, but
his soldiers were so ex-
hausted that for the present he
abandoned the idea. Hamilton and
his principal officers were sent as
prisoners to Virginia where they
were paroled. Hamilton later served the
British government in
important stations. Most of the British
prisoners taken by Clark
remained at Vincennes under oath of
neutrality. A few joined
Clark's regiment. The French citizens
were again sworn to the
American cause. By this time they had
become adepts in the
practice of oath taking. During Clark's
expedition to Vincennes
his messengers had reached Williamsburg
and reported the doings
of the intrepid Colonel. He was
complimented by the Virginia
Legislature and that same body, on March
10, 1779, passed an
act organizing the Illinois country into
the County of Illinois.
Further legislation provided for the
appointment by the gover-
nor and council of Virginia of a county
lieutenant or command-
ant, who was authorized to appoint
deputies and military officers
requisite for the proper organization
and control of the county.
In the summer of 1779 this county
government was established
at Vincennes with Colonel John Todd,
Jr., as Lieutenant or
Commandant of the county. The Virginia
legislature also di-
rected that some five hundred men be
enlisted, properly officered
and ordered to the Illinois county to
garrison the forts therein.
But a portion of that number, however,
were forthcoming. Thus
was the Northwest occupied and secured
to the American Colon-
ists. It was almost a bloodless and
battleless conquest, but a sub-
jugation nevertheless of the most far
reaching character. It pre-
vented the western country from being a
vast field for the rendez-
vous of the British troops and the arena
for the centralization and
confederation of Indian tribes against
the colonial frontiers of
94 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. Pennsylvania, Virginia and the southern states. Clark checkmated the British scheme to attack and destroy the colonies from the rear. More than all Clark saved to the Union the Northwest Territory. Had it not been for him and his little band of back- woodsmen, although the armies of Washington were victorious, without doubt in the settlement of the result between the two countries, the Illinois and the Wabash country, including Ohio, would have been retained as British territory, precisely as was Canada. Had it not been for Clark the colonial western frontier would have been the Alleghany range. Clark changed the des- tiny of the United States and perhaps the destiny of the English speaking race.*
* Clark himself, towards the end of 1779, took up his abode at the Falls of the Ohio, where he served in some sort as a shield both for Illinois and Kentucky, and from whence he hoped some day to march against Detroit. That was his darling scheme, which he never ceased to cherish. Through no fault of his own, the day never came when he could put it into execution. - Roosevelt. |
|
THE OLD RIVER BRIDGE.
JAMES BALL NAYLOR.
(Read at the dedication of the Malta-McConnelsville steel bridge, July 8th, 1902. The flew steel bridge superseded the old wooden toll bridge built in 1867.)
The old river-bridge, grown decrepit and gray In the warfare of years, has, alas, passed away; For Time the remorseless has triumphed at last- And the faithful old bridge is a part of the past. Like a warrior it stood, with its feet in the tide And its lean arms outstretched to the bridegroom and bride Saying: "Lovers unwitting, God's will has been done! I've blessed ye and bound ye; ye twain are made one!"
When the elements battled, and thunderbolts fell- Like arrows God-flung at the ramparts of hell; When a crash of the storm sent a chill to the blood, And the highway of man was the gateway of flood; Then the sturdy old bridge strained its sinews of wood, And stiffened, and quivered, and tottered-but stood! And the message it sent o'er the turbulent tide Was: "I've bound ye and blessed ye; no storm shall divide! |
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95 |
96 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. |
|
At night-in midwinter, when snowdrifts lay deep, And the wind was awake and the world was asleep; Or in summer, when hilltop and housetop and stream Were aglint with the touch of the moon's paly beam; Then the old wooden bridge, that no ill might betide, Kept guard o'er the slumbering bridegroom and bride. And the words that it murmured at daybreak's release Were: "I've guarded and kept ye; sleep on - sleep in peace!"
Ah, the old river-bridge felt the terrors and tears Of the twain it had joined - all their sorrows and fears ! And it, also, partook of their pastimes and joys- Knew their frolicsome girls and their rollicksome boys! And its rigid, impassive, old features of oak Went aquiver with smiles, at the crack of a joke Or the trill of a laugh and it whispered: "Ah, me! May their lives full of pleasure and happiness be!"
But there came in the year of the century's birth - Sent by Time the remorseless, the ruler of earth - A panoplied knight in a harness of steel; And the old wooden bridge felt the conqueror's heel! Knowing well that its battles and triumphs were o'er- That the friends it had loved would now need it no more, It sank down to its rest, with |