Magazine of Western History Illustrated NO. 1. November 1884| Project Gutenberg (2024)

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CONTENTS

Portraying the Escape of General Garnett in Tygart’s Valley; the affair of Scarey’sRun in West Virginia; the Capture of Fort Donelson; the Battle of Shiloh Church;the Movement on Cincinnati in 1862, with biographies of Union Generals.

Price, Neatly Bound in Cloth, $1,00.

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The Qualification of a Voter; Information as to Primary Meetings, Conventions andthe Election Laws; a List of State Elections, Senatorial, Representative and JudicialDistricts; the Population, etc., of States and Counties; Classes and Grades of MunicipalCorporations; a List of all the Governors of Ohio and of all the Presidents andVice Presidents of the United States, and other matters of interest.

What is designated on the early maps of the United States as the“Territory Northwest of Ohio” embraced all the country east of theMississippi and north of the Ohio River. Great Britain acquired it fromFrance by the treaty of February, 1762, but, having prior claims to it,had before that time granted most of the territory to her several colonies.Probably there were not more than three thousand white people in theterritory when this treaty was signed, and these were principally wanderingFrench traders; very few of them cultivators of the soil. In 1778Virginia conquered the northwest from Great Britain, and erected theentire territory into a county, by the name of Illinois. Soon after theclose of the War of the Revolution, in the year 1787, the United Statesestablished in the same region its first provincial government, and gave itthe above title, which in common parlance was known as the “NorthwesternTerritory.” Its fixed population did not then exceed five thousand.There are now five States, and the half of a sixth, whose inhabitantsnumber not far from 10,000,000, among whom the French elementis scarcely perceptible. The people of these States are intelligent, andtake a lively interest in the history of the discoverers of their country,among whom La Salle holds the first place.

Having spent a life of the length usually allotted to man, on the watersof the Ohio, the Upper Mississippi, and the lakes, threading many of thestreams on which they floated their canoes, passing over the same trails,4coasting along the same shores, those intrepid explorers of two centuriessince, have often been, in imagination, vividly near to me.

As early as 1840 I saw evidence of the presence of white men in northeasternOhio, of whom we had then no historical proof. This evidence isin the form of ancient cuts, made by sharp axes on our oldest forest trees,covered by their subsequent growth. In this climate the native trees areendogenous, and take on one layer of growth annually. There are exceptions,but I have tested the accuracy of this habit, in about forty caseswhere I have had other proof of the age of the tree, and find it to be agood general rule.

The Jesuit relations contain no account of establishments on the southshore of Lake Erie in the seventeenth century. For many years thesewooden records remained an interesting mystery, which I think may possiblybe solved by recent documents brought to light in France. Weknow that La Salle in 1680 returned from the Illinois to Montreal most ofthe way by land, and it is conjectured that he may have traversed thesouth shore of Lake Erie; but the passage of a few men hastily througha wilderness did not account for the many marks of axes which we find.

The stump of an oak tree was shown me soon after it had been felledin 1838, which stood in the northwestern part of Canfield, MahoningCounty, O. It was two feet ten inches in diameter, and, with the exceptionof the concealed gashes, was quite sound. When about fourteeninches in diameter, this tree had been cut nearly half through; but thescar had healed over so thoroughly that it did not appear externally. Itook a section from the outside to the heart, showing both the old and therecent axe marks, which may be seen in the museum of the Western ReserveHistorical Society, at Cleveland. Over the old cuts there had grownone hundred and sixty annual layers of solid wood, and the tree had diedof age some years before. This would place the cutting between theyears 1670 and 1675. The tree stood a few miles south of the greatIndian trail leading from the waters of the Mahoning, a branch of theOhio, to the waters of the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie. In 1848 or1849, Mr. S. Lapham, of Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio, felled a hickorytree, standing a short distance from the ridge, along which was once themain Indian trail parallel to the lake. The diameter of the stump wasabout two feet. Near the heart there were very distinct cuts of a sharp,broad-bitted axe. Mr. Lapham preserved a piece of this tree, that is nowin our museum, donated by Professor J. L. Cassells. The annual layers5of growth are very thin, and difficult to count, but are about four hundredin number, outside the ancient chopping. Another tree was found inNewburgh, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, more than thirty years since, withmarks of an axe near the centre, represented to have one hundred andfifty to one hundred and sixty layers of growth over it, apparently thework of a sharp, broad-bitted axe.

In the cabinet of the Ashtabula Historical Society, at Jefferson, AshtabulaCounty, Ohio, there was, some years since, a piece of wood withancient axe marks of about the same date. I have heard of two othersin northeastern Ohio, which I have not seen, and which may have beenthe work of a dull, narrow-bitted axe in the hands of a savage, and notthe work of white men; but the Indians of northern Ohio could not havelong been in possession of metal tomahawks or squaw hatchets, in theyear 1670. Such cuts, if made by them, could be only a few years moreancient.

The Lake County stump has about twice the number of layers weshould expect, and which would carry the chopping to a period before thelanding of Columbus. Botanists explain this by the exceptional caseswhere there is a double layer in a year. If La Salle and his party spenttwo or three years exploring and trading in furs in the lake country, theymight well be the authors of these ancient cuttings. There must havebeen several hundreds of them, or we should not have met with so manyat this late period. Any person examining the pieces in the WesternReserve Historical Society museum will be convinced they are not thework of Indians.

The honor of the first exploration of Ohio has long been claimed bythe French for their countryman, Robert Cavalier de La Salle, but thedetails of this exploration were so meager, its date so doubtful, and theextent of his travels so uncertain, that some historians were not inclinedto give credence to his claims.

A romantic mystery still envelopes his movements in the country betweenLake Erie and the Ohio River, which it was hoped the papers ofM. Pierre Margry would dissipate, and thus place La Salle on record infull and clear terms. If this cannot be effected by the zeal and industryof M. Margry, during a life work in search of manuscripts relating to LaSalle, I fear that we must relinquish the hope of a satisfactory solution.

DeCourcelles and Talon, who were respectively governor and intendantin New France, sent out several parties of discovery between 1665 and61680. They had two principal objects in view: the discovery of copper,and a route to China through the Great Southern Sea.

In a memoir to the king, dated Quebec, October 10, 1670, (NewYork Colonial Documents, page 64) Talon writes: “Since my arrival Ihave despatched persons of resolution, who promise to penetrate fartherthan has ever been done to the west and northwest of Canada, and othersto the southwest and south.” These parties were instructed to keepjournals, reply to instructions, take possession of the country formally,and were expected to be absent without news for about two years.After all these precautions, a distressing fatality overtook most of theirletters, field notes, reports and maps. Joliet was nearly in sight of Montrealon his return in 1674 from the Mississippi River, when his canoe wascapsized in the rapids, he was nearly drowned, and every paper was lost.Of La Salle’s memoranda, covering the years 1669 to 1673, nothinghas been recovered.

In 1686 Governor DeNonville, writing from Quebec under date of November8th, to Seignelay, Minister of Marine, says: “I annex to thisletter a memoir of our right to the whole of that country (Ohio), of whichour registers ought to be full, but no memorials of them are to be found.I am told that M. Talon has the original of the entries in his possessionof a great many discoveries that were made in this country, with whichour registers ought to be full. Doubtless he has given them to my lateLord, your father.”—Colonial Documents, vol. 9, page 297.

“The River Ohio, otherwise called the Beautiful River, and its tributaries,belong indisputably to France, by virtue of its discovery, by theSieur de la Salle, and of the trading posts the French have had there since.***It is only within a few years that the English have undertakento trade there.”—Instructions to M. DuQuesne, Paris, 1752, (ColonialDocuments, N. Y., vol. 10, page 243).

“It is only since the last war that the English have set up claims to theterritory on the Beautiful River, the possession whereof has never beendisputed to the French, who have always resorted to that river ever sinceit was discovered by Sieur de la Salle.”—Instructions to Vaudreuil, Versailles,April, 1755, (Colonial Documents, vol. 10, page 293).

As the Jesuits in Canada were personally hostile to La Salle, theynever mention his name in their relations, or the discoveries made by him.They were jealous of him as a discoverer and a trader, despised him as afriend of the Sulpitians, and an apostate from the Society of Jesus, an7order at that time so powerful in Canada that the governor-general wasobliged to compliment them in his open dispatches, while he spokeseverely of them in cypher.

Louis XIV. was not required to expend more money in wars thanother French monarchs, but his civil projects were ample and his pleasuresvery expensive. He was habitually straitened for funds, and requiredthe strictest economy in the expenses of all his officers.

In Canada parsimony in public affairs was even more rigid than inFrance. The governor-general was unable to live on his salary. Intendants,ecclesiastics and local governors were in a still worse predicament.It was expected that all of them would make up this deficiency by trafficin furs. Many of the dispatches from Versailles are laden with warningsagainst incurring expenses, which amounted to commands. Many ofthose sent in reply contain passages congratulating the king on acquisitionsof territory and glory, which cost him nothing. Three-quarters of acentury later, as related above, in negotiations with England, the Ohiocountry was claimed by the French, on the sole ground of the discoveriesof La Salle.

The personal interest which public officers had in the Indian trade, ofnecessity brought about discord between them. La Salle, having no fortune,was obliged to sustain himself in the same way, which brought himin direct antagonism with officers, priests and traders. This reference isnecessary to explain the difficulties under which he labored.

According to the Abbé Galinée, Governor Courcelles requested himselfand Dollier DeCasson, another Sulpitian, to join La Salle in a voyage hehad long contemplated, toward a great river which he conceived, from theaccounts of the Iroquois, to flow westward, beyond which, after seven oreight months of travel, in their way of stating it, the river and countrywere lost in the sea.

By this river, called by them the Ohio, Olighiny-sipu, or BeautifulRiver, and by others, Mescha-zebe, or Mississippi, M. de la Salle hopedto find the long sought passage to the Red, Vermillion, or South Sea,and acquire the glory of that enterprise. He also hoped to find plentyof beavers wherewith to meet the expense of the journey.

We must not forget the nature of the French Government when contemplatingthe history of Canada. The king was absolute, not only inpublic but in private affairs. When he said: “I am the State,” he expresseda fact, and not a fiction or a boast. The men and women of the8kingdom were subject to the will of one man, even in their personal relationsand occupations. In Canada nothing escaped the supervision of hisofficers, who were equally absolute, which explains why permission wasnecessary to engage in any enterprise.

The two parties left Montreal in July, 1669, La Salle having four canoesand fourteen men, the Sulpitians three canoes and eight men. Theyreached Ironduquoit Bay, in New York, on the 10th of August, makinga portage to the Genesee valley and some Indian towns near Victor Stationand Boughton Hill, sixteen miles southeasterly from Rochester. Thesavages told La Salle that the Ohio had its rise three days’ journey from“Sonnontouan,” or the country of the Senecas. After a month’s travelthey would reach the Hon-ni-as-ant-ke-rons, and the Chouanons (Shawnees);after passing them and a great fall or chute, there were the Outagamies(Pottawatomies), and the country of the Is-konsan-gos, with plentyof deer, buffaloes, thick woods, and an immense population.

The Jesuits had a mission at “Gannegora,” the Indian name of a townand a fort near Boughton Hill, but were absent when La Salle and theSulpitians arrived there. The Indians discouraged them from taking theGenesee route to the Ohio, representing that it required six days’ journeyof twelve leagues or thirty-six miles each. Charlevoix affirms that theGenesee is navigable for canoes sixty leagues or one hundred and eightymiles, and from thence it is only ten leagues or thirty miles by land tothe Allegheny or Ohio, river of the Iroquois. Mr. Marshall has shownthat this portage was in Allegany County, New York, from near Belvidereto Olean.

By the united efforts of the Jesuits, the Dutch and the Senecas, theywere persuaded to relinquish this route and hasten back to their canoes,to avoid violence on the part of the savages. They coasted along thesouth shore of Lake Ontario, passing the Niagara without examination,and reached Burlington Bay on the 22d of September. DeNonville, in1687, states that La Salle had houses and people at Niagara in 1668.—(HistoricalDocuments, vol. 1, p. 244). If this is true, La Salle musthave been well acquainted with the portage to Lake Erie, around thefalls. Why he should have selected the more difficult route by way ofBurlington Bay, and a portage of fifteen miles to Grand River, is nowhereexplained.

Not far from the head of the bay was the village of Tenouatouan, onthe path to Grand River. Here the party met Joliet and a few Indians,9on his return from Mackinaw. He had been sent by the intendant tofind the copper mines of Lake Superior, and appears to have been thefirst Frenchman to have navigated Lake Erie. He took that route homeat the instigation of the Ottawas, and of an Iroquois prisoner he was takinghome to his people.

According to Galinée, when they were fifty leagues west of Grand River,this Iroquois became alarmed on account of the Andasterrionons, Errionons,Eriqueronons, or Eries of the south shore, with whom the Senecaswere at war. They were thus obliged to leave their canoes and make thejourney to Tenouatouan by land.

La Salle’s plan might have been to cross from Lake Ontario to GrandRiver, down it to the lake, thence along the north shore of Erie to themouth of the Maumee River, on the route referred to by him in 1682; upthis stream to the portage at Fort Wayne, and down the waters of theWabash into an unknown world.

In a subsequent letter written from Illinois he speaks of this route, andalso in his memorial to Frontenac in 1677, as the best one for traffic betweenthe Great River and Canada, though it does not appear that he everpassed over it.—(Western Reserve Historical Society, Tract 25). Jolietwas likewise ambitious of the glory of discovering the Great River, ofwhich the Jesuit missionaries and the Indians gave glowing descriptions.He seems to have persuaded Galinée and DeCasson that this was thebetter route. La Salle and the Sulpitians here became alienated, andafter attending mass separated on the 30th of September, they to findLake Erie and the Ottawas of Mackinaw; he to pursue his original design.He had been for some days sick of a fever, which Galinée attributed tothe sight of several rattlesnakes. He declared it to be so late in the seasonthat his voyageurs, not accustomed to such a rigorous climate, wouldperish in the woods during the winter.

From the hour of this separation we are without explicit information ofhis journeyings for a term of nearly three years. During this period theexploration of the Ohio country was effected, and in the opinion of M.Margry, the Mississippi was discovered by him, in advance of Joliet andMarquette. These wanderings, of which after two hundred years weknow very little, show more originality of design, more audacity in execution,and a more pertinacious resolution under difficulties, than his laterachievements on the Mississippi. No one has set up against him a rivalclaim to the discovery of the Ohio. His heirs, his admirers, and his countrymen10should cherish the memory of that discovery as the most wonderfulof his exploits. The historical obscurity which has befallen theseexpeditions is a painful fact, but is in some measure compensated by aglamour of romance, which deepens with the lapse of time. On seeinghis favorite plan of an advance by the north shore of LakeErie frustrated, he may have determined to brave all dangers and enterthe lake by way of Niagara. There are many plans which he may havedetermined upon, of which we can only form a vague conjecture. Hemay have turned his canoes along the north shore, and spent the winterin hunting in that country. Color is given to this surmise by the statementof Nicholas Perrot that he met La Salle on the Ottawa in 1670, butthis is not probable. Taken in the order of the anonymous relation, hewas on a river which ran from east to west, before passing to Onontague(Onondaga), but there is no water route passable from Lake Ontarioto the Ohio which would pass Onondaga. It is far more probable thatthe enthusiastic young explorer entered Niagara River with his Shawneeguide and made the portage to Lake Erie. He could soon find oneof the portages to the waters of the Ohio, spoken of by the Senecas. Oneof them was from Lake Erie near Portland and Westfield, N. Y., ofsix or seven leagues (eighteen to twenty-one miles), to Chatauqua Lake.Another, of about the same length, answers also to their directions,which was afterward the usual route from Erie to French Creek, at Waterfordin Pennsylvania. By either of these routes he might have been onthe Allegheny, with his goods and canoes, in ten or twelve days, if theweather was good. He would, however, have here been among theAndasterrionons, who were probably the Eries or Errieronons, withwhom the Senecas were then at war. These Indians had been representedat “Gannegora” as sure to kill the Frenchmen if they wentamong them.

Gravier has a theory that instead of Onontague or “Gannontague,”mentioned in the memoir of the friend of Galinée, we should read Ganestogueor “Ganahogue,” the ancient name of the Cuyahoga. It is notimprobable that the guide of La Salle knew of this route, along which,ascending the Cuyahoga from Cleveland, the party would be enabled to reachthe waters of the Muskingum, by a portage of seven miles at Akron, andfrom thence the Ohio, at Marietta. La Salle states that after he reachedthe Ohio, according to the anonymous account, but one very large riverwas passed on the north shore before reaching the falls. If he failed to11recognize the Scioto as a very large river, there is only the Great Miamiwhich meets his description.

He may also have concluded to spend the winter in Ohio, where gamewas abundant and beavers numerous, an event to which I have referredin connection with the axe marks. We have no reliable evidence that hewas at Montreal between July, 1669, and August, 1672. The records ofVillemarie, quoted by Faillon, contain the first solid proof of his presenceon the St. Lawrence, after he departed with Galinée and DeCasson.During this period we may be certain he was not idle. It is far fromcertain how many men he had, but the anonymous relation affirms thathe was deserted by twenty-three or twenty-four of them after leaving theFalls of the Ohio. Where did he get these additional recruits? In theabsence of historical proof, it is reasonable to infer that, when he left theSulpitians, he moved southwesterly in accordance with his instructions,and did not turn back to Montreal. His honor, his interest and hisambition all forced him in one direction, toward the country where hewas directed to go and to stay, as long as he could subsist.

What the Abbé Faillon states in the third volume of his French Colonies(page 312) confirms this supposition. According to this authority,about four months after La Salle’s departure, which would be in November,1669, a part of his men returned, having refused to follow him. Hehimself could not have returned at this time without observation andpublic discredit.

Such a brief and fruitless effort to reach the Great South Sea could nothave escaped the notice of historians. It is not probable that his foreman,Charles Thoulamion, or his surgeon, Roussilier, (Histoire ColonieFrancais, vol. 3, p. 290) were among those wanting in courage to followhim. Some soldiers were of the party, furnished by Talon, who wouldbe likely to remain by force of military discipline.

There are many threads of this tangled skein, which can not yet bedrawn out. In the first volume of the Margry documents (pages 371–78)may be seen a long recital by a friend of the Abbé Galinée, already referredto, whose name is a subject of conjecture, but presumed by Mr.Parkman to have been the second Prince of Conti, Armand de Bourbon,a friend of La Salle, seventeen or eighteen years of age, purporting tobe the substance of conversations with La Salle, which must have takenplace as late as 1677, when he was in France. One portion of this paperis styled a “Life of La Salle,” a large part of which is occupied by his12troubles with the Jesuits. “He (La Salle) left France at twenty-one ortwenty-two years of age, in 1665, well instructed in matters in the newworld, with the design of attempting new discoveries. After having beensome time in Canada he acquired some knowledge of the languages, andtraveled northward, where he found nothing worthy of his attention, andresolved to turn southward; and having advanced to a village of savageson the Genesee, where there was a Jesuit, he hoped to find guides, etc.”*****“M. de la Salle continued his route from ‘Tenouatoua’upon a river which goes from east to west, and passed to Onondaga (Onontague),then to six or seven leagues below Lake Erie; and having reachedlongitude 280° or 283°, and to latitude 41°, found a sault, which falls towardthe west into a low, marshy country, covered with dry trees, ofwhich some are still standing. He was compelled to take the land, andfollowing a height, which led him very far, he found savages who told himthat very far from there the same river, which was lost in the low, marshycountry, reunited in one bed. He continued his way, but as the fatiguewas great, twenty-three or twenty-four men, whom he had brought thusfar, left him all in one night, regained the river, and saved themselves,some in New Holland and others in New England. He found himselfalone at four hundred leagues (twelve hundred miles) from his home,where he failed not to return, reascending the river, and living byhunting, upon herbs and upon what the savages gave him, whom he meton the way. After some time he made a second attempt, on the same river,which he left below Lake Erie, making a portage of six or seven leagues(eighteen or twenty-one miles), to embark on this lake, which he traversedtoward the north” into lakes Huron and Michigan, and thence to theIllinois.

Aside from the indefinite phrases of this paper, it is characterized by somany geographical errors that it would possess little value without thesupport of the following statement of La Salle himself:

In the year 1667 and following years he La Salle made many voyages, at much expense, in which hewas the first discoverer of much country south of the great lakes, between them and the great river,Ohio. He followed it to a place where it falls from a great height into marshes, in latitude 37°, afterhaving been enlarged by another very large river, which comes from the north, and all these waters, accordingto appearances, discharge into the Gulf of Mexico, and here he hopes to find a communicationwith the sea.

No conjecture respecting La Salle’s operations on the Ohio has yetbeen formed that reconciles these conflicting accounts.

In nothing direct from his pen does La Salle refer to the desertion of13his men after leaving the falls of the Ohio. According to the supposedrecital of Armand de Bourbon, he had made a long journey from thenceby land, the direction of which is not known. He may have been at thattime in Kentucky or Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, or Ohio. If he proceededwesterly he was constantly increasing the distance from Montreal,and whether he was north or south of the Ohio it is scarcely credible thathe should find his way back alone in the winter of 1669–70. In thespring of 1681 he made that sad trip from “Crèvecœur” to Niagara, withan Indian and four men, which occupied sixty-five days. It would consumefully as much time to return from the falls of the Ohio. He couldnot have examined the country near the river, below the falls, or hewould not have reported that it is a vast marsh, with intricate channels,along which it flowed a great distance before uniting in a single bed. Hecould not have traveled far west of the meridian of the falls without hearingof the Mississippi, and making an effort to reach it, for it was onlythrough this river that he then expected to reach the Red Sea on theroute to China.

La Salle could not have explored the falls very minutely, and havespoken of them as very high, nor of the country below as a vast marshwith numerous and intricate channels. If, in his land journey, he hadgone in a northwesterly direction, he would have struck the Wabash orits main branches in about one hundred and twenty-five miles. In asouthwesterly direction, the Cumberland and the Tennessee are rivers ofequal magnitude, the waters of which he must have encountered in a fewdays’ travel.

Whatever Indians he met would be closely questioned, and if theycommunicated anything, the Great River must have been the first objectof their thoughts. An observation of either of these three rivers by LaSalle, in the lower part of their course, or even second-hand informationrespecting them from the savages, must have led a mind so acute as his,sharpened by his purposes and his surroundings, to the conclusion that hewas near the Mississippi.

Did he reach this conclusion, and find himself baffled by the clamors orthe desertion of his men? Did he find means to procure other men andsupplies without returning to Montreal? It appears from the ColonieFrancaise, vol. iii, that in the summer of 1671 he had communication withMontreal, where he obtained a credit of 454 livres tournois. Did thisenable him to pass from the waters of the Ohio to those of Lake Erie,14and undertake a long cruise through the lakes to the Illinois country?

Whatever reply should be made to these queries, it is reasonablyevident that when his great work of 1679 was undertaken he did not knowthat the Ohio is a tributary of the Mississippi, or whether the greatunknown river would conduct them to the South Sea. The discoveriesof Joliet in 1673 did not remove these doubts from the minds of thegovernor-general or the geographers of that period.

La Salle, as late as 1682, after having been at the mouth of the Mississippi,was inclined to the opinion that the Ohio ran into a great (butimaginary) river, called Chucugoa, east of the Mississippi, discharginginto the Gulf or the Atlantic in Florida. The French had not followedthe Ohio from the falls to its junction with the Wabash. On a map madein 1692, ten years later, the Wabash is equivalent to the lower Ohio,formed by the Miami and the upper Ohio, the Wabash of our maps beingomitted.

The main facts which residents of the Ohio valley are most curious toknow concerning La Salle’s operations here are yet wanting. We havemade diligent search for them, and are as yet unable to say, precisely,how much time he spent on the waters of the Ohio and Lake Erie priorto 1673; what trading posts he established, if any; what streams he navigated,or with what tribes he became acquainted. The instructions toGovernor-General DuQuesne in 1752, above referred to, claim that theFrench had occupied this country ever since it was discovered by LaSalle. Governor Burnet, of the colony of New York in 1721, states that,three years before, the French had no establishments on Lake Erie.

We may infer that La Salle was busily occupied during the years 1670and 1671, on the waters of the Ohio and Lake Erie, collecting furs, for hehad no other means of support. The credit he obtained at Villemarie in1671 was payable in furs. If his map should be discovered in someneglected garret in France, we should no doubt find there a solution ofmany historical difficulties that now perplex us. It was the custom atthat time to make very full memoranda on maps, amounting to a condensedreport of the author’s travels. If this map exists, Europe doesnot contain a paper of more value to us.

Mr. Shea, whose labors on the history of French occupation have beenwonderfully persistent and minute, is of the opinion that we may presumethat unauthorized voyageurs, trappers, traders and coureurs des bois, bothFrench and English, were among the Indians in advance of the explorers.

15The Dutch on the Hudson, and after 1664 the English, were on goodterms with the Iroquois, who carried their wars to Lake Superior and theMississippi. We have no records of the movements of those half savagetraders, except in the case of Etienne Brulé, and that is of little value.

La Salle was probably on the waters of the Ohio when GovernorWoods, of the colony of Virginia, sent a party to find that river in September,1671. This party reached the falls of the Kanawha on the 17thof that month, where they found rude letters cut upon standing trees.They took possession of the country in the name of Charles II., of England,and proceeded no farther.—(Botts’ Journal, New York ColonialDocuments, vol. iii, p. 194). William Penn’s colony was not then organized.In 1685 or 1686 some English traders penetrated as far as Mackinaw,by way of Lake Erie. They were probably from New York, andhaving made their purchases of the Ottawas, returned under the protectionof the Hurons or Wyandots, of the west end of Lake Erie.

If the Virginians were engaged in the Indian trade at this early period,their route would be up the Potomac to the heads of the Youghiogeny,and from the forks of the Ohio at Pittsburgh to Lake Erie, by the AlleghenyRiver and French creek, or by way of the Beaver, Mahoning, andthe Cuyahoga Rivers. These Arabs of the forest would carry axes andhatchets having a steel bit, whether Dutch, French or English; and thusmay have done the hacking upon our trees which I have described.None of these people would be likely to leave other records of theirpresence in a country claimed by their different governments, on whichone party or the other were trespassers.

I am aware that this presentation of the most interesting period in thehistory of Ohio is desultory and incomplete. If there had been a reasonableprospect of more facts, it would have been delayed; but it is doubtfulif we may expect much more light on the subject of the discovery ofthe Ohio valley.

When Columbus found America it was supposed he had reachedthe eastern coast of Asia. As discovery progressed, names intended forthat continent were strung along the Atlantic. One of them, the WestIndies, to-day reminds us of the error, as well as Indian, the commonname for the aborigines.

It was by and by suspected that America was not Asia, but it was along time before the reality of a vast continent was understood. Succeedinglearned men made it consist of two very long and narrowbodies of land.

South America, coasted by Cape Horn, was first delineated withsome accuracy, but North America not until very much later. Thefeeble colonies along the Atlantic grew slowly, and not until two hundredand fifty years did they really begin to push over the mountains, andthere met other colonies from the interior of the continent. The SouthSea trade led to many voyages of discovery, and many energetic captainssailed up and down the coast striving and continually hoping to find somestrait to the supposed near coast of Asia.

We, in our day, read the early voyages as if the enterprising men whoconducted them were voyaging purely for science and adventure, but,then, as now, business was energetic and commerce was reaching out itshands in every direction for larger profits. Only once did a romanticchevalier search for the visionary fountain of youth, and he may havethought that bottled it would be the most popular of mineral waters andthere were “millions in it.”

Cartier entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1534, but returned toFrance to get a new outfit to pursue the new sea channel to the west.The next year he entered the river, but still looked for a passage to Asia.He thought deep Saguenay led to the Northern Sea and continued up theSt. Lawrence. Stopped by the rapids he was the first European whomade the tour of the mountain, and named the place “Mount Royal.”

17The Indians reported to Cartier that there were three large lakes and asea of fresh water without end, meaning, no doubt, lakes of middle NewYork and Ontario Sea. Cartier and his king, the great Francis, supposedhe was in Asia.

In a mercator map of 1569, the St. Lawrence is represented drainingall the Upper Mississippi valley, while to the northwest is the easternend of a vast fresh water sea (dulce aquarum) some five hundred or sixhundred miles wide, of the extent of which the Indians of Canada, learningof it from the Indians of Saguenay, are ignorant. It looks on themap like Lake Huron, but careful geographers dropped this unfoundedreport of a great lake, and rightly. The Saguenay Indians no doubtmeant the Lake St. John.

Quebec was settled in 1608. In 1615 Champlain reached Lake Huronby way of Ottawa River. On his return he crossed the lower end of Ontario,and met in battle the Iroquois. His allies, the Hurons, wished himto wait for five hundred men from the Eries, the tribe from which ourlake took its name. His interpreter, Brulé, visited them and descendedthe Susquehanna to salt water, and is supposed to have visited the lake;I doubt it. He did not need to cross it to return to the French, and hecould hardly have stood on the lake and seen its broad expanse. He reportedto Champlain, who, in 1632 made the first map of the lakes.Lake Erie, unnamed, is little but a wide irregular river from Lake Huron,(Mer Douce) to Ontario (Lac St. Louis). Champlain’s ideas of Erie weremore likely derived from the north, where Long Point and islands makeit look narrower than it does from the south.

The maps of other nations for a long time after show no practicalknowledge of the interior, being quite constant differences in grossestblunders. But in the meantime the French—“shut up,” says the Englishgeographer, Heylin, “in a few weak forts on the north of Canada,”—werereally by missionaries and teachers, pushing far into the interior.The Jesuit map of Lake Superior, of 1671, is wonderful. In a map publishedby the Royal Geographer Sanson, in Paris in 1669, Lake Erie is notfar from its true shape, and lake Chautauqua appears with a small stream—meant,I think, for a little of the Ohio, known from Indian report.

It is worth while to stop for a moment to glance at the then position ofour State. Between it and the east are the Alleghanies, in those days agreat natural barrier, and not inaptly called “Endless Mountains.” It wasto be nearly one hundred years before the whites were to cross them,18proposing to drive away the French, but really to meet the most disastrousdefeat of Braddock’s field.

At the south was a broad river separating from Kentucky, and not untilstill later and many a “dark and bloody” fight was Virginia to assertit* empire over an unknown northwest by calling it “Illinois county.”Nor was New York to discover Ohio. All along through Western NewYork, and controlling the easiest avenues, were the Iroquois, the “Romansof the new world,” the conquerors of Ohio, who submitted toneither the English nor the French, and who long asserted an equalitywith either. The French were more sociable with Indians, but the introductionof the Iroquois to civilization was a battle with Champlain in1608, which made the Hurons friends of the French, but lost them theconquerors of the Hurons.

The French had been pursuing their occupation, such as it was, overthe peninsula north of Lake Erie, and established several posts aroundLakes Superior and Huron and at Detroit, where was carried on a valuabletrade. The routes north of the lakes or by the Ottawa, were the shortest,easiest and much the safest. All the while they were looking forlarger things and full of schemes. Rumors of great rivers reached them,including some report of that which started from the country of the Iroquoisand gathered strength for its immense unknown course through distantlands.

No more resolute discoverer than La Salle ever came to New France.A young man, only twenty-three, he was of good family; lost his inheritanceby joining the Jesuits, but had given up his intention of becoming apriest. One can see, however, that he had imbibed their enthusiasm forgeographical extension, and turned to designs for commerce and the kingtheir zeal for their order. His whole life is so harmonious in its unitythat it gives color to the suggestion of Mr. Parkman that he had plannedit before he came. He had a grant at once, through the influence of hisbrother, at La Chine, named, it is said, in ridicule of his plans for a routeto China. He palisaded it, traded in furs, and studied with industry theIndian tongues, learning, it is said, seven or eight. The Indians whocame there talked of the Ohio, a grand river which rose near Lake Erie,but after a journey requiring eight or nine months to follow, emptied intoa vast sea. La Salle believed the sea to be the Gulf of California, thenthought to communicate, by a broad passage at its north, with the ocean.Here was the passage to the commerce of the South Sea and valuable19trade with nations along its banks. In 1667 he asked to be allowed todiscover it. He had the privilege, but his company was merged with thatof two missionaries, Galinée and Dollier. With them, in 1669, he visitedthe Iroquois. The river was in its old place, but the Iroquois were notinclined to have the Frenchmen penetrate their country, intercept theirtrade and supply the nations to their rear with the fire arms which madethe Iroquois themselves omnipotent in battle.

They talked of the long, hard journey—almost impossible; of the Andastes,a terrible nation almost sure to kill them, and the still more terribleShawnees. The courage of the missionaries failed them, and La Sallewas obliged to turn with them to the north.

There has lately been published in Paris, by M. Margry, a series ofdocuments which add much to our knowledge of him. In these volumesappear his plans, expenses, poverty, drafts upon his family and friends;how he built upon Lake Ontario and Niagara, and planned to build on LakeErie and further west.

In 1667 he was in France. He was already famous and of influence.His scheme was vast. He wished to penetrate to the great valley of ourcontinent and lay there the foundation of powerful colonies “in a countrytemperate in climate, rich and fertile, and capable of a great commerce.”He told the king “such a hold of the continent would be taken, that inthe next war with Spain, France would oust her from North America.”He was graciously allowed to pursue this vast enterprise, provided he didso at his own expense.

In 1679 he built the Griffin, the first vessel upon Lake Erie. He foundedFort Miamis upon the river St. Joseph, in southwest Michigan, andFort Crèvecœur upon the Illinois, intending to there build a vessel to descendthe Mississippi. The Griffin returned to bring supplies. He neversaw her again. She was lost, he believed, by treachery, and he must returnfor succor. Arrived overland at Niagara, he found he had also lost avessel with supplies from France. He reached Montreal May 6, 1680.His creditors had seized his property and his resources seemed entirelywasted. He learned by letter from Tonty, that the men left at Crèvecœurhad deserted after destroying the fort, carrying away what propertythey could and destroying the balance. They also destroyed Fort St.Joseph and seized his property at Niagara. But La Salle was not disheartened.He started to succor Tonty and save the vessel on the Illinois.As he reached Crèvecœur, in the winter of 1680, all was silent; the20planks of the vessel were there and on one was written “Nous sommestous sauvages: ce 19, A. 1680.” Was it prophetic that he had named theplace Crèvecœur (Broken Heart)? Not at all. His first thought was,did A. stand for April or August, and where was Tonty. The resolutewill and wonderful power of La Salle appear nowhere so strongly as inthe narrative of the Illinois. There seems almost a direct triumph ofmind over matter. He found Tonty at Michilimackinac, and in 1682–3 accomplishedhis purpose of descending the Mississippi to the sea. He returnedup the river and to France, and in 1685 was in a sea expedition tofound a colony at its mouth. The captain, against his protest, carried himby and landed him in Texas. He still persisted, with the men left withhim, in the resolve to find the Mississippi, with great suffering and oppositionon their part, but not at all daunted himself. A part of them revoltedfrom the enterprise, and one of them shot La Salle, exclaiming:“Lie there Grand Bashaw,” and that resolute will was still.

Such was the man, who, almost at the outset of his career, and whenhardly twenty-seven, discovered the Ohio. There are no journals or mapsof that discovery, and I have traced the man to enable us to judge of themanner in which he no doubt pursued that project. We left him withGalinée in 1669, sadly turning to the north. Of the captive guides furnishedby the Iroquois, he got a Shawnee from Ohio, and persisted inwishing to seek that river. He shortly separated from the expedition.The opposition which we have related was not all. The Jesuits werejealous of his schemes—the only ones more vast and energetic than theirown. Frontenac, the governor, says: “Their design, as appeared in theend, was to set a trap whichever path I took, or to derange everything;to place the country in disorder, from which they would not hesitate toprofit and to ruin M. de La Salle.”

Their annual reports are the main reliance for early Canadian history,and they purposely and sagaciously omitted all mention of his enterprisesor discoveries, or even his name.

Until within a few years it has been said that La Salle did nothing forthe next two or three years after he left Galinée. With such a man thatwas impossible. We have the briefest knowledge of what he did. Hisreports and his maps, known to be in existence as late as 1756, are apparentlyhopelessly lost. In the papers publishing at Paris is one resultingfrom conversations with La Salle in 1677, when he was in France, a toobrief narrative. It sets forth La Salle’s resolve to turn to the21south; that Galinée, a missionary, hoped to do good in the north, andin this hope left our hero. “However,” says the narrative, “M. deLa Salle continued his journey on a river which goes from the east to thewest, and passed to Onontague, then to six or seven leagues below fromLake Erie, and having reached longitude 280 to 283 degrees, and latitude41, found a rapid which falls to the west in a low, marshy country, allcovered with dry trees, some of which were still standing. He was compelledto take to land, and following a height which led him away, hefound some Indians who told him that far off the river lost itself in thelower country, and reunited again in one stream. He continued on thejourney, but as the fatigue was great, twenty-three or twenty-four men,which he had brought there, left him by night, returned up the river andsaved themselves, some in New York and some in New England.

“He was alone, four hundred leagues from home, where he returned,ascending the river and living on game, plants, and what was given himby the Indians.

“After some time he made a second attempt, on the same river,” whichhe left below Lake Erie, making a portage of six or seven leagues toembark on that lake, which he left towards the north, going through LakeSt. Clair. La Salle himself says in a letter of 1677: “That year, 1667,and those following he made several expensive journeys, in which he discoveredthe first time the country south of the great lakes, and betweenthem and the great river Ohio. He followed it to a strait, where it fellinto great marshes, below 37° latitude.”

A letter from M. Talon to the king, dated November 2, 1671, says:“Sieur de La Salle has not yet returned from his journey to the southwardof this country.”

A memoir of M. de DeNonville, March 8, 1688, says: “La Salle hadfor several years before he built Crèvecœur, employed canoes for histrade in the rivers Oyo, Oubache and others in the surrounding neighborhood,which flow into the river Mississippi.”

A plain meaning of all this is that La Salle entered the Ohio near or atone of its sources, I believe at Lake Chatauqua, six or seven leaguesbelow Lake Erie, and followed it to Louisville. He was engaged in thebeaver trade, and in 1671 had a credit at Montreal, payable in beaver.We may be pretty confident that, with his twenty-three or twenty-fourmen and several canoes, looking for beaver-skins, he did not neglect theMahoning River, first called Beaver creek.

22La Salle’s latitude is bad; we would expect that. Joliet’s manuscript mapof 1674 lays down the Ohio marked “Route of the Sieur de La Salle to go toMexico.” The unpublished map of Franquelin of 1688 lays down theOhio more correctly than it appeared in published maps for sixty years.The discovery was the basis of the French claims to Ohio, and La Salle’slikeness is one of the four great discoverers of America in the Capitol atWashington. But the knowledge gained by La Salle was to be in a greatmeasure lost. The English, stopped by Indians and mountains, were notto settle here. The west and northwest were safer territory for theFrench. The Iroquois roamed over Ohio, warred with the tribes beyond,even to the Mississippi. The Wabash and Ohio became confounded,often laid down as “Wabash or Ohio,” and most often made runningalmost parallel with the lake and just about on the high land inOhio which divides the streams of the north from the south.The magnificent sweep of the Ohio, which embraces our State on theeast and south, was lost. The lake had various fortunes. La Hontanmade it run down like a great bag half way to the Gulf, but that being intime changed, its south shore was drawn nearly east and west instead ofto the southwest westward. No subsequent French writer was so sensibleand intelligent as Charlevoix, yet in his great work of three quarto volumeson New France our territory hardly appears, and on the south of LakeErie in his larger map of it, in 1744, is the legend: “Toute cette costen’est presque point connue”—this coast is almost unknown.

As early as 1716 the governor of Virginia proposed to the home Governmentto seize the interior. No attention was paid to it, but about1750 Pennsylvania traders were pushing over the mountains and theFrench traders from the west. In that year the Ohio Land Company sentGist to survey the Ohio. English traders were shortly after at Pickowilliny,Sandusky and Pittsburgh, but not safely so. The French were thestrongest. In 1749 Celeron placed his lead plates on the Ohio. In 1753the French crossed Lake Erie, established Presque Isle and expelled theEnglish from Fort DuQuesne at Pittsburgh. Washington made his appearanceto know what the French were doing. The traders had madeno addition to science or geography, but they had called attention to thecountry. But the military expeditions were to rediscover it

Celeron’s map lays down the Ohio quite creditably, but the legendalong the lake is: “All this part of the lake is unknown.” Just themouth of the Beaver appears. He expelled English traders from Logstown,23a little above the Beaver. The great geographer, D’Anville ofFrance, in 1755 lays down the Beaver, with the Mahoning from the west,rising in a lake, all very incorrectly, with Lake Erie rising to the northeastlike a pair of stairs and the Ohio nearly parallel to it.

The map published in 1754 with Washington’s report takes good accountof Great Beaver creek—Logstown just above it; opposite, on theOhio, a fort; Delawares on the west at the mouth; Kuskuskas above;and above that, Owendos’ town, “Wyandot.”. The mixed state of theIndians at that time appears in Celeron, who found in Logstown Iroquoisfrom different places, Shawnees, Delawares, also Nepissings, Abenakes andOttawas.

Being a convenient way of passing to the lake, a trail as an avenue ofcommerce preceded the canal, and that the railroad.

Evans was to draw and Franklin to publish, in 1755, at Philadelphia, amap plainly in demand by traders, and from information given by them.At the mouth of the Beaver is a Shingoes’ town; a trail up to the forksfinds the Kuskuskas; a trail to the east leaves it for “Wenango” and“Petroleum”; the trail to the west goes to “Salt Springs,” and wherefarther does not appear.

In his “Analysis,” Mr. Evans says: “Beaver creek is navigable withcanoes only. At Kushkies, about sixteen miles up, two branches spreadopposite ways—one interlocks with French creek and Cherage, the otherwestward with Muskingum and Cuyahoga. On this are many salt springsabout thirty-five miles above the forks. It is canoeable about twentymiles farther. The eastern branch is less considerable, but both are veryslow, spreading through a very rich, level country, full of swamps andponds which prevent a good portage, but will no doubt in future ages befit to open a canal between the waters of the Ohio and Lake Erie.”

A map often reprinted, and the one which was made the basis of thetreaty of peace after the Revolution, was that of John Mitchell, London,1755.

Kushkies is said to be the “chief town of the Six Nations on the Ohio,an English factory.” On the east branch are “Owendots.” Pennsylvaniareaches its protection over the whole of the Mahoning.

My purpose to outline discovery is nearly ended. In 1760, withQuebec, all New France was surrendered to the English, but new warswith Indians were to follow. Hutchins, Geographer-General to theUnited States, who introduced our admirable land system, was with24Bouquet in 1764. On his map, between Kuskuske and Salt Lick Town,on the west of the river, appears “Mahoning Town,” the first appearancein the maps of the name.

The subsequent history of Ohio is familiar. That of the Reserve grewout of that ignorance which supposed the continent narrow. KingCharles granted in 1660 to Connecticut a tract seventy miles wide andover three thousand long. The money for the Reserve became theschool fund of Connecticut, and led by the example, to our admirablesystem of free schools, so that the ignorance of years ago leads to thewisdom of this.

The error of making the south shore of Lake Erie east and west came toa curious end. When the association of gentlemen known as the ConnecticutLand Company were about to buy the Reserve, they agreed witha prospective competitor to let it have the excess over three million acres.This was the Excess Company, but there was no land for it, and the errorof one hundred years led to considerable financial disaster.

I ought to mention, as a matter of curious history, the map of JohnFitch, of steamboat memory. He spent considerable time in surveyswithin the bounds of Ohio and Kentucky, and had previously traveledthe country as a prisoner among the Indians. In 1785 he made a map ofthe “Northwest Country,” containing original and accurate information.He prepared the copper plate, engraved it himself, and printed it with acider press. He was then living in Bucks county, Pa., and sold the mapat six shillings per copy to raise money enough to pursue his inventionsrelating to steamboats.

We have now reached the period of settlement and can take a retrospect.

From the discovery of the continent in 1494 it was one hundred andseventy-five years to the pioneer discovery of Ohio. In eighty-five yearsmore both France and England set to work in earnest to make good theirclaims to it. In thirty-four years more England had beaten France,America had beaten England, and the first permanent settlement hadbeen made in Ohio. It took two hundred and ninety-four years to reachthis point. There are but ninety-two years left to 1880 for the pioneersof Ohio; but what a fruition to their work! The solitary settlement hasbecome a mighty nation of three million people, as large as the wholeUnited States in the Revolution, and how much stronger and with what25an abundance of wealth and comfort—a centre of intelligence and thehome of Presidents!

It is a wonderful review. The pioneers found the State covered withlarge forests, almost without exception requiring the severest labor toremove; and the change, all within a possible lifetime, seems amazing.The world cannot show its parallel, and when one thinks seriouslyit will be found to be one of the most interesting and important events inthe history of man. Peace as well as war has its victories.

We can only live over in stories the life of the pioneers. But theirswas sturdy independence and severe labor, with least encouragement.

In the autumn of 1785 General Richard Butler passed down the Ohioon his way to attend the treaty with the Indians at the mouth of theLittle Miami. He kept a record of his journey, and his journal gives muchinteresting information, among other things the location of Fort Harmar.In Virginia and Kentucky measures had been taken for what would havebeen, really, an irresponsible invasion of the Indian country. Thisaction, which threatened to precipitate a disastrous war, hastened in allprobability the action of the confederation in taking measures for theeffectual strengthening of the frontier. It was determined to establishseveral posts northwest of the Ohio. Fort Laurens had been built in1778 upon the Tuscarawas, near the old Indian town of Tuscarawas andone mile south of the site of the present village of Bolivar. It was injudiciouslylocated, and was abandoned one year after its erection. GeneralButler, while on his journey in 1785, chose the site for Fort Harmar.Before leaving Fort McIntosh he had prepared and left with Colonel Harmar,the commandant of the post, a paper in which he expressed theopinion that “the mouth of the Muskingum would be a proper place fora post to cover the frontier inhabitants, prevent intruding settlers on theland of the United States, and secure the surveys.” In his journal, underdate of Saturday, October 8th, he writes:

Sent Lieutenant Doyle and some men to burn the houses of the settlers on the north side and putup proclamations.

Went on very well to the mouth of the Muskingum and found it low. I went on shore to examinethe ground most proper to establish a post on; find it too low, but the most eligible is in the point onthe Ohio side. Wrote to Major Doughty and recommended this place with my opinion of the kind ofwork most proper. Left the letter, which contained other remarks on the fort, fixed to a locust tree.

A few days later the general instructed a man whom he met ascendingthe Ohio to take the letter from the mouth of the Muskingum to MajorDoughty.

A short time later Major Doughty, with a detachment of United Statestroops under his command, arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum andbegan the erection of a post, which was not fully completed until thespring of 1786.

The fort stood very near the point on the western side of the Muskingum,and upon the second terrace above ordinary flood water. It was aregular pentagon in shape, with bastions on each side, and its wallsenclosed but little more than three-quarters of an acre. The main wallsof defence, technically called “curtains,” were each one hundred andtwenty feet long and about twelve or fourteen feet high. They wereconstructed of logs laid horizontally. The bastions were of the sameheight as the other walls, but unlike them were formed of palings or timbersset upright in the ground. Large two-story log buildings were builtin the bastions for the accommodation of the officers and their families,and the barracks for the troops were erected along the curtains, the roofssloping toward the centre of the enclosure. They were divided into fourrooms of thirty feet each, supplied with fireplaces, and were sufficient forthe accommodation of a regiment of men,[1] a larger number, by the way,than was ever quartered in the fort. From the roof of the barracksbuilding towards the Ohio river there arose a watch tower, surmounted28by the flag of the United States. This tower was also used as a guardhouse.There were other buildings within the enclosure—an arsenal, astore-house, and several smaller structures. The main gate was towardthe river with a sally-port on the side fronting on the hills. A well wasdug near the centre of the enclosure to supply the garrison with water incase of siege, but, happily it was never needed, and we are told that ordinarywater was brought from the river. The timber used in the constructionof the fort was that of the heavy forest which covered its side andseveral acres of land around about. The area cleared up was nearly allutilized for gardening purposes under the direction of Major Doughty,who seems to have had a remarkable fondness for tilling the soil and considerabletaste and knowledge as a horticulturist.[2] Fort Harmar wasnamed after General (then Colonel) Harmar, who was the commander ofthe regiment to which Major Doughty was attached, and for some timecommandant at the fort at the mouth of the Muskingum.

Joseph Buell (afterward one of the prominent early settlers at Marietta)was on the frontier for nearly a period of three years, dating from thelatter part of December, 1785, and he spent a considerable portion of histime at Fort Harmar. His journal affords some interesting glimpses oflife in the garrison and affairs in the western country during the years immediatelypreceding its settlement. Much is said in the beginning of thehardships of army life, the depravity of the troops, and the severity of thepunishments inflicted for various offences. Drunkenness and desertionwere prevalent evils. The punishment for the former and other venalmisdemeanors was not infrequently flogging to the extent of one hundredor even two hundred lashes, and the death penalty, without the processof court-martial, was inflicted upon deserters. The pay of the soldiers atthat time guarding the frontier was only three dollars per month.

On the 4th of May, 1786, Captain Zeigler’s and Strong’s companiesembarked for Muskingum, and from this date forward the entries in thejournal relate to occurrences at Fort Harmar.

May 8th. We arrived at Muskingum, where we encamped in the edge of the woods a little distancefrom the fort.

10th. Captain Zeigler’s company embarked for the Miami, and our company moved into the garrison,where we were engaged several days in making ourselves comfortable.

12th. Began to make our gardens, and had a very disagreeable spell of weather, which continued fortwenty-two days raining in succession.

29June 9th. Two boats arrived from Miami, and report that the Indians had murdered several inhabitantsthis spring. We are getting short of meat for the troops.

10th. Five frontiersmen came here to hunt for the garrison, and brought with them a quantity ofvenison.

19th. News arrived here that the Indians had killed four or five women and children at Fish creek,about thirty miles northeast from this garrison.

July 4th. The great day of American independence was commemorated by the discharge of thirteenguns, after which the troops were served with extra rations of liquor, and allowed to get as drunk asthey pleased.

8th. We are brought down to half rations, and have sent out a party of men to hunt. They returnedwithout much success, although game is plenty in the woods.

9th. We discovered some Indians crossing the Ohio in a canoe, below the garrison, and sent a partyafter them, but could not overtake them.

10th. Ensign Kingsbury, with a party of nine, embarked for Wheeling in quest of provisions.

12th. Captain Strong arrived from Fort Pike.

16th. We were visited by a party of Indians, who encamped at a little distance from the garrison,and appeared to be very friendly. They were treated kindly by the officers, who gave them some wineand the best the garrison afforded.

17th. Our men took up a stray canoe on the river. It contained a pair of shoes, two axes and somecorn. We suppose the owners were killed by the Indians. Same day Lieutenant Kingsbury returnedwith only a supply of food for six or seven days.

18th. Captain Strong’s company began to build their range of barracks, to make ourselves comfortablefor the winter.

19th. This day buried the fifer to Captain Hart’s company. Our funerals are conducted in the followingmanner: The men are all paraded without arms, and march by files in the rear of the corpse.The guard, with arms, march in front, with their pieces reversed; and the music in the rear of the guard,just in front of the coffin, playing some mournful tune. After the dead is buried they return in the sameorder, playing some lively march.

21st. A boat arrived from Fort Pit with intelligence of a drove of cattle at Wheeling for this garrison.

22nd. Lieutenant Pratt, with a party of men, went up by land to bring down the cattle.

23rd. Colonel Harmar arrived at the garrison. The troops paraded to receive him and fired a saluteof nine guns.

26th. Captain Hart went with a party of men to guard the Indians of the Muskingum.

27th. Lieutenant Pratt arrived with ten head of cattle, which revived our spirits, as we had beenwithout provisions for several days.

29th. Three hunters came into the fort and informed us that they had seen a party of Indians lyingin the woods. We sent out some men, but discovered nothing.

August 2nd. Our garrison was alarmed. Captain Hart was walking on the bank of the river, andsaid he saw Indians on the other side of the Ohio, and saw them shoot one of the men who was outhunting, and beheld him fall. Colonel Harmar immediately sent the captain with a party of men afterthem. They crossed the river and found one man asleep on the ground, and another had been shootingat a mark. They had seen no Indians.

11th. Captain Hart’s company were ordered to encamp in the open ground outside of the fort, as themen are very sickly in the barracks.

23rd. Captain Hart and his company embarked for Wheeling with orders to escort and protect thesurveyors in the seven ranges.

September 1st. Captain Tunis, the Indian, came to the fort and reported the Indians designed toattack our garrison, and that they were bent on mischief. We were all hands employed in making preparationsto receive them, lining the bastions, clearing away all the weeds and brush within a hundredyards of the fort. We likewise cut up all our corn and broke down the bean poles, to prevent theirhaving any shelter within rifle shot distance.

6th. Captain Tunis left the garrison to return to his nation and bring us further information.

307th. The troops received orders to parade at the alarm post at daybreak, and continue under armsuntil after sunrise.

12th. Still busy making preparations for the Indians, and expect them every day.

21st. Ensign Kingsbury was ordered to take a party of men into the commandant’s house and put itin the best order for defence, and to remain there during the night.

26th. The troops are again brought to half rations. I went with a party of men after a raft of timberto construct our barracks.

27th. Lieutenant Smith embarked in quest of provisions. We are on short allowance, and expectthe Indians every day to attack us. Our men are very uneasy, laying various plans to desert, but are soclosely watched that it is very difficult for them to escape.

October 2nd. Lieutenant Smith returned with provisions sufficient only for a short time. We arebusily occupied in erecting the barracks.

10th. Major Doughty and Captain Strong left here for New England.

11th. The Indians made us a visit and stole one of our horses as it was feeding in the woods.

16th. Captain Tunis called again at the fort and says the Indians had repented of their design toattack the garrison.

November 3rd. Captain Tunis and a number of Indians, with two squaws, came into the garrison.At night they got very drunk and threatened the guard with their tomahawks and knives.

5th. Uling, a trader on the river, arrived with provisions.

9th. The hunters brought in about thirty deer and a great number of turkeys.

25th. Captain Hart’s and McCurdy’s companies came in from the survey of the seven ranges. Theyhad a cold, wearisome time; their clothes and shoes wore out, and some of their feet badly frozen.

December 3rd. Uling arrived with twenty kegs of flour and ten kegs of whiskey and some dry goods.Our rations now consist of a little venison, without any bread; as a substitute we have some corn andpotatoes. The weather is very cold and the river full of ice.

13th. Lieutenant Pratt embarked in a boat for Flinn’s Station (now Belleville), distant thirty milesbelow the garrison, for a load of corn and potatoes. The troops are in great distress for provisions.About twelve miles below they landed on account of the storm, and their boat was carried off by the icewith a considerable amount of goods in it.

19th. Weather more moderate. Ensign Kingsbury embarked for Flinn’s Station to make anothertrial for provisions.

22nd. Ensign Kingsbury returned with about sixty bushels of corn and about twenty of potatoes.

24th. We drew for our station about a peck of frozen potatoes. As Christmas is so near we aremaking all the preparations in our power to celebrate it.

25th. This being Christmas day, the sergeant celebrated it by a dinner, to which was added a plentifulsupply of wine.

January 31, 1787. Hamilton Kerr, our hunter, began to build a house on the island, a little abovethe mouth of the Muskingum, and some of our men were ordered out as a fatigue party, to assist him,under the command of Lieutenant Pratt.

February 11th. The weather has been very fine, and there is prospect of an early spring.

15th. Sergeant Judd went with a party of men to assist some inhabitants to move their families andsettle near the garrison.

16th. Hamilton Kerr moved his family onto the island.

18th. Several families are settling on the Virginia shore, opposite the fort.

24th. Isaac Williams arrived with his family to settle on the opposite shore of the river. Severalothers have joined him, which makes our situation in the wilderness much more agreeable.

27th. Major Hamtramck arrived from Fort Steuben in order to muster the troops. The same daysome of the hunters brought in a buffalo, which was eighteen hands high and weighed one thousandpounds.

April 1st. The Indians came within twelve miles of the garrison, and killed an old man and took aboy prisoner.

315th. Lieutenant Smith went out with a party of men on a scout and discovered Indians on a hillwithin half a mile of the garrison.

9th. Ensign Kingsbury went on command with a party to bring in one of the hunters, fifty miles upthe Muskingum, for fear of the Indians, who, we hear, are bent on mischief.

25th. One of our men discovered two Indians attempting to steal our horses a little distance fromthe fort....

May 1st. This is St. Tammany’s day, and was kept with the festivities usual to the frontiers. All thesergeants in the garrison crossed the Ohio to Mr. Williams’, and partook of an excellent dinner.

7th. Twenty-one boats passed on their way to the lower country, Kentucky. They had on boardfive hundred and nine souls, with many wagons, goods, etc.

14th. John Stockley, a fifer in Captain Strong’s company, deserted. He was pursued and overtakentwelve miles from the garrison, brought back and ordered to run the gauntlet eleven times, through thetroops of the garrison, stripped of his Continental clothing, and drummed out the fort with a halteraround his neck, all of which was punctually executed.

21st. This evening I sent a young man, who cooked for me on Kerr’s island, about half a mile abovethe fort after some milk; he was seen to jump into the river near the shore, when about a third of a milefrom the garrison. We supposed some of the people were playing in the water. He did not returnthat evening, which led me to fear he had lost his course. In the morning a party was sent after him.They discovered fresh signs of Indians, and found his hat. They followed the trail, but did not findthem. We afterwards heard that they had killed and scalped him. The Indians were a party ofOttawas.

Far away upon the Atlantic sea board forces were at work a score ofyears anterior to 1788 which were not only to form the first settlementbut to plant New England morals, law and institutions upon this vastinland domain of the nation. Ideas were in inception which, as the primeimpetus in a long chain of causes and effects, were to swell the tremendousresult and effect the destiny not alone of the west but of the Republicfrom sea to sea.

It is a pleasant thought that in the British war against the French,General Putnam (at the time of his enlistment in 1757, nineteen years of33age) and many others assisted in wresting from the enemy and securingto their sovereign the very territory which was to become their home; andit is a disagreeable fact that they had finally so dearly to purchase a smallportion of the domain which they had twice bought by bravery of arms.The men who fought to win for England the territory which the Frenchdisputed, in 1755–1760, were foremost to win it from her twenty yearslater, and thus twice exhibited the hardihood and heroism of their natures.

Something of the spirit of emigration manifested itself in New Englandafter the conclusion of the French and Indian war, and in fact was anoutgrowth of that struggle. An organization of ex-soldiers of the colonieswas formed, called “The Military Company of Adventurers,” whose purposeit was to establish a colony in West Florida (now Mississippi).Although the project had been entered upon soon after the establishmentof peace, it was not until the year 1772 that anything was accomplished.General Lyman, after several years’ endeavor, succeeded in procuring atract of land. It was decided to explore the tract, and a company ofsurveyors, of which the celebrated Israel Putnam was the leader, went outin January, 1773, for that purpose. Rufus Putnam was a member of theparty. The examination was satisfactory, and several hundred familiesembarked from Massachusetts and Connecticut to make a settlement.They found to their chagrin that the king’s grant had been revoked, andthe settlement was therefore abandoned. Those who did not fall sickand die returned to their homes. Such was the disastrous end of thisproject of settlement, which, had it succeeded, might possibly havechanged the whole political history of the United States. It seems atleast to be within the realm of probability that had a settlement beenplanted in Mississippi, Massachusetts would not have made the initialsettlement in the Ohio country and extended her influence over the territoryfrom which five great States have been created. The enterprise offounding a colony in the far south, thwarted as it was, undoubtedly hadits effect upon the New England mind, and was one of the elementswhich prepared the way for the inauguration of a new scheme of emigrationin later years. The dream which had been fondly indulged in for along term of years, was not to be forgotten even when the opportunityor its realization had passed away.

Soon, however, there arose a subject for thought which overshadowedall others. What men of shrewd foresight had long expectedhad come to pass. The colonies were arrayed against the mother country34in a battle for independence. We shall not here attempt to follow GeneralsPutnam, Parsons, Varnum and Tupper, Major Winthrop Sargent,Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, and the many other brave soldiers who becameOhio Company emigrants through the perils of those seven dark years ofthe Revolution. But is it not natural to suppose that some of them whohad been interested in the old colonization project talked of it aroundtheir camp fires? Is it not possible that the review of the past suggestedthe possibility of forming in the future another military colony, in whichthey should realize the bright hopes that had once been blasted? Itseems natural that, in the long lulls between the periods of fierce activity,this topic should have come up frequently in conversation, or at least thatit should have appeared as a vague but alluring element in many picturesof the future painted by hopeful imaginations. It is very likely that GeneralPutnam had indulged the hope of emigration “to some remote landrich in possibilities” for many years before he led the little New Englandcolony to the Muskingum. He had very likely cherished the hopeunceasingly from the time when the military company of adventurers wasorganized, and doubtless the journey to that far away, strange and beautifulMississippi had served as a stimulus to quicken his desire for the realizationof a project which would employ so much of his energy andenterprise, and afford so fine an opportunity for the achievement of a lifesuccess. We know that Washington, during the darkest days of theRevolution, directed the attention of his companions at arms to the west,as a land in which they might take refuge should they be worsted in thestruggle, but happily it was not to be that contingency which shouldcause the movement of emigration toward the Ohio. If, during the war,the western country was the subject of an occasional estray, light thought,the time was to come when it should be uppermost in the minds of manyof the soldiers and practically considered, not as a land in which theymust seek to take refuge from a victorious foe, but as one in which theymight retrieve the losses they had sustained in repelling the enemy. Itmust be borne in mind that the independence of the American colonieswas dearly bought, as indeed has been all the great good attained in thehistory of the world. The very men by whose long continued, self-sacrificingdevotion and bravery the struggle against the tyrannical mothercountry had been won, found themselves, at the close of the war, reducedto the most straitened circ*mstances, and the young nation ushered intobeing by their heroism was unable to alleviate their condition. These35were the times which tried men’s souls. Nowhere was the strain anymore severe than in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The joy whichpeace brought after seven years of war was in most localities too deep tobe voiced by noisy demonstration, and it was not unmingled with forebodingsof the future. “The rejoicings,” says a local historian,[3] “weremostly expressed in religious solemnities.” There were still difficultproblems to be solved—and there was the memory of husbands, fathers,sons, brothers, and lovers who would not return with the victorious patriots,and it may in many cases have been difficult “to discern the noiseof the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people.”

General Benjamin Tupper, in the early autumn of 1785, had gone tothe Ohio country to engage in surveying under the ordinance passed byCongress May 20 of that year, but owing to the hostility of the Indiansand consequent hazard of entering upon the work, he returned to NewEngland. General Tupper was one of the men who had been most intentlyengaged in planning western settlements, and was undoubtedly aco-worker with his intimate old friend, General Putnam, advocatingand agitating the scheme which had proved unsuccessful. He returnedfrom the west filled with admiration of that portion of the country whichhe had seen, and made enthusiastic through the descriptions given bytraders of the region farther down la belle riviere than he had journeyed.Doubtless he pondered upon the idea of removing to the west, during thewhole time spent there, and was chiefly occupied with the subject whilemaking the tedious return to his home. Early in January he visited, athis house in Rutland, Worcester County, Massachusetts, General Putnam,and there these two men, who may be properly called the founders of theOhio Company, earnestly talked of their experiences and their hopes infront of the great fire, while the night hours fast passed away. In thelanguage of one whom it is fair to suppose had preserved the truthful traditionof that meeting: “A night of friendly offices and conference betweenthem gave, at the dawn, a development—how important in itsresults!—to the cherished hope and purpose of the visit of General Tupper.”[4]As the result of that long conversation by a New England fireside,appeared the first mention in the public prints of the Ohio Company.The two men had thought so deeply and carefully upon the absorbingtheme of colonization, were so thoroughly impressed with the feasibility36of their plans as they had unfolded them, so impatient to put them to thattest, that they felt impelled to take an immediate and definite step. Theycould no longer rest inactive. They joined in a brief address, settingforth their views to ascertain the opinion of the people. It appeared inthe newspapers on the twenty-fifth of January, and read as follows:

INFORMATION.

The subscribers take this method to inform all officers and soldiers who have served in the late war,and who are by a late ordinance of the honorable Congress to receive certain tracts of land in the Ohiocountry, and also all other good citizens who wish to become adventurers in that delightful region, thatfrom personal inspection, together with other incontestible evidences, they are fully satisfied that thelands in that quarter are of a much better quality than any other known to the New England people;that the climate, seasons, products, etc., are in fact equal to the most flattering accounts that have everbeen published of them; that being determined to become purchasers and to prosecute a settlement inthat country, and desirous of forming a general association with those who entertain the same ideas, theybeg leave to propose the following plan, viz.: That an association by the name of The Ohio Companybe formed of all such as wish to become purchasers, etc., in that country, who reside in the commonwealthof Massachusetts only, or to extend to the inhabitants of other States as shall be agreed on.

That in order to bring such a company into existence the subscribers propose that all persons whowish to promote the scheme, should meet within their respective counties, (except in two instances hereinaftermentioned) at 10 o’clock A. M. on Wednesday, the fifteenth day of February next, and that eachcounty or meeting there assembled choose a delegate or delegates to meet at the Bunch of Grapes Tavernin Boston, on Wednesday, the first day of March next, at 10 o’clock A. M., then and there to considerand determine upon a general plan of association for said company; which plan, covenant, or agreement,being published, any person (under condition therein to be provided) may, by subscribing hisname, become a member of the company.

Then follow the places of meeting:

At Captain Webb’s, in Salem, Middlesex; at Bradish’s, in Cambridge, Hampshire; at Pomeroy’s, inNorth Hampton, Plymouth; at Bartlett’s, in Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties; atHowland’s, in Barnstable, Bristol; at Crocker’s, in Taunton, York; at Woodbridge’s, in York, Worcester;at Patch’s, in Worcester, Cumberland and Lincoln; at Shothick’s, in Falmouth, Berkshire; atDibble’s, in Lenox.

Rutland, January 10, 1786.

The plan suggested by Generals Putnam and Tupper was carried out,and upon the first day of March the delegates from the several countiesassembled at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, the designated place in Boston(which was then a considerably smaller city than is now the capital ofOhio), and there discussed, in conventional form, the proposed organizationof the Ohio Company. The delegates present at that historical meetingwere: Manasseh Cutler, of Essex; Winthrop Sargent and John Mills,of Suffolk; John Brooks and Thomas Cushing, of Middlesex; BenjaminTupper, of Hampshire; Crocker Sampson, of Plymouth; Rufus Putnam,of Worcester; Jelaliel Woodbridge and John Patterson of Berkshire;Abraham Williams of Barnstable.

37General Putnam was made chairman of the convention, and Major WinthropSargent, secretary. Before adjournment a committee of five wasappointed to draft a plan of an association, as “from the very pleasingdescription of the western country, given by Generals Putnam and Tupperand others, it appears expedient to form a settlement there.” Thatcommittee consisted of General Putnam, Dr. Manasseh Cutler, ColonelBrooks, Major Sargent, and Captain Cushing.

On Friday, March 3, the convention reassembled and the committeereported the following:

Articles of agreement entered into by the subscribers for constituting an associationby the name of the Ohio Company.

PREAMBLE.

The design of this association is to raise a fund in Continental certificates, for the sole purpose and tobe appropriated to the entire use of purchasing lands in the western territory belonging to the UnitedStates, for the benefit of the company, and to promote a settlement in that country.

Article 1st.—That the fund shall not exceed one million of dollars in Continental specie certificates,exclusive of one year’s interest due thereon (except as hereafter provided), and that each share or subscriptionshall consist of one thousand dollars, as aforesaid, and also ten dollars in gold or silver, to bepaid into the hands of such agents as the subscribers may elect.

Article 2nd.—That the whole fund of certificates raised by this association, except one year’s interestdue thereon, mentioned under the first article, shall be applied to the purchase of lands in some one ofthe proposed States northwesterly of the river Ohio, as soon as those lands are surveyed and exposed forsale by the Commissioners of Congress, according to the ordinance of that honorable body, passed thetwentieth of May, 1785, or on any other plan that may be adopted by Congress, not less advantageousto the company. The one year’s interest shall be applied to the purpose of making a settlement in thecountry and assisting those who may be otherwise unable to remove themselves thither. The gold andsilver is for defraying the expenses of those persons employed as agents in purchasing the lands andother contingent charges that may arise in the prosecution of the business. The surplus, if any, to beappropriated as one year’s interest on the certificates.

Article 3rd.—That there shall be five directors, a treasurer and secretary, appointed in manner andfor the purposes hereafter provided.

Article 4th.—That the prosecution of the company’s designs may be the least expensive, and at thesame time the subscribers and agents as secure as possible, the proprietors of twenty shares shall constituteone grand division of the company, appoint the agent, and in case of vacancy by death, resignationor otherwise, shall fill it up as immediately as can be.

Article 5th.—That the agent shall make himself accountable to each subscriber for certificates andinvoices received, by duplicate receipts, one of which shall be lodged with the secretary; that the wholeshall be appropriated according to articles of association, and that the subscriber shall receive his justdividend according to quality and quantity of lands purchased, as near as possibly may be, by lot drawnin person or through proxy, and that deeds of conveyance shall be executed to individual subscribers, bythe agent, similar to those he shall receive from the directors.

Article 6th.—That no person shall be permitted to hold more than five shares in the company’sfunds, and no subscription for less than a full share will be admitted; but this is not meant to preventthose who cannot or choose not to adventure a full share, from associating among themselves, and byone of their number subscribing the sum required.

Article 7th.—That the directors shall have the sole disposal of the company’s fund for the purposesbefore mentioned; that they shall by themselves, or such person or persons as they may think proper toentrust with the business, purchase lands for the benefit of the company, where and in such way, either38at public or private sale, as they shall judge will be the most advantageous to the company. They shallalso direct the application of the one year’s interest, and gold and silver, mentioned in the first article, tothe purposes mentioned under the second article, in such way and manner as they shall think proper.For these purposes the directors shall draw on the treasurer from time to time, making themselvesaccountable for the application of the moneys agreeably to this association.

Article 8th.—That the agents, being accountable to the subscribers for their respective divisions,shall appoint the directors, treasurer and secretary, and fill up all the vacancies which may happen inthese offices respectively.

Article 9th.—That the agents shall pay all the certificates and moneys received from subscribers intothe hands of the treasurer, who shall give bonds to the agents, jointly and severally, for the faithful dischargeof his trust; and also, on his receiving certificates or moneys from any particular agent, shalmake himself accountable therefor, according to the condition of his bonds.

Article 10th.—That the directors shall give bonds, jointly and severally, to each of the agents, conditionedthat the certificates and moneys they shall draw out of the treasury shall be applied to the purposesstipulated in these articles; and that the lands purchased by the company shall be divided amongthem within three months from the completion of the purchase, by lot, in such manner as the agents ora majority of them shall agree, and that on such division being made, the directors shall execute deedsto the agents, respectively, for the proportions which fall to their divisions, correspondent to those thedirectors may receive from the Commissioners of Congress.

Article 11th.—Provided, that whereas a sufficient number of subscribers may not appear to raise thefund to the sums proposed in the first article, and thereby the number of divisions may not be completed,it is therefore agreed that the agents of divisions of twenty shares each shall, after the seventeenth dayof October next, proceed in the same manner as if the whole fund had been raised.

Article 12th.—Provided, also, that whereas it will be for the common interest of the company toobtain an ordinance of incorporation from the honorable Congress, or an act of incorporation from someone of the States in the Union (for which the directors shall make application), it is therefore agreed thatin case such incorporation is obtained, the fund of the company (and consequently the shares and divisionsthereof) may be extended to any sum, for which provision shall be made in said ordinance or act ofincorporation, anything in this association to the contrary notwithstanding.

Article 13th.—That all notes under this association may be given in person or by proxy, and innumbers justly proportionate to the stockholder or interest represented.

These articles of agreement were unanimously adopted and subscriptionbooks were immediately opened. A committee was appointed, consistingof three members, to transact necessary business, and some othermeasures taken to advance the project of the association; but in spite ofall the exertions made, there was but little progress in the affairs of theOhio Company. When the next meeting was held—a little more than ayear from the time of the first, that is, upon March 8, 1787—it was foundthat the total number of shares subscribed for was only two hundred andfifty. And yet, all untoward circ*mstances considered, that was probablya fair exhibit, and more than was expected. One active friend of themovement, General Tupper, was the greater part of the year in the west.The influence of the others was very largely counteracted by events of analarming nature—the dissatisfaction which finally culminated in Shay’srebellion. That civil commotion growing out of the imposition of heavytaxes upon the already impoverished people threatened for a time exceedingly39dire results, but fortunately it was speedily quelled. It served as astartling illustration, however, of the great depression in New England,and of the desperation to which men can be driven by ill condition. Possiblythe outbreak gave a slight impetus to the progress of the Ohio Company’sproject, by way of increasing the disposition of some citizens toseek in the west a new home. General Tupper, whose immediate neighborhoodwas “deeply infected with the sedition,” returned from hissecond visit to the Ohio country in time to take a prominent part in subduingthe revolt. The dawn of 1787 witnessed the pacification of thetroubled country, but no marked increase in prosperity.

It was reported at the meeting held on the eighth of March at Brackett’stavern in Boston, that “many in the commonwealth of Massachusetts,also in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, are inclinedto become adventurers, who are restrained only by the uncertainty ofobtaining a sufficient tract of country, collectively, for a good settlement.”

It was now decided to make direct and immediate application to Congressfor the purchase of lands, and General Putnam, Dr. Manasseh Cutlerand General Samuel H. Parsons were appointed directors and especiallycharged with this business. General Parsons had previously been employedto negotiate for a private purchase, had petitioned Congress, anda committee of that body had been appointed to confer with him. “Tothat committee,” says Dr. Cutler, “he proposed a purchase on the SciotoRiver,” but as the proprietors in Massachusetts “were generally dissatisfiedwith the situation and lands on the Scioto, and much preferred theMuskingum,” the negotiation was suspended. The directors now employedDr. Cutler to make a purchase upon the Muskingum. It was considereddesirable that the negotiations be commenced and the purchaseconsummated as soon as possible, as other companies were forming, thespirit of private speculation rapidly increasing, and there was a fear thatthe lands which the Ohio Company wished to possess would be bought bysome other organization, or perhaps some part of them by individuals.

Just here the query arises: why were the New Englanders so anxiousto purchase lands upon the Muskingum, rather than upon the Scioto, orelsewhere in the territory? To this question there are various answers.In the first place the greater part of the Federal territory was unfitted forsettlement by the fact that it was occupied by the Indian tribes. None ofthese, however, had their residence in the lower Muskingum region, andit was only occasionally resorted to by them, when upon their hunting40expeditions. Then, too, the people who proposed making a settlementbeyond the Ohio were very naturally influenced by the proximity of wellestablished stations upon the east and south of the river; they doubtlesspreferred the Virginians rather than the Kentuckians, as neighbors. Thelower Scioto offered no more alluring an aspect than the lower Muskingum.The best bodies of lands on each river are fifty miles from theirmouth. To penetrate so far into the interior, however, as the site ofeither Chillicothe or Zanesville would have been, at the time the Mariettasettlement was made, was unsafe. The location of Fort Harmar, whichwe have seen was built in 1785–86, doubtless had its influence upon theOhio Company. Thomas Hutchins, the United States geographer, whohad formerly been geographer to the king of Great Britain, and had traveledextensively in the west, had said and written much in favor of theMuskingum country, and strongly advised Dr. Cutler to locate his purchasein this region. Other explorers and travelers had substantiatedwhat Hutchins had said. General Butler and General Parsons, who haddescended the Ohio to the Miamis, were deeply impressed with the desirablenessof the tract of country now designated as southeastern Ohio, andthe latter, writing on the twentieth of December, 1785, from Fort Finney(mouth of the Little Miami) to Captain Jonathan Hart, at Fort Harmar,said: “I have seen no place since I left you that pleases me so well forsettlement as Muskingum.” General Benjamin Tupper doubtless addedimportant testimony supporting that of Hutchins, Parsons, Butler andothers. General Parsons, it has been asserted, became most stronglypossessed of the belief that the Muskingum region was the best part ofthe territory, because one of the Zanes, who had been many years in thewest, told him that the Scioto or Miami regions offered superior attractions,and he suspected that the old frontiersman artfully designed todivert attention from the Muskingum that he might have the first choiceof purchase himself when the lands were put on sale. It is probable,too, that the prospect of establishing a system of communication andcommerce between the Ohio and Lake Erie, by way of the Muskingumand Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga, and between the Ohio and the seaboard,by way of the Great Kanawha and the Potomac (a plan which Washingtonhad thought feasible before the Revolutionary war), had its weight.

During a long period—one which, perhaps, had its beginning soon afterthe forced exodus of the semi-civilized, pre-historic people, and whichextended down to the era of the white man’s actual knowledge—theupper Ohio valley was probably devoid of any permanent population.The river teemed with fish, and the dense, luxuriant wood abounded ingame, but no Indian wigwams dotted the shores of the great stream, nocamp fires gleamed along its banks, and no maize-fields covered the fertilebottom lands or lent variety to the wild vernal green. An oppressivestillness hung over the land, marked and intensified rather than broken,and only made more weird by the tossing of the water upon the shoresand the soft mysterious sounds echoed from the distance through the dimaisles of the forest. Nature was lovely then as now, but with all herbeauty the valley was awful in the vastness and solemnity of its solitude.Nowhere was human habitation or indication of human life.

This was the condition of the country when explored by the earlyFrench navigators, and when a century later it became the field for Britishand American adventurers. There was a reason for this desertion of aregion rich in all that was dear to the red man. The river was the warwaydown which silently and swiftly floated the canoe fleets of a fierce,relentless, and invincible enemy. That the dreaded devastators of thecountry, when it was occupied by the ancient race, had made their invasionsfrom the northward by way of the great stream, is suggested by thenumerous lookout or signal mounds which crown the hills on either sideof the valley, occupying the most advantageous points of observation.The Indians who dwelt in the territory included in the boundaries of Ohiohad, when the white men first went among them, traditions of oft repeatedand sanguinary incursions made from the same direction, and dating backto their earliest occupation of the country. History corroborates theirlegends, or at least those relating to less ancient times. The Iroquois orSix Nations were the foes whose frequent forays, made suddenly, swiftly,and with overwhelming strength, had carried dismay into all the Ohio42country and caused the weaker tribes to abandon the valley, penetratedthe interior and located themselves on the upper waters of the Muskingum,the Scioto, the Miamis, and the tributaries of the lake, where theycould live with less fear of molestation. The Six Nations had the rudeelements of a confederated republic, and were the only power in this partof North America who deserved the name of government.[5] They pretentiouslyclaimed to be the conquerors of the whole country from sea tosea, and there is good evidence that they had by 1680 gained a powerfulsway in the country between the great lakes, the Ohio and the Mississippi,and were feared by all the tribes within these limits. The upper Ohiowas called by the early French the River of the Iroquois, and was for along time unexplored through fear of their hostility.

But little is definitely known of the Indian occupation of the Ohiocountry prior to 1750, and scarcely anything anterior to 1650. As farback in American history as the middle of the seventeenth century it isprobable that the powerful but doom-destined Eries were in possession ofthe vast wilderness which is now the thickly settled, well improved Stateof Ohio, dotted with villages and cities and covered with the meshes of avast net-work of railroads. Most of the villages of this Indian nation, itis supposed, were situated along the shore of the lake which has beengiven their name. The Andastes are said by the best authorities to haveoccupied the valleys of the Allegheny and upper Ohio, and the Huronsor Wyandots held sway in the northern peninsula between the lakes. Allwere genuinely Iroquois, and the western tribes were stronger than theeastern. The Iroquois proper (the Five Nations increased afterward toSix by the alliance of the Tuscarawas) formed their confederacy in thebeginning of the seventeenth century, and through consolidation ofstrength overwhelmed singly and successively the Hurons, the Eries, andthe Andastes. The time of the massacre of the Erie nation—for the warupon them culminated in a wholesale murder—is usually set down byantiquarians and historians as 1655, and the victory over the Andastes is,on good evidence, placed in the year 1672. About the same time a tribe,supposed to have been the Shwanees, were driven from the Ohio valleyand far towards the Gulf of Mexico. And so the territory now Ohio becamea land without habitation and served the victorious Iroquois as avast hunting ground. Whether the Iroquois conquered the Miamis andtheir allies, the Illinois, is a question upon which leading students of Indian43history have been equally divided. The Miamis had no traditions ofever having suffered defeat at the hands of the great confederacy, andtheir country, the eastern boundary of which was the Miami River, mayhave been the western limit of the Six Nations’ triumph. That theywere often at war with the Iroquois is not disputed, however, by anywriters of whom we have knowledge.

Although the Six Nations were the nominal owners of the greater partof the territory now constituting the State of Ohio, they did not, afterthe war with the Canadian colonists broke out in 1663 (and probably forsome years previously), exercise such domination over the country as toexclude other tribes. Such being the case, the long deserted and desolatewild was again the abode of the red man, and the wigwams of the raceagain appeared by the waters of the Muskingum, the Scioto, and theMiamis; by the Tuscarawas, the Cuyahoga, and the Maumee.

Concerning what, so far as our knowledge extends, may be called thesecond Indian occupation of Ohio, we have authentic information. In1764 the most trustworthy and valuable reports up to that time securedwere made by Colonel Boquet as the result of his observations whilemaking a military expedition west of the Ohio. Previous to the timewhen Colonel Boquet was among the Indians, and as early as 1750,traders sought out the denizens of the forest, and some knowledge of thestrength of tribes and the location of villages was afforded by them. Theauthentic history of the Ohio Indians may be said to have had its beginningsome time during the period extending from 1750 to 1764.

About the middle of the last century the principal tribes in what is nowOhio were the Delawares, the Shawnees, the Wyandots (called the Huronsby the French), the Mingoes, an offshoot of the Iroquois; the Chippewasand the Tawas, more commonly called the Ottawas. The Delawaresoccupied the valleys of the Muskingum and Tuscarawas; the Shawnees,the Scioto valley; and the Miamis, the valleys of the two rivers uponwhich they left their name; the Wyandots occupied the country aboutthe Sandusky River; the Ottawas had their headquarters in the valleys ofthe Maumee and Sandusky; the Chippewas were confined principally tothe south shore of Lake Erie; and the Mingoes were in greatest strengthupon the Ohio, below the site of Steubenville. All of the tribes, however,frequented, more or less, lands outside of their ascribed divisions ofterritory, and at different periods from the time when the first definiteknowledge concerning them was obtained down to the era of white settlement,44they occupied different locations. Thus the Delawares, whomBoquet found in 1764 in greatest number in the valley of the Tuscarawas,had, thirty years later, the majority of their population in the region ofthe county which now bears their name, and the Shawnees, who wereoriginally strongest upon the Scioto, by the time of St. Clair and Wayne’swars had concentrated upon the Little Miami. But the Shawnees hadalso, as early as 1748, a village known as Logstown, on the Ohio, seventeenmiles from the site of Pittsburgh.[6] The several tribes commingledto some extent as their animosities toward each other were supplanted bythe common fear of the enemy of their race. They gradually grewstronger in sympathy and more compact in union as the settlements ofthe whites encroached upon their loved domain. Hence the divisions,which had in 1750 been quite plainly marked, became, by the time theOhio was fringed with the cabins and villages of the pale face, in a largemeasure, obliterated. In eastern Ohio, where the Delawares had heldalmost undisputed sway, there were now to be found also Wyandots,[7]Shawnees, Mingoes, and even Miamis from the western border—from theWabash, Miami and Mad Rivers. Practically, however, the boundariesof the lands of different tribes were as here given.

The Delawares, as has been indicated, had their densest populationupon the upper Muskingum and Tuscarawas, and they really were inpossession of what is now the eastern half of the State from the Ohio toLake Erie. This tribe, which claimed to be the elder branch of theLenni-Lenape, has, by tradition and in history and fiction, been accordeda high rank among the savages of North America. Schoolcraft, Loskiel,Albert Gallatin, Drake, Zeisberger, Heckewelder, and many other writershave borne testimony to the superiority of the Delawares, and JamesFennimore Cooper, in his attractive romances, has added lustre to thefame of the tribe. According to the tradition preserved by them, theDelawares, many centuries before they knew the white man lived in thewestern part of the continent, separated themselves from the rest of the45Lenni-Lenape and migrated slowly eastward. Reaching the AlleghenyRiver they, with the Iroquois, waged war successfully against a race ofgiants, the Allegewi, and still continuing their migration settled on theDelaware River, and spread their population eventually to the Hudson,the Susquehanna, and the Potomac. Here they lived, menaced andoften attacked by the Iroquois, and finally, as some writers claim, theywere subjugated by the Iroquois through stratagem. The Atlantic coastbecame settled by Europeans, and the Delawares also being embitteredagainst the Iroquois, whom they accused of treachery, turned westwardand concentrated upon the Allegheny. Disturbed here again by thewhite settlers, a portion of the tribe obtained permission from the Wyandots(whom they called their uncles, thus confessing their superiority andreputation of greater antiquity) to occupy the lands along the Muskingum.The forerunners of the nation entered this region, in all probability, asearly as 1745, and in less than a score of years their entire population hadbecome resident in this country. They became here a more flourishingand powerful tribe than they had ever been before. Their warriors numberednot less than six hundred in 1764. The Delawares were dividedinto three tribes—the Unamis, Unalachtgo, and the Minsi, also called theMonseys or Muncies. The English equivalents of these appellations arethe Turtle, the Turkey, and the Wolf. The tribe bearing the latter nameexhibited a spirit that was quite in keeping with it, but the Delawares asa rule were less warlike than other nations, and they more readily acceptedChristianity.

The principal chiefs among the Delawares were White Eyes and CaptainPipe. The former was the leader of the peace element of the nationand the latter of the tribes who were inclined to war. There was greatrivalry between them and constant intrigue. White Eyes died about theyear 1780, and Captain Pipe gained the ascendancy among his people.It was principally through his influence that the Delawares were drawninto a condition of hostility towards the whites, and he encouraged thecommission of enormities by every artifice in his power. He was shrewd,treacherous, and full of malignity, according to Heckewelder, Drake andother writers on the Indians of the northwest, though brave, and famousas a leader in battle. White Eyes, though not less noted as a warrior,seemed actuated by really humane motives to fight only when forbearancewas impossible. He encouraged the establishment of the Moravian Indianmissions and was the firm friend of their founders, though he never46accepted Christianity. His greatest influence was exerted over the Delawaresafter the death, in 1776, of Netawatmees, a celebrated chief, who,during his lifetime, had combatted the reforms which White Eyes advocated.Buckougahelas was another of the Delaware chiefs, and was celebratedprincipally for his action in what is now the western part of theState. Others were King Newcomer (after whom the present Newcomerstownwas named) and Half King. There dwelt among the Delawaresof the upper Muskingum at one time a white woman, who had great influenceamong them, and after whom a creek was named—Whitewoman’sCreek.

Most of the Delaware towns were at the vicinity of the forks of theMuskingum, or the confluence of the Tuscarawas and Muskingum, andthat region is rich in the old Indian names. The Delawares had no villageon the lower Muskingum and, so far as is known, none in what isnow Washington County, this region, like most the whole of the Ohiovalley, being devoid of inhabitants and regarded as a hunting ground.

The Muskingum River derives its name from the Delawares, and wasoriginally Mooskingom. The literal meaning of this term is Elk’s Eye,and it was probably so called because of its clearness. The Tuscarawasundoubtedly took its name from an Indian town which was situated whereBolivar now is. The name, according to Heckewelder, meant “oldtown,” and the village bearing it was the oldest in the valleys.

The Shawnees were the only Indians of the northwest who had a traditionof a foreign origin, and for some time after the whites becameacquainted with them they held annual festivals to celebrate the safe arrivalin this country of their remote ancestors. Concerning the history ofthe Shawnees there is considerable conflicting testimony, but it is generallyconceded that at an early date they separated from the other Lenapetribes and established themselves in the south, roaming from Kentuckyto Florida. Afterward the main body of the tribe is supposed to havepushed northward, encouraged by their friends, the Miamis, and to haveoccupied the beautiful and rich valley of the Scioto until driven from it in1672 by the Iroquois. Their nation was shattered and dispersed. A fewmay have remained upon the upper Scioto and others taken refuge withthe Miamis, but by far the most considerable portion again journeyedsouthward and, according to the leading historians, made a forcible settlementon the head waters of the Carolina. Driven away from that localitythey found refuge among the Creeks. A fragment of the Shawnees was47taken to Pennsylvania and reduced to a humiliating condition by theirconquerors. They still retained their pride and considerable innate independence,and about 1740, encouraged by the Wyandots and the French,carried into effect their long cherished purpose of returning to the Scioto.Those who had settled among the Creeks joined them and the nation wasagain reunited. It is probable that they first occupied the southern portionof their beloved valley, and that after a few years had elapsed theDelawares peacefully surrendered to them a large tract of country furthernorth.[8] It is conjectured by some students that the branch of the Shawneeswho lived for a term of years in the south were once upon theSuanee River, and that the well known name was a corruption of thename of the nation of Tec*mseh. This chief, whose fame added lustreto the annals of the tribe, is said to have been the son of a Creek womanwhom his father took as a wife during the southern migration. TheShawnees were divided into four tribes[9] the Piqua,[10] Kiskapocke, Mequachuke,and Chillicothe.

Those who deny to the American Indians any love for the beautiful andany exercise of imagination might be influenced to concede them thepossession of such faculties, and in a high degree, by the abundance oftheir fanciful traditions, of which their account of the origin of the Piquais a good example. According to their practical legend the tribe beganin a perfect man who burst into being from fire and ashes. The Shawneessaid to the first whites who mingled with them, that once upon atime when the wise men and chiefs of the nation were sitting around thesmouldering embers of what had been the council fire, they were startledby a great puffing of fire and smoke, and suddenly, from the midst of theashes and dying coals, there arose before them a man of splendid formand mien, and that he was named Piqua, to signify the manner of his cominginto the world—that he was born of fire and ashes. This legend ofthe origin of the tribe, beautiful in its simplicity, has been made the subjectof comment by several writers, as showing, in a marked manner, theromantic susceptibility of the Indian character. The name Megoachuke48signifies a fat man filled—a man made perfect, so that nothing is wanting.This tribe had the priesthood. The Kiskapocke tribe inclined to war,and had at least one great war chief—Tec*mseh. Chillicothe is not knownto have been interpreted as a tribal designation. It was from this tribethat the several Indian villages on the Scioto and Miami were given thenames they bore, and which was perpetuated by application to one of theearly white settlements. The Shawnees have been styled “the Bedouinsof the American wilderness” and “the Spartans of the race.” To theformer title they seem justly entitled by their extensive and almost constantwanderings, and the latter is not an inappropriate appellation, consideringtheir well known bravery and the stoicism with which they borethe consequences of defeat. From the time of their re-establishmentupon the Scioto until after the treaty with Greenville, a period of fromforty to fifty years, they were constantly engaged in warfare against thewhites. They were among the most active allies of the French, and afterthe conquest of Canada, continued, in concert with the Delawares, hostilitieswhich were only terminated by the marching of Colonel Boquet’sforces into the country of the latter. They made numerous incursionsinto Pennsylvania, the Virginia frontier, harassed the Kentucky stations,and either alone or in conjunction with the Indians of other tribes, actuallyattacked or, threatening to do so, terrorized the first settlers in Ohio fromMarietta to the Miamis. They took an active part against the Americansin the war for independence and in the Indian war which followed, and apart of them, under the leadership of Tec*mseh, joined the British in theWar of 1812.

The Wyandots or Hurons had their principal seat opposite Detroit andsmaller settlements (the only ones within the limits of Ohio, probably,except the village on Whitewoman Creek) on the Maumee and Sandusky.They claimed greater antiquity than any of the other tribes, and theirassumption was even allowed by the Delawares. Their right to thecountry between the Ohio and Lake Erie, from the Allegheny to theGreat Miami, derived from ancient sovereignty or from the incorporationof the three extinct tribes (the Eries, Andastes and Neutrals) was neverdisputed, save by the Six Nations. The Jesuit missionaries, who wereamong them as early as 1639, and who had ample advantages for obtainingaccurate information concerning the tribe, placed their number at tenthousand. They were both more civilized and more warlike than theother tribes of the northwest. Their population being, comparatively49speaking, large and at the same time concentrated, they naturally gavemore attention than did other tribes to agriculture. Extensive fields ofmaize adjoined their villages. The Wyandots on the score of braveryhave been given a higher rank than any of the other Ohio tribes.[11] Withthem flight from an enemy in battle, whatever might be the odds ofstrength or advantage of ground, was a disgrace. They fought to thedeath and would not be taken prisoners. Of thirteen chiefs of the tribeengaged in the battle of Fallen Timbers, Wayne’s victory, only one wastaken alive, and he badly wounded.

The Ottawas existed in the territory constituting Ohio only in smallnumbers, and have no particular claims for attention. They seem to havebeen inferior in almost all respects to the Delawares, Wyandots and Shawnees,though as the tribe to which the great Pontiac belonged they havebeen rendered quite conspicuous in history.

The Miami Indians were, so far as actual knowledge extends, the originaldenizens of the valleys bearing their name, and claimed that theywere created in it. The name in the Ottawa tongue signifies mother.The ancient name of the Miamis was Twigtwees. The Mingoes or Cayugas,a fragment of the Iroquois, had only a few small villages, one atMingo Bottom, three miles below Steubenville, and others upon theScioto. Logan came into Ohio in 1772 and dwelt for a time at the lattertown, but two years later was on the Scioto.

ARTHUR ST. CLAIR AND THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.

St. Clair is an honored name in history. First in Normandy, and afterthe eleventh century for many generations in Scotland, its possessors weremen of wealth and a high order of intelligence, and were among the mostprominent characters of the realm. They remained loyal to the crownthrough its varying fortunes, and when Scotland passed under the dominionof England, continued their allegiance to royalty. They showed a raregenius for military life. This bent of mind was characteristic of the St.Clair whose career in part is here briefly outlined.

50Arthur St. Clair, whose father was a younger son and possessedneither lands nor title, was born in the year 1734, in the town of Thursoin Caithness, Scotland. Thurso is a place of some 3,500 inhabitants, aquiet village lying to the north of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and close tothe Atlantic seaboard. Its chief claim to fame no doubt rests uponhaving been the birthplace of one who became so prominent in Americanaffairs, gave such valuable aid in securing American independence, andhad so large a share in the formation and administration of the governmentof a considerable portion of the American people. To his fatherhe owed little, to his mother much. Educated at the University ofEdinburgh, his parents intended him for a professional career. At anearly age he began the study of medicine, which, upon the death of hismother in 1757, he abandoned, and through influential friends obtained acommission as ensign in the second battalion of the Sixtieth Regiment ofFoot, known as the Royal American Regiment. It consisted of four battalionsof 1,000 men each. In 1758 Major-general Amherst was madecolonel of this regiment, and commander-in chief of all the forces inAmerica, and on the 28th day of May of the same year, arrived in Canadawith his army. Thus came to the western world in the twenty-fourthyear of his age, Arthur St. Clair, with the laudable ambition of making,if possible, a fortune, but certainly a good and honored name. His firstlessons in the art of war were taken under the tuition of such veterans asLawrence, Murray and Wolfe, the story of whose heroic deeds for Englishsupremacy in Canada is familiar to every reader. In every positionin which he was placed young St. Clair acquitted himself with rare bravery.He soon received a lieutenant’s commission, serving with distinctionin the battle at the mouth of the Montmorency, and in the siege ofQuebec, where Gen. Wolfe lost his life, but where the French, on the 8thday of September 1759, surrendered, and Canada became an Englishprovince, though articles of capitulation were not executed until nearly ayear later.

From Canada St. Clair went to Boston, where he made the acquaintanceof Miss Phœbe Bayard, daughter of one of the first families of thatcity, whose mother was a half sister of Governor James Bowdoin. ForMiss Bayard young St. Clair formed a strong attachment, and they weremarried, probably in the year 1761. In the Ligonier Valley, westernPennsylvania, St. Clair, for services in Canada, received a grant of onethousand acres of land, and thither, in the year 1764 or 1765, he removed.51He set actively to work to improve his property. He built a handsomeresidence, and the first grist mill in western Pennsylvania. Many Scotchfamilies sought a residence in this beautiful and fertile valley. He was theleading spirit in this western colony, and in 1770 was appointed surveyor,a justice of the court of quarter sessions and common pleas, and amember of the Governor’s council for the district of Cumberland, orCumberland County. When Bedford County was formed in 1771, andWestmoreland in 1773, he was appointed to fill like offices of trust forthese counties respectively. Here he led a busy life for two years, whenupon the outbreak of hostilities with England he unsheathed his swordand proffered his services in defence of the country of his adoption.

It is not within the scope of this sketch, which is more immediatelyconcerned with the relation he bore to the Ordinance of 1787, andthat part of his history which records the acts of his administration as thefirst governor of the Northwest Territory, to follow the fortunes of Gen.St. Clair through the war for independence. Suffice it to say that quittingprivate life when its comforts were greatest and his financial affairs themost prosperous, he rendered to his country valuable service in Canadain the summer of 1776, at the battles of Trenton and Princeton in thewinter of 1776–7, rose to the rank of Major-general in the northerndepartment in 1777, and afterwards, as a member of Washington’s militaryfamily, won the confidence and friendship of his chief to such a degreethat they were never withdrawn even when he was overtaken by reverses;and that he returned to civil life at the close of the struggle to find that tohis country he had sacrificed not only eight years of the very prime of hislife, but likewise his fortune and the emoluments of his lucrative offices.His first office after the war was that of member of the board of censors,whose duties were to see that the laws were efficiently and honestly executed.St. Clair became a member of Congress in 1786, and in 1787 itsPresident. This was the year in which the ordinance for the governmentof the Northwest Territory was adopted. It is a remarkable coincidencethat this gentleman should have presided over the body that enacted thisgrand Charter of Freedom, and afterwards should have been the firstexecutive officer, as governor of the Northwest Territory, to administerand enforce its laws. General St. Clair’s connection with this great andbeneficent ordinance is of very great interest, intensified, however, bythe fact that Mr. William Frederick Poole, in an able and well writtencontribution to the North American Review in 1876, on the authorship of52the Ordinance, did him a great injustice by imputing to him impropermotives wholly foreign to his character. For a full understanding of thecharge and its complete refutation a brief history of the Ordinance will benecessary.

In 1784 Thomas Jefferson had prepared and reported a comprehensivemeasure for the government of the Northwest Territory, from which tenStates were to be formed. It contained among other provisions the followingstipulation: “That, after the year 1800 of the Christian era,there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said(ten) States, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof theparty shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty.”This provision was stricken out, and the ordinance was passed, but owingto the fact that the lands had not been surveyed nor Indian titles perfected,it became inoperative and remained a dead letter. In 1786, a memorialhaving been received from the inhabitants of Kaskaskia, praying for theorganization of a territorial government, a committee consisting of Mr.Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Pinckney of South Carolina; Mr. Smithof New York, Mr. Dane of Massachusetts, and Mr. Henry of Maryland,was appointed to draft a suitable measure, and April 26, 1787, reported acode of laws for the temporary government of the Territory, whichreached a third reading on the 10th of May, but was not brought to afinal vote. At this juncture there appeared at the door of Congress agentleman to whom more than to any other the people of the northwesternStates are indebted for the prompt action by Congress which gave themthis great bill of rights, aptly called the Ordinance of Freedom.

This gentleman was the Rev. Manasseh Cutler of Ipswich, Massachusetts.He came before Congress as the agent of the Ohio LandCompany. He wished to purchase for that company a million and a half—andfinally did purchase nearly five million—acres of land in the NorthwestTerritory. He was well fitted for the business he had undertaken.He was a ripe scholar, a graduate of Yale College, a distinguishedscientist, an able divine, an eloquent speaker, and more than all, a wilydiplomatist, possessed of a fine and commanding presence and courtlymanners. He came to Congress armed with letters of introduction toGen. St. Clair, the President of that body, General Knox, Richard HenryLee, Melancthon Smith, Colonel Carrington and others.

Dr. Cutler greatly desired to make the purchase for his company, butstipulated, as a necessary condition of purchase, for the passage of a suitable53charter of laws for the government of the Territory. The OhioCompany was composed chiefly of Massachusetts men, accustomed togood laws wisely administered, and would not invite their neighbors andfriends to immigrate to the far west to settle in a country for which no goodsystem of government had been provided. Hence this was the first matterto be looked into. Dr. Cutler arrived in New York on the 5th day ofJuly, Thursday. On Friday, the 6th, he presented his letters of introductionto President St. Clair and a number of members of Congress. The7th he passed in extending his acquaintance and explaining his business.The 8th was Sunday. On the 9th he secured the appointment by PresidentSt. Clair of a committee who favored such a system of laws for theNorthwest Territory as Dr. Cutler wished to see adopted. This committeeconsisted of Colonel Carrington, a personal friend, as chairman, andRichard Henry Lee of Virginia, Mr. Dane of Massachusetts, Mr. Keanof South Carolina, and Mr. Smith of New York. These gentlemen preparedan ordinance, the famous Ordinance of 1787, submitted it to Dr.Cutler for his opinion or Amendment, introduced it to Congress, had itread, amended, and on the 13th day of July procured its passage. Thiswas quick work, and the way was now clear for the main business whichDr. Cutler had in hand—the negotiation of the purchase of lands for theOhio Company. A committee on lands was appointed for the purposeof negotiating with the Ohio Land Company’s agent for the sale of thelands, having the same chairman, Dr. Cutler’s friend, Colonel Carrington,with Rufus King, James Madison, Mr. Dane and Mr. Benson as theother members.

The Ordinance having become a law on the 13th day of July, the negotiationfor the Ohio Company’s purchase was concluded on the27th of the same month, and terms agreed upon. On the 5th day ofOctober, 1787, officers for the government of the new territory wereelected by Congress as follows: Arthur St. Clair, Governor; James M.Varnum, Samuel Holden Parsons and John Armstrong, Judges, andWinthrop Sargent, Secretary. Mr. Armstrong declining, the vacancywas filled by the appointment of John Cleves Symmes. The chargeagainst General St. Clair, made by Mr. Poole, is that Dr. Cutler, when hearrived in New York and called on the President of Congress to obtainthe appointment of a committee to draft and report a system of laws forthe Northwest Territory that should be friendly to his terms of purchase,met with a cool reception, and, to quote from Mr. Poole, “he found that54General St. Clair wanted to be Governor of the Northwest Territory; and Dr.Cutler, representing the interests of the Ohio Company, intended that GeneralParsons, of Connecticut, should have the office. But he must have GeneralSt. Clair’s influence, and found it necessary to pay the price. From themoment he communicated this decision, General St. Clair was warmly engagedin his interests.”

This is an extremely unjust imputation upon a gentleman who in all theaffairs of life showed himself to be the very soul of honor. That it isfalse in every particular, a bare recital of the above facts, coupled withthe additional fact that Dr. Cutler in the daily journal he kept makes noreference to General St. Clair in connection with the governorship untilthe evening of the 23rd, ten days after the passage of the ordinance, isclear and sufficient proof. The extract from the journal containing thisreference is as follows:

July 23rd.**** Spent the evening with Colonel Grayson and members ofCongress from the southward, who were in favor of a contract. Having found it impossible to supportGeneral Parsons as a candidate for Governor, after the interest that General St. Clair had secured,and suspecting that this might be some impediment in the way (for my endeavors to make interest forhim [Parsons] were well known), and the arrangements for civil officers being on the carpet, I embracedthe opportunity frankly to declare that for my own part—and ventured to engage for Mr. Sargent—ifGeneral Parsons could have the appointment of first judge, and Sargent secretary, we would be satisfied;and I heartily wished that his excellency, General St. Clair, might be governor, and that I would solicitthe eastern members to favor such an arrangement. This I found rather pleasing to the southernmembers, and they were so complacent as to ask repeatedly what officer would be agreeable to me inthe western country.

That General St. Clair should have received the Ohio Company’s agentcoolly on the 6th day of July, and on the 9th of the same month appointedas chairman of the committee to treat with Dr. Cutler the very manthe latter wished appointed, Col. Carrington, a personal friend; that GeneralSt. Clair wanted the governorship, and remained hostile to Dr. Cutler’splans, until Dr. Cutler gave up Parsons and came to his support onthe 23rd day of July, is on the face of it so improbable that, without anydirect evidence to the contrary, no fair minded person at all familiar withSt. Clair’s character could give it credence. However, we have the verybest proof of the untruthfulness of Mr. Poole’s statement in General St.Clair’s own words. [12]In a letter to the Hon. William Giles, written sometime after his election as governor, he says the office was forced uponhim by his friends; that he did not desire it and would not have acceptedit but for “the laudable ambition of becoming the father of a country, andlaying the foundation for the happiness of millions then unborn.”

55All this shows conclusively that General St. Clair was friendly to theland negotiation from the start; that he clearly saw the advantages to thegovernment of the sale of so large a body of western lands; that hereceived Dr. Cutler cordially, and warmly espoused his cause from thefirst; that he had no thought of the governorship until pressed by hisfriends for the office; that Dr. Cutler discovering the drift of sentiment inhis favor concluded it would be futile to longer endeavor to obtain interestfor General Parsons, the man of his choice. St. Clair, before Dr. Cutlerannounced himself in his favor for the governorship, appointed a committeefavorable to the land negotiation to draft the ordinance for the governmentof the Territory; and in fact there is good reason for believing thatsome of the grand principles of that great charter owe their incorporationin that instrument to his wisdom and foresight. Everything convinces thatGeneral St. Clair’s relation to Dr. Cutler, to the land negotiation and tothe governorship, was in all respects creditable to the dignity of his officeand to his personal honor.

The Ordinance of 1787 was the product of the highest statesmanship.It ranks among the grandest bill of rights ever drafted for the governmentof any people. It secured for the inhabitants of the great Statesformed from the Northwest Territory religious freedom, the inviolability ofprivate contracts; the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus and trial by jury;the operation of the common law in judicial proceedings; urged the maintenanceof schools and the means of education; declared that religion,morality and knowledge were essential to good government; exacted apledge of good faith toward the Indians; and proscribed slavery within thelimits of the Territory. It provided for the opening, development andgovernment of the Territory, and formed the basis of subsequent Statelegislation. Chief Justice Chase says of it: “When they (the people) cameinto the wilderness, they found the law already there. It was impressedon the soil while as yet it bore up nothing but the forest.***Never probably in the history of the world did a measure of legislationso accurately fulfill, and yet so mightily exceed, the anticipation of the legislators.***The Ordinance has well been described ashaving been a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night in the settlementof the Northwest States.” Judge Timothy Walker, in 1837 in an addressdelivered at Cincinnati, says: “Upon the surpassing excellence of thisOrdinance no language of panegyric would be extravagant. The Romanswould have imagined some divine Egeria for its author. It approaches56as nearly absolute perfection as anything to be found in the legislation ofmankind.*** It is one of those matchless specimens ofsagacious foresight which even the reckless spirit of innovation would notventure to assail.” Daniel Webster, in his famous reply to Hayne, borethis testimony to the excellence of this measure: “We are accustomedto praise the lawgivers of antiquity; we help to perpetuate the fame ofSolon and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver,ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked andlasting character than the Ordinance of 1787. We see its consequencesat this moment, and we shall never cease to see them, perhaps, while theOhio shall flow.”

The people of Ohio, of the farther west, and of the whole countrycannot become too familiar with a measure which has received so great praisefrom such high sources. We publish the Ordinance in full.

An ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio:

Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said Territory for the purpose oftemporary government be one district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future circ*mstancesmay, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates both of resident and non-resident proprietorsin said Territory dying intestate, shall descend to and be distributed among the children, and the descendantsof a deceased child in equal parts—the descendants of a deceased child, or grandchild, to take theshare of the deceased parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children or descendants,then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal degree; and among collaterals, the childrenof a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, the deceasedparent’s share, and there shall in no case be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half blood,saving in all cases to the widow of the intestate her third part of the real estate for life, and [where thereshall be no children of the intestate] one third part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descentsand dower shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of the district. And until the governorand judges shall adopt laws, as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said Territory may be dividedor bequeathed by wills, in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be [beingof full age] and attested by three witnesses; and real estate may be conveyed by lease or release, or bargainand sale, signed, sealed and delivered by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be,and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills lie duly proved, and such conveyance be acknowledged,or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courtand registers shall be appointed for that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery,saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincent’sand the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, theirlaws and customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress,a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless soonerrevoked by Congress. He shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein in one thousandacres of land while in the exercise of his office. There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress,a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked; heshall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein in five hundred acres of land while in theexercise of his office; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature,57and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department;and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings every six months to the secretary of Congress.There shall also be appointed a court to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form acourt, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein a freeholdestate in five hundred acres of land while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shallcontinue in force during good behavior.

The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws ofthe original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circ*mstances, andreport them to Congress, from time to time; which laws shall be in force in the district until the organizationof the general assembly therein, unless disapproved by Congress; but afterwards the legislature shallhave authority to alter them as they shall think fit.

The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commissionall officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed andcommissioned by Congress.

Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor shall appoint such magistrates andother civil officers, in each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peaceand good order in the same. After the general assembly shall be organized, the power and duties ofmagistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly; but all magistratesand other civil officers not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporarygovernment, be appointed by the governor.

For the prevention of crimes and injuries the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all partsof the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make properdivisions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as circ*mstances may require, to lay out theparts of the district, in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and townships,subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the legislature.

So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the district, upon givingproof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representativesfrom their counties or townships to represent them in the general assembly; provided that for every fivehundred free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively, with the numberof free male inhabitants shall the right of representation increase until the number of representativesshall amount to twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of the representatives shall beregulated by the legislature; provided that no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representativeunless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district,or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and in either case, shall likewise hold inhis own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same; provided also that a freehold infifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States and being resident in the district,or the like freehold and two years’ residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as anelector of a representative.

The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two years; and in case of the death of a representative,or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which hewas a member to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term.

The general assembly or legislature shall consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house ofrepresentatives. The legislative council shall consist of five members to continue in office five years,unless sooner removed by Congress, any three of whom may be a quorum; and the members of thecouncil shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit: As soon as representativesshall be elected, the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and when metthey shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundredacres of land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint andcommission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council by death orremoval from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, foreach vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom Congress shall appoint and commissionfor the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time58of service of the members of the council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid,and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serveas members of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative council, andhouse of representatives shall have authority to make laws, in all cases, for the good government of thedistrict, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And allbills having passed by a majority in the house and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to thegovernor for his assent; but no bill or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent.The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue and dissolve the general assembly when, in hisopinion, it shall be expedient.

The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appointin the district shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office; the governor before the Presidentof Congress, and all other officers before the governor. As soon as legislature shall be formed in thedistrict, the council and house assembled in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect adelegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting,during this temporary government.

And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereonthese republics, their laws, and constitutions, are erected; to fix and establish those principles as thebasis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in said Territory;to provide, also, for the establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and for theiradmission to a share in the Federal councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periodsas may be consistent with general interest.

It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be consideredas articles of compact between the original States and the people and States in the said Territory,and forever remain unalterable unless by common consent, to wit:

“Article 1. No person demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner shall ever be molestedon account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said Territory.

“Article 2. The inhabitants of said Territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ ofhabeas corpus and of trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature,and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailableexcept for capital offences, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall bemoderate, and no unusual or cruel punishment shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of hisliberty or property but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land; and should the public exigenciesmake it necessary, for the common preservation, to take away any person’s property, or to demandhis particular service, full compensation shall be made for the same; and in the just preservation of rightsand property it is understood and declared that no law ought ever be made, or have force in the saidTerritory, that shall in any manner whatever interfere with or effect private contracts or engagements,bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed.

“Article 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happinessof mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost goodfaith shall always lie observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken fromthem without their consent; and in their property, rights and liberty they shall never be invaded or disturbed,unless in just and lawful wars, authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity,shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrong being done to them, and for preserving peaceand friendship with them.

“Article 4. The said Territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever remaina part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of confederation, andto such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made, and to all the acts and ordinances of theUnited States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in said Territoryshall be subject to pay a part of the Federal debts, contracted or to be contracted, and a proportionalpart of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress, according to thesame common rule and measure by which the apportionments thereof shall be made on the otherStates; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction59of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within the timeagreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts or newStates shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled,nor with any regulation Congress may find necessary for securing the title to such soil to bonafide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands, the property of the United States; and in no caseshall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into theMississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways,and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said Territory as to the citizens of the United States,and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, import orduty therefor.

Article 5. There shall be formed in the said Territory not less than three nor more than five States;and the boundaries of the Stales as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and consent to thesame, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: The western State in the said Territory shallbe bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio and Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash andPort Vincent’s due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and by the saidterritorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State shall be bounded by thesaid direct line, the Wabash from Port Vincent’s to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn duenorth from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line.The eastern State shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and thesaid territorial line; provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundariesof these three States shall be subject so far to be altered that, if Congress should hereafter find it expedient,they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the Territory which lies north ofan east and west line, drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of lake Michigan. And wheneverany of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted byits delegates into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States, in allrespects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government; providedthe constitution and government so to be formed shall be republican, and in conformity to theprinciples contained in these articles; and so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of theconfederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period and when there may be a less numberof free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.

“Article 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory otherwisethan in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; provided, always,that any person escaping into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of theoriginal States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or herlabor or services as aforesaid.”

The authorship of this grand charter of rights, vouchsafed to a peoplewho to-day number many millions and are living happily under its benigninfluence, bears the marks of wisdom the most profound, of statesmanshipof the highest order, of foresight akin to inspiration. The question thenvery naturally arises for eager solution, “Who was the author?” or ifmore than one, “Who were the authors?” The question has never been,probably never will be, fully and definitely answered to the satisfaction ofevery inquirer. The claims of Thomas Jefferson, of Nathan Dane, of Dr.Manasseh Cutler have in turn been ably supported by various writers.The truth no doubt is that all these gentlemen, together with ColonelCarrington and Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, and Arthur St. Clair, thePresident of Congress, were concerned in its preparation. More importance60is attached to the authorship of Articles III and VI, especially ofthe latter, than to any other portion of the instrument. Religious liberty,the provision for the spread of education, the manner in which the Indiansshould be treated, and the inhibition of slavery, are its distinguishingfeatures. To whom are we chiefly indebted for their place in theOrdinance?

Jefferson has a strong claim upon our gratitude, for it was he whodrafted the anti-slavery clause in the inoperative ordinance of 1784, fromwhich the anti-slavery clause (Article VI) of the Ordinance of 1787, nodoubt, was copied. The similarity in the phraseology of the two clausesis too striking to admit of a doubt of this, as any one who will carefullyread and compare the two will readily perceive. To Jefferson, then, weowe much, but it must be remembered that he was not a member of thelast Congress of the old confederation, but was at that time our ministerto France. Nathan Dane was the committee’s secretary, and no doubtthe original draft is in his handwriting. He had prepared and reported anordinance in May previous which was not passed, and which containednone of the grand principles that characterized the ordinance under question.If he were the author of any part of the latter, it was an unessentialpart, as he afterwards, in a letter to Mr. Rufus King published in Spencer’sHistory of the United States, clearly shows that he had no adequate conceptionof the grand features of the Ordinance. Moreover he declined tooffer the anti-slavery clause as a part of the Ordinance at its first readingbecause he believed it could not pass, and only presented it the day beforethe final adoption of the Ordinance, after having learned the feeling ofCongress toward the slavery question.

It is undoubtedly true that to no one man are the people who have enjoyedand to-day enjoy the benefits of the Ordinance, so much indebtedas to Dr. Manasseh Cutler. It was he who directed the battle in itsfavor; it was he who secured the appointment of his friends, Carringtonand Lee, on the committee; who urged the necessity of the adoption ofthe Ordinance before the land purchase could be made; who insisted, asrepresentative of the company which was most immediately concerned inthe nature of the laws that should form the government of the Territory,upon the anti-slavery clause, and, to win the southern members to its support,favored the addition of the proviso for the rendition of fugitive slaves;and without doubt it was he who urged the insertion of what relates toreligion, morality and education. At this time anti-slavery sentiment in61Virginia was popular with the leading men of that State, and with theprotection to the property rights in the slave which the proviso afforded,the Virginia members of the committee were readily won to the support ofthe anti-slavery clause. What, therefore, Dr. Cutler accomplished in behalfof the Ordinance was of the greatest importance. He obtained theappointment of a new committee favorable to such a measure as he wassolicitous to have adopted; urged the insertion of many of the grandprinciples it contained; won such friendly interest for it from opposingelements as to insure for it certain victory, and was instrumental insecuring its passage.

Judge Ephraim Cutler, in 1849, received a letter from his brother,Temple Cutler, in which he says: “Hon. Daniel Webster is now convincedthat the man who suggested some of its articles was our father,”and in the same year Judge Cutler wrote as follows:

I visited my father at Washington during the last session he attended Congress (1804)....We were in conversation relative to the political concerns of Ohio, the ruling parties, and the effects ofthe constitution (of Ohio) in the promotion of the general interest; when he observed that he was informedthat I had prepared that portion of the Ohio constitution which contained the ‘part of theordinance of July, 1787, which prohibited slavery. He wished to know if it was a fact. On my assuringthat it was, he observed that he thought it a singular coincidence, as he himself had prepared that partof the ordinance while he was in New York negotiating the purchase of the lands for the Ohio Company.I had not seen the journal he kept while he was in New York at that time....[13]

Arthur St. Clair’s connection with the Ordinance must have been, fromthe nature of the position he occupied as well as from the character of theman, of very considerable importance. There is good reason for believinghim to be the author of the clause relating to the treatment of theIndians. No other member of the House had a better acquaintance withthe Indian character, or better appreciated what was by right due to thered man, and it is therefore more than likely that the preparation of thisclause was entrusted to him, though there exists no positive proof of thefact.

General St. Clair’s history as Governor of the Northwest Territory willbe reserved for future publication in this Magazine.

Washington’s early education was in the direction to fit him in an especialmanner for the practical work of the surveyor. After having exhaustedthe possibilities of the elementary school, which he had beforeattended, he was taken into the family of his brother Lawrence, that hemight have the benefit of a better one than existed in that neighborhood.It seems to have been intended that he should attain a thorough andpractical business education—such as should fit him for all the duties ofan extensive colonial land owner and planter. Perhaps the possibility ofhis becoming a magistrate or burgess was also present, as the place thatawaited him in the society of Virginia was such as to warrant so modestan ambition. There are now in existence several of his school books, intoone of which are copied, with infinite pains, forms for contracts, landconveyances, leases, mortgages, etc. In another are preserved the field-notesand calculations of surveys, which he made as a matter of practice—keptand proved with the same exactness that would have beenexpected had the result been intended to form the basis of practical transactions.Not the least advantage of Washington’s sojourn with hisbrother, was the fact that it introduced him, at once, into the highest and,at the same time, the best society of the colony. Lawrence had becomeone of the most honored and prominent men in Virginia. His wealth,his social position and that of the Fairfax family, his sterling characterand unquestioned ability, had united to advance him, and he was a memberof the House of Burgesses, as well as adjutant-general of his district,with the rank and pay of a major.

But a few miles below Mount Vernon, as Lawrence Washington hadcalled his estate, and upon the same wooded ridge that bordered thePotomac, was Belvoir the seat of the Fairfax family. Occupying theample and elegant appointed house, was the Hon. William Fairfax,father-in-law of Lawrence Washington—a gentleman who had attainedsocial, political and military prominence in England, and in the East andWest Indies. He had come to Virginia to take charge of the enormous63estate of his cousin, Lord Fairfax, which, according to the original grantfrom the crown, was “for all the lands between the Rappahannock andPotomac Rivers.” This grant had been very liberally construed to includea large part of the land drained by affluents of these streams, embracing aconsiderable portion of the Shenandoah valley. In the midst of thisprincely domain, the Fairfaxes lived in the style of English gentry.Their house was always open to guests of the right class and to no others.The monotony of life was occasionally broken by the arrival in the Potomacof an English war vessel, when its officers were certain to be foundat the Fairfax and Washington tables, telling their stories of service indistant seas, of battle, travel, and all the various experiences that a navallife involves. Washington was made a sharer, on terms nearly approachingequality, in much of this social intercourse; he felt the refining andbroadening influence of contact with accomplished and experienced menof the world, and, not least important, he heard the tales and jests of theseafaring visitors, and hearing, was enthralled. At the age of fourteenhe became infatuated with the idea of entering the British navy. His agewas suitable, the profession was an excellent one for a young gentlemandesiring to push his fortunes, a frigate at that time lay in the river, LawrenceWashington and Mr. Fairfax approved, and nothing seemed necessaryto carrying the plan into effect but the consent of the lad’s mother.Even this difficulty yielded to argument. George’s clothes were packed,and he was ready to go aboard, when the mother’s heart failed her, andshe withdrew her consent, thus saving Washington to his country. It ismore likely, considering his training and disposition, that, had the boysailed upon that cruise, he would have directed a vessel or fleet againstthe revolting colonies; called them rebels, not patriots; served the king,not the people. Back to school he went, no doubt chagrined and crestfallen,and remained for nearly two years. At the end of that time histeacher discharged him as finished, as, no doubt he was, so far as the capacityof that master was concerned. These two years were passed inthe study of the higher mathematics, his intention being to fit himself forany business or professional emergency, civil or military.

After leaving school, Washington was much more frequently at Belvoirthan before. Lord Fairfax, the owner of the estate, was now an inmateof the house, having come to inspect his possessions, and determined tomake Virginia his home. He was much impressed by the fertility andbeauty of the country, and also, gossip had it, having never recovered64from a wound to his heart and pride, inflicted in his youth by a ficklebeauty, who preferred a ducal cornet to his more modest rank after thewedding dress was made, was glad to escape from England to the freedomand retirement of Virginia. Lord Fairfax was not far from sixty years ofa*ge, tall, erect, and vigorous in figure; kind-hearted, generous but eccentric,and not a man to take every comer into his friendship and confidence.He at once showed a marked liking for the tall, handsome, reserved anddignified young man, whom he so often met at Belvoir. No one longerregarded Washington as a boy, though he was but fifteen years of age.Lord Fairfax was a devoted sportsman, and set up his hunters and houndsat Belvoir, as he had been accustomed in England. Had anything beennecessary to confirm his friendship for Washington, it was only to find, ashis lordship did, that the latter was as hard and intrepid a rider as he, andwould follow a fox over the dangerous and difficult hunting grounds ofVirginia with as little faltering or fatigue.

So this oddly assorted couple became close friends and constant companions,in the hunt and elsewhere. The old nobleman, litterateur, andman of the world, treated the sturdy young man as a social and intellectualequal, and, from the fullness of experience, unconsciously added, dayby day, to his slender knowledge of the world; while the latter, probablyquite as unconsciously, in a measure repaid the debt, as his knowledge ofthe country and of colonial life enabled him to do. One important effectof his intimacy was that it resulted in securing to Washington his first opportunityfor testing his new-found freedom, by undertaking an independententerprise. This happened incidentally, yet was the starting-point ofthe young man’s fortunes.

As has been said, Lord Fairfax’s estate in Virginia extended beyondthe Blue Ridge, and to a considerable distance up the eastern slope of theAlleghanies. West of the former range no survey had ever been made,and reports had come that the country was filling up with lawless squatters,who invariably selected the best lands for settlement, and were indanger of gaining such a foothold that to oust them would be a matterof no little difficulty. Lord Fairfax desired a survey of this wild and uncivilizedterritory to be made. It was a service requiring not only skill asa surveyor, but ability to endure great fatigue, courage to face danger,determination and ingenuity to meet and overcome difficulties—yet allthese qualities he deemed combined in Washington, who had barelyreached the age of sixteen years. The committing of so important atrust to one so young seems almost inconceivable, and this fact is one ofthe best indications of what the youth must have been, not only in boneand muscle, but in brain, self-reliance and maturity, at an age when mostboys are thinking more of their balls and kites than of the serious dutiesof life.

67Washington eagerly accepted the proposal of Lord Fairfax, and immediatelyset about his preparations for departure, which occupied but a fewdays. In company with George William Fairfax, a young man oftwenty-two years, son of William Fairfax, he set out in the saddle, duringthe month of March, 1748. Mr. John S. C. Abbott, in his ‘Life ofWashington,’ describes the experience of the young men in a mannercharacteristically picturesque. He says:

“The crests of the mountains were still whitened with ice and snow.Chilling blasts swept the plains. The streams were swollen into torrentsby the spring rains. The Indians, however, whose hunting parties rangedthese forests, were at that time friendly. Still there were vagrant bandswandering here and there, ever ready to kill and plunder.***Though these wilds may be called pathless, still there were, here andthere, narrow trails which the moccasined foot of the savage had troddenfor uncounted centuries. They led, in a narrow track, scarcely two feetin breadth, through dense thickets, over craggy hills, and along the banksof placid streams or foaming torrents.*** It was generallynecessary to camp at night wherever darkness might overtake them. Withtheir axes a rude cabin was easily constructed, roofed with bark, whichafforded a comfortable shelter from wind and rain. The forest presentedan ample supply of game. Delicious brook trout were easily taken fromthe streams. Exercise and fresh air gave appetite. With a roaring firecrackling before the camp, illumining the forest far and wide, the adventurerscooked their supper and ate it with a relish such as the pamperedguests in lordly banqueting halls have seldom experienced. Their sleepwas probably more sweet than was ever found on beds of down. Occasionallythey would find shelter for the night in the wigwam of thefriendly Indian.”

In amusing contrast to this rose-colored view of life in the woods arethe terse and evidently feeling words from the pen of Washington himself,recorded in his journal under date of March 15, 1748: “Workedhard till night and then returned. After supper we were lighted into aroom, and I, not being so good a woodman as the rest, stripped myself68very orderly and went into the bed, as they call it, when, to my surprise,I found it to be nothing but a little straw matted together, without sheetor anything else, but only one threadbare blanket, with double its weightof vermin. I was glad to get up and put on my clothes and lie as mycompanions did. Had we not been very tired, I am sure we should nothave slept much that night. I made a promise to sleep no more in a bed,choosing rather to sleep in the open air before a fire.” Again, after beingmuch longer away from home, Washington says in a letter to a friend:“Yours gave me the more pleasure as I received it among barbarians andan uncouth set of people. Since you received my letter of October last,I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed. But after walking agood deal all the day, I have lain down before the fire on a little hay,straw, fodder, or bear skin, whichever was to be had, with man, wife andchildren, like dogs and cats, and happy is he who gets nearest the fire.I have never had my clothes off, but have lain and slept in them, exceptthe few nights I have been in Fredericksburg.”

With these and similar experiences, Washington and his companion,with their little party, consisting of an Indian guide and a few white attendants,continued through the weary weeks and months occupied in thefulfillment of their mission. This work was well and thoroughly done;the surveys made were afterwards proved to be careful and accurate. Theparty finally returned to civilization on the 12th day of April, 1749, morethan a year after they set out. The report made to Lord Fairfax proveda source of immediate profit to Washington, who, though but a littlemore than seventeen years of age, was soon after made one of the officialsurveyors of the colony of Virginia. His late employer soon removed toa point in the newly surveyed territory, beyond the Blue Ridge, where heset aside ten thousand acres of land, to constitute his home estate, andprojected a grand manor and house, after the English style. The proposedsite of this dwelling—which, though Abbott describes it in glowingterms, was never built—is about twelve miles from the present village ofWinchester.

Washington pursued his labors with the additional sanction given byhis office, which entitled his surveys to become a matter of official record.As will be readily understood, the demand for such services in a newcountry was great, and, as the number of competent men was small, hislabors commanded a correspondingly large remuneration. So for threeyears he continued patiently working, his ability and industry commanding69respect and gaining a daily wider recognition. He was so accurate inall his processes that no considerable error was ever charged against him,and a title, finding its basis in one of his surveys, was rarely disputed.The minute acquaintance with the soil, timber and other natural advantagesof the region, thus obtained, proved of great practical value to himin after years, when his increased wealth needed investment; much of thefinest land which he surveyed passed into his hands, and was later ownedby members of the Washington family. He held his office of colonialsurveyor for three years, when he resigned to accept more importanttrusts.

The purposes which this publication isintended to subserve are the promotionof historical studies in general and an increasedfamiliarity with the history of thewestern portion of this country in particular.The field is a broad and invitingone. The early annals of every localitypossess a peculiar charm for its own people,while they furnish something of interestto the people of every other locality.The conductors of this Magazine invitethe aid and co-operation of every personinterested in the development and preservationof local history, and shall rely in aspecial manner upon the friendly officesof Historical and Pioneer Societies.These organizations accomplish great goodin the work they are carrying forward fromyear to year, and they should increase innumber until every county, or section ofthe country, shall have a Pioneer Society.The publishers of this monthly now havein course of preparation by an able andwell informed writer, the history of Ohio,which will be published serially in thenumbers of this Magazine, to be followedby the history of other States. A departmentwill be devoted to local history, inwhich county and town annals, andsketches of pioneer settlers and of representativemen and women will have chiefplace. The contributions of students ofhistory, who have something to say of interestto the general reader, will be welcomedto the pages of this publication.We have received already the proffer ofpapers by able and experienced writers,and hope to make the Magazine of indispensablevalue to a large number of readers.To furnish essays on historical subjectsby writers of experience and ability;to provide a history of each of the greatWestern States that have not already satisfactoryState histories; to afford a mediumfor the publication of the proceedings ofHistorical and Pioneer Societies, and topublish such other information regardingthese and similar organizations as willenable them to become better acquaintedwith one another; to give sketches ofthe lives of early settlers, and of otherswho have largely aided in the developmentof the material interests, or inpromoting the advancement, in otherrespects, of the community in which theydwell; to add to the interest of the printedtext by the help of engravings where theycan be employed to advantage, and especiallyto employ the services of art in portraitillustration; and to use skill andtaste on the part of the printer in givinga neat appearance to the Magazine—theseare the chief features of the programmewhich we have formed for the work we haveundertaken. We do not lightly esteemthe labor, or overlook the difficultieswhich lie before us. We expect theMagazine will have friends if by its excellence71it merits them. It has a field of itsown, differing from that occupied by anyother publication, and its success will besure and enduring if it achieves it bydeserving well of its patrons and readers.

The American Historical Associationheld its first annual meeting at Saratoga,September 9, under the friendly auspicesof the Social Science Association. Theimportance of this movement, whose objectis the promotion of historical studiesthroughout the country, cannot be overestimated.No society of like aim, nationalin character, seeking to create aninterest in the study of American historyin every section of the country, has everexisted. The nearest approach to it wasthe “American Historical Society” organizedin 1836, at Washington, D. C., withJohn Quincy Adams as President. Itsmembership, however, was made up fromresidents of Washington, Congressmen,and a few persons outside of the Capitalwho however, were only honorary members.The meetings were of irregularoccurrence and were held in the Houseof Representatives. The active spirit ofthis old Historical Society was PeterForce, whose work in the publication ofrare collections of early colonial history wasof incalculable value to the Nation, andto whom the country is likewise indebtedfor the collection of the “American Archives.”This society was, however, onlylocal in character, and had only such purposesin view as were of easy attainmentat the National Capital. On the otherhand, the new organization, having no oneplace for its habitation, is a nationalassociation of students of history, whomay come from any section of this andother lands. Historical specialists andactive workers everywhere, whether fromacademic centres or State and county historicalsocieties, if approved by the committee,will be welcomed. The annualmembership fee is $3.00, the life membership$25. Forty-one active members wereenrolled at Saratoga, and the ExecutiveCouncil has selected 120 more persons,students of history, resident in varioussections of the country, to whom invitationsto become active members are to beextended. A constitution was adoptedand the following distinguished personsselected as officers: President, AndrewD. White, President of Cornell College;two Vice-Presidents, Professor Justin Winsor,of Harvard and Professor CharlesKendall Adams, of the University ofMichigan; Secretary, Dr. Herbert B. Adamsof John Hopkin’s University, Baltimore;Treasurer, Clarence WinthropBowen of the New York Independent,New York City. These gentlemen, withthree associates—Mr. William B. Weedenof Providence, Professor Emerton ofHarvard College, and Professor MosesCoit Tyler of Cornell University—formthe Executive Council, which is empoweredto pass judgment upon all nominationswhich may be made through thesecretary, and which has charge also ofthe general interests of the Association.President White delivered an admirableaddress on “Synthetic Studies in History,”and several other important papers wereread—all of which, together with a recordof the proceedings, will soon be publishedin pamphlet form.

72Hon. Harvey Rice, who has attained theripe old age of 84 years, celebrated thesixtieth anniversary of his arrival inCleveland on the 24th day of last September.Nearly two hundred persons,acquaintances and friends, assembled athis residence, 427 Woodland Ave., Cleveland,to pay him their respects—a veryfitting tribute to one to whom not alonethe citizens of the Forest City, but alsothe people of Ohio, and in a certainsense of the whole country are very largelyindebted for valuable services. Forhis able efforts in behalf of the improvedmanagement of common schools he hasfor many years been appropriately calledthe father of the Ohio system of commonschool instruction, which has been largelyimitated by other States. Mr. Rice is theauthor of several books, some of whichhave had a very good circulation. Heis a graceful writer of poetry as well as ofprose.

No other branch of knowledge is soneglected as that of history. Many whoare familiar with mathematics, philosophy,the sciences, and the languages are almosttotally without historical knowledge.Many who do give it attention too oftenstudy it inadequately, considering it a drystatement of facts, events and dates.History, when rightly studied, affords informationof the greatest profit and rarestinterest. It unfolds to our understandingnot merely the chief events of the past,but the purposes, the efforts and achievementsof the great minds of each agein the actual drama of life, and gives usmany pleasant glimpses into the world ofthought, purpose and feeling of anothertime.

In importance and value history is excelledby no other story. It does notpossess an equal interest for every student,for the very evident reason that everystudent of history does not evince for itthe same degree of fidelity and love. Butto every disciple it brings a reward. Itwidens the horizon of his thought, solvesfor him many an intricate problem in theaffairs of life, acquaints him with theevents of the human race, brings him incontact with the greatest minds and loftiestspirits of every age, and enables himto gain a better understanding of the fellow-beingswith whom he mingles.

The earliest Historical Society in thiscountry, we believe, is the American PhilosophicalSociety, of Philadelphia, organizedin 1743. If any reader knows of anearlier historical organization we shall beobliged for the information. In fact, wewould like a complete list of all the historicalsocieties in the country. Who canfurnish it?

The editors of this Magazine will bevery thankful for such news relating toPioneer and Historical Societies as will beof interest to the general reader. Theseorganizations are doing an importantwork, and deserve great commendation.We make brief mention of the proceedingsof a few societies, of whose annual meetingwe have had information.

The Ashtabula County PioneerAssociation held its last annual reunionAugust 28, at Jefferson, O., and was wellattended. An interesting address wasdelivered by Judge Darius Cadwell ofCleveland, O. The next regular reunionwill be held at Jefferson, July 4, 1885. Thefollowing gentlemen are the officers of thesociety: A. Udell, President; J. A. Howells,Secretary; N. E. French, Treasurer.

The Western Reserve Pioneer Association—Onthe same day, the 28th ofAugust, the members of the W. R. PioneerAssociation held their annual meetingin Burgess Grove, near North Solon,in sight of the log cabin in which JamesA. Garfield was born. The associationhas reached its fifteenth year, and itsmembership includes residents of Cuyahoga,Geauga, Lorain, Summit, Portage,Lake and Ashtabula counties. Gen. A.C. Voris of Akron, delivered the annualaddress, while interesting speeches werealso made by Judge Tilden and R. C.Parsons of Cleveland. The officers are:W. H. Curtiss, President; Samuel Patrick,Secretary, and J. M. Burgess, Treasurer.

The Geauga County Historical Societyheld its annual gathering August23, in Newberry township, in a delightfulgrove near the shore of what has recentlybeen christened Emerald Lake. Themembership of this society is very large.Hon. Lester Taylor, a venerable andworthy man, is its presiding officer; JamesM. Bullock, Vice-President; W. R. Munn,Secretary; Donald Johnson, Chairman ofthe Executive Committee. Hon. Geo. H.Ford was the orator of the day, and deliveredan exceedingly able address, andwas followed by W. L. Utley of Wisconsinand Hon. A. G. Riddle, of Washington,D. C., who spoke in a delightfully entertainingmanner. The number of peoplewho attended this interesting reunion wasestimated at two or three thousand. Thepeople of Geauga County attested theirinterest in local history by the publication,in 1881, of a very full and thorough historyof their county.

The Mahoning Valley HistoricalSociety held its eleventh annual sessionat Youngstown, September 17. John M.Edwards, its venerable presiding officer,delivered an interesting address, in whichhe urged the members to contribute suchinformation respecting the history of theWestern Reserve and its early pioneers,as they were able to furnish, which information74it is intended to preserve, witha view to collation and publication. Aftermaking brief biographical mention of suchpioneers as had passed away since the lastmeeting of the Society, Mr. Edwardsspoke as follows:

I will now speak briefly of another matter suggestedby what has just been said. After the deathof Benjamin Stevens, of Warren, at the age of 96years, a question was raised as to who was the oldestperson residing there or in that or neighboringcounties. Daniel Warner, of Mesopotamia, wasreported as saying that he thought himself the oldestman in the county, being 92 years old. Therewere also reported in the newspapers the names ofMrs. Lucy Adams, of Warren, aged 90; JohnLangley, of Vernon, aged 93; Hezekiah Howe, ofBloomfield, aged 98, all old residents of the Reserve.Mr. Howe has resided in Bloomfield from an earlyperiod. His daughter, Mrs. Baker, is said to havebeen the third child born in the township. He isprobably the oldest citizen and pioneer of thatcounty.

But Mahoning County has among its citizens theoldest man in this part of the Reserve, and perhapsin the State. Charles Birch, of Lowellville, inPoland township, was born in Staffordshire, England,January 4, 1778 or 1779, being at this time105 or 106 years old. He is not positive as to hisage within a year, but thinks he was 106 years oldin January last. He was a soldier in the Britisharmy—was at the burning of Moscow, fought underWellington at Waterloo, receiving two wounds inthat battle, and draws a pension from the EnglishGovernment. He came to the United Slates in1851, and is residing with a daughter. His memoryof events in which he was a participator is still good.Two other questions of interest, and of like import,are frequently asked:

First—Who is the oldest living pioneer on theReserve?

Second—Who is the oldest living native borncitizen of the Reserve?

We have heard several names as the probablepersons, given in response to each question, but theprecise dates necessary to solve the question arewanting. We request our friends, who can do so, tofurnish us names, dates, place of present residence,etc., sufficient to enable us to satisfactorily answerthe questions.

At our last reunion, after discussion, it was resolvedunanimously to continue the reunions annually.Our citizens have accordingly made preparationsfor your reception and enjoyment. We are pleasedto see so many of you here to-day, and we extendto all a hearty welcome.

The Firelands’ Historical Society.—Thissociety, which was organized in1857, held an interesting meeting at Peru,Huron County, October 8, and was addressedby Rev. J. N. Lewis, P. N.Schuyler, Dr. J. C. Sanders, and Rev. T.F. Hildreth. Dr. Sanders, of Cleveland,the orator of the day had for his subject“The Pioneer Physician,” and spoke in avery able and interesting manner. P. N.Schuyler, of Bellevue, O., than whom noother person has been more deeply interestedin the welfare of the society, or hasdone more for its well-being, made anearnest appeal to the members to sustainthe society’s publication, The FirelandsPioneer. There were thirteen personsat the meeting who had settled onthe Firelands before the year 1820,and sixty who have been residents forforty-five years or more. There wereseventeen persons present over seventy-fiveyears old; six over eighty, and oneover eighty-six. Captain C. Woodruff isthe presiding officer of the society, andH. Stewart, Secretary. The Secretarybeing absent, C. E. Newman, Esq.,of Norwalk, Ohio, an active member andearnest worker, performed the duties ofthat officer.

The Licking County Pioneer, Historicaland Antiquarian Society,Newark, Ohio, Isaac Smucker, President,C. B. Griffin, Secretary, has a total membershipof 377, of which 125 are pioneerresident members; 78 antiquarian members,the rest being associate, correspondingand honorary members.

G. P. Putnam’s Sons will soon publish‘Life and Times of Augustus Adolph,’ byJohn L. Stephens; ‘The Works of AlexanderHamilton,’ including his contributionsto the Federalist, by Henry CabotLodge; and a translation of the Marquisde Nadaillac’s work on ‘Prehistoric America.’

James R. Osgood & Co. will haveready in November, ‘Nathaniel Hawthorneand his wife,’ by Julian Hawthorne,a book that will prove acceptable to manyreaders.

Harper & Brothers announce ‘IndianHistory for Young Folks,’ by FrancisS. Drake, and ‘History of the FourGeorges.’

The Appletons have ready the fifthvolume of the newly revised edition ofBancroft’s ‘History of the United States’;the second volume of Mr. McMaster’sHistory of the People of the UnitedStates,’ and the ‘First Essays and Speechesof Jeremiah S. Black,’ edited by C. F.Black.

Mr. William O. Stoddard and Col.John Hay have each prepared ‘A Lifeof Abraham Lincoln.’ Each of thesegentlemen was President Lincoln’s secretaryduring the civil war and had exceptionallygood opportunities for studyinghis life and character. Mr. Stoddard’sbiography has just been given to the publicfrom the press of Fords, Howard &Hulbert, and is an octavo book of 508pages, with illustrations. The story ofMr. Lincoln’s life, though often told, isalways new and interesting, and in thehands of Mr. Stoddard is so entertaining,so rich in anecdote and incident, andsparkles with so much humor, that it isinvested with a greater charm than ever;while the book contains so much informationthat is of permanent value to thestudent of history that it cannot fail toreceive an unusually cordial welcome.

Leopold Von Ranke, the eminenthistorian, is the author, and G. W. Prothero,the English editor and translator, ofan important work on ‘Universal History,’the first volume of which has just beenpublished by Harper and Brothers. Wequote from Harpers’ Magazine as follows:

The entire work, when completed, will be a universalhistory of the world from the earliest historicperiod until our own day. Of this great undertakinghe has completed four volumes, covering the earlierperiods, and the volume now published relates to theoldest historical group of nations—the Egyptians,the Hebrews, the Assyrian and other Asiatic nations—andthe Greeks. Every page is instinct withbroad and philosophic generalization, and the statementof unexpected but most convincing facts andconclusions. Its style is perfect; the reader is delightedby the charm of its steadily flowing narrative,while he is instructed by its revelations of the originsand development of things which have exerted, andcontinue to exert, a powerful influence upon mankind,and have thus a universal interest and application.Those who are curious may here find therecord of the first development of small independentcommunities into nations, of the first maritime expeditionand the first systematic war by land, of thefirst endowment of the individual in society withthose rights and immunities which are the foundationof all civil order, of the first tragic person in history,of the first establishment of the principles of hereditarymonarchy and democracy, of the first conqueringpower which we encounter in the history of theworld, of the first time that the power of moneymade itself felt in the internal affairs of an importantcommunity, of the first employment of mercenarytroops, and a multiplicity of other “first things”in history, whose analogues, parallels and counterpartsare traced by the great historian down throughthe centuries to our own day. The volume before usbrings the history down to the struggle of Hellas andCarthage for the supremacy, and the rise of the newpower, Rome, that was destined to vanquish both.

1. 76American Pioneer, volume one, 1842, contribution by Dr. S. P. Hildreth.

2. A portion of the cleared ground was planted with peaches, and the second or third year after, finefruit was obtained from this orchard, probably the first in Ohio. One variety has been quite largelycultivated in Marietta and its vicinity, and named after its originator “the Doughty peach.”

3. Ellen D. Larned, in the History of Windham County, Connecticut.

4. Arius Nye, in Transactions of the Ohio Historical and Philosophical Society.

5. James R. Albach’s Annals of the West.

6. This village and Shawneetown, at the mouth of the Scioto, were the only exceptions to the abandonmentof the upper Ohio valley noted above.

7. Gist, however, found, in 1750, the town on Whitewoman Creek, called Muskingum, “inhabited byWyandots” and containing about one hundred families. This was undoubtedly an isolated government.As late as 1791, the Indian war being in progress, the different tribes were massed in what is now thenorthwestern part of the State, and their old abiding places, their favorite regions, were of course deserted.Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Mingoes, Senecas, Chippewas, and others, were upon the Maumeeand its tributaries.

8. Some of the Delaware chiefs who visited Philadelphia during the Revolution spoke figuratively ofhaving “placed the Shawnees in their laps.”

9. This information is derived from a communication in the Archaeological American, written in 1819, byColonel John Johnston, then Indian agent, and located at Piqua, Ohio.

10. It was from the fact of these that the Indian village and the present town of Piqua, Miami County,derived their names. The name Pickaway, which has been given to one of the older counties of Ohio,but which was originally applied to the “plains” within its limits, is a corruption of Piqua.

11. William Henry Harrison and other eminent authorities pay the highest tribute to the valor of theWyandot warriors, and give abundant proofs of their assertions.

12. The writer is indebted to ‘The Arthur St. Clair Papers’ for this information as well as for manyother facts given in this article.

13. From William F. Poole’s article in the North American Review for April, 1876.

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