This page is part of the Warren
County Ohio GenWeb project
You are our
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
visitor since 28 October 2004 -- thanks for stopping by!
Contributor::
|
Transcription contributed by Martie Callihan 28 Oct 2004 |
Sources: |
The History of Warren County Ohio Part III, The History of Warren County Chapter IV. Pioneer History (Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992) |
Comments:: |
|
Related Links: |
Page |
The long war which was ended with Wayne's treaty at Greenville was a cruel one. The Miami country was known as the " Miami Slaughter-House." The depredations of the savages led the settlers into some measures of defense which it is not pleasant to record. It is perhaps not generally known that men of high standing formed a committee to publish a notice offering premiums for Indian scalps. Warren County was included in the district within which young men were offered inducements to range the woods "to prevent savages from committing depredations on defenseless citizens." Early in the spring of 1794, a subscription paper was in circulation at Columbia to provide premiums for scalps of Indians. And in the Centinel of the Northwest Territory of May 17, 1794, a committee, consisting of L. Woodward, Darius C. Orcutt and James Lyons, of Cincinnati, and William Brown, Ignatius Ross and John Reily, of Columbia, publish a notice offering rewards for Indian scalps taken between the 18th of April and the 25th of December, 1794, in a district beginning on the Ohio ten miles above the mouth of the Little Miami, extending ten miles west of the Great Miami, and twenty-five back into the country, above where Harmar's trace crosses the Little Miami, and in a direct line west. Rewards were offered as follows: "That for every scalp having the right ear appendant, for the first ten Indians who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid, by those who are subscribers to the said articles, shall, whenever collected, be paid the sum of $136, and for every scalp of the like number of Indians, having the right ear appendant, who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid by those who are not subscribers, the Federal troops excepted, shall, whenever collected, be paid the sum of $100; and for every scalp having the right ear appendant of the second ten Indians who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid, by those who are subscribers to the said articles, shall, whenever collected as aforesaid, be paid the sum of $117; and for every scalp having the right ear appendant of the second ten Indians who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid by those who are not subscribers to the said articles shall, whenever collected, be paid the sum of $95." Wayne's decisive victory over the Indians on the 20th
of August, 1794, put a a check to their depredations, but did not at once
reduce them to absolute submission. The first settlements in Warren County
were begun in 1795. During the winter and spring of this year, six months
after Wayne's victory, there were occasional reports of murders of white
men by the Indians. In February, two white men were killed near the mouth
of the Great Miami, and in March, one man was killed and eight horses
stolen in the village of North Bend. On the 7th of May, the Indians stole
nine horses from Ludlow's Station, only five miles from Cincinnati, and,
though pursued, made their escape. The treaty of peace at Greenville,
concluded August 3, 1795, put an end to the murder of white men by Indians
in the Miami settlements, but horses continued to be stolen by them. Judge
Symmes thought that white men who bought horses from the Indians
were to blame, as the Indians would steal horses to take the place of
those they had sold. The Judge wrote to Gen. Dayton,
in 1796, that he wished Con- |
Page 240 |
gress would make it a penal offense for a white man to buy
a horse from an Indian, as no Indian would walk when he could steal a horse.
Sometimes, however, a white man would steal a horse from the Indians, and we have the record of the conviction of at least one man for this offense. In March, 1790, at Cincinnati, the seat of justice for the whole Miami region, Daniel McKean, lately arrived from New Jersey, was found guilty of stealing a horse from an Indian. He was sentenced to pay the red man $1, and to receive thirty-nine lashes in the most public streets of the town, and bear on the front of his hat, during the infliction of the punishment, a paper, with the inscription, in large letters: "I stole a horse from the Indians." |
NOTICE: All documents and electronic images placed on the Warren County OHGenWeb site remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. These documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or their legal representative, and contact the listed Warren County OHGenWeb coordinator with proof of this consent.
This page created 28 Oct 2004 and last updated
15 March, 2005
© 2004 Arne H Trelvik
All rights reserved