CHAPTER XVI.

THE MIAMI SETTLEMENTS.

THE EMIGRANTS' JOURNEY-THE FIRST SETTLEMENT THE FOUNDING OF LOSANTEVILLE JUDGE SYMMES SETTLES AT NORTH BEND JEALOUSY OF THE INDIANS EXPLANATION OF THE JUDGE THE STOLEN HORSES AND THE RETALIATION THE THREE VILLAGES ANECDOTE OF ENSIGN LUCE - FORT GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION THE FIRST

WASHINGTON

THE REIGN OF TERROR -EXULTATION OF THE SAVAGES

DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF THE CAMPAIGN
FRONTIERSMEN.

PERIL OF THE

WHILE THE little colonies, near the mouth of the Muskingum, were advancing so happily, Judge John Cleves Symmes was making vigorous movements for the settlement of his large purchase, of six hundred thousand acres, between the Great and Little Miami Rivers. He was disposing of smaller tracts to private individuals and companies, that he might encourage the establishment of colonies along the banks of the Ohio down to what was called the North Bend, twenty-three miles below the mouth of the Little Miami.

Major Benjamin Stites purchased of him ten thousand acres, and organized a colony of twenty families, principally from New York and New Jersey to rear their homes in a region which seemed to combine everything which was attractive in soil, situation and climate. This little colony was composed of families of industry, energy, and high moral worth. They have left numerous descendants who perpetuate and honor their names. Weary must have been the journey in their canvas-covered emigrant wagons, from New York to the wild passes of the Alleghanies. Fatiguing in the extreme must have been their task in toiling, for a hundred miles, through the gorges and over the cliffs of this almost pathless

and gigantic chain of mountains. Delightful must have been the change when, reaching the waters of the Ohio, they exchanged their wagons for the capacious barque, with its convenient cabin, affording room to move around with entire freedom from fatigue.

It was delightful autumnal weather. The barge, or ark, as it was sometimes appropriately called, floated down the placid current of the stream for several hundred miles through enchanting

scenery, while the inmates enjoyed almost perfect rest from their toils. They had intelligence to appreciate the wonderful world of freshness and beauty which was opening before them. They had culture of mind and manners, and congeniality of sympathies, which enabled them to live harmoniously together. There was nominal peace with the Indians, so that they had nothing to fear, save from small vagabond bands of Indian robbers, whom, with suit

able precautions, they could easily repel from behind their bulletproof bulwarks.

They reached the mouth of the Little Miami about the middle of November, 1788. Here they found a fine stretch of land, much of it covered with forest whose gigantic growth indicated the richness of the soil. On the west side of the river Major Stites proceeded to lay out in the woods the town, which he called Columbia. Immediately all hands combined in raising a large block-house, for the storage of their goods and for protection against the Indians. They then erected humble log cabins for the individual families. Thus was commenced the first settlement in the Miami country, about six months after the little hamlet of Marietta began to rise upon the banks of the Muskingum.

While these things were transpiring, Mathias Denman, of New Jersey, formed a partnership with Robert Patterson and John Filsom, of Kentucky, and purchased a tract of several hundred acres farther down the river, immediately adjoining Major Stites' colony. Filsom remained to survey the purchase and to lay out the plan of a town, while Denham and Patterson returned to New Jersey to raise a party of colonists. Unfortunately Filsom, while engaged in the survey, was waylaid by straggling Indians and shot. Still Denham and Patterson pressed on with their enterprise, and engaged a colony of twenty persons, and in midwinter, amidst masses of floating ice, descended the Ohio to a point five miles below Columbia, and directly opposite the mouth of the Licking River. Here, according to a pre-matured plan, they laid out their town, to which they gave the rather peculiar name of Losanteville. It is said that an eccentric Frenchman, on board their boat, coined the name from the words L'os ante ville, which he translated, not very correctly, "The village opposite the mouth." This whimsical name, however, was soon abandoned, and the classical one of Cincinnati was given to a spot destined to attain ever increasing renown in the history of our country.

The land of the township was laid off in lots, which were offered as a gift to volunteer settlers. In Burnett's Notes it is stated:

"A misapprehension has prevailed, as appears from some recent publications, in regard to the price paid by the proprietors for the land on which the city stands. The original purchase by Mr. Denman included a section and a fraction of a section, for which

he paid five shillings per acre in Continental certificates, which were then worth, in specie, five shillings on the pound; so that the specie price per acre was fifteen pence."

Judge Symmes was a man of great energy of character, and was indefatigable in his exertions to sell his land and establish colonies. The latter part of January, 1789, the judge himself set out from New Jersey, with a large party of emigrants, for the faroff Miami country. Under the most favorable circumstances this was a toilsome journey of many weeks. It was a very unpropitious season of the year to undertake it. But the emigrants were anxious to be at their new homes by the early opening of the Spring. They suffered, however, very much by the way, and incurred serious peril from storms among the mountains and masses of ice in the river.

It was the design of Judge Symmes to found a city at a point on the Ohio called North Bend, from its being the most northern point of the Ohio, below the mouth of the Great Kanawha. This point was not far from midway between Cincinnati and the subsequent eastern boundary of Indiana. The flat-bottomed watercrafts called arks, or Kentucky boats, in which the emigrants descended the Ohio, were immense structures, and really quite attractive in their appearance.

These boats were built of stout oaken plank, fastened by wooden pins to frames of timber. The well-protected cabin was in the stern, with the smoke curling gracefully from its stove-pipe chimney. The cattle, the stores and the furniture, were in the bows. In the center were seen picturesque groups of men, women and children, in pleasant weather, thus joyously floating along, their only motive power being the gentle current of the stream. If the wind were chill or the rain were falling, there was ample shelter and warmth at the fireside. When the boats reached their destination they were broken up, and the materials of which they were composed were of great value in the construction of the new homes of the emigrants.

Judge Symmes was a man of much influence. At his earnest solicitation General Harmar sent General Kearcy to accompany the judge, with forty-eight soldiers, rank and file, to protect the settlements in the Miami country. The judge and his party, with their all-important military escort, reached the Bend early in the Spring. They found here an elevated plateau presenting

admirable accommodations for their settlement. A little village of log huts speedily arose, which extended entirely across the neck of the peninsula formed by the bend in the Ohio and a corresponding bend of the Great Miami. Every individual belonging to the party received a donation lot, which he was bound to improve as the condition of obtaining a title. The town received the name of North Bend. It has since become somewhat noted as having been the residence of President William Henry Harrison.

The number of emigrants rapidly increased, being encouraged by the presence of the soldiers. The Indians, however, who still, in large numbers occupied the valleys of the two Miamis, contemplated these operations with much jealousy. They not only foresaw that these rapidly growing settlements would soon drive them from their homes, but they also suffered many outrages from lawless white men whom no sense of justice or humanity could control.

On one occasion a delegation of several chiefs called upon Judge Symmes, to complain of the frauds which had been practiced upon them. These frauds were undeniable and atrocious, and the perpetrators of them deserved to be hung. Judge Symmes endeavored to explain that these men had no connection with his colony, and that he had no more power to restrain them than they had to control the conduct of bad young Indians of other tribes. He assured them that the government of his country, which country consisted of thirteen fires or nations, had sent him to the Miamis in the spirit of friendship. He showed them the flag of the Union, with its stars and stripes, and explained to them its significance. He exhibited to them the American eagle, with the olive-branch in one claw, emblematic of the peace which his country desired with all people, and with the instruments of war and death in the other claw, indicating that, if others preferred hostility, his country was always prepared to meet them. The sagacious chiefs listened to these explanations attentively, but with evident anxiety. They were thoughtful men, uneducated, but endowed with much native intelligence.

The chiefs had come to the Bend, accompained by quite a retinue, and had encamped a little outside of the village. They professed to be in some degree satisfied with the explanation of Judge Symmes, though, in that explanation, they found no resti