Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[graphic]

serve.

to her, in consideration of a valuable portion of Ohio, afterward called New Connecticut, or the Connecticut ReIt was from that part of the present state of Ohio that the legislature of Connecticut gave the "fire lands," as they were termed, to the sufferers above referred to.

[ocr errors]

position, and pursued four miles, with the loss of about 900 men in kiled, wounded, and missing. The following year, the Indians murdered several of the commissioners sent by the United States government to treat for peace.

Fort Harmer was first occupied in 1785 by a part of the first regiment of Under the several inducements above United States troops, under Major John enumerated, the settlement of Ohio be- Doughty, and named after their military gan in the year 1788, since which, its commander. In the same year, Gen. increase in population and wealth has Benjamin Tupper, of Chesterfield, Mass., been such as may well astonish the was appointed surveyor, under the surworld, while it affords reason for grati-veyor-general of that state, to begin the tude, as well as for self-congratulation, survey of the country northwest of the not only to its inhabitants, but to all Ohio, and went that year as far as Pittsthose who feel a becoming interest in the solid growth of our common country. Early Surveys.-The Great Miami river was surveyed for one hundred miles, in 1751, by Christopher Gist, agent of the old English Ohio company; and the English had a fort, or tradingpost, on Loramie's creek, forty-seven miles north of Drayton, which was taken by the French. In 1778, the Miami valleys were examined by Daniel Boone, during his captivity, and by Bowman and Clark, on their military excursions. In 1784, '5, and '6, the Indians ceded the regions of the Muskingum, Scioto, and Miamis, and the settlement was immediately commenced.

Benjamin Stiles, of Redstone (now Brownville), Pa., first proposed to John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, the joint purchase of a large tract of land in Ohio, which was afterward made by the latter for himself, and embraced nearly 600,000 acres. Portions having been sold, parties of emigrants left New York and New Jersey in 1788.

Harmer's Expedition.-In 1790, nearly twenty persons were killed by the Indians near Cincinnati; and in the autumn General Harmer proceeded against the savage enemy, with 320 regulars, 833 Kentucky and Pennsylvania militia, and 600 volunteers. After a severe loss in an ambush, he returned without accomplishing anything important. In 1791, General St. Clair, with a force of 2,300 men, was attacked in his camp, fifty miles from the Miami villages, and after a severe battle, driven from his

burgh. The survey was postponed by
the hostile movements of the Indians.
In the following year, he and General
Israel Putnam (the celebrated revolu-
tionary officer) published an invitation
to disbanded soldiers, who had received
deeds of land in Ohio in payment of
their services, to proceed with them to
the Ohio region.
"The Ohio Company"
was formed, at their proposition; and,
on the 7th of April, 1788, Gen. Putnam
landed at the mouth of the Muskingum,
with a party of laborers and artificers,
and began to make preparations for the
first settlement designed by that associ-
ation, at Marietta.

At that period, the Shawnees were inhabitants of a large part of the best land in the bounds of the present state, especially the valleys of Scioto, Miami, and Wabash. Their principal chief was Cornstalk, who had distinguished himself by his faithfulness to our countrymen, by his successful opposition to the league formed against them by the nations beyond to assist the British in the war.

In 1794, General Wayne, after many delays, and the erection of several forts, routed a large force of Indians and Canadians near Fort Deposite, and after destroying the various villages and positions of the enemy along the Miami, brought them to consent to a treaty of peace, which was concluded August 3d, 1795.

The next settlement after that at Marietta, was made at Columbia, six miles above Cincinnati, Nov. 16, 1789, by Major Stiles and twenty-five others, chiefly

[graphic]
[graphic][subsumed]

Scene in the early Settlement of Ohio-Adam Poe and Big Foot.

[graphic]

embankment, 830 feet by 730, and from 3 to 7 feet high, with an eastern opening of 90 feet. It was from 30 to 40 feet wide at the base, and had evidently been much higher. A raised path led from near the opening to the top of a flat mound, at some distance beyond Main street. A similar work, and a small circular one, may also be enumerated; but these were inferior to another oval, 760 feet by 40, lying nearly north and south, with a southern opening, beyond which was a pit 50 feet wide and 12 feet in depth. At the corner of Fifth and Mound streets was a mound, 35 feet high, and several smaller elsewhere, in some of which were found pottery, various shells, &c.

The mounds in Ohio form part of the long chain which extends from the middle of New York, southwesterly to the Mississippi, and down its course, as is said by some, to Mexico. They are supposed by some writers to mark the progress of a numerous and partially civilized people, on their gradual retreat before powerful enemies. Amid abundant materials for general conjectures, and with few hints of ar ything positive, it is not surprising that a variety of theories should have been proposed, to account for their existence.

One cause of this variety of opinions has been the mistakes made by persons who have investigated the subject too hastily. The Grave Creek mound, fourteen miles below Wheeling, about 70 feet high, and 33 rods in circumference at the base, is one of the largest known to be wholly of artificial origin. A shaft was sunk from the top to the bottom, which exposed to view two rude tombs, one a few feet above the other, and each containing the remains of a human skeleton, several flat stones, and parts of decayed logs, with a number of implements, or weapons, and ornaments, like those often discovered in other mounds. A small stone, with an inscription resembling Runic and some other ancient alphabets, said to have been taken from the place, has recently excited the curiosity of the learned in Europe, as well as in America.

At Circleville existed one of the most

curious and wonderful collections of ancient works in the state. The streets of the town are laid out in curves, corresponding with the two concentric circles of a fine, large, ancient work in which it is situated. The interior circle is 47 rods in diameter, and distant from the outer 3 rods, with a ditch between them. The outer wall was of clay, which must have been brought from a distance, and was used to make bricks in building the town. but one entrance through the walls, and that led into a large square, which had seven other openings. The walls were 20 feet high. Several smaller circles, &c., existed in the vicinity.

There was

"Fifty-five years ago," said General Harrison, in his discourse before the historical society of Ohio, "there was not a Christian inhabitant within the bounds which now comprise the state of Ohio; and if, a few years anterior to that period, a traveller had been passing down the magnificent river which forms our southern boundary, he might not have seen, in its whole course of eleven hundred miles, a single human being, certainly not a habitation, nor the vestige of one, calculated for the residence of man. He might, indeed, have seen indications that it was not always thus. His eye might have rested on some stupendous mound, or lengthened lines of ramparts, and traverses of earth, still of considerable elevation, which proved that the country had once been possessed by a numerous and laborious people. But he would have seen, also, indubitable evidences that centuries had passed away since these remains had been occupied by those for whose use they had been reared."

He concluded that their departure must have been a matter of necessity; for no people would willingly have abandoned such a country, after a long residence, and the labor they had bestowed upon it, unless, like the Hebrews, they fled from a tyrant, or unfeeling taskmasters.

"If they had been made to yield to a more numerous, or more gallant people, what country had received the fugitives? and what has become of the conquer

[graphic]
« AnteriorContinuar »