THIE OLD 9 ff-l oa H NOTwHWEST TE-RR-ITORRYe ITS MISSI1 O.N S, FORTS, AND -TRADING POSTS. BY CHARLES R. BROWN. PUBLISHET)D BY BROWN, MOORE & QUALE. KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN. KALAMAZOO: KALAMAZOO PUBLISHING CO., BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 1875. THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY: ITS MISSIONS, FORTS, AND TRADING POSTS. BY CHARLES R. BROWN. PUBLISHED BY BROWN, MOORE & QUALE. KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN. KALAMAZOO: KALAMAZOO PUBLISHING CO., BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 1875. PRICE LIST OF BROWN'S PUBLICATIONS. THE MICHIGAN NISI PRIUS REPORTS. Reports of cases tried and determined at Visi Prius, in the Circuit Courts of the State of Michigan. By Charles R. Brown, Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Michigan; in two volumes, law library. Price per volume, $4.00. BRowN's GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN, its History and Jurisprudence, bound in cloth. Pride, $1.00. THE GOVERNMENT OF OHIO, its History, Resources and Jurisprudence. Also a brief outline of the Government of the United States, for the use of Colleges, High Schools, Grammar Schools, and General Readers; bound in cloth. Price, $1.50. Primary edition of same work for Common Schools; bound in cloth, $1.00. BRowN's GOVERNMENT OF INDIANA, its History, Resources and Jurisprudence, bound in cloth. Price, $1.50. BROWN'S ABSTRACT OF THE CRIMINAL LAWS OF OHIO, in pamphlet. Price, 25 cents. THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY: its Missions, Forts, and Trading Posts. Price, 50 cents. Any of the above-mentioned books may be procured by addressing BRowN, MOORE & QUALE, Kalamazoo, Michigan. ITS MISSIONS, FORTS, AND TRADING POSTS., Here and there in the territory, of the United States lying northwest of the Ohio iRiver and east of the Mississippi, may be seen traces of fortifications, of the origin of which we have no authentic account. Of those erected within the last two hundred and fifty years we have something of their history. Many of them, however, have already crumbled into dust, while "Time in his hurried march is fast sweeping them into the g-rave of forgetfulness." This little work, while it is not intended to give a complete history of the old forts and missions, will, it is hoped,.serve to aid in perpetuating a knowledge of many of the localities intimately connected with the leading events in the dark hours through which our ancestors passed in paving the way for a more advanced civilization. The -figures on the accompanying map will indicate these localities, while the corresponding figures in the text will indicate the paragraphs embracing a brief history of the localities referred to. 1. FALLS OF THRE ST. MARY. In 1641 a number of French Jesuits paddled a bark canoe from the St. Lawrence river up through the Ottawa river, thence crossing over to Lake Nipissing, thence down French river to Georgian Bay, and passing the islands of Lake lluron they reached the falls of 4 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. the St. Mary. At this point, or a few miles above, as reported by some, they established a mission. In 1659 a band of French explorers spent the winter at this place. In 1666 Father Allouez established a mission at the falls of the St. Mary, now called Sault St. Marie, where in 1668 he was joined by Fathers Dablon and Marquette. Abbott, in his ChevalierDe La Salle, says, " One of these missionary stations was near the entrance of the river into Lake Huron, about four miles below the falls of St. Mary." 2. HEAD OF GREEN BAY. Settled by the French, in 1670. In 1689 Green Bay contained a fort and chapel, which were situated amid the villages of the Sacs, Pottawatomies, and Menominees. This place was at that time a rich -market for peltries and Indian corn, which the savages sold to the traders as they passed to and from the Mississippi."* 3. MICHILIMACKINAC. In 1671 Marquette built a log chapel at Mackinaw, formerly called Michilimackinac, also Mackinac, in the vicinity of a small Indian village on the main-land, just south west of the island of Mackinaw, on the north side of the straits. He named the station St. Ignatius. In the spring of 1673 the French governor, Frontenac, sent Joliet from Quebec with five boat-loads of men bound to St. Ignatius, to take Father Marquette on board, to set out to find and explore the Mississippi. In 1679 the Griffin, a bark of sixty tons burden, built by Robert De La Salle, the first vessel that ever floated on the northwestern lakes, having on board Louis Hennepin, the missionary, and a party of fur-traders, landed at Michilimackinac, erected a fort,and established a trading post. In 1714, Fort Michilimackinac was erected on the south side of the straits. Alexander Henry, an English furtrader, in a letter under (late of August 3d, 1761, says: "' Fort Michilimackinac was built by order of the Governor-General of Canada, and garrisoned with a small number of militia, who, having families, soon became less soldiers than settlers. Most of those whom I found in the fort had originally served in the French army. The fort stands on the south side of the strait, which is between Lake Huron and Lake * La Honton, vol. 1, p. 105. THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 5 Michigan. It has an area of two acres. and is inclosed with pickets of cedar-wood, and it is so near the water's edge that, when the wind is in the west, the waves break against the stockade. On the bastions are two small pieces of brass English cannon, taken some years since by a party of Canadians who went on a plundering expedition against the posts of Hudson's Bay, which they reached by-the route of the river Churchill. Within the stockade are thirty houses, neat in their appearance, and tolerably commodious; and a church, in which mass is celebrated by a Jesuit missionary. The number of families may be nearly equal to that of the houses, and their subsistence is derived from the Indian traders, who assemble here in their voyages to and from Montreal. Michilimackinac is the place of deposit, and point of departure between the upper countries and the lower. Here the outfits are prepared for the countries of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, Lake Superior and the Northwest; and here the returns in furs are collected and embarked for Montreal." In November, 1760, Detroit, Michilimackinac, and all the posts within the government of Canada that were in the possession of the French, were surrendered to the Crown of England. While some of the Indians cheerfully acquiesced in the change from.the rule of the French to that of the English, a large proportion of them were dissatisfied, and still retained a strong friendship for the English government. In the month of May, 1763, a simultaneous attack was made upon the forts of Le Boeuf, Venango, Presque Isle, Michilimackinac, St. Joseph, Miamis, Green Bay, Ouiatenon, Pittsburgh, Sandusky, Niagara, and Detroit. This attack resulted in a most frightful massacre at each of these points; Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Niagara being the only places that did not fall into the hands of the savages. In 1795 the British erected a fort on St. Joseph Island, in St. Mary's River, northeast from Mackinac. In the war of 1812 the fort at Mackinac fell into the hands of the British, by whom it was held until the declaration of peace. On Mackinac Island there are two forts. The following account of them is from Van Fleet's Old and New Mafckinac, written in 1870: " Fort Mackinac, which stands on a rocky eminence just above the town, was built by the English, ninety years ago. 6 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. There are six brass pieces, and arms and accouterments for a full company. The buildings are a hospital, just outside the wall east of the fort; a guard-house, near the south gate; officers' quarters, near the southwest angle of the fort, and on the hill near the flag-staff; quarters for the men, in the center; block-houses on the walls; magazine, in the hollow, not far from the south gate; store-houses, offices, etc. There are persons yet living on the island who, during the troubles of 1814, took refuge in these self-same block-houses. Passing out at the rear gate of Fort Mackinac, we cross the parade ground, and see the spot where Captain Roberts planted his guns in 1812, while his whole force of Indians was concealed in the adjacent thickets. Half or three-quarters of a mile to the rear of Fort Mackinac, on the crowning point of the island, is Fort Holmes. This, as we have seen, was built soon after the British captured the post in 1812. Each citizen was compelled to give three days' work toward its construction. When finished, the excavation encircling the embankment, or earthworks, was much broader and deeper than now, and the embankment itself was lined on the outside by cedar poles, reaching from the bottom of the ditch to its top; while a quarter or a third of the distance from the top of the embankment to the bottom of the ditch, cedar pickets interlocked with these poles, which extended out over the ditch like the eaves of a house, making it absolutely impossible for any one to get inside the fort except by the gate. The place of the gate is seen on the east side, one of the posts yet remaining to mark its position. In the center of the fort was erected a huge block-house, beneath which was the magazine. Near the gate was the entrance to several underground cellars, which have now caved in." 4. DETROIT. In July, 1701, Antoine de la Cadillac, with a Jesuit missionary and one hundred men, located at the present site of Detroit, and commenced a permanent settlement. Here they erected a stockade which they named Fort Ponchertrain. 5. KASKASKIA. About the close of the 17th century some French adventurers settled on the banks of the Kaskaskia river, which enters the Mississippi about one hundred miles above the mouth of the Ohio, and became the founders of the village of Kaskaskia. In 1712 Gabriel Marest, a missionary had his station at Kaskaskia. [See Kep's Early Jesuit iMission in North America, p. 204.] This place was captured from the French by Colonel Clark, on July 4th, 1778. 6. VINCENNES. In 1702, Sieur Juchereau, a Canadian officer, assisted by the missionary Mermet, made an attempt to THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 7 establish a post on the Ohio, near the mouth of that river, and according to some authors, on the river Wabash, at the site which is now occupied by the town of Vincennes. We have a traditional account of the establishing of a trading post at Vincennes in 1719, but this lacks confirmation. The most authentic history we have says that it was first known when a Piankeshaw village, by the name of Chippe Coke, or Brushwood. It was then called Post St. Vincent, or Au Post, or Vincenne, and finally Vincennes. This name, it is said, was given as early as 1749, in honor of F. M. De Vincenne, a brave and gallant French officer, who fell in a battle with the Chickasaws, in the year 1736. Soon after the commencement of the Revolutionary War, Vincennes was occupied by the British from Detroit, and a fortification called Fort Sackville was erected there. In 1800 there was a division of the Northwest Territory, and the western district was denominated the Indiana Territory, and embraced all the territory west of the present State of Ohio, except a small part of Michigan and a small part of Indiana, which had been ceded to the United States by the Indians in the treaty of Greenville. Vincennes was the capital. The celebrated council between Gen. Harrison and Tecumseh was held at Vincennes, in 1810. [See Brown's Government of Indiana.] 7. FORT HARRISON, built in the fall of 1811 on the eastern bank of the Wabash river at a point about two miles above an old Wea village that stood on a prairie near where the town of Terre Haute now stands. Among the old French settlers on the Wabash the place was known by the name of " Bataille de la Illinois." The name is supposed to have originated from a vague Indian tradition that a desperate battle was once fought there between the Illinois and Iroquois Indians. On the night of Sept. 4th, 1812, a large party of Indians, composed of Winnebagoes, Kickapoos, Shawnees, Pottawatomies, and a few Miamis. attacked the fort, setting fire to one of the blockhouses attached to it. Captain Zachary Taylor, in command of the fort, resisted the attack, which continued without interrup 9 liOV16. GOV. HARRISON AND TECUMSEH IN COUNCIL AT VINCENNES, IN 1810. THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 9 tion for about seven hours, when the Indians abandoned the assault. 8. CHICAGO. Fort Dearborn was located at the present site of Chicago. This post was evacuated by orders from General Hull, August 15th, 1812, who ordered the forces there stationed to remove to Detroit. This force was under command of Captain Heald, and consisted of fifty-four regulars and twelve militia. After marching about a mile and a half from the fort, they were attacked by the Indians, who killed twentysix regulars, all of the militia, two women, and twelve children, and took twenty-eight prisoners. 9. OUIATENON, or Wea Town. It is said that a trading post was erected at this place prior to 1719. It was an old Indian town and mission eight miles below Lafayette. It was destroyed by General Scott in 1791. It then contained seventy houses, some of them well built and furnished; a large mission house, two stores, a smith's shop, etc. Among the manuscripts of the Catholic church at Vincennes,.there is a record of the baptism of a child at Post Ouiatenon on the 17th of May, 1752. At this time Post Ouiatenon was under the command of a person who styled himself a " Captain of Infantry and commandant for the King." 10. PONCE PASSU. Ponceau Pichon-now called Wild Cat Creek. 11. TIPPECANOE BATTLE GROUND. This ground lies on the border of Burnett's Greek, about seven miles in a northwestern direction from the town of Lafayette, in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. It was here that General Harrison had a most bloody engagement with the Indians, and defeated them, November 7th, 1811. [For a full account of this battle see Dillon's History of Indiana, p. 467.] 12. EEL RIVER INDIAN VILLAGE. Ke-na-pa-com a-qua, on the northern bank of Eel river, about six miles from the point where that stream enters the river Wabash, at the town of Logansport, Indiana. This village was destroyed by Brigadier General Wilkinson in 1791. 13. MISSISSINEWA. In May, 1812, a great Indian council I0{)NVKK),4CMdILL,IV '!I KH~1N(YOIJ) A ) V 1-10i / I THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY 11 was held at an Indian village on the Mississinewa river, in which the Wyandots, Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Delawares, Miamis, Eel river Miamis, Weas, Piankeshaws, Shawnees, Kickapoos, and Winnebagoes took part. This council voted in favor of peace between the United States and the Indian tribes. December 17th, 1812, three of the Mississinewa villages were destroyed by the force under Lieutenant Colonel Campbell. 14. LITTLE TURTLE TOWN, named from a distinguished Miami chief whose name was Wish-e-ken-o-quoh, which signifies Little Turtle. On the evening of the 18th of October, 1790, the Indians under the command of Mish-e-ken-o-quoh were attacked by the whites under Colonel Hardin. After a severe battle the whites retreated. The ground on which the action took place lies about eleven miles from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and near the point where the Goshen state road crosses the Eel river. In January, 1812, Little Turtle, then living at his village near Fort Wayne, sent to Governor Harrison a message expressing for the Miami and Eel river tribes their attachment to the government of the United States and their willingness to co-operate with the government against the hostile Indians and British, in the approaching war with Great Britain. 15. LA BALME'S DEFEAT. In the fall of the year 1780, La Balme, a native of France, made an attempt to lead an expedition from Kaskaskia against the British post at Detroit. Having recruited about thirty men at Kaskaskia, he proceeded from that place to Vincennes, where he was joined by a small reinforcement. From this point he moved up the Wabash river, and directed his course to the British trading post at the head of the Maumee river, where the town of Fort Wayne, Indiana, now stands. After plundering the British traders and some of the half-breed Indians, he retired for the night on the banks of the small river Aboite. The encampment was attacked in the night by a party of Miami Indians; a few of La Balme's followers were killed; others escaped; and the expedition against Detroit was abandoned.* * Dillon's Hist. Ind. 172. C F-41^ PLAN ILLUSTRATING THE BATTLES OF THE MAUMEE. Explanations.-The map shows about 8 miles of the country along each side of the Maumee, including the towns of Perrysburg, Maumee City, and Waterville. Just previous to the battle of the Fallen Timbers, in August, 1794, Wayne's army was encamped at a locality called Rocke de Beutf, a short distance above the present site of Waterville. The battle commenced at the Presque Isle hill. The routed Indians were pursued t(feven under the guns of the British Fort Miamm. Fort Mei.qs, memorable from having sustained two sieges in the year 1813, is. shown on the east side of the Maumee, with the British batteries on both sides of the river, and above the British fort, the position of Proctor's encampment. [See No. 74.] THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 13 16. FORT WAYNE was erected by order of General Wayne, in September, 1794, at the old " Twightwee Village," the headquarters or capital of the Miamies, at the present site of the city of Fort Wayne, Ind. Just below this fort, on the opposite side of the Maumee, the forces under General Harmer were defeated on the 22d of October, 1790. The military post was continued until 1819, and until the Miamies and Pottawatomies were removed west of the Mississippi in 1641. The Indians were accustomed to resort to Fort Wayne to dispose of their furs and spend their annuities. 17. BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS, OR DEFEAT OF THE INDIANS BY GENERAL WAYNE, August 20, 1794. Just previous to this battle Wayne's army was encamped at a locality called Roche de Boeuf, a short distance above the present site of Waterville, on the Maumee river in Ohio. The battle commenced at the Presque Isle hill. The routed Indians were pursued to even under the guns of the British fort Miami, at the present site of Maumee city, a distance of nearly eight miles from where the battle commenced. [See diagram.] 18. FORT DEFIANCE built by General Wayne in 1794. This fort was built at the junction of the Auglaize with the Maumee river, at the present site of Defiance, in Ohio. General Winchester, previous to his defeat at the river Raisin in Michigan, in the war of 1812, encamped in a picketed fort which he built on the Auglaize about one hundred yards south of Fort Defiance, and named it Fort Winchester. 14 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. The annexed plan and description of Fort Defiance are found in the memoranda of Benj. Van Cleve, communicated by his son, John W. Van Cleve, of Dayton, to the American Pioneer: " At each angle of the fort was a block-house. The one next the Maumee is marked A, having port-holes B, on the three exterior sides, o p. - -^ and door D and chimney C on the side facing to the interior. There L was a line of pickets on each side of the fort, connecting the blocki houses by their nearest angles. SlI Outside of the pickets and around \ the block-houses was a glacis, a wall of earth eight feet thick, sloping upwards and outwards from the feet of the pickets, supported by a log wall on the side of the ditch and by fascines, a wall of fagots, on Sthe side next the Auglaize. The ditch, fifteen feet wide and eight K'i feet deep, surrounded the whole Pv work except on the side toward the / Auglaize; and diagonal pickets, eleven feet long and one foot apart, were secured to the log wall and projected over the ditch. E and E were gateways. F was a bank of earth, four feet wide, left for a passage across the ditch. G was a falling gate or drawbridge, which was Sraised and lowered by pulleys,across Fori Defiance. the ditch, covering it or leaving it uncovered at pleasure. The officers' quarters were at H, and the storehouses at I. At K, two lines of pickets converged towards L, which was a ditch eight feet deep, by which water was procured from the river without exposing the carrier to the enemy. M was a small sandbar at the point." 19. FORT MIAM-IS, afterwards called St. Joseph to distinguish it from Miamis on the Maumee, built by La Salle, November, 1679, at the mouth of the St. Joseph river which empties into Lake Michigan, in Berrien Co., Michigan. The missionary Hennepin, in his account of this fort, says, "We begajn to build a redoubt of eighty feet long and forty broad, with great square pieces of timber laid one upon another; and prepared a great number of stakes about twenty-five feet long to drive into the ground to make our fort the more inaccessible on the river side." Abbott, in his Cihevalier De La Salle, says, " This fortress was artistically constructed, and could bid defiance to the Indians." It was captured, however, by them in May, 1763. 20. PEORIA LAKE, in the present State of Illinois, discov THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 15 ered by La Salle, January 4th, 1680. This lake was reported by La Salle to be about twenty miles long and three broad. At its foot was a large Indian encampment. Here he built a strong fort, which he called Creve Cceur, or the Broken Heart. This was on account of the loss of the Griffin, laden with peltries, by which he had just been deprived of supplies, and by which his plans had been frustrated. Here La Salle left most of his company, and with five men, in mid-winter, started for Fort Frontenac, located near the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario, a distance of twelve hundred miles. This journey was accomplished in about seventy days. After procuring supplies he started with them around the lakes, returning to Fort Creve Coeur. On reaching the head-waters of the Illinois, he learned that his garrison was dispersed, and the fort destroyed, and thereupon returned to Frontenac. 21. ST. Louis. Founded in 1763. 22. PITTSBURGH, site of Fort Du Quesne, built in 1754. 23. FORT McINTOSH, built in 1777 and 1778, at the mouth of the Big Beaver Creek, on the Ohio river, about thirty miles below Pittsburgh. FORT HARMER. 24. FORT HARMER, erected on the right bank of the Mus 16 THE LOD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. kingum at its junction with the Ohio, in the State of Ohio, in 1785-6; named in honor of Colonel Josiah Harmer. The outlines of the fort were a pentagon embracing about three-quarters of an acre. Its walls were formed of large horizontal timber, and its bastions of large upright timber about fourteen feet in height, fastened to other strips by timber-tree s nailed on to each picket. It continued to be occupied by United States troops until the fall of 1790, when they were ordered to Cincinnati. During the Indian war a company under Captain Haskell made it their headquarters. 25. MASSACRE OF THE MORAVIAN INDIANS. In 1771-2 the Moravian missionaries established missions at Shoenbrun, Gnadenhutten, and Salem, on the Tuscarawas river within the limits of the present county of Tuscarawas, Ohio. In 1782 several depredations were committed by hostile Indians on the inhabitants of Western Pennsylvania and Virginia. A company of militia was raised for the purpose of retaliating, and under the command of Colonel Williamson, marched against the Moravian Indians on the Tuscarawas, who had been guilty of no sin, and massacred over ninety of their number. Feeling the influence of public sympathy in behalf of this persecuted people and to recognize the power of their teachings as an agent of civilization, Congress in 1788 donated twelve thousand acres of land to the Moravian society, embracing the three villages already mentioned, for propagating the Gospel among the heathen. 26. BATTLE OF KANAWHA, October 10th, 1774, between a force of Virginians under Colonel Andrew Lewis and the Indians under Cornstalk, a Shawnee; Red Hawk, a Delaware; Logan, a Cayuga; and Elenipsico, a son of Cornstalk, at the confluence of the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers. The loss of the Virginians was one hundred and seventy-five killed and one hundred and forty-five wounded. 27. FORT WASHINGTON, built in 1790 at the present site of Cincinnati, by Major Doughty. This fort was the most extensive and important military work then in the territory belonging to the United States. 'I A t 0 0a I/ 9 J, I 18 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 28. DEFEAT OF COLONEL LOUGHREY'S PARTY. Colonel Archibald Loughrey of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, with a corps of about one hundred men, embarked in boats at Wheeling, on the Ohio river, for the purpose of joining the command of General Clark at the Falls of the Ohio. A short distance below the mouth of the Great Miami river, the party went on shore for the purpose of cooking some buffalo meat, where they were attacked by a body of Indians. About forty white men were killed in the contest, and the remainder were forced to surrender. Colonel Loughrey was made a prisoner and was tomahawked and scalped, near the mouth of the creek which still bears his name; the lives of the prisoners were spared. 29. PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE. In 1812 an attack was made by Indians, previously friendly, on Pigeon Roost settlement, within the present bounds of Scott county, Indiana, and twentyfour persons, mostly women and children, were massacred. 30. FALLS OF THE OHIO RIVER. 31. SITE OF FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY. 32. LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. 33. LIMESTONE, now Marysville, Kentucky. 34. FORT GOWER; erected by Governor Dunmore, 1774, near the mouth of the Hockhocking river, in the present state of Ohio. The fort was named in honor of Earl Gower. 35. FORT LAURENS; built in 1788 on the banks of the Tuscarawas river, in the present state of Ohio, below the mouth of Sandy Creek. Named in honor of the president of the Revolutionary Congress. The walls enclosed about an acre of land and were crowned with pickets made of the split trunks of trees. 36. FORT MASSAC. 37. OLD SHAWNEE TOWN. 38. FORT HAMILTON, built in 1791 by General Butler, on THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 19 the eastern bank of the Great Miami river on the present site of Hamilton, Butler Co., SOhio. It was a stockade. fifty yards square, with SIfour good bastions and ^ iplatforms for cannon. " In the summer of 1792 an addition was made to the fort, b)y order of Gen. Wilkinson, which consisted in enclosing, Swith pickets, an area of S 7 ground on the north part, so - that it extended up the river S| to about the north line of the OA present Stable street. The southern point of the work A / extended to the site of the old Q Associate Reformed church. The plan given of the fort, is from the survey of Mr. Jas. M'Bride, of Hamilton, made i by him several years after. References.-A. The o 1 d fort built by St. Clair. B. Addition. a. Officers' quar0 ters. b. Mess room. c. Magazine. d. Artificers7 shop. e, f, g. Block houses. C..Bridge SL across the Miami." FORT HAMILTON. 39. FORT ST. CLAIR; built in the winter of 1791-2, was located about a mile west of the present site of Eaton, Preble county, Ohio. It was a stockade and had about twenty acres cleared around it. On the 6th of November, 1792, a battle was fought near the fort, between a band of Mingo and Wyandotte Indians, under the command of Little Turtle, and an escort of one hundred mounted Kentuckians under Captain John Adair. These men had been called out to escort a brigade of pack-horses, under an order from General Wilkison, and were attacked just before reaching the fort. The Indians succeeded in plundering the camp and driving off the horses; not more than six or eight horses were saved. 40. FORT JEFFERSON was built in 1791, about six miles south of the present town of Greenville, in Darke county, Ohio. o0n zv THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. FORT GREENVILLE. 41. FORT GREENVILLE was built in 1793, on a tributary of the southwest branch of the Big Miami river, by General Wayne. The fort covered a greater part of the site of the present town of Greenville, Darke county, Ohio. An old resident of Greenville, Henry House, who was in Wayne's campaign, in his account of this fort, says, " that the soldiers built log huts ranged in rows, each regiment occupying one row, and each hut-of which there were many hundreds-occupied by six soldiers." It was at Greenville that General Wayne concluded a treaty of peace with the Indians, August 3d, 1795. 42. FORT RECOVERY was built in 1793 by a force under the command of Major Henry Burbeck, who was sent to take possession of the ground on which St. Clair was defeated in 1791, and to erect a fortification at that place. The name of Fort Recovery was given in comm emoration of its being recovered from the Indians. The site on which it was built is on the bank of one of the head branches of the river Wabash, in the State of Ohio, about one mile and a quarter east of the eastern boundary of Indiana. On the 30th of June, 1794, an escort consisting of ninety riflemen and fifty dragoons commanded by Major McMahon rvas attacked by a force of from seven to fifteen hundred Indians,* and though the Indians Reoer a gvn ncmm moain fit engrcoee from he Idians Thesiteon -wich t wa buil is n th ban o on o te hadbrachs f' herivr abshinth Stteof Oio aou oe il ad qarereat f heeat er bunay f niaa.O te 0h f ue,179, n s cor cosisingof iney rflmenandfify dagons om * American State Papers, Indian Affairs: i-487. THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 21 were forced to retire they succeeded in in killing twenty-three Americans and wounding about thirty others. They also succeeded in capturing over two hundred horses. 43. FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY. 44. RIVER THAMES. This stream empties into Lake St. Clair, in Canada, and is memorable on account of the battle between the British and Indians and the force under General Harrison, October 5th, 1813. At this battle the renowned chief Tecumseh was in command of the Indian warriors, and fought with wonderful courage and desperation. After the British had fled, Tecumseh, with his Indian warriors, engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with Colonel Johnson and his force of mounted Kentuckians, but soon fell, pierced by a pistol ball. It is said that during the latter years of his life " he was almost incessantly engaged either in council or at the head of his war-like bands," and that " he sank at last on the field of his glory, with tomahawk in hand, and the cry of battle upon his lips." 45. RIVER RAISIN. This stream empties into Lake Erie, in Monroe county, Michigan. On the 19th of January, 1813, General Winchester was attacked at Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, by the British General Proctor, with a force of three thousand British and Indians. Winchester was taken prisoner and his entire detachment surrendered, Proctor assuring them that he would protect them from the savages. He then withdrew his troops to Hamilton, leaving his prisoners to be massacred by the Indians. 46. FORT MEIGS, occupied by the American forces, was besieged from April 28th to May 9th, 1813, by a British force under Colonel Proctor, composed of five hundred and sixty-five regulars, and about eight hundred militia and fifteen hundred Indians. The fort was defended by about two thousand men, under command of Major-General Harrison. " Explanations.-a, Grand Battery, commanded by Capt. Daniel Cushing; 6, Mortar Battery; e, i, o, Minor Batteries;, Battery commanded at the 2d siege by Col. Gaines; c, Magazines. The black squares on the lines of the fort represent the position of the blockhouses. The dotted lines show the traverses, or walls of earth, thrown up. The longest, the grand traverse, had a base of 20 feet, was 12 in 22 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY.:,fit I ONA Y (~J.I~ J ~~ Af. -~.-Oki/ x, wOSr --Tl.~- rL~~~l-A;g AR.~ FORT ME1GS AND ITS ENVIRONS. *. height, and about 900 in length. The traverses running lengthwise of the fort, were raised as a protection against the batteries on the opposite side of the river, and those running crosswise, were to defend them from the British batteries on this side. The British batteries on the north side of the river, were named as follows: a, Queen's; b, Sailors'; d, King's, and c, Mortar." 47. FoRT STEVENSON, OR SANDUSKY, built in 1812, was situated at the site of Lower Sandusky, (Fremont), Ohio. This fort was gallantly and successfully defended by Colonel Croghan, with about one hundred and fifty men, against a British force consisting of about five hundred regulars, and from seven hundred to eight hundred Indians. 48. CAPTAIN JOHN CAMPBELL attacked by Sac and Fox Indians. 49. BATTLE OF BAD AXE, 1832. 50. BATTLE OF BLUE LICKS, Kentucky, 1752. * From the survey of Lieut. Joseph H. Larwill. THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 23 '.-V--a: wT Wt" - ---- -" FORT SANDUSKY AND ENVIRONS: Scale,'200 yards to the inch. " References to the Environs.-a, British gun-boats at their place of landing. b, Cannon, a six-pounder. c, Mortar. d, Batteries. e,.lIi Graves of Lieut.-Col. Short and,i i!t!le!llll'l!!l$i'!! Lieut. Gordon, who fell in the | ' ditch. f, Road to Upper Sandus- -W L Q ky. g, Advance of the enemy to -K HK " the fatal ditch. i, Head of naviSgation. References to the Fort.-Line 1, i - Pickets. Line 2, Embankment Sll soi from the ditch to and against the -- ' picket. Line 3, Dry ditch, nine FI |ANiii iiil tfeet. wide by six deep. Line 4, FORT [SANDUSKY. Outward embankment or glacis. A, Block-house first attacked by cannon, b. B, Bastion from which the ditch was first raked by Croghan's artillery. C, Guard block-house, in the lower left corner. D, Hospital during the attack. E E E, Military store-houses. F, Commissary's store-house. G, Magazine. H, Fort gate. K K K, Wicker gates. L, Partition gate." 51. SITE OF BOONESBOROUGH, Kentucky,-fort built in 1755. 52. SITE OF DANVILLE, Kentucky-established by Virginia Legislature, 1787. 53. WHEELING, VIRGINIA, founded in 1770. 54. MASSACRE AT BAKER'S BOTTOM, in 1774. 55. PRINCIPAL VILLAGE OF THE DELAWARES, on White river, in 1810. 56. MOUTH OF EMBARRAS RIVER. 57. MISSION OF ST. JOSEPH, visited by Charlevoix, in 1721. 58. FORKS OF RIVER WABASH. 59. SITE OF COLUMBUS, capital of Ohio. 24 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 60. SITE OF INDIANAPOLIS, capital of Indiana. 61. SITE OF SPRINGFIELD, capital of Illinois. 62. SITE OF LANSING, capital of Michigan. 63. SITE OF MADISON, capital of Wisconsin. 64. SITE OF ST. PAUL, capital of Minnesota. 65. ROCKFORT, OR FORT ST. Louis, was built on top of what is called Starved Rock, in 1681, or 1682, by De La Salle; and his first lieutenant, Tonti, and other French soldiers, occupied it for thirty or forty years. It was situated on the south bank of the Illinois river, on the west side, and close to the line of section twenty-two, (22), in township 33, range 2 east, 3d principal meridian. A number of missionaries attempted to instruct and civilize the Illinois Indians, and a small church was erected by the French on the banks of the Illinois river at or near the site of Fort St. Louis. 66. FORT CHARTRES. In August, 1717, the province of Louisiana was granted to the Western Company, sometimes called the Mississippi Company. This company sent M. de Boisbrant with a military force to establish a trading-post at or near the village of Kaskaskia, and in 1718 he commenced the building of a fort on the left bank of the Mississippi river about eighteen miles distant from Kaskaskia. and called the post Fort Chartres. The company referred to procured from the crown of France in 1719, the exclusive right of trading to the East Indies, China, and the South Seas. In 1765 M. de St. Ange, who was in command of Fort Chartres, evacuated it and retired to St. Louis, whereupon a detachment of English troops took possession of the fort. " The fort was in shape an irregu lar quadrangle, with four bastions. The sides of the exterior polygon were about four hundred and ninety feet in extent. The walls, which were of stone, and plastered over, were two feet two inches thick, and fifteen feet high, with loop-holes at regular distances, and two port-holes for cannon in each face, and two in the flanks of each bastion. There were two sallyports; and within the wall was a banquette, raised three feet, for the men to stand upon, when they fired through the loopholes. The buildings within the fort were the commandant's and the commissary's houses, the magazine of stores, the THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 25 guard-house, and two lines of barracks. Within the gorge of one of the bastions was a prison, with four dungeons. In the gorge of the other three bastions, were the powder magazine, the bake-house, and some smaller buildings. The commandant's house was ninety-six feet long and thirty feet deep; containing a dining-room, a parlor, a bed-chamber, a kitchen, five closets for servants, and a cellar. The commissary's house was built in a line with this edifice, and its proportions and distribution of apartments were the same. Opposite these were the store-house and guard-house, each ninety feet long by twenty-four feet deep. The former contained two large storerooms, with vaulted cellars under the whole, a large room, a bed-chamber, and a closet for the keeper. The guard-house contained soldiers' and officers' guard-rooms, a chapel, a bedchamber, and a closet for the chaplain, and an artillery storeroom. The lines of the barracks, two in number, were never completely finished. They consisted of two rooms in each line for officers, and three for soldiers. The rooms were twenty two feet square, with passage between them. All the buildings were of solid masonry. The ruins of this fort may still be seen on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, about twenty-five miles above the mouth of the river Kaskaskia, in the State of Illinois."* 67. PRESQUE ISLE, a fort built by the French on Lake Erie. In May, 1763, this fort was destroyed by the Indians. 68. FORT LE BCEUF, erected by the French, on the western branch of French Creek, in Pennsylvania. It was destroyed by the Indians in May, 1763. 69. VENANGO FORT, erected by the French in 1752, at the mouth of French Creek, in Pennsylvania; was destroyed by Indians in 1763. 70. BROWNSVILLE, OR REDSTONE OLD FORT, on the river Monongahela, Pennsylvania. 71. SITE OF CAHOKIA. In 1700 a military and trading post was established at this place, situated on the eastern bank of the Mississippi river, on a prairie, about twenty-three miles * Writings of James Hall, Dillon's Hist. of Ind., 82. 26 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. below the mouth of the Missouri. In 1778, shortly after the treaty of alliance between France and the United States, a volunteer company of French militia joined a detachment under Captain Bowman, who proceeded to take possession of Cahokia, and it is said that the inhabitants of the village thereupon took the oath of allegiance to Virginia. 72. STOCKADE FORT at the mouth of the Wabash, erected by the French in 1750. " On the Wabash, twelve miles from its mouth, is a mound called the Bone Bank, in which have been found Indian vases, urns, and detached bones of the mastodon, or some animal of immense size. Three miles above Mt. Vernon, on the Ohio river, a short distance above the mouth, is a causeway over two miles in length and several feet in height, now used as a part of the public highway, which is evidently the work of a generation long since passed away. Some suppose it to have been designed for fortification, and the formation favors the opinion."* 73. SITE OF LoGSTOWN, on the Ohio river, about eighteen miles below the confluence of the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers. On the 13th of June, 1752, Colonel Fry and two other commissioners on the part of Virginia, obtained a promise from some Indians at this place, that they would not molest any settlements that might be made on the southeast side of the Ohio. 74. FORT MIAMI, opposite Perrysburg, was occupied by the British in 1774, under command of Major Campbell, at the time of Wayne's battle with the Indians at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee river. At that time the garrison of the fort consisted of about 250 regulars and 300 militia. There were four nine pounders, two large howitzers, and six sixpounders mounted in the fort. and two swivels. [See FORT MEIGS, No. 46.] 75. FORT SENECA was built during the War of 1812, at a point about nine miles north of the present site of Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio. 76. FORT BALL. This fort was located opposite Tiffin, 0., * Ind. State Gaz. p. 365. THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY 27 on the west bank of the Sandusky river. It was named from Col. James V. Ball, the commander of a squadron of cavalry, under Gen. Harrison, in the War of 1812. The fort was a small stockade, with a ditch, and occupied perhaps one-third of an acre..L ER I I 77. FORT JUNANDAT was built in 1754 on the east bank of the Sandusky river, near the bay. The annexed map, showing its location, is from Evans's map of rtSany. w.anaots, the middle British colonies, published in 1775. +FrtJunaS 78. FORT FINDLAY was built " during the War of 1812, by Col. Wandos James Findlay. It stood on the south bank of Blanchard's Fork, _on the present site of Findlay, Hancock county, Ohio. The stockade was " fifty yards square, with block-houses at its corners and a ditch in front." 79. FORT ADAMS was located on the south bank of the St. Mary's river, in the north part of Mercer county, Ohio, about twelve miles east of the Indiana line. It was one of Wayne's fortifications in his campaigns against the Indians. 80. FORT ST. MARY'S, built by Wayne, stood in the present village of St. Mary's, on the west bank of the river, about 80 rods southeast of the old Rickley tavern, in the present county of Auglaize. Its last commander was Capt. John Whistler. 81. FORT McARTHUR was erected during the War of 1812, on the Scioto river, at the crossing of Hull's road, within the present limits of Hardin county, Ohio. 82. FORT LARAMIE was erected by Gen. Anthony Wayne, in 1799, at a place called Laramie's Store, at the mouth of Laramie's creek, sixteen miles northwest of Sidney, in Shelby county, Ohio. It is said that, " as early as 1752, there was a trading-house at that point, called by the English Pickawillany, which was attacked and destroyed by the French and Indians that year."* * Howe's Hist. Col., 463. 28 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 83. FORT PIQUA, at Upper Piqua, Miami county, was designed and used as a place of deposit for stores for Wayne's army. 84. FORT ANCIENT located " about six miles east of Lebanon, on the Little Miami river, is a very extensive ancient fortification. The extreme length of these works, in a direct line, is nearly a mile, although, following their angles-retreating and salient-they reach probably a distance of six miles. The drawing and description annexed are from the article of Caleb Atwater, Esq., in the Archceologia Americana." " The fortification stands on a plain, nearly horizontal, about 236 feet above the level of the river, between two branches with very steep and deep banks. The openings in the walls are the gateways. The "-B A D FORT ANCIENT. plain extends eastward along the state road, nearly level, about half a mile. The fortification on all sides, except on the east and west where the road runs, is surrounded with precipices nearly in the shape of the wall. The wall on the inside varies in its height, according to the THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. shape of the ground on the outside, being generally from eight to ten feet; but on the plain, it is about nineteen and a half feet high inside and out, on a base of four and a half poles. In a few places it appears to be washed away in gutters, made by water collecting on the inside. "At about twenty poles east from the gate, through which the state road runs, are two mounds, about ten feet eight inches high, the road running between them, nearly equi-distant from each. From these mounds are gutters running nearly north and south, that appear to be artificial, and made to communicate with the branches on each side. Northeast from the mounds, on the plain, are two roads, B, each about one pole wide, elevated about three feet, and which run nearly parallel, about one-fourth of a mile, and then form an irregular semicircle round a small mound. Near the southwest end of the fortification are three circular roads, A, between thirty and forty poles in length, cut out of the precipice between the wall and the river. The wall is made of earth. " Many conjectures have been made as to the design of the authors in erecting a work with no less than 58 gateways. Several of these openings have evidently been occasioned by the water, which had been collected on the inside until it overflowed the walls and wore itself a passage. In several other places the walls might never have been completed. " The three parailel roads, A, dug, at a great expense of labor, into the rocks and rocky soil adjacent, and parallel to the Little Miami river, appear to have been designed for persons to stand on, who wished to annoy those who were passing up and down the river. The Indians as I have been informed, made this use of these roads in their wars with each other and with the whites. Whether these works all belong to the same era and the same people, I cannot say, though the general opinion is that they do. On the whole, I have ventured to class them among " Ancient Fortifications," to which they appear to have higher claims than almost any other, for reasons too apparent to require a recital. " The two parallel lines, B, are two roads very similar to modern turnpikes, and are made to suit the nature of the soil and make of the ground. If the roads were for foot races, the mounds were the goals from whence the pedestrians started, or around which they ran. Tho area which these parallel walls enclose, smoothed by art, might have been the place where games were celebrated. We cannot say that these works were designed for such purposes; but we can say, that similar works were thus used among the early inhabitants of Greece and Rome." 85. FRENCH MARGARETS. A fort or station erected by the French, sometime prior to 1755, on the left bank of the Hocking river, in the present county of Athens, Ohio. 86. CAMPUS MARTIUS, a stockaded fort, was erected at the present site of Marietta, Ohio, in 1791. The walls formed a regular parallelogram, the sides of which were 180 feet each. At each corner was erected a strong blockhouse, tower, and sentry box. * Howe's Hist. Sketches, 503. 30 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. CAMPUS MARTIUS. ANCIENT vWORKS AT MARIETTA, OHIO. " The description which follows is from Harris' Tour, and the engraved plan from the Archcvologia Americana." " The situation of these works is on an elevated plain, above the present bank of the Muskingum, on the east side, and about half a mile from its junction with the Ohio. They consist of walls and mounds of earth, in direct lines, and in square and circular forms. " The largest square fort, by some called the town, contains 40 acres, encompassed by a wall of earth from 6 to 10 feet high, and from.5 to 36 feet in breadth at the base. On each side are three openings, at equal distances, resembling 12 gateways. The entrances at the middle are the largest, particularly on the side next to the Muskingum. From this outlet is a covert way, formed of two parallel walls of earth, 231 feet distant from each other, measuring from center to center. The walls at the most elevated part, on the inside, are 21 feet in height, and 42 in breadth at the base; but on the outside average only five feet in height. This forms a passage of about 360 feet in length, leading by a gradual descent to the low grounds, where, at the time of its construction, it probably reached the river. Its walls commence at 60 feet from the ramparts of the fort, and increase in elevation as the way descends towards the river; and the bottom is crowned in the center, in the manner of a well-founded turnpike road. " Within the walls of the fort, at the northwest corner, is an oblong elevated square, 188 feet long, 132 broad, and 9 feet high; level on the summit, and nearly perpendicular at the sides. At the center of each of the sides, the earth is projected, forming gradual ascents to the top, equally regular, and about 6 feet in width. Near the south wall is another elevated square, 150 feet by 120, and 8 feet high, similar to the other, excepting that instead of an ascent to go up on the side next the wall, there is a hollow way 10 feet wide, leading 20 feet towards the center, and then rising with a gradual slope to the top. At the southeast cornor is a third elevated square, 108 by 54 feet, with ascents at the ends, but not so high nor perfect.as the two others. A little to the southwest of the center of the fort is a circular mound, about 30 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, near which are four small excavations at equal distances, and opposite each other. At the southwest corner of the fort is a semi-circular parapet, crowned with a mound, which guards the opening in the wall. Towards the southeast is a smaller fort, con THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 31 taining 20 acres, with a gateway in the center of each side and at each corner. These gateways are defended by circular mounds. ANCIENT WORKS AT MARIETTA, OHIO. " On the outside of the smaller fort is a mound, in form of a sugarloaf, of a magnitude and height which strike the beholder with astonishment. Its base is a regular circle, 115 feet in diameter; its perpendicular altitude is 30 feet. It is surrounded by a ditch 4 feet deep and 15 feet wide, and defended by a parapet 4 feet high, through which is a gateway towards the fort, 20 feet in width." 87. FRENCH TRADING POST. Sometime prior to the year 1755, the French established a small trading post at the mouth of the Huron river, in what is now Erie county, Ohio. A small fortification was subsequently erected at the same place, but was abandoned prior to the Revolution. 88. DILLIE'S FORT was erected in in 1790, on the west bank of the Ohio river, opposite Grave creek, in Belmont county, Ohio. 32 THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 89. BAKER'S FORT; erected in 1790, on the left bank of the Ohio, opposite Dillie's Fort. 90. FORT STEUBEN was erected on the present site of Steubenville, Ohio, on the Ohio river, 22 miles above Wheeling, in 1789. 'It was built of block-houses connected by palisade fences, and was dismantled at the time of Wayne's victory, previous to which it had been garrisoned by U. S. infantry, under command of Col. Beatty." There was also a block-house on the opposite side of the river. 91. MORAVIAN MISSION. In 1804, Christian Frederick Dencke, a Moravian missionary, established a mission at an Indian village called Petquatting, where Milan, Ohio, now stands. The mission was abandoned in 1809. 92. In 1776, Zeisberger, a Moravian missionary, with a band of Indian converts, came from Detroit to the mouth of the Cuyahoga in a vessel called the Mackinaw, and located on the river about ten miles above the present site of Cleveland, at a place which they named Pilgerruh, i. e. Pilgrims' Rest. 93. As early as 1755, there was a French station within the present limits of Cuyahoga Co. On L E K iLewis Evans' map of the middle British colonies, published that year, there is marked upSon the west bank of the Cuyao hoga, the words, " French House," which was doubtless Sthe station of a French trader. The ruins of a house, supposed Sto be those of the one alluded to, rtZencheIse n ATaw s have been discovered on Foot's Milges farm in Brooklyn township, Prt a about five miles from the mouth of the Cuyahoga. The small engraving annexed is from the map of Evans, and I delineates the geography as in the original.* 94. FORT GRATIOT, Michigan. * Howe's His. Col., p. 120.