Warren County
Local History by Dallas Bogan |
Contributor: |
Dallas Bogan on 8 August 2004 |
Source: |
original article by Dallas Bogan |
Return to Index to see a list of other articles by Dallas Bogan |
Frontier hunters of the new lands of Ohio sought the livelihood of their families
in the huge surrounding forests. Wild game on both sides of the Ohio amply supplied
the needs of the household as far as meat supplies go.
The Indians that were present when the first white man arrived used their hunting
skills as a means of necessity, not sport. Facts have been presented that show
the Indian villages were not always feasting abundantly, but sometimes on the
edge of starvation.
Early white hunters also depended on the amount of wild game available. The
flesh of the wild animal was a food source, their skins and furs being objects
of clothing or trade and barter.
The life of a hunter was one of continuing excitement; sometimes destined to
disappointment and other times, prosperity.
Amongst the first white men to explore the Ohio territory were the early surveying
parties, which included guides, scouts and hunters. A sketch of General Nathaniel
Massie (for whom Massie Township is named), written by Col. John
McDonald, presents an interesting story that portrays a portion of
the adventures of Massie.
Massie made extensive surveys on the east side of the Little Miami River. Besides
himself he would have three assistant surveyors and six men with each surveyor.
A total of four surveying parties consisted of twenty-four men.
The succession of men would be the hunters first, who would lead the way and
look for game and guard against the Indians. Next would be the surveyor, chain
carriers and markers, and last would be the pack horses cared for by the company
cook.
Sometimes the only prepared food source would be flour, in one trip they had
no bread for thirty days.
Each man carried his own rifle, tomahawk and scalping knife. After Wayne's victory
in 1795, disturbances by the Indians were rarely noticed.
But sometimes the frontiersmen suffered for want of food, the hunters not being
able to kill any game. McDonald wrote that on one occasion
food was so scarce that it was described as "the starving time."
This related experience stated the whole party of twenty-eight men were caught
in a driving snow storm for about four days. They were surrounded by a wilderness
with no shelter at all; no tents, covering, and worst of all, no provisions.
On the third day they killed two wild turkeys which were "boiled and divided
into twenty-eight parts and devoured, heads, feet, entrails and all."
McDonald said of Massie that he could live on bread without
meat, or on meat without bread and be totally contented.
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This page created 8 August 2004 and last updated
28 September, 2008
© 2004 Arne H Trelvik
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