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Source:
History of Shelby County, Ohio
and
representative citizens
Evansville, Ind. -
1913 - 947 pgs.
.....
Chapter IV
Pg. 52
THE OLD NORTHWEST
The Northwest Territory as Defined in the Ordinance of 1787 -
State of Ohio Formed - Character of Its Citizenship -
Indian
Inhabitants - Prohibition of Slavery - Provision for Education
- Settlement of Marietta -
Appointment of Governor St. Clair -
Law and Order Established - George Rogers Clark and His Work -
Conflicting State Claims -
Their Settlement - Treatment of the
Indians - Story of Black Hawk - The Last of the Indians - The
Greenville Treaty.
Shelby county, Ohio, formed a part of the old
Northwest. By the celebrated ordinance of 1787 the
territory "northwest of the river Ohio" was to be divided into
not less than three nor more than five sections or states.
By the same law it was provided that "whenever any of the said
states shall have 60,000 free inhabitants therein, such state
shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the congress of the
United States, on equal footing with the original states, in
all respects whatever; and shall be at liberty to form a
permanent constitution and state governments." (Article
V. Ordinance of 1787.)
Acting under this provision of our organic law, Ohio
became a state, by act of congress, February 19, 1803, and
Shelby county, as part of Ohio, entered upon her
history-making career, although the county had been organized
in 1800, by proclamation of territorial governor, General
Arthur St. Clair.
There were five states carved out of the old Northwest
- Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin making a
total area of 250,000 square miles. At the time of the
passage of the ordinance of 1787 it is probable that there
were not more than 60,000 "free inhabitants" in the entire
five states. Today there are more than 17,000,000.
In this section - the old Northwest - we find now the largest
lakes, joined by silvery rivers and canals, the richest mine
deposits, and the most fertile soil in North America, if not
in the world. Here are the longest rivers - and upon
their banks sit in pride and majesty, the noble cities from
whose factories and mills come the clothing and feed that help
to feed and to protect the hungry millions of earth.
The citizenship of this section is among the most
enlightened and progressive, Ohio alone having furnished seven
presidents of the United States, one vice-president, three
presidents of the senate, one speaker of the house, two chief
justices, five associate judges and 22 cabinet officers.
In addition there is a long list of distinguished senators,
representatives, inventors, authors and scholars.
For many years after the coming of the white men, the
American Indians - the original owners of the soil - made life
a burden for these white men, who were often forced to bare
their breasts upon "upland glade or glen" to the tomahawk, the
poisoned arrow and the faggot. The soil was redeemed for
the white men by the veterans for three wars. It was
reddened by the blood of the Indian, the French, the English
and the American. It was consecrated by the death of
many a noble son.
But the great ordinance did more than to provide for
the admission of states - it had strong provisions in regard
to slavery and education: "There shall be neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory, otherwise
than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted." No such expression had yet been
seen in any document; and this is all the more wonderful and
noble, when we recall the fact that, at that time, all the
original states had slaves. From this can be traced the
liberty-loving sentiment ever afterward found in the people of
the northwest. But this is not all. The great
document resounded throughout the wilderness, as with a
Titan's voice, the cause of religion and education.
"Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of man kind, schools and the
means of education shall forever be encouraged."
The sixteenth section of every township of 36 sections
was set aside for maintenance of common schools in each of
these five states. This generous grant on the part of
the general government gave to these five states 5,000,000
acres. From the sale of this land the schools have realized
more than $20,000,000. The spirit of this section of the
ordinance spread to all the western states and they now have
magnificent school funds. The ordinance also gave to each
state one township entire for the maintenance of a university.
In Ohio this township is located in Athens county, and this
grand old Ohio University, at Athens, originated and is, in
part, sustained today. It is the oldest university west of the
Allegheny Mountains. Thus was the fund for education in Shelby
county begun. In 1905 the entire United States expended
$307,000,000 for elementary and secondary schools alone.
In 1787 Rev. Manasseh Cutler led a band of 48 intrepid
pioneers into the wilderness, and they formed the first colony
or settlement in what is now Ohio, at Marietta, April 7, 1788.
They named their camp "Marietta" after the beautiful French
Queen, Marie Antoinette. Before the first year had passed
Marietta had 132 men and 15 families. The first Fourth of
July, 1788, was right royally celebrated in this new home of
liberty. On the 15th of that month, the first governor of the
northwest territory, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, arrived and took
charge of affairs. He was well received by the people and most
heartily supported by them. Governor St. Clair soon began the
work of organization and he laid out Ohio's first county
(1788), which embraced about all of the eastern half of Ohio,
and which he named Washington county. A sheriff, judges and
other officers were appointed, and on Campus Martius, the
first court in Ohio was opened in the block house.
This was a great event, for on that day law and order
began in the wilderness. The beginnings of great things are
always of great interest, and this interest grows with each
decade. This beginning of established law was announced from
the door of the log cabin court house, on Campus Martius, in
the fall of 1788, by the newly appointed sheriff in these
words: "Oyez! Oyez! A court is now opened for the
administration of even-handed justice, to the poor and to the
rich, to the guilty and to the innocent, without respect of
persons; none to be punished without trial by their peers, and
then in pursuance of the laws and evidence in the case.
From this first county of Ohio, the number has grown to 88,
and courts of justice are established in each county.
The history of the old Northwest cannot be told without
relating the great work of George Rogers Clark. It would
really be the play of "Hamlet" with Hamlet omitted. He was
born in Virginia in 1752, and was a brother of Capt. William
Clark, whose great journey of .8,000 miles into the Oregon
county, 1804-06, in company with Capt. Meriweather Lewis, a
grateful nation in the year (1905) commemorated by a World's.
Fair at Portland, Oregon. George Rogers Clark was made a
brigadier general in 1781, but is generally known in history,
especially during the campaign in the old Northwest, as
Colonel Clark. He was only 20 years old when he plunged into
the unbroken wilderness of Ohio, as a soldier and surveyor of
Lord Dunmore's expedition. He was as fine a rifleman as ever
entered a forest,. and. he was skilled in all the knowledge of
woodcraft. As a soldier, he was brave and manly; as a
commander he was sagacious, patient and fearless. The Indians
respected and feared him alike, and gave him and his men the.
name of "The Long Knives."
In 1775, at the close of Dunmore's war, Clark went to
Kentucky, where he assisted Daniel Boone to fight Indians and
to build a new commonwealth in the wilderness. On his return
to his old home in Virginia#he learned that the war for
liberty had actually begun between the colonies and
England—the mother country. One year, later we again find him
in Kentucky, aiding the settlers on the border in many ways.
He is chosen by them to command the rude militia of this
country, and it proved a wise choice. Every settlement was in
constant danger of attack by the bloodthirsty Indians, and
Clark knew full well how to resist them. But Virginia was
claiming ownership of this country of Kentucky—"the dark and
bloody ground"—and the hardy settlers thought they should have
some protection from Virginia.
At last two delegates, Clark being one, were chosen to
go to Virginia and see the governor—then the noted Patrick
Henry—and very forcefully showed him their needs and the
necessity of immediate action. They petitioned for the
formation of their country into an independent county, and
that they might be allowed to assist the colonies in their
struggle against the tyranny of England. They also asked for
500 pounds of gunpowder and a supply of rifles. The governor
was at first inclined, to refuse these requests on the ground
that Virginia had all she could manage in the defense of the
colonies. But Colonel Clark told him plainly that a country
that was not worth defending was not worth claiming. The
delegates obtained their desired arms and ammunition, and when
the legislature next met, the county of Kentucky was formed
with almost the identical boundaries that now mark the state
of Kentucky.
General Hamilton, the British commander at Detroit, had
set a price upon every settler's scalp in the. Ohio valley,
and in the spring of 1777 the Indians had been so incited to
cruelty and bloodshed by the promise of pay on the part of the
British, that they made constant raids upon the settlements
across the Ohio. Hiding in the dense forest, they boldly
attacked the unprotected and helpless pioneer while at work in
his field, burned his cabin, destroyed his cattle and his
crops, and carried his wife and children into hellish
captivity. Not a single life was safe, for there was always a
hidden dusky foe on every hand. Unless relief could be
obtained soon, all the whites in the valley would be
destroyed. Relief came—and under the guiding hand of the brave
young Clark. He conceived the plan of not only protecting the
settlements but of saving the Great Northwest. But to carry
out his plans he must have more men, and he therefore hurried
back to Virginia and laid his plans fully before Governor
Patrick Henry. He was duly commissioned to raise seven
companies of 40 men each among the settlers west of the
Allegheny mountains. As an incentive each soldier was promised
300 acres of land, to be selected from the richest valleys of
the conquered territory. Thus originated the Virginia Military
Reservation, between the Scioto and Miami rivers in Ohio, and
the reservation, now in the state of Indiana, for Clark and
his soldiers.
In May, 1778, he started on the famous expedition from
Redstone Old Fort—Brownsville, Pennsylvania—with only about
150 men. 'But the band increased in size as it marched on to
old Fort Pitt, where it embarked upon the Ohio. When Colonel
Clark left the governor of Virginia he was entrusted with two
specific commands. One was to protect the settlers in
Kentucky, and the other—not yet to be made public—authorized
him to attack Kaskaskia, a British post on the Kaskaskia
river, one mile east of the Mississippi. Governor Henry also
gave him $1,200 and an order on the commandant at Fort Pitt
for all the powder he might need.
From this fort the little band of men, without
uniforms, fresh from the cabin, the forest, and the mountains,
began their perilous journey to conquer what has proved to be
as rich a country as can be found upon the globe. A motley
crowd they were clad only in the garb of the hunter, and armed
with the clumsy flintlock rifle, the tomahawk and the long
knife. But each man felt that he had a mission to perform, and
under the leadership of the "Hannibal of the West," he knew
not defeat.
At the falls of the Ohio the army of backwoodsmen
halted and camped on "Corn Island" opposite the present site
of Louisville. Here the settlers who had accompanied the
expedition decided to remain and build their homes. Colonel
Clark drilled his soldiers here, then boldly informed them of
his secret commission from Governor Henry to attack the
British post at Kaskaskia. Cheers from the soldiers followed
the announcement Clark wisely decided to make the journey by
land, and therefore hid his little flotilla near the mouth of
the Tennessee and began his journey through the tangled
forest. This journey was filled with dangers and difficulties,
but on the night of July 4, 1778, he surprised the garrison
and captured the fort and the town. By a masterful management
he brought all the inhabitants-to take the oath of allegiance,
to the United States—and that without shedding blood. The
British colors were lowered, and in. their place the "Old Blue
Flag'' of Virginia was hoisted. Without fighting, the garrison
of Cahokia, a few miles up the Mississippi, also surrendered.
Then quickly followed the surrender of Vincennes, on the
Wabash, 240 miles distant.
Vincennes at this time was deserted by most of the British, as
the governor-general, Hamilton, had returned to Detroit. But
on learning of its capture by Colonel Clark and his
backwoodsmen, and also that Kaskaskia and Cahokia were in his
possession, Hamilton hastened to Vincennes with a large body
of British regulars and Indian allies. He found the fort in
possession of just two men-—Captain Helm and a soldier. . The
captain placed a cannon at the open gate and demanded the
honors of war if the fort was to be surrendered. The request
was granted and two men marched out between rows of British
soldiers and Indians.
Hamilton again took command of the fort, but as it was
now the dead of winter, .decided to await the coming of spring
before attacking Kaskaskia. But Clark was informed by his
faithful Spanish friend. Colonel Vigo, who loaned Clark nearly
$20,000 to aid in this campaign, that Hamilton had sent most
of his men home for the winter, with the intention of
recalling them early in the spring for an attack on Kaskaskia.
Clark at once marched against Hamilton, a long and dangerous
journey. The streams were filled with floating ice, the
meadows and valleys were full of water and the ground was
swampy and irregular. Often the men had to wade four or five
miles at a stretch, through water to their waists. Food became
scarce and the men were falling from sickness. But fortunately
for them they captured a canoe from some squaws, and in it
they found a goodly quantity of buffalo meat, corn, tallow and
kettles. This revived the weak and gave them all added
courage to press on to the attack.
At last they camped on a small area of dry ground
within sight of Vincennes. Hamilton was not aware of the
approach of any enemy, and consequently felt secure in his
stronghold. When night fell upon the camp, Colonel Clark led.
his men in a bold rush upon the town. The people of Vincennes
were most heartily tired of British rule, and they welcomed
the Americans. After some sharp fighting Hamilton agreed to
meet Clark in a church and arrange terms. The valiant
Clark would listen to no proposition from this "murderer of
defenseless women and ...children" but unconditional
surrender. The next day Hamilton's men, 79. in number, marched
out and laid clown their arms. The American colors were again
hoisted over "Old Vincennes" and the fort was re-baptized with
a new name, "Fort Patrick Henry." to the good name of George
Rogers Clark also belongs he great work of the invasion of the
rich country of the Shawnees, and the defeat of the Miamis.
This successful campaign gave to Clark undisputed control of
all the Illinois country and the rich valley of the Wabash.
In. fact he was the unquestioned master of the country from
Pennsylvania to the "Father of Waters," and from the Ohio to
the Great Lakes.
By the treaty of Paris, 1783, at the close of the
Revolutionary war, this great area, now consisting of five
states, was transferred from Great Britain to the United
States. To the hero of this expedition America owes an
enduring monument. But we have not always rewarded our great
men in due measure. It is said that George Rogers Clark was
allowed to pass his last years in poverty and neglect. His
death came in 1818.
For a long time it was doubtful to what state this
newly acquired region belonged. Virginia claimed nearly all of
it—and certainly her claim was a strong one. Massachusetts,
New York and Connecticut each laid claim also to parts of this
territory. But Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland
absolutely refused to enter the Union unless all the other
states gave up their claims to congress. Their contention was
this: Should Virginia, or any other state, be given the whole
or even a great part of this vast area, she would then have
too much power. Therefore, all claims, they said, should be
surrendered by these states to congress for the general good.
This firm stand on the part of these three small states
finally prevailed, and all claims, save certain reservations,
were given up to the general government. It was many years,
however, before the Indian tribes gave up their rich hunting
grounds to the white men. We cannot find heart to censure them
for this, for it was no small matter for the savage son of the
forest to yield the land of his birth and the bones of his
fathers to the encroachments of alien foes. The treatment
given these original owners of the soil of God's broad
footstool will ever bring the blush of shame to every honest
American .for these lands were taken from them by
misrepresentation, dishonesty and overwhelming force.
Senator John Sherman—Ohio's great senator—always
claimed that the government never kept a single treaty made
with the Indian. Is it any wonder, then, that we find the
Sacs, the Foxes, the Ottawas, the Winnebagoes, the Wyandottes,
the Shawnees and the Kickapoos making a last desperate
struggle to retain their happy hunting grounds?
The story of this last long effort by these tribes
centers around the one chief who towers above all others in
this country, as Mt. Blanc towers among the foothills of the
plains, viz: Black Hawk, a chief of the Sacs and Foxes. He was
born in 1767, in the Indian village of Saukenuk, on the north
bank of the Rock river, about a mile above its mouth. At the
age of nineteen, upon the death of his father, who was killed
in battle, he "fell heir to the medicine bag of his
forefathers," and for fifty years was the only leader of his
people—the last savage patriot-to defend his land against the
irresistible force of civilization. Black Hawk was a born
warrior and leader of warriors. His great grandfather was a
.mighty chief before him —the celebrated old Thunder, who more
than a hundred years before had led his fierce people—the
Sacs—from the northern shores of the St. Lawrence to the rich
valleys of Rock river and the Wisconsin.
Black Hawk taught his people a rude form of
agriculture, and they made a garden of Rock Island. Until the
unfair and one-sided treaty was made by the authorities at St.
Louis in 1804 for a narrow strip of land along the great
river, in order to work the mines of lead there, he was a
friend of the Americans. But he never would acknowledge the
rights of this treaty by which the valuable lands of his
people were filched from them. This had been accomplished by
loading the four chiefs who had been sent to St. Louis to
secure the honorable release of a Sac warrior imprisoned for
killing a vicious backwoodsman in a quarrel, with gaudy
presents, and filling them with whiskey. In addition, they
were made flattering promises, and under these various
influences they finally consented to give the American
commander—the representative of the American—certain parts of
their country on two rivers—the Illinois and the Mississippi.
It was also promised, on the part of the president of the
United States to pay the Sacs $1,000 per year for his valuable
grant. These chiefs had no right to make any treaty, though
they thought by thus complying with the wishes of the white
chief they would gain his good will, and save the life of the
Sac warrior whom they had been sent to aid. Instead, however,
they saw him led out and shot to death -murdered without a
trial in the very land over which the ordinance of 1787 had
expressly stipulated: "The utmost good faith shall always be
observed toward the Indians; their lands and their property
shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in
their property, rights arid liberty they shall never be
invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars
authorized' by congress, but laws founded in justice and
humanity shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs
being done them and for preserving peace and friendship with
them.
From this one abuse originated the
Black Hawk war. But it was augmented by many other causes of
even greater flagrance and dishonor. False reports about this
great chief were spread far and wide, and the government sent
an army against him. Our own great Lincoln formed, when a mere
youth, a militia company, and marched to the supposed scene of
"the great Indian uprising." Black Hawk, who never really
meant to fight the Americans, but had long borne in silence
his deep wrongs, was captured, through the treachery of the
Winnebagoes, and imprisoned.. His tribes— men, helpless women
and children—were ruthlessly shot\down or drowned in the
Mississippi, the. very river upon whose banks they had so long
hunted, lived and loved. After a long imprisonment in-
Jefferson barracks in Missouri, he was taken to Washington,
where President Andrew Jackson held an interview with him..
When asked by the President, why he had attempted to make war
against the Americans, he answered: "I am a man and you are
another. I took up the hatchet to avenge injuries which could
no .longer be borne." The great President sent him back
to live in peace with the few remaining people of his race,
upon the plains of Iowa, where he died in 1838. Thus was
closed forever, in the old northwest, the efforts of the Red
Man to retain the lands and hunting grounds of his fathers.
The Greenville treaty between the United States and the
Wyandots, Miamis, Delawares, Shawnees, Chippewas, Weas,
Pottawatomies, Eel Rivers, Kickapoos, Plankinshaws and
Kaskaskias was made Aug. 3, 1795, and virtually ended the
sanguinary troubles between the whites and the Indians in this
part of Ohio. It was in substance as follows:
The boundary line established May 3, 1895, between the
United States and the Indians began at the mouth of Cuyahoga
river, and thence up the same to the portage, between that and
the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down the
branch, to the crossing place above Fort Lawrence; thence
westerly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami river
running into the Ohio at or near which fork stood Loramie's
store, and where commences the portage between the Miami of
the Ohio and St. Marys river, which is a branch of the Miami
which runs into Lake Erie; thence a westerly course to Fort
Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash; thence
southwesterly in a direct line to the Ohio so as to intersect
that river opposite the mouth of Kentucky or Cuttawa river.
As an evidence of good faith the Indian tribes ceded
lands along the treaty line one tract six miles square at or
near Loramie's store in Shelby county. The tribes were to
receive $20,000 and a perpetual annuity of $9,500. This treaty
had more to do with the abandonment of Ohio by the Indians for
lands and reservations beyond the Mississippi than anything
else. The only one left in Shelby county who still survives is
a wooden aborigine in front of a cigar store somewhat weather
beaten and disfigured but still in the ring.
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- History of Shelby County - Publ. 1913 - |
