Gift of
Henry R. Wagner
19

iaai

ilftunseirs
Ibistorieal Sedes.
Ba 17.

THE

OHIO VAIvLKY

IN

COLONIAL DAYS.

BV
BERTHOLD FERNOW,
Honorary and Corresponding Member of ihe Historical Societies of Neiv Vork^ New
Jersey., Pennsylvania^ Virginia^ Buffalo and Waterloo j Member ^ the A tn .
Historical Association; late Custodian of the State Archives^
and Assistant State Librarian at Albany., N. Y.

ALBANY, N. Y.:
JOEL munsell's sons, PUBLISHERS.
1890.

PREFACE

A reviewer of " The Family: An Historical and
Social Study," published a few years ago, criticised
this volume in the following words: " Perhaps the
greatest lack of this book is a preface, for the merit
of a compilation of this sort depends upon the end
aimed at and the method followed."
The writer of the following pages desires to obvi
ate such criticisms and to assist the above reviewer in
what is evidently his practice of reviewing, namely
to depend on the preface for his idea of the book.
The history of all ages and of all nations offers
the most abundant sources for romancing, and
many an historian has paid more attention to the
picturesque and romantic sides of the questions be
fore him, than to the bare matter of fact. Prescott's
" Conquest of Mexico," Abbot's " History of Napo
leon," are delightful rfeading for everybody, but also
most unfaithful guides to the earnest historian.
Another stumbling block for the historical writer
is to look upon events, occurred in past ages, with
the eyes of to-day, and thus to impute to the actors
in these events motives, which must remain hidden

6 Preface.
and cannot be understood, unless brought to cotem-
poraneous light by the actors themselves.
The writer of this volume has tried to avoid both,
Scylla and Charybdis, and has at the same time
taken care, not to become a mere annalist. How
far he has succeeded, the reader must judge.
It is perhaps proper, that a citizen of New York
should write of the Ohio Valley, because by the trea
ties of 1 701, 1726 and 1768, made on New York
territory and by New York influences, the former
owners of the Ohio territory, the aboriginal rulers
of the eastern half of this continent, placed the
largest share of their country under the protection
of New York, and because the latter State made a
union of the Colonies possible, by ceding to New
England claimants — claimants under Royal paper
titles — so much of the territory, derived from the
original owners.
The student of American history will find some
hitherto unpublished and unknown material in this
volume ; beyond that it is only an arrangement of
already known facts, scattered through a library of
books on the subject.

I. Discovery  9
II. Geographical Knowledge  17
III. The Indians of the Ohio Valley  30
IV. The Beginning of the Struggle for
Supremacy  60
V. The Contest Transferred to the Ohio
Valley  83
VI. The French Masters of the Ohio Val
ley  134
VII. The Flag of St. George Floats again
OVER THE Valley  150
VIII. Indian Wars  165
IX. North and West of the Ohio  173
X. South of the Ohio  185
Appendix  217

CHAPTER I.
DISCOVERY.
Who was the first man of European race, to see
the waters of the Ohio Valley ?
Was it Ferdinand de Soto, the Adelantado of
Cuba, upon whom Emperor Charles V, had conferred
the title of Marquis of all the lands, which he should
conquer on his expedition to Florida in 1539 ? Luis
Hernandez de Biedma, who accompanied this expe
dition, tells us, that after marching about in what
are now the States of Florida, Georgia and Alabama,
for eighteen months, the explorers found themselves
in November, 1540, in the Province of Chicaza, or
Chicaca, where they suffered extremely from the
cold, and where " more snow falls than in Spain."
According to a map of Carolana,* Chicazas was an
Indian village on the Casqui or Cusates river, and if
the Indian tribe of the Chickasaws had not moved
their habitations since De Soto's visit, we must
assume, that this expeditionary force of 1539 were
the first Europeans, who entered the valley of Ohio,
as they were the first to see the Mississippi. In
the same account we find a river mentioned under
*In Daniel Coxe's Description of the English Province of Carolana,
London, 1722.

IO The Ohio Valley
the name of Sasquechana ; is the Susquehannah
meant ?
De Witt Clinton said, in a paper on the Ohio In
dians, that De Soto and his army built forts at the
mouth of the Muskingum. What was his authority
for this statement ?
In 1568, Sir John Hawkins left England with a
squadron of ships on an errand, which to-day might
be considered piracy and high-handed robbery. He
expected, to make himself a rich man by pillaging
Spanish settlements in Central America. Occur
rences, which it is not necessary to detail here, com
pelled him to put part of his crew ashore, probably
within the limits of modern Nicaragua. Some of
these sailors made their way across the North Ameri
can continent to within fifty miles of Cape Breton,
where a French fishing vessel picked them up and
carried them home to England. Did they enter the
valley of the Ohio? We -may suppose so. The
story of their wanderings, as told to " Sir Francis
Walsingham, one of her Majesty's (Queen Elizabeth)
principal Secretaries, Sir George Peckham and others
of good judgment" in 1582, hardly mentions any
locality, by the peculiarities of which their route
might be traced, except the Crystal mountain, now
Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, until they
came to Ochala and the Saganas.*
Of the few Indian words, given in the recital, it
is possible to identify only one. Ingram, one of the
* Probably Hochelaga, now Montreal, and the Saguanah or Saguenais river.

In Colonial Days. 1 1
sailors, tells, that the Indians called the sun —
Kerucca; the Onondaga Dictionary of Father
Bruyas,* missionary among this tribe about 1688,
gives the Onondaga word for sun as " Garrakoua."
Garricona, Ingram's Indian word for king, may be
the same as the Iroquois Corachkoo, great chief, but
it is also similar to the Quappas Indians (Arkan
sas) word Karikeh, king.
An essay on the tale of this trampf says: " It
would appear, that he (Ingram and his two compan
ions), left the border of Texas and started for the
Atlantic coast (presumably due east), where he
hoped, to find some English vessel. He appears to
have reached or have heard of, the Altamaha, in
Georgia and kept on north-easterly, passing through
the present territory of New York, Connecticut and
Massachusetts." If the travellers had reached the
shores of the Atlantic ocean as far south as Georgia
or even farther north, why then should they have
again gone inland as far as Hochelaga and the
Saguenay? The mention of these Indian names,
already known since the middle of the sixteenth cen
tury, seem to indicate, that Ingram had some idea,
of where on the continent, with the dimensions of
which he had probably become acquainted during
his life at sea, a chance for a return to England
might be found ; that therefore these men started on
their weary tramp in a direction north-east by east

* Published by J. G. Shea, 1859.
f Mag. of Am. History, March, 1883.

12 The Ohio Valley
and thus crossed somewhere the waters of the Ohio
Valley. Domine Johannis Megapolensis, the first Christian
minister at Albany, N. Y., wrote to his ecclesiastical
superiors, the Classis of Amsterdam in Holland, on
the 28th of September, 1658:* " Le Moynef told me
that during his residence among the Indians, he had
found a salt spring about 100 (Dutch) miles from
the sea. J * * * Also another spring, from which
oil issued, at least water, upon which oily matter
floats, used by the Indians to grease their hair."
Was this the first discovery of Oil creek in Alle
gany county, N. Y, which makes its way into the
Ohio, passing through one or two Pennsylvania
counties, and must we allow the honor of having
also discovered the waters of the Ohio Valley to Le
Moyne, or did the Jesuit refer to oil, found on the
waters of Seneca lake ?
Champlain gave to the world the first positive
information concerning the great inland sea, which
though not belonging to the Ohio Valley, borders it
on the north. He saw its neighbor. Lake Ontario,
and received, in 161 5, his knowledge of Lake Erie
from Etienne Brule, a traveller on its waters or
along its shores. But Champlain's map of 1632 has
nothing to say of the Ohio river, of which neither
Etienne Brul6 nor any of the coureurs des bois
*Amsterdam Correspondence, MSS. in the possession of the Genl. Synod
of the Reformed Church.
fA French Jesuit, a missionary among the Onondaga and Seneca Indians.
if Onondaga Co., N. Y.

In Colonial Days. 13
after him seemed to have heard any thing, although
like the Jesuits they penetrated west beyond Lake
Erie. Here we recognize the fingers of the Five
Nations in the pie of colonial Indian policy. French
men, knowing of the tribes south of the lakes, had
to go, if they wanted to trade with them, by the
so-called Ottawa route, because the Iroquois hated
the French and would only in exceptional cases
allow them to enter into, but not pass through their
territory. Nearly half a century had passed after
Brule's discovery of Lake Erie, when a French
missionary was told, in 1663, of a river nearly as
large as the St. Lawrence, taking its course south
west and west. A few years later Dallier, another
missionary, received also some vague information
concerning this western river, which, after having fol
lowed it for seven to eight months, would bring the
traveller to a place where the land was cut off, that is,
where the river fell into the sea. Dallier's inform
ants called this river the " Ohio."* The Delawares
called it AUiwegi Sipee, that is the river of the
Alliwegi, hence our modern Allegany. Many Indian
tribes were said to live on this river, none of whom
had ever been seen in Canada, and some of them
were so numerous, that they had twenty villages.
These reports inflamed the adventurous spirit of
Robert Cavelier de la Salle and inspired him with a
desire to discover a new route to the South sea or
*According to Bruyas this is a Mohawk word and means "Beautiful
River;" Bruyas says Io in composition expresses the beauty of the object.

14 The Ohio Valley
the Pacific ocean. He obtained from the governor
of Canada not only liberty to go on this venturesome
journey, but also a patent authorizing him, to make
all kinds of discoveries and soldiers to assist him.
Fathers Dallier and Gallin6e were sent with him,
and on the 7th of July, 1669, the travellers started
from La Salle's seigneurie of La Chine. After
thirty days of toiling up the St. Lawrence and
breasting the waves of Lake Ontario, they reached
the Seneca village on the Genesee river, where they
hoped to obtain guides, who could lead them to the
Ohio. They learned, that the head-waters of the
river were not far, but instigated, it is suspected, by
the Jesuit, P^re Fremin, stationed there, the Senecas
tried to dissuade La Salle and his companions, the
missionaries of the Sulpitian order, from the journey
because, they said, "if you go to the Ohio, the In
dians there will kill you." After a tedious delay of
a whole month, a Ganastogue Indian from near the
head of Lake Ontario, offered to help them and con
ducted the party to his village, where they were
given two Indian slaves as guides. La Salle re
ceived a Chaouanon (Shawanoe), the other, who fell
to the Sulpitians, was a Nez Perce. These guides
told, that it would take a march of one and a half
months to reach the first tribe on the Ohio. While
preparing to start, a countryman of the travellers
arrived at the same village. It was Joliet, a native
of Canada, who had originally been destined for the
church, but who driven by a restless spirit to adopt

In Colonial Days. 15
the life of a coureur des bois and Indian trader was
now returning from a western journey, made to dis
cover the copper mines on Lake Superior. He told
of a tribe of Poutaouatamies, living on the great
river, leading to the Chaouanons, and this induced
the Sulpitians, who probably mistook them for Out-
aouacs, to decide that they would go there and try
to convert them. After spending the fall and winter
at Long Point, during which time, in October, 1669,
they took formal possession, in the name of Louis
XIV, of the lands on Lake Erie, they continued
their journey along the north side of the lake, but
while camping at Point Pelee, the lake robbed
them of their altar service, and they decided to
make their way home, via Detroit and the Ottawa
river and to leave the Potawatomies to wallow in
spiritual darkness a little longer.
La Salle, who had been ill or feigned illness, when
the Sulpitian brothers left him, continued his journey
to Onondaga, New York., and finding a guide there
soon after, embarked with his party on the Allegany
branch of the Ohio, which river he descended as far
as the falls at Louisville. Here his men deserted
him and he was compelled to make his way back
to Canada all by himself. A biped of the genus
tramp of to-day would perhaps not consider such
a march a very great undertaking, but as may be
imagined, it was a very different thing two hun
dred years ago, when there were no roads or rail
way tracks to follow, no hen-roosts to visit, no farm-

1 6 The Ohio Valley In Colonial Days.
er's wife to frighten into the dispensation of a boun
tiful meal.
We derive very little information through La
Salle, concerning the river Ohio or the country,
through which he travelled, beyond the fact that he
discovered the river and was the first white man who
undoubtedly traversed the present State of Ohio.
(See Appendix A.) Two years later, in 1671, Gen
eral Wood of Virginia was attacked by the discover
ing fever. Not that he went himself and like La
Salle braved the terrors of an unknown wilderness ;
the dignity of his exalted position as Major-General
probably forbade that,^ — but he sent others to do the
discovering for him, whose journal and remarks are
given in the Appendix B.* These adventurers, sent
out by General Wood, did not reach the Ohio, but
came to several of its tributaries and were thus the
first white men to visit Eastern Kentucky and Ten
nessee.
*This paper and the one in App. C, are in the Sparks Collection of Har
vard College Library; copies of them were kindly furnished by J. Winsor,
Esq.

CHAPTER II.
GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE.
These were the first information of and explora
tions into the valley of the Ohio. Notwithstanding
the claim made by Dr.Mitchell (see Appendix C*), we
must apparently concede the honor of first discovery
to a Frenchman, although Wytfliet's map of "Florida
et Apa]che,"f shows us a river starting under 40°
North Latitude and 293° East Longitude, which
after a mainly south-west course, empties into the
Santo Spirito or Mississippi, under 35° North Lati
tude and 284° East Longitude, with two branches,
while a third branch goes directly into the Gulf of
Mexico. This nameless river receives a tributary
from the south-east. Is the main stream meant for
the Ohio and the tributary for the Great Kanawha ?
Then we must ask, whence did Wytfliet derive his
information ? From Biedmas' account ?
Another Frenchman, Joliet, is the first to give us
the name on his map of 1673-4; he tells us that the
Ohio was then called Ouabouskigon, whence prob
ably is derived the name later given to it, of Wabash.
* See note on preceeding page concerning Appendix B.
f Acosta, Cologne Edition of 1598.
3

1 8 The Ohio Valley
On his larger map of 1674, he describes the river as
" la route du Sieur de la Salle pour aller dans le
Mexique" (the route taken by Sieur de la Salle to
go to Mexico), without giving it a name. A map
without title or maker's name, number three in Mr.
Parkman's collection and probably belonging to the
time, when little was as yet known of the newly dis
covered river and territory, calls it " la Riviere Ohio,
ainsi appellee par les Iroquois k cause de sa beaute,
par ou le Sr. de la Salle est deseendu," but places it
in some parts almost parallel to and within a short
distance of Lake Erie.
The jealousy with which the various discoverers
and their friends looked upon each other, is well
shown by a map, entitled "Carte de la nouvelle de-
couverte que les P^res Jesuites ont fait en I'annee
1672," etc., which shows us nearly the whole course
of the " Mitchisipi," of its tributaries, the Illinois, the
Wisconsin on the east side and several large rivers
on the west side, as the Missouri and the Arkansas,
but not the faintest indication of the Ohio river.
The next cartographer, probably Franquelin, in his
" Carte de I'Amerique Septentrionale et partie de la
Meridionale" of 1682 restores the Ohio to its place,
but again too near Lake Erie. On his map of 1684
the river is not only in a fairly correct place, but is
also given various tributaries without names. Some
of these he had learned when he made his map of
1688, for by that he tells us of the Ohio or Belle
Riviere and calls a tributary coming from the east

In Colonial Days. 19
the Ohoio, while the Riviere Ouabache has for its
tributary the R. Oiapigaming ( ). Father Raffeix,
S. J., has not yet learned in 1688, that other streams
empty into the Ohio, but he gives us the first carto
graphical information of the " Petit Sault," the
rapids near Louisville, Kentucky. A map of the
same year, 1688, called " Partie occidentale du Canada
ou de la Nouvelle F" ranee , ou sont les Nations des
Ilinois, de Tracy, les Iroquois, etc., avec la Louisiane,
nouvellement decouverte * * * par le P. Coro-
nelli, Cosmographe de la Ser"* Republic de Venise,"
has the Riviere Ouabache without tributaries.
Raudin, Frontenac's engineer, again ignores the
Ohio, while a map made three years before in 1685
by Minet, "la Carte de la Louisiane" has the river
in its full length, though without most of its tribu
taries and calling it in its middle course Ouabache,
which name is changed in the lower to "le Chou-
cagoua." The Hennepin map of 1697 has again the Ohio or
Ouye without tributaries, running almost completely
in the direction of its degree of latitude and parallel
to and between two ranges of mountains, the Mons
Apalach on the south and an unnamed range on the
north. A map in the Parkman collection, without date
or title, of which we find a sketch in Mr. Winsor's
Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. IV^
p. 206, and which Mr. Parkman considers the work
of the Jesuits and " the earliest representation of the

20 The Ohio Valley
upper Mississippi, based perhaps on the reports of
the Indians " shows in a fairly correct location for
the Ohio river a stream, called Chaboussioua.
Mr. Bellin, Ingenieur du Roi et de la Marine, pub
lished, also in 1755, two maps, which must find a
place here. The "Carte de I'Amerique Septentrio
nale" informs us of the location of Joncaire's fort a
little below Venango, near the mouth of French
creek. Another French post is on the Chiningu6
R. A settlement, called " le Baril " is mentioned as
at the mouth of White Woman's creek and La Da-
moiselle, another settlement or Indian village, is on
the creek of that name. Ouitanon, a French fort,
is on the Ouabache or S' Jerome about midway from
its mouth, and at its mouth we have Fort Anne or Fort
Vincene. The embouchure of the Cherakee R. is
guarded by another French fort, " commence depuis
longtemps " and at its head we find Quanese, an Eng
lish post. Walker's settlement at the head of the
" Old Chaouanon " is marked as destroyed. His
other map of the same year, " Partie Occidentale de
la Nouvelle France " is here mentioned only because
according to it, the south shore of Lake Erie " is al
most unknown."
The dedication to " Monseigneur le Comte d'Ar-
genson, Secretaire pour le Departement de la Guerre,"
which position he filled from 1743 to 1757, gives us
an approximate date of a map by Robert de Vau-
gondy fils. Geographer to the King up to 1 760, en
titled " Carte des Pays connus sous le nom de Canada

In Colonial Days. 21
au Nouvelle France." It adds nothing that we do
not find upon other French maps.
Two other maps must be mentioned on behalf of
French geographical knowledge, although it is pos
sible that English maps or information, derived from
English sources, guided the cartographer. Both
were published at Amsterdam in Holland without
date. The first one has the title : " Carte de la Nouvelle
France, etc., etc., Amsterdam chez la veuve de Jo.
Van Keulen et Fils." The river Ouabache, Orabac,
' autrement nommee Ohio ou belle Riviere (other
wise called the Ohio or Beautiful river) comes from
the Onondaga country. It has an affluent, rising
not many miles south of its own source and running
almost parallel to it, until the two rivers join, which
is called Riviere d'Oubache or Akansea Septentrio
nale. This is stated as being on the route taken by
the French, when they go to Carolina. On the
Coskinampo branch of this tributary live the Chic-
achas, Taogarias, Coskinampos and Chaouanons.
The upper course of this Akansea is called Riviere
d'Ohio or Acansea Sipi. Some fifty miles from its
junction with the Mississippi we find the legend :
Chaouanon Mines of Iron in English and at the
mouth of a tributary coming from the north, the R.
Wabashe, is a fort.
The second of these undated maps is the " Carte
Nouvelle de I'Amerique Angloise * * * par le
Sieur S., Amsterdam chez Pierre Mortier. Accord-

2 2 The Ohio Valley
ing to it the Ohio, which is not named, rises in the
longitude of the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.
A tributary coming from the south-east is called
Sabsquigs and it mentions the mines of iron of the
preceding map. Several legends show the English
origin in their Anglicized French, as Perres San
guines, Fort des mi Amis.
William Smith, the historian of New York, de
plores in his work the ignorance of his countrymen,
the English, in regard to American geography. A
recent writer, Charles Dudley Warner, says of it in
a happy, terse way : " Ignorance of America is
taught in English schools."
Apparently the earliest English map, which gives
information to the geographical student in Great
Britain, of Lake Erie is " A New Map of the English
Plantations in America," etc., by Robert Morden,
London, without date. The same Morden pub
lished a map of Carolina in 1687 and a map, which
will be mentioned hereafter, with Herman Moll
about 1 71 5. This gives us an approximate date for
his above-named production, of which nothing more
need be said, than that Felis Lake (Lake Erie)
would be divided according to it by the extension,
due west, of the boundary line between Maryland
and Virginia.
The same geographer published a " Geography of
the World." The copy which the writer of this
chapter has consulted, is without title page, but a
passage in the account of New York, reading " pre-

In Colonial Days. 23
sented by the late King to the present King James
the Second," tells us, that the book in question must
have been published before 1689. A map of Florida
shows the Ohio, without name, and the Illinovik
rivers entering the Mississippi. The Ohio rises not
far from the head of a river, going into Lake Michi
gan from the south-east. In the account accompany
ing this map nothing is said about the rivers empty
ing into the Mississippi, which is called the Holy
Ghost river.
Morden and Moll's map of 1 715 " The Seat of War
in the West Indies, etc., together with the adjacent
Dominions " represents only the lower half of the
" Ochio or Belle R., which empties into the Miss
issippi in two branches. Near the mouth of the north
ern branch we find the " Port des Anguilles."
Edward Wells, M. A. and Student at Christ
Church, Oxford, attempted in 1701 to enlighten his
countrymen by a " New Set of Maps * * * ," one
of which is a map of North America. The Hotico
river, as he calls the Ohio, runs almost parallel to
its degree of latitude, breaking through the chain of
the Apalachia Mountains, which extend from the
south-western end of Lake Erie to the mouth of the
Illinois river and thence into unknown regions.
" A New Map of the most Considerable Plantations
of the English in America" in the same "Set
of Maps" does not go far enough west to give the
Ohio. Christophori Cellarii, Smalcaldensis, Geographia

24 The Ohio Valley
Antiqua is the work of a German scholar, but hav
ing been published at London in 1 731, it must be
classed among the English geographical sources of
information. A map in it of the whole American
Continent has the course of the Ohio fairly correct,
without giving its name.
"A New Map of America according to the Best
and Latest Observations " by Henry Overton, with
out date, belongs to the period, when the English
evidently had but little knowledge of this Continent.
It is dedicated to Queen Caroline, wife of George I,
who died in 1 738, and this dedication gives us a clue
to the time of its production. Lakes Huron, Ontarius
and Erius are placed one south of the other, the
Ohio is not known and the Mississippi empties into
the Gulf of Mexico, after having traversed about 60
miles. H. O. dedicates his " New and Correct Map of the
Trading Part of the West Indies, including the Seat
of War between Great Britain and Spain, likewise
the British Empire in America " etc. etc. to the
Hon"* Edward Vernon, Vice Admiral of the Blue
and Commander in the West Indies, which post the
Admiral held in 1740. An advertisement on this
map, concerning some other publications by H. O.,
is dated March 25, 1741.
The Nation of Chat lives still on the south shore
of Lake Erie, and the Salt river, as the Ohio is
called, rises in their territory. It receives the Ou-
bach from the north-east and the Hogohegee with

In Colonial Days. 25
an affluent, called the Illinos R., from the south
east. " The Modern Gazetteer " by Mr. Salmon, London,
1746, says, the " Hohio is a river in North America,
which rises in the Apalachian Mts. near the confines
of Carolina and Virginia and running south-west falls
into the Mississippi and is by some reckoned the
principal stream, which forms the Mississippi."
When we consider the frequent intercourse be
tween the two capitals, London and Paris, which
must have made the English familiar not only with
French fashions, but also with French literary and
scientific works, we cannot help wondering at the
slowness, with which the English grasped French
geographical information. They waited until 1752.
In the said year appeared " North America, per
formed under the patronage of Louis, Duke of
Orleans, first Prince of the Blood, by the Sieur
d'Anville,* greatly improved by Mr. Bolton." We
learn from it, that the Oyo or Bell or Allegany
river has as tributaries the S' Jerome or Ouabach,
the Old Chaouanon, the Cherakee and several
smaller ones. The Monongahela and Great Kan
awha are unknown. An English fort is located on
the Cherakee, where the Pelesipi enters from the
north-east, an "ancient fort" at the mouth of the
Ohio. A "Map of the British Empire in America" by
Henry Popple, 1756, demonstrates a most lamenta-
*Jean B. d'Anville was Royal Geographer of France in 1718; he died 1782.
4

26 The Ohio Valley
ble confusion in British geographical knowledge of
America. The Cat Nation, destroyed about one
hundred years before, is still existing. La Riviere
aux Boeufs, now French Creek, enters the Ohio
from the east-south-east coming out of a name
less lake. The Monongahela and Kanawha are not
known. The Cherakee is called, as on an English
edition of d'Anville, the Hogohegee. Near the
mouth of the Pelesipi we read, that there is " a fit
place for an English factory," and we find again the
" Old Fort " at the mouth of the Ohio.
Dr. Edmund H alley, Professor of Astronomy at
Oxford, published a new edition of Popple's map
under the title of " Nouvelle Carte Particuliere de
I'Amerique " without date. His " improvements " on
Popple are, that he shortens the Ohio, which rises in
the present State of that name, and that the sources
of the Hogohegee are "little known."
The " New and Accurate Map of the English Em
pire in North America," by a Society of Anti-Galli-
cans, 1755, tells us, that "Walkers, an English settle
ment" had existence in the forks at the head of the
Cumberland river in 1750 and that the mouths of
the Ohio and of the Ouabache were guarded by
French forts.
The French and Indian war, which ended the
French claims to the Ohio valley, was productive of
a number of maps on both sides, of which only a few
English prints will be mentioned here.
John Huske's " New and Accurate Map of North

In Colonial Days. 27
America (wherein the errors of all preceding British,
French and Dutch maps respecting the rights of
Great Britain * * * are corrected), London,
1755, gives us the names of the French trading posts
and stations.
Of " A Map of the British Colonies in North
America, with the roads * * *" by Dr. John
Mitchell, F. R. S., London, 1755, the New York his
torian, Smith, says: " Dr. Mitchell's map is the only
authentic one extant. None of the rest concerning
America have passed under the examination or re
ceived the sanction of any public board and they
generally copy the French." But if, with our present
knowledge of geography, we look upon this " only au
thentic " map, we discover, that the Ohio rises not far
south-west from Oswego. It gives us, however, the
location of English settlements and posts in the
Ohio valley and must, therefore, be considered as a
valuable source of information by the historical stu
dent. Thus we find an "English Settlement" on
Shenango or Cheninque creek, another at Venango;
Allegany above Fort du Cane (Du Quesne) has also
an English settlement in the Old Shawnoe Town.
At the mouth of the Scioto or Chianotho is an Eng
lish factory. The falls of the Ohio, " passable up or
down in canoes," are six miles long, 300 miles from
Shawnoe, at the mouth of the Scioto, and the same
distance by water from the Mississippi. On the
Beaver creek, entering the Ohio near Logstown, is
Owendoes, "the first settlement on the Ohio," and

28 The Ohio Valley
below it, Kuskuskies, "the Chief Town of the Six
Nations on the Ohio" and an English factory. A
similar factory is established on the Muskingum.
The Great Miami river is guarded, 150 miles
from its mouth, by an English fort " established
1748, the Extent of English Settlements."
The country on the Kanawha near the Carolina
boundary is "well settled," and near the head of this
river we discover a settlement, the German origin of
which its name " Freydeck " betrays.
Walkers, near the head of the Cumberland, is the
"Extent of English Settlements in 1750." At Tel-
lico, between the Tanassee and Euphasee branches
of the Hogohogee, is an English factory, while the
country along the Holston branch of the same river
is "settled."
A "Chart of the Atlantic Ocean with the British,
French and Spanish Settlements in North America
and the West Indies" by T. Jefferys, is given in two
parts, of which the first shows, that the French
claimed all the territory west of an almost straight
line from Crown Point in New York to Pensacola
bay in Florida, while Part II shows the propositions,
made in 1761 by M. de Bussy, in regard to a bound
ary line, including a neutral territory, which was to
divide the French from the English dominions.
This neutral district begins at the head of the
Ohio and includes the land on the north shore of
Lake Erie and the present State of West Virginia
with Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, but does

In Colonial Days. 29
not comprise the left side of the Ohio in these
parts. Contemporaneous English knowledge of American
geography is best illustrated in the paper from the
Sparks Collection in Harvard Library, mentioned
above, in Appendix C.

CHAPTER III.
The Indians of the Ohio Valley.
Gallatin in his "Synopsis of Indian Tribes "dis
tributes the Indians, in whom we are interested on
this occasion, as follows in the year 1600 :
The Wyandots and the Neuter Nation live be
tween the Lakes Ontario and Erie on the south and
Lake Huron with the Ottawa river on the north.
On the southern shore of Ontario and Erie we find
the Five Nations, west of them along the Allegany
river the Andastes, and close upon the Lake Erie
the Erigas. These Iroquois tribes, just mentioned,
appear upon Gallatin's map like an island in the sur
rounding sea of Algonquin tribes, who are divided
into Miamis on the east side of the Wabash river,
Piankishaws,* south of them, but north of the
Ohio ; Shawanoes along and east of the Cumber
land but south of the Ohio, the Chicasaws on the
lower Tennessee, the Cherokees on the upper part of
the river, as far as the Carolinas, form the southern
contingent of the aborigines under consideration.
The American Antiquarian, published at Cleve
land, the old Indian Cayuhaga, brings in its num
ber for April, 1879, ^^ article by Mr. C. C. Bald-
* Piankashas, Peanguichias, Pianquichias.

The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. 31
win on "Early Indian Migration in Ohio," with a
map, giving the location of tribes in 1600. Accord
ing to this map the Andastes are on the Susque
hannah, the Eries on the upper Allegany, Shawnoes
on both sides of the Ohio, from near the head of
Monongahela to the little Miami, the Cherokees are
relegated to the mountains, from which the Great
Kanawha comes, the Illinois take the place of the
Miamis and Piankashaws on the east side of the
Wabash, extending to the north side of the Ohio,
the Miamis have been moved to the Miami river of
Lake Erie or Maumee, as now called, and the Arkan
sas live east of the Mississippi, along the Cumber
land and Tennessee rivers, west and north-west of
the Cherokees. I shall not attempt to prove or dis
prove the correctness of either Mr. Gallatin or Mr.
Baldwin, but the following pages will bring the his
tory of the Indians, as told by eye witnesses of and
actors in the Colonial drama. The localities occu
pied by Indian tribes before they came into contact
with Europeans cannot interest us so very much at
this day, and I will, therefore, take the reader to the
first graphic record, which gives us any knowledge
of some of them. That is Champlain's Map of 1632,
on which the " Hirocois" are placed south of Lake
Ontario, on the head waters of a stream running
from north to south into the Riviere des Trettes, to
day the Hudson. South-south-west of them live the
Carantouanons on the head of Susquehannah, west
ward we come to the Antouoronons at the head of

32 The Ohio Valley
Lake Ontario. On the south side of the unduly
lengthened Niagara river la Nation neutre is seated,
and adjoining them on the west are Les gens de feu,
Assistagueronons, or the Cat Nation. In the center
of the present State of Ohio, with rivers all running
northward, lives a nameless nation, ou il y a quan-
tite de beuffies (where plenty of buffaloes are found).
So far extended Champlain's knowledge. Creux-
ius, who next, in 1660, attempted to enlighten his
countrymen on the geography of the New World
by a map, accompanying his Historia Canadensis,
gives apparently correct locations to Five Nations of
New York from the eastern end of Lake Erie to
the Mohawk and Delaware rivers, both issuing from
a small lake. At the west end he places the
Natio Felium, the Cat Nation, while gens neutra,
has emigrated to the north-west of Lake Ontario.
According to No. 3 of the Parkman Collection of
Maps, mentioned before, the Antouaronons, nation
detruite, sat on the north shore of Lake Erie ; the
Pouteatamis (Poutowatomies) occupy the north-west
corner of it and the country along Niagara river
is in the hands of the Gantastogeronons, "ce qui en
61oigne les Iroquois" (which keeps away the Iro
quois). South of the Ohio and within a short dis
tance of it is the lake Onia-sont, around which the
Oniasont-Keronons live.-
To begin the detailed survey of the Indians of the
Ohio Valley with the Five Nations, who played such
an important part in the Colonial history of New

In Colonial Days. 33
York, may appear to many a reader an unwarranted
diversion. But if the same reader remembers, that
the war-cry of the Mohawks and their fellow clans
struck terror into the hearts of the Hurons in Can
ada, of the Miamis of Ohio and Illinois, of the Cha
ouanons of Kentucky and Tennessee, and of the
Cherokees and Chicasaws of Carolina, not to speak
of the eastern tribes, this diversion will be found
excusable. When this powerful nation first came in contact
with European settlers, they occupied the territory
from Lake Champlain in the east to and along
part of the southern shore of Lake Erie on the
west. John Smith of Virginia knew them as the
Massawomecks in 1608, and we are told by Father
Ragueneau in his Relations of 161 8, that when the
Hurons sent agents to ask the Andastes in Pennsyl
vania for help against the Five Nations, these me.s-
sengers had to make a detour -through Western
Ohio, in order to escape falling into the clutches of
their enemies. Next to them on the west lived the
Eries and Neutrals, who were completely extin
guished by the Five Nations, although they belonged
apparently to the same distinctive branch of Indian
nationality, to the Iroquois. After having thoroughly
decimated the fur-bearing animals in their own coun
try and in the territory of their immediate western
neighbors and kinsmen, the Five Nations extended
their hunting expeditions still further west and
reached thus the Mississippi in a manner, which Mr.
5

34 The Ohio Valley
Parkman, in his " Discovery of the Great West," has
so graphically described. In their warfare against
the Illinois tribes, they knew how to make allies of
the Miamis, sitting between the Illinois and the
Eries. The Jesuit Relations of 1654 inform us
that in May of that year some Onnontaehronons
(Onondagas) came to Montreal to return some
French prisoners in their hands. With their sixteenth
string of wampum they told Onontio : " Our young
men will no longer fight against the French ; but as
they are too great warriors to do any thing else, we
let you know that we shall carry our arms against
the Eriehronons (Cat Nation) ; this summer we'll
lead an army against them. The earth shall tremble
on that side, while every thing is quiet here." This
war, thus announced, settled the fate of the Eries, as
an independent tribe, and another war, begun two
years later, in 1656, but lasting sixteen years, until
1672, nearly wiped out another tribe of the Ohio
Valley. A treaty between the Five Nations and the
French, ratified by the Senecas in May, 1666, men
tioned this tribe, the Andastes, Andastaeronons or
Guyandots as seated on the Alleghany and Ohio.
Their chief town is supposed to have been near
Pittsburgh.* In the same year, 1672, the Five Nations subdued
and incorporated the Chaouanons, or Shawanoes,
who, according to Mitchell, were the original propri
etors of the country west of the Alleghanies.
*N. Y. Col. Docts., Ill, 125. '

In Colonial Days. 35
The efforts, successfully made by the Five Nations
to push westward, did not please the French, for
these Indians, still faithful to Corlear and Quidor,*
brought the English to the western lakes, and after
extinguishing the Cat Nations, made war upon the
Chichtaghicks (Twightwees) and other nations, who
yielded the most profitable trade to the French.
In consequence of all these wars upon their own
race the Five Nations claimed, in 1701, possession
by inheritance from their ancestors, who held by
right of conquest from the Aragaritkas (Hurons),
the land west and north-west from Albany, begin
ning on the north-west side of Cadaraqui (Ontario)
lake and including all the waste land between Otta-
wawa lake (Lake Huron) and Sahsquage (Swege,
Erie) lake, and " runs until it butts upon the Twitch-
wichs (Miamis), and is bounded on the right hand
(west) by a place called Quadoge,f containing in
length about 800 miles and in breadth 400 miles, in
cluding the country where the beavers, the deers,
elks and such beasts keep, and the place called Ti-
engsachrondio, alias Fort de Tret (Detroit), or
Wawyachtenoch, and so runs round the lake of
Swege till you come to a place called Oniadaronda-
quat (Irondequoit), which is about twenty miles from
the Sinnekes castle " . . .%
* Names given to the Governor of New York: Corlear, after Arent van
Corlear, and Quidor, after Peter Schuyler, both highly esteemed by the
Five Nations.
f Chicago, see Mitchell's Map of North America, 1755, and Map in
Charlevoix. X N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 108.

36 The Ohio Valley
This quit-claim of 1701 was not considered quite
sufficient authority by the Government of New York
to prevent the French from getting a foothold in the
territory of the Five Nations and from building a
fort at Niagara. Governor Burnet, therefore, urged
them at a conference, held at Albany, September 14,
1726, to fulfill their promise of 1701, which was to
submit and give up all their hunting country to the
King of England and to sign a deed for it. Then,
the Governor told them, England could defend them
against the French and secure to them a quiet enjoy
ment of their own lands. The sachems of the Sen
ecas, Cayugas and Onondagas signed then for
themselves a deed of trust to King George for the
country from Salmon river, in Oswego county, N.
Y,, west to Cleveland, Ohio, and sixty miles to the
south of this east and west line.*
Neither the treaty of 1701 was called a deed of
sale, a conveyance, or whatever legal term may be
applied to ceding the rights of property in land, nor
the deed of trust made in 1 726. Apparently neither
the Five Nations nor the Colonial authorities con
sidered it so, for in November, 1763, Sir William
Johnson, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the
Northern Department, writes to the Lords of Trade
and Plantations:! "They (the Five Nations) claim
by right of conquest all the country, including the
Ohio, along the great ridge of Blue mountains at the
* N. Y. Col. Hist., V, 800, and MSS. Parchment, State Library, Albany.
t Ib. VII, 573.

In Colonial Days. 37
back of Virginia; thence to the head of Kentucky
river and down the same to the Ohio above the rifts;
thence northerly to the south end of Lake Michigan;
then along the east shore to Missillimackinack ;
thence easterly across the north end of Lake Huron
to Ottawa river and Island of Montreal . . . Their
claim to the Ohio and thence to the lakes is not in
the least disputed by the Shawanese, Delawares and
others, who never transacted any sales of land or
other matters without their consent."
In their intercourse with the French these same
Indians, either as separate tribes or as a confedera
tion, asserted their claim to the Ohio lands,* and in
1 781, Croghan, for many years Indian agent under
Sir William Johnson, confirmed this claim of the
Five Nations to the Ohio territory on the south side
as far as the Cherokee river and on the north-west
side as far as the Big Miami. We must, therefore,
admit the Five Nations of New York Indians as an
important factor in the Indian history of the Ohio
Valley. Almost equally important or at least as frequently
mentioned in official reports of the period is the tribe
of the Shawanese (Chaouanons of the French).
Readers, who have made a study of Indian lan
guages, may be able to tell, whether the name of the
Shawangunk or Showangunk mountains in Ulster
county. New York, has been derived from this tribe,
which was first brought to notice by de Laet, the
* See Instructions to Du Quesne, N. Y. Col., Hist., X, 244.

38 The Ohio Valley
historian of New Netherland, in 1632, who following
some reports places them on both sides of the Dela
ware river in the neighborhood of the Capitanasses
tribe, mentioned on the Carte Figurative of 161 6.
Next we read the name in the account of Lederer's
travels from Virginia to the west of Carolina in 1669
and 1670. He calls a river coming from near Lake
Ashley the Rorenock or Shawan.* A few years
later Joliet published his map of 1673-4, showing
his discoveries on the Mississippi and we find the
Chaouanons south of the Ohio along the greater
river as far south as the mouth of the Basire or
Arkansas river. The investigator of Shawanese mi
grations cannot fail to be puzzled by Joliet, for on
his " Carte Generale " we see the Chaouanons with
fifteen villages placed into the Ohio valley, but as
the river is not carried as far east, as where the name
of this tribe occurs, it is impossible to tell on which
side of the river the villages were situated. The
above-mentioned map. No. 3 of the Parkman collec
tion, places them north of the Ohio and the tribe of
the Illinois south of it, while Joliet's map gives to
the latter what we must consider their true location
west of and near to Lake Michigan and north of the
river named after them.
A map of Delislef (1707) calls a tributary of the
Wabash " Riviere des Indiens, par ce que les Chaou-
* Sketch of his map in Hawk's North Carolina, II, 52.
fin the Amsterdam (1707) edition of Garcilasso de la Vegas Histoire des
Incas et de la conqugte de la Floride, vol. II; reproduced in French's His
torical Collections of Louisiana.

In Colonial Days. 39
anons y habitent " (because the Ch. live here), while
the present Pedee (?) is called R. des Chaouanons
and a village of this tribe is marked, as lying on
both sides of it. Another settlement of the same
tribe is to be found on the Alabama river.
According to a map, mentioned in a previous
chapter,* they lived on a tributary of the Akansea
Septentrionale, which is really the Ohio, while the
country at the heads of.the Alabama and Apalach-
icola rivers is called " Pays des Chaouanons." The
map of 1740-41, dedicated to Admiral Edward Ver
non, places this tribe on the south side of the Hogo
hegee, while d'Anville's map, improved by Mr.
Bolton, locates them in 1752 above Fort DuQuesne,
and a German edition of the same map by d'Anville,
published in 1756, has moved them to the mouth of
the Scioto or Sikoder. In the " Conspiracy of Pon-
tiac,"f Mr. Parkman says of the Shawnees : " Their
eccentric wanderings, their sudden appearances and
disappearances, perplex the antiquary and defy re
search." According to Joliet, they were on the Ohio
in 1673. Ten years later, 1683, LaSalle, the discov
erer, writes, J that the ChaOanons, Chaskpes and
Ouabans, have at his solicitations abandoned the
Spanish trade and eight or nine villages, occupied
by them, for the purpose of joining the French inter
est and settling near Fort S' Louis on the upper
* Carte de la Nouv. France, widow Jo. van Keulen.
fl. 32.
ifN. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 799.

40 The Ohio Valley
Illinois river. Franquelin's map of 1688, mentions
in that vicinity the Ouabans and Chaskpes, but no
Chaouanons. At a conference, held by the French with the Five
Nations at Kayahoge, now called Cleveland, Ohio,
in 1684, the Indians gave as one reason for their war
against the Twightwees or Chictaghicks, that these
latter had brought the Satanas (Sawanons, Chaou
anons of the French, Shawanoes, Shawnees of the
English) into their country to assist them in their
struggle and armed them. The war was disastrous
to the western nations and others in the interest of
the French, for the Five Nations added to the popu
lation of their castles a large number of prisoners,
taken from the Shawanoes.*
In August, 1692, the then Commander-in-Chief of
New York, Major Ingoldsby, was informed that Sat-
taras Indians, late in war with the Five Nations, had
come, numbering 100 warriors, as far as the Dela
ware river, to negotiate a peace with the New York
Indians. It was considered that such a peace would
vastly contribute to their Majesties' interest, as then
the Five Nations could more forcibly wage war on
the French, while a war with the more distant Sha
wanoes " much diverted and hindered them in their
efforts against Canada."f
The Council of New York ordered, that Capt.
Arent Schuyler should forthwith be dispatched to
* Colden, Five Nations.
t N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., VI, 115.

In Colonial Days. 41
these Indians with two belts of wampum in order to
conduct them safely to the city of New York, and
seven days later Capt. Schuyler had so far accom
plished his task, that he could present himself be
fore Governor and Council with the Far Indians,
called the Showannes, and some Senecas, who had
traveled amongst them for nine years. The chief of
these Senecas, Malisit, reported that on his way
toward his former home on Lake Ontario, he had
met Monsieur Tonty, captain of a French castle at
the head of the .lakes ; that Tonty had asked whither
he was going, and upon Malisit's reply " Home," had
said, " What need you return there, I have killed
your father, the Corlear, your brethren and relations,
and burnt all the country? Tarry with me and I'll
give you my laced coat." The Seneca may have
known by experience, how much reliance he could
place on a Frenchman's report and promise and con
tinued on his way with his Shawanoe companions,
who wanted first to see the country, new to them,
and open the path, promising to come the next year
in greater numbers and with more of the rich pro
ducts of their country.
Malisit confirmed these promises with a beaver
coat, but he had not considered, what his tribal
brothers would say to this plan of opening a direct
intercourse between their enemies, the Shawnees,
and their friends, the English. As soon as the news
of these intentions reached the villages of the Five
Nations, they informed Governor Fletcher through
6

42 The Ohio Valley
the Mayor of Albany, that a treaty, as proposed,
could not be made without their consent and only in
their presence. Their jealousy was cleverly appeased
by a message from Fletcher,* and in a conference
held with them in July, 1693, they said: "We are
glad that the Shawanoes, who were our enemies,
have made their application to you last fall for pro
tection, and that you sent them hither (to Albany)
to make peace with us."t
This seems to have been the first contact, which
the English colonists had with the distant tribe from
the south-western corner of the Ohio valley, although
we must consider as simultaneous an application made
to Governor Fletcher in September, 1692, by some
Hudson River Indians, who had long been absent
from their native haunts, and lived among the Show-
anees. In an audience with the Governor and
Council of New York, they set forth " that they had
long been absent from their native country, and did
desire to be kindly received, as they in former days
received the Christians, when they first came to
America, — they pray the same likewise in behalf of
the strange Indians they have brought along with
them. They add, moreover, that they are now
come to their own river and those Far Indians have
accompanied them by the Great God's protection ;
they are poor, but come to renew the covenant-chain
with Corlear, the Mohawks and Five Nations, and
*N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., VI, 126.
fN. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 43.

In Colonial Days. 43
confirm it with the fruits of their far country,
whither they intend to depart in twenty days." A
Minissink Indian, present afthis interview, declared
that they had accepted the Far Indians "as their
friends and relations," and that his tribe, being very
poor, intended to go with the Showanees and hunt
in their country.
Governor Fletcher told the Showanees delega
tion that they first must make peace with the Five
Nations, and this done, he would extend to them the
same protection as to the rest of the Indians.* The
result of these interviews, in August and September,
1692, were the before-mentioned message, sent by
the Five Nations in July of the following year, and
a cessation of hostilities between the two most im
portant tribes in the valley of the Ohio.
The various cessions of territory, made by the
Five Nations, and other sources enable us to locate
these tribes almost definitely, but it is difficult to say,
where the Shawanese came from, when they first
appeared upon the stage of Colonial Indian politics.
In 1652 some of them appeared nearly one thou
sand miles east of the location, given by Joliet, as
stated before. From this time we must assume, that
they became important factors in Indian politics, for
in August, 1694, they have again, in company of
Mohicans, an interview with Governor Fletcher at
Kingston, f in which the River Indians say, that they
*N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., VI, 126.
f N. Y. Col. MSS., XXXIX, 188.

44 The Ohio Valley
have had great difficulties in bringing the Shawanees
and Far Indians to see Corlear. The Showanees
and the Far Indians are here named as two distinct
tribes, but as the name of " Far Indians" is arbi
trarily applied in Colonial days to all tribes west of
the Five Nations, it is very likely that a subdivision
or a tribe in close alliance with the Shawnees is
meant. They were now admitted to the covenant
chain, and reported that three hundred of their tribe
were to follow them east in a short time. Their ad
herence to the English interest lasted for some time,
for during Queen Anne's war, they sent war parties
to assist the Senecas of New York against the
French.* But twenty years later, in 1732, we read
in a letter from King Louis XIV to his Governor of
Canada, Beauharnois,f that the Chaouanons have
come down to Montreal during the preceding sum
mer, to demand of Onontio if the place, where he
wished to locate them. In the same year, Joncaire,
the French agent on the Ohio, reported that the
Shawnees were settled in villages on the other side
of "Oyo," six leagues below the river Atigue.§
Negligence on the part of the English authorities
and skillful management by the French changed the
feeling among the Chaouanons so much, that in
1736, the same Joncaire could write to the Governor
of Canada, the tribe had rejected the evil advices,
*N. Y. Col. Hist., v, 270. '
fib., IX, 1033.
J Indian name for the Governor of Canada.
55 R. au Boeuf, now French Creek, Bellins Carte de la Louisiane.

In Colonial Days. 45
given by their old allies, the Iroquois, and would not
take up the hatchet against the French. They said,
as Onontio had located them on the Ohio, they
would not leave there without his orders.* In the
following year they were again expected at Montreal
and Governor Beauharnois was directed, not to neg
lect any thing, to make them settle near Detroit,
especially as Cherokees and Chickasaws had made
settlements on the Ohio.f In the course of time
the Shawnees became a fixture on Ohio territory.
According to an official report of the " Occurrences
in Canada during 1 747 and 1 748 "\ they refused to
leave their village of Sonioto,§ where they formed
a league to destroy the upper country posts, in which
league Senecas and Mohegans, with whom the Shaw
nees seem to have entertained special friendly rela
tions, participated. These eastern Indians living
then on the Ohio, were very much incensed by the
news that four of their people had been killed by
French from Detroit, and two war parties set out
with the avowed intention to make war against the
French at the Miamis** and at Detroit. At the same
time news from Ostandausket (Sandusky) reached
Montreal, that the Chaouanons of Chartier's tribe,f f
*N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 1050.
fib., p. 1059.
tib., X, 138.
§ Now Scioto.
** Fort S' Joseph.
ff A map of Pennsylvania, by T. Kitchin, 1756, locates Chartier's Old
Town about thirty railes above Pittsburgh.

46 The Ohio Valley
had not come to Detroit on an invitation, extended
to them, but had surprised some forts on Cherokee
(Tennessee) rivef ; they were reported to be in a
fort with the Cherokees and Alibanons, though
Chartier, who seems to have had much influence
over his tribe, excused that evasion and gave assur
ances that he and his people would remain friends
of the French. It is evident that the Shawnees
were vacillating ; they had probably seen and learned
that, although the French descended to their level of
savage and uncivilized life with more readiness than
the English, commercial benefits were easier ob
tained from the latter than from the former. All
their actions at this time point to a desire of sever
ing the alliance with Canada. The Miamis, a tribe
allied with the Shawnees, but unfriendly to the
French, had resolved to send a deputation under
their chief, La Demoiselle, to Detroit and to return
to their duty in the French interest, but messengers
from the Chaouanons dissuaded them. In 1750,
when according to some authority this tribe first ap
peared in Ohio, the Indians of the Six Nations, then
settled on the Ohio, the Shawnees and the Dela
wares with their new allies, the Owendaets and
Twightwees, formed a body of 1500 to 2000 men,* a
factor in English-French politics important enough
to cause both sides to make all endeavors for secur
ing their alliance. Joncaire, well versed in Indian
affairs, and a companion were sent from Canada, to
»N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., XXI, 397.

In Colonial Days. 47
bring the Ohio Indians firmly back into the French
interest, while goods were expected from London for
the same purpose and to pay for lands bought from
them by the Treaty of Lancaster. The French were
apparently successful, for in 1 756, Governor Hardy
of New York has to confess in a letter to the Lords
of Trade and Plantations, that there was little hope
for inducing the Shawnees and Delawares, settled on
the Ohio, to leave the French and come over into the
English interest, although Sir William Johnson, the
Indian Commissioner, thinks that their defection is
not general. But at the end of the year Edmund
Atkins, the Superintendent of Indian affairs for the
Southern Department, writes, " that Sir William had
told him, the Six Nations were weakened and dis
tressed, some of the western Nations having fallen off
from their alliance and the Shawanese and such of the
Delawares living on the Ohio, who had been subject
to them, having been set up and supported in an inde
pendency by the French, still continuing hostilities."
At the close of the French war, which necessarily set
tled the difficulty, the Shawnees had moved back from
the Ohio and established a village about ninety miles
up the Scioto, where numbers of the Delawares and
others joined them. The defeat of their French friends
had not made the Shawnees very friendly to the Eng
lish victors. They continued to harass the frontiers
and caused considerable anxiety to the officers of the
Indian Department.* The Indian outbreak under
»N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 603.

48 The Ohio Valley
Pontiac found the Shawnees willing to follow this
great leader against the English, and after the cessa
tion of hostilities, they were employed, through Pon-
tiac's agency, by a nation beyond the Chickasaws, as
peace negotiators among all other tribes, because
they spoke all languages. In the decade preceding
the War of Independence, they moved further down
the Ohio and were severely taken to task for this
withdrawal by Thomas King, a chief of one of the
Six Nations, who, while on his way to a great Indian
Congress on the Scioto, harangued them at Fort
Pitt and arrived at Scioto, addressed himself to all
nations present, upbraiding the Shawnees again for the
same reason. The Shawnees answered, that they
had moved down the Ohio, because they felt neg
lected by the Six Nations, who disregarded the
promises to give them the lands between the Ohio
and the lakes, therefore they had taken their canoes
and went down the river. But the Six Nations had
stopped them at Scioto, fixed them there and
charged them to live in peace with the English.
They were astonished afterward to see the same Six
Nations take up the hatchet against the English on
the lakes. Then the Iroquois again ill-treated them
and they became allies of the Illinois and the Ten
Confederate Nations.* Sir William Johnson, who
reports the above in a letter to Lord Hillsborough in
1772, gives, to a certain extent, an explanation for
the dissatisfaction and hostile feeling of the Shawnees
*N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 864.

In Colonial Days. 49
in his allusion to land transactions. He says : " It
appears to me, the Shawanese who, to my knowledge,
grasped at the lands on both sides of the Ohio, though
at the late conference they only mention the north
side, repenting y"= sale of lands on the south side, had
sent belts to the Senecas to stir up the Six Nations
to disavow their own act. Another meeting, I am
informed, is to be held at Scioto. I ought to remark
that the Shawnees have spoken of the sale to the
Crown extending to the Ohio ; that it is not that
part, which for the several reasons I formerly gave, I
ventured to continue from Kanhawa to Cherokee
river, but this pretended ojection is to the part
above the Kanhawa."*
A play-bill always gives the names of all the per
sons who are to appear upon the stage, whether they
have much to say or not. Following this rule, we
must look up the Indian tribes, who were brought
forward on the political stage of the Ohio Valley in
Colonial days.
Next in importance to the two powerful native
clans, already mentioned, were the Delawares or
Lenni-Lenapes. We have nothing to do with their
history when they were living on the lower Delaware
and Susquehannah rivers, except to know that they.
had been subdued by the Five Nations, and though
not bodily wiped from the surface of the continent
like the Eries, they had been deprived of all political
rights and had been given the petticoat with the title
" * N. Y. Col. Hist., VIII, 292.

50 The Ohio Valley
of women, unfit for warlike work. A treaty with the
Indians of his department in 1756, which the Dela
wares attended, was concluded by Sir William John
son with the ceremony of taking off from the
Algonquin or Lenni-Lenape followers of the Iroquois
the petticoat and that invidious name of women.
This was done in the name of their " father, the
great King of England," with the promise to induce
the Six Nations to do the same.* As soon after the
Delawares acted independently from their former
masters, it is most likely that the Six Nations fol
lowed Sir William's example. Another chapter will
show how impolitic and subsequently disastrous this
well-meant, good-natured act of Sir William turned
out for the English of the Ohio Valley. At the time
of the just mentioned treaty Delawares were seated
in the forks of the Allegany and Monongahela rivers
where Pittsburgh now stands, and Shingiss, their
chief, was in 1754, a terror to the frontier settle
ments. They had obtained, between 1 740 and 1 750,
from their ancient allies and uncles, the Wyandots,
a grant of land on the Muskingum river, and hither
the Delawares with their allies in the war, the Sha
wanoes, moved in 1768.*
"At the present day," says Parkman in his Pontiac,
" the small remnant settled beyond the Mississippi
are among the bravest marauders of the west."
General Fremont bears witness to their usefulness
._.,. ,*N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 119.

In Colonial Days. 51
to him on his expedition and the Federal generals
who, during the late war, commanded in that depart
ment knew their value as scouts and outposts.
The original location of another Algonquin tribe,
the Miamis, seems to have puzzled the historians of
the aboriginal race of America, as much as the Sha
wanoes. Gallatin in his "Synopsis of Indian Tribes"
places them upon the banks of the Wabash, C. C.
Baldwin, who wrote on the " Early Migrations of the
Indians in Ohio,"* locates them upon the river form
erly called after them as the River Miami of Lake
Erie, now the Maumee. The first Europeans, who
must have traversed their territory. La Salle, Joliet,
Tonty and the earlier Jesuits, do not mention their
name of Miamis, but may have reported about them
under a name so different, that neither the French
name of Miamis nor the English of Twightwees is to
be recognized. Later Jesuit missionaries, Charlevoix
and Allouez, think that the Miamis and the Illinois
have been the same people, because of the great
affinity of their language.
When the Twightwees first appear in history, they
were allies of the French and at war with the Five
Nations. The Five Nations admitted in 1687, that
to make peace with the Far Indians (which title in
cluded the Miamis, the Shawanoes theOttawais, also
called Waganhaes or Dowangahaes, and the Dionon-
dadee of the Huron nation), was well-meant advice,f

* American Antiquarian, April, 1879.
f N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 650.

52 The Ohio Valley
but in 1699 they had not yet made up their minds to
follow this advice, and in 1 700 the secretary to the
Commissioners of Indian Affairs, Robert Livingston
of Albany, N. Y., again advises after a journey to
Onondaga, that it is necessary to obtain a peace be
tween the Five Nations and Dowangahaes, Twight
wees and other Far Indians and to build a fort between
Lakes Sweege (Erie) and Ottawawa (Huron), 744
miles from Albany. To such a fort, he thinks all the
Twightwees, Kichtages (Illinois), Wawyachtenokes
and Shawanoes would come. In 1721 the Miamis
(Twightwees) are still settled upon the river, named
after them and running into Lake Erie, to the number
of 2,000. To gain this nation as allies and friends of
the English was considered as a matter of great im
portance and it was proposed and recommended, —
the Board of Trade in London and Governor Spots-
wood of Virginia being of this opinion, — to establish
a trade with them and build a small fort on Lake
Erie, where, up to 1718, the French had as yet no
settlement* Two years later, in 1723, they were first
seen in the colonies of England. Deputies of their
nation arrived in New York with an interpreter, who
informed the Governor and Council, that they were
called Miamis by the French and lived upon the
branches of the Mississippi.
A peace between the Five Nations and the Far
Indians was evidently not concluded, as Livingston
had suggested, for in 1 736 the Miamis had dwindled
~ *N. Y. Col. Hist., V, 620-2.

In Colonial Days. 53
down to 200 fighting men, while their sub-tribes of
the Ouyattanons, Peanguichias and Petikokias num
bered only 350. The peculiar social division into
families, distinguished by totems, but belonging to
the same village, extended to these western tribes.
Mr. Parkman, in his " Conspiracy of Pontiac," and
Schoolcraft, in his "Oneota," have explained this
system of totems so fully, that it is superfluous to
dilate on it here beyond stating, that the Miamis
had for totems of their principal families the Hind
and the Crane, a third family was of the Bear.
The Serpent, Deer and Small Acorn were the totems
of the sub-tribes.
The first half of the eighteenth century had nearly
passed and the Iroquois were still at war with the
Miamis. A sachem of the Five Nations tells the Mar
quis de Beauharnois, Governor of Canada, in 1745:
"This spring your children, the Ouyatonons, Miamis
and Peanguichias have struck me. I* did not carry
the hatchet back to them, as I bore in mind your or
der to keep peace. "f Beauharnois promised to rep
rimand his children, the Miamis, etc., and did it so
well, that three years later, the Iroquois presented at
the treaty, held at Lancaster, Pa. (1748), some depu
ties from their former enemies, to have them admit
ted to the covenant chains with the English and
their Indian allies. Apparently the Miamis did not
* The speaker means by I the whole of the Confederacy of Iroquois, for
whom he speaks.
f N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 25.

54 The Ohio Valley
include their sub-tribes of Pianguichias and Wawi-
oughtones in this covenant, or the tie between them
was of such a character, that one tribe could not act
politically for the others. For George Croghan, who
traded along the south shore of Lake Erie and was
for some time Sir William Johnson's agent to the
Indians in the Ohio Valley, reported, that while
among the Twightwees in 1 749-50, to deliver them
presents, chiefs of the Pianguichias and Wawiough-
tonas living on the Wabash came to him and re
quested admission to the Covenant chain with the
English and the Five Nations. Croghan, well versed
in Indian politics and knowing the necessity of draw
ing over to the British interest as many of the west
ern tribes as possible, was in favor of having these
new applicants received into the English alliance,
but the Assembly of Pennsylvania rejected this
friendly offer of the Pianguichias and Wawiough-
tones, "condemned Croghan for bad conduct in
drawing an additional expense on the Government
and the Indians were neglected."*
Gist, an agent of Virginia, who was sent out west on
a mission to the Indians in 1751, found Twightwees,
whom Harrison, in his "Aborigines," calls the most
eastern of the Miami tribes, in villages on the Scioto.
The same author places Hurons or Wyandots into
the territory eastward from Miami bay along what
is now called the Western Reserve and southward
as far as the Ohio. West of them sit, according to
* N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 268.

In Colonial Days. 55
him, the Miamis. Numerous villages were to be
found in the extensive territory occupied by them
on the Scioto, the headwaters of the two Miamis of
the Ohio, also on the Miami of Lake Erie and the
Wabash, but none on the Ohio. In 1763 the Wyan
dots, numbering 250 men, had some villages near
Fort Sandusky, while the Twightwees, living near
the fort on the Miami (Maumee) river, numbered
only 230 men. The official report, from which these
figures are taken,* calls them an originally very
powerful people, who, having been subdued by the
Six Nations, were permitted to enjoy their landed
possessions. The report continues by calling the
Kickapous, Mascoutens, Piankashaws and Wawiagh-
tonas, altogether 570 fighters, sub-tribes of the
Miamis on the Wabash. They resided in the neigh
borhood of the fort at Wawiaghta, and though the
reporter has heard of more tribes and villages there,
he confesses that the just named are all, who are per
fectly known.
Of the Far Nations, not already spoken of, much
need not be said here, for they were not residents of
the Ohio Valley. But as the term " Far Nations " is
sometimes used in colonial documents without giv
ing the tribal name, a short resume of their relations
with the Colonies, may interest the reader.
The Governor and Council of New York directed
in 1687, that an inquiry should be made among the
Five Nations of how long since they first traded with
* N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 583.

56 The Ohio Valley
the farther Indians and the Indians with the Straws
or Pyres through their noses.* [Quaere? the mod
ern Nez Perces.]
This inquiry was instigated by commercial reason,
as the subsequent action of the Representatives of
Albany and Esopus (Ulster county) in the General
Assembly of the Province showed. Both places were
more or less the fur and peltry market of the Eng
lish Colonies, and as the Five Nations had practi
cally depopulated their country from fur-bearing ani
mals, it became necessary to go farther afield for the
valuable products of the chase, by the trade for
which the Dutch inhabitants of the named districts
laid the foundation for their wealth. The Represen
tatives mentioned urged in 1691, that commu
nications opened and peace made with the Far Na
tions would be of great benefit and revenue for the
Province. The Assembly concurred in this view of
the matter and ordered, that Albany should send six
Christians and Esopus also six with twenty-five In
dians to treat with the Far Nations.f
In 1694 Far Indians, settled in the Minissink
country, came to thank Corlear for the care taken
of them and put themselves under the protection of
New York. J These Far Indians were probably
Shawanese, who have been shown above to have
come to New York at this time. The Indians of the
*N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., VI, p. v.
fib., 27.
tib., VII, gg.

In Colonial Days. 57
Minissink country were of the Lenni-Lenape or
Delaware tribe and the alliance between them and
the Shawanese, which later became so fateful to the
English colonists, dates probably from the time of
their settlement in the valley of the Delaware river.
Onondagas acquainted the Governor of New York
in 1701, that the Waganhaes or Far Nations wanted
to make peace with the Five Nations, and had ap
pointed the "hunting place, called Tiughsaghronde "
(Detroit) for the meeting. They wanted an agent
of New York to be present. If none should be sent,
Dekanisore, the great Sachem of the Onondagas,
declared, he would never concern himself again in
public affairs. Lawrence Claese, the Indian inter
preter of the Commissioners for Indian Affairs, was
first sent to look into the matter in hand, and upon
his report, that a treaty of peace with the Wagan
haes was really meant to be negotiated. Captain
John Bleeker and David Schuyler were sent to
represent New York at the treaty and tell the
Five Nations that they must be on their guard at
Detroit, for Onondaga ought to have been selected
as the place of meeting, their Long House or Coun
cil chamber standing there.* The negotiations at
Detroit were apparently not quite satisfactory or re
sulted only in a truce between the warring tribes, for
in April, 1709, a raessage reached the Governor of
New York from the Five Nations, that four nations
of the Waganhaes, with whom the New York tribes
*N. Y. Col. MSS., XLIV, 170.

58 The Ohio Valley
had been at war, wanted to make peace and had
again named the place for a conference. The Five
Nations remembered the reminder given them on
the former occasion, refused to go to the place ap
pointed by the Far Indians and named places in
their own territory for the meeting. A New York
agent was again sent to be present at the meeting, in
order to secure for the Province free trade with the
Waganhaes.* Indian peace-treaties seem to have had
very little binding force and required always ad
ditional negotiations. In 1710 the Far Nations
wanted to come into the Covenant chain, f but a
year later the Five Nations of New York again in
tending to go to war with the Waganhaes, were re
fused powder and lead for that purpose, when they
called for it upon Corlear. We do not know when
the peace between these warring tribes became final,
but may presume it was perfected in the following
decade, as Captain Peter Schuyler, who was sent as
agent to live among the Indians, received the follow
ing instructions in September, 1721: "You are to
acquaint all the Far Nations, that the road through
the Five Nations for trade with this Province shall
be kept open and clean.":]: Captain Abraham Schuy
ler was sent on the same errand in the following
year and told to use all means to draw the Far In
dians to the Province of New York, by giving them
notice, that he was settled in the Seneca country for
*N. Y. Col. MSS., LIII, 56; Council Min., MSS., X, 2^^^
fib., 526.
JN. Y. Council Min., MSS., XIII, i6g.

In Colonial Days. 59
their ease and encouragement. He was also to
promise them a free passage through the country of
the Iroquois.*
The southern intervales of the Ohio Valley seem to
have been principally inhabited by the Cherokees or
Cherakees. Joliet, to whom we owe the first knowl
edge of the tribes living along the Mississippi, does
not mention their name on his map, while Dr. John
Mitchell says on his map of 1755, the western part of
Kentucky, " The country of the Cherakees, which
extends westward to the Mississippi and northward
to the confines of the Six Nations, was formally sur
rendered to the crown of Great Britain at Westmin
ster, 1729." Delisle's map of 1707 has "gros vil
lages des Cheraquee " on the Cosquinambaux river
and at the heads of the rivers passing through
South Carolina on their way to the ocean. The
" improved " d'Anville map places them near the
head of the river called after them ; in the German
edition of d'Anville they are moved to the mouth of
the Holston river, while Henry Popple has them at
the sources of the Ganahooche or Apalachicola. A
map of " Carolina nebst einem Theile von Florida "
(with a part of Florida), published by the Homans,
tells us the Cherokees had thirty villages at the
head of the Cusatzes and ten on that of the Savan
nah river. * N. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., XIII, 350.

CHAPTER IV.
The Beginning of the Struggle for Supremacy.
The discoveries by the Portuguese in the four
teenth and by the Spaniards in the fifteenth century
made some additions necessary to the international
law, as it then existed. According to a maxim of the
civil law (which said, " quae nullius sunt, in bonis dan-
tur occupanti "*), the law of premier seisin was now
introduced and adopted, which gave title to new coun
tries to the nation which discovered them, provided
" that no Christian prince or nation had already taken
possession of it." England, however, seems to have
never adopted this principle ; for to them discovery
without occupancy meant possession. Hakluyt says
in his "Principal Navigations" (III, 155, London,
1600): "The first discovery of these coasts, never
heard of before (of North- America), was well begun
by Jean Cabot and Sebastian, his son, who were the
first finders out of all that great tract of land stretch
ing from the Cape of Florida unto those islands,
which we now call the Newfoundland, or which they
brought and annexed to the crown of England in
1497." And not long before the American Revolu-
* What belongs to nobody, is to be given as property to him who possesses
(occupies) it.

The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. 6i
tion Edmund Burke said in his " Account of the
European Settlements in America:" "We derive
our rights in America from the discovery of Sebas
tian Cabot,* who first made the northern continent
in 1497. The fact is sufficiently certain to establish
a right to our settlements in America."
At the time when Hakluyt wrote the words, quoted
above, and later, when the English came to establish
colonies on this continent, nothing was known of the
vast territory, stretching westward from the Atlantic
ocean. It has been told in a previous chapter, how
the country back "of these coasts, never heard of
before " and then partly held by the English, was dis
covered by a Frenchman. His, LaSalle's, further
discoveries and journey to the Gulf of Mexico con
cern us here only so far, as that on the 9th day of
April, 1682, long before an Englishman had heard of
his discovery, he took possession, in the name of
Louis XIV of France, of "all the seas, harbors, ports,
bays, adjacent straits and all the nations, peoples,
provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, minerals,
fisheries, streams," within the extent of Louisiana
from the mouth of the great river St. Louis, other
wise called Ohio,f and including the Olighin (Alle
ghany), Sipou and Chuckagoua (our present Ohio).
" On that day," says Parkman in " Discovery of the
Great West," France received on parchment a stu
pendous possession. The fertile plains of Texas, the
* He ought to have said John Cabot.
f This was the Iroquois name for the Mississippi.

62 The Ohio'^ Valley
vast basin of the Mississippi, from its frozen northern
springs to the sultry borders of the gulf, from the
woody ridges of the Alleghanies to the bare peaks of
the Rocky mountains, all was declared French domin
ion." Part of this vast territory, the northern coun
ties of the present State of Ohio, along the south
shore of Lake Erie, had long before, in 1669, been
taken possession of for France by the two Sulpitian
brothers, Dollier de Casson and Gallinay, mentioned
in a former chapter.
The discovery of the hitherto unknown country and
the formal act of declaring it part and parcel of the
French dominions, ought, according to English cus
tom of the day, to have been sufficient, to hold it in
violable in times of peace. It is likely that the French,
suspicious of their English neighbors, tried to follow
the example set by the Spaniards and Portuguese in
the preceding century, of concealing their discovery
of new countries, whence an abundant supply of furs
and even valuable metals, as copper, could be ob
tained, but their attempts to do so proved futile
within a decade.
Frontenac, the Governor of Canada, had at an early
day recognized the importance of a fortified settle
ment at the foot of Lake Ontario, as first suggested
by his predecessor, de Courcelles. He intended by
it to prevent the Iroquois from carrying to Albany
the peltries, for which they went to the Ottawas, and
thus to oblige them to seek a market at Montreal,
which, he thought, was only just, as they hunted on

In Colonial Days. 63
French territory. Thoroughly convinced of the ne
cessity of such a step Count Frontenac went to the
place where the fort* was to be built. " On approach
ing the first opening of the lake, the Count wished to
proceed with more order and in line of battle. He
accordingly arranged the whole fleet as follows:
Four squadrons, as vanguard, in front and in one
line, two batteaus.
After these came Comte de Frontenac at the head
of all the canoes of his guards, of his staff and of the
volunteers attached to his person ; having on his
right the squadron from Trois Rivieres and on his
left those of the Hurons and Algonquins." f
Although this somewhat theatrical mise en scene
was witnessed by only few members of the Indian
tribes for whose benefit it was intended, it had the
desired effect upon the Five Nations, whom Fronte
nac had summoned to meet him at Catarakoui,
for the Indians declared themselves satisfied and
glad, to have an establishment for trade so near
their homes. Astute as the children of the forest
were, they failed to see the ulterior purposes which
Fort Frontenac was to serve. Four days after Fron
tenac had begun negotiations with the Indians, the
fort was almost ready for its new tenants. A year
later, when Joliet had returned from his tour of dis
covery, which had led him to the Mississippi, the
Governor could write to his superiors in France :
* Now Kingston, Canada.
fN. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 102.

64 The Ohio Valley
" Sieur Joliet, whom Monsieur Talon* advised me,
to dispatch for the discovery of the South sea, re
turned three months ago and found some very fine
countries and a navigation so easy through the
beautiful rivers, that a person can go from Lake On
tario and Fort Frontenac in a bark to the Gulf of
Mexico, there being only one carrying place, half a
league in length, where Lake Ontario communicates
with Lake Erie. A settlement could be made at
this post. ... He believes that water commu
nication could be found leading to the Vermillion
and California Seas, by means of the river that flows
from the West."
Thus was outlined the French policy of the subse
quent period, which tended to link together their pos
sessions in Louisiana and on the St. Lawrence by a
chain of forts on the Ohio. The injunction of Louis
XIV, given to Frontenac in i676,f not to turn his
intention to new discoveries without necessity and a
very great advantage, as it was better to occupy less
territory and to people it thoroughly, than to have
feeble colonies of large territorial extents and easily
destroyed, as well as the same king's order, to keep
peace with the English, delayed for some time a col
lision between the two rival nations.
If the English had at first remained in ignorance
of the newly-opened fur market in the west, they
were soon to be informed of it by Frenchmen.
* Intendant of Canada.
fN. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 126. ;

In Colonial Days. 65
Notwithstanding the orders and laws, made by the
new Intendant, Duchesneau, in 1679, Canadian
coureurs des bois obtained peltries from the Indians
and then carried them to the English market. Of
course, this had to be done stealthily and, therefore,
the supply could not be a very great one. Afraid
that the English traders might be prevented access
to the as yet unknown, but nevertheless promising
territory, and that consequently her trade, always the
first consideration in the English mind, might suffer,
England suddenly saw fit to ignore the maxim of
international law, established by herself, that " dis
covery establishes title " and although not yet in
tending to occupy the territory, covered by a French
paper title, they boldly invaded it for the purposes
of trade with the Far Nations, and soon a report
came to the ears of the French Governor, de Denon-
ville, that the English intended to have a post on
Lake Ontario. To counteract the bad effect such
an English establishment would have on Canada and
French influences in America he proposed a fort,
like Frontenac, on Lake Erie and some vessels on
the lake, which would make the journey to Mlssili-
mackinack an easier one and enable the French to
take the Illinois in hand.* To do this, however, it
was necessary to subdue the Iroquois.
Before the French Governor could obtain the
King's sanction for carrying out his plans, his Eng
lish neighbors in New York took steps to extend
* N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 282.

66 The Ohio Valley
their commercial enterprises. Governor Dongan
began to issue licenses in the summer of 1686 for
trading, hunting and m,aking discoveries to the south
west* Two of these parties, under Captain Rose-
boom of Albany and Patrick MacGregory, went to
trade under such licenses with the Ottawawas on
Lake Huron, where Jesuit missionaries from France
had established themselves as early as i634.f We do
not know which route these intrepid traders took to
reach their market, but may safely suppose that they
skirted the Ohio shore of Lake Erie, to avoid en
countering French parties on the so-called Ottawa
route along the Canada shore. Their precaution was,
however, frustrated and near their destination they
fell into the hands of the French. In defending this
invasion of territory, belonging to or claimed by a
nation with whom his own master was then at peace.
Governor Dongan claimed, that it was as free for
the English to trade with the Far Nations, as to the
French. J His assertion that "the situation of those
parts bespeaks the King of England to have a better
right to them, than the French, they lying to the
south of us, just on the back of other parts of our
dominions and a very great way from your terri
tories,"- — discloses a lamentable ignorance of geo
graphical knowledge among the English. This was
the first move in the game of chess, for which the
*N. Y. Col. MSS., XXXIII, 282 etseq.
fLe Jeune, Relation de cequi s'est passfe en la Nouvelle France en I'annfee
1635. 1:N. Y. Col. Hist., Ill, 469.

In Colonial Days. 67
valley of the Ohio furnished one side of the board.
The epistolary discussion of the affaire MacGre
gory drew out some further sentiments from Gover
nor Dongan, which throw interesting side lights
upon the question. "I believe," he says in 1688,*
" it as lawful for me to send to the Ottawawas, as for
the Governor of Canada, but think it very unjust in
Monsieur de Denonville to build a fort at Onyagaro
or to make war upon the Five Nations, who have
long been subjects of the King of England. If the
sheep's fleece be the thing in dispute, pray let the
King of England have some part of it" That he
objected to see the friends and allies of the English,
the Five Nations, disturbed by war, was natural, but at
the same time he could not overlook the benefit which
the " sheep's fleece," the trade with the Five Nations
and others, would bring to his master's pocket. Trade,
profitable trade above all, by fair or by foul means,
was evidently the motto of the English of that day.
On what did the English base their rights to trade
on so-called French territory ? Simply on the treaties
of friendship, the "covenant-chain," made with the
Five Nations, which secured to the European
intruders immunity from Indian invasions, but had
nothing to say about English traders going beyond
the territory under the jurisdiction of the Five
Nations and of their friends or their enemies. Inter
national law and comity were of only secondary im
portance, when trade was in question.
*N. Y. Col. Hist., Ill, 528.

68 The Ohio Valley
We need not wonder, therefore, that the French
Governors attempted to protect not only the trade
of their people, but also the sheep, whom they shore.*
They kept spies at Albany, who informed them of all
hunting parties, going to trade with the Far Nations
and when convenient, French parties were sent after
them to arrest the Englishmen of the party and if
possible induce the French coureurs des bois, in
English pay, to return to Canada.f
Governor Dongan had learned about 1684, as we
have seen above, that there was considerable terri
tory west of the country known to the English colo
nists, perhaps in consequence of a message sent to
him by Governor de la Barre of Canada, for he
writes about that time: "I send a map by Mr.
Spragg,J whereby your Lo^^ may see the several
Governm'^ etc., how they lye where the Beaver hunt
ing is & where it will be necessary to erect our
Country Forts for the securing of Beaver Trade &
keeping the Indians in community with us. Alsoe it
points where there's a great River discovered by one
Lasal, a Frenchman from Canada, who .... brought
two or three vessels with people to settle there, which
(if true) will prove very inconvenient to us (the
River running all along from our Lakes by the Back
of Virginia and Carolina to the Bay of Mexico. "§
*N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 501. ~
f lb., 715 et seq.
% Secretary of the Province. It is to be regretted, that the raap is no
longer in existence or its whereabouts known.
§ N. Y. Col. Doc, lit 396.

In Colonial Days. 69
To assert the English right to the new discoveries,
made by a Frenchman, he sent the arms of the King
of England to be set up near Niagara and asked per
mission to erect a fort there, although he knew, that
the French claimed the country "as far as Mexico,
for which they have no other argument, than that
they have had possession this twenty years by their
fathers living so lorfg among the Indians." But
trade required the maintaining of a correspondence
with the Far Nations and, therefore, the French
claims could not be considered, even though justified
by international law.
In the meantime the French again took possession
of the settlement at Niagara, which had first been
established by LaSalle in 1668, and been burnt by
the Senecas twelve years later. They built a fort
there in 1687 and manned it, according to an Indian
report, with 400 men and great guns, while Governor
Dongan pushed his usurpation of French territory
so far, as to send men to make themselves masters
in their King's name of the post at Michilimackinack.
The Five Nations were not well pleased to see the
French, the first disastrous meeting with whom un
der Champlain in 1609 they never forgot, settle on
their territory, and were glad to hear Governor Don
gan propose an English fort at Cajonhage on the
Great Lake,* but he was overruled by the Indian
Commissioners, who favored Oswego, at the mouth
of the Onondaga river.
* Supposed to be Salraon river, Oswego Co., N. Y.

70 The Ohio Valley
Nothing was done. The French abandoned their
fort at Niagara after a year's occupancy, a disastrous
war against the Iroquois having shown them, that
this advanced post could not altogether protect their
trade to the far west. King William's war drew the
attention of the English from the subject, and
nothing was heard of it until about 1699, Robert
Livingston, Secretary of the New York Commis
sioners for Indian Affairs, submitted some observa
tions on the decay of the Albany trade, in which he
was personally interested, to the then Governor of
New York, Lord Bellomont. He gives as reason
for this decay the impoverished state of the inhabit
ants, brought about by the late war and the French
intrigues among the Far Indians, by which they are
kept constantly on the warpath against the Five
Nations of New York. As a remedy and tonic for
the drooping trade he advises, that New York should
endeavor to negotiate a peace between these warring
tribes, which would enable Englishmen to trade
again to the west and increase his Majesty's revenues.
This could be done, he suggests, by sending a party
of 200 white men, natives of the Colonies and as such
good woodsmen, with 300 to 400 Iroquois to make a
fort at Wawayachtenock (now Detroit) and " so pro
ceed to the respective Far Nations, who will undoubt
edly receive them, although the French are there
among them and have a pretended sort of possession
by a laying a Jesuit and some few men in a small fort ;
for wherever a Frenchman has once set his foot, he

In Colonial Days. 71
claims a right and title to the country." After the
peace had been made between the Iroquois and the
Dowaganhaes, Twightwees, Ottawas and other Far
Indians, all these tribes will resort to Albany to dis
pose of their furs, and the trade there will be in
creased tenfold, while now the French deprive the
English of it by their frivolous pretenses of subduing
those Far Nations and converting them to the Chris
tian faith.* Livingston, the son of a minister of the
gospel, ought to have known the biblical parable of
the beam in his own eye and the mote in that of his
neighbor, for he proposes to do, what he reprimands
the French for having done ; the English claimed the
whole continent, not because their seamen had first
trodden upon its soil, but because they had first seen
it. Lord Bellomont approved of building a fort in the
Onondaga country. He foresaw, that the French
designed first to annihilate the Iroquois, which could
easily be done urider the dilatory policy of the Brit
ish government, and then with the help of the west
ern Indians to drive all the English into the ocean,f
and the next year, 1 700, he suggested a fort at the
mouth of the Onondaga river, thus adopting the
formerly expressed plan of the more experienced In
dian commissioners. This fort at Oswego would se
cure the rivers, by which the French had obtained
access to the Seneca country in 1687, while it would
* N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 500.
t lb., 505.

72 The Ohio Valley
enable the Dowaganhaes and other western tribes, at
war with the Five Nations, to come and trade with
the English in spite of their Iroquois enemies.*
Again nothing was done. Jealous of the increasing
power of the Bourbons, King William III declared
war against Spain and France, both countries under
kings of the Bourbon family. His death shortly
after the declaration of war did not bring peace, and
Queen Anne's war, as it was called after his succes
sor, lasted for eleven years, to 1713. The waves of
the bloody contest did not reach the shores of Lakes
Ontario and Erie, but all suggested enterprises in
that direction were laid aside, and the English colon
ists of the last century, as well as their descendants,
can congratulate themselves, that the allies at war
against France found so much employment for Louis
XIV, that he could send neither men nor money to
prosecute his plans in America.
The Treaty of Utrecht, which ended this war in
1713, by its fifteenth article meant to settle the dis
puted questions concerning the boundaries between
the French and the English in the west. It said :
" The subjects of France, inhabiting Canada, shall
hereafter give no hindrance or molestation to the
Five Nations or Cantons of Indians subject to the
dominion of Great Britain, nor to the other natives
of America, who are friends to the same. In like
manner the subjects of Great Britain shall behave
themselves peaceably to the Americans, who are sub-
* N. Y. Col. Hist., IV, 717.

In Colonial Days. 73
jects or friends to France, and on both sides they
shall enjoy full liberty on account of trade, as also
the natives of those countries shall with the same
liberty resort as they please to the British or French
colonies for promoting trade on the one or the other,
without any molestation or hindrance either on the
part of the British subjects or the French, but it is to
be exactly and distinctly settled by commissaries, who
are and who ought to be accounted the subjects and
friends of Britain and of France."
Eight years later the English Lords of Trade and
Plantations admitted in a memorial on the American
plantations,* that " the French territories extend from
the mouth of the River St. Lawrence to the embou
chure of the Mississippi, forming one continued line
from north to south on the back of your Majesty's
plantations, and although their garrisons in many
parts are hitherto but very inconsiderable, yet as they
have, by the means of their missionaries, debauched
several of the Indian nations to their interest, your
Majesty's subjects along the continent have the ut
most danger to apprehend from the new settlement
(on the Mississippi), unless timely care be taken to
prevent their increase."
At the same time they concede the discovery of the
inland communication between Canada and the Gulf
of Mexico to French enterprise, but consider it a " very
late discovery," fifty years after it had been made, and
in the succeeding paragraphs of their memorial they
* N. Y. Col. Doc, V, 620.

74 The Ohio Valley
describe the routes taken by the French, as if they
had only just heard of them. But had this matter of
discovering new countries, they think, been sooner
considered, then undoubtedly the English colonists
would have been the first to make them, for the British
colonies are so much more convenient to the lakes
than Canada. One such attempt to discover new
territory, that of General Wood of Virginia, in 1671,
has already been mentioned ; Governor Spotswood,
also of Virginia, sent another equally unsuccessful
exploring expedition to the west in 1710,* and
started in person with a large retinue in 1716 " over
the great mountains, to satisfy myself whether it
was practicable to come at the lakes. Having on
that occasion found an easy passage over that great
ridge of mountains, which were before judged impas
sable, I also discovered by the relation of Indians,
who frequent those parts, that from the pass, where
I was, it is but three days' march to a great Nation of
Indians living on a river, which discharges itself in
the Lake Erie."f Which great river Governor
Spotswood can mean, we must leave to the inter
preter of English geography inthe eighteenth century.
He calls it the River Mic, three miles from the River
Occabacke, going into the Mississippi. Neither of
these names appear on any map, and though it may
be thought, that Occabacke stands for Ouabache,
Governor Spotswood certainly did not get within
* Spotswood Letters, I, 42.
f lb., II, 295.

In Colonial Days. 75
three fdays' march of the head-waters of the Ohio.
Thus much for Colonial British enterprise in dis
covering new territory. He advises a settlement on
Lake Erie in order to entitle the English to a right
of possession, for the French could not dispute such
a title which the law of nations gives to the first oc
cupant It is evident the law of nations had a hard
time of it among English statesmen of the last cen-
tuty. Before Governor Spotswood had recommended this
simple way of obtaining possession of a new coun
try, the English seem to have adopted this plan, for
already in 1715 Father Louis Marie de Ville, mis
sionary among the Peorias, and Sieur de Vincenne,
a trader among the western Indians, write, that
the English of Carolina have recourse to every expe
dient to attract the southern Indians by means of
the Iroquois; and Sieur Bezon, a French official, re
ports, that Father Jacques Marmet, missionary at
Kaskaskias, Illinois, tells about the encroachments of
the English inthe Rivers Ouabache and Mississippi,
where they are building three forts.*
A few years after the peace of 1713, the French
saw again how necessary for their plans the close
friendship of the Iroquois was. This was the only
nation of Indians, where they never had been able
to obtain, through their courtly manners and cajo
leries, the footing, which first the Dutch, and later
the English had had, notwithstanding their somewhat
*N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 931.

76 The Ohio Valley
boorish and bluff bearing. The Iroquois were them
selves too much a people of the rough warrior type
to appreciate smoothness of manners and, besides,
had other reasons for disliking the French. The lat
ter, nevertheless, managed to procure the Senecas'
permission, in 171 7, to build a trading-house at Iron-
dequat,* on the New York side of Lake Ontario, and
a fort, called Fort des Sables, from which places
they supplied the New York Indians with powder and
lead for their war against the Flatheads (Cherokees)
and thereby obtained a large quantity of peltry, in
tended for the English market They appear to
have soon discovered that the Treaty of Utrecht did
not allow them such an usurpation, for the treaty
made by New York with the Five Nations, in 1701,
placed this locality under English protection, and in
1720, before the treaty of 1726 had confirmed the
one of 1 701, the Indians acknowledged, at a confer
ence with the Governor of New York, that they had
given this place, as well as Trongsaroende (Detroit),
Onjagera (Niagara) and all other hunting places, to
the Crown of England, to be held for them and their
posterity, lest others might encroach upon them.
The municipal officers of Albany, N. Y., all more or
less directly interested in active Indian trade, saw now
an opportunity to revive the trade, which had given
to their city such an important place among the com-
* Known by the naraes of Caniaterundequat, Gannigatarontaquat, Oniada-
rondaquatt, Orondokott, Terondoquatt, Tiorondequot, and sixteen others,
see Index N. Y. Col. Doc.

In Colonial Days. 77
mercial centres of the day. They urged, that New
York Colony should now build a fort at Tieronde-
quat, and another at Oniagara, to keep the Five Na
tions steady in the British interest, and to clear the
path for the more remote nations, from whom more
peltries were now obtained, than from the Iroquois,
whose hunting grounds in New York had become
depleted of fur-bearing animals. The Assembly of
New York readily understood the urgency of the
case, and at their next session made an appropriation
of ;^5oo ($1,250) for securing the Indians in the
English interest, which Governor Burnet devoted
chiefly to erect buildings, and make a settlement at
Tierondequat ; he garrisoned this place by consent
of the Indians with a company of ten men. New
York statesmen had become fully alive to the im
portance of doing something for the trade of their
constituents, probably because their own pockets
suffered by the general depression. In the year
before granting the above-quoted small sum they had
passed a law, to prohibit trading with the French in
Indian goods, for which Albany too had been a
famous place and which were readily purchased by the
French, because with goods bought in the English
provinces, they could supply the Far Nations at easier
terms, than with Quebec importations. But by so
doing they saved to these Far Nations the long
marches to Albany, and no peltries consequently
came to New York for the European trade. This
trade with the French had assumed such dimensions.

78 The Ohio Valley
that the Indians would reproach New York with it
saying, the French were building their forts with New
York goods. Cadwallader Colden,* in his Memoir
on the Fur Trade, dated November, 1 724,f says about
this commercial intercourse with Canada : " In the
time of the last war the clandestine trade to Montreal
began to be carried on by the Indians from Albany
to Montreal. This gave rise to the Konuaga (Cana-
wagha) or praying Indians,:}: who are entirely made
up of deserters from the Mohawks and River Indians
and were either enticed by the French priests or by
our merchants in order to carry goods from Albany
to Montreal, or run away from some mischief done
here .... They depend chiefly upon this
private trade for their subsistence ; these Indians in
time of war gave the French intelligence of all designs
here against them. By them likewise the French
engaged our Five Nations in a war with the Indians
friends of Virginia, and from them we might expect
the greatest mischief in time of war, seeing every part
of the Province is as well known to them as to any
of the inhabitants. But if this trade were entirely at
an end, we have reason to believe that these Indians
would return to their own tribes, for they then could
not long subsist where they now are."
We see that the above-mentioned act of 1721 to
prohibit the trade in Indian goods with the French
was to serve two purposes, but according to Colden
* Surveyor-General, later Lieutenant-Governor of New York.
f N. Y. Col. Hist., V, 732.
X Still living in their descendants at the place indicated above.

In Colonial Days. 79
it had not yet quite stopped this now illegal trade in
1724, and the Caghnawaga Indians steering the
steamers through the La Chine rapids above Mon
treal are still an interesting side show for the traveler
on the St. Lawrence.
The English trading house at Irondequat appa
rently did not produce the effect expected from it, for
in May, 1725, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of
Canada, was startled by the report, that the English
had projected a settlement at the mouth of the
Choueguen (Onondaga or Oswego) river, on the
banks of Lake Ontario and inconveniently near the
French post at Niagara. He and his advisers had
always considered this part of New York as belong
ing to their King,* and they clearly understood the
difficulty of preserving Niagara, the loss of which
would render a trade with the Far Indians an impos
sibility. Various efforts were made by the French
to prevent this as yet only projected fort at Choue
guen, but the only satisfaction which they could
obtain was, that the Senecas would not allow them
to build a fort at Niagara or anywhere else on their
land,f and in 1727, Governor Burnet of New York was
in the position to report, J that he had sent workmen,
to build a stone house of strength at a place called
Oswego, at the mouth of the Onondaga river. He
thought the French could have no just pretense of
preventing it, but their lately building a fort at Nia-
* N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 949.
f lb., V, 787.
X lb., V, 818.

8o The Ohio Valley
gara, contrary to the last treaty, had cautioned him
to be on his guard against attacks from them. The
pen, which is so often called mightier than the sword,
was in this case also slower, for the diplomatists of
neither nation had as yet given satisfactory explana
tions of the boundaries, as fixed by the Treaty of
Utrecht Burnet claimed, that it did not allow the
French to build a fort at Niagara, and Beauharnois,
the Governor of Canada, looked upon the settlement
at Oswego as a manifest infraction of the same
treaty.* Nevertheless both were built and the two
rival nationalities made a step nearer to the point,
where of necessity they must converge with clashing
interests. The staunch friendship, which had hitherto united
the Iroquois to the British interest, prevented the
breaking out of the conflict at this time. Urged by
Lieutenant-Governor Clarke of New York at a con
ference in July, 17 2)7 1 they agreed not to allow the
French to build a fort at Irondequat,f but neither could
he obtain that permission for the English. Writing
about it to the Lords of Trade in February, 1738, J
he draws a rather dark picture of the situation : " If
I fail in the attempt to obtain leave from the Six
Nations to build a house at Tierondequat, and if the
French succeed in getting it, then adieu to Oswego
and all our fur trade, for Tierondequat will cut off
entirely our western fur trade, and what the conse-
*N. Y. Col. Hist., V, 827.
f lb., VI, 107.
:|:Ib., VI, 112.

In Colonial Days. 81
quences will be to England your Lordships well
know, nor is the loss of our trade all that we are to
apprehend, for with it we shall lose the Six Nations.
It is with much difficulty and at a great annual
expense to this Province in time of peace, without
any assistance from our neighbors, that we have and
now still retain the fidelity of the Six Nations, who
with us in time of a French war are the only barrier
to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia
and Carolina."
Negotiations for the permission to build a fort at
Irondequat continued to 1738, the Assembly of
New York appropriated ;^ioo ($250) for the pur
chase of ground, required for it, and at last Governor
Clarke obtained a deed from the Iroquois in 1741.
The fort, however, was never built, as fear of a
French war prevented a settlement ; for as the human
body, affected by rheumatism, feels in advance a
coming rainstorm, so has the body politic a forebod
ing of a disturbance in the circulation of its commer
cial and agricultural veins. Three years after Tene-
hokaiwee, Tewassajes and Staghreche, the principal
Sachems of the Senecas, had signed the deed for the
transfer to the English of Irondequat and surround
ing country, twenty miles along the lake and thirty
miles to the south of it,* King George's war filled
the minds of the English colonists with other
thoughts than those of settling in the far Indian
country. *N. Y. Col. MSS., Indian Treaties.

82 The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days.
The boundaries between the French and English
possessions on this continent had not yet been fixed,
thirty years after the Utrecht Treaty had provided,
that it should be done. The English based their
titles to land principally upon the purchases from
the Indians, and on this principle the Governor of
Pennsylvania, with commissioners from Virginia and
Maryland, acquired at the Indian treaty of Lancaster
in 1744, "all the territory which is or may be within
the limits of the Colony of Virginia, according to his
Majesty's order." The French looked upon this
purchase with unqualified distrust and resented this
invasion of what they claimed as their territory, by a
declaration of war in March, 1 744, which waged until
1 748, but left the lake country again undisturbed.

CHAPTER V.
THE CONTEST BETWEEN THE TEUTONIC AND THE LATIN
RACES TRANSFERRED TO THE OHIO VALLEY.
From Champlain to Montcalm the French, by
diplomacy and religion, by threats and by flatteries,
and by all the resources of Gallic wit, address and
force, had endeavored to gain over the Iroquois to
their king and cause ; but ever loyal to the covenant,
made in early colonial days, with the Dutch at
Albany and confirmed upon the surrender of New
Netherland to the English, they adhered to the Teu
tonic race. They stood as a stone wall, a break
water, keeping off the storm and tide of French
aggression and assisted the English colonies, who
nourished the Indians' strength to win from the
Gaul and from Latin ideas of civilization, what are
now some of the most important- States of the
Union. Oswego was soon in a position to threaten the
French trade at Niagara with complete annihilation.
The following report, made by the Commissary at
Oswego in 1 749, tells us, that nearly one-third of the
Indians, intending to come to Oswego, had been
intercepted and forcibly detained at Niagara, and

84

The Ohio Valley

yet the number of those who reached Oswego is
considerable.

Names of each Nation.

Wayactenacks 
Potawimmies 
Miamis 
Missassagas 
Monomunies 
Michilimackimaks 
Oroonducks 
Shepawees 
Cocknawagas and Shoenidies
French Traders 

O E3
O _o
§1
Xl 03
is

3920 II25 10 9 I
32
43 3

193

n.

o

318 160 88
200 80 72 8
256
344 36

1,562

Oh

S

o
'A

293 140 77
17s 70
63 7
224
301 35

1,385

He computes the value of each pack at ;^i4, which
gives for the whole number of packs from the Far
Nations, 1,349, the amount of ^18,886,* or $47,215,
as probably pounds, New York currency, are given.
The French, having discovered, how futile their
attempts were to break the covenant chain between
Corlear, or rather Quidor, and the Iroquois, and see
ing that the fort at Oswego not only interfered with
their trade at, but also threatened the very existence
of Niagara, tried to counteract this injurious effect
by establishments at Presqu'ile (now Erie, Penna.),
* N. Y. Col. Hist., VI, 538.

In Colonial Days. 85
French creek,* and Venango, which appear as mill-,
tary posts on d'Anville's map of " Amerique Septen
trionale " in 1 746, and thus entered the valley of the
Ohio with territorial and no longer purely commer
cial intentions. To this end the Marquis de la Galis-
soniere. Governor of Canada, sent in 1749, Captain
Bienville de Celoron to take once more possession of
the Ohio country for the King of France. His letter
to Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania, dated
" From our Camp on the Beautiful River, at an old
Shawnee Village/' shows, that the act was to be un
derstood not as a mere formality, for he came with
troops and drove out all the English traders in the
country. " We, Celoron, Captain, Knight of the
Military Order of St. Louis," said he,f " commanding
a detachment sent by the Marquis de la Galissonifere,
Governor-in-chief of New France, have on the banks
of the Beautiful River summoned the Englishmen,
whom we have found in an Indian town, situate on
the bank of the Beautiful River, to retire with all
their effects and baggage to New England on pain
of being treated as interlopers and rebels in case of
refusal ; to which summons they have answered, that
they were going to start for Philadelphia, their coun
try, with all their effects."
The Indians on the Ohio were told by him, that
the French were again coming to trade with them
and that he was going with his soldiers to chastise
* Riviere aux Boeufs of old maps.
f N. Y. Col. Doc, VI, 132; Penn. Col. Records, V, 425.

86 The Ohio Valley
the Twightwees and Wyandots for trading with the
English. The Indians were not pleased with this
announcement. They declared, that the land was
their own and that while there were any Indians in
those parts, they would trade with their brothers, the
English. The threat of whipping the Twightwees
was considered by them as a jest* Celoron, how
ever, left a memorial of his visit and of his act of tak
ing possession all along his route down the Ohio, in
the shape of leaden plates, of which several are still
in existence.f
Mr. Charles P. Keith, of Philadelphia, tells, in an
article on Sir William Keith,J of the first project, to
make the newly-discovered country of use to the
English. He says:
" Chief Justice Marshall's ' Life of Washington,'
attributes to Sir William Keith the conception of
the project of taxing America by Act of Parlia
ment. It was suggested by him some time before
the Spanish War, as the means of providing for the
common defense of the Colonies, and as such it was
urged by a company having interests there, or a
' Club of Americn Merchants,' of which he was a
member, probably the Ohio Company. The propo
sition, as embodied in the two papers on the sub
ject, emanating from this source, and supposed to
*N. Y. Col. Hist., VI, 533.
f Fac-similes are given in the Pennsylvania Archives, 2d series, VI, 80 ;
see, also, for accounts of them, Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe, I, 62, and
Dinwiddle Papers, I, 95.
X Penn. Mag. of History and Biography, April, 1888.

In Colonial Days. 87
have been written by him, was to raise and maintain
a military force for the protection of the British col
onies, and to establish a general council of their
Governors to assist the Commander-in-Chief, and to
defray the expense by stamp duties similar to those
in England, supposed to be the easiest method of
taxation. These were to be imposed by Parliament
because the several Assemblies ' never could be
brought in voluntarily to raise such a Fund by any
general and equally proportioned Tax among them
selves.' Coxe's 'Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole'
(page 753), saying that soon after the excise scheme,
which failed in 1733, Sir William Keith, 'who had
been deputy-governor of Virginia {sic^, came over
with a plan of an American tax,' then relates, on the
authority of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, that Lord
Chesterfield, having asked Walpole what he thought
of it, Walpole replied, ' I have old England set
against me, and do you think I will have new Eng
land likewise ? ' Yet, it is probable that, had the
plan then been carried into execution, with as popu
lar an official as Sir William for stamp-master, which
he may have hoped to be, it would not have had the
same consequences as a quarter of a century later,
when the Colonies had become more powerful and
more warlike, and the proceeds of the tax were to go
into the British treasury. Years after the death of
the subject of this sketch some of his ideas were
acted upon by the British government, and the two
papers were reprinted for its vindication as the senti-

88 The Ohio Valley
ments ' of the greatest friends to America.' In let
ters to John Adams, written in 1813, Thomas Mc
Kean says, 'The Congress at Albany in 1754 . . .
was ... in reality to propose the least offensive
plan for raising a revenue in America. In 1739, Sir
William Keith, a Scotch gentleman, who had been a
Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania, proposed such
an assembly to the ministry. He also proposed the
extension of the British stamp duties to the Colonies.
He was then, I believe, in the Fleet prison. The
hints he gave were embraced, the first in 1754, the
second in 1764.' (Works of John Adams, vol. X, p.
73, edit 1856.) .'The anecdote of Sir William
Keith's proposal to the British ministry is to be
found in the latter end of the first volume of Ameri
can tracts, printed by J. Almon, in London, 1767.
It had been published in London in 1739, and is
titled 'A proposal for establishing by act of Parlia
ment the duties upon stamped paper and parchment
in all the British Colonies.' Part of the anecdote I
had by tradition, and in a novel, ' Peregrine Pickle.'
(Ibid., p. 80.) "
About this time* John Hanbury, a Quaker mer
chant of London, Thomas Lee of the Virginia Coun
cil, Lawrence and Augustus Washington, brothers
of George, and others, obtained from the Crown a
grant of 500,000 acres of land in the present Jeffer
son and Columbiana counties of Ohio, and Brooke
county of West Virginia. The principal object of
* See Appendix D.

In Colonial Days. 89
this company, called the Ohio Company, was trade
with the Indians, for we may call the plans of
colonizing the country west of the Alleghany moun
tains an after-thought, although their patent de
manded, that 200,000 acres of the grant should be
settled within a few years. The troubles with the
French and the Indians suspended the operations of
the company until the close of the war. Intrigues,
started by counteracting interests, caused an unau
thorized merger of the Ohio Company into the Wal
pole or Grand Company, and while the shareholders
of the former were still protesting against this action
of their London agent, the War of the Revolution
broke out and put out of existence both companies.*
This started the " boom," to use a modern expres
sion, for western lands. The Governor and Council
of Virginia granted, July 12, 1749, leave to John
Lewis, Thomas Walker and others, to take up and
survey 800,000 acres, in one or more surveys, begin
ning on the boundary line between Virginia and North
Carolina, and running west and north. This " Loyal
Company " was also prevented by the events of the
succeeding years from carrying out the necessary
surveys, and obtained in June, 1753, an order extend
ing the time for a return of surveys. They could
now begin operations and actually sold several par
cels of 100 acres at ;^3. War again interfered in
1 754, and when in 1 763 the company petitioned for a
renewal and confirmation of their grant, the authori-
* Dinwiddle Papers, I, 17.
12

90 The Ohio Valley
ties of Virginia were of opinion, that the King's in
structions restrained them from granting such renewal.
One hundred thousand acres of land on Green-
briar river,* north-west and west of the " Cow-Pas
ture " and Newfoundland were granted to the Green-
briar Company, October 29, i75i.t Their opera
tions were likewise brought to a standstill in 1754,
by the breaking out of the war, after they had already
succeeded in selling several tracts of land. The royal
proclamation of December 16, 1763, prohibiting the
settlement or grant of any lands on the western
waters, suspended the undertaking until 1773, when
the Governor and Council of Virginia, considering
the grant to the company still in force, allowed the
surveys and settlements to be resumed.
The French looked with jealousy upon this new
English interpretation of the international maxim of
premier seisin, that first discovery, even without oc
cupation, should establish title. The remarkable
claim, that Englishmen from Connecticut had dis
covered the Ohio valley, J had not yet been made
public, but we see that the English authorities dis
posed of lands there without hesitation. French
travelers had called the attention of their govern
ment and countrymen long ago to the importance of
the greatwater-way which facilitated the communi
cation between Canada and Louisiana.§ " A free
* A tributary of the Great Kanawha.
f Call, Virginia Reports, IV, 21 etseq.
X See Appendix C.
§ Charlevoix, VI, 157. ^

In Colonial Days, 91
and certain passage," says Governor de la Gallison-
ni^re of Canada in a Memoir of December, 1750,*
" from Canada to the Mississippi, is an absolute neces
sity. This chain once broken would leave an open
ing, of which the English would doubtless take ad
vantage, to get nearer to the silver mines. * * * *
The Governors of Canada have been deterred from
making settlements there, fearing contraband trade
between French traders and the English. Neither
have the English any posts there, nor did they come
to trade, except clandestinely, until the last war, when
the revolt of some neighboring nations against the
French encouraged them to come more boldly. They
have been summoned since the peace, to retire, and
if they do not do so, force must be used, otherwise
the case would be the same as at Chouegen,f and
that would be still more disastrous; for a post on the
Ohio would possess more opportunities to do dam
age than Chouegen alone.
I. They would have much greater opportunities
there than at Chouegen, to seduce the Indian nations.
2. They would possess more facilities to interrupt
the communication between Canada and Louisiana,
for the Beautiful river affords almost the only route
for the conveyance from Canada to the River Missis
sippi of detachments capable of securing that still
feeble Colony against the incursions of the neighbor
ing Carolina Indians, whom the English are un
ceasingly exciting against the French.
*N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 229.
f Oswego, N. Y.

92 The Ohio Valley
3. If the English ever become strong enough in
America to dare attempt the conquest of Mexico, it
will be by this Beautiful river, which they must ne
cessarily descend."
The English did not dare to take immediate pos
session of the Ohio country, although as yet only few
French troops were there to defend it, and did not
move at all, notwithstanding they received warnings
from different sources. Captain Marshall, command
ing at Albany, received notice in 1749, and trans
mitted it to his superiors, that an army of nearly
1,000 Frenchmen were moving toward the Ohio,
in order to prevent the English from settling there.*
Almost a year later, April, 1750, Sir William Johnson
writes : " The French have had ever since the peace
officers and interpreters with great quantities of goods
for presents to all the foreign nations, but much more
at the settlements of Indians on the Ohio, than any
where else."f Even the warning given a few weeks
later, that the French have made an alliance with
western tribes and intend to destroy the Indians on
the Ohio, who are in the British interest, J had no
effect upon either New York or Pennsylvania, the
Colonies most affected by such a move. Governor
Clinton of New York thought it prudent to send the
Indians, adherents of the English, some powder to
defend themselves, but the Council would not hear of
it and nothing was done. The home government was
* N. Y. Col. MSS., Council Minutes, XXI, 354.
t lb. 375.
X lb. 380.

In Colonial Days. 93
equally inactive and paid no or very little attention
to Governor Clinton's letter of the ist of October,
1 751, in which he said : "If the French go on in this
manner without obstruction or any thing done on our
part, to secure us and the Indians in friendship with
us, the French in a little time must obtain an abso
lute influence over all the Indian nations on the Con
tinent ; and a vessel of such force [as the French
were said to be building on Lake Ontario] will be
sufficient to dispossess us of Oswego."* Charles
Townshend, one of the Lords of Trade and Planta
tions, was a better statesman than his colleagues, but
he could not induce them to advocate in Council his
plan of aggressive measures in taking possession of
the Ohio region by force.
The French were not so dilatory. They sent one
of their most astute Indian agents, Chabert de Jon
caire, to the Ohio in 1 750, to build a house at the
carrying place between Lake Erie and the Ohio,
where all western Indians should be supplied with
whatever goods they might need, and thus be saved
the long journey to Oswego.f In the following year
four English traders were taken prisoners by the
French for trading on the Ohio contrary to an ordi
nance of the Governor of Canada, although it was
claimed, on the English side, the country belonged to
the Six Nations and Twightwees, allied to the Eng
lish by a covenant chain for a long time past:]: There
* N. Y. Col. Hist., VI, 538.
f lb. 609.
X Ib. 735.

94 The Ohio Valley
was some talk of reprisals, but competent authorities
declared it inconsistent with the laws of nations, while
peace reigned between the two rival nations.*
In the same year George Croghan, Indian agent,
and, through many years of trading among the In
dians, well acquainted with the territory and its condi
tions, was sent by the Governor of Pennsylvania to
the Ohio, with presents for the Indians. In one of
the speeches which he proposed to make, but had to
submit to the Governor for approval before starting
out on his journey, it was "strongly expressed" that
Pennsylvania should build a fort on the Ohio for the
protection of the Indian trade from insults and injuries
by the French. The Governor did not approve of
it and ordered Croghan first to sound the Indiaris on
this subject. Scaroyadi, the Half King, and his
friends and advisers in the tribe, were willing to have
such a representation of English protection in their
country and had wished for it ever since Celoron's
expedition in 1749, when the proceedings of the
French did not all meet favor in the Indian eyes.
They designated the forks of the Monongahela as
the best place for such an establishment However,
when Croghan reported the result of his negotia
tions, the government of Pennsylvania did not
approve, and again nothing was done, because it was
thought the Six Nations would not allow the erec
tion of a trading house at the indicated place,
although Scaroyadi had been able to tell Croghan,
* Dinwiddle Papers, I, 17.

In Colonial Days. 95
that such an establishment had been agreed upon by
his tribe and the Long House at Onondaga, that is
the Supreme Council of the Iroquois.*
The Council of Virginia was of all the English
authorities on the Continent the first to make a move,
although a very insignificant one. The English gov
ernment had sent over a present to be made to the Six
Nations, and the Council advised Governor Dinwiddle
to deliver it with all due ceremony, expecting to make
a favorable impression on the natives.f Commis
sioners were appointed to meet the Indians at
Loggstown,:}: and after the presents had been handed
over and evidently approved by the recipients, the
request for building a fort in the same place as des
ignated before, was renewed, but, says Croghan, to
no effect.
Celoron's report of what he had seen in 1 749 had
in the meantime worked on the minds of his country
men. They understood the importance of securing
a foothold at the junction of the Ohio and Monon
gahela so well, that Governor Dinwiddle wrote in
February, 1753, with some alarm, about some fifteen
or sixteen Frenchmen, arrived at Loggs Town and
building houses, etc., there, and "that it is to be
feared they will take possession of the Ohio, oppress
our trade and take our traders prisoners, etc. We
would fain hope these people are only French
*N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 268-g.
f Dinwiddle Papers, I, 17.
X Near Pittsburg, Penna.

96 The Ohio Valley
traders, and they have no other view but trade."*
This trading post at Loggstown was, however, only
the link, stretched out farthest, of the antenna,
which the French army worm threw out as a feeler.
In May, 1753, the commandant at Oswego saw thirty
French canoes, part of an army going to Ohio, pass
his post, who were to make good the French claim
upon that region, but as war had not been declared
between the two nations, he could not interfere, even
though one of these French told him, that M.
Marin was coming with 6,000 men to the Ohio, in
order to settle the boundaries between his nation
and the English, that the French laid claim to all
lands on any rivers or creeks running into the great
lakes ; that one fort was to be built at Ka-sa-no-tia-
yo-ga (a carrying place), another at Diontaroga
Five hundred Cochnawagas, Scenondidies, Onogan-
gas, Oroondoks and Chenundies went with this
French detachment, not to fight the English but to
supply the French with the results of their chase,f
and thus answer Governor Dinwiddle's question in
the above quoted letter, of how the French would
subsist their army so far from their base of supply.
The Senecas, Cayugas and Shawnees looked upon
this movement of the French with distrust ; they
did not want them to build forts on the Ohio, upon
which they looked as their property, J and notified
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 22.
f N. Y. Col. MSS, LXXVII, 87.
X lb. 143-

In Colonial Days. 97
the Indian Commissioners of New York that they had
resolved to go to war against the French, and desired
the co-operation of the whole of their confederacy.
Of the three English Colonies, whose special inter
est it was to keep the French out of the Ohio terri
tory, New York did nothing, while Pennsylvania and
Virginia quarreled about the boundary line to the
westward. Governor Dinwiddie writes to Cresap
and Trent in February, 1 753*: " Till the line between
Pennsylvania is run and our limits ascertained, I
cannot restrain the many abuses done in the back
woods, as by the last treaty at the Ohio. The
Indians having given us full power to settle all the
lands this side of the Ohio, I conceive that the treaty
fully establishes the British right to those lands, there
fore some method must be found out to dispossess
the French, if they presume to oppose our settle
ments." In the following year he commenced build
ing a fort, where now stands the city of Pittsburgh,
and issued the following proclamation :
Virginia, ss.
By the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie, Esq ;
His Majesty's Lieutenant-Governor, and Comman
der-in-Chief of this Dominion.
A PROCLAMATION,
For Encouraging Men to enlist in His Majesty's Ser
vice for the Defence and Security of this Colony.
WHEREAS it is determined that a Fort be im-
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 22 and 23.
13

98 The Ohio Valley
mediately built on the River Ohio, at the Fork of
Monongahela, to oppose any further Encroachments,
or hostile Attempts of the French, and the Indians
in their Interest, and for the Security and Protection
of his Majesty's Subjects in this Colony ; and as it is
absolutely necessary that a sufificient Force should
be raised to erect and support the same : For an
Encouragement to all who shall voluntarily enter
into the said Service, I do hereby notify and promise,
by and with the Advice and Consent of his Majesty's
Council of this Colony, that over and above their
Pay, Two Hundred Thousand Acres, of his Majestys
the King of Great Britains Lands, on the East Side
of the River Ohio, within this Dominion, (One
Hundred Thousand Acres whereof to be contiguous
to the said Fort, and the other Hundred Thousand
Acres to be on, or near the River Ohio^ shall be laid
off and granted to such Persons, who by their volun
tary Engagement, and good Behaviour in the said
Service, shall deserve the same. And I further
promise, that the said Lands shall be divided
amongst them immediately after the Performance of
the said Service, in a Proportion due to their respec
tive merit, as shall be represented to me by their
Officers, and held and enjoyed by them without pay
ing any Rights, and also free from the Payment of
Quit-rents, for the Term of Fifteen Years. And I
do appoint this Proclamation to be read and published
at the Court-Houses, Churches and Chapels in each

In Colonial Days. 99
County within this Colony, and that the Sheriffs take
Care the same be done accordingly.
Given at the Council Chamber in Williamsburg,
on the 19th Day of February, in the 27th Year
of his Majesty's Reign, Annoque Domini,
1754- ROBERT DINWIDDIE.
GOD save the KING.*
Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania had been in
structed by the Proprietors of the Province to assist
Virginia in the proposed measures, but also to require
an acknowledgment, that the projected settlements
should not be continued to the prejudice of the rights
of Pennsylvania. Governor Dinwiddie, however,
was more alive to the necessities of all the Colonies,
than Hamilton and preferred security of the British
interest on the Ohio and perhaps oh the whole Con
tinent, to additions to the treasury of his Province.
He therefore agreed that the quit-rents for the lands
to be granted by him, might be collected by Penn
sylvania, until the dispute was settled by a definitely
established boundary line. This was not done in
English times ; the war of the Revolution had broken
out, before in 1779 the Commissioners appointed for
that purpose agreed upon a line " due west five de
grees of longitude, completed from the river Dela
ware, for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and
a meridian drawn from the western boundary thereof
» From an original in N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXVIII, 68.

lOo The Ohio Valley
to the northern limit of said State, be the western
boundary of said State forever."*
Meanwhile repeated informations came to the
authorities, who ought to have acted upon it, that
French troops were moving to the Ohio from Canada,
and others were to join them from the Mississippi
in order to build forts and drive the English from
the Ohio.f At the same time the Indians pro
claimed, that many southern Indians and others,
friendly to the English, intended to oppose the
'French.^ In October of 1753, the operations for
the year came to a close. The French had erected
forts twenty or thirty miles from each other, and by
these means, and the lakes kept the communication
open between Quebec and the Mississippi," § but
they had lost the hearty support of their Indian
allies, who left them dissatisfied, because, contrary
to the promise, made by the Governor of Canada,
Englishmen had been^ taken prisoners. J
The appearance of the French army — large for
those days, for it consisted of 400 regulars, 5,000
militia and 600 Indians, a levy which bore heavy
upon the resources of the Colony and made the
French inhabitants very dissatisfied || ¦ — at last
opened the eyes of the English. The Assembly of
Virginia voted during the session of 1753-4,
*Craig, Olden Times, I, pp. 433-524.
f N. Y. Coll. MSS., Council Min., XXIII, 95.
XVo.
§ Ib. 140.
II Ib. 124.

In Colonial Days. loi
;!f 10,000 "for the support of his Majesty's rights to
the lands on the Ohio,"* and with these Governor
Dinwiddie expected to raise five or six companies,
which were to march to Wills Creek, where the Ohio
Company established that year a store-house or
magazine. The Colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey and New York were called upon for as
sistance, but were either careless or dilatory, and
another appropriation of ^20,000, also intended by
Dinwiddie for the prosecution of the Ohio expedition,
miscarried through an internal dispute. The Gov
ernor insisted upon the fee of one pistolef fpr every
patent exceeding 400 acres, which had been granted,
but not signed or issued by his predecessor. The
Virginia Assembly was so strongly opposed to this,
that they sent a representation against him, to Eng
land with the result, that he should not receive any
fee for those patents, but might exact a pistole fee
for every grant made by him, exceeding fifty acres.
This cost the Assembly ^2,500 Virginia currency,
and to pay the sum they tacked a clause to the
bill for ^20,000, which the Council would not pass,
and they were prorogued, %
When Governor Dinwiddie had received from the
Virginia Assembly the first grant of ;^i 0,000 for
supporting the British interest against the insults
and invasions by the French, he notified the other
English Colonies of his intentions, asking for their
* Dinwiddie, I, 80.
f About Is in gold.
X N. Y. Col. MSS., Johnson Papers, I, 130.

I02 The Ohio Valley
assistance. The Council of New York advised the
Governor, Admiral George Clinton, that " as the
present state of affairs seems to threaten a rupture,
and as the frontiers of this Province are in a very
defenseless condition, the Assembly will most likely
not incline to give any money for this service, at
least not until a general plan is concerted for attack
ing and dislodging the French."*
But, they continue, we are informed that a number
of Connecticut people intend to buy from the Indians
a tract of land to the westward of one hundred
miles square, and to settle it immediately. Let them
know of Governor Dinwiddle's proclamation, promis
ing 200,000 acres, etc., that will probably be an in
ducement to settle on the Ohio under the govern
ment of Virginia, and thereby that part of the country
would be greatly strengthened.
Governor Belcher of New Jersey tried every argu
ment in his power "to urge the Assembly to a sense
of their duty to the King, by complying with his
Majesty's most reasonable orders, for maintaining
the honor and interest of the British Crown," but
the Assembly turned a deaf ear to his appeals and
he could do nothing for the accomplishment of the
Virginia projectf
The Maryland Assembly refused to vote any money
for military operations, J North Carolina, the poorest
* N. Y. MSS. Council Min., XXIII, 164.
t N. J. Archives, VIII, 287.
X Dinwiddie Papers, I, 126.

In Colonial Days. 103
of all the Colonies, however, granted £\ 2,000 and ex
pected to raise 750 men for the Ohio expedition.
Pennsylvania had allowed a sum of money in the pre
ceding year, 1753, for distribution among the Indians,
but it appears, the religious principles of the majority
in the Assembly prevented them from granting money
for an expedition which might lead to bloodshed,
and they forgot over it the first law of nature, self-
preservation. South Carolina sent one of her inde
pendent companies, and New York sent two, follow
ing orders from the Earl of Holderness, the British
Secretary of State.
In his instructions to Colonel Joshua Fry, com
manding the Virginia regiment. Governor Din
widdie explains (March i, 1754) his plan for the
Ohio campaign.* Colonel Fry was, after taking com
mand of all the forces assembled at Alexandria, to
march to Wills Creek, above the Potomac Falls, and
from there " with the great guns, ammunition and
provisions you are to proceed to Monongahela; when
arrived there, you are to make choice of the best
place to erect a fort for mounting your cannons and
ascertaining His Majesty the King of Great Britain's
undoubted right to those lands." Two weeks later
Captains Trent and Cresap inform him, that the
French are already expected down the Ohio, and he
ordered, March 15, Colonel George Washington to
march with whatever number of soldiers he might
have enlisted, to the Ohio, " I would gladly hope,"
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 88.

I04 The Ohio Valley
he continues, *' as Captain Trent has begun to build a
fort at Allegany, that the French will not imme
diately disturb us there ; and when our forces are
properly collected, we shall be able to keep posses
sion and drive the French from the Ohio."* The
worthy Governor did not dream how disastrous this
campaign of 1 754 would end for the Virginia troops
engaged in it.
Pennsylvania had voted only money enough to
make a present to the Indians, and thereby to keep
them in the British interest; New Jersey had utterly
refused " to raise any supplies for the common defense
and security of the Colonies against the hostile en
croachments of a foreign power. "f The New Eng
land Colonies were engaged in an expedition against
Canada in another quarter, and had to bear that bur
den, which deprived them of the means to assist Vir
ginia in the Ohio expedition, and while Virginia is
already sending a part of her great army of 700 men,
poorly provisioned and without tents. New York is
still debating how to send the two independent com
panies, detached from the regiments in New York by
orders from the home government for service on the
Ohio. In May, 1754, the Council comes to the con
clusion, that it is best to send them by water "be
cause so long a march over land, if practicable, must
be attended with many desertions, and cause great
delay."! The companies are finally embarked, and
*Ib. 106.
f N. J. Archives, VII, 294.
X N. Y. Col. MSS. Council Min. XXIII, 17S.

In Colonial Days. 105
the man-of-war, which carries them, has sailed down
the Bay to the Watering Place, when another delay is
occasioned by the objections of Captain Diggs, who
has relieved Captain Kennedy in command of the
above man-of-war ; Captain Diggs declines going to
Virginia because he has orders for home. But here the
Council of New York is firm, though wordy.* The dis
tance from New York to the Ohio is about 400 miles,
through a country almost wholly inhabited, and,
therefore, the forces could not be subsisted with pro
visions, were it practicable to march thither, which
the Council thinks impracticable in the absence of
roads; were the troops to march by way of Virginia,
they could not arrive in time to be of any service this
year, and even were all these difficulties surmounted
there are no tents in the King's store, and no money
to buy them and the provisions necessary for a long
march. Therefore the troops must go by water and
any delay must be prejudicial to the service at this
juncture, when the French have already taken an
English fort on the Ohio, and may, if not prevented
by sufificient strength, advance even to the settle
ments of Virginia, and it appears by late advices
from the Ohio, that the Indians there are apprehen
sive they'll be destroyed by the French, if not sup
ported soon, or forced to relinquish the British and
join the French interest." This was communicated
to Captain Diggs, who then sailed for the James
river, in Virginia, and arrived there in June, too
*N. Y. Col. MSS., Council Min. XXIII, 178.
14

io6 The Ohio Valley
late to help in averting the first disaster of the cam
paign. Pierre Claude Pecaudy, Seigneur de Contrecoeur,
had reached the neighborhood of the fort, built by
the advanced detachment under Ensign Ward at
the embouchure of the Monongahela, and immedi
ately sent the following :
" Summon, by order of Contrecoeur, Captain of
one of the Companies of the Detachment of the
French Marine ; Commander in Chief of his most
Christian Majesty's Troops now 'on the Beautiful
River ; To the Commander of those, of the King of
Great Britain, at the Mouth of the River Mononga
hela, " Sir. " Nothing can surprise me more, than to see you
Attempt a Settlement upon the Lands of the King
my Master, which obliges me now. Sir, to send you
this Gentleman Chevalier Le Mercier, Captain of
the Bombardiers, Commander of the Artillery of
Canada, to know of you. Sir, by Virtue of what Au
thority you are come to fortify yourself within the
Dominions of the King my Master. This Action
seems so contrary to the Jast Treaty of Peace con
cluded at Aix La Chapelle, between his most Chris
tian Majesty and the King of Great Britain, that I
do not know, to whom to impute such a Usurpation,
as it is incontestable, that the Lands Situated along
the Beautiful River belong to his most Christian
Majesty.

In Colonial Days. 107
" I am Informed, Sir, that your undertaking has
been concerted by none else, than by a Company
who have more in view the Advantage of a Trade,
than to endeavour to keep the Union and harmony
which Subsists between the Crowns of France and
Great Britain ; altho' it is as much the Interest, Sir,
of your Nation, as ours to preserve it.
" Let it be as it will. Sir, if you come into this
place charged with Orders, I summon you in the
name of the King my Master by Virtue of orders
which I got from my General to retreat Peaceably
with your Troops, from off the Lands of the King
(and not return ; or else I find myself obliged to
fulfill my Duty, and compel you to it. I hope. Sir,
you will not defer an Instant, and that you will not
force me to the least Extremity) in that case, Sir,
you may be persuaded, that I will give orders, that
there shall be no Damage done by my Detachment
" I prevent you. Sir, from the Trouble of asking
me one Hour of delay, nor to wait for my consent
to receive Orders from your Gov'. He can give
none within the Dominions of the King my Master ;
those I have received of my General are my Laws,
so that I cannot depart from them.
"If on the Contrary, Sir, you have not got orders
and only come to Trade I am sorry to tell you, that
I cant avoid seizing you and to confiscate your Ef
fects, to the use of the Indians, our Children, Allies
and Friends : as you are not allowed to carry on a
Contraband Trade. It is for this reason Sir, that

io8 The Ohio Valley
we stopped two Englishmen last Year, who were
Trading upon our Lands, moreover the King my
Master asks nothing but his Right, he has not the
least Intention, to trouble the good Harmony and
Friendship which Reigns between his Majesty and
the King of Great Britain,
" The Governor of Canada can give Proof of
having done his utmost endeavours, to maintain the
Perfect Union which Reigns between two Friendly
Princes, as he had learned that the Iroquois and
Nepissingues of the Lake of the two Mountains*
had struck and destroyed an English Family towards
Carolina, he has barred up the Road and forced them
to give him a little Boy belonging to that Family,
which was the only one alive and which Mr, Wlerick
a Merchant of Montreal has carried to Boston : and
what is more he has forbid the Savages from Exer
cising their Accustomed Cruelty upon the English
our Friends.
" I coud complain Bitterly Sir, of the means taken
all last Winter to instigate the Indians to accept the
Hatchet and to strike us while we were striving to
maintain the Peace.
" I am well Persuaded Sir of the Polite manner in
which you will receive Mr. LeMercier, as well out of
Regard to his Business, as his Distinction and Per
sonal merit. I expect you will send him back with
one of Your Ofificers, who will bring me a Precise
Answer. As you have got some Indians with you,
* North East of Lake Huron. (?)

In Colonial Days. 109
Sir, I Join with Mr. LeMercier an Interpreter, that
he may inform them of my intentions upon that Sub
ject. I am with great Respect
Sir, Your most humble and most
obedient Servant
Contrecoeur."*
" Done at our Camp April i6th 1754
This courteous and dignified invitation to leave
comparatively comfortable quarters proved irresist
ible, as the following letter of Colonel Geo. Wash
ington to the Governor of Pennsylvania shows :
" It is with the greatest Concern I acquaint you
that Mr. Ward Ensign in Capt. Trents Company was
compelled to surrender his small Fort in the Forks
of Mohongialo to the French on the 17th inst. who
fell down from Weningo with a Fleet of 360 Battoes
and Canoes with upwards of One Thousand Men
and Eighteen Pieces of Artillery, which they planted
against the Fort, drew up their Men and sent the
enclosed summons to Mr. Ward, who having but an
inconsiderable number of Men and no Cannon to
make a proper Defence was obliged to surrender ;
they suffered him to draw off his Men, Arms and
Working Tools and gave Leave that he might retreat
to the Inhabitants. * * *
" I have arrived thus far with a Detachment of 150
Men, Col. Fry with the Remainder of the Regiment
and Artillery is daily expected. In the meantime, we
*From a copy in N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXVIII, 113, certified to by Rich''
Peters, Sec^ of Penn* May 6, 1754.

IIO The Ohio Valley
advance slowly across the Mountains, making the
Roads as We march, fit for the Carriage of our Guns
&c* and are designed to proceed as far as the Mouth of
the Red Stone Creek which enters Mohongialo about
37 miles above the Fort taken by the French, from
whence we have a Water Carriage down the River
— And there is a Store House built by the Ohio
Company, which may serve as a Recepticle for our
Ammunition and Provisions.
" Besides these French that came from Weningo,
We have credible Accounts that another Party are
coming up Ohio — We also have Intelligence that 600
of the Chippoways and Ottoways are marching down
Sciodo C^ to join them." * * *
" P. S. James Foley the Express says he left Mr.
Washington at the new Store on Patowmack about
130 miles from Capt. Trents Fort at the Mouth of
Mohongialo on Saturday 27'*' April."*
Governor Dinwiddie was not discouraged by this
first check, which his small army had received. Some
of the troops, one company of 100 soldiers, had ar
rived from South Carolina and the New York com
panies were, as he writes,f daily expected. As the
main body, in advance, could not make more than
two, three or four miles a day, J because they were
obliged to clear roads for the provision train, it was
possible for the South Carolinians to keep up with
*Frora a copy in N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXVIII, ill, certified to by Rich"
Peters, Sec? of Penn" May 6, 1754.
f Dinwiddie Papers, I, 150.
t lb. 151-

In Colonial Days. i \ i
them ; the New Yorkers, who arrived only in June,
could not be expected to do so.
Meanwhile unpleasant news came from the Ohio.
Washington writes under date of May 4, 1 754, from
Little Meadows,* that the French at the fort lately
taken by them have received a reinforcement of 800
men, that another French detachment of 600 is
building a fort at the falls of the Ohiof and intend
to move up river from there to erect another fort at
the mouth of the Scioto. But an Indian message,
arriving simultaneously with the news of Ward's dis
aster, put a more hopeful face to the matter. It
showed that the English had not yet lost the friend
ship of the Indians, who were in so many respects
an important factor in the Ohio drama.
Scruniyattha, the Half King; that is, the Head
Chief, of a tribe dependent upon the Iroquois, said :
" We have been waiting this long Time for the
French to strike us ; now we see what they design
to do with us, we are ready to strike them now and
wait for your assistance ; be strong and come as soon
as possible you can, and you shall find us your true
brothers and shall find us as ready to strike them as
you are. "J
Relying on this promised assistance from the In
dians and buoyed up by the arrival of a company
of " 100 fine Men" from South Carolina, Governor
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 152.
f Near Louisville, Ky.
X N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXVIII, p. 112.

112 The Ohio Valley
Dinwiddie did not relinquish the hope of driving the
French from the territory, which he claimed to be
English, but which was still in dispute between Vir
ginia and Pennsylvania. Washington's successful
encounter with a detachment of French near the
Great Meadows, in which the English killed ten,
wounded one and took twenty-one prisoners, out of
a French force of about seventy-five,* must have ap
peared as the beginning of a realization of Dinwid
dle's expectations. As the Governor puts it in a let
ier to Washington, congratulating him on his victory,
the success gained " may give testimony to the In
dians, that the French are not invincible when fairly
engaged with the English. "f Another cause for re
joicing was the news that a body of Cherokee In
dians were on the march to join the small English
forces. On the other side, the French were also endeavor
ing to secure the support of Indians near enough to
be of any use. Early in the spring of 1754, they
sent messages to the Twightwees, Wyandots and
other tribes in alliance with them, asking that they
should take up the hatchet, start for the Ohio and
there cut off the inhabitants and all the English
among them. J But for once they were not success
ful, for Big Kettle informed the Half King, a staunch
ally of the English, of the French intrigues, and " at
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 179.
f Ib. 186.
X Ib. igi.

In Colonial Days. 1 1 3
the same time assured him of their good intention
to assist the Six Nations and their brethren the
English." The next meeting between the contending nation
alities was a disastrous one for the English. "A
few days ago," writes Governor Dinwiddie to the
Lords of Trade on the 24th of July, 1754, "Col.
Washington, * * * ^ arrived from our camp at
the Meadows, near the Ohio river, who gave the
following melancholy account of an engagement be
tween our forces and the French. On the 3"* of this
Month they had intelligence, that the French were
reinforced (at the fort they took from us, last May,
near the Ohio) with 700 men and that they were in
full march with 900 men to attack our small camp,
which consisted of few more than 300 men besides
Ofificers. They immediately connected and prepared
to make the best defence their small number would
admit of."* But a successful defense was almost an
impossibility, seeing the superiority of the attacking
force and the blunder of the English commander,
who, in locating his camp, had left standing around
trees enough to shelter the French against the fire
from the English trenches. The English troops
were again allowed to march out with all the honors
of war, colors flying and drums beating.
The other Colonies' troops, with the exception of
the South Carolina Company, had not yet joined and
Dinwiddie is undoubtedly right in attributing to their
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 23g, et seq.
15

1X4 The Ohio Valley
slowness the disaster of July, 1754. The two New
York Companies had reached Winchester, the North
Carolina Company was still on the march and " the
other Colonies have not given any assistance, and I
fear do not intend to do any thing, unless obliged by
an act of Parliament, for a general poll tax of half a
crown stlg. for conducting this expedition."* The
forces which were to contend against the French
were, 100 men from South Carolina, 350 from North
Carolina, 300 Virginians, 100 Marylanders and 160
from New York, a total of lOio men, to whom Din
widdie expected to add 200 more.
The Indians of the Ohio characteristically, had
partly joined the French after the first defeat of the
English and this second mishap, it was feared, would
induce many more of the Iroquois to desert Corach-
koof and go to Onontio. J
And while hard at work in other directions, there
came to Dinwiddie the disheartening news, that the
Cherokees, who had constantly protested they were
friends of the English, had conferred with the French
and made peace with them. The exertions of Richard
Pears, an Indian trader among the Cherokees on
Holston river,§ however, induced Attakullakulla, the
chief of this tribe, also called Little Carpenter, to
break the peace. He and the Catawbas were also
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 239, et seq.
f Indian name for the King of England.
X Indian name for Governor of Canada.
§ Branch of the Tennessee.

In Colonial Days. 115
relied upon to prevent the building of a French fort
on the Holston or Choto river, where the French
had begun such a structure and where a settlement
by Englishmen had sprung up.*
But even if the Indians should fail him, the Gover
nor of Virginia did not intend to give up his pet
scheme of driving the French from the territory dis
covered by them, and taken possession of long before
the English had any knowledge of its existence. He
applied to his work all the experience, gathered dur
ing his military life on the battle-fields of Europe
and sent orders to Colonel James Innes, commanding
the forces, to gather all his soldiers at Will's creek,
a tributary of the Potomac, to march them across the
ridge of the Allegheny mountains and after expelling
the French from the fort, so lately taken by them, to
build another strong place at the crossing place Red
Stone creek, or where it was thought most advisable
in that neighborhood of the Monongahela. But a
few weeks later, Dinwiddie gave Governor Sharpe
of Maryland, the following doleful account of the
situation :f
" The plan of operations that I proposed for this
fall are entirely defeated : ist. By the No. Car. forces
disbanding themselves, which was occasioned by a
monstrous mismanagement bf them from the begin
ning ; they raised _;^i 2,000. The President of that
Colony (Rowan) gave the private men 3 sh. Procla-
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 267.
f Ib. 304.

1 1 6 The Ohio Valley
mation money per day and the ofificers in proportion,
so that their money was wholly expended before they
joined the other forces and would serve no longer
without assurance of the above pay. . . . Next
is the reduction of the No. of our forces, those killed
and wounded unfit for service, and desertion, which
has reduced the number to 150. If the appropria
tion of ;^20,ooo had passed, I fully intended to aug
ment our regiment to 8 Companies of 70 men each,
. . . and in course made up the deficiency oc
casioned by the No. Car. people, but the obstinacy of
our Assembly have defeated my intentions and I am
now persuaded that no expedition can be conducted
here with dependence on American Assemblies.
. . . Under these great disappointments I de
termined to keep the few people we have in pay and
propose 100 of them to march to Will's creek to join
the Independent Companies and to endeavour to
secure a pass over the Allegany mounts by erecting
a fort ... to facilitate our operations next
spring ... I am of opinion with our handful
of men, we can only be on the defensive till we in
crease our numbers."
The French, in the meantime, were not idly sitting
in their newly acquired foothold on the forks of Mo
nongahela, but made many depredatory descents
upon the English settlers in the neighborhood, in
Augusta county, and prepared for a vigorous defense
of what they considered French territory, by new
forts on Holston, Green Brier's and other rivers,

In Colonial Days. 1 1 7
whose waters found their way to the Ohio. These
attempts, in fact only the mention of such intention,
aroused, however, the ire of the Iroquois, who looked
upon themselves as the rightful owners of the terri
tory in dispute between the two foreign white races.
Already at the Albany Congress in June and July of
this year, 1754, the speaker of the Mohawks had
said :* " We cannot find after the strictest inquiry,
that any leave to build forts has been given or land
sold to the French. They have gone there without
our consent. The Governors of Virginia and of
Canada are both quarreling about lands belonging
to us. Virginia and Pennsylvania have made roads
through our country without acquainting us of it."
Governor de Lancey, of New York, appeased their
anger toward the English Colonies by telling them,
that the invaded country was still acknowledged to be
theirs under English protection, and that the inroads
were made for the purpose of protecting them. This
assertion was confirmed by Conrad Weiser, a Ger
man possessed of great influence among the Six
Nations, and the latter were so well satisfied with
this notion of English protection that in the latter
part of the summer of 1 754, they sent messages to
Virginia asking for aid and assistance to be given to
their friends and allies on the Ohio,f which was readily
promised by Governor Dinwiddie, who was very soon
after compelled, by the failure of the appropriation, to
* N. Y. Col. Hist., VI, 870 etseq.
f N. Y. Col. MSS., Council Min., XXIII, 220.

1 1 8 The Ohio Valley
countermand his orders to Colonel Innes, and direct
him to secure a good position back of the mountains,
at the same time maintaining the Ohio company's
warehouse for storing his supplies. The time for
active operations in 1 754 was rapidly drawing toward
its close when Governor Dinwiddie, still obedient to
the orders received in the previous year, wrote to Hor
ace Walpole, the Secretary of War :* " The French are
left to perpetrate all their mischievous schemes
against the British subjects with 1,500 men ; what a
dangerous condition are these Colonies in from the
obstinate and imprudent behaviour of the Assem
blies ? New York lately has voted ;^5,ooo and
Maryland ;^6,ooo, their moneys, but these sums are
trifling for the support of so essential and necessary
(an) expedition. . . . Without a British act of Par
liament to raise a general poll-tax all over the conti
nent no money can be raised here, though for their
own safety, and I fear that would not do. I there
fore have humbly recommended a supply from home
of men, money and ammunition, without which I
dread much the consequence. For I do not con
ceive the French views are confined to the lands on
the Ohio, but for a general conquest of all the British
Colonies, and without immediate assistance I dread
their success. . . . So. Car. and Pennsylvania have
not as yet granted any aid whatever to this expedi
tion." It is difificult, at this day, to fully understand the
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 343.

In Colonial Days. 119
supine lethargy, evinced by the other English Col
onies in regard to the efforts made by Virginia for
extending British territory. The New England
Colonies had too much to do in defending themselves
against the common enemy ; but their neighbor. New
York, was, on account of her Indians, the Six Na
tions, as much interested in keeping the French out
of the Ohio valley, as in securing the safety of her
own frontiers. The slackness of Pennsylvania must
be attributed partly to jealousy, that Virginia might
establish a prescriptive right to the Ohio lands by
her exertions against the French, partly to the dis
inclination of the dominant party in the Colony,
the Quakers, to assist, even if only in an indirect
manner, in the shedding of blood. That the Assem
bly of Virginia should fail, at a decisive moment, to
grant the needed moneys, is almost incomprehensible,
unless we ascribe their action to personal motives, to a
dislike against their Governor, arising out of Dinwid
dle's former service in the Colony as Surveyor of
Customs. The other Colonies, New Jersey, Mary
land, the Carolinas and Georgia, were evidently
actuated by the feeling, displayed by a rabbit, which,
if it cannot see the danger, considers itself safe, and
won't run.
Governor Dinwiddle's urgent appeals for aid, di-
ercted to the British government, finally were crowned
with success. At the re-assembling of the Virginia
House of Burgesses on the 17th of October, 1754, he
could inform them, that in view of the dangerous con-

I20 The Ohio Valley
dition of his Colonies, the King had sent over ;^ 10,000,
and 2,000 stand of arms, and he appealed to their
sense of duty and self-preservation so effectively, that
they granted further ;^20,ooo out of the revenues of
the Colony. A new Governor for North Carolina,
Dobbs, arriving, gave to Dinwiddie a chance of hold
ing a council of war with this new comer, and with
Governor Sharpe of Maryland, who had been ap
pointed to command the combined forces of the pro
posed expedition.
The Virginia militia, numbering about 20,000,
could not be ordered out of the Province; to make
it available for the proposed expulsory measures,
Governor Dinwiddie intended to have the Assem
bly pass an act, allowing him to draft one man in
ten, altogether 2,000, to march across the Alleghanies.
The Cherokees and Catawbas, having been noti
fied that the French had taken up the hatchet and
were invading their hunting grounds on the Ohio,
promised to send from 800 to 1,000 of their warriors
against the French, but were dissuaded from it by
Governor Glen of South Carolina, who acted very
much like a dog in the manger ; he could not see any
advantage for his Colony arising from this expedi
tion, and, therefore, would allow no other one to reap
any. A renewed appeal to them, made by Dinwiddie in
November, 1 754, with promises of plenty of powder
and of sincere friendship, had the effect of counter
acting Governor Glen's promptings, and the plan of

In Colonial Days. 121
sending warriors to join the English troops on their
march to the Ohio, was resumed, but none came to
help Braddock.*
The Twightwees continued steadily in the British
interest, and sent messages, that they were going to
war against the French, after having killed a number
of them.
Other Indians re-afifirmed their loyalty to the Eng
lish, also. "On the i8th of October last," writes
Governor Dinwiddie,f " there was a small treaty at
our camp at Will's Creek, between Col. Innes and
some Indians, viz.: Scaruniata and Moses, warriors
of the Six Nations, Laputhia, the Shawna King,
Jescoma, a Delaware, and -Monecato'ocha, chief on
the Ohio, when after long consultation they unani
mously took up the hatchet against the French, and
sent Monecatoocha with a black belt of wampum and
a hatchet, to Onondaga, desiring the Six Nations to
declare themselves against the French and desired,
that this Colony, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New
York should each of them send a black belt and
hatchet to engage them to declare against the
French." Within a fortnight after the date -of this
letter, Scarroyadi, the Oneida chief, and a chief of the
Senecas, probably the two warriors of the Six Na
tions mentioned above, appeared before the Gover
nor and Council of New York with messages from
the western Indians and on their way to Onondaga
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, 51.
f Ib„ I, 430. 16

122 The Ohio Valley
with Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania belts.*
Scarroyadi, the Half King, explained, that they were
about to consult the Six Nations upon the present
situation of affairs and intended, to effect a union
between them and the western Indians, who had al
ready taken up the hatchet against the French, but
meant to keep it in their bosom, still all their breth
ren, English and Indians, should strike with it to
gether. They were further charged with an invita
tion for the Six Nations to come to Winchester and
asked for a New York belt, to give weight to the
others. Governor De Lancey told them in reply, that at
the conference in Albany, held during the preceding
summer, a large belt had been given to the Six Na
tions, to unite all governments with them and their
friends, when it was agreed that whenever their
brethren, the English, called upon them, they, the
Six Nations, would join and attack the French.
New York, he said, is ready to strike, but must wait
until the General, appointed by the King to com
mand this expedition,f has arrived.
About the same time Governor Dinwiddie lost for
this expedition an ofificer whose knowledge of the
country and experience in frontier warfare had ren
dered his services conspicuously valuable. The reason
was a question of rank, pardonable in any ofificer,
but in this case deplorable. Colonel George Wash-
*N. Y. Col. MSS., Council Min., XXIII, 259.
f Braddock.

In Colonial Days. 123
ington resigned his commission because, under the new
military establishment planned by Governor Dinwid
die, the Virginia forces were to be divided into ten
independent companies of 100 men each under the
command of a captain, who were severally subordi
nate to ofificers with royal commissions. This might
have placed Colonel Washington at the orders of
men, to whom he had formerly given orders himself
and, therefore, he resigned in a pet, without waiting
for the result of the Governor's application for royal
commissions, to be issued to the officers of the inde
pendent companies.*
The winter of 1754 to 1755 was spent in preparations
for an early spring campaign. The other Colonies,
more or less interested in the object of it, began to
throw off their lethargy, one after the other, and
granted money or men, or both, for the expulsion of
the French from the Ohio valley. New York, from
which Colony troops were already in this service and
which was called upon also for the defense of its
northern frontiers, raised 800 men and voted ^4,500.
In the Jerseys 500 men were enlisted, Pennsylvania
gave ;^i 5,000, Maryland ;^6,ooo with a promise of
perhaps doubling that sum ; Virginia had to pay
^30,000 besides refunding the money received from
England ; North Carolina had contributed ;^8,ooo
and South Carolina — nothing. Governor Glen, of
this colony, which gave nothing, was, however, dissat
isfied, that he could not have a share of the ;^i 0,000
*Dinwiddie Papers, I.

124 '^^^ Ohio Valley
granted by England for the defense of the Colonies,
and he boldly demanded from Governor Din
widdie ^7,000 for the purpose of building a fort in
the Upper Cherokee country, basing this demand
on the instruction which had accompanied the
money grant " It is likewise His Majesty's pleas
ure, you [Dinwiddie] should concert with Mr. Glen,
Gov. of S. Car., the necessary measures for securing
the Cherokee Indians by a proper present and for
obtaining forthwith permission for the building a
fort in their country, for which purpose you are
hereby empowered to remit to Mr. Glen such sums
out of the money (;^i 0,000) as shall be agreed be
tween you and the said Governor. "*
Before the Colonies had bestirred themselves, as
stated above. General Braddock and troops from
England had arrived, and it is likely that the Colo
nial Assemblies, who had hitherto always opposed
the royal prerogatives, felt ashamed, when they saw
that these same objectionable prerogatives were ex
erted for their benefit, while they themselves had
been doing nothing for their own defense; hence they
made liberal appropriations.
While the Colonists under either crown were thus
preparing for and already engaged in actual hostili
ties, peace still reigned in their trans- Atlantic homes;
but the governments of both France and England
recognized the portent of the ominous clouds gather
ing over their American Provinces, and hastened to
* Dinwiddie Papers, I, 484.

In Colonial Days. 125
send assistance. Irony of fate decided that the two
European generals, Braddock, the English com
mander, and Baron Dieskau, the French, should
come across the ocean, to meet defeat at the hands
of their foes. General Braddock with two regiments
of the Royal army* reached Virginia about the
middle of March, 1755, and immediately set to work
upon a plan of campaign. Governor Dinwiddie pro
posed that the attack upon the French should be
made all along the line, from Niagara to the Ohio,
General Braddock commanding the southern or
left wing. After the capture of Fort Du Quesne,
of which the Governor seems not to have doubted,
this southern wing was to march toward Lake Erie,
join the forces at or before Niagara, and, if success
ful here, direct their attentions to Crown Point, New
York. At a Council of War, held in April, by Gen
eral Braddock, Commodore Keppel, and the Gov
ernors of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New
York and New England, this plan was adopted, with
the additional feature that Sir William Johnson, of
New York, with 5,000 men, should make an attack
on Crown Point at the same time as the other troops,
3,000 under Braddock, and two regiments of Pro
vincials, under Shirley, attempted the expulsion of the
French from the upper Ohio and Niagara. Sir Peter
Halkett's and Colonel Dunbar's commands were
already on the march to the Ohiof and were joined
*44th and 48th Regts., R. A.
f Dinwiddie Papers, II, 14.

126 The Ohio Valley
by a company of 84 men from North Carolina, the only
Provincial help given to Virginia for the undertak
ing, except the two companies from New York,
which had remained in this service since the preced
ing year.
Although the General in command of this army of
operation, marching westward, had been trained in
a good military school in Europe, — on the battle
fields of Fontenoy, and in Flanders, — and, there
fore, may be presumed to have acquired some knowl
edge of warfare, and to have been a man of courage,
the English government could hardly have sent a
man more unfit for this undertaking, than Braddock,
His arrogance, profligacy and profanity* soon made
him unpopular with the Provincials under his com
mand, and their Indian allies. Of these, the Six
Nations were not only the most important, but also
the most dissatisfied. Uneasiness and jealousies
had been aroused among them by the claims made
upon the Ohio lands by the English, especially by
the Ohio company. They knew of this and other
grants of land, which they considered their own, by
Virginia, upon which settlements had already been
attempted or effected. They, therefore, disliked
Virginia, and as they looked upon Braddock and
his army, as upon the Governor and people of
this Colony, and were arrogantly treated by the
General, who endeavored to drill his white and
Indian troops, as he would drill European soldiers,
* He had learned to swear " with our array in Flanders."

In Colonial Days. 127
they refused to help him at the decisive moment*
The General's efforts to impart European military
discipline to his troops, a long delay in procuring
wagons and horses for the provisions and the forage,
kept the army in the camp near Fort Cumberland
until late in May. "The 28th of that month the
first division of his army began the march over the
Alleghany Mts."f and could reasonably expect
to be successful, for it was supposed that " not above
500 Frenchmen, besides Indians, were at the fort on
the Ohio ;" the news:f sent by Lieutenant Holland,
May 10 and 12, 1755, that two parties of 300 French
each besides Indians, and by Captain Broadstreet,
May 29, that 950 French with nine cannons had passed
Oswego on their way to Ohio, and that others were
said to be under orders for the same place, could as
yet not have reached Virginia. Indian report was
also of a nature to buoy up the hope of success for
the English arms. The French were said to intend
retreat from and perhaps dismantling of the fort on
the Ohio on sight of Braddock's army,§ and Brad
dock made his plans accordingly. He sent for guns
and ammunition to be used in the fort on the Ohio
" if he should succeed in taking it, which I do not in
the least doubt of,"§ says Governor Dinwiddie.
On the loth of June the last detachment of the 3,000
men, composing General Braddock's army, marched
* N.Y. Col. Hist., VII, 22.
f Dinwiddie Papers, II, 50.
X N. Y. Col. MSS., Coun. Min., XXV, 32 and 43.
§ Dinwiddie Papers, II, 6g.

128 , The Ohio Valley
over the Alleghany mountains* and was about
to meet the fate, of which they did not dream, while
parties of French and Indians devastated the Eng
lish settlements on the frontiers of Virginia and
Maryland, in Hampshire, Frederick and Augusta
counties and on Holston river.f
Governor Dinwiddie, though distressed by the ac
count of ravages committed by the French, was still
in buoyant hopes, that the army, sent to drive them
from their stronghold on the Ohio, would put a stop
to their further proceeding in this direction, when the
news came, which wiped away all these hopes at one
fell blow. " I wrote you two days ago the account,"^
he writes to Lord Halifax on the 25th of July, 1755:
" we had from the Ohio of the defeat of our forces,
death of Gen' Braddock &c. I then was in hopes
these acc'^ were false, but alas ! last night I had an
express confirming these melancholy news."
The battle of the 9th of July, 1755, has been so
often described, that a relation of it would appear
superfluous, were it not by one of the participants in
the expedition, though not in the battle. Captain
John Rutherford, the writer of the following letter,
was a member of the Council of New York and com
manded one of the New York companies,
" I have delayed writing this week past out of vex
ation at our proceedings here, but now a Retreat is
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, 73.
f Ib. 90-1.
X Ib, 117.

In Colonial Days. 129
ordered and the blow struck to our shame and the
Glory of the Indians who with a very few Canadians
amongst them have entirely defeated our General
and the Division of our Troops which he carried
alongst with him and what is worst of all our Train
of Artillery is left in their hands which ruins all
hopes of doing any thing this way. Sir Peter Halket
was killed in the field regretted by all mankind and
his son Lieut. Halket, his son Major Halket came
off unwounded with a few ofificers more, all the rest
killed or returned wounded, many very dangerously
amongst whom are the General and Sir John S' Clair,
Capt Gates has a slight wound, L* Semain killed and
L* Miller returned unwounded, Capt Gates with 50
of his men having marched with the first division
and my Company and Capt. Demires with the re
mainder of his under Lieut Spearing marched in the
second division, except a few of our men who had
gone up to the first division with a convoy of Pro
visions ; the slaughter on our side is surprising con
sidering General Braddock had 1,500 and I dont
believe the Indians had 300 but they chose a very
advantageous Ground within 9 miles of Fort Du-
quesne. The general Told us he would never be 5
miles from us, so that the one division might support
the other whenever attacked ; what made him change
his resolution and order Col" Dunbar to keep us be
hind with Provisions and tired Waggon Horses,
God knows, it seems Infatuation : he thought he
had Men enough and was vain of his Artillery.
17

130 The Ohio Valley
We had no attacks upon us but small scalping
parties." Another letter gives a picture of a warfare in those
days. It is from Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, to
Governor Morris, of Pennsylvania. " Annapolis, y«^ 15, i755-
. . , ." I have not received any letters from the
General or the Camp since the 22*^ of June, but one
M'  , who belongs to the train wr, a letter to a
Gentleman of this town, dated near the Great
Meadows the 1^' of this month, says on the 9**^ of
last month the whole Army except 600 men with Sir
Jn° St Clair, who march"^ two days before, went from
Wills Creek & with Infinite difificultys thro the worst
roads in the world arrived 10 days afterwards at the
little Meadows, where an Abatie was made by Sir
John & two Engineers encircling the whole Camp —
here the whole halted 3 days, then the Baronett with
his party moved forward & the second day after the
General with four Howitzers, four twelve pounders,
13 Artillery Waggons, beside Ammunition Carts fol
lowed him & have kept marching ever since & this
Evening tis Expected his Excellency will be within
25 miles of the fort — Coll° Dunbar with the re
mainder of the Army, four Artillery Ofificers, 84 Car
riages with Ordinance stores and all the provision
waggons form the rear amongst whom I am. The
night before last we were Alarm"^ four different times
by the Sculking Indians, on whom our out Guards &
Gentries fired — tis said this morning the General

In Colonial Days. 131
has had advice that 500 regulars are in full march to
the fort, which is the reason he is determined to be
there before them. As we had but very little pro
visions since we left the post at Wills Creek, the
Ofificers as well as private men have been & still are
Extremely 111 with the flux, — many have died, — to
morrow morning we march again & are to Encamp on
the Western side of the great meadows, from whence
we are to proceed after the General, but am fearfull
it will not be before we have built some fortyfications
there & Leave a strong Party of men with a Great
Deal Provisions & Artillery Stores — our horses
being so weak for want of food & rest, that it is
Impossible for the whole Rear to joyn the front in
five & twenty Days,"*
To complete the account of the battle a French
report is given here, which says :f " M. de Contre
coeur, Captain of Infantry, Commandant at Fort
Duquesne on the Ohio, having been informed, that
the English were taking up arms in Virginia for the
purpose of coming to attack him, was advised,
shortly afterwards, that they were on the march. He
dispatched scouts, who reported to him faithfully
their progress. On the 17* (?) instant, he was ad
vised, that their army consisting of 3,000 regulars
from Old England, were within six leagues of this
fort. That ofificer employed the next day in making
his arrangements : and on the 9*^ detached M. de
* N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXXI, 78; Penn. Col. Records, VII, 477.
f N. Y. Co s t., X, 303, reprinted in Pennsylvania Archives, 2d Ser..
VI, 256.

132 The Ohio Valley
Beaujeu, seconded by Mess''^ Dumas and de Lignery,
all three Captains, with four Lieutenants, 6 Ensigns,
20 Cadets, 100 Soldiers, 100 Canadians and 600
Indians, with orders to lie in ambush at a favorable
spot, which he had reconnoitred the previous evening.
The detachment, before it could reach its place of
destination, found itself in the presence of the en
emy within three leagues of that fort M"^ de
Beaujeu, finding his ambush had failed, decided on
an attack. This he made with so much vigor as to
astonish the enemy, who were waiting for us in the
best possible order ; but their artillery loaded with
grape {h. cartouche), having opened its fire, our men
gave way in turn. ' The Indians also, frightened by
the report of the cannon rather than by any damage
it could inflict, began to yield, when M, de Beaujeu
was killed, M, Dumas began to encourage his de
tachment He ordered the ofificers in command of
the Indians to spread themselves along the wings so
as to take the enemy in flank, whilst he, M, de Lig
nery and the other officers, who led the French, were
attacking them in front This order was executed so
promptly, that the enemy, who were already shouting
their " Long live the King," thought now of only
defending themselves. The fight was obstinate on
both sides and success long doubtful ; but the enemy
at last gave way. Efforts were made, in vain, to
introduce some sort of order in their retreat. The
whoop of the Indians, which echoed through the
forest, struck terror into the hearts of the entire

In Colonial Days. 133
enemy. The rout was complete. We remained in
possession of the field with six brass twelves and
sixes, four howitz-carriages of fifty, 1 1 small royal
grenade mortars, all their ammunition and generally
their entire baggage. Some deserters, who have
come in since, have told us, that we had been en
gaged with only 2,000 men, the remainder of the
army being four leagues off. These same deserters
have informed us, that the enemy were retreating to
Virginia and some scouts, sent as far as the height
of land, have confirmed this by reporting, that the
thousand men, who were not engaged, had been
equally panic stricken and abandoned both pro
visions and ammunition on the way. On this intelli
gence a detachment was dispatched after them, which
destroyed and burnt everything that could be found.
The enemy have left more than 1,000 men on the
field of battle. They have lost a great portion of
the artillery and ammunition, provisions, as also their
General, whose name was M"" Braddock and almost
all their ofificers. We have had 3 ofificers killed, 2
ofificers and 2 cadets wounded. Such a victory, so
entirely unexpected, seeing the inequality of the
forces, is the fruit of M. Dumas' experience and of
the activity and valor of the ofificers under his com
mand."

CHAPTER VL
The French Masters of the Ohio Valley,
Although the defeat of the English troops, who
had encountered the enemy, could hardly have been
more decisive and humiliating, because 300 French
and 600 Indians had almost annihilated 1,300 English
soldiers. Governor Dinwiddie was still intent upon
carrying out his plan of driving the French from the
Ohio, The feeling, that this defeat was a disaster
which could be made use of in obtaining further help
against the French, was shared by others. Secretary
Richard Peters, of Pennsylvania, writes to Governor
de Lancey, of New York, July 19, 1755 :*
, . . . " The defeat is not general. The Army was
in 2 Divisions in the First of which marched the
General, having with him 1300 men, 4 Howitzers, 4
1 2 pdrs. & 1 3 Art^ Waggons. The second was com
manded by Col. Dunbar and had not marched further
than Two Miles West of the great meadows, distant
from Fort Duquesne Sixty Miles, having with him
the heavy baggage. Ordinance Stores, the Provisions
and greatest part of the waggons. — The General was
advanced within Five miles of Fort Duquesne and
~" * N. Y. Col. MSS., LXXXI, 85. ~ ~

The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days. 135
marching in a narrow Way on the 8^'' or 9* Instant
when he was attacked by a large Number of French
and Indians and beat, but not killed as was said, and
was making a fine Retreat to Col. Dunbars part of
the Army."
The reader may ask, where were the Indians,
friendly to the British, a so important factor in Colo
nial warfare ? Governor Dinwiddie propounds the
same question and answers it as follows :* " The Six
Nations, so many as are in the British Int't, were
^rig^ged with Gen^ Shirley and Johnson on the
Expedit's to Niagara and Crown Point The
Twightwees, who I verily think are in our interest,
are on the other Side the Ohio and I believe [were]
prevented from serving us by the Fr. being between
them and us. Those Indians on the Ohio, who I
had reason to think were in our Interest, were over
awed by the Fr. and their Indians, only Moneca
toocha their Chief, and a few of their People, rem'd
at F' Cumb'l'd, march'd with the Gen'' and shew'd
their attachm't to us by doing every Th'g in their
Power for our Service. The So'ern Ind's, viz' : the
Cherokees and Catawbas, I have, been these 18 mo's
endeavour'g to get a No. of them to join our Forces,
w'''' they seriously promised. The Fr., who are
always on the watch, knowing their Intent's, in March
last sent 14 of their Ind's to perswade to lie Neuter,
or declare War ag'st So. Caro. and they would assist
them, or get a Meet'g with the Go'r of y't Province
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, 224.

136 The Ohio Valley
to have some Presents for their Interest. The last
Proposal prevailed, w'^'' answer'd the Ends of the Fr.
They kept them at a distance from the Scene of
Action." Governor Dinwiddie was eager to renew the at
tempt against the French. He wrote to Colonel
Dunbar, July 26, 1755 :* " Dear Colonel, is there no
Method left to retrieve the Dishonor done to the
British Arms ? As you now Comm'd all the Forces
y' remain are you not able, after a proper Refreshm't
of your Men, to make a second Attempt to recover
the Loss we have Sustained? You must still have
remain'g upwards of 1600 Men and I have called the
Assembly of this Dom'n to meet next Tuesday next
come Week, w'n I think I can promise You a Rein
forcement of at least 400 Men. . . . Why cannot we
recover the Train [of Artillery] in the same Manner
as the Enemy took them. You have four Mo's now
to come of the best Weather in the Year for such an
Expedition. As our Forces under Gen' Shirley are
marched and before y^ I suppose attacked Niagara
and Colo. Johnson,f I believe, has prevailed with the
Six Nations to take up the Hatchet ag^' the French,
and I suppose that Gent is gone ag^' Crown Point,
w*^** no doubt the Forces at F' Duquesne are appris'd
of and naturally will go up the River Ohio to the
Assist'ce of these Places, and will remain satisfied
and secure y' no Attempt y^ Year will be made on
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, iiS.
f Sir W"" Johnson of New York.

In Colonial Days. 137
the Ohio, under y^ y' Security, w' may You not do if
You march over the Mount' the Beginning of Septbr.
. , . , It's my duty to H, M'y, as Gov"" of y= Domi'n,
to make the above Proposal to You, w'='' if it meets
w*" Y' Approbat'n or that of a Council of War, will
give me much Pleasure,"
The Virginia Assembly roused itself to energy and
voted quickly ;^40,ooo, with the help of which the
Governor was to raise a force of 1,200 men. But
the Council of War decided against this project of
Dinwiddie and Colonel Dunbar's unauthorized action
made it impossible. Although more than forty miles
from the scene of Braddock's defeat and therefore
not in immediate danger of an attack, which consid
ering the number of troops under his command he
might easily have repulsed, he destroyed all the am
munition and provisions in his camp and in the mid
dle of summer marched with his whole force to
Philadelphia to go into winter quarters. Governor
Dinwiddie was in despair over this untoward break
ing down of his calculations and now could do nothing
more than to make arrangements to protect the Eng
lish settlers and Indian allies on the frontiers. Unin
tentionally the French helped him by outrages,
" devastation and murders "* in Indian villages on
the Holston and New rivers. He ordered forts to
be built on these two streams, probably next to
Walker's, the first European establishments in that
part of the present United States, Doctor Thomas
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, i8g.
18

138 The Ohio Valley
Walker, belonging to an even at that time old or
long-settled Virginia family, had crossed Powell's
valley in 1 748 and gave the name of Cumberland to
the lofty range of mountains west of Virginia. The
remarkable depression in this chain received from
him the name of Cumberland Gap, and the Sha
wanese river that of Cumberland, In a previous
chapter a map is mentioned which speaks of " Walk
er's, an English settlement," in 1 750. Doctor Walker
crossed Clinch and Powell rivers into Kentucky
again in 1 760, probably with Daniel Boone. Gover
nor Dinwiddie, through his agents, asked the Chero
kees to assist in keeping the French with their
Shawanese allies out of this territory, and a party of
130 Cherokees* joined 200 Virginia Rangers to
attack the French Indians in their towns.f Their
hoped for success was expected to be of great service,
for these allies of the French committed " monstrous
and barbarous murders in the back country."
But French diplomacy and statescraft prepared
unforeseen difificulties. The Creek Indians were
induced by it to make war on South Carolina and
their native allies, of whom the Chickasaws bore the
first brunt, while French emissaries and priests were
busy among the Catawbas and Cherokees. To coun
teract their efforts Governor Dinwiddie was obliged
to put his hands into the public treasury and draw
out ^500 for presents, which two members of his
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, 294.
f Ib. 320.

In Colonial Days. 139
Council, Peter Randolph and William Byrd, were
commissioned to bring to them. These agents had
authority to enter into a treaty of alliance with the
Cherokees and their allies, and for a wonder ! they
succeeded, for which we may assume they were more
indebted to the hatred of the French, aroused in the
Indians' hearts, than to their skill in treating with a
race, which though God's creatures like themselves,
the English-speaking nations do not consider any
more entitled to reasonable treatment, than an hun
gry wolf.
The experiences of the preceding winter had
already demonstrated that it would be necessary to
punish our erratic friends, the Shawanoes. In No
vember, 1755, they were reported as having gone
south to join the Creeks, who were enemies of the
Cherokees.* This tribe, faithful to their English
friends, sent, as stated before, a detachment of 130
warriors to co-operate with Virginia Rangers in an
attack upon the Shawanoe towns, and Major Andrew
Lewis was appointed to the chief command of this
expedition, f but after struggling for six weeks
through the woods, it had to be declared unsuccess
ful. The rivers which were to be crossed, had over
flowed their banks, swollen by thawing snow and
spring rains; canoes with provisions and ammunition
were upset, and the valiant warriors were finally
obliged to kill their horses for food. The Sandy
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, 279.
fib.

140 The Ohio Valley
Creek expedition, though well prepared and fairly
well managed, had proved a failure, because no atten
tion had been paid to climatic conditions. A possible
retaliation upon their Cherokee enemies by the Sha
wanoes and their friends, Indian and French, had,
however, to be made ineffectual, and the best means
for doing so was the construction of a fort in the
Cherokee country. The Cherokees were willing to
have an English fort in their country and Major
Andrew Lewis was appointed to superintend the con
struction of it. In pursuance of the instructions
given him by Governor Dinwiddie, Major Lewis was
to march to Chotte,* in the country of the Cherokees,
and to build there the fort, in which undertaking it
was hoped, men sent by the Governor of South Caro
lina would assist Although the South Carolinians
were rather slow in coming to the work, Governor
Dinwiddie could write to Major Lewis in August,
1 756 :f •' I am very glad the fort was so forward
when you wrote me, and that it was so agreeable to
the Cherokees, w*"" they write is entirely to their sat
isfaction." Governor Dinwiddie was wedded to the idea of
driving the French out of the Ohio valley and having
now secured a firm alliance with the Cherokees and
presumably their friends, he began to plan a new
expedition against the French, but he was met by
unexpected obstacles to carry it out. " I am glad,"
* On or near Holston river.
f Dinwiddie Papers, II, 486.

In Colonial Days. 141
he writes to Colonel Washington, May 8'\ 1756,*
"the Ind'^ are gone over the All'y Mount's, but I
can't believe them so numerous as represented, unless
they have prevailed upon the Twightwees to join
with 'em, and I am of Opin'n if You c'd send a
Message to them by some trusty Ind'n to let 'em
know our Intent's ag' the Fr., and the No. of War
riors sent by Y"^ Father, the King, to exterpate the
Fr. and to protect Y"' Lands, they w'd continue Steddy
in our Int't, for they will never forget the Insults and
Murd's comitted ag^' 'em by the Fr. in 1752. .. . As
to a Plan of Operation, what can I concert, when our
neighbouring are asleep and afford us no assistance ?
No great Gunns or Engineers to attack their Fort,
which I much desire to be on the offensive, but as
we are now situated, we can only remain on the de-
fencive to protect our frontiers." If the plan of
union, proposed and discussed at Albany in 1754,
had become operative. Governor Dinwiddle's plans
might have found support in the other Colonies, for
through Sir William Johnson's clever management
the Shawanoes and Delawares, important allies of the
French, had been induced to join the British. He
had been stirred up to use his best efforts for this
purpose, among others by the following letter, writ
ten at Philadelphia, by Daniel Claus,f April 5, 1756:
" This Province is at present in the most deplorable
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, 406.
r f Lieutenant and later Captain 60"' (Roy' American) Reg'. Son-in-law of
Sir W"" and one of his deputies in Indian affairs.

142 The Ohio Valley
situation. The Governors Party and the Quakers
(whose head is Mr. Franklin) are continually in dis
pute with one another and nothing but Confusion
reigns here. The Enemy as reported is descending
upon them with a body of 1600 strong. Mr. Peters
is sometimes most distracted and dreads its ruin if
things go on as they do. The 60,000 pounds raised
lately are expended to one quarter and nobody knows,
what good was done thereby.
" The young man, that made his escape from King
Shingo, the Delaware, says, that the Indians told
him, how they found out, that the English and French
had made an agreement to cut them off & then take
their lands in possession, but that they would pre
vent that if possible, for saith they, if we only subdue
the English first, we may do afterwards what we
please with the French, for we have them as it were
in a sheeps pen and may cut them off at any time,
for they had no liberty to plant any corn yet, tho'
they tried but it was forbid them & we told them,
that we did not give them liberty to build that fort
in order to make improvements, but only to fight
against the English.
" The people here were surprised, that the 6
Nations at the last treaty had not agreed upon
knocking the Delawares and Shawanoes in the head.
Skarouyade told them, that the 6 Nations were re
solved to cut them off in case they would not listen
to the message they sent now ; the Gov"^ & Council
then were wondering that the treaty was mentioning

In Colonial Days. 143
nothing of the nature. I told them I did not hear
the 6 Nations say any such thing in public nor be
lieved they believed they would undertake it, then
Mr. Montour* said, it was agreed upon in some of
their private councils. They are now upon promising
rewards for scalps, /30 a scalp & ;^50 a prisoner,
before they know the result of the 6 Nations upon
the answer the Delawares are to give to their late
message. I am afeared, they will make evil worse.
They think the message to the Delawares upon Sus
quehanna was of no consequence or help, but mes
sages should have been sent to Ohio and the Indians,
who live near Fort du Quesne. "f Matters were evi
dently beginning to take a favorable shape, so that
Goldsborough Banyar, Clerk of the N. Y. Council
and an intimate friend of Sir William, could write
him April 30, 1756: "I am glad to see the prospect
increases of your accommodating matters between
us and the Delawares and the Shawnese. Do not
spare any powers to accomplish it, you can hardly do
your King and country a more essential service and
you'll win the hearts of the Quakers by it, (if that
were a New York motive), who utterly disapprove of
Gov' Morris (of Pennsylvania) Proclamation. "J
This proclamation was a declaration of war against
the Delaware and Susquehanna Indians. Though
hostilities against the Indians, friendly to the British
* Indian interpreter, frequently employed by Sir W".
f Sir W" Johnson Papers, N. Y. State Library, IV, 34.
X lb. 40.

144 The Ohio Valley
interest, were forbidden at the same time, misrepre
sentations of the Pennsylvanian intentions not only
alarmed the Six Nations, but threatened also to pre
vent the southern tribes from coming to the great
meeting at Onondaga. Messengers traveled in all di
rections to counteract this bad impression and in July,
1756, Sir William could open the Indian congress,
attended by the New York Indians, and as the report
of the proceedings* has it, " their allies and depend
ents, the Shawanese and Delawares."
Monacatutha, the Half King,f speaking for these
latter, said : " You desire to know of us, why those
of our people, who have committed several murders
upon the English have not appeared at this meeting
and what were their reasons for their committing
hostilities on their brethren without any provocation.
" Brother, we know the reason and will tell you it
here before the Six Nations and all present, for we
are not afraid to speak the truth before any nation
or people. Last year the French brought a powerful
army into our country and soon after the English
marched another army, which appeared to us like two
Clouds hanging over us ; we looked on till the battle
was over and then we found some of the Six Nations
with the French hatchets in their hands killing the
English and as we were in strict alliance with the Six
Nations, we thought it our duty to do the same, yet
we did not immediately strike. :J Some of our young
* Sir wm Johnson Papers, N. Y. State Library, IV. 77.
f An Oneida chief.
X From here to XX relates to the Shawanese on the Ohio according to a
note in the original.

In Colonial Days. 145
men soon after killed some hogs belonging to the
English, which exasperated the English so much,
that they struck their hatchets into our heads and
then we declared war against the English, but we
have found, that we have acted wrong, for which
reason we hope, our brethren, the English, will par
don us for what is past, as we laid down our hatchets,
as soon as we were convinced we were wrong."JJ
The Shawanese King added : " We were first set
tled at Shahandowana (Wyoming) and upon our
brothers application we left that place and came and
settled upon a branch of Susquehannah. Brother,
you may naturally conclude, we could have no bad
intentions towards the English, by our removing
nearer to them and I assure you, that we neither
have been nor will be concerned in any hostilities
against them."
When a few days later the conference ended, all
the troubles with the Delawares and Shawanese were
considered settled, and in opposition to Morris of
Pennsylvania, Governor Belcher of New Jersey disap
proved strongly of any warlike measures against the
Indians, with whom Sir William Johnson had just
treated.* The French at Fort du Quesne, provisioned
by way of the Illinois, were expecting, that the result
of the Onondaga conference would be in their favor.
The Marquis de Vaudreuil writes home in August,
i756:f * Sir Wm Johnson Papers, IV, 87.
t N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 436.
19

146 The Ohio Valley
" The Iroquois of the vicinity of Fort du Quesne
have almost all retired to the mouth of Rivifere aux
Boeufs on a belt from the Five Nations. M. Dumas,
Commander at Fort du Quesne, is very glad to be
rid of them. His affairs will only improve, as soon
as he thoroughly understands the disposition of the
Delawares and Shawanese towards them  M.
Dumas had received the provisions, which he had
demanded from Illinois  I knew that the route
from the Illinois to Fort du Quesne was as fine as
could be desired. Chevalier de Villiers, who com
manded the escort of these provisions, came up as
far as Fort du Quesne with a bateau of 18 thousand
weight. This little convoy makes known to this
Colony a sure communication with the Illinois, whence
I can derive succor in provisions and men, sooner and
more easily than from the heart of this Colony.
" M. de Villiers' report shows more strongly than
ever the necessity of erecting a fort at the falls* to
secure that communication. ... I made in 1 746 the
like representations to the Court, which authorized
me to have that fort erected ; but its execution was
neglected owing to circumstances and since then there
has not been any further question of it"
The Shawanese seem to have been a tribe, upon
whose word little dependence could be placed, unless
Marquis de Vaudreuil complacently deceives himself
by continuing in the above letter as follows : " M.
Dumas has sent me two young warriors, Chaouanons,
* Now Louisville, Ky.

In Colonial Days. 147
who are attached to him. They have assured me, on
the part of their chiefs and their entire nation, of the
pleasure they experienced at seeing me ; that from
the first moment they had learned of my arrival, they
had wholly declared for the French ; that they have
given me proof thereof in the battle we gave the
army of General Braddock ; that they were resolved
never to quit the French and to die with them. I
have warmly received these Chaouanons. The wel
come I have given them will not fail to excite the
envy of the other Indians on the Beautiful River to
follow the same route."
No doubt, perhaps, that the Shawanese and Dela
wares, conferring with Sir William Johnson, on July
16, were in earnest, when they promised to live in
peace with their English brethren, for in the days
when no steamships raced across the Atlantic nor an
electric wire carried sparks under it, news from
Europe came much slower and the declaration of
war, issued in London May 17, 1756, did not reach
Northern New York before the end of July.* Their
subsequent attitude justified, however, Vaudreuil's
hope, for in the following December Edmund Atkin,
Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Southern
Colonies, writes to the Lords of Trade :f " Sir Wil
liam (Johnson) told me, that the 6 Nations were
weakened and in fact distressed, some of the West-
* Governor Hardy, of New York, received the Declaration of War on the
27th of July, while at Albany, and notified his subordinates of it frora there.
f N. Y. Col. Hist. VII, 209.

148 The Ohio Valley
ern Nations having fallen off from their allegiance,
and the Shawanese and such of the Delawares as live
upon the Ohio, who had been subject to them, having
been set up and supported in an Independency upon
them by the French still continuing Hostilities
against the People of some of our Colonies, contrary
to their orders." The same Mr. Atkin successfully
endeavored to reconcile the Iroquois of New York
with the Southern Indians and to extract from them a
permission for the Cherokees and their allies, to make
war on the Shawanese and Delawares of the Ohio
Valley. Governor Dinwiddie had labored hard during
the preceding summer, to keep the Cherokees 'in the
British alliance, and had the satisfaction to find them
eager for a fray with the French on the Ohio. A
fort had been built in the Upper Cherokee country,
which pleased the natives very much and " they have
engaged to send in hear 400 of y'' Warriors to pro
tect our front's. . . . The retain'g of these People in
our Int't is an essential piece of Service at y^ time, as
the Fr. have been long endeavour'g to get them from
us."* But the Governor had not taken into con
sideration that " the Indians are a most inconstant and
unfix'd Set of Mortals, and laying aside all Treaties,
Promises and Engagements, are always ready to
Join with the strongest Side and no longer there
than they have success."f Two months after he had
rejoicingly reported that the Cherokees were firm in
* Dinwiddie Papers, II, 520.
fib, 539-

In Colonial Days. 149
the British interest, he learned that they were waver
ing and had to begin his negotiations with them
anew with the result, that the report of their defec
tion was not perfectly true. At the same time came
reports of "All quiet on the Frontiers," for the
French and their Indians had not molested the back
settlements, probably on account of the winter and
consequent bad roads.
The summer of 1757 saw no combined effort made
to expel the French from the Ohio and we have only
to note small skirmishes and military chess-playing.
Lieutenant Baker, of Washington's detachment at
Fort Loudon, with a scouting party of five soldiers and
fifteen Cherokees had the good fortune to surprise
and rout a similar party of French, of whom they
killed two ofificers and captured the third, at the head
of Turtle creek, two miles fromo Frt du Quesne.
The death of the Indian chief commanding the
Cherokees prevented a pursuit of the flying enemy.*
» N. Y. Coll. MSS., LXXXIV, g4.

CHAPTER VII.
The Flag of S'^ George Floats Again over the
Ohio Valley,
Colonel John Stanwix, commanding the First Bat
talion of the Sixtieth or Royal American Regiment,
was at this time in charge of the military affairs in
the southern department with head-quarters at Car
lisle, Pennsylvania. The" following letter, written by
him to Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania, from
" Camp near Carlisle," June 19, 1 757, gives an insight
into the difificulties, under which war was carried on
in the Colonies even by such an experienced ofificer
as Colonel Stanwix was, and affords also a picture of
the condition of affairs.
" , , , I only wait for Waggons to march for Ship-
pensburgh, but when I shall be able to set out it is
impossible to say, as in two days Notice I have yet
been able to get but two Waggons, , . . The reasons
of my moving is the hearing of Intelligence from
Captain Dagworthy, who commands at Fort Dag-
worthy, which I give you in his own words :
'"Sir " ' Fort Cumberland, June 1 7, 1 757.
" ' Six Cherokee Indians, who just now came from
Fort Duquesne say, that six days ago they saw a

The Ohio Valley m Colonial Days. 1 5 1
large body of Troops march from that Garrison, with
a Number of Waggons and a Train of Artillery and
by their Rout must intend an Attack on this Garri
son, Two days afterwards these Indians saw the
Army on their March on this side the place where
General Braddock was defeated,
" ' Sir, yours etc John Dagworthy '
" , . , Col, Washington thinks that their next object
must be Fort Loudoun likewise in a bad Condition.
Col. Washington intends to pursue the Resolution
of a Council of War, which is, viz : "That as Rein
forcing this Garrison is absolutely necessary, that the
Detached enfeebled Situation of the Garrisons on the
South Branch must make them fall an easy Prey to
the Enemy, and that as drawing them all to one place
on the Branch would be giving up all the Settlements
except that place, which (supposing it would be main
tained) would by no means be of such Consequence
as reinforcing this Important place, that therefore
they ought to be ordered here immediately,"*
A few days before Washington had informed him
from Fort Loudon, that " if the Enemy is coming
down in such numbers and with such a Train of Artil
lery, as we are bid to expect. Fort Cumberland must
inevitably fall into their hands, as no Efforts can be
timely made to save it,"f
Fort Cumberland, however, was not taken, not
even invested, but the country along the border suf-
* N. Y. Coll. MSS., LXXXIV, g7.
f lb., LXXXIV, gs.

152 The Ohio Valley
fered from the incursions of the French Indians.
The picture given of the condition of affairs by the
Rev, Claude Godfroy Cocquard in a letter to his
brother,* which describes Georgia, Carolina, Mary
land and Pennsylvania as "wholly laid waste," is
perhaps overdrawn, the brush having been dipped too
deep into French patriotism, for other English
sources inform us, that the garrisons at Forts Loudon,
Cumberland, etc., protected the farmers and settlers
to the best of their abilities. The same Reverend
Father reports under date of October 6, 1757, that a
party of 300 English horsemen went to surprise or
burn a Delaware village on the Ohio and that they
were repulsed by five Canadians and the Indian in
habitants of the village, losing twenty-five killed and
two prisoners. During the whole year 1,757 messages
were carried to all the Indian tribes west of the Alle
ghanies to confirm their alliance with the French, for
though he never confessed it in his letters. Gover
nor Vaudreuil must have felt that the closing scenes
of this bloody drama were to be enacted shortly, and
that as France with its war in Europe could not
afford to support him sufificiently against the troops,
which England was pouring into her Colonies, it be
hooved him to make the most of his Indian allies.
His letter to M, de Machault,f dated April 19, 1757,
*N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 528, reprinted in Pennsylvania Arch., 2d Series,
VI, 387.
f Jean Baptiste Machault d'Arnouville, President of the Grand Council
1738, CoraptroUer-General of Finances 1745, Keeper of the Seals 1750,
Minister of the Colonies 1754, exiled July, 1757. Fort Machault on French
creek, Pa., called after him.

In Colonial Days. 153
gives an account of his endeavors to secure the
Indians in the French interest and the success he
had : " In the letter (of Octob' 11) I did myself also
the honor to observe that my negotiations with the
Flatheads* were more and more successful  A
Canadian of Detroit, who has since several years
been adopted by that Nation and to whom I had se
cretly transmitted a letter, that he should endeavor,
without too marked a zeal, to induce the Flatheads
to unite with the French, wrote to the Commandant
of Fort du Quesne, that the Flatheads had received
my message with pleasure ; that four of them were
setting out to convey the message of the chiefs to
the Hurons and to advise the Commandant of Fort
du Quesne of the intentions of their nations. This
Canadian added that he was himself going on the
part of the Cherakees to carry their message to
Mobile; that all the Indians were making arrange
ments to do well for the French. . . . This letter
was confided to the Chaouanon chief of Sonniatof
by two Flatheads, who were desirous of going to
see the Commandant of Fort du Quesne, whilst the
other messengers would proceed on with a Chaouanon
chief to convey to Detroit the belt with which they
were intrusted on the part of their chiefs  The
Flathead deputies arrived at Detroit and held a grand
council with M. de Muy on the 10"' of January.
They commenced by asking me for peace and
* Choctaws on de I'lsle Map.
f Scioto, Ohio. 20

154 The Ohio Valley
testified to all the Indian Nations the desire they felt
to be admitted into the number of our allies ; and as
soon as they should learn my sentiments more posi
tively, than by the messages, transmitted to them in
my name, they would return in greater numbers and
with stronger messages.
They asked pardon for all their faults and said :
That they held on to the English by almost nothing
and that their hand would slip from them the moment
I should protect them and that all the nations were
desirous of living in peace with them.
That if I would promise to supply their wants as
I did those of the other nations, they would entirely
abandon and strike the English,
The Chaouanons, who accompanied the Flatheads
to Detroit, told them they had obeyed my message
and had forthwith struck the English  M. de
Muy received by these messengers a letter from a
Canadian, who is also adopted in that tribe, wherein
he informs him, that the Cherakis and Flatheads are
really desirous to wage war against the English, I
have reason to believe, that the Flatheads have
already commenced hostilities, because the Acadians
who have deserted from Carolina have assured me,
that the Cherakis and Chicachaws [Chickasaws]
being gone to Virginia for their presents, had on
their return home destroyed 500 English plantations,*
* Governor Dinwiddie writes about the same time "We have had 148
Cherokees, 124 Catawbas etc at Fort Loudoun. . . . The Cherokees have
been guilty of many Disorders in marching through this Country and killed
a Chickasaw Warrior. Dinwiddie Papers, II, 633.

In Colonial Days. 155
which appears so,little doubtful, that these Acadians
assert having seen some of those very Englishmen,
who had escaped from those Indians 
My principal object is to prevent the Flatheads
from pronouncing against us ; I observe towards
them the same policy, I have observed towards the
Five Nations, because if these Flatheads attacked
the nations on the Beautiful River, that would throw
a damp on their ardor, and I even think, that our
other nations would not go willingly to wage war
against the English in those parts.
I should dare flatter myself that I might succeed
in getting these Flatheads to strike, had I the where
withal to supply their wants ; this I could not do, so
long, as they will remain constantly in their villages,
in as much as they will always be obliged to have re
course to the English and it is not natural to suppose,
that they wish by declaring war against those English
to expose themselves to a lack of everything, there
fore it is desirable we could afford them an asylum.
This is a matter of more urgency than apparent
The English employ all their resources to induce
those Nations to unite with them and it would be
highly dangerous should they succeed, for they have
projected the erection of a fort and the building of
large bateaux in the villages of those Indians, for
the purpose of going by the Ouabache to attack the
Illinois or at least surprise the Louisiana convoys.
It would be indispensable to establish a post at the
falls of the Beautiful River, to secure the communi-

156 The Ohio Valley
cation of Canada with Louisiana  The soil at
these falls invites settlements. If we could have
some permanent ones, we should hold the Flatheads
and Cherakis in check."*
The attitude of all the Indian tribes, living in or
connected with the Ohio Valley, was a matter of
importance not only to the French, but also to the
English authorities. The purchase of large tracts
of land, made at Albany by Pennsylvania in 1754,
although consented to by some of the tribes in in
terest, had not the approval of all. The Six Nations
expressed their dissatisfaction unreservedly at a meet
ing with Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania, held at
Lancaster in May, 1757; they confirmed a report
brought to Sir William Johnson by Margaret Wil-
liams,f who had been a prisoner among the Dela
wares and upon her release had told, that she heard the
Indians frequently and solemnly declare, they would
never leave off killing the English as long as there
was an Englishman livingon their lands . , . , "which
the English had cheated them out of," Other reports
were still more alarming. Alexander McClure, of
Pennsylvania, an Indian trader at Chenussio in the
Seneca country, was told by a Delaware, coming
from Niagara, that all the French Indians from the
north side of the lakes were to destroy the Mohawk
country and the Indians, living south of the lakes,
and then attack Fort Cumberland and the Southern
* N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 53g, and Penn. Arch., 2d Series, VI, 395.
fib., VII, 331.

In Colonial Days. 157
Colonies,* But British gold, added in large quanti-
tities to British diplomacy, proved an irresistible
agent and kept the wavering Indians fairly in the
British interest George Croghan, Sir William John
son's deputy in Pennsylvania, labored with the Dela
wares and some of the Six Nations so successfully at
Easton, Pennsylvania, during July and August, 1757,
that he could report, " the grand Council of the Six
Nations, which sat two months, has unanimously
agreed to oppose the French measures and hold fast
by the chain of friendship subsisting between the
English and them,"f Mohawks and Senecas of the
Six Nations and Cherokees from the south verified
this to Sir William in a meeting at Fort Johnson,
New York, in the following September: "We are
warriors and our nation have lifted their ax against
the French and are determined not to lay it down,
whilst there is a man amongst us left alive. ":|: The
Cherokees appear to have been specially aroused
against the French. Delegates from this nation with
" several others from the Southward, viz. : Oghna-
goes, Nanticokes and Connoys, had first consulted
with the Six Nations, with the above result, and then
extended an invitation to the English to renew and
strengthen the covenant chain. "§
The year 1 75 7, now drawing towards its close, had
been an uneventful one in the Ohio Valley, as far as
* Sir Wra. Johnson Papers, IV, 31.
f N. Y. Col. Hist., VII, 285.
X lb., 325.
§ Sir Wm, Johnson Papers, IV, 148, 154. ;

158 The Ohio Valley
military operations are to be considered. But the
political movements of the same year had been of
importance for the whole question of French do
minion. The weakness of the English Ministry had
become so patent in the spring of 1757, that Pitt, one
of the most able statesmen of his day, had been
called to its head. America was to him the object
of the greatest solicitude. He relieved Loudoun
from the command in the Colonies, for which he had
shown only mediocre ability. The Colonies were
admonished to recruit troops for an active campaign
and encouraged to do so by a promise of having the
expenses, incidental to such an increase of the army,
refunded by the home government ; the Colonial
military ofificers were given equal rank with the ofifi
cers of the Royal troops. All this infused new life
into the attempts to drive the French out.
Three expeditions were planned by the English,
two of which must be mentioned here, because their
results affected the proceedings of the third against
Fort du Quesne, The first against Louisburg, under
Amherst and Wolfe, deprived the French of about
6,000 soldiers, who became prisoners of the English
forces upon the fall of Louisburg, The second, un
der Abercrombie and Howe, which was to attack
Crown Point and Ticonderoga and thereby open a
new road to Canada, was not so successful. Lord
Howe fell and the more or less incompetent Aber
crombie, his successor in command, managed to lose
2,000 men. But a detachment of this army, com-

In Colonial Days. 159
manded by Colonel Bradstreet, had the good luck to
strike a blow, which was decisive for the fate of Fort
du Quesne. Fort Frontenac and the French navy on
Lake Ontario, fell into the hands of this ofificer on
the 27th of August, 1758. This loss threw the
French authorities into consternation, " Every thing
is now to be feared for Fort Niagara," says M, Doreil,
commissioner of war, in a letter to Marshall de Belle
Isle, announcing the disaster, " Canada is lost, if
peace be not made this winter."*
" We are expecting news from the Beautiful River,
where a corps of 8,000 men was to operate under the
orders of General Forbes," writes Montcalm to M.
de Cremille, Assistant Minister of War, in Octo
ber, i758.f He probably did not expect these news
to be very cheerful, for he writes at the same time to
Marshall de Belle Isle, the Minister of War, that M.
de Ligneris, the commander at Fort du Quesne, and
M. de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, are of opinion
General Forbes would have, besides his white troops,
a great many Indians with him. " The Five Nations,"
says he, " are always assuring us of their attachment
and receiving presents from the English. Their
hearts are with the latter and their fears with us."J
The first attempt of the English to recover Fort
du Quesne was not successful. General Forbes had,
for good military reasons, followed Washington's ad-
* N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 8ig.
f lb., 856.
t lb., 861.

i6o The Ohio Valley
vice and taken a different road from thiat of Brad
dock's. On his march through the wilderness he
built Fort Bedford, at Raystown, and finally reaching
the Loyalhannon creek, fifty miles from du Quesne,
he established his head-quarters there settling, down
for a diplomatic campaign with the Indians, in which
he was effectually assisted by an agent. Christian
Frederik Post, sent by Governor Denny, of Penn
sylvania.* Military operations were, however, not
neglected, and at first they led to disaster. Major
James Grant, of the Montgomerie Highlanders,
started out with a command of about 800 men from
the camp on the Kiskiminitas, for an expedition
against Fort du Quesne. On the third day of their
march, the 15th of September, 1758, they were within
a quarter of a mile from the fort From here Major
Grant sent out a detachment to attack all the Indians
and others found outside of the fort ; they saw none
nor were they seen by any body of the enemies, but
in returning they foolishly announced their presence
by setting fire to a large store-house, upon which they
had stumbled. This, very naturally, aroused the
French, who immediately made a sally and drove the
enemy off. French accounts claim that the English
speedily took to their heels and were pursued for two
hours, losing between 600 and 700 men. Major
Grant, four other ofificers and about 100 men were
taken prisoners. From English reports we know
* See Second Journal of C. F. Post, London, i75g.

In Colonial Days. i6i
only, that Major Grant was captured and the whole
expedition frustrated.*
But the days during which the French could main
tain themselves at Fort du Quesne were numbered.
The capture of Fort Frontenac and of the fleet on
Lake Ontario made it impossible to increase the gar
rison of the fort or to supply it with provisions.
Even the small victory gained in September became
a source of increased weakness, for the Indians, hith
erto acting under French orders, who had helped to
repulse Major Grant's command, immediately on re
turning from their pursuit, quitted Fort du Quesne
to seek their villages. De Ligneris and his ofificers
found it impossible to retain them.
This defection of near 600 Indian warriors reduced
the number of troops garrisoning du Quesne, to barely
1,000, commanded by Marchand de Lignery, an ofifi
cer of considerable military experience, gained during
more than twenty years' service in America.f Vau
dreuil and Montcalm were not in position to send suc
cor to the threatened post, the occupants of which had
learned by intuition, that Forbes intended to capture
it, even if it took the whole of the ensuing winter to do
it Illness kept this General more abed, than he prob
ably liked. He complained that he had to spend, his
time " between business and medicine," but his stub
born Scotch head knew not such words as " give up."
~* N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 884, 888, go2.
f He made the carapaign against the Fox Indians (1732), against the Chica
saws at Fort I'Assomption. Tenn. (i73g), against the Mohawks with Chev.
de la Corne (i747). 21

1 62 The Ohio Valley
" I have the Pleasure and Honour," he writes to
Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania, from " Fort du
Quesne or now Pittsburg," on Nov*"" 26, 1758, "of
Acquainting you with the Signal Success of his
Majesty's Troops over all his Enemys on the Ohio,
by having obliged them to Burn and abandon their
Fort du Quesne, which they effectuated on the 24"^
Instant, And of which I took Possession with my
little Army the next Day."*
Captain de Ligneris having destroyed all he could,
according to orders received for such an emergency,
retired to Fort Machaultf He was to remain here
for various purposes, first to support the Indians who
had remained faithful to the French interest, and
then to annoy the English and force them to a diver
sion. The Marquis de Vaudreuil argued that the
enemy would find it extremely difificult to make a
movement towards Lake Erie because of the consid
erable preparations and obstacles attending efforts to
provision a large force in a country " where the
ground is capable of being defended inch by inch,"J
He had ordered the commanders at the Illinois and
at Detroit to send to Presqu'ile all the men they could
spare, and did not relinquish the hope of once more
having the Fleur de Lys replace the Cross of St
George over Fort du Quesne. It appeared to him
an easy matter, if he or his subordinates, only could
* Pennsylvania Archives, VIII, 232.
f At the mouth of French Creek, Pennsylvania.
X N. Y. Col. Hist., X, 952.

In Colonial Days. 163
induce the Indians of that section to take up the
hatchet against the English.
But the Indians had discovered, that the French
treasury had become so thoroughly depleted, that the
ofificers of this nation could no longer compete in
quantity and quality of presents with the English,
hence the reports from Canada in April, 1 759, had to
say, that the Indian nations on the Beautiful River
had undoubtedly made their peace with the English
since the loss of Fort du Quesne. For the security
of their reconquered possession troops poured into
the disputed territory to reinforce the post of Fort
Pitt and assist in establishing and garrisoning the
new fortifications considered necessary. The first
of these new posts on the Attique river,* built be
fore the preceding winter had set in, had already
served the English at a somewhat critical moment.
Captain Aubry, commanding some Louisiana troops,
sent to help their brethren on the Ohio, had fallen
upon a detachment of British soldiers, killed and cap
tured about 150 of them, and sent the rest to take
refuge in this fort in November, I758.f Other
strongholds were built by the English, " one above the
village of the Shawanoes, J another at the river aux
Cannes, § whence they proposed to proceed to the
* Loyalhannon, later Fort Ligonier, Westmoreland Co., Penn.
f N. Y. Col. Doc.X, goi.
X A. map in the " American Gazetteer, London, 1762, has " Shawnoah or
Lower Shawnoes (at the mouth of Elk creek), an English factory 400 miles
from the Forks (of the Mississippi) by water." Another English factory is
marked near "White Woraan's creek, a tributary of the Muskingum."
§ Perhaps Cane Creek, Lincoln Co., Tenn.

164 The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days.
Illinois, and a third, which they called Fort Loudon,
on the river of the Cherakis, whereby they are en
abled to keep in check the nations toward Louisiana.
Half the Flathead nation is entirely on their side
and the other half wavers. The Cherokees have
allowed themselves to be gained by the presents of
the English ; so that above and below the Beautiful
River we need not flatter ourselves with finding any
allies among the Indians."*
The result was that M, de Lignery was compelled
to abandon Fort Machault in July, 1759, and the
Ohio Valley saw no more French troops marching to
meet or to evade an English foe.
*N. Y. Col. Doc, X.

CHAPTER VIIL
Indian Wars,
"While the sovereigns of France, England and
Spain were signing the treaty of Paris (Febr'' Io'^
1763), countless Indian warriors in the American
forests were singing the war-song and whetting their
scalping knives,"*
We must look for the reason of this distressing
state of affairs to the ignorance and arrogance of the
English race. Their contact with other races has,
even now, not yet taught them that these other races
are as much creatures of the God whom all worship,
as the English. They forget that the red Indian is
a being who has, like everybody else, certain rights,
which must be respected, if no bloodshed and ravage
is desired. In the days of which this chapter is to speak, the
Indians were still a powerful factor in Colonial politics
and required diplomatic treatment ; the more so as
many tribes regretted to see the French overpowered.
But British diplomatic acumen had been dulled by
the victory and the English agents became now over-
*Parkraan, Conspiracy of Pontiac.

1 66 The Ohio Valley
bearing, instead of conciliating the former allies of
the French and making them firm friends of the con
querors. The dissatisfaction of the Ohio Indians,
dating since the Albany conference in 1754, and since
then smoothed over, revived and spread into all the
tribes from Lake Superior to the Great Kanawha, and
from the Alleghany mountains to the Mississippi,
These sentiments of discontent grew with the injus
tice and neglect meted out to the Indians by the
English, who thought that their friendship was now
of no consequence, and curtailed the supplies of
powder, etc, upon which the red man had learned to
rely for gaining a livelihood.
Sir William Johnson had warned the Lords of
Trade in August, 1 762, of the uneasiness among the
Indians and had stated, what he feared would be the
consequences, giving at the same time his opinion on
the best method of preventing an outbreak.* While
still continuing his warnings, the first blow was struck
by the Indians,
Pontiac, an Ottawa chief of great intrepidity and
eloquence, who with his warriors had helped to de
feat Braddock in 1755, had gathered about him the
dissatisfied members of the Chippeways, Miamis,
Delawares, Shawanese and other tribes with inten
tion of driving the English from the territory west
of the Alleghany mountains. We cannot help ad
miring the successful manner, in which he concealed
his designs, when we consider the large number of
* Sir Wm. Johnson Papers.

In Colonial Days. 167
individuals necessarily cognizant of this conspiracy
and the vast area affected by it
A detachment of English troops, commanded by
Lieutenant Cuyler and on the way to relieve Detroit,
had been defeated, Sandusky had been destroyed.
Forts St Joseph at the mouth of the river St Joseph,
near the head of Lake Michigan, and Fort Michilli-
mackinack had fallen into the hands of the Indian
conspirators before the Ohio Valley proper was made
to feel the disturbance. Fort Ouatanon, on the
Wabash, a little below the present town of la Fayette,
was taken by a stratagem on the ist of June, 1763.
It might perhaps be more appropriate to say the Eng
lish garrison of Ouatanon became the prisoners of the
Indians by the careless arrogance of the command
ant. Lieutenant Edward Jenkins, who had walked
into the Indian quarters unattended, for a confer
ence, and wasimmediately bound, whereupon the rest
of the garrison surrendered without resistance.*
Presqu 'Isle, on the shore of Lake Erie, followed
with considerable loss of English lives, and this neces
sarily led to the fall of the neighboring little posts
of Le Boeuf and Venango.
Le Boeuf had been built by the French when they
first came to occupy the Ohio Valley in 1753. It
stood on the south or west fork of French creek,
almost surrounded by it and a small branch, of which
it forms a kind of island. Four housesf composed
* Parkman, Conspiracy.
f " Built of wood stokadoed Triangularwise and has two Logg Houses in
the inside." Deposition of Stephen Coffen, prisoner of the French since
1747, made January lo, 1754. N. Y. Col. MSS.

1 68 The Ohio Valley
the sides ; the bastions were of poles driven into the
ground, standing more than twelve feet above it and
sharp at the top, with port-holes cut for cannons and
loop-holes for small arms. Eight cannons were
mounted in each bastion and one four-pounder before
the gate. In the bastions were a guard-house, a
chapel, surgeon's lodgings and commandant's private
store. It stood on the present site of Waterford,
Erie county, Pennsylvania, and the Indian name of
the place was Casewago.*
Venango, at the confluence of French creek and
the Alleghany river, was still an Indian town when
Washington passed through it on his mission to Le-
Gardeur de S' Pierre, the commander of the French
at le Boeuf, in 1753. An English trader, Fraser,
had established himself here and had been the first
to suffer from the Gallic invasion. The forces sta
tioned at le Boeuf constructed here, about 1755, a
fort or an outpost for the upper posts, and in 1855, it
is said, the ruins of Fort Venango or Fort Machault
were still visible at Franklin, Pennsylvania. It had
been 400 feet square, with embankments eight feet
high.f Up to the latter end of May the Indians around
Fort Pitt and the growing settlement there had re
frained from doing harm to the white intruders. It
is true, they acted in a manner to excite suspicion,
but it would not have done for an Englishman to
* Penna. Archives, XII, 387, and Penna. Col. Ree, V, 65g.
f Sargent, Braddock's Expedition, p. 41. Egle's Pennsylvania, 6g4, 1123.

In Colonial Days. 169
take any notice of it. The blow came sudden. " We
have most melancholy Accounts here. — The Indians
have broke out in several places and murdered
Colonel Clapham and his Family ; also two of our
Soldiers at the Saw-mill, near the Fort, and two
Scalps are taken from each man. . . . Last Night
eleven Men were attacked at Beaver Creek* eight or
nine of whom, it is said, were killed — And Twenty-
Five of Macrae's and Allison's Horses, loaded with
Skins, are all taken. "f The Delawares and Shawa
nese did not intend to be behind their red brethren
on the lakes, in avenging themselves on the Eng
lish for more or less real and fancied wrongs, suffered
at their hands.
Captain Ecuyer, in command at Fort Pitt, was
able to keep the enemy out of this, by them so cov
eted stronghold. " The Savages have absurdly made
a show of attacking Fort Pitt and some of the Posts
below, but have not made any impression on the
smallest post on that communication," writes Sir
Jeffrey Amherst, July 23, 1763. J
In this part of the country the Indians fared
even worse. Not only could they not make " any
impression " on any post but they even suffered de
feat They had extended operations to the eastern
side of the Alleghany river as far as Fort Augusta§
* Beaver creek empties into the Ohio below Pittsburg.
f From Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1798.
X N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 52g.
§ Now Sunbury, Pennsylvania.
22

1 70 The Ohio Valley
on the Susquehanna and other places outside the
valley of the Ohio. But within the Ohio limits Fort
Ligonier, on Loyalhannon creek, had been furiously
attacked by Indians about the same time as le Boeuf
and Venango to the north. They had been beaten
after a hard day's fighting. Meanwhile troops were
advancing from the east to take a hand in this Indian
drama. They were commanded by Lieutenant-
Colonel Henry Bouquet,* a Swiss ofificer of the
Royal Americans, who had marched over this road
with General Forbes a few years before. He met
the foe near Bushy Run, about ten miles east of
Pittsburgh, on the 5th and 6th of August, " engaged
them from noon to night successfully, but returned
at night to cover the provisions and the wounded.
The next day the Indians surrounded the little army
and advanced to the attack furiously, but Colonel
Bouquet had made such a disposition to receive them,
and the behavior of the troops was so firm and reso
lute, that the Savages gave way, had not the courage
to support their attempt and were pursued for a con
siderable distance with great slaughter. The Eng
lish loss was 50 men killed and 60 wounded, "f
A few days later, on the nth of August, Colonel
Bouquet could date his report to the Commander-in-
Chief, Sir Jeffrey Amherst, from Fort Pitt, and say :
" We Arrived here Yesterday without further Oppo-
* He had originally been an officer in the army of the King of Sardinia,
joined the troops of Holland in 1755 and then the Royal Americans.
f N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 545.

In Colonial Days. 171
sition than Scattered Shots along the Road. The
Delawares, Shawanese, Wyandots and Mingoes had
closely Beset and Attacked this Fort from the 27"'
July to the First Instant, when they Quitted it to
March against us."*
The country south of Fort Pitt and further down
the Ohio was not allowed to remain undisturbed.
The population of the intervales in the present West
Virginia was still a thin one and scattered, but large
enough to excite the bloodthirstiness of the Indians.
Virginia had contributed her share for the protection
of the frontier settlements by sending Colonel Adam
Stephens with 400 to 500 militia to Forts Cumber
land and Bedford in the Potomac region, while a
similar body of men under Colonel Lewisf marched
to the south-western frontier for the same purpose,
but could not prevent the butchering of the people
living at the little settlement of Greenbrier and as
sembled at the fortified house of Archibald Glenden-
ning.J Pennsylvania had done nothing to protect her fron
tiers and the people there, so that Sir Jeffrey Amherst
cannot be blamed for writing : " What a contrast
this [the sending of troops under Stephens and
Lewis] makes between the conduct of the Pennsyl
vanians and Virginians, highly to the honor of the
* Extract frora MS. Letter in Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, 342.
f Colonel Andrew Lewis comraanded in the Sandy Point expedition, 1774,
and was a brigadier-general during the War of the Revolution.
X Parkman, Conspiracy, 383.

172 The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days.
latter, but places the former in the most despicable
light imaginable."* It required Bouquet's march and
the victory at Bushy Run to show to the Pennsylva
nians, that the savage foe could be checked in his
bloody proceedings, but the operations of James
Smith, Armstrong and others, took place east of the
Ohio Valley limits.
The success at Bushy Run allowed Bouquet to
take possession of Fort Pitt without further contest
and to follow up his warfare against the Indian set
tlements beyond the Ohio and near the Muskingum.
The appearance of Bouquet and his army in this
neighborhood spread terror and awe among the na
tive tribes, who now reluctantly surrendered the white
captives made during the disturbance. f
*N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 546.
f Historical Account of Bouquet's Expedition, 1764, reprinted by Robert
Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, 1868.

CHAPTER IX.
North and West of the Ohio River.
The first white man to erect a dwelling in Ohio
was the Moravian missionary. Christian Frederic
Post, known to be a sagacious and able man, who
had great influence among the Indians ; he was sent
in 1 75 1 and 1758 by the Governor of Pennsylvania
on a mission to the Delawares, Shawanoes and Min
goes living then on the Ohio and its northern
tributaries, a territory which, after its acquisition by
the treaty of Paris, was declared Crown land by
King George's proclamation of October 7, 1763.
This proclamation forbade the King's "loving sub
jects " to make purchases of land from the Indians or
to form settlements " westward of the sources of
the rivers which fall into the sea from the West and
North-West"* The royal proclamation gave as
reason for this policy, that it was necessary to con
vince the Indians of English justice by preventing
irregularities, and it may be that in 1763, this was
thought to be a good and sufificient reason.
Royal proclamations and orders had, however,
* London Magazine, 1763, pp. 541, et seq.

174 The Ohio Valley
little weight with the settler and the hunter, who
lived principally by the products of the chase,
and who, by penetrating into the tabooed regions,
had helped to bring on the Indian war of 1764, This
war had put a stop to the enterprises of the Ohio
and the other land companies which were now re
vived under a plan to buy out the French settlers in
the Illinois country,* But the scheme proved infeas-
ible and the earlier projects were all merged into
" Walpole's Grant," later called the " Colony of Van
dalia." The Lords Commissioners for Trade and
plantations were opposed to this scheme, fathered
by Thomas Walpole, and reported against itf A
recent writer on this point:^ says : " Such in clear
and specific terms was the cold and selfish policy,
which the British crown and its ministers habitually
pursued towards the American Colonies."
Lord Hillsborough, as Secretary of State, had ap
proved and recommended to the King for confirma
tion the treaty made at Fort Stanwix in 1768, by
which the boundary line between the Colonies in
America and the Indians was settled. The territory
west of that line was acknowledged to be Indian
property. This was not always considered an obstacle
in English eyes preventing the issue of a patent,§
* Bigelow's Franklin, I, 537; II, 112.
f Appendix F.
X Dr. W. F. Poole in Chap. IX, The West, Winsor's Narrative and Crit
ical History, Vol. VI.
§ N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, gi3, " An Indian conveyance of the soil is un
necessary."

In Colonial Days. 175
but it seems Lord Hillsborough had what was most
likely then called " old-fashioned ideas" on the sub
ject, for it was then, as to-day, an accepted truth, that
the Indian had no rights, which a white man was
bound to respect We can, therefore, hardly call it
a "cold and selfish policy" if the Secretary of State
recalls the principle of confining the western extent
of settlements to the boundary line established by
treaty, especially as the English ministers had been
warned that " the affairs of land are more imme
diately interesting and alarming to the Indians than
any thing else."*
Lord Hillsborough further says in the above-quoted
report, that the object of colonizing in North America
had been to improve and extend commerce, and that
if the western wilderness were invaded by settlers
the fur trade would suffer. This is" truly a selfish
policy, but it was not so much ministerial as de
manded by the dealers in American goods scattered
all over England, while the policy of the people
living in the Colonies was no less selfish. They were
all concerned either in trade or in lands ; that is, in
the pursuit of gain, and, therefore, were opposed to
all limitations by the government, without considering
that though these limitations might be inconvenient
to a few adventurous traders and pioneers, the weal
of the community demanded them.
Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent for In-
*N. Y. Col, Doc, VII, gi3, "An Indian conveyance of the soil is un-
neccessary."

176 The Ohio Valley
dian Affairs in the Northern Department, a man than
whom probably no one else was better acquainted
with Indian policy, had several years before Pontiac's
war warned the authorities in the respective Colonies,
not to exasperate the aborigines along the Ohio by
too much land-grabbing At the Congress held at
Albany, New York, in 1754, the Indians proposed
the Alleghany mountains as the western boundary of
the Colonies,* but the purchase made then by Penn
sylvania and the subsequent appearance of surveyors
on the Juniata and Susquehannah, induced the Dela
wares, Shawanoes, Nanticokes and others settled in
that vicinity, to withdraw either to Diohogo or to
the Ohio. The hatred of the Delawares against the
English had become so intense, that they swore
to themselves never to leave off killing Englishmen
as long as there was one of this nation living on
their lands.f
George Croghan, Sir William's deputy, who had
long lived and traded with the natives west of the
Ohio river, suggested to the Lords of Trade in
1 764, J that a natural boundary should be made be
tween the Indians and the English from the heads of
the Delaware river in New York, to the mouth of
the Ohio, in order to prevent a general defection of
the Indians, which was always probable if the upper
Senecas and a few other tribes settled near Detroit
*Sir Williara Johnson Papers, IV, 124.
f lb., 156. See, also. Appendix G.
X lb., V, 603, 605.

In Colonial Days. 177
and Michilimackinack, while Shawanoes and Dela
wares sat on the " branches " of the Ohio.
The men in authority, hundreds of miles away from
the " frontiers," paid no attention to the warnings of
their agents, and Pontiac's war was the consequence
of arousing the Indians' jealousies by encroaching
too near upon them, by taking possession of the lakes
and by stopping the distribution of ammunition, etc.,
among them.*
Can we, under these circumstances, call Lord
Hillsborough's adverse report on the petition of
Thomas Walpole, "cold and selfish policy?" The
report did not meet with the approval of Doctor Ben
jamin Franklin, upon whose extended and vigorous
reply to itf the Privy Council granted the prayer of
the petitioners. The grant made provisions for se
curing to the Virginia soldiers, who had served in the
French war, the lands promised for their respective
services, but the breaking out of the Revolution
stopped all further proceedings and the Colony of
Vandalia died in its inception. Although this in
tended new colony was partly outside of the limits
of the Ohio Valley, it requires mention here, for
some flourishing towns in the same valley owe their
prosperity to the scheme. George Croghan, when
in London in 1 764, reported that there was a talk in
town about " settling a colony from the mouth of
* Sir William Johnson Papers, VII, 162.
f Sparks' Franklin, IV, et seq.
23

178 The Ohio Valley
the Ohio to the Illinois."* This region had already
a French settlement at Fort Chartres on the Kaskas
kias river, built in 1720, repaired in 1750, and finally
abandoned in i772.f
It was thought, that by the cession of territory
made by the treaty of Paris, the country lying west
of the Ohio to its mouth and up the Mississippi had
become the boundary between the two nations late
at war, and that as the French would undoubtedly
settle on the west side of the Mississippi it might be
good policy to purchase from the Indians the lands
east of that river. J But the French still had pos
session of their establishment in this coveted terri
tory and the proposition was made to capture Fort
Chartres, as that would establish English authority
among the savages with respect and safety. § The
expedition planned against the fort by Colonel Brad
street, did, however, at first, not meet with the ap
proval of the Indians, and when they finally withdrew
their objection to the plan of dispossessing the
French, they stipulated that the taking possession of
the forts formerly held by the French should not be
considered as a title for the English to possess the
country, as they never had sold any part of it to the
French. ||
It is difificult to understand the Colonial Indian
* Sir William Johnson Papers, VIII, 202.
f Stoddard, Sketches of Louisiana, 234.
X N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 605.
§ lb., 6g3.
lib., 781.

In Colonial Days. 179
policy of the English authorities. Traders, from
whom the western Indians could draw their supplies
of powder and other Indian goods, were not allowed
to go from Detroit or Michilimackinack and there
fore, says Croghan in 1 765, " I am of opinion the
Indians will be supplied this year chiefly from the
Illinois, which is all French property, and if trading
posts are not established at proper places in that
country soon the French will carry the best part of
the trade over the Mississippi."* The proposition
to take possession of the territory near the mouth of
the Ohio, made by Colonel Bradstreet in 1764, had
not yet been acted upon in 1 766, when Sir William
Johnson reported to the Lords of Trade on "the
Artfull measures taken by the French in that (the
Illinois) Country, for securing the Indians affections
and. engrossing the Trade, the better to accomplish
which they have begun two settlements on the West
side of the River - above Fort Chartres, where they
have already large Magazines for Trade and Presents,
with able agents to carry on their designs, in which
they will be farther aided by the French of Illinois
and it is added that many of the latter are withdraw
ing from their old abode to the side occupied by the
French."f Sir William continued to urge the neces
sity of occupying the French posts in that distant
part of the British dominions, although he saw how
difificult it would be to keep them in case of a new
*N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 788.
fib., 816.

i8o The Ohio Valley
war with France, and in September, 1767, he could
report, that Fort Chartres was held by an English
garrison. Maps, mentioned in a previous chapter, speak of
an old fort at the mouth of the Ohio, without giving
its name. M. de MacCarty, the French ofificer com
manding at Fort Chartres in 1760, placed some
Indians near Fort Massiac, in June, who abandoned
this position in October of the same year, being
menaced by a strong party of the enemy. He then
caused the fort to be " terraced, fraized and forti
fied, piece upon piece, with a good ditch."* Was
this the first settlement of Cairo, Illinois ?
In 1735 a Canadian, M. Vincennes, opened a trad
ing house on the Wabash, which was later called
Post Vincent, but which we know to-day as the flour
ishing town of Vincennes. " Thus began the com
monwealth of Indiana."f M. Vincennes was cruelly
put to death by Chickasaw Indians in the following
year, but the settlement did not die with its founder,
growing with the necessary slowness of such enter
prises in the past ages. George Croghan, sent to the
Western Indians with messages, arrived there in
June, 1765, and found Post Vincent, "a French vil
lage of about 80 houses, and an Indian village
of the Pyankeshas."J Further up the same river
Wabash Frenchmen were settled at Ouiatanon,
*N. Y. Col. Doc, X, iog2.
f Monette, I, 165; Bancroft, III, 346.
JN. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 780.

In Colonial Days. i8i
now Lafayette, Indiana, of whom with others at
Post Vincent, Miamis, etc., Sir William complains as
" sufificient to engross all the trade in them parts."*
He calls them " French familys of the worst sort"f
Ina representation made by the Lords of Trade
and Plantations upon the general state of Indian
affairs and the establishment of posts on March 7,
1 768, J they discuss the question of a new govern
ment or colony at the mouth of the Ohio river and
point out that the great distance of this and two
other Colonies in the Illinois country and at Detroit,
would increase instead of lessening the expenses of
the civil as well as military establishment, but in the
main they are in favor of such undertakings. Not
withstanding this propitious report, Lord Hills
borough, as President of the Board of Trade and
Plantations in 1772, disapproved of the Walpole
scheme of colonization, as has been told above. At
the same time he had been informed by Sir William
Johnson,§ that as the Kickapoos and Poutawatamies,
incited by the jealousy of French traders, were con
stantly committing robberies and murders, the estab
lishment of some kind of authority on the Wabash
was required, the more so perhaps, as the lawless
colony of French there daily increased in numbers.
But the indecision of the home government delayed
matters in this quarter. The Earl of Dartmouth,
*N. Y. Col. Doc, VII, 777.
f lb., 716.
jib., VIII, \(ietseg
§ lb., 292.

1 82 The Ohio Valley
who had succeeded Lord Hillsborough as Colonial
Secretary, was, in 1773, still in doubt whether a gov
ernment on the Ohio could be established, and
required the assurance by Sir William Johnson
that the Six Nations were unanimously in favor of
the proposition. We may suppose that all steps for
creating the new Colonial government were being
considered with proper English slowness, when
Michael Cresap's onslaught on some Ohio Indians
imperiled the execution of the plan. The traders
living in the country were driven away or murdered
by the infuriated Shawanoes and it required all the
skill of which Alexander McKee, Sir William John
son's deputy on the Ohio, and Captain Arthur St.
Clair, then in command at Fort Ligonier, Pennsyl
vania, were capable, to prevent a general Indian out
break, which might have proved disastrous to the
population west of the Ohio, characterized by Sir
William as " dissolute fellows, united with debtors,
and persons of wandering disposition, who have been
removing from Pennsylvania and Virginia etc for
more than ten years past into the Indian Country,
towards & on the Ohio and had made a considerable
number of settlements as early as 1765, when my
Deputy [Croghan] was sent to the Illinois, from
whence he gave me a particular account of the un
easiness it occasioned amongst the Indians, many of
these emigrants are idle fellows, that are too lazy to
cultivate lands & invited by the plenty of game they
found, have employed themselves in hunting, in which

In Colonial Days. 183
they interfere much more with the Indians, than if
they pursued agriculture alone, and the Indian hunt
ers .... already begin to feel the scarcity this has oc
casioned, which greatly increases their resentment"*
Cresap's attack on the Indians brought on what is
known as "Cresap's" or " Dunmore's War." Lord
Dunmore had been transferred from the government
of New York to that of Virginia and has been sus
pected of having brought on this conflict by his
agent, Doctor John Connolly, in order to prevent the
Virginians from taking up arms against the British
ministry in the impending struggle for liberty. Two
columns were to invade the Indian country. Lord
Dunmore placed himself at the head of one, assembled
at Fort Pitt, and dropping down the Ohio intended
to meet the other, under General Andrew Lewis,
coming from Lewisburg, in Greenbriar county, Vir
ginia, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. Lord
Dunmore, however, changed his plans, intending to
land at the Big Hockhocking. In the meantime
General Lewis fought the battle of Point Pleasant
October 10, 1774, compelling the Indians to retreat,
and then, contrary to Lord Dunmore's order, to make
a halt at Salt Licks,f pressed on to Chillicothe, where
he joined his superior ofificer. Here the Governor
made a treaty with the Ohio Indians, who promised
not to hunt south of the Ohio and not to molest
voyagers on the river.
«N. Y. Col. Doc, vm, 460.
f Now Jackson, Ohio.

184 The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days.
Settlements had been made before this time in the
Muskingum valley. The Moravian community at
Friedenshuetten, Pennsylvania, had gathered about
them during the seven years of their labors there a
number of Indian converts, but had also suffered
much from persecution of their English neighbors.
Cordially invited by the Delawares in 1772, to come
to their country near the Muskingum, the Moravian
settlers and their Indian friends had removed, and in
their new homes among savages it seemed to them
that their trials were ended.*
* Winsor, Narr. and Crit. Hist., VI, 734.

CHAPTER X.
South or the Ohio River.
Reverend Hugh Jones, Chaplain to the Virginia
Assembly and Minister at Jamestown, wrote in 1750:
" If New England be called a receptacle of Dissent
ers and an Amsterdam of religion, Pennsylvania the
nursery of Quakers, Maryland the retirement of
Roman Catholics, North Carolina the refuge of Run
aways, etc." Yet this same North Carolina may be
called an offshoot of Virginia, which our Reverend
friend designates as the " happy retreat of true
Britons and true Churchmen."
The truth is that North Carolina was originally
settled by several shiploads of respectable English
people coming from Barbadoes, who were followed
by the French, Swiss and German Protestant fugi
tives from despotic Roman Catholic countries, and in
1745 by Scotch Jacobites, who found themselves en
dangered in their homes after the failure of their
attempt to replace a Stuart on the throne of Eng
land. Runaways there were too, but they came from
the " happy retreat " to which they had been trans
ported out of the slums and prisons of England.
The result was necessarily and unavoidably, that we
24

1 86 The Ohio Valley
encounter " a marked absence of individuality in the
history of North Carolina, and that she was sadly
deficient in men of great abilities and commanding
character, such as made Virginia illustrious."*
Another result was the absence of men belonging
to the learned professions, for everybody was either
planter or storekeeper, and in the western part of
the Colony a hunter. When in the course of years
these hunters had depleted the east side of the moun
tains of the animals, whose products were required
for the purchase of the necessaries of life, they de
scended on the west side into the Ohio Valley. A
map, spoken of in a previous chapter, tells us that
one Walker had an establishment on the Cumberland
river as early as 1750, and perhaps earlier. This
Walker had been probably Doctor Walker, who'
about this time had crossed from Powell's Valley, in
Virginia, over to Cumberland. Another mapf in
forms us that in 1755, this, most likely the first white,
settlement in the southern intervales of the Ohio,
had been destroyed. " A place called Kentucky,"
had become known about that time, for in May, 1753,
Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, wrote to Gov
ernor Clinton, of New York, of robberies committed
upon English traders at that place by French In
dians. J
A nameless French author§ speaks of James Mc-
* H. C. Lodge, Short Histoiy of the English Colonies in America.
f See Chapter II.
JN. Y. Council Minutes, MSS., XXXIII, 71-
§ Voyage au Kentoukey, etc., par M  Paris, 1821.

In Colonial Days. 187
Bride, who crossed the Ohio river with a party of
friends in 1754, and near its mouth cut his name and
the date of his arrival into an old lime-tree, still stand
ing when the writer came to the same place. His
reports of the beautiful country seen were' not be
lieved. Marshall treats this account of McBride as
a tradition. John Findlay or Finley, whose name is perpetuated
in the counties of Hancock, Ohio, and of Alleghany,
Pennsylvania, was one of a party of hunters who,
driven to look for new hunting grounds, found them
selves upon the waters of the Kentucky river in 1 767.
" Of Finley and his comrades and of the course and
extent of their journey little is known. That they
were of the pure blood and endowed with the gen
uine qualities of the pioneers, is manifestly unde
niable. That they passed over the Cumberland and
through the intermediate country to the Kentucky
river and penetrated the beautiful valley of the Elk
horn, there are no sufificient reasons to doubt It is
enough, however, to embalm their memory in our
hearts and to connect their names with the imperish
able memorials of our early history, that they were
the first adventurers that plunged into the dark and
enchanted wilderness of Kentucky, — that of all their
cotemporaries they saw her first, — and saw her in the
pride of her virgin beauty — at the dawn of summer
— in the fullness of her vegetation — her soil instinct
with fertility, covered with the most luxuriant ver
dure — the air perfumed with the fragrance of flowers

1 88 The Ohio Valley
and her tall forests looming in all their primeval
magnificence. How long Finley lived or where he
died, the silence of history does not enable us to
know. That his remains are now mingled with the
soil that he discovered, there is some reason to hope,
for he conducted Boone to Kentucky in 1 769 — and
there the curtain drops on him forever."*
The country beyond the Cumberland mountains
"appeared in 1767 to the dusky view of the gener
ality of the people of Virginia almost as obscure
and doubtful as America itself to the people of Eu
rope before the voyage of Columbus. A country
there was ; of this none could doubt, who thought at
all ; but whether land or water, mountain or plain,
fertility or barrenness preponderated ; whether inhab
ited by men or beasts, or both, or neither, they knew
not. If inhabited by men, they were supposed to be
Indians; for such had always infested the frontiers.
And this had been a powerful reason for not exploring
the region west of the great mountain, which con
cealed Kentucky from their sight "f
If Judge Marshall is right in thus describing the
reasons for not exploring a region, we must, in com
paring this pusillanimity of the colonial English with
the intrepidity shown by colonial Frenchmen, cer
tainly wonder, that the former could drive the latter
from this Continent.
Daniel Boone's family had moved from Berks
* Address of Governor Morehead at Boonesborough, Ky., May 25, 1840.
f H. Marshall, History of Kentucky, I, 7.

In Colonial Days. 189
county, Pennsylvania, to North Carolina, where they
settled on the Yadkin river in 1753, and soon after
their arrival there Daniel married, having provided a
hut for his young wife in a solitary part of the Yadkin
valley, where no neighbor could crowd him. But
his solitude was soon disturbed by other settlers and
he decided to move, if possible, to a wild and unex
plored region beyond the neighboring mountains, of
which he heard strange stories.*
The white settlers around his cabin in the Yadkin
valley began to increase and they added thereby to
Boone's desire to move. Perhaps other things helped
this determination to leave the frontier and plunge
into the wilderness. Taxes, fees and costs were the
necessary following of increased population and Boone
was not inclined to fill the pockets of the ofificials,
who were benefited by them. At this juncture Boone
fell in with Finley, returned from his excursion to the
west, and his heart and imagination were soon ablaze
* A raodern writer relates of an expedition, which Daniel Boone appears
to have undertaken about this time and says, that there is still standing on
the bank of Boone's creek — a branch of the Watauga river — not far from
Jonesboro, East Tennessee, a large beech tree, with the following inscription:
D. Boon
CillED A. BAR On
Tree
in ThE
yEAR 1760.
(Edmund Kirke, Rearguard of the Revolution following Ramsey, Annals
of Tennessee.) The distance frora Boone's settlement in the Yadkin valley
to the above Boone's creek could not have been more than perhaps 200
miles. We may, therefore, consider that the occasion, on which Boone cut the
inscription into the tree, was not an exploring, but only a somewhat ex
tended hunting excursion, such as the exigencies of their life often required
the professional huntsmen to take.

190 The Ohio Valley
with the wild and romantic stories of the traveler.
Boone had seen a little of this enchanted region,
when in 1 764 he had been sent on a tour of inspec
tion to a branch of the Cumberland river by a com
pany of land speculators. Now Finley and Boone
set to work to form a new expeditionary party, but
they did not succeed in recruiting the desired number
until early in 1769. Boone tells the story of this
expedition as follows :* " It was on the first of May,
1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a
time and left my family and peaceful habitation on
the Yadkin river, in North Carolina, to wander
through the wilderness of America, in quest of the
country of Kentucky, in company with John Finley,
John Stewart, Joseph Holden, James Monay and
William Cool. We proceeded successfully and after
a long and fatiguing journey through a mountainous
wilderness, in a westward direction, on the seventh
day of June following, we found ourselves on Red
river,f where John Finley had formerly been trading
* W. H. Bogart, in his " Daniel Boone," says of this narrative by John
Filson: John Filson, who claimed to have been an early witness of the set
tlement of Kentucky, wrote, ostensibly from Boone's dictation, a life of the
great Pioneer, but its style of language i's so ornate and arabitious, as greatly
to lessen its value. Evidently Filson received the leading facts from Boone
and disdaining the simple words of the Pioneer, preferred the use of a dic
tion far beyond good taste or probability. Junlay, the editor of the book,
calls it, curiously, " a narrative, -written in a style of the utmost simplicity,
by ... . one of the hunters, who first penetrated into the bosom of that
delectable region."
f Either the tributary of the Cumberland river flowing through Robertson
and Montgoraery counties, Tennessee, or a sraall tributary of the Kentucky
river, rising in Morgan county and flowing between Clark and Estill counties,
Kentucky. Probably the latter.

In Colonial Days. 191
with the Indians and from the top of an eminence
saw with pleasure the beautiful level of Kentucky. . .*
At this place we encamped and made a shelter to
defend us from the inclement season and began to
hunt and reconnoiter the country. We found every
where abundance of wild beasts of all sorts, through
this vast forest The buffalo were more frequent
than I have seen cattle in the settlements. . , .* In
this forest .... we practiced hunting with great suc
cess until the 2 2d day of December following. This
day John Stewart and I had a pleasant ramble ; but
fortune changed the scene in the close of it We
had passed through a great forest, on which stood
myriads of trees, some gay with blossoms, others rich
with fruits. . . .f In the decline of the day, near
Kentucky river, as we ascended the brow of a small
hill, a number of Indians rushed out of a thick cane
brake and made us prisoners."
i After having been plundered and carried about as
captives for a while, the two hunters managed to
escape, but they found their camp on the Red river
deserted and plundered, " About this time," con
tinues Boone, " my brother. Squire Boone, with an
other adventurer, who came to explore the country
shortly after us, was wandering thro' the forest, deter
mined to find me if possible and accidentally found
our camp  Soon after this my companion in
* General reflections in ornate language are omitted.
;. f Neither Boone nor his biographer seem to have thought of the contra
diction — of blossoms and fruits on the trees in December.

192 The Ohio Valley
captivity, John Stewart, was killed by the Savages
and the man that came with my brother returned
home by himself. We were then in a dangerous,
helpless situation, exposed daily to perils and death
amongst the savages and wild beasts — not a white
man in the country but ourselves. , , , We continued
not in a state of indolence, but hunted every day and
prepared a little cottage to defend us from the winter
storms. We remained there undisturbed through
the winter. On the first day of May, 1770, my
brother returned home to the settlement by himself,
for a new recruit of horses and ammunition, leaving
me by myself without bread, salt or sugar, without
company of my fellow creatures or even a horse or
dog." Boone and his companions were, to a certain extent,
trespassers. The territory, to which their expedition
had extended, had originally belonged to the Chero
kees, who had been subjugated by the Six Nations
of New York. But the claim of the Cherokees to
this region had never been substantiated and hence
the title of the Six Nations to it, which they had
ceded to the British Crown by the treaty of Fort
Stanwix* in 1768, was a very vague one. However,
Boone and his party only anticipated for a short time,
what they perhaps knew must come in the course of
events. A treaty made at Lochaber, in South Caro
lina, October 5, 1770, extinguished the Indian claim
completely. * Now Rome, New York.

In Colonial Days. 193
We can only briefly follow Boone's adventures ;
how he and his brother, after thoroughly exploring
the country, determined to settle in it ; how, in Sep
tember, 1773, they started with their families from
their homes in North Carolina ; how, after joining
company with a party of forty odd people, near
Powell's valley, bent on like removal, he had the
misfortune to lose his eldest son in an Indian fight,
and how, after this sad affair, in which five other men
were killed, the disheartened majority of the party,
after a council on Walden's mountain, compelled a
return to the Clinch river in Virginia, where they
made a welcome addition to an older settlement.
The " place, called Kentucky " had, in the mean
time, become more extensively known. In 1771, a
hunting company, which acquired fame under the
name of the "Long Hunters," and consisted of
Casper Mauser, James Knox, John Montgomery,
Isaac Bledsoe and others, had gone on such a long
and extensive hunt that we might be inclined to think
they had been as far as the Mississippi and back.
Their reports led the Assembly of Virginia to reward
her soldiers, who had helped to drive the French
from the Ohio Valley, with allotments of lands on
the Kentucky river. Governor Dunmore, of Vir
ginia, knowing that Daniel Boone had demonstrated
by his own experiences, that this was a country where
people could live, sent surveyors into the regions to
give some form and shape to the donations made in
so liberal a manner by the Assembly, Captain
25

194 The Ohio Valley
Thomas Bullitt, an ofificer who had seen and done
good service in the expedition against Fort du
Quesne, was placed in charge of a party of survey
ors, Taylor, Harrod and McAfee, and penetrated
through the wilderness, as far as the Falls of the
Ohio, Here they made the fortified head-quarters
for their operations and thus laid, unwittingly, the
foundation for the present city of Louisville, Ken
tucky, Sir W. Johnson complained in September,
1773, that Bullitt and a large number of people had
gone beyond the limits of the new purchase and that
Shawanoes were excited over it and treating with
the Spaniards. Other surveyors followed. James
Douglas, intending to join Captain Bullitt, explored
the country about Big bone Lick creek. He saw
" the lick and the large bones, of which fame had
said so much, the learned risked so many conjectures,
and everybody knew so little,"* He revisited Ken
tucky the next year, exploring the country on Elk
horn, Hickman and Jessamine creeks, and became
so enamored of the country, that he intended to settle
there. But death, interfering in so many human
plans, said " No."
Handcock Taylor, perhaps one of the original
party, was killed by Indians in the execution of his
duties, but his field notes were secured by his assist
ant, Hamptonstall, and later legalized by act of
Legislature. In May, 1774, Captain James Harrod,
at the head of a party of forty-one men, in descend-
* Marshall, History of Kentucky.

In Colonial Days. 195
ing the Monongahela and the Ohio, reached the site
of the present Harrodsburgh, or as first called, Har-
rodstown or Old Town, which he laid out in lots of
munificent size. They were the first white men who
raised a crop of corn on Kentucky soil. John Floyd,
" a deputy surveyor of Fincastle county,"* was en
gaged in this business also in 1774, and could in later
years play an important role, as civil and as military
ofificer, in the new territory. He made his station on
the Bear Grass creek, some ten miles from the falls
of the Ohio, and settled there. Doctor Wood's inten
tion in 1773 to descend the Ohio in quest of a new
country and rich land, came to the knowledge of
Simon Kenton, a young man of Fauquier county.
For justifiable reasons he changed his name to Butler
and joined Doctor Wood, with whom he went as far
as Cabin creek, "making various improvements on
the bottoms."f Two years later Butler went down
the Ohio again as far as the present site of Augusta,
Bracken county, Kentucky, and striking inland made
a settlement near the present town of Washington,
Mason county.
Another pioneer of these days was William Whit
ley, also a Virginian, Hearing the reports of the
marvelous country, Kentucky, he decided to have a
look at it with a view of settling there. He set out
with his brother-in-law, George Clark, and seven
others, and found what he and his companions desired
in the south-eastern section of Kentucky.
* Marshall, History of Kentucky; Botetourt county is probably meant.
fib.

196 The Ohio Valley
Lord Dunmore, Governor of New York, later of
Virginia, had, in 1 770, considered the scheme of estab
lishing a Colony on the Ohio as impracticable. All
the men, who were supposed to have any knowledge
of such affairs and whom he consulted, concurred in
a condemnation of such a project, giving as their
reasons for doing so the great distances from the set
tled parts, an impossibility to establish commercial
communications. " Such Colony must therefore be
their own Manufacturers," he continues,* " and the
great expense of maintaining Troops there for their
protection be a dead weight on Govern' without the
hopes of reaping any advantage hereafter. , . . , Add
to this the great probability, I may venture to say
with certainty, that the attempting a settlement on the
Ohio will draw on an Indian war ; it being well known
how ill affected the Ohio Indians have always been
to our interest and their jealousy of such a settlement,
so near them, must be easily foreseen,"
Lord Dunmore was not wrong in his anticipations.
In the beginning of the following year, 1771, Sir
William Johnson had to report that the Northern and
Southern Indians were negotiating fora closer union
between them to prevent further encroachments by
the white intruders. " If a very small part of these
people have been capable of reducing us to such
straits as we were in a few years since, what may we
not expect from such a formidable alliance as we are
threatened with, when at the same time it is well
* Marshall, History of Kentucky, 253.

In Colonial Days. 197
known, that we are not at this time more capable of
Defence, if so much, as at the former period."*
Neither Sir William Johnson nor Lord Dunmore's
warnings against pushing settlements to the west
ward were heeded by the home authorities in Eng
land. A grant of land was made in 1772 to Thomas
Walpole, Benjamin Franklin, John Sargent and
Samuel Wharton, the representatives of a land com
pany. This company offered to pay ;^io,46o, the
sum paid to the Six Nations for the land purchased
from them at the Fort Stanwix treaty, and desired to
receive therefor the title of a tract " beginning on
the South Side of the River Ohio opposite to the
mouth of Sioto, thence southerly through the pass
in the Ouasioto Mountains, to the South side of the
said mountains, thence along the side of the said
Mountains North Easterly to the Fork of the Great
Kenhawa, made by the junction of Green Briar and
new River, thence along the said Green Briar on
the Easterly side of the same unto the Head or termi
nation of the North Easterly branch thereof, thence
Easterly to the Allegheny mountains, thence along
the said Allegheny mountains to' Lord Fairfax's
Line, thence along the same to the Spring head of
the North Branch of the River Powtomack, thence
along the Western Boundary Line of the Province
of Maryland to the Southern Boundary Line of the
Province of Pennsylvania to the End thereof, thence
along the Western Boundary Line of the said prov-
* Marshall, History of Kentucky, 262.

198 The Ohio Valley
ince of Pennsylvania until the same shall strike the
River Ohio, Thence down the said River Ohio to the
place of beginning,"* A glance at the map will
show that this tract covered most of the present
State of West Virginia and a small part of Eastern
Kentucky. The lands granted had already partly
been settled and were not " beyond the reach of ad
vantageous intercourse." The above warning was
written while Lord Dunmore was still Governor of
New York. As Governor of Virginia he visited the
back settlements and remained some time at Pitts
burgh, engaged in a territorial dispute between Vir
ginia and Pennsylvania, He is accused of having
excited the Indian war, which devastated the western
settlements in 1774, with a view of distracting
the councils of the patriots of those days. This
conflict ended by the battle of Point Pleasant, above
the mouth of the Great Kanhawa, on the loth of
October, 1774,
A letter from Sir William Johnson to Governor
Tryon, of New York, speaking of the Indian situa
tion, says in 1774 :f "The disorderly behaviour of
the Frontier Inhabitants will confirm the Indians in
their suspicions against us. , . , For more than ten
years past the most dissolute fellows united with
debtors and persons of a wandering disposition have
been removing from Pennsylvania, Virginia, etc., into
the Indian Country, towards and on the Ohio and a
*N. Y. Coll. MSS., XCVIII, 127.
f N. Y. Col. Hist., VIII, 460.

In Colonial Days. 199
considerable number of settlements were made as
early as 1765,* The Cession to the Crown at the
Treaty of 1 768 was secured by the plainest and best
natural boundaries and the Indians freely agreed to
make it the more ample that our people should have
no pretext of narrow limits and the remainder might
be rendered the more secure to themselves and their
posterity ; neither did they expect that we should
push settlements immediately over the whole of their
cession and His Majesty with great wisdom and dis
cretion was pleased to direct that none should be now
made below the Great Kanhawa River, with which I
acquainted the Indians agreeable to my orders, but
number of settlements had been made there previous
to the cession, attempts made since to form others
on the Mississippi and great numbers in defiance of
the cession or the orders of Government in conse
quence thereof have since removed not only below
the Kanhawa, but even far beyond the limits of the
Cession , , . . ; the body of these people are under no
restraint, they perceive that they are in places of secu
rity and pay as little regard to Government, as they
do to title for their possessions, whilst at the same
time not only individuals but bodies of men are inter
ested in the growth of these settlements, however in
jurious to the old colonies and dangerous to all ; but
'till better order is restored elsewhere, little can be
expected in that quarter & in the interim these set
tlements increase and what is much worse the disor-
~ * North of the Ohio.

200 The Ohio Valley
ders, of which the Indians principally complain grow
to an enormity, that threatens us with fresh wars,"
The warlike attitude of the Indians threatened
danger not only to the settlers within the territory,
ceded by them, but also to the surveying parties, sent
out by the Governor far beyond the limits thereof.
They had to be protected or at least must be warned
of the danger threatening them and here we must
retrace our steps to the settlement on Clinch river,
where Daniel Boone and his party had retreated after
the failure of their expedition in 1 773, For, although
it is not intended here to write a biography of Boone,
however worthy a subject he is of one, we must recur
to him again, as the history of his wanderings is more
or less also the Colonial history of Kentucky, of the
" Dark and Bloody Ground,"
His former exploits as an intrepid pioneer had
gradually become known to Governor and Council of
Virginia, and when the question of warning their sub
ordinates, the surveyors way out west, came up before
them, they decided to employ Boone as the most
trustworthy messenger. He undertook the service
expected from him and set out on his journey
with only one companion, Michael Stoner, Stoner
was, like Boone, a pioneer and had already traversed
part of the new country, having hunted on the Cum
berland river. The two intrepid messengers reached
the surveying camp at the falls of the Ohio and suc
ceeded in piloting the threatened party safely back to
less dangerous regions. Very little is known of this

In Colonial Days. 201
remarkable journey of 800 miles in sixty-two days.
Boone speaks modestly of it and affirms that " many
difificulties " were encountered. Tradition has, of
course, so much more to tell about it, A party, be
longing to the Harrod company was attacked by
Indians, and tells the story, that one of the men in his
fright, having succeeded to make his escape in a
canoe, paddled down the Ohio, down the Mississippi
and returned to his home in Pennsylvania or Vir
ginia by way of the Gulf and Atlantic ocean.
One of the results of this journey may be learned
from the following certificate, issued to Stoner :
" Michael Stoner this day appeared and claimed a
right to a settlement and preemption to a tract of
land lying on Stoner's Fork,* a branch of the South
Fork of Licking, about 1 2 miles above Licking sta-
tion,f by making corn in the country in the year
1 775 and improving the said land in the year 1 776 ;
satisfactory proof being made to the Court, they are
of opinion, that the said Stoner had a right to a set
tlement of 400 acres of land, including the above
mentioned improvements and a preemption of 1000
acres adjoining the same and that a certificate issue
accordingly." Boone's successful performance earned him the
thanks of Lord Dunmore in the shape of a military
commission, by virtue of which he was " ordered to
take command of three garrisons " on the frontier.
* Now Stoner's creek, Bourbon county, Kentucky.
f In Morgan county, Kentucky.
26

202 The Ohio Valley
In this capacity he took part in the battle at Point
Pleasant on the loth of October, 1774, which secured
peace for the settlers on ceded territory. But this
Indian war had not taught any more respect for
treaties, made with the Indians, nor shown to would-
be settlers on Indian lands, how dangerous such at
tempts would be.
Governor Morehead tells of the next attempt:*
" In the autumn of the year 1774 there originated in
North Carolina one of the most extraordinary
schemes of ambition and speculation, which was ex
hibited in an age pregnant with such events. Eight
private gentlemen — Richard Henderson, William
Johnston, Nathaniel Hart, JohnTuttrel, David Hart,
John Williams, James Hogg and Leonard Henley
Bullock — contrived the project of purchasing a large
tract of country in the West from the Cherokee In
dians and provisionary arrangements were made, with
a view to the accomplishment of their object, for a
treaty to be held with them in the ensuing year. This
was the celebrated Transylvania Company, which
formed so singular a connection with our early annals.
In March 1775 Col. Henderson, on behalf of his asso
ciates, met the chiefs of the Cherokees, attended by
1200 warriors, at a fort on the Watauga, the south
eastern branch of the Holston River. A council
was held, the terms were discussed, the purchase was
consummated — including the whole tract of country
between the Cumberland and Kentucky Rivers."
* First settlement of Kentucky, 1740, quoted above.

In Colonial Days. 203
But the purchase, thus made, was not a legal one.
Both the Colonies, Virginia and North Carolina,
claiming by their charters jurisdiction as far as the
Mississippi and therefore including this tract, had at
different times enacted laws which, though not as
stringent as the New York laws on that subject, made
a direct conveyance of land from the Indian to the
white man void.* This principle was re-afifirmed in
the Constitutions, which the two Colonies adopted on
entering the Union of the States : " No purchase of
land shall be made of the Indian natives but on be
half of the public by authority of the General As
sembly." Doctor O. F. D. Smyth, traveling through Vir
ginia as agent for Lord Dunmore, throws the light
of cotemporaneous opinion on this gigantic land-job
bery of Henderson : " Under pretence of viewing
some back lands, he [Henderson] privately went out
to the Cherokee nation of Indians and for an insig
nificant consideration (only ten wagons loaded with
cheap goods, some fire arms and spirituous liquors),
made a purchase from the chiefs of the nation of a
vast tract of territory, equal in extent to a kingdom
and in the excellence of climate and soil, extent of
its rivers and beautiful elegance of situations inferior
to none in the universe. A domain of no less than
100 miles square, situated on the back or interior
* William W. Hening, Statutes of Virginia, I, 391, 396, 468; II, 139;
Johns Hopkins University Studies, III, 123, and Iredell Laws of North Caro
lina, I, 32, Chap. LIX.

204 The Ohio Valley
part of Virginia and of North and South Carolina ;
comprehending the rivers Kentucky, Cherokee [Cum
berland] and Ohio, besides a variety of inferior rivu
lets. . , , This transaction he kept a profound secret,
until such time as he obtained the final ratification of
the whole nation in form. Then he immediately in
vited settlers from all the Provinces, offering them
lands on the most advantageous terms and proposing
to them, likewise, to form a government and a legis
lature of their own, such as might be most convenient
to their particular circumstances of settlement 
Mr. Henderson by this means established a new
colony, numerous and respectable, of which he him
self was virtually proprietor as well as Governor,
and indeed Legislature also. ... In vain did the
different Governors fulminate their proclamations of
outlawry against him and his people ; in vain did
they offer rewards for apprehending him and forbid
every person from joining or repairing to his settle
ment ; under the sanction and authority of a general
law that renders the formal assent of the Governors
and Assemblies of the different Provinces absolutely
necessary to vindicate the purchase of any lands
from the Indian nations. For this instance being
the act of the Indians themselves, they defended him
and his colony, being in fact as a bulwark and barrier
between Virginia as well as North and South Caro
lina, and him ; his territory lying to the westward of
their nation."* Henderson's scheme failed and the
* O. F. D. Smyth, Travels in Virginia, 1773.

In Colonial Days. 205
Commonwealth of " Transylvania " had only a short
existence. He had not thought it necessary to in
quire, whether the Cherokees, from whom he bought
this territory, had a right and title to it At the time
when they made over to Henderson the great domain
of Transylvania they lived in towns, either on the
head waters of the Savannah river, the Keowee and
Tugelo, or on the Tennessee, above the mouth of
the Holston. They occupied as hunting grounds the
counties of Franklin and Elbert in Georgia, the
western counties of South Carolina, North Carolina
and of Virginia ; they would occasionally go down
the Tennessee, but very rarely on the Cumberland,
and when they visited this river they considered
themselves as hunting on girounds not their own. On
the other hand the Chickasaws, as Governor Blount
of the South-West Territory* says, lived for a long
time on the north side of the Tennessee, at least fifty
miles lower down the river, than the lowest Cherokee
town, and the greatest contiguity to hunting grounds,
as well as the prior use of them, is the best claim
Indians can establish to them. At a treaty between
the Cherokees and Governor Blount, representing
the United States, made on Long Island of Holston
river, a Cherokee chief said to Henderson : " You,
Carolina Dick, have deceived your people ; you told
them, we sold you the Cumberland lands ; we only
sold you our claim ; they belong to our brothers, the
Chickasaws, as far as the head waters of Duck and
* American State Papers, Indian Affairs, I, 433.

2o6 The Ohio Valley
Elk Rivers." Daniel Boone was employed by Hen
derson in carrying out the plans for organizing this
new Colony. He was assigned to the command of
a company sent "to mark out a road in the best
passage from the settlement, through the wilderness
to Kentucky." Boone pushed this work rapidly, so
that on the ist of April, 1775 he had reached the
place where the first fort in the present State of Ken
tucky was erected, and could begin to lay the founda
tion of Boonesborough.* Henderson joined Boone
in the new village and opened a land ofifice, disposing
of over half a million of acres in a short time, for
which only questionable titles could be given in the
name of " The Proprietors of the Colony of Tran
sylvania in America." Other settlements sprung up
in the new Colony — Harrodsburgh, Boiling Spring
and St. Asaph's — which formed a legislature to
meet at Boonesborough in 1775.
The battles of Lexington and Concord were
fought ; and the shot which was soon to be " heard
around the world " echoed in the woods of Kentucky,
The days of Colonial Kentucky were numbered as
the few inhabitants joined their kinsmen along the
seaboard in throwing off the dominion of England,
and Henderson was obliged to give up his scheme of
establishing a separate and independent government
similar to the other British Colonies. He addressed
a memorial to the Continental Congress in 1775,
* Madison county, Kentucky.

In Colonial Days. 207
asking that Transylvania might be added to the
United Colonies, rising against English tyranny.
In going south from Kentucky we come to the
upper intervales of the Ohio Valley, to Tennessee.
As Rafinesque* claims that Kentucky was discov
ered by Colonel Wood in 1654, so Ramseyf thinks
it possible, that Fernando de Soto, on the march
which he made in 1539 from Florida to the Missis
sippi, may have passed through Tennessee. But we
must leave such speculations to special investigators
and will here confine ourselves to documentary evi
dences, although maps of the sixteenth century indicate
some vague knowledge of the country between the
Mississippi and the Atlantic ocean. J A map of
de risle§ shows de Soto to have come to the head
waters of the Tennessee river.
The first Europeans, whom we positively know to
have been in the Tennessee country, came by way of
New Orleans up the Mississippi. M. de Crozat
* Marshall, History of Kentucky.
f Annals of Tennessee, 26.
X I. Araericae pars borealis, Florida, Baccalaos, Canada, Corterealis a Cor
nelio de Judaeis in lucem edita, 1593, has two rivers, both starting under the
40th degree N. L., one from the west, the other from the east, which after
running under the same degree join and immediately separate, to flow par
allel to each other into the gulf. 2. In the Wytfliet Map of 1597, already
mentioned, very sirailar to No. i. 3. The De Bry Map of 1596, has the
Mississippi and a tributary running from the east fairly correct. 4. Quadus,
in his " Geographisches Handbook " (Geographical Handbook), 1600, fol
lows Judaeus.
§ Amsterdam edition of Garcilasso de la Vega's Histoire des Incas et de
la conquete de la Floride, 1707. Other raaps of the route are given by Rye
(in Hakluyt), McCulloch (Antiquarian Researches in America, Baltimore,
1829), and by J. C. Breevort (in Smith's Narratives of Hernando de Soto).

2o8 The Ohio Valley
had obtained a grant of the exclusive trade in the
territory of Louisiana from the French King* and
established in 1714 a trading store, under charge of
M. Charleville, " upon a mound near the present site
of Nashville, on the west side of the Cumberland
river, near French Lick creek, and about seventy yards
from each stream,"f
Hunters and traders of both the French and the
English nationalities must have resorted to the
country east of the Mississippi. In 1718 the French
could describe the road taken by the Indians of
Michigan and Lake Huron, " when going to war with
the Flatheads and other nations toward Carolina,
such as the Cheraquis, residing on the river Casqui-
nampoj and the Cha6anons."§ They had also a fort
on Tennessee soil, Fort Assomption, though not
in the Ohio Valley. Fort Assomption on Chickasaw
bluff, where Memphis now stands, formed a link in
the chain of footholds, more or less fortified, which
the French had established for securing the communi
cation between Canada and New Orleans. But from
an English source we have, for a wonder, the most
complete description of the country given in these
days :
, . , , " The great nation of the Chicazaws [Chicka
saws] whose country extends above forty leagues to
the river of the Cheraquees, which we shall describe
*N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 671.
f Ramsey, Annals, 45.
X Old narae of the Tennessee river, de Lisle's map.
§ N. Y. Col. Hist., IX, 886.

In Colonial Days. 209
when we come to discourse of the great river Hohio.
.... Thirty leagues higher on the East side is the
opening of a river that proceeds out of a lake twenty
miles long, which is about ten miles from the Mescha-
cebe. Into this lake empty themselves four large
rivers. The most northerly, which comes from the
North East is called Ouabachicou or Ouabache, upon
which dwelt the nations Chachakingua, Pepepicokia,
Peanguichia. The next South of this is the vast
river Hohio, which comes from the back of New
York, Maryland and Virginia, and is navigable for
600 miles. Hohio in the Indian language signifies
the fair river ; and certainly it runs from its heads
through the most beautiful fertile countries in the
universe and is formed by the confluence of ten or
twelve rivers and innumerable rivulets. A town set
tled upon this lake or the entrance of the river Hohio
thereinto, would have communication with a most
lovely fruitful country 600 miles square. Formerly,
divers nations dwelt on this river, as the Chawanoes,
a mighty and very populous people, who had above
fifty towns and many other nations, who were totally
destroyed or driven out of their country by the
Irocois, this river being their usual road, when they
make war upon the nations who lie to the South or
to the West
" South of the Hohio is another river, which about
thirty leagues above the lake is divided into two
branches ; the northerly is called Ouespere, the south
erly the Black River ; there are very few people upon
27

2IO The Ohio Valley
either, they having been destroyed or driven away by
the aforementioned Irocois. The heads of this river
proceed from the West side of the vast ridge of
mountains which run on the back of Carolina, Vir
ginia and Maryland ; on whose opposite or East side
are the sources of the great river Potomack. . , , The
mountains afford a short passage or communication
between those two rivers, which the Indians are well
acquainted with, , . .
" The most southerly of the above said four rivers,
which enter into the lake, is a river some call Kasqui,
so named from a nation inhabiting a little above its
mouth ; others call it the Cusates or the river of the
Cheraquees, a mighty nation, among whom it has its
chief fountains ; it comes from the South-East and
its heads are among the mountains, which separate
this country from Carolina, and is the great road
of the traders from thence to the Meschacebe and
intermediate places."*
To counteract the French influences among the
Indians, Sir Alexander Cumming started in 1730, to
hold a conference with all the chiefs of the Cherokee
townsf at Nequassee, on the Hiawassee river, J at
which Moytoy of Telliquo§ was appointed head chief
of the Cherokee Indians. Moytoy had the crown
brought from the village of Tenassee on the Little
Tennessee river and presented it to the English Com-
* Daniel Coxe, Description of Carolina, 1722.
f See Appendix E.
X A small tributary of the Tennessee.
§ Probably the raodern Tellico.

In Colonial Days. 211
missioner. Sir Alexander Cumming, in token of his
submission. Upon his advice some chiefs of the tribe
were sent to England and did homage there to King
George.* English state-craft appears not to have been
able to secure by treaty permanent immunity from
Indian invasions. A memorial from the Governor, the
President of the Council and the Speaker of the As
sembly of South Carolina sent to King George in
1 734, says : " The Cherokee nation has lately become
very insolent to our traders, and we beg leave to in
form Your Majesty that the building and mounting
some forts among them may keep them steady in
their fidelity to us and that the means of the province
are inadequate to its defence."f But it took the
English government twenty-two years to arrive at a
decision in this matter, when the Earl of Loudon,
commanding the Royal troops in America, and Gov
ernor Dinwiddie of Virginia, sent Andrew Lewis to
build a fort on Tennessee river near the head of navi
gation and about thirty miles from the present city
of Knoxville. The erection of this fort. Fort Lou
don, although at all times a place very difificult and
in case of an Indian war, impossible to reach with
supplies, had the hearty approval of the Cherokees,
who, says Haywood,^ " invited artizans into Fort
Loudon by donations of land, which they caused to
be signed by their own chief and, in one instance, by
§ Hewitt, History of South Carolina, II, 5.
f lb., II, 37.
t Haywood, Civil History of Tennessee, p. 28.

212 The Ohio Valley
Gov. Dobbs of North Carolina," Colonel Byrd,
of Virginia, marched into the country in 1758, and
built Fort Chissel, garrisoning it with part of his regi
ment. Another fort was established by him on the
north bank of the Holston river. These forts and
the garrisons in them seemed to make the country
desirable for permanent settlement and people began
to stream in ; when estranged from their allegiance
to the English by dexterous French agents, the
Cherokees commenced again hostilities. The ensuing
war was bitter and disastrous ; the only white settle
ment within the boundaries of the present State of
Tennessee, around Fort Loudon, was entirely broken
up, and quiet was only restored when, in 1761, the
Cherokees, much weakened, sued for peace and en
tered into a new treaty of amity with the Colonial
troops. Either the expedition of Colonel Bouquet,
spoken of in a former chapter, had an effect on the
Indians south of the Ohio, or the absence of settle
ments, to be plundered, kept them on their good be
havior, and the parties of hunters and explorers, who
began to traverse the country in every direction had
no cause to complain of the treatment by the abo
riginal inhabitants. But no new farms were made until
1 768, when ten families came from near the present
Raleigh, North Carolina, and established themselves
on the Watauga.* Other people from North Caro.
lina and Virginia followed, and " about the years
1768, 1769 and 1770, such was the reigning fashion
* A branch of the Holston.

In Colonial Days. 213
of the time as eminently promoted the emigration of
its people from North Carolina." * The same causes,
which induced Daniel Boone to remove from the
Yadkin, made a body of the North Carolinians rise,
under the name of Regulators, against the oppression
of Royal ofificials, and when defeated in a fight on
the Alamance creek,f some of them fled to the fast
nesses on the Holston river. The taxation of the
people had become so unbearable, that the land-owner
had to seek new fields in which to repair his broken
fortunes, and the poorer classes were compelled to go
somewhere in search of independence and a respect
able existence. These were powerful incentives and
the people obeyed them by streaming into the country
west of the mountains.
At the head of the little Colony, formed on the
Watauga, was James Robertson, who distinguished
himself during the war of the Revolution and became
in many ways closely identified with the history of
the State of Tennessee. The new settlement in
creased rapidly in population, and within three years
was able to muster about three hundred men able to
bear arms.
The policy of a government will gradually warp
the intellect of the people. As the British govern
ment claimed to be the owner of all lands east of the
Mississippi by the conquest of the French, without
consideration for Indian rights, so this settlement on
* Haywood, p. 3g.
f Runs into Haw river. North Carolina.

214 The Ohio Valley
the Watauga found itself on Indian territory as tres
passers. For the treaty, made between Virginia and
the Cherokees, established the boundary line from
White Top mountain westward to Holston river, on
a parallel of about 36° N. L. Alexander Cameron
the Deputy Agent of Indian Affairs residing among
the Cherokees was, therefore, only fulfilling his duty
when he ordered the settlers to move off. But some
of the Cherokees expressed a desire that the tres
passers might be permitted to remain, provided they
would make no further encroachments.
The settlers took advantage of this favorable and
friendly disposition shown by the owners of the land.
They deputed James Robertson and John Bean, in
1 771, to treat with their landlords on a basis of
accommodation and amicable intercourse. The nego
tiations resulted in a lease for eight years, for although
unwilling to give up their lands for no equivalent,
they consented to lease all the country along the
waters of the Watauga for a stipulated amount of
merchandise, muskets and other Indian goods. The
next year a similar settlement was made on the Noli-
chuky river, under like circumstances, by Jacob
Brown, and two other families from North Carolina,
The sums paid out under the above conditions were
recovered by sales of land to new comers and thus a
nursery of population was planted in East Ten
nessee, To our modern mind the situation of these pioneers
of European civilization in the heart of the great

In Colonial Days. 215
American wilderness offers a most romantic picture.
They were far removed from the parent provinces,
separated from them by trackless forests and high
mountain ranges ; their governments could neither
control nor protect them and had most likely forgot
ten their very existence. It was almost a repetition
of the story told by the Good Book of Adam and
Eve in Paradise. And this story happened not much
more than 100 years ago.
Apparently the peaceful spirit of Paradise pervaded
the new settlements, for we hear of no discords among
the inhabitants and of no hostile encounters with the
Indians, The rapid increase of population told the leading
men on the Watauga and on the Nolichuky, that a
code of laws was indispensable for the maintenance
of this no less remarkable, than beneficial condition.
It was drawn up to be signed by every individual.
If any one should refuse, he was to be debarred from
its benefits, but every settler signed it. The new
laws provided for the election of magistrates, called
trustees, by whom all controversies were to be de
cided conformably to the written code. Thus organ
ized, their affairs continued prosperous till the
commencement of the war for Independence. The
population had then increased to such an extent, that
about 800 riflemen could join their friends in the con
test for liberty.
The settling of West Tennessee falls into a period
a few years later and therefore is not to be treated of

2i6 The Ohio Valley
here. But like that of East Tennessee it was full of
incidents, which compel our admiration for the courage
and astuteness of the men who followed the advice
of the late Horace Greeley, " Go West, young man,"
before it was given. They were surrounded by so
many concentric circles of danger and perplexities,
that human assistance was out of the question. Their
nearest neighbors, at Lexington, were 200 miles
away and scarce able to protect themselves. The
settlement at Holston was 300 miles from them and
no roads led there. But notwithstanding these dififi
culties they were preserved and prospered and are
now a rich and vigorous people.

In Colonial Days. 217
APPENDIX A.
Extract from the Journal of Galin^e,*
After thirty-five days of very difificult navigation
we arrived at a small river, called by the Indians
" Karontaguat," which is the nearest point on the lake
to " Sonnontouan," and about 100 leagues South
West of Montreal  43° 12 N, Lat , , , M. Dol
lier, M. de la Salle and myself consulted together, in
order to determine in what manner we should act,
what we should offer for presents and how we should
give them. It was determined, that I should go to
the village with M, de la Salle for the purpose of
obtaining a captive taken from the nation, whom we
desired to visit, who could conduct us thither and
that we should take with us eight of our Frenchmen,
leaving the rest with M, Dollier in charge of our
canoes, . , , When we were within a league of the
village the halts were more frequent  until we
finally came in sight of the great village, , , , In order
to reach it we had to ascend a small hill, on the edge
of which the village is situated. As soon as we had
ascended the hill, we saw a large number of old men
seated on the grass, expecting our approach. They
r * Ren6 de Brehan de Galinfee, a raissionary of the Order of St. Sulpitius,
who became one of la Salle's companions, as stated in the text, is the writer
of this journal. He was well acquainted with the Algonquin dialect and
had some reputation as surveyor and astronomer.
28

2i8 The Ohio Valley
had left a convenient place in front, in which they
invited us to sit down.
* * * * * *
The third and last present, which we gave, were
two coats, four kettles, six hatchets and some glass
beads, with which we announced, that we had come
on the part of Onontio,* to see the people called by
them " Toagenha "f living on the river Ohio and we
asked from them a captive of that country, to be our
guide. They considered it was necessary to think
over our proposition. . . . We thus consumed the
time for eight or ten days. . . . During our stay at
that village, we inquired particularly about the road
we must take to reach the Ohio river and were told
to go in search of it from Sonnontouan. That it
required six days' journey by land of about twelve
leagues each. 3:
This induced us to belieye, that we possibly could
not reach it in that way, as we would hardly be able
to carry for so long a journey our necessary pro
visions, much less our baggage. But they told us at
the same time, that in going to find it by the way of
Lake Erie, in canoes, we would have only a portage
of .three days before reaching that river, reaching it
at a point much nearer to the people, whom we de
sired to find, than by way of Sonnontouan,
* Onontio means Great Mountain and was the Iroquois narae for Gov
ernor Montraagny, and later all the other French Governors.
fOtoagannha^ People speaking corrupt Algonquin. Relation, 1661-2,
p. g.
X Probably by portages frora the head of the Genesee to the Alleghany.

In Colonial Days. 219
What troubled us however more than all else was,
what the Indians told our Dutch interpreter. They
called him insane for wishing to go to the Toagenhas,
who were a very bad people, sure to kill us. Besides
this, we would run great risk along the river Ohio of
meeting the Ontastoes,* who would most certainly
break our heads. Therefore the Senecas were not
willing to go with us, as they feared that our deaths
would be charged to them. . . . We were relieved of
all this difificulty by the arrival from the Dutch of an
Indian, who lodged in our cabin. His home was the
village of one of the Five cantons of Iroquois at the
end of Lake Ontario. This Indian assured us, that
we would have no trouble in finding a guide, as a
number of captives from the tribes we desired to
visit were in his village and he would cheerfully con
duct us to his home.
It was under the influence of these hopes, that we
left the Sonnontouans  We waited here (at
Ganastogue Sonontoua O-tin-a-oua-ta-oua) until the
chiefs of the village came to meet us with some men
to carry our effects. . . . They made us still another
present of about 5000 wampum and afterwards two
captives for guides. One of them belonged to the
Chouanons nation, the other to the Nez Perces. The
Chouanon fell to M. de la Salle, the other to us.
* The Andastes or Guyandots may be meant. They lived, according to
Gallatin (Syn. Ind. Tr. 76), on the Alleghany river. The war with the Iro
quois, in which they were engaged at this time, ended in their destruction,
1672.

2 20 The Ohio Valley
APPENDIX B,
A Journal from Virginia Beyond the Appala
chian Mountains in Sept", 1671, sent to the
Royal Society by M"* Clayton, and Read Aug.
I, 1688, before the said Society,
1671 Sep"^ I. Thomas Batts, Thomas Woods, and Rob
ert Fallam, having received a commission from the
Hon'ble Major General Wood for the finding out the
ebbing and flowing of the Water on the other side
of the Mountains, in order to the discovery of the
South Sea, accompanied with Perecute, a great Man
of the Apomatack Indians, and Jack Neasam, for
merly Servant to Major General Wood with five
horses set forward from the Apomatacks Town about
eight of the Clock in the morning, being Friday
Sepf^, i^', 1 671. That day we travelled about 40
Miles, took up our quarters, and found, that we had
travelled from the Okenechee path due West,
Sep"" 2. We travelled about 45 Miles and came to
our quarters at Sun set, and found we were to the
North of the West
Sep'" 3. We travelled West and by South Course
and about three o'Clock came to a great swamp a
Mile and a half or two Miles over, and very difificult
to pass. We led our horses thro' and waded twice
over a River emptying itself into Roanoke River.
After we were over we went North west and so came

In Colonial Days. 221
round and took up our quarters West this day we
travelled 40 Miles good.
Sep"^ 4. We set forward and about two of the Clock
arrived at the Sapony Indians Town. We travelled
South and by West course till about noon, and came
to the Sapony West. Here we were very joyfully
and kindly received with firing of Guns and plenty
of provision. We here hired a Sapony Indian to
be our Guide towards the Totoras a nearer way
than usual.
Sep"' 5. I wot as we were ready to take horse and
March from the Sapony's, about seven of the Clock
in the morning we heard some guns go off from the
other side of the River. They were seven Apoma
tack Indians sent by Major General Wood to accom
pany us in our Voyage. We hence sent back a horse
belonging to M*" Thomas Wood which was tired, by a
Portugal belonging to Major General Wood, whom
we here found. About eleven of the Clock we set
forward and that night came to the Town of the
Flanakaskies which we judge to be 25 Miles from the
Sapony's and received the like or better entertain
ment than from the Sapony's The Town lying west
and by North is an Island on the Sapony River, rich
land. Sep"' 6. About 1 1 of the Clock we set forward
from the Flanakaskies but left M"' Thomas Wood at
the Town dangerously sick of the Flux and the horse
he rode on belonging to Major General Wood was
likewise taken with the staggers and a failing in

222 The Ohio Valley
his hinder parts. Our course was this Day West
and by South, and we took up our quarters West
about 20 Miles from the Town. This afternoon our
horses stray'd away about one of the Clock.
Sep"" 7. We set forward about three of the Clock.
We had sight of the Mountains. We travelled 25
Miles over very hilly and stony Ground, our course
westerly. Sep" 8, We set out by sun rise, and travelled all
day a west and by north course, about one of the
Clock we came to a Tree mark'd in the path with a
Coal M A, N J about four of the Clock we came to
the foot of the first Mountain went to the Top, and
then came to a small descent, and so did rise again,
and then till we came almost to the bottom was a
very steep descent. We travelled all day over very
Stony Rocky ground and after 30 Miles travell this
day we came to our quarters at the foot of the Moun
tain due West. We past the Sapony River twice
this Day.
Sep" 9. We were stirring with the Sun and trav
elled West and after a little riding came again to the
Sapony River, where it was very narrow, and ascended
the second Mountain which wound up west and by
South with several risings and fallings, after which
we came to a steep descent at the foot whereof was
a lovely descending Valley about six Miles over, with
curious small risings : indifferent good way. Our
course over it was South West, after we were over
that we came to a very steep descent at the foot

In Colonial Days. 223
where of stood the Tatera Town in a very rich swamp
between a branch of the main River of Roanoke,
circled about with Mountains, we got thither about
three of the Clock, after we had travelled 25 Miles,
Here we were exceedingly civilly entertained. Sat
urday night Sunday, and Monday we staid at the
Toteras Perecute being taken very sick of a fever
and ague every afternoon notwithstanding on Tues
day Morning about nine of the clock we resolved to
leave our horses with the Toteras and set forward.
Sep" 12. We left the Town West and by North.
We Travelled that day sometimes southerly some
times northerly, as the path went over several high
mountains and steep Vallies crossing several branches
and the River Roanoke several times, all exceedingly
stony ground untill about four o Clock Perecute
being taken with his fit and we were very weary, we
took up our quarters by the side of Roanoke River
almost at the head of it at the foot of the Great
Mountain. Our course was West and by North,
having travelled 25 Miles, at the Toteras we hired
one of their Indians for our Guide, and left one of
the Apomatack Indians there sick.
Sep"^ 13. In the Morning we set forward early,
after we had travelled about three Miles we came to
the foot of the great Mountain, and found a very
steep ascent, so that we could scarce keep ourselves
from sHding down again. It continued for three
Miles with small intermission of better way. Right
up by the Path on the left we saw the proportion of

2 24 The Ohio Valley
the Man^ there growing very high weeds and grass
about it, but nothing but moss on the place. When
we were got up to the top of the Mountain and set
down very weary we saw very high Mountains lying
to the north and South as far 'as we could discern.
Our Course up the Mountain was West and by North
a very small descent on the other side, and as soon
as over we found the Vallies tending westerly. It
was a pleasing tho dreadfull sight to see the Moun
tains and Hills as if piled one upon another. After we
had travelled about three miles from the Mountains
easily descending ground about 12 of the Clock we
came to two Trees mark'd with a Coal M. A. N J
the other cut in with M. A. and several other scrable-
ments hard by a run just like the swift Creek at M''
Randolphs in Virginia, emptying itself sometimes
westerly sometimes northerly, with curious meadows
on each side, going forward we found rich ground
but stony curious rising hills and brave meadows
with grass above man's height many Rivers running
West north West and several runs from the South
erly Mountains, which we saw as we marched, which
run northerly into the great Riven After we had
travelled about 7 Miles we came to a very steep de
scent where we found a great run, which emptied
itself as we supposed into the great River northerly
our Course being as the path went, west south west.
We set forward West and had not gone far, but we
* Whereof they had given an account it seems in a former Relation which
I have not. (Note of Mr. Clayton.)

In Colonial Days. 225
met again with the River still broad, running West
and by North. We went over the great run empty
ing itself northerly into the great River. After we
had marched about 6 Miles north West and by North
we came to the River again where it was much
broader than at the two other places. It ran here
west and by South and so as we suppose wound up
westerly. Here we took up our quarters, after we
had waded over, for this night due west The soil
the farther we went, the richer. Stony, full of brave
meadows and old fields.*
Sep" 14. We set forward before sun rise our pro
vision being all spent We travelled as the path went
sometimes southerly sometimes northerly over good
ground but stony, sometimes rising hills, and then
steep descents, as we marched in a clear place at the
top of a hill we saw ag' us lying south West a curious
prospect of hills like waves raised by a gentle breese
of wind rising one after another. M"" Batt supposed
he saw houses : but I rather think them to be white
Cliffs. We marched about 20 Miles this day and
about three of the Clock took up our quarters to see
if our Indians could kill us some Deer, being West
and by North very weary and hungry and Perecute
continuing very ill yet desirous to go forward. We
came this day over several brave runs and hope to
morrow to see the Main River again.
* Old fields is a comraon expression for Land that has been cultivated by
Indians, and left fallow, which are generally overrun with what they call
broome grats. (Note in the original MSS.)
29

2 26 The Ohio Valley
Sep" 15. Yesterday in the afternoon and this day
we lived a dog's life hunger and Ease Our Indians
having done their best could kill us no meat. The
deer they said were in such herds and the ground so
dry that one or other of them would spy them. No
remedy. About one of the Clock we set forward
and went about 16 Miles over some exceeding good
and some indifferent ground a West and by North
course till we came to a great run, that empties itself
west and by North, as we suppose into the great
River which we hope is nigh at hand. As we
marched we met with some wild geese, berries and
exceeding large haw's, with which we were forced to
feed ourselves.
Sep" 16. Our Guide went from us Yesterday and
we saw him no more till we returned to the Toteras.
Our Indians went a ranging betimes to see and kill
us some Deer as Meat, One came and told us they
heard a drum and a gun go off to the northward.
They brought us some exceeding .good grapes and
killed two turkies, which were very welcome and with
which we refreshed ourselves, and about ten of the
Clock set forward and after we had travelled about
ten miles, one of our Indians killed us a Deer and
presently afterwards we had sight of a curious River
like Apamatack River Its Course here was north
and so as we suppose runs West about certain
curious Mountains we.saw westward. Here we took
up our quarters our course having been West, We
understand the Mohecan Indians did here formerly

In Colonial Days. 227
live. It cannot be long since ^for we find corn stalks
in the ground,
Sep" 1 7. Early in the Morning we went to seek
some trees to mark, our Indians being impatient of
longer stay, by reason it was like to be bad weather
and that it was so difificult to get provision. We
found four Trees exceeding fit for our purpose, that
had been half barked by our Indians, standing one
after the other. We first proclaimed the King in
these words : " Long live Charles the Second by the
" Grace of God King of England, Scotland, France,
" and Ireland and Virginia and of all the Territories
" thereunto belonging. Defender of the Faith &c "
fired some guns and went to the first tree which we
marked thus | J | with a pair of marking Irons
Majesty then the next thus WB

for his sacred
for the right

C S\ hon'ble Governor S' William
Berkley the third thus J/Y for the hon'ble Major Gen
eral Wood the last thus '^ : R F. P for Perecute
who said he would turn Englishman and on another
tree hard by these letters one under another E. N.
TT. N P. VER. after we had done we went our selves
down to the River side, but not without great dififi
culty it being a piece of very rich ground whereon
the Moketans {sic) had formerly lived and grown up
so with weeds and small prickly locusts and thistles' to
a very great hight that it was almost impossible to
pass. It cost us hard labour to get through. When
we came to the River side we found it better and
broader than we expected much like James River at

2 28 The Ohio Valley
Col. Staggs the falls much like these falls, we imag
ined by the Water marks that it flows here about
three feet. It was ebbing Water when we were here.
We set up a Stick by the Water side, but found it
ebb very slowly. Our Indians kept such a hallowing,
that we durst not stay any longer to make farther
trial. Immediately upon our coming to our quarters,
we returned homewards, and when we were on the
Top of the hill, we turned about and saw over against
us westerly over a certain delightfull hill a fog arise
and a glimmering light as from Water. We suppose
there to be a great Bay. We came to the Toteras
tuesday night, where we found our horses well and
ourselves well entertained. We immediately had the
news of M'' Byrd and his great Company Discovery
three miles from the Toteras Town, We here found
a Mohekan Indian who having intelligence of our
coming were afraid it had been to fight them, and
had sent him to the Toteras to inquire. We gave
him satisfaction to the contrary and that we came as
friends, presented him with three or four Shots of
Powder, He told us by our Interpreter, that we had
from the Mountains half way to the place they now
lived at. That the next town beyond them lived
upon plain level, from whence came abundance of
Salt, That he could inform us no farther by reason
that there were a very great company of Indians that
lived upon the great Water,
Sep" 21. After very civil Entertainment, we came
from the Toteras, and on Sunday Morning the 24"^ we

In Colonial Days. 229
came to the Flanakaskies. We found M"^ Wood
dead, and buried, and his horse likewise dead, after
Civil Entertainment with firing of Guns at parting
which is more than usual.
Sep" 25. On Monday morning we came from thence
and reached to the Sapony's that night where we
stayed till Wednesday,
Sep" 27, We came from thence, they having been
very courteous to us. At night we came to the
Apomatack Town being very wet and weary.
Oct' I, Being Sunday Morning we arrived safe at
Fort Henry.
God's holy name be praised for our Preservation.*
Extract of a Letter of M^ Clayton to the
Royal Society, read to them Octob" 24, 1688,
Wakefield ^2^^, 17. 1688.
My last was the Journal of Thomas Batts Thomas
Woods, and Robert Fallam, I know Col. Byr'd that
is mentioned to have been about that time as far as
the Toteras. He is one of the intelligentest Gentle
man in all Virginia and knows more of Indian affairs
than any Man in the Country. I discoursed him
about the River on the other side the Mountains said
to ebb and flow, which he assured me was a mistake
in them, for that it must run into a Lake now called
Petite which is fresh Water, for since that time a
Colony of the French are come down from Canadas
and have seated themselves in the back of Virginia,
*This Journal is also given in N. Y. Col. Doc, III, 196.

230 The Ohio Valley
where Fallam and the rest supposed there might be
a Bay, but is a Lake, which they have given the name
of Lake Petite, there being several large Lakes be
twixt that and Canada, The French possessing
themselves of these Lakes no doubt will in a short
time be absolutely Masters of the Beaver trade, the
greatest number of Beavers being caught there.
The Colonel told me likewise that the common
notion of the Lake of Canada, he was assured, was
a mistake, for the River supposed to come out of it
had no Communication with any of the Lakes nor
they with one another, but were distinct

APPENDIX C.

Remarks on the Journal of Batts and Fallam in
their Discovery of the Western Parts of Vir_
GINIA in 1671. By John Mitchell, M. D., F. R,
S. [about 1755],
This Discovery of Batts and Fallam is well known
in the history of Virginia, and there is no manner of
doubt of its being authentic, altho' it has not yet
been published by the Royal Society. The account
given of this Discovery by R. B.* (Robert Beverly
Esq'^^ a gentleman of note and distinction in the
Countrey who was well acquainted with it and its his
tory) agrees very well with this original account of
* History of Virginia.

In Colonial Days. 231
it ; altho he is not so particular in describing the
Place that these Discoverers went to, that we may be
able to fix upon the spot, which I think we may do
from the Journal itself, and that from the following
considerations, 1°. The Appamatrick Town, the place that they
went from, is well known in Virginia to this day, at
least the River it stood upon, which is the Southern
branch of James River, that is well known by the
name of Appamatox : and Capt. Smith, who was at
this Town of Appamatrick, as he calls it laies it down
on the River of Appomatox a little below the Falls
opposite to where the Towns of Petersburgh or
Blandford now stand : as may be seen by comparing
his Map of Virginia with our Map of North America.
2°. From this Town of Appamatack they set out
along the path that leads to Aconeechy, which is an
Indian Town on the borders of Virginia and Caro
lina, marked in all our maps, from which path they
travelled due west, now you will see both these Roads
laid down in our map of North America, and exactly
as they are described in this Journal, they being the
two Roads that lead from the Falls of Appamatox
River Southward to Carolina, and Westward to our
Settlements on Wood River in Virginia.
3°. This Road that goes to the Westward which
was the one that our Travellers went crosses three
branches of Roanoke River a little below the Moun
tains, just as it is described in the Journal as may be
seen by comparing the Journal with our Map above

232 The Ohio Valley
mentioned. This branch of Roanoke River is called
Sapony River in the Journal which has been called
Staunton River (in memory of the Lady of the late
Governor of Virginia) ever since the Survey of those
parts in running the boundary line between Virginia
and Carolina in 1729. The Sapony and Totera In
dians mentioned in the Journal were then removed
farther South upon the Islands of Pidee River, as
may be seen in the Map of Carolina by M' Mosley
one of the Surveyors in running that line, and they
are now removed to the Southward of that among
the Catawbas as it is well known that all the Indians
of those parts have gone for many years, in order to
protect themselves against the Iroquois who have
overrun all those parts, and here we find a River that
still retains the name of Sapony or Johnston River,
but a great way to the Southward of the River men
tioned in the Journal by that name.
4°. From the branches of Roanoke River they
passed over the Mountains and came to a large river
west of the Mountains running North and South,
which plainly appears from this account of it to have
been what we call Wood River in Virginia which is
well known and well settled by our People there, both
above and below the Place where these People dis
covered it, and they frequently pass the Mountains
now in going to and from Wood River about the
same place that is described in the Journal.
5''. Nigh this River they saw from the Tops of the
Mountains an appearance of a Water at a distance,

In Colonial Days. 233
like a Lake or Arm of the Sea. The same observa
tion is made by another Person M"^ Christopher Gist
who lately surveyed this Country hereabouts, and
indeed upon the spot described in the Journal, as
appears from both their Routes as laid down in our
Map abovementioned, which cross one another about
the place where these discoverers fell in with the
great River, as they call it. The water seen by Gist
was known by him to be Wood River a little lower
down, where it passes a great ridge of the Mountains
that lye to the Westward.
6°. When they arrived at this River, they were in
formed of a numerous and warlike nation of Indians,
that lived on the great water, and made Salt, the
accounts of whom prevented their going any farther ;
all which is agreeable to the History of those Times.
The Indians they mean were the ancient Chawanoes,
or Chaouanons, who lived to the Westward and North
ward of the Place that these Discoverers were at :
and were at this time, 1671, engaged in a hot and
bloody war with the Iroquois in which they were so
closely pressed at this time that they were entirely
extirpated or incorporated with the Iroquois the year
following. These people might make salt no doubt
as the present inhabitants of those parts do, from the
many Salt Springs that are found on the Rivers Ohio
and Missisipi. And as for the great water that they
lived upon that appears even by name to have been
the Missisipi, which is so called from Mescha, Cebe
two words in the Indian Language that signify the
3°

234 The Ohio Valley
great River or Water, so that if we had the Indian
name of this great water mentioned by our Travel
lers, instead of the interpretation of it in English it
is impossible it might have been the Name they give
it we see means the same thing.
7°. The distance that these people travelled was
338 Miles, besides what they went on the fourth day
of their Journey, which they do not mention, but by
their usual rate of travelling might be about 18 or
20 Miles, which makes about 360 Miles in all and
allmost due West This is much farther to the
Westward than we lay down Wood River at present,
when we have had its true Western Distance actually
measured in running the Boundary between Virginia
and Carolina. But it is very probable as M"' Beverly
sales in his History, that these Travellers in passing
the Mountains in particular might not advance above
three or four Miles a day in a Strait Course. It has
been generally found by our Surveyors in the Woods
of America as I have been told by some of them,
and as appears indeed from their surveys compared
with the accounts of Travellers that a true measured
distance on a strait course is about one third of the
usual distance completed by Travellers in the Woods
where they have no strait Roads and known distances
to guide them, accordingly we find from these Sur
veys of the Countrey that it is about 140 Miles in a
strait course from the Falls of Appomatox River to
Wood River in Virginia which is a little more than one
third of the distance computed by our Discoverers.

In Colonial Days. 235
Again : it is an usual way to compute distances in
the Woods of America by Dayes Journeys and those
that are used to it come pretty nigh the truth by
allowing 25 or 30 Miles a day according to the Road,
which makes about 10 Miles a Day in a strait course.
Now these People travelled 15 Dales, and by this
rule must have travelled 150 Miles on a strait Road
and accordingly we find it just 160 Miles from the
falls of Appomatox River in Virginia, where they
set out to Wood River upon the Road as it is laid
down in our Map of North America in which the
longitude or Western distances are laid down from
the late Surveys of those parts.
From these several considerations compared to
gether, it plainly appears, that the great River as
they call it which these People discovered on the
West side of the Mountains of Virginia, was this
branch of the River Ohio that is well known by the
name of Wood River :* which is the chief and prin
cipal branch of the Ohio, that rises in the Mountains
of South Carolina and Virginia, falls into the Ohio
about midway between Fort du Quesne and the Mis
sisipi and the place they discovered it at seems to be
about the middle of that River, which has always re
tained the name of Wood River, from this Major
General Wood, or Col. Wood as he is called in Vir
ginia who we see by the Journal was the Author of
this Discovery.
This Journal then is a plain Narration of well
* Also called New River in Colonial times and now Great Kanahwa.

236 The Ohio Valley
known matters of Fact relating to the discoveries of
those Western Parts of Virginia and that many years
before any others even pretend to have made any
Discoveries in those or any other of the Western
Parts of North America beyond the Appalachean
Mountains. It contains likewise plain proofs of the
other Discoveries that were made here and here
abouts some time before, which were made by one
Needham, by order of Col. Wood of Virginia : and
the inverted letters M. A, N. E. found on the Trees
by our Travellers, seem to have been the Names of
these two Persons, cut on the Trees as a memorial
of their Discoveries as is usually done by Travellers
iri the Woods, and as we see was done by ours at this
time. The many letters they found on the Trees on
Wood River are likewise plain proofs of others
having been there before them. This is a plain con
firmation of what is related by M"" Coxe's Hist, of
Carolina in a memorial presented by him to King
William in 1699, and by several others, that all those
Western Parts of Virginia were discovered by Col.
Wood in several Journies from the Years 1654 to 1664.
These Discoveries are the more interesting at this
time, as those parts are now claimed by the French
merely and solely upon a frivolous pretext of a prior
discovery by M"' La Salle in 1680 :* who built the
Fort Crevecoeur on or below the Lake Pimiteone in
that year, which seems to be the Lake Petite alluded
* The discovery by La Salle in 1669 was apparently either forgotten or
willfully ignored.

In Colonial Days. 237
to in the extract of M' Claytons letter, from 'a very
imperfect knowledge of it, which Lake upon the
River Illinois is not less perhaps than a thousand
Miles beyond or to the Westward of Fort du Quesne
and the other places that the French now claim on
the River Ohio in consequence of that discovery as
they call it.
Besides M"" La Salle had even that discovery of
his, that has been so much extolled and magnified,
from the English, who by being so well settled in so
many parts of this Continent, might surely very nat
urally conclude and easily know from many accounts
of the Natives, that there was a very extensive con
tinent to the Westward of them which these discov
eries in Virginia as well as the Travels of Ferdinando
Soto through Florida and over the Rio Grande as he
calls it or the Missisipi in 1541, that had been pub
lished to the World, might give them some more
particular account of and excite their curiosity to
make farther Discoveries in it* accordingly in the
year 1678 a Party of People from New England dis
covered all these Western Parts of America to the
Northward of Virginia as far as the Missisipi, and a
great way beyond it which discovery of the English
gave occasion to the discovery of the same parts two
years afterwards by M' La Salle, for the Indians who
were with the English and served them as Guides in
this Discovery went to Canada upon their return and
* No authentic account of this expedition of a party of New England
people has ever been discovered. (Note by Mr. Sparks.)

238 The Ohio Valley
gave an account of these discoveries, of the English
to the French, who thereupon set out to make the
same Discovery, by Virtue of which they now pre
tend to claim nine tenths at least of all the known
parts of the Continent of North America, and all
the rest that is not known which may be as much
more by all accounts.
It is true our People have not wrote as many His
tories of their Discoveries as the French have nor
even published those that have been wrote we see
any more than the Spaniards but then we have made
many such discoveries, appear best from the Settle
ments that we have made which compared with those
of the French are about twenty to one. (In the year
1 714, immediately after the Treaty of Utrecht, Col.
Spottiswood Governor of Virginia went over the
Apalactean Mountains himself in Person in company
with several Gentlemen of the Countrey that are and
have been well known to me who had a good Road
cleared over them and many settlements were made
beyond those Mountains soon afterwards, both in
the Northern and Southern parts of Virginia, but
chiefly in the Northern Parts leading towards the Ohio,
which Settlements extended to Logs Town on the
River Ohio long before the late encroachments and
usurpation of the French there. The English first
settled on the Ohio from Pensalvania in the year
1725, as appears from their treaty with the Indians
at Albany in 1 754 and many other accounts. In 1 736
those Parts were duly Surveyed and laid off by a. com-

In Colonial Days. 239
pany of Surveyors as far as the Head Springs of the
River Potowmack and in 1 739 or 1 740, a party of
People were sent out by the Government of Virginia
and traversed the whole Countrey, down Wood River
and the River Ohio to the Missisipi and down that
River to New Orleans, whose Journals I have seen
and perused and have made a draught of the Coun
trey from them and find them agree with other and
later accounts. About that time a number of People
petitioned the Government of Virginia to grant them
a Settlement upon the River Missisipi itself about
the mouth of the River Ohio which they offered to
maintain and defend as well as to settle at their own
charge, so well were all those Western Parts of Vir
ginia then known and frequented by our People :
But they were refused this request by our Govern
ment itself, who have always prudently thought it
more expedient to continue their Settlements con
tiguous to one another than to suffer them to be
straggling up and down in remote and uncultivated
Desarts, as we see the French have done in order
thereby to seem to occupy a greater Extent of Ter
ritory, while in effect they hardly occupy any at all.
Yet we are not without many of those Settlements
among the Indians likewise and that in a Country
which we have purchased from them three several
times. In the year 1749 our People made a settle
ment among the Twightwee Indians at Pickawillany,
which is reckoned by our Traders 500 Miles beyond
Fort du Quesne, to which they were invited by the

240 The Ohio Valley
Natives themselves, who came down to Lancaster in
Pensylvania for that purpose and made a treaty to
that effect with our People there Jul. 22'' 1749. By
this means we made several Settlements all along
the River Ohio and all over the Countrey between
that River and Lake Erie and that long before the
French ever set a foot upon it, or knew anything
about it, but by hearsay. And on the south side of
the Ohio, we are not only well settled on Wood
River, that is described in this Journal but likewise
on Holston River that lies upwards of 150 Miles to
the Westward of the Place that these Peopled Dis
covered on Wood River in 1671 and again on Cum
berland River that lies as much farther to the West
ward of that : all which places and Settlements y ou
will see marked in our map abovementioned." —

APPENDIX D.

Papers Relating to the Ohio Company (from the
Archives of the Board of Trade and Planta
tions IN London.)*
I. Sir W™ Gooch, Governor of Virginia to the
Lords of Trade, Novbr 6, 1747, B. T. V* vol 19
Having been lately much soUicited by several Per
sons in Partnership for Grants for Lands lying on
* I am indebted to Mr. Robert Clarke, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for copies of
these docuraents.

In Colonial Days. 241
the Western side of the Great Mountains, where we
have already two Counties well peopled, very near,
if not upon the Borders of some of the Branches of
Mississippi, extending to the Lake Erie (which would
cut off the communication the French have from
that Place to Canada), in order, as it is the Center
of all His Majesty's Provinces, to the carrying on a
more extensive Skin Trade with several Nations of
Indians, who are willing to enter into Commerce with
us : tho' I am persuaded that the granting such Peti
tions would in the course of a few years be productive
of many national advantages, as well as a great In
crease of his Majesty's Quit rents, yet I thought and
the Council concurred with me in opinion, that we
ought not to comply therewith, till His Majesty's
Permission was first obtained 
4. Order of the committee of Council for Planta
tions on the preceding letter. Febr 23, 1747-8 B.
T. V^' Vol 20
His Majesty having been pleased by His Order in
Council of the lo"" of this instant to referr unto this
Committee a representation from the Lords Commis
sioners for Trade and Plantations together with an
Extract of a letter they had lately received from S""
William Gooch Bart, Lieutenant Governor of His
Majesty's Colony of Virginia dated the 6"^ of No
vember 1 747, wherein he acquainted the said Lords
Commissioners, that application had been made to
him by persons in Partnership for Grants of lands,
lying on the western side of the great Mountains
31

242 The Ohio Valley
but that he did not think proper to comply therewith,
until he had received His Majesty's directions therein.
The Lords of the Committee this day took the
same into their consideration and are hereby pleased
to order that the said Lords Commissioners for Trade
and Plantations do consider, whether it may be for
His Majesty's Service, and the advantage of the said
Colony to empower the said Lieut-Governor to make
grants of lands to Persons in Partnership on the
western side of the great Mountains as desired and
that they do make Report thereof to this Committee.
2. Lords of Trade to the Duke of New Castle,
one of the Principal Secretaries of State, January 19,
1747-8 Lib. 38, p. 410.
Having lately received a letter from Sir William
Gooch, Bar*, Lieut-Governor of His Majestys Col
ony of Virginia, dated the 6"' of November 1747,
wherein he acquaints Us that application had been
made to him for Grants of Lands lying on the Western
side of the Great Mountains, but that he did not
think proper to comply therewith, until he received
his Majesty's directions therein. We take leave to
inclo.se to your Grace an Extract of so much of the
said Letter as relates thereto and desire your Grace
will please to lay the same before his Majesty for his
Majestys Directions 
3. Same to Sir W" Gooch, January 19, 1747-8
B. T. V^ No. 38 p. 408-9.
.... (Your letter) of the 3** (sic) November last
relating to Applications that have been made to you

In Colonial Days. 243
for Grants of Land lying on the Western side of the
Great Mountains. . . . We have read. . . . and trans
mitted a Copy thereof to the Duke of New Castle,
in order to be laid before His Majesty. In the mean
time as His MajestjJ^'s Governor of Virginia is em
powered by a Clause in his Commission to make
Grants of Land to any Person or Persons provided
that he take Care of the Reservation of the Quit
Rents and for settling & cultivating the land agree
able to the several laws relating thereto. We desire
you will acquaint us, as soon as possible, what Dififi
culties you are under with Respect to making such
Grants as you mention, or what further Power may
be necessary for that Purpose together with an
account on what Termes the Grants are desired and
of the Nature & Situation of the Lands. . . .
5. Sir W™ Gooch, Governor of Virginia, to the
Lords of Trade, June 16, 1748 B T. V% Vol. 20
.... Your Lordships desire to know, what dififi
culties I was under about granting lands beyond
the great Mountains. As these lands lye upon some
of the chief Branches of the River Mississippi, I was
apprehensive such Grants might possibly give some
Umbrage to the French, especially when we were in
hopes of entering into a Treaty for establishing a
general Peace. This, my Lords, was the only objec
tion I had and which made the Council and me think
it advisable to wait for his Majesty's Pleasure and
directions In respect to the terms, upon which the Grants are

244 The Ohio Valley
desired, the Petitioners pray that four years time
may be allow'd them to survey and pay rights for
the lands upon return of the plans to the Secretary's
ofifice, which is an indulgence that has been often
given to the Grantees of lands lying in very remote
parts of the Government, when the Grant is for a
large number of acres, as this is, no less than Two
hundred thousand acres being petition'd for, for it will
require a considerable time to seat it, which they
expect to do with Strangers and to build a Fort,
without which or some such work for their defence,
it would be dangerous for them to venture out so
far 
6. Report of the Lords of Trade to the Privy
Council, Septbr 2, 1748, B T. V* 38 p. 411
Pursuant to your Lordships Order of the 23'' of
February 1 747, referring to us an extract of a letter
from Sir William Gooch, Bar', Lieutenant Governor
of His Majesty's Colony of Virginia, dated the 6"^ of
November 1747, "setting forth, that an application
" had been made to him by persons in Partnership
" for Grants of lands lying on the Western side of
" the Great Mountains, but that he did not think
" proper to comply therewith, until he had received
" His Majesty's orders thereupon " & directing us to
consider, whether it may be for his Majesty's service
and the advantage of the said Colony to impower
the said Lieut. Governor to make Grants of Lands
to Persons in Partnership on the Western side of
the Great Mountains as desired. We take leave to

In Colonial Days. 245
report to your Lordships, that since our former rep
resentation in our Letter to his Grace the Duke of
New Castle, dated the 19"^ of January 1747, We have
received a letter from Sir William Gooch, His Maj
esty's said Lieutenant Governor, dated the 16"* of
June last in Answer to Our Letter to him mentioned
in the said Representation wherein he acquaints us
" That with respect to the Difificulties he was under
" about granting lands beyond the Great Mountains,
" as these Lands lye upon some of the chief Branches
" of the Mississippi, he was apprehensive such Grants
" might possibly give some umbrage to the French,
" especially when we were in hopes of entering into
" a Treaty for establishing a general Peace, which
" was the only objection he had and made him and
" the Council think it advisable to wait for his Maj-
" esty's Pleasure and Directions, That in respect to
" the Terms etc,* Whereupon We further take leave
to represent to your Lordships
That the settlement of the Country lying to the
Westward of the Great Mountains is the Colony of
Virginia, which is the Center of all His Majesty's
Provinces, will be for His Majesty's interest and ad
vantage, and security of that and the Neighbouring
Provinces, in as much as His Majesty's subjects will
be thereby enabled to Cultivate a friendship and carry
on a more extensive Commerce with the Nations of
Indians inhabiting those parts and such settlement
may likewise be a proper step towards disappointing
* Verbatim repeated from the previous letter.

246 The Ohio Valley
the views and checking the Encroachments of the
French by interrupting part of the Communication
from their Lodgements upon the great Lakes to the
River Mississippi, by means of which Communica
tion His Majesty's Plantations there are exposed to
their Incursions and those of the Indian Nations in
their interest. We cannot therefore but be of Opinion
that all due Encouragement ought to be given to the
extending the British settlements beyond the great
Mountains and submit to your Lordships, whether it
may not be adviseable to impower the said Lieut,
Governor to make grants of Lands there to persons
in Partnership as desired.
As the Persons applying for the said Lands pro
pose to settle the same with strangers and to build a
Fort at their own expense, that is a further reason
with us to think they may deserve his Majesty's
Countenance & Encouragement, and the rather be
cause their example may induce the neighbouring
Colonies likewise to turn their thoughts towards de
signs of the same nature.
We are further of Opinion, that it may be for His
Majesty's Service, that four years be allowed them
to survey & Pay rights for the Lands upon return of
the Plans to the Secretary's ofifice, which indulgence
has been given even for a longer term to Grantees of
Lands lying in remote parts of the same Govern
ment, when the Grant has been for a large Number
of Acres, as this is, especially as there is just ground
to expect that His Majesty's revenue will, at the expi-

In Colonial Days. 247
ration of the Term proposed be considerably increased
and a Barrier formed to that and the neighbouring
plantations by means of such settlement, which can
not be supported without some advantages at the
first establishing of it, but lest such or any other ad
vantage, which may be thought Proper to be given
as an encouragement to this undertaking should
tempt Persons already settled in other Parts of the
Colony upon Lands, for which the usual Quit rent is
paid, to desert their former settlements and seat
themselves upon these lands, we would further sub
mit to your Lordships, whether it may not be advise
able, that it should be a -condition of the Grants to
be made by the said Lieutenant Governor, that no
person already possess'd of Lands in any other part
of Virginia held by Quitrent from the Crown be
admitted to take up or settle upon any of the Lands
to be granted to the said Petitioners without giving
security for continuing the Payment of the Quit
rents for the Lands by him already possess'd notwith
standing his removal.
And as it is not likely that any number of inhab
itants will be induced to settle beyond these Moun
tains, unless they are sure of protection there We
would further submit to your Lordships, whether the
Building a Fort and placing a sufificient Garrison
therein at the expense of the Grantees, should- not
be- another condition of the said Grants.
These Regulations if they meet with the Appro
bation of your Lordships, together with any others.

248 The Ohio Valley
which shall be thought proper to be inserted in the
Grants of the Lands petitioned for, may be made by
Instructions to the said Lieut Governor of Virginia.
7. Order of the Committee of Council on the pre
ceding Report, Novbr 24, 1748, B. T. V^ Vol 20
The Lords of the Committee this day took into
their consideration a Report of the Lords Commis
sioners for Trade and Plantations, dated the 2^ of
September last relating to the making Grants of
Lands on the western side of the great Mountains
in Virginia, to persons in Partnership, And do agree
in opinion with the said Lords Commissioners, that
the settlement of the aforementioned part of Vir
ginia will be for His Majesty's interest and the ad
vantage and security of that and the neighbouring
Provinces, and that therefore it may be advisable for
His Majesty to impower the Governor or Lieuten
ant Governor of that Province to make the Grants
desired, under the Conditions and regulations pro
posed in the Report of the said Lords Commissioners
and to that end.
It is hereby ordered, that the said Lords Commis
sioners do prepare a Draught of Instructions for the
Gov"" or Lieutenant Governor of the said Colony of
Virginia accordingly and that in case any thing fur
ther shall occur to them as proper and necessary to be
inserted therein, that they do add the same to the
said Draught of Instructions and lay the same before
this Committee for their consideration.
8 Order of the Committee of Council, referring

In Colonial Days. 249
to the Lords of Trade the petition of John Hanbury
et. al., incorporators of the Ohio Company, Febr 9,
1 748-9 B, T. V^ Vol. 20
Whereas His Majesty was pleased by His Order
in Council of the 1 1"* of last month to referr unto this
Committee the humble Petition of John Hanbury of
London Merchant in behalf of himself and of Thomas
Lee Esq. a Member of His Majesty's Council and one
of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature in
His Majesty's Colony of Virginia, Thomas Nelson,
Esq*"*, also a Member of His Majesty's Council in Vir
ginia, Colonel Cressup, Colonel William Thornton,
William Nimmo, Daniel Cressup, John Carlisle, Law
rence Washington, Augustus Washington, George
Fairfax, Jacob Gyles, Nathaniel Chapman and James
Woodrop Esq'¦^^ all of His Majesty's Colony of Vir
ginia and others their Associates for settling the Coun-
trys upon the Ohio and extending the British Trade be
yond the Mountains on the Western confines of
Virginia humbly praying (for the reasons therein con
tained), that His Majesty will be graciously pleased to
encourage their undertaking by giving instructions to
the Governor of Virginia to grant to them and such
others as they shall admit as their Associates a Tract
of 500,000 acres of land betwixt Romanettos and
Bufallo's Creek on the south side of the River
Aligane otherwise the Ohio and betwixt the two
Creeks and the Yellow Creek on the north side of
the River or in such other parts of the West of the
said Mountains as shall be adjudged most proper by
32

250 The Ohio Valley
the Petitioners for that purpose and that 200,000
acres, part of the said 500,000 acres, may be granted
immediately without rights on condition of the Peti
tioners Seating at their proper expense a hundred
Familys upon the lands in seven years, the lands to
be granted free of Quit rents for ten years on condi
tion of their erecting a Fort and maintaining a Gar
rison for protection of the settlement for that time
the Petitioners paying the usual quitrent at the expi
ration of the said ten years from the date of their
Patent And further praying that the said Governor
may be further instructed, that as soon as these
200,000 acres are settled and the Fort erected 300,000
acres more residue of the said 500000 acres of land
may be granted to the Petitioners adjoining to the
said 200000 acres of land so first granted with the
like exemptions and under the same covenants and
to give all such further and other encouragements to
the Petitioners in their so useful and publick an un
dertaking as to His Majesty in His great Wisdom
shall seem meet. — The Lords of the Committee this
day took the said Petition into their consideration
and are hereby pleased to referr the same (a Copy
whereof is hereunto annexed) to the Lords Commis
sioners for Trade and Plantations to consider thereof
and Report their Opinion thereupon to this Commit
tee of Mississipi and those of Potomac are only
separated by one small Ridge of Mountains, easily
passable by Land Carriage, So that by the Con
venience of the Navigation of the Potomac and a

In Colonial Days. 251
short land carriage from thence to the West of the
Mountains and to the Branch of the Ohio and the
Lake Erie British Goods may be carried at little
expense and afforded reasonably to the Indians in
those parts. In case the lands to the west of the said
Mountains were settled and a Fort erected in some
proper place there for the protection and encourage
ment of your Petitioners and others your Majesty's
subjects in adventuring their persons and fortunes in
this Undertaking In which if your Petitioners meet
with that success they have the greatest reason to
expect It will not only be made the best and strong
est frontier in America, but will be the means of
gaining a vast addition and increase to your Majesty's
Subjects of that rich Branch of the Peltry and Furr
which your Petitioners propose by means of Settle
ment hereinafter mentioned to carry on with the
Indians to the westward of the said Mountains and
on the said Lake and Rivers and will at the same
time greatly promote the Consumption of our own
British Manufactures, enlarge our Commerce, in
crease our Shipping and Navigation and extend your
Majestys Empire in America and in a short space of
time very considerably increase your Majesty's Reve
nue of Quit rents as there is little room to doubt,
but that when this (who claim all the lands west of
Virginia and also to and on the Waters of the Mis-
sisippi and the Lake by right of Conquest from
several Nations of Indians, who formerly inhabited
that Country and have been extirpated by the said

252 The Ohio Valley
Six Nations) did yield up and make over and for ever
quit claim to your Majesty ahd your successors All
their said lands west of Virginia with all their right
thereto so far as your Majesty should at any time
thereafter be pleased to extend the said Colony.
That most of the Nations of Indians west of the
Mountains and upon the Lakes and the River Ohio
have entered into an Alliance with your Majesty's
Subjects and with the Six Nations in Friendship with
the British Colony's and have desired your Majesty's
Subjects the Inhabitants of Virginia to send them
British Goods and manufactures as they inclined to
trade solely with Your Majesty's Subjects.
That by laying hold of this opportunity and im
proving this favourable disposition of these Indians
they may be forever fixed in the British Interest and
the prosperity and safety of the British Colonys be
effectually secured and which your Petitioners are
ready and willing to undertake.
That your Petitioners beg leave humbly to inform
your Majesty, that the lands to the West of the said
Mountains are extreemly fertile, the Climate very
fine and healthy and the waters And whereas there
was likewise laid before the Lords of the Committee
a Report made by the Lords Commissioners for
Trade and Plantations, dated the 13"' of December
last, together with a Draught of an additional In
struction prepared by the said Lords Commissioners
for Sir William Gooch, His Majesty's Lieutenant
Governor of the Colony of Virginia, impowering him

In Colonial Days. 253
to make Grants of Lands on the western side of the
great Mountains to persons in Partnership who have
applied for the same And their Lordships observing
that the lands, proposed to be granted by the said
Instruction, are situated in the same place with those
prayed for by the aforementioned Petition of John
Hanbury and others and may probably have some
relation to each other. Do therefore think it proper
hereby to referr back to the said Lords Commission
ers for Trade and Plantations the said Report and
additional Instruction for their further consideration.
To the Kings Most Excellent. Majesty in Coun
cil The humble Petition of John Hanbury
of London Merchant etc etc (Names as
above) for settling the Countrys upon the
Ohio and extending the British Trade be
yond the Mountains on the Western con
fines of Virginia
Most humbly Sheweth
That by the Treaty of Lancaster and also by Deed
bearing date the 2^ day of July 1744 the Northern
Indians by the name of the Six Nations Settlement
is once begun by your Petitioners but that a great
number of Foreign Protestants will be desirous of
settling in so Fertile and delightful a Country under
the just and mild administration of your Majesty's
Government, especially as they will be at little more
charge than the transporting themselves from their
Native Country,
That your Pet'^ for these great and national ends

254 The Ohio Valley
and purposes and in order to improve and extend
the British Trade amongst these Indians, and to set
tle these Countrys in so healthy and fine a Climate
and which are your Majesty's undoubted right have
entered into Partnership by the nam'e of the Ohio
Company to settle these Countrys to the West of
the said Mountains and to carry on a Trade with the
Indians in those parts and upon the said Lakes and
Rivers. But as effecting the same and more especially
the erecting a sufificient Fort and keeping a Garrison
to protect the Infant Settlement will be attended with
great Expense
Your Petitioners who are the first Adventurers in
this beneficial Undertaking, which will be so advan
tageous to the Crown in point of Revenue, to the
Nation in point of Trade and to the British Colonys
in point of strength and security, most humbly pray
that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to en
courage this their said Undertaking by giving
Instructions to your Governor of Virginia to grant
to your Pef^ and such others as they shall admit as
their Associates a Tract of Five hundred thousand
acres of land betwixt Romanettos and Buffalo's Creek
on the South side of the River Aligane otherwise
the Ohio and betwixt the two Creeks and the Yellow
Creek on the North side of the said River or in such
parts to the West of the said Mountains as shall be
adjudged most proper by your Petitioners for that
purpose and that two hundred thousand acres, part
of the said five hundred thousand may be granted

In Colonial Days. 255
immediately without rights on condition of your
Petitioners seating at their proper expence a hundred
Familys upon the land in seven years, the lands to
be granted free of quitrent for ten years on condition
of their erecting a Fort and maifttaining a Garrison
for protection of the Settlement for that time your
Pef^ paying the usual quit rent at the expiration of
the said ten years from the date of their Patent —
And your Pef^ further pray, that your Majesty will
be graciously pleased to send your said Governor a
further Instruction that as soon as these two hundred
thousand acres are settled and the Fort erected. That
three hundred thousand acres more residue of the
said Five hundred thousand acres may be granted to
your Petitioners adjoining to the said Two hundred
thousand acres of land so first granted with the like
exemptions and under the same covenants and to
give all such further and other encouragements to
your Petitioners in this their so usefuU and publick
an undertaking as to your Majesty in your great wis
dom shall seem meet.
9. Additional Instructions to Sir William Gooch,
Lieut-Gov"^ of Virginia, submitted by the Lords for
Trade and Plantations to the Committee of Council,
Decbr 13, 1748.
Whereas it hath been represented unto Us, that
application hath been made to you by persons in
Partnership for a Grant or Grants of two hundred
thousand acres of land on the western side of the
Great Mountains within our Colony of Virginia in

256 The Ohio Valley
order to settle the same with Strangers — And
whereas such Settlement will be for our interest and
the advantage and security of our said Colony as well
as the neighbouring Colonys inasmuch as Our loving
Subjects will be thereby enabled to cultivate a Friend
ship and carry on a more extensive commerce with
the Nations of Indians inhabiting those parts and
such examples may likewise induce the neighbouring
Colonys to turn their thoughts towards Designs of
the same nature. It is therefore our will and
pleasure and you are hereby authorized and required
to make a' Grant or Grants of Two hundred thousand
acres of land beyond the great Mountains to the said
Persons in Partnership, who have applied for the
same — Provided that you take especial care in making
such grant or grants for the reservation of our quit
rents and for settling and cultivating the said lands
agreeable to such Laws as now are in force in Our
said Colony for that purpose and conformable to Our
Instructions to our Governor of the said Colony
upon that head.
And whereas it hath been further represented
unto Us that the said persons in Partnership have
proposed that four years may be allowed them to
survey the said lands and pay the usual rights for the
same upon return of the plans to Our Secretary's
Ofifice of Our said Colony, which indulgence has
been represented to us to have been heretofore given
even for a longer term to Grantees of lands lying in
remote parts of Our said Colony, when the Grant

In Colonial Days. 2^7
has been for a large number of acres as this is, espe
cially as there is just ground to expect, that at the
expiration of the term proposed Our Revenue will
be increased and a barrier formed to that and Our
neighbouring Colonys by means of such Settlement,
Now having considered the said proposal together
with the Opinion of Our Commissioners for Trade
and Plantations thereupon We are graciously pleased
to agree thereto. But lest such indulgence should
tempt persons already settled in other parts of Our
Colony upon lands for which the usual quitrent is
paid to desert their former Settlements and seat
themselves upon the lands so to be granted. It is our
FURTHER WILL AND PLEASURE, that It be an express
condition of the said Grant or Grants, that no person
already possessed of lands in any other part of Our
said Colony held of us by quitrent be admitted to
take up or settle any of the lands to be granted to
the said persons in Partnership without giving secu
rity for continuing the payment of the quit rents for
the lands by them heretofore possessed, notwith
standing their removal.
And as it is not likely, that any number of Inhab
itants will be induced to settle beyond the great
Mountains, unless they are sure of protection there.
It is our further will and pleasure, that the
building a Fort and placing a sufificient Garrison
therein at the expence of the Grantees be a further
condition of the said Grant or Grants.
(This Additional Instruction was somewhat changed
33

258 The Ohio Valley
Febr^ 23, 1749 and then sent out to Sir W" Gooch,
Gov'' of Virginia,)
10. Letter from Col. Thomas Lee, President of the
Council of Virginia to the Lords of Trade, Oct 18,
1749, BT, V Vol, 20
. . , . The Ohio Company, imediately after your
Lordships letter with His Majesty's additional In
structions came to Sir William Gooch, had a meeting,
and, as Mr, Hanbury will inform your Lordships,
gave him an order to ship the necessary goods for
carrying on a trade with the Indians — they than sent
out into those back parts to discover a proper place
to settle their factory on and begin their survey, but
those very Indians that had encouraged them at the
first, had been persuaded to believe, that our design
was to ruin, not trade with them and such a spirit of
jealousy is raised among them y' without a treaty and
presents we shall not be able to doe any thing with
them, this was not the case, when the Ohio Company
petitioned ; the bulk of these Indians are such as
being ill used by the French removed from the Lakes
of S', Lawrence a short time before the end of the
Warr, in order to join the English in mak^ warr
upon the French and they have been invited ; refuse
to return and with these are some of the Six Nations,
these are all friends, but friendship with these people
must be kept firm by presents, which make way for
trade. It will therefore I apprehend be necessary
for this Governm' to treat with them and by presents
fix them in the English interest. The Pennsylva-

In Colonial Days. 259
nians claim as I am told to the 39"* degree, this will
take from Virginia a considerable quantity of land
and prevent the Ohio Company setling with any cer
tainty, as noe such line has ever been run ; there
seems to be the same reason for setling the North
ern, as there was for settling the Southern bounds of
Virginia and if your Lordships think soe, the same
way may be taken by appointing Commissioners.
The last and great difificulty of that Company will
be the erecting and garrisoning a Fort, this will be
such an expence to a private Company, that have noe
pretence nor desire to an exclusive trade, that it will
make them much less able to carry on a trade suff' to
engage the Indians effectually in the Brittish intrest
The Indians as far as I have observed seldom or
never breake their faith, but from mere necessity. If
they are not supplyed with Guns, Ammunition &
Cloths, by presents and trade, they must starve, soe
they are obliged to cultivate a friendship with those
y' will help them.
I refer your Lordships to what Mr. Hanbury will
lay before your Lordships more at large, and we hope
for your Lordships favourable representations to His
Majesty in favour of the Ohio Company, whose views
I am convinced are for the public good, to extend
His Majesty's Empire in America and by an honest
trade to strengthen the Brittish Intrest against any
enemy whatever.
The French claim to the Missisippi is not just,
since if your Lordships turn to your books ab' the

26o The Ohio Valley
latter end of King Williams reign, it will appear by
a representation to the King y' that River and farr
beyond it was granted by King Charles the first to
S' Robert Heath & setled by the English, long be
fore the French had been in them parts, and the
King's claim is continued by the bounding of the
Carolines by the South Sea.
If by these further Indulgences from His Majestye
the Ohio Company are allowed to carry on their trade
and make their Settlement, they hope to engage the
Indians of the several Nations soe effectually in the
Brittish intrest, y' the encroachments of the French
will be prevented. * * *
Very incomplete abstracts of papers relating to the
Ohio Company, made for me in London :
Virginia Au^ 21^' 1751,
My Lords
[He transmits a map of Virginia, & information
showing it to be correct, has referred these matters
to a gentleman of considerable mathematical & geo
graphical knowledge, he sends a book relating to
Virginia & an account of John P, Salley's travels,
his own journey to Bath, notwithstanding grants
made by the Kings of England, France, or Spain,
the right to uninhabited lands must depend on prior
occupancy ; letter and instructions reed,; order from
Lords Justices re Quit-rents ; state of the Indians ;]
This Fall I shall send a Messenger to acquaint them
[the Indians] that I purpose next May to send Com
missioners to meet them at the Place they desire ;

In Colonial Days. 261
and at the Conference I shall endeavour to obtain a
Confirmation of the Grant of the Lands made to
his Majesty at the Treaty of Lancaster in Order to
give the Ohio Company an Opportunity of surveying
the large Tract of Land his Majesty was pleased to
Grant to them, [Intended remonstrance to the In
dians re ill-treating inhabitants [of Virginia]; audience
with ambassador from the Cherokees ; proceedings of
Court of Oyer and Terminer ; Land Law passed by
the General Assembly,]
I have the Honour to be with the
greatest Regard and Esteem
your Lordships most obedient
and most humble Servant
[To the Board of Trade] Lewis Burwell
Some Additions to the Accounts sent from Vir
ginia, concerning the Extent and Limits of that Colony,
and the Encroachments that have been made upon it
[Original grant of Virginia was made to Sir W,
Raleigh in 1584 ; limits of the province at that time ;
reversion to the Crown ; grants made in 1606 & 1609 !
second reversion to the Crown in 1624, colonies
which border on Virginia ; Lake Erie suggested as
boundary between New York & Virginia ; inaccu
racy of maps ; district claimed by the French ; prior
settlement by the English of lands near the Missis
sippi ; purchase from native proprietors ; encroach
ments on the colony by the French ; uninhabited
portions ; French maps ; most important place is the

262 The Ohio Valley
Fork of the Mississippi ; English settlements,] These
Settlements [those made by Germans & other for
eigners] are Chiefly in the middle and Southern parts
of Virginia ; In the Northern parts they have none
at all, as far as I am Informed, anywhere beyond the
Mountains, Notwithstanding the large Grant made
to the Ohio Company there. But here the Country
is peopled with Indians upon the River Ohio, and
some few of our People Chiefly from Pensylvania
are Settled among them. [Description of the river
Ohio, its course &c ; claim of Canada to lands near
Lake Erie ; bounds of Maryland & Penn'* ; fortifica
tions &c, of the French ; their tact in dealing with
the Indians ; loss of Fort Alabama in Carolina ; rice
& tobacco trade, defenceless state of our colonies ;
it is necessary — 1°. to settle the bounds of the dif
ferent colonies] 2°. To make the Ohio Company
Lay off their large Grant in those parts, and make
the Settlements agreed upon. Untill that is done,
no Others can well take a Grant for any Lands there
abouts, for fear of being Ejected by that very Exten
sive One that was granted before them, 3°, If the
like Grants of Smaller Tracts of Lands were made
to Others upon the same Terms with that of the
Ohio Company, and all who will settle in that Coun
try were allowed a grant free from Quick-rents and
other Charges for a certain Number of Years, to
Encourage and Enable them to make Settlements in
such remote and distant parts, it is the Opinion of
those that are best Acquainted with it, that the Coun-

In Colonial Days. 263
try on & about the River Ohio would soon be peopled
and Secured. [Limits suggested for free grants, 4°.
proposition to establish a trading factory among the
Indians; advisability of the northern colonies uniting
to oppose the influence of the French.]
[Rec*^. Apr: 14 1752] Williamsburg May 22"*. 1753
Sr [Letter ree''.; complaints of the Indian traders;
French designs to settle the Ohio will, if permitted,
ruin the trade with the Indians ; express sent to make
peace between the Creeks & Cherokees ; cruel treat
ment of the loyal Cherokees by the Mohawks ; ap
plication to the governor of Canada necessary ;
jealousy of the traders from different colonies is very
prejudicial to the British interest.] I have often
mention'd to the Ohio Comp*: Y' Proprietors Incli
nations to support their settling the Lands granted
them by His Majesty, for which they seem'd to be
very well pleas'd. [He is anxious to hear the result
of the Assembly's consideration on present affairs.]
Believe me to be with all imaginable regard & Esteem
Sr
Y' most hble Serv'.
Robt Dinwiddie*
Hon"*: James Hamilton Esq"^
Williamsburg Virginia y^xw^ 29"' 1754
Right Hon^'^
[Return of M"" Washington; enclosures; ill-treat
* Not in Dinwiddie Papers.

264 The Ohio Valley
ment of British subjects by the French comm'*^'':;
forts and forces of the French; right of the English
king to lands claimed by the French; Treaty of Lan
caster; presents to the Indians.]
Under the certain right of the Crown of Great
Brit" His Majesty was pleas'd to grant to some of his
Subjects, five hundred Thousand Acres of Land on
the Waters of the Ohio, under the Name of the
Ohio Company. This Company, & their Grant, is
well known to the Governor of Canada, & that they
have, at great Expence begun their Settlement,
agreeable to their Grant, but some of their People
are return'd, being seiz'd with a Panick on the Threats
of the French, & their seizing all they can by their
Hands on belonging to the British Subjects, & it's
further surmiz'd that they spirit up the Indians in
their Interest, to way lay them, & Murder them. —
Some of our Subjects in the Frontiers of this Do
minion, have lately been barbarously Murder'd &
Scalp'd, & said to be done by the French Indians.
[Militia to be sent to the Ohio; House of Burgesses;
bad state of troops; stores received from the Board
of Ordnance; requests smaller guns.]
I remain with great Deference & Dutiful respect
Right Hon''^":
Your Lordships much Oblig'd
& most Obed' hble Serv'.
Rob'. Dinwiddie*
R' Hon. Lords for Trade &c*.
* Not in Dinwiddie Papers.

In Colonial Days. 265
At the Council Chamber Whitehall
the 2^ day of April 1 754
By the Right Honourable the Lords of the
Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs
His Majesty having. been pleased, by His Order
in Council of the 28"' of last Month, to referr unto
this Committee the humble petition of the Ohio
Company, praying, that upon Condition the Petition
ers enlarge their Settlements and Seat three hundred
Familys instead of One hundred by their former Con
tract, and in Consideration of their erecting two
Forts, One at Shurtees Creek, and the other at the
Fork where the great Conaway enters the Ohio, and
maintain them at their own Expence, That His Maj
esty will be greatly pleased to enlarge their Grant
under the same Exemption of Rights and Quit Rents
as in the former Instructions, and to fix the Bounds
without any further delay of Survey, from Romanet-
toe or Kiskominettoe Creek on the South East Side
of the Ohio to the Fork at the entrance of the great
Conhaway River, and from thence along the North
Side of the said Conhaway River to the Entrance of
Green Brier River, and from thence in a Streight
Line or Lines to and along the Mountains to the
South East Spring of Mohongaly River, and from
thence Northwards along the Mountains to the North
East Springs of Romanettoe or Kiskominettoe Creek
or till a West Line from the Mountains intersects
the said Spring and along it to its Entrance into the
Ohio, which will prevent all Disputes or Delay about
34

266 The Ohio Valley
the Limits, which are necessary to be immediately
determined, as the Season is advancing to procure
Foreign Protestants and others of His Majestys Sub
jects to go on with the Settlement, and to procure
Materials to erect their Second Fort at the Mouth
of the great Conhaway River (the Fort on Shurtees
Creek being now building to prevent the Intrusion
and Incroachments of the Indians in the French
Alliance and secure Our Settlements upon the Ohio,
which if not immediately put in Execution before
they get possession, may be highly detrimental to the
Colonys, and occasion a great future Expence to
Britain — The Lords of the Committee this day took
the said Petition into their Consideration, and are
hereby pleased to referr the same (a Copy whereof
is hereunto annexed) to the Lords Commissioners
for Trade and Plantations, to consider thereof, and
Report their Opinion thereupon to this Committee —
W. Sharpe
To the Kings most Excellent Majesty in Council
The humble Petition of the Ohio Company
Sheweth That Your Pef^ upon Information given by sev'
Nations of Indians residing near the Ohio and other
Branches of the Missisippi & near the Lakes West
ward of Virginia that they were desirous of Trading
with Your Majestys Subjects and quitting the French,
And knowing the value of those rich Countrys which
were given up and acknowledged to be Your Majes-

In Colonial Days. 267
tys undoubted right by the Six Nations who are law-
full Lords of all those Lands by Conquest from
other Indian Nations at the Treaty of Lancaster the
2^ day of July 1744 Your Pef"^ being sensible of the
vast Consequence of securing these Countrys from
the French did in the Year 1748 form themselves
into a Company to Trade with the Indians and to
make Settlements upon the Ohio or Allegany River
by the Name of the Ohio Company —
That the Company in the beginning of the Year
1 749 Petitioned Your Majesty wherein they set forth
the vast Advantage it would be to Britain and the
Colonys to anticipate the French by taking possession
of that Country Southward of the Lakes to which
the French had no right nor had then taken any pos
session except a small Blockhouse fort among the
Six Nations below the falls of Niagara they having
deserted Le Detroit Fort Northward of Erie Lake
during the War and retired to Cannada ; The reasons
for Securing the same being mentioned at large in
their said former petition and in which they prayed
that Your Majesty wou'd give Orders or Instructions
to Your Gov"^ of Virginia to make out to Your Pet''^
five hundred Thousand Acres betwixt Romanetto
and Buffaloe Creeks on the South Side of the Alle
gany or Ohio River and between the two Creeks and
Yellow Creek on the North Side of that River upon
the Terms and with the Allowances therein mentioned
to which they beg leave to referr —
That Your Pef^^ in pursuance of the s'' petition

268 The Ohio Valley
obtained an Order from Your Majesty to your Lieu'
Gov'' of Virginia dated March 18"* 1748-9 to make
them a Grant or Grants of 200,000 Acres of Land
between Romanettoe and Buffalo Creeks on the South
Side of the Ohio and betwixt the two Creeks and
Yellow Creek on the North Side thereof or in such
part to the Westward of the great Mountains as the
Company shou'd think proper for making Settle
ments and extending their Trade with the Indians
with a Proviso that if they did not erect a Fort on
the s** Land & maintain a sufificient Garrison therein
& seat at their proper expence a hundred Familys
thereon in Seven Years the s^ Grants should be void
And as soon as these terms were accomplished he
was ordered to make out a further Grant or Grants
of 300,000 Acres under the like Conditions Restric
tions and Allowances as the first 200,000 Acres ad
joining thereto & within these Limits These Orders
were delivered to the Honoble W". Nelson on the
12"" of July following 1749 and upon producing them
before the Gov'^ & Council they made an Entry in
the Council Books that the Company should have
leave given to them to take up and Survey 200,000
Acres within the places mentioned in Your Majestys
said Instructions and* Orders
That Your Pet'^'' upon this Entry in the Council
Books sent to Great Britain for a Cargoe of Goods
to begin their Trade & purchased Lands upon the
Potomack River being the most convenient place to
erect storehouses; and inSept"^ following 1749 em-

In Colonial Days. 269
ployed Gentlemen to discover the Lands beyond the
Mountains to know where they shou'd make their
Surveys But they not having made any considerable
progress the Company in Sepf 1750 agreed to give
M"^ Christopher Gist ;^i5o certain and such further
handsome Allowance as his Service should deserve for
searching & discovering the Lands upon the Ohio
and its sev' Branches as low as the falls on the Ohio
with proper Instructions He accordingly set out in
Ocf^. 1750 & did not return 'till May 1751 after a
Tour of 1200 Miles in which he visited many Indian
Towns and found them all desirous of entering into
strict Friendship & Trade with Your Majestys Sub
jects. That Your Pef^ at their general Meeting in May
1 75 1 judging it necessary for their Trade and passage
to the Ohio to have a Grant of some Lands belong
ing to Maryland and Pensilvania wrote to M'' Hanbury
to apply for the same to the proprietors & laid oilt &
opened a Waggon Road Sixty feet wide from their
Storehouse at Wills's Creek to the three Branches
on Yauyaugain River computed to be near eighty
Miles And applied to the president and Masters of
William and Mary College for a Commission to a
Surveyor to lay out the Lands as they pretend they
had a Right so to do proposing to begin the Survey
after receiving M'' Gist's Report —
Your Pef^^ finding by s** Gists Journal that he had
only observed the Lands on the North Side of the
Ohio and finding that the Indians were unwilling that

270 The Ohio Valley
they should then Settle on the Miamees River or on
the North Side of the Ohio & the Lands lying too
much exposed & at too great a distance as may ap
pear by the Chart hereunto annexed to which Your
Pef^ beg leave to referr ; They employed the s** Gist
to go out a Second time to view and examine the
Lands between Mohongaly and the Big Conhaway
Woods or New River on the South East Side of the
Ohio which employed him from 4"' Nov'' 1751 to the
March following 1 752, but he could not finish his plan
& Report before Ocf 1752 at which time the Com
pany gave in a petition to the Governor and Council
praying leave to Survey and take up their first
200,000 Acres between Romanettoes otherwise Kis-
kominettoe's Creek & the Forks of the Ohio and the
great Conhaway otherwise New River otherwise
Woods River on the South Side of the Ohio in sev
eral Surveys —
The Gov' & Council having not thought fit to
comply with the prayer of the s'' petition to allow
Your Pet""^ to survey their Lands in different Tracts
as wou'd best accommodate the Settlers & secure
their Frontiers from Attacks the President & Masters
of the College also refusing to give out a Commis
sion to a Surveyor & the late Gov'' & Council having
made out large Grants to private persons Landjob-
bers to the amount of near 1,400,000 Acres imme
diately nay even the same day after Your Majestys
Instructions for making out Your Pef^ Grants &

In Colonial Days. 271
Surveys became publickly known where the Lands
were in properly described or limited nor surveyed ;
by which means their several Grants might have in
terfered with the Lands discovered & chosen by the
Company Your Pet'^ were laid under difificultys in
surveying and settling their Lands & erecting the
Fort th6 Your Pet'* have been at very great expence
& are willing to be at a much greater to secure those
valuable Countrys and the Indian Trade —
That Your Pef* apprehend from these Obstructions
and the delay & expence attending Surveys & from the
Suits that may be commenced upon Account of the
Grants made out to other persons since the Instruc
tions given by Your Majesty to grant to Your Pef* the
Lands mentioned in the said Instructions which may
occasion longer delays The Company may be pre
vented from fulfilling their Covenants of settling the
Lands & compleating their Fort in the time specified
by the said Contract And as Boundarys to large
Grants are much more natural and easy to be ascer
tained by having Rivers for their Limits & streight
Lines or Mountains to connect them from River to
River & at much less expence and delay in fixing
them —
Therefore Your Pef^* pray that upon Condition
Your Pef' shall enlarge their Settlem'*: & Seat three
hundred Familys instead of One hundred by their
former Contract and in Consideration of their erect
ing two Forts One at Shurtees Creek and the other

272 The Ohio Valley
at the Fork where the great Conhaway enters the
Ohio, and maintain them at their own Expence That
Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to enlarge
their Grant under the same exemption of Rights and
Quit Rents as in the former Instructions & to fix the
Bounds without any further delay of Survey from
Romanetto or Kiskominetto Creek on the South
East Side of the Ohio to the Fork at the Entrance
of the great Conhaway River and from thence along
the North Side of the said Conhaway River to the
Entrance of Green Brier River and from thence in
a Straight Line or Lines to arid along the Mountains
to the South East Spring of Mohongaly River and
from thence Northwards along the Mountains to the
North East Springs of Romanettoe or Kiskominettoe
Creek or 'till a West Line from the Mountains inter
sects the said Spring and along it to its entrance into
the Ohio which will prevent all Disputes or delay
about the Limits which are necessary to be imme
diately determined as the Season is advancing to
procure foreign protestants and others of Your Maj
estys Subjects to go on with the Settlement & to
procure materials to Erect their Second Fort at the
Mouth of the great Conhaway River (the Fort on
Shurtees Creek being now building) to prevent the
intrusion and incroachments of the Indians in the
French Alliance and secure Our Settlements upon
the Ohio which if not immediately put in Execution
before they get possession may be highly detrimental

In Colonial Days. 273
to the Colonys and Occasion a great future expence
to Britain —
And Your Pefl will ever Pray &c*
signed Arthur Dobbs
I. Hanbury
Samuel Smith
James Wardrop
In behalf of Ourselves and the rest of the
Ohio Company

APPENDIX E.

Census of the Cherokees in 1721
(Letter Book i8 p. 75, Sy. Prop. Gosp. in Foreign Parts)
South Carolina, Dorchester
I April 1723-4.
A true & Exact account of the Number of Names
of all the Towns belonging to the Cherrikee Nation
& the Number of Men Women & Children Inhab
iting the same taken Anno 1721.
No. of
Towns Towns Names Men

Kewokee  168
Eascenica  44
Oakenni  57
Timotly  42
Checlokee  71
Tockaswoo  50
Toogellon  70
35

'^omen

Children

155

137

42

48

52

75

68

42

71

77

60

60

66

68

2 74 The Ohio Valley
No. of
Towns Towns Names Men
8 . . . . Changee  80
9. . . . Eastatoe  150
10. . . . Echie  55
II.... Chattoogie  30
12.... Kittowah  143
13.... Stickoce  97
14. . . . Noonnie  61
15.... Suskasetchie  1 50
16. . . . Tarrahnie  72
17. . . . Echotee  59
18 ... . Tuckoe  34
19. . . . Turrurah  60
20, . . , Wooroughtye  30
21 ... . Taseetchie  36
22.... Quannisee  37
23 ... . Tookarechga  60
24. . . . Stickoce  42
25 ... . Old Eastatoe  40
26, , . . Mougake  57
27 ... . Echoce  44
28. . . . Nookassie  53
29. . . . Cunnookah  89
30, . , . Cattojay  48
31.... Elojay ye little  58
32 ... . Wattogo  64
33  Torree  59
34. . . . Cowyce  78
35 ... . Taskeegee  60
36 ... . Erawgee  43

Women

Children

60

60

191

281

50

44

40

20

98

47

90

95

56

60

140

145

II

7

97

65

33

27

40

22

20

12

44

45

31

36

50

45

30

30

50

34

31

42

30

36

50

39

59

54

51

39

50

64

59

53

60

69

78

102

62

64

49

41

In Colonial Days. 275

No. of
Towns Towns Names Men

Z73839
40
41 42
4344454647
4849 50 5152
53

Tookareegha  77
Cheowhee  30
Tomotly  124
Elojay  56
Little Terrequo. ., , 50
Suoigella  50
Little Euphusee . , . 70
Little Tunnissee, ... 12
Great Euphusee ... 70
Terrequo  100
Tunnissee  160
Settequo  77
Charraway  70
Tarrassee  33
Sarrawotee  40
Taskeegee  70
Elojay  30

romen

Children

114

36

42

42

130

103

70

65

56

48

65

60

125

54

30

20

72

60

125

116

193

190

123

7Z

71

35

38

24

55

50

69

75

39

47

3510: 3595: 3274
Total 10379*
* I am indebted to Chaplain R. R. Hoes, U. S. N., for a copy of this in
teresting paper.

276 The Ohio Valley
APPENDIX F.
Letter from Earl of Dunmore, Governor of New
York to Earl of Hillsborough, Secretary of State,
Novbr I2'\ 1770
(N. Y. Col. Documents VIII 253).
, , . . I have made it my business to enquire and
find out the opinion of the people here, on the scheme
in agitation of establishing a Colony on the Ohio ; I
find, all who have any knowledge of such affairs con
cur in condemning the project ; they alledge among
a variety of reasons, that a Colony, at such an im
mense distance from the settled parts of America
and from the Ocean, can neither benefit either those
settled parts or the mother Country ; that they must
immediately become a lost people to both & all com
munication of a commercial nature with them be a
vain attempt, from the difificulty and expence attend
ing the Transport of commodities to them, which
would so enhance the price thereof, as to make it
utterly impossible for them to purchase such com
modities, for they could not raise a produce of any
kind, that would answer so difificult and expensive
transport back ; such Colony must therefore be their
own Manufacturers ; and the great expence of main
taining Troops there for their protection be a dead
weight on Govern', without the hopes of reaping any
advantage hereafter. The scheme alarms extremely
all the settled parts of America, the people of prop-

In Colonial Days. 277
erty being justly apprehensive of consequences that
must inevitably ensue ; that such a Colony will only
become a drain to them (now but thinly peopled) of
an infinite number of the lower Class of inhabitants,
who the desire of novelty alone will induce to change
their situation ; and the withdrawing of those Inhab
itants will reduce the value of Lands in the provinces
even to nothing and make it impossible for the Pat
entees to pay the Quit-Rents ; by which, it is evident.
His Maj'y^ interest must be very much prejudiced.
Add to this the great probability, I may venture to
say (with) certainty, that the attempting a settlement
on the Ohio will draw on an Indian war ; it being
well known, how ill affected the Ohio Indians have
always been to our interest, and their jealousy of
such a settlement, so near them, must be easily fore
seen ; therefore, as such a war would affect at least,
the nearest provinces, as well as the new Colony,
Your LordP must expect those provinces will not fail
to make heavy complaints of the inattention of
Govern' to their interest, I cannot therefore, but
think it my duty to recommend to your Lord^ not to
suffer this scheme to have effect, at least until your
LordP shall have, from the most substantial and clear
proofs, been made thoroughly sensible of its utility. —
Report of Lord Hillsborough, President of the
Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, on
the petition of Thomas Walpole, in 1772 (Sparks'
Franklin IV 303 et seg .^
We take leave to remind your Lordships of that

278 The Ohio Valley
principle which was adopted by this Board and ap
proved and confirmed by his Majesty, immediately
after the Treaty of Paris, viz : the confining the
western extent of settlements to such a distance from
the seashore, as that those settlements should lie
within reach of the trade and commerce of this king
dom .... and also of the exercise of that authority
and jurisdiction which was conceived to be necessary
for the preservation of the Colonies in a due subor
dination to, and dependence upon, the mother coun
try. And these we apprehend to have been the two
capital objects of his Majesty's proclamation of the
7'\ of October 1763, .... The great object of colo
nizing upon the continent of North America has been
to improve and extend the commerce, navigation and
manufactures of the kingdom. , , . It does appear to
us, that the extension of the fur trade depends en
tirely upon the Indians being undisturbed in the
possession of their hunting grounds, and that all
colonizing does in its nature, and must in its conse
quences operate to the prejudice of that branch of
commerce  Let the savages enjoy their deserts
in quiet. Were they driven from their forests the
peltry trade would decrease; and it is not impossible,
that worse savages would take refuge in them.

In Colonial Days. 279

APPENDIX G.
Letter from Sir W". Johnson to the Lords of
Trade and Plantations, dated Albany Septbr 28, 1757,
(Sir W. Johnson Papers, IV, 155.)
The Indians are disgusted and dissatisfied with the
extensive Purchases of land (made by Penn^ & other
Gov'*) and do think themselves injured thereby —
This is one main cause of their defection from the
British interest — This disgust and its consequential
jealousies have been some of the chief means, made
use of by the French, to alienate the Indians from
his Majesty's interest & provoke them to commit
hostilities upon our Frontiers and until some meas
ures can be put into execution to make the Indians
easy & remove the jealousies, tho' by temporary
expedients, they may be kept from breaking out into
open violence ; yet they will work like a slow, but
certain poison. By presents and management we
may be able to keep some little Indian interest yet
alive and perhaps some Nations to act a neutral part,
yet I am apprehensive meer Expense, Speeches &
Promises (so often repeated & so little regarded)
will never be able to effect a favorable revolution of
our Indian interest & deprive the French of the great
advantage they have over us by their Indian Alli
ances. I would not be understood, my Lords, to mean,
that there is no alternative, by which we may pos-

28o The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days.
sibly avail ourselves, so as to keep an even hand with
the Indians ; reducing the French to our terms would
enable us to give Law to the Indians. Forts &
Levies on our Frontiers, if carried on with an unani
mous, vigorous & proper exertion of the strength of
the several Gov'*, if it did not overawe the Indians
from attempting any hostilities, might prevent their
effecting any 

IN DEX.

Abercrombie, Gen,, 158.
Albany Congress, 1 1 7, 1 76,
Alleghany Co., Pa., 187.
Allegheny Mts., 115, 127
etseq., 141, 166, 176, 197.
Allouez, Father, S. J., 51.
Allison,  , 169.
Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, 158,
169, 170.
Apalachia, Appalachean
Mts., 23, 236,
Atkins, Edmund, 47, 147.
Attakullakulla, Chief of
Cherokees, 114.
Aubry, Captain, 163.
Augusta, Kent" , 195.
Augusta Co., Pa., 1 16, 128.

Baker, Lieut, 149.
Baldwin, C. C, 30.
Banyar, Goldsborow, 143,
Batts, Thomas, 220, 229,
Bean, John, 214.
36

Beauharnois, Gov, of
Canada, 44 et seq., 53,
80.
Belcher, Gov, of New Jer
sey, 102, 145,
Bellomont, Gov, of New
York, 70,
Berkley, Sir Wm., Gov.
of Virginia, 227.
Beverly, Robert, 230,
Bezon, Sieur, 75.
Big Kettle, Indian Chief,
112.
Bledsoe, Isaac, 193.
Bleeker, John, 57.
Blount, Gov of S. W, Ter
ritory, 205,
Boiling Spring, Ky., 206.
Books, consulted and re
ferred to:
American Antiquarian,
30, 51-
American Gazetteer,
163,

282

Index

Books: American State Papers,
204.
Bancroft, History, 180.
Bigelow, Franklin, 174.
Bogart, Boone,- 190.
Bouquet's Expedition,
172.
Bruyas, Indian Diction
ary, II, 13.
Burke, European Settle
ments, 61.
Call, Virginia Reports,
90.
Charlevoix, Histoire,
51-90.
Colden, Five Nations,
40.
Colden, Memoir on Fur
Trade, 78.
Coxe, Description of
Carolina, 9, 210, 236.
Coxe, Memoirs of Sir
Robt Walpole, 87.
Craig, Olden Times,
100.
Creuxius, Historia Can
adensis, 32.
Dinwiddie Papers, 89,
94 et seq., 102 et seq.,
IIO et seq., 118, 121
et seq., 12'] et seq., 136
et seq., 148, 154, 263.
Documents relating to
Colonial History of

N.Y. (N.Y. Colonial
History), 34 et seq.,
44, 45, 50 et seq., 63
et seq., 67 et seq., 71 et
seq., 78 et seq., 84 et
seq., 91, 93, 95, 117,
127, 145, 147, 152,
156, 157. i59> 161 et
seq., 169 et seq., 172,
1 74 et seq., 1 78 et seq.,
198, 208, 276.
Gallatin, Synopsis, 30,
51-
Garcilassa de la Vega,
Incas, 38, 207.
Hakluyt, Principal Nav
igations, 60, 207.
Harrison, Aborigines,
54-
Hawks, North Carolina,
38.
Haywood, Tennessee,
211, 213.
Hening, Virginia Stat
utes, 203.
Hewitt, South Carolina,
211.
Iredell, Laws of North
Carolina, 203.
Jesuit Relations, of
1618, 33; of 1635, 66;
of 1654, 34; of 1661,
218.
Johns Hopkins Univer
sity Studies, 203.

Index.

283

Books: Kirke, Rearguard, 189.
de Laet, Novum Bel
gium, 37.
Lederer, Travels, 38.
Lodge, English Colo
nies, 186.
London Magazine, 173.
Marshall, Kentucky,
188, 194 et seq., 207.
Monette, Louisiana,
180.
Moorehead, First Set
tlement of Kentucky,
188, 202.
Morden, Geography, 22.
New Jersey Archives,
102, 104.
Parkman, Discovery of
the Great West, 34,
61.
Parkman, Conspiracy of
Pontiac, 39, 50, 53,
165, 167,171.
Pennsylvania Archives,
86, 131, 156, 162, 168.
Pennsylvania Gazette,
169.
Pennsylvania Magazine
of History, 86.
Pennsylvania Records,
131, 168.
Post, Journal, 160.
Ramsey, Annals of Ten
nessee, 207, 208.

Books: Salmon, Gazetteer, 25.
Schoolcraft, Oneota,
53-
Smyth, Travels, 204.
Sparks, Franklin, 177,
277.
Spotswood Letters, 74.
Stoddard, Louisiana,
178.
Voyage au Kentoukey,
180.
Winsor, Narr. and Crit
ical History, 19, 174,
184.
Boone, Daniel, 138, 188^/
seq., igi et seq., 193, 200,
206, 213.
Boone, Squire, 191.
Boonesborough, Ky., 206.
Botetourt Co., Va., 195.
Bouquet, Henry, Colonel,
170, 212.
Bourbon Co., Ky., 201.
Bracken Co., Ky., 195.
Braddock, General, 121,
124 et seq., 147, 151,
166.
Bradstreet, Broadstreet,
Colonel, 127, 159, 178
et seq.
Brooke Co., Va., 88.
Brown, Jacob, 214.
Brule, Etienne, 12.
Bullitt, Thomas, 194.

284

Index.

Bullock, Leonard Henley,
202.
Burnet, Gov. of New
York, 36, 79.
Burwell, Lewis, 261.
Byrd, Colonel, 212, 228.
Byrd, William, 139.

Cabot, Jean, 60.
Cabot, Sebastien, 60, 61.
Cairo, Illinois, 180.
Cameron, Alexander, 214.
Cape Breton, 10.
Carlisle, John, 249.
Carlisle, Penna., 150.
Carolana, Province of, 9,
236.
Catarakoui, 63.
Chapman, Nathl., 249.
Charleville, M., 208.
Chillicothe, Ohio, 183.
Chouegen {Oswego, N.Y^,
91.
Claese, Lawrence, 57.
Clapham, Colonel, 169.
Clark, George, 195.
Clark Co., Ky., 190.
Clarke, Lt-Gov. of N. Y,
80.
Glaus, Daniel, Lieut, 141.
Clayton, Mr., 220, 224,
237-
Cleveland, Ohio, 40.
Clinton, De Witt, 10.

Clinton, Colonial Gover
nor of N. Y., 92 et seq.,
186.
Cocquard, Rev. Claude
Godefroy, 152.
Colden, Cadwallader, 78.
Columbiana Co., .Ohio, 88.
Connolly, John, 183.
Cool, Wm., 190,
Cresap, Michael, 97, 103,
187.
Cressup, Colonel, 249.
Cressup, Daniel, 249.
Croghan, George, 54, 94,
157, 176, 177, 179, 180.
Crown Point, N. Y., 125.
Crystal Mountain, 10.
Cumberland Gap, 138.
Cumming, Sir Alex' r, 210.
Cuyler, Lieut, 167.

Dagworthy, Capt John,
150, 151.
d'Arnouville, J. B. Ma
chault, 152.
Dartmouth, Earl of, 181.
de Beaujeu, M., 132,
de Biedma, L. H., 9.
de Bussy, M., 28.
de Celvron, Bienville, 85,
94- 95-
de Contrecoeur, Pierre
Claude Pecaudy, 106,
131-

Index.

285

de Courcelles, Gov. of
Canada, 62,
de Crozat, M,, 207.
de Denonville, Gov, of
Canada, 65.
Dekanisore, Sachem of
the Onondagas, 57.
de la Barre, Gov. of Can
ada, 68,
de la Gallissoni^re,Gov, of
Canada, 85, 91.
de Lancey, Lt -Gov, of N,
Y.,_ii7, 122, 134.
de Ligneris, Capt, Mar-
chaud, 132, 159, 161 et
seq.
Demire, Captain, 129.
de Muy, M., 153,
Denny, Gov. of Penna.,
156, 160, 162.
de St. Pierre, Le Gardeur,
168.
de Soto, Ferdinand, 9, 207,
237-
Detroit, Mich., 35, 45 > 57.
153, 167,176, 179, 187.
de Vaudreuil, Gov. of Can
ada, 145, 152, 159, 161.
de Ville, Louis Marie,
missionary, 75.
de Villiers, Chevalier, 146.
de Vincenne, Sieur, 75.
Dieskau, General, 125.
Dinwiddie, Gov. of Virg^
95.96-97.99 et seq., 112

et seq., iij et seq. , 121,
134, 138, 148, 211, 263
et seq.
Dobbs, Arthur, 273.
Dobbs, Gov. of North
Carolina, 120, 212.
Dollier de Casson, mis
sionary, 13, 14, 62, 217.
Dongan, Gov. of N. Y.,
66 et seq.
Doreil, M., 159.
Douglas, James, 194.
Duchesneau, Intendant of
Canada, 65.
Dumas, Captain, 132, 146.
Dunbar, Colonel, 125, 129,
134, 136 et seq.
Dunmore, Lord, Gov. of
N.Y.,i83,_i96, 198, 276;
of Virginia, 183, 196,
198.
Ecuyer, Captain, 169.
Elbert Co., Georgia, 205.
Erie, Penna., 84.
Estill Co., Ky., 190.
Fairfax, George, 249.
Fallam, Robert, 220, 229.
Filson, John, 190.
Fincastle Co., Va., 195.
Findlay (Finley), John,
187, 190.
Fletcher, Gov. of N. Y,
4 1 et seq.

286

Index.

Floyd, John, 195.
Foley, James, no.
Forts and settlements:
at the mouth of the
Ohio, 25, 26.
du Quesne, 27, 39, 143,
145 et seq., 149, 153,
158, 159, 160, 162,
194. 235, 237, 239.
St. Joseph, 45, 167.
St. Louis, 39.
Wawiaghta, 55.
English:
at Allegany, 104,
on the Attiqu^ River,
163.
Fort Augusta, 169,
Fort Bedford, 160,
at Cajonhage, proposed,
69.
on theCheninque River,
27,
at Chenussio, 156,
on the Cherakee River,
Fort Chissel, 212.
at Chotte, 140,
Fort Cumberland, 150
et seq.,^ 154, 156.
at Detroit, proposed, 70.
Easton, Penna., 157.
on Elk Creek, 163.
Freydeck, 28.
Glendenning's, 171,

Forts and settlements:
on the Great Conaway,
265,
on the Great Miami,
28.
on Holston River, 212.
Kuskuskies, 28.
Fort Ligonier, 163, 170,
182.
Fort Loudon, 149, 151,
1 64, 211^/ seq.
Loyalhannon, 163,
Monongahela, 106, 109.
Oswego, 69, 71, 80.
on the Ouabache and
Mississippi, 75.
Owendoes, 27,
Fort Pitt, 162 et seq.,
168 et seq., 183,
at Pittsburgh, proposed,
97-
Quanese, 20,
on the Scioto, 27.
on Shurtees Creek, 265,
272,
Tellico, 28,
Venango, 27, 167, 168,
170,
Walker's, 20, 26, 28, 170,
186.
on the Watauga River,
202.
on White Woman's
Creek, 163.
on Yadkin River, 189.

Index.

287

Forts and settlements:
French:
Fort Anne, 20.
Fort L' Assomption,
161, 208,
Le Baril, 20.
Le Boeuf, 167, 170.
Fort Chartres, 178 et
seq.
on Cherakee River,
Fort Crevecoeur, 236.
at Diontaroga, 96.
at Detroit, 35.
Fort des mi Amis, 22.
Fort de Tret (Detroit),
35-
Fort Frontenac, 63, 159,
161.
on Green Brier's River,
116.
on Holston River, 116.
Irondequoit, 76, 80.
Joncaire's, 20.
at Ka-ke-no-tia-yo-ga,
96.
at Logstown, 95.
near Louisville, Ky.,
Ill, 146, 155.
Fort Machault, 152,
162, 164.
Fort Massiac, 180.
Fort Michilimackinack,
167.
Fort Niagara, 70, 80,
159- •

Forts and settlements:
on the Ohio and Oua
bache, 26,
Ouitanon, 20, 167, 180.
on the Scioto, proposed,
III.
Tiengsachrondio (De
troit), 35.
Fort Vincene, 20, 180.
Wawyachtenoch (De
troit), 35.
Forbes, General, 159, 170.
Franklin, Benjamin, 142,
177, 197.
Franklin, Penna., 168.
Franklin Co., Georgia,
205.
Fraser; an English trader,
168.
Frederick Co., Maryland,
128.
Fremin, P^re, S. J., 14.
Fremont, General, 50,
French, marching to the
Ohio, 92,
Friedenshuetten, Penna.,
184,
Frontenac, Gov. of Can
ada, 62, 63.
Fry, Colonel Joshua, 103,
109.
Galin6e (Gallinay), Ren6
de Brehan de, mission
ary, 14, 62, 217,

288

Index.

Gates, Captain, 129.
Gist, Christ, 233, 269.
Glen, Gov. of So. Caro
lina, 120, 123 etseq.
Glendenning, Archibald,
171.
Gooch, Sir Wm,, Gov, of
Virga., 240 et seq.
Grant, Major James, 160.
Great Meadows, 112, 130.
Greenbriar Company, 90.
Greenbriar County, Va.,
183.
Gyles, Jacob, 249.
Halket, Sir Peter, 125,
129.
Halket, Lieut, 129.
Halket, Major, 129.
Hamilton, Gov. of Penna.,
99, 186.
Ha-mpshire Co., Va., 128.
Hamptonstall,  , 194.
Hanbury, John, 88, 249,
253- 258 et seq., 273.
Hancock Co., Ohio, 187.
Hardy, Gov. of New York,
47. H7-
Harrod, James, 194, 201.
Harrodsburgh, Va., 195,
206.
Hart, David, 202.
Hart, Nathl., 202.
Hawkins, Sir John, 10.
Heath, Sir Robert, 260.

Henderson, Richard, 202,
203, 204, 205,
Hillsborough, Lord, 48,
1 74, 177, 1 8 1 , 2 76 ^^ seq.
Hochelaga, 10, 11.
Hogg, James, 202.
Holden, Joseph, 190.
Holland, Lieut, 127,
Howe, Lord, 158.
Illinois Country, 179.
Indian names:
of Chicago, Ills., 35.
of Cleveland, Ohio, 30,
40.
of Detroit, 35, 57, 70,
76.
for Governor of Canada,
34, 44, 114, 218,
for Governor of New
York, 35, 84,
for King of England,
114.
of Sandusky, Ohio, 45,
of Waterford, Penna,,
168,
of Wyoming, Penna,,
145-
Indian Totems, 53,
Indian Tribes:
Aragaritkas (Hurons),
35-
Algonquins, 30, 50, 51,
Alibanons, 46.
Andastes, 30. 3^.33. 34-

Index.

289

Indian Tribes:
Antouorons, 31 etseq.
Arkansas, 31.
Assistagueronons, 32.
Canawhaga, Cockna-
waga, 78, 84, 96.
Capitanasses, 38.
Carantouanons, 31.
Catawbas, 114, 120, 135,
138, 232.
Cat Nation (Eries), 32,
35-
Cayugas, 96.
Chachakinguas, 209.
Chaouanons (Shawa
noes), 21, 33, 233.
Chartier's Tribe, 45.
Chaskpes, 39, 40.
Chenundies, 96.
Cherokees (Flatheads),
30,31, 33,45. 59. 112,
114, 120, 124, 135,
138 et seq., 148, 149,
150 et seq., 164, 192,
202 et seq., 208 et seq.,
212, 214.
Chickasaws, 9, 21, 30,
33, 45, 138, 180, 205,
208.
Chichtaghicks, .y^^
Twightwees.
Chippoways, no, 166.
Choctaws, 153.
Connoys, 157.
Coskinampos, 21.
37

Indian Tribes:
Creeks, 138 et seq.
Delawares, 37, ^6 etseq.,
57, 121, 141 et seq.,
147, 166, 169, 173,
176 et seq., 184.
Dionondadee, 51.
Dowaganhaes (Wagan
haes), 71, 72.
Eries, Eriehronons (Cat
Nation), 33, 34, 39.
Far Nations, 42 et seq.,
51, 55 et seq., 65, 66,
.70, 79-
Five (Six) Nations, Iro
quois, 30, 32, 34, 35,
40 et seq., 57, 67, 70,
72, 78, 93, 113, 117,
121, 126, 1^6 et seq.,
159, 192.
Flanakaskies, 221, 229.
Flatheads (Cherokees),
76, 153 etseq., 164.
Ganastogue, 14.
Gantastogeronons, 32.
Gens de Feu, 32.
Guyandots, 34.
Hurons (Wyandots),
33' 51- 54 et seq., 63.
Illinois, 31, 51, 52.
Iroquois (Five Na
tions), 30, 32, 33, 48,
59, 62, 75 et seq., 95,
III, 114, 117, 146,
210, 232,

290

Index.

Indian Tribes:
Kichtages, 52.
Kickapous, 55, 181.
Lenni-Lenapes (Dela
wares), 49, 50, 57.
Mascoutens, 55.
Massawomecks, 33.
Miamis (Twightwees),
30. 31. 33- 46, 5T- 55.
84, 166, 181.
Michilimackinacks, 84.
Mingoes, 1 72^-
Minissincks, 43.
Mississagas, 84.
Mohawks, 33, 78, 117,
157-
Mohegans, 45, 226, 228.
Monomunies, 80.
Nanticokes, 157, 176.
Neuter Nation, Neu
trals, 30, 32, 33.
Nez Perces, 14, 56, 219.
Oghnagoes, 157.
Oneidas, 121.
Oniasont - Keronons,
32.
Onondagas (Onnontae-
heronons), 34, 57.
Onogangas, 96.
Ontastoes (Andastes),
219.
Oroonducks, 84, 96.
Ottawas, Outaouaes, 15,
51, 62, 66, 67, 71,
no.

Indian Tribes:
Ouabans, 39, 40.
Ouyattanons, 53.
Peanguichias, Piankas
has, Pianguichias,
Pyankeshas, 30, 31,
53 et seq., 180, 209.
Pepepikokias, 209.
Petikokias, 53.
Poutaouatamies, Pota
wimmies, 15, 32, 84,
181.
Praying, 78.
River, 78.
Sapony, 221, 229, 232.
Satanas, Sataras, 40.
Scenondidies, 96.
Senecas, 34, 41, 81, 96,
121, 157, 176.
Shawanoes, Shawanese,
Shawnees, Showan
nes, Chaouanons, 14,
37, et seq., /\.i et seq.,
51,96,121, 139^^ .s-^^.,
146 et seq., 153 et seq.,
163, 166, 169, 173,
176 et seq., 182, 208
et seq.
Shepawees, 84.
Shoenidies, 84.
Susquehannah, 143.
Taogarias, 21.
Ten Confederate Na
tions, 48.
Toagenhas, 218.

Index.

291

Indian Tribes:
Totoras, 221, 223, 226,
228, 232.
Twightwees (Chichtag
hicks, Miamis), 35,
40, 51 et seq., 70, 86,
93, 112, 121, 135,239.
Waganhaes (Dowagan
haes), 51, 57.
Wawyachtenokes, 84.
With Straws thro' their
Noses, 56.
Wyandots (Hurons),
30, 50, 86, 112.
Indian Villages:
Apomatacks Town, 220,
231.
Chartier's Old Town,
45-
Cherokee Towns, 273
et seq.
Chicazas, 9.
La Demoiselle, 20.
Delaware on the Ohio,
152.
Diohogo, 1 76.
Ganastogue Sonnon-
toua, 219.
Kuskuskies, 28.
Neguassee, 210.
Old Shawnee Town, 27.
Pickawillany, 239.
Quadoge (Chicago), 35.
Shahandowana (Wyo
ming), 145. ,

Indian Villages:
Tatera Town, 223.
Tallico, Telliquo, 28,
210.
Tenassee, 210.
Venango, 168.
Indian Words, 11.
Ingoldsby, Major, 40.
Innes, Colonel James, 1 1 5,
118.
International Law, 60.
Irondequoit, 35.

Jackson, Ohio, 183.
Jefferson Co., Ohio, 88.
Jenkins, Lieut Edward,
167.
Johnson, Sir William, 36,
37, 47 ^if.y^^., 54, 92, 125,
135 et seq., 141, 143 et
seq., 147, 156, 166, 175,
179, 181, 194, 196, 198,
279.
Johnston, Wm., 202.
Joliet,_ ,43-51. 63.
Joncaire, Chabert de, 44,
46- 93-
Jones, Rev. Hugh, 185.
Jonesboro, Tenn., 189.

Kaskaskias, Ills.,
Keith, Charles P., 86.

292

Index.

Keith, Sir Wm., Gov. of
Penna., 86.
Kenton, Simon, 195.
Kentucky, 33, 59, 186 et
seq., 191, 193, 194, 195,
200, 206 et seq.
Keppel, Commodore, 125.
King, Thomas, Indian
Chief, 48.
Knox, John, 193.
Knoxville, Tenn.,

La Demoiselle, Indian
Chief, 46.
La Fayette, Inda., 167, 181.
Lake Cadaraqui (Onta
rio), 35.
Lake Erie (Sweege), 12
et seq., 52; Long Point
in, 15; Point Pel6e in,
15-
Lake Huron (Ottawawa),
Z7-
Lake Michigan, 37.
Lake Oniasont, 32.
Lake Ontario (Cadara
qui), 161.
Lake Ottawawa (Huron),
35.52. _
Lake Petite, 229, 236.
Lake Pimiteone, 236.
Lake Sahsquage, Sweege
or Erie, 35.
Lancaster, Penna., 240.

Laputhia, the Shawnee
King, 121.
La Salle, Robert Cavelier
de, 13 et seq., 39, 51, 61,
68, 69, 217, 219, 236.
Lee, Thomas, 88, 249,
258.
Le Mercier, Chevalier,
106.
Le Moyne, Simon, S. J.,
missionary, 12.
Lewis, Major Andrew,
i^getseq., 171, 183, 211.
Lewis, John, 89.
Lewisburg, Va., 183.
Little Meadows, in.
Livingston, Robert, 52, 70,
Logstown, Penna., 27, 95,
Long Hunters, 193,
Loyal Company, 89,
Loudon, Earl of, 211.
Louisville, Kenty., 15, 19,
194.

McAfee,

-, 194.

McBride, James, 187.
Mac Carty, M. de, 180.
McClure, Alexr., 156,
McKee, Alexr., 182.
McGregory, Patrick, 66,
67.
Macrae,  , 169.
Madison Co., Ky., 206,
Malisit, Seneca Chief, 41.

Index.

293

Manuscripts consulted:
Amsterdam Correspon
dence, 12,
New York Colonial, 43,
57, 58, 66, 96, 99, no
etseq., 131, 134, 149,
151, 167, 198.
New York Colonial
(Council Minutes),
40, 42, 46, 56, 58, 92,
100, 102, 104 et seq.,
117, 122, 127, 186.
New York Colonial (In
dian Treaties), 36, 81.
New York Colonial
(Johnson Papers),
IOI, 143 et seq., 157,
176 et seq., 279,
Sparks' Collection, 16,
29.
Maps, consulted and re
ferred to:
Anti-Gallicans, 26, 186.
Bellin, 20, 44,
Bolton, 25, 39.
Champlain, 12, 31.
Charlevoix, 35.
Cellarius, 23,
Coronelli, 19,
Creuxius, 32,
d'Anville, 25, 39, 59, 85.
de Bry, 207,
'Delisle, 38, 59, 153,207,
208,
Franquelin, 18, 40,

Maps, consulted and re
ferred to:
Gallatin, 30.
Halley, 26.
Hennepin, 19.
H. O., 24, 39,
Homans, 59,
Huske, 26.
Jefferys, 28.
Jesuits, 18.
Joliet, 17, 18, 38, 59.
de Judaeis, 207.
Kitchin, 45.
Lederer, 38.
Minet, 19.
Mitchell, 17, 35.
Morden, 22.
Morden and Moll, 22,23,
Mortier, 21,
Mosley, 232,
Overton, 24,
Parkman Collection, 19,
32. 38.
Popple, 25, 59,
Quadus, 207.
Raffeix, 19.
Raudin, 19.
Spragg, 68.
van Keuler, 21, 39.
Vaugordy, 20,
Wells, 23,
Wytfliet, 17, 207,
Marin, M„ 96,
Marmet, Jacques, mission
ary, 75-

294

Index.

Marshall, Captain, 92,
Marshall, Judge, 187,
Mauser, Casper, 193.
Megapolensis, Rev. Jo
hannes, 12.
Memphis, Tenn., 208.
Michilimackinack, 37, 65,
69, 177, 179.
Minissinck Country, 56.
Mitchell, Dr. John, 17, 59,
230,
Monay, John, 190.
Monecatoocha, Chief on
the Ohio, 121, 144.
Montcalm, General, 161.
Montgomery, John, 193.
Montgomery Co., Tenn.,
190.
Montmagny, Gov. of Can
ada, 218.
Montour, Mr., 143.
Moravians, 184.
Morehead, Gov, of Ken
tucky, 202.
Morgan Co. , Ky. , 1 90, 2 o i .
Morris, Gov. of Penna,,
130, 143, 145.
Mount Washington, 10.
Moytoy, Chief of Chero
kees, 210.

Nashville, Tenn., 208.
Neasam, Jack, 220.
Needham,  , 236.

Nelson, Thomas, 249.
Nelson, William, 268.
Newfoundland, W. Va.,
90.
Nicaragua, 10.
Nimmo, William, 249.

Ohio Company, 86, 88,
IOI, 240, 259, 263, 266,
273-
Okenechee Path, 220,
231.
Onondaga, N. Y., 15, 95,
121.
Oswego, N. Y. {Chouegen^,
83. 91. 93. 127,
Ouasioto Mts,, 197,

Pears, Richard, 112,
Peckham, Sir George, 10,
Peters, Richd., Secy, of
Penna., 134,
Pitt, Sir Wm,, 158.
Pittsburgh, Penn., 1^7.
Point Pleasant, 183, 198.
Pontiac, Ottawa Chief, 48,
166, 176, 177.
Post, Christ Fred., 160,
'^7Z-
Powell's Valley, 138, 186,
193-,.
Presqu He, Penna., 162.

Index.

295

Ragueneau, P^re, S. J., 33.
Raleigh, N. Ca., 212.
Randolph, Peter, 139,
Randolph, Mr., 224.
Raystown, Pa., 160.
Rivers: Acansea Sipi, 21.
Akansea Septentrio
nale, 21.
Alabama, 39.
Alamance Creek, 213.
Allegany (Olighin), 25,
30, 31, 50, 61, 168,
169, 249, 254, 267.
Alliwegi Sipi, 13.
Apalachicola, 39, 59.
Arkansas (Basire), 18,
38.
Atigue (French Creek),
44. 163.
Aux Boeufs (French
Creek), 26, 146
Aux Cannes, 163.
Basire (Arkansas), 18,
38.
Bear Grass Creek, 195,
Beaver Creek, 27, 169.
Belle Riviere (Ohio),
18, 21, 23, 25, 155,
159. 163. _
«3ig Bone Lick, 194.
Big Hockhocking, 183,
Black Creek, 209.
Boone's Creek, 189.

Rivers: Buffalo's Creek, 249,
254. 267.
Bushy Run, 1 70, 1 72.
Cabin Creek, 195.
Cane Creek, 163,
Casqui, Kasqui, 9, 210.
Chaboussioua, 20.
Cherakee, Cherokee
(Tennessee), 20, 25,
37.. 46, 49-
Chiningu6, Skenango,
Chenango, 20, 27.
Choto (Holston), 115,
Choucagoua (Ohio), 19,
61.
Clinch, 138, 193, 200.
Cosquinambaux, 21, 59.
Cumberland, 30, 31,
138, 186, 190, 202,
204 et seq.
Cusates, Cusatzes, 9, 59,
210.
Delaware, 32, 49.
Duck, 205.
Elk Creek, 163.
Elkhorn, 187, 194.
Elk River, 206,
Euphasee, 28.
French Creek (Atigue,
Aux Boeufs), 26, 44,
85, 152, 162, 167,168,
French Lick, 208,
Ganahooche, 59.

296

Index.

Rivers: Green Brier, 90, 116,
197, 265, 272.
Haw, 213,
Hiawassee, 210.
Hickman Creek, 194,
Hogohegee, 24, 26, 28,
39-
Holston (Choto), 28,
59, 114, 116, 128, 137,
140, 202, 205, 212 et
seq., 240,
Illinois, 18, 25, 145, 146,
164, 174, 178, 237.
Jessamine, 194.
Johnston, 232.
Juniata, 176,
Kanawha, Great Ken-
awha. Big Conhaway,
17, 25, 26, 28,49, 166,
183, 197 et seq., 235,
265, 270, 272.
Kanantaguat, 217,
Kaskaskias, 178.
Kentucky, 187, 190, 193,
202, 204.
Keowee, 205.
Kiskiminitas, Kiskomi
nettoe Creek, 160,
265, 270, 272,
Licking, 201.
Loyalhannon, 1 70,
Maumee, 31, 51.
Miami, 28, 31, 37,' 270.
Mic, 74. ,

Rivers :
Monongahela, Mohon
galy, 25, 26, 31, 50,
94, 98, 106, 109, 116,
195, 265, 270, 272.
Muskingum, 10, 50, 163,
172, 184,
New, 137, 197, 235, 270,
Nolichuky, 215.
Occabacke, 74.
Ohio, first heard of, 13;
name on first map, 1 7;
names of, 19.
Oiapigaming, 19.
Oil Creek, 12.
Olighin (Allegany), 61,
Old Chaouanon, 25,
Ouespere, 209.
Ouabache (Wabash),
26, 74, 155, 209.
Ouabouskigon, 17,
Pedee, 39, 232.
Pelesipi, 25, 26,
Powell's, 138,
Red, 190.
Red Stone Creek, no,
Roanoke, 220, 223, 232.
Romanettos Creek,
249, 254, 265, 267,
270, 272,
Rorenock, 38.
Sabsquigs, 22.
St Jerome (Wabash),
20, 25.
St Joseph, 167.

Index.

297

Rivers: St. Louis, 61.
Salmon, 36, 69.
Salt, 24.
Sandy Creek, 140.
Sapony, 222, 232.
Savannah, 59, 205.
Sciota, Chianotho, Si
koder, Sonioto, 27,
39' 45. 47 et seq., 54
etseq., in, 153.
Shawan, 38.
Shenango, Chiningue,
27,
Shurtees Creek, 265 et
seq., 270,
Staunton, 232,
Stoner's Creek, 201,
Susquehannah, 10, 31,
49,
Tanassee | 28, 30, 31,
>-205, 210 et
Tenessee ) seq.
Tugels, 205,
Turtle Creek, 149,
Watauga, 189, 202, 212.
White Woman's Creek,
20, 163,
Will's Creek, loi, 103,
115 ^/ seq., 269.
Wisconsin, 18.
Wood River, 232, 239,
270,
.^Yadkin, 189 et seq.
Yauyaugain, 269.
38

Rivers: Yellow Creek, 249, 267.
Robertson, James, 213 ^^
seq.
Robertson Co., Tenn., 190.
Roseboom, Captain, 66.
Rowan, Prest. of N. Ca.,
115-
Rutherford, John, 128.

St. Asaph's, 206.
St. Clair, Arthur, 182.
St Clair, Sir John, 129,
130.
Salt Licks, Ohio, 1 83.
Sandusky, Ohio, 45, 167.
Sargent, John, 197.
Scaroyady, the Half King,
94, \2\ et seq., 142,
Schuyler, Abrm,, 58.
Schuyler, Arent, 40.
Schuyler, David, 57.
Schuyler, Peter, 35, 58.
Scruniyattha, the Half
King, in.
Sharpe, Gov, of Maryland,
115. 130-
Sharpe, W., 266.
Shawangunck Mts., Ulster
Co.,N. Y., 2,7.
Shingiss Shingo, Indian
Chief, 50, 142.
Smith, Captain John, of
Virga., 33, 231.

298

Index.

Smith, Samuel, 273.
Smith, William, 22.
Smyth, Dr. O. F, D., 203.
Spearing," Lieut, 129.
Spotswood, Gov. of Va.,
74- 238.
Staggs, Colonel, 228.
Stanwix, Colonel John,
150.
Stephens, Colonel Adam,
171.
Stewart, John, 190, 192.
Stoner, Michael, 200 et
seq.
Sunbury, Penna., 169.

Talon, Intendant of Can
ada, 64.
Taylor,  , 194.
Taylor, Handcock, 194.
Thornton, Wm., 249.
Tonty, Henry, 41, 51.
Townshend, Charles, 93.
Transylvania, Colony of,
206.
Transylvania, Common
wealth of, 204 et seq.
Transylvania Company,
202.
Treaties: with Indians, in 1701,
,35' 36.
with Indians, in 1726,
36.

Treaties: with Indians, at Ft.
Stanwix, N. Y., 174,
192, 197.
with Indians, at Lancas
ter, Pa., 47, 53, 82,
156-253.
with Indians, at Locha
ber, S. Ca., 192.
of Paris, 165, 178, 278.
of Utrecht, 72, 76, 80,
82, 238. _
Trent, Captain, 97, 103,
Trois Rivieres, Canada,
63-
Tryon, Governor of N, Y,,
198,
Tuttrel, John, 202.

van Corlear, Arent, 35, 41.
Vandalia, Colony of, 174,
177.
Venango, Pa., 20, 85, no,
Vincennes, M,, 180,

Walden! s Mountain, 193,
Walker, Thomas, 89, 137,
138, 186.
Walpole Company, 89.
Walpole's Grant, 174.
Walpole, Horace, 118,
Walpole, Thomas, 1 74,
197, 277,

Index.

299

Walsingham, Sir Francis,
10.
Ward, Ensign, 106, 109.
Warner, Charles Dudley,
22,
Washington, Augustin,
88, 249,
Washington, George, 88,
103, 109, 111 et seq., 122,
141, 151, 159, 168, 263.
Washington, Lawrence,
88, 249,
Waterford, Penna., 168.
Weiser, Conrad, 117.
Western Reserve, Ohio, 54.

Wharton, Samuel, 197.
Whitley, Wm., 195.
Williams, John, 202.
Williams, Margaret, 156.
Winchester, Va., 114, 122.
Winsor, Justin, 16.
Wolfe, General, 158.
Wood, Colonel or Gen
eral, 16, 74, 207, 220 et
seq., 235 et seq.
Wood, Doctor, 195.
Woods, Thomas, 220, 230.
Woodrop, Wardrop,
James, 249, 273.