MAUMEE VALLEY TRAVEL
TOUR
By MAUMEE VALLEY
INTERNATIONAL HISTORICAL CONVENTION
From
From Toledo Fort
Wayne
Miles Miles
0.00 Commodore Perry Hotel, Toledo, 106.9
Superior Street
entrance. South 1/2 block to
Monroe Street. Turn
right (W) 2 blocks to
Erie Street. Turn left
(S. on Erie Street)
5 blocks across Swan
Creek to Anthony
Wayne Memorial Trail.
0.9 Anthony Wayne Memorial Trail. 106.0
Turn right on Anthony
Wayne Memorial
Trail which is a new
super-highway con-
structed upon the bed
of the old historic
Miami & Erie
Canal. This canal was con-
structed around 1845,
operated until about 1909.
The same was purchased
by the city of To-
ledo from the State of
Ohio in 1923, drained
of its water in 1929
and for the last 11 years,
the super-highway over
which you will travel
has been in the course
of construction. Ap-
proximately 16 miles
is in this program. Drive
over this
super-highway to Detroit Avenue.
6.6 Detroit Avenue. 100.3
Turn left on Detroit
Avenue (S. E.) to
River road.
7.3 River Road 99.6
Turn right on River
Road to Fort Miami.
7.6 Fort Miami 99.3
At this point, drive
700 feet southeast. You
will then be upon the
original enclosure of
Fort Miami. There is a
question as to the
veracity of the
following information regard-
ing the fort. It was
supposedly erected in
1680, the oldest
fortified trading post in the
mid-West. Here flew
the flags of France in
1680, Great Britain in
1760 and the United
States in 1796. It is
known that Commodore
(91)
From
From Toledo Fort
Wayne
Miles Miles
Grant reported that
he built a temporary
stockade here and
left ten men to hold it
against one hundred.
It was reoccupied and
rebuilt by the
British in 1793 and held until
1796 at which time
(July 11) it was turned
over to the
Americans. After Wayne's victory
at the Battle of
Fallen Timbers, August 20,
1794, he drove the
enemy to within 80 yards
of the gates of this
fort. It was here that
the survivors of
Colonel Dudley's forces who
had been ambushed by
the Indians during the
first siege of Fort
Meigs in May, 1813, were
compelled to run
the gauntlet and were
brutally tomahawked
in sight of General
Proctor, until
Tecumseh, the great Indian
chief, compelled the
Indians to stop their
slaughter. Now follow
the River Road south-
erly to
8.8 Dudley's Massacre 98.1
On the right, now
used as the library grounds,
is the location where
on May 5, 1813, Colonel
Dudley's troops
spiked the British artillery
besieging Fort Meigs,
but in the enthusiasm
of victory, they were
led into an ambush where
over 600 were lost.
9.4 Fort Meigs 97.5
If you continue
southerly to the main inter-
section in Maumee at
Conant Street, you can
temporarily turn left
across the river if you
so desire and see
Fort Meigs. It can be seen
from this point, or
from
9.6 Intersection of Allen Street 97.3
Fort Meigs is the
location of the last meeting
of the Convention
held Sunday afternoon, Sep-
tember 29th.
In the early part of
1813, General Harrison
reported to Governor
Meigs that he was erect-
ing a very strong
fort capable of resisting
field artillery at
the foot of the Miami Rapids.
On this site a fort
was constructed and called
"Fort
Meigs." This fort was besieged on two
MAUMEE VALLEY TRAVEL
TOUR 93
From
From Toledo Fort
Wayne
Miles Miles
different occasions
for long periods by the
British. During
1813, General Clay sent
Colonel Dudley with
866 men to relieve this
fort. Colonel Dudley's
men spiked the guns
of the British which
were placed on the north-
erly bank of the
Maumee, south of the pres-
ent Fort Miami, and
then, as mentioned above,
a large portion of
Colonel Dudley's men were
destroyed. A large
number of Pennsylvania
and Kentucky troops
were buried on this site.
10.4 Side Cut Park 96.5
At the right, you see
a park developed by the
Toledo Metropolitan
Park Board and the
original Miami and
Erie Canal Lock No. 3.
The locks at this point
are the only existing
locks of the old Miami
and Erie Canal in
Lucas County. Walking
back up through the
park for 300 feet, you
will have a beautiful
view of the valley and
the other locks which
are above No. 3. From
the top of the hill
looking southwesterly
on your right across
the valley, is the
area on which the Battle of
Fallen Timbers was
fought.
11.6 Battle of Fallen Timbers 95.3
Low lands to the right
were originally forested
but most of the trees
were blown down by
storms before 1790. It
is the area where on
August 20, 1794,
General Anthony Wayne
fought the Battle of
Fallen Timbers success-
fully.
12.2 Battle of Fallen Timbers Monument 94.7
The road to the right
will take you to the top
of a hill where a
monument has been con-
structed in
commemoration of the Battle of
Fallen Timbers.
12.5 Hull's Crossing 94.4
On your left is a
point where Hull crossed the
Maumee River in his
historic march.
12.5 Turkey Foot Rock 94.4
The rock enclosed by a
chain on your right, is
supposedly the rock on
which Chief Turkey
94 OHIO ARCH
EOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
From
From Toledo Fort
Wayne
Miles Miles
Foot stood and
exhorted his men to oppose
General
Anthony Wayne during the Battle of
Fallen
Timbers. The rock is not in its original
location but
has been placed at this spot by
the State of
Ohio.
14.7 Entrance to Waterville 92.2
On your right
at the top of the hill, is the old
Miami and Erie
Canal.
15.5 Village of Waterville, Ohio 91.4
16.6 Fort Deposit 90.3
On your right
near the top of the hill, is con-
sidered the
place where Anthony Wayne on
August 18,
1794, left his supplies and built
temporary Fort
Deposit. Some, however,
claim the
location is just south of the low
ground in that
area now used by the stone
quarry.
16.7 Roche de Boeuf 90.2
The rock on
your left in the river, a portion
of which has
been used to construct the rail-
road bridge
across the Maumee River, was
named
"Roche de Boeuf" by the French. It
is a spot that
was used considerably by Indians
and other
groups for meeting places and coun-
cils as it was
easily protected and any ap-
proach by an
enemy could be watched. It is
claimed that
one tribe of Indians during an
argument among
themselves, pushed dozens of
their members
from said rock into the rapids
below where
they were drowned or killed by
the impact.
17.1-18.1 On
your left through this area, the old Miami and
89.8-88.8
Erie Canal has
been filled in and shelter
houses and
parks have been constructed for
the use of the
public by the Toledo Metropoli-
tan Park
Board.
19.6 Bend View Park 87.3
The tow path
of the old canal can be seen
at your left
below. This point gives a fine
view of the
Maumee Valley.
MAUMEE VALLEY
TRAVEL TOUR 95
From
From Toledo Fort
Wayne
Miles Miles
25.1 Grand Rapids 81.8
At this point
you can cross the river to enter
the village of
Grand Rapids.
25.4 This field has never been plowed and
across the 81.5
very small
gully on your right, the path at
this point is
claimed to be a portion of the
original trail
of Anthony Wayne; said path
being made by
the footsteps of his army.
26.0 Providence Park 80.9
At this point,
a retaining dam was built during
the
construction of the original canal. It was
rebuilt in
1908. The old canal can be seen at
this point
together with a mill which is one
of the oldest
in this part of the country and
operated by
water from the canal. The old
canal entrance
into the river appears at this
point. Another
canal is constructed on the
opposite side
of the river to carry down water
through Grand
Rapids for mills located below
the town.
26.2 On your left originally was old historic
"Provi- 80.7
dence
Town" which was wiped out by an
epidemic. When
in existence, it was used as
a stopping
point both by the early settlers and
those using the
canal.
26.7 On your left is a slack water pool or
lake created 80.2
in the Maumee
River by the canal dam.
27.7-28.2 On
your left the locks show where the canal en-
79.2-78.7
tered into the
slackwater pool. You are now
driving along
the old canal. The road is
partly built
upon the canal in this area.
28.2-29.9 You are now driving entirely upon the old
Miami 78.7-77.0
and Erie Canal.
29.2 You are driving on the old
turning basin. 77.7
30.2 Small monument on your
left indicates Section 76.7
No. 53,
Wheeling & Lake Erie Canal, com-
pleted in 1842
by James Durbin.
30.4 Texas. This is an old canal town used
for stop- 76.5
overs.
30.8-32.3 The
old canal can be seen on your left, partially
76.1-74.6
filled in.
96 OHIO ARCH
EOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
From
From Toledo Fort
Wayne
Miles Miles
32.3-33.7 You
are now driving on the old canal.
33.7 Damascus Bridge. 73.2
Damascus
Bridge is on your left. At its en-
trance was
the original old "Damascus Town."
40.6 Napoleon, Ohio 66.3
Follow
through on U. S. 24.
43.1 Wayne's Park Camp 64.8
At this
point, Anthony Wayne camped on
August 16,
1794.
41.5-54.2 The
canal is on your left the entire distance to
65.4-52.7
Independence
Dam. The water has been re-
tained in the
original canal for posterity by
the Defiance
County Park Board and the State
of Ohio.
43.3 On your left, an old canal turning basin
was con- 63.6
structed.
45.5 Girty's Island 61.4
On the left
you will see an island named after
the Girty
Brothers: Simon, James and George.
It is said
that the Girtys lived on this island
and that
James Girty conducted a trading post
at this
point. All three men were traitors to
their race,
were called renegades and deserted
civilization
to dwell among the savages. Simon
was the worst
of the three and a man of ac-
tion. He met
with the Indians in their coun-
cils and was
listened to. He was present at
the burning
of Colonel William Crawford
near Carey in
1792.
47.5 On your left is a dam built in 1933 to
hold the 59.4
water for the
next 6.7 miles of the canal,
which is
standing in its original condition.
48.8 Florida. Old stop-over
canal town. 58.1
51.4 Wa-pa-maw-qua Defiance
State Park 55.5
This name
means White Loon. He was the
son of a
Mohawk chief and an Iroquois
medicine
woman near here. He was a kindly
captor of a
white boy named Oliver H. Spen-
cer (1792).
Later, Oliver Spencer was a
leading
citizen of Cincinnati.
MAUMEE VALLEY
TRAVEL TOUR 97
From
From Toledo Fort
Wayne
Miles Miles
52.3 Was-o-hah-con-die Defiance State Park 54.6
This is the
original Wyandot name for
Maumee River.
52.8 Buck-hon-ge-las Defiance State Park 54.1
Buck-hon-ge-las,
after which this park was
named, was
the head chief of the Delawares.
He was a very
active leader in Maumee war-
fare but
acquiesced in the result of Wayne's
victory and
counseled friendship with the
Americans.
54.2 Independence Dam 52.7
This dam was
used to back the waters of the
Maumee in the
development of the Miami and
Erie Canal.
This feeder dam was constructed
in 1843 of
stone-filled cribs, 763 feet long and
9 feet high and
was rebuilt and raised to 10
feet in
height in 1924. Independence Lock
No. 21 at
this point was built in 1842 and is
the only lock
now in existence in the State
of Ohio that
is in operating condition.
55.2 Independence, Ohio 51.7
57.9 Monument to Chief Coohcooche 49.0
Here was
located a mineral spring in 1790.
It was also
the birthplace of the Ottawa chief,
Shabonee
(1775) and the lodge of the Shaw-
nee chief,
Blue Jacket (1792). It was the
Winchester
Camp No. 1 in 1812.
58.2 Monument to Johnny Appleseed 48.7
On your left,
100 yards past the Defiance city
limits, was
an apple tree which is claimed to
have been a
sprout from an original apple tree
planted by
John Chapman, known as "Johnny
Appleseed."
58.2 Left, across the river on the point is
old Fort 48.7
Defiance;
later enlarged and named "Fort
Winchester."
58.4 On the left and 200 yards inside the
city, is a 48.5
monument
locating Pontiac's birthplace. Here
in 1712 was
born the great Indian chief who
incited
"Pontiac's Conspiracy." He federated
the tribes
and with the aid of the French,
98 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
From
From
Toledo Fort
Wayne
Miles Miles
threatened
British supremacy. Pontiac was
killed
in Illinois in 1769.
58.4 Junction of the Auglaize
and Maumee rivers 48.5
58.6 Turn left to cross the
Maumee River 48.3
58.9 Turn left to Fort Defiance 48.0
Fort
Defiance was erected by General Anthony
Wayne
August 9-17, 1794, and thus "The
Grand
Emporium of the hostile Indians of the
West
was gained without loss of blood."
58.9. Defiance, Ohio 48.0
Defiance,
Ohio, historical spots were shown
by
guides. The highway from Defiance,
Ohio,
to Fort Wayne, Indiana, a distance of
48
miles, is a beautiful drive on a new pave-
ment
on the south side of the Maumee River.
Anthony
Wayne's trail, or march, itself, from
Defiance,
Ohio, to Fort Wayne, Indiana, was
made
on the north side of the river, where
no
road now exists. It took three days for
General
Wayne to march this distance and
the
camps were at points known as "Eleven
and a
half mile tree" near the mouth of Plat-
ter
Creek; "Twenty-three mile tree" almost
opposite
the present city of Antwerp, and
"Thirty-three
mile tree" near the east line of
Milan
township in Allen County, Indiana.
Leave
Defiance on the south side of the river
on
Route 24.
72.9 On your right is a monument to the
village of 34.0
New
Rochester, originally the county-seat of
Paulding
County (1835). The village is now
entirely
obliterated.
82.2 Antwerp, Ohio 24.7
99.6 New Haven, Indiana 7.8
106.9 Fort Wayne, Indiana 0.0
The
committee in Fort Wayne, Indiana, fur-
nished
guides for a tour under the supervision
of
the local committee.
This
historical route program was mimeographed through the courtesy
of
the Toledo Automobile Club for the benefit of those who attended the
Convention.