That Dark and Bloody River

by Allan Eckert

  149. This new settlement by Andrew Van Swearingen was established in 1772 and was located within the present limits of the city of Wellsburg, Brooke Co., W.Va., at or near the site of the present Central Junior High School.

  150. The name of the stream upon which Bane Settlement was established is present Bane Creek, and the settlement was on the site of present Banetown, Washington Co., Pa.

  151. The stream is still called Booth’s Creek, and the settlement was on the site of present Boothsville, Marion Co., W.Va.

  152. Prickett’s Settlement and Prickett’s Fort were located at the mouth of present Prickett’s Creek, five miles below present Fairmount and about a mile below the village of Baxter, Marion Co., W.Va.

  153. Holliday’s Cove was established in 1771 on the site of present Holliday’s Cove, Hancock Co., W.Va. Present Harmon’s Creek empties into the Ohio opposite the north edge of present Steubenville, Jefferson Co., O.

  154. The mouth of the smaller creek where they camped was present Twomile Creek, just east of present Charleston, W.Va. The creek near the salt lick was present Campbell’s Creek. Kenton was at this time using the alias of Simon Butler, as he believed he had killed a man in a fight and authorities were now searching for him. Later he learned he had not killed the man after all and was not a fugitive, so he resumed his true identity. To avoid confusion here, he will be referred to as Kenton, even during the alias period. Greater details of Simon Kenton’s camp being attacked by Indians, of his continued search for and eventual discovery of the Kentucky canelands and subsequent events of his remarkable life may be found in the author’s The Frontiersmen (Boston: Little, Brown, 1967; New York: Bantam, 1968).

  155. The Wells claim was located on the site of the present community of Mechling Hill, which is (via Alt. State Route 27) five miles east of present Follansbee, Brooke Co., W.Va. The Wells preemption right extended eastward from his claim to the Pennsylvania border.

  156. The Kelly’s Creek Settlement, established in 1773, was located 19 miles up the Kanawha River from the present capital city of Charleston, at the mouth of present Kelly’s Creek, in the vicinity of the present village of Cedar Grove, Kanawha Co., W.Va.

  157. This cabin built by the surveyors Hedges and Young was located at the mouth of present Chalfant Creek, five miles downstream from present Augusta, a little over a mile above the present village of Wellsburg, Bracken Co., Ky., and about the same distance below the present village of Utopia, on the opposite side of the river in present Clermont Co., O. Some historians have claimed this to be the first cabin built in Kentucky, but that honor goes to the small trading post cabin built by John Findlay on Elkhorn Creek, in the vicinity of Lexington, 29 years earlier, in 1744. (See Note 34.)

  158. Gen. Gage, in correspondence to Sir William Johnson about the uselessness of Fort de Chartres, wrote: “It has not the least command of the River, owing to an Island which lies exactly opposite to it, and the Channel is entirely on the other side for a great part of the year. This is impassible from a sand bar which runs across, even for small boats, and the French and Spaniards on the other side pass and repass at pleasure with contraband goods, forcing an illicit Trade, to our great disadvantage and a certain and very considerable loss to His Majesty’s Revenue.”

  159. Stewart’s name is spelled Stuart in some documents, but the former spelling seems to be the most accepted.

  160. The new village was situated at approximately the site of the present town Hazelton, Gibson Co., Ind. The number of Indian dead, given here as 20, is an estimate; all accounts agree that five families of Indians were slain, and since most Indian families had at least four or five members, the figure of “about twenty” seems reasonable.

  161. Kittanning had been reoccupied by the Indians after its destruction by Col. John Armstrong in 1756 and again after two subsequent attacks, but the village had never regained the size or strength it had previously known. A large number of the Delawares who emigrated at this time were of the Muncey subtribe, and they resettled, with permission of the Miami tribe, on the headwaters of the White River in the vicinity of present Muncie, Delaware Co., Ind.

  162. Chocolate was a very popular trade item among the northwestern tribes at this time, and many had developed an especial fondness for hot chocolate, which they made by boiling the chocolate lumps in water and adding heaping spoons of melassa—maple sugar—of their own manufacture.

  163. Gen. Thomas Gage wrote to Sir William Johnson on March 31, 1773, about these attacks on traders, complaining bitterly: “Scarce a year passes that the Pouteatamies are not guilty of killing Some of the Traders and of course plundering their Effects, which it becomes absolutely Necessary to put a Stop to.”

  164. One of the youths captured on the Virginia frontier at this time was 17-year-old Marmaduke Van Swearingen, who was adopted into the Shawnee tribe, given the new name of Wehyehpihehrsehnwah—Blue Jacket—and so well adapted to the Indian way of life that he eventually became principal chief of the Maykujay sept of the tribe, founder of Blue Jacket’s Town on the site of present Bellefontaine, Logan Co., O., and ultimately rose to become war chief of the entire tribe. A full account of his experiences and career as an Indian may be found in the author’s historical narrative, The Frontiersmen, and in his young adult novel, Blue Jacket: War Chief of the Shawnees (Boston: Little, Brown, 1969; Dayton: Landfall Press, 1983).

  165. The Pennsylvania/Virginia border in this region was a complex and confusing issue. James Hendricks, a Pennsylvania surveyor, admitted he could not say exactly where the colony’s western boundary crossed the Monongahela, but he believed it was likely at the mouth of Chartier’s Creek on the Ohio, four miles below (west) of Fort Pitt. Michael Cresap, from Maryland, asserted his opinion that Pennsylvania’s domain did not extend beyond the Alleghenies and that the region in question was the King’s land—an opinion eagerly accepted by those currently settling upon it. George Croghan, Pennsylvanian though he was, maintained that Pennsylvania’s own actions in the past supported the view that it was Virginia’s domain, pointing out that not many years before the Pennsylvania Assembly had refused to build a trading house or fort at the site of Fort Pitt, alleging it to be outside of William Penn’s original grant, and adding that even afterward, when petitioned for funds to aid in ousting the French from Fort Pitt, the Pennsylvania Assembly had refused. William Crawford, Virginian, agreed with Croghan and declared that the region, including all of the Monongahela Valley, was Virginia land. Others who supported the Virginia viewpoint included Isaac Cox, George Vallandigham, William Gee, Thomas Smallman, Edward Ward, George McCormick, John Stephenson, Joseph Beckett, Dorsey Pentecost, John Connolly and John Gibson. This controversy involving the title to land lying on the Monongahela and Ohio rivers continued until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and even then, though put in abeyance, was not fully settled until after that conflict ended. The claims were based on early, overlapping royal land grants; Virginia’s claim based on the charter bestowed upon that colony by James I; Pennsylvania’s claim based on the charter it had been granted by Charles II.

  166. It is also known that at this time Lord Dunmore had secret meetings with Connolly, and while the full scope of these talks has never been definitely ascertained, later events seem to bear out the speculation that Connolly was ordered by Dunmore (1) to foment the Virginia-Pennsylvania border dispute in order to curtail cooperation between them in opposition to the British Crown, and (2) to foment warfare between the Indian tribes and the Americans in any way possible in order to thus prepare the way for achieving a British alliance with the Indians, should an actual rupture occur between the Crown and the colonies. The fact that Pennsylvania abruptly agreed to make the Monongahela the boundary between itself and Virginia and that the offer was peremptorily rejected by Dunmore lends credence to the speculation, as do subsequent events.

  167. The village of Shamokin, at the time of the birth of Talgayeeta in 1731, was primarily a Cayuga village, but it also had a fair population of Seneca
s and Delawares. It was located just a short distance below the Forks of the Susquehanna, at the mouth of the present Shamokin River, on the site of the present city of Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.

  168. The fame of Shikellimus for his hospitality reached so far that when Count Zinzindorf visited America in 1742, he made a special point of going far out of his way to visit Shikellimus at his village and spoke glowingly of it ever afterward.

  169. Talgayeeta’s Town, better known to the whites as Logan’s Spring, was located a few miles above present Lewiston and just below the present town of Reedsville in present Mifflin Co., Pa. The name Logan’s Spring persists to this day. The author has previously written in both The Frontiersmen and A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh (New York: Bantam, 1992) that the father of Talgayeeta, Shikellimus, lived until 1774, but continued research has shown this to be an error and that Shikellimus died some years before that. The author apologizes for this earlier misinformation.

  170. On the Ohio two streams named Cross Creek have their mouths almost opposite one another, one on the Ohio side, one on the West Virginia side. The same holds true some twenty miles farther downstream, where there is a Wheeling Creek that empties into the Ohio from the Ohio side almost opposite the Wheeling Creek entering from the West Virginia side. To make it clear what stream they were talking about, the settlers referred to the streams entering from the Ohio side as Indian Cross Creek and Indian Wheeling Creek. To prevent confusion for the reader, the author will do the same in this work.

  171. As nearly as can be ascertained from descriptions that have been recorded, this spring is the one presently known as Lacock Spring, located 25 miles below Pittsburgh in the present town of East Rochester, Beaver Co., Pa.

  172. Briscoe’s Settlement was established in early May 1773 by Dr. John Briscoe on a bottomland situated six miles upstream from the mouth of the Little Kanawha River (site of the present city of Parkersburg); located at the northernmost end of the present city of Vienna, on the present Briscoe oil field at the mouth of Briscoe Run, Wood Co., W.Va.

  173. The Taylor-McAfee party was still surveying up the Kentucky River when they learned of the attack on the Bullitt party. Fearing to descend the Kentucky back to the Ohio and risk encountering Indians, they had elected to return to Virginia overland, a journey they accomplished through the Cumberland Gap in safety but only after great hardships.

  174. John Floyd was the father of the John Floyd who later became Governor of Virginia, and grandfather of John B. Floyd, who also subsequently became Virginia’s governor. Hancock Taylor was the uncle of future U.S. President Zachary Taylor.

  175. Baker’s Bottom is a large level bottom located on the left (east) side of the Ohio River, 50 miles below Pittsburgh, where, in 1773, Joshua Baker claimed the land and erected a trading cabin just a few hundred yards downstream from the mouth of Yellow Creek on the right (west) side of the Ohio, two miles below present Wellsville, where the Ohio River makes a sharp bend and changes direction from a southwestern course to a southeastern course. Baker’s cabin was located in the midst of Baker’s Bottom at the mouth of Dry Run (still so called), a half-mile south of the present Waterford Park race and golf course, Hancock Co., W.Va.

  176. Michael Cresap was the son of Col. Thomas Cresap, a Maryland officer prominent in the French and Indian War.

  177. Site of present Brownsville, Fayette Co., Pa.

  178. In his orders to John Floyd, Washington wrote that if difficulties prevented his claiming lands along the Scioto, then: “I would go quite down to the Falls or even below; meaning thereby to get richer and wider bottoms, as it is my desire to have my lands run out on the banks of the Ohio.”

  179. The Indian greeting of “How” is not, as many people believe, a creation of B-grade western movies. It stems from the greeting the English traders originally gave when meeting the Indians, “How do you do?” Unable to quite master the entire phrase, the Indians responded by parroting “How’d’do.” This gradually evolved to “Howdy,” which the English themselves then picked up in turn from the Indians. The evolution became complete with simply the word “How,” usually accompanied either with a hand raised with palm facing forward in a peace sign, or with a simple handshake.

  180. Though called Logan’s Yellow Creek Camp or Logan’s Hunting Camp, this village had been established by Talgayeeta as a new permanent home for his family and followers, estimated to number about 60 at this time. It was located just under a half-mile up Yellow Creek from its mouth, on a level bottom where there is now a rest area, 600 feet below the upper Conrail railroad bridge. The site, while in northeastern Jefferson County, is about two miles south and a little west of present Wellsville, Columbiana Co., O.

  181. McMechen’s Settlement was established late in 1773 or early in 1774 on what was for a time called McMechen’s Bottom, just below the mouth of present McMechen’s Run and in the northern portion of what is the present town of McMechen, Marshall Co., W.Va. Samuel Meason has very frequently been referred to in the early documents as Samuel Mason, and later in his life even he used the latter name. Early land claim documents and correspondence with Gen. Hand indicate, however, that the correct spelling of his name was Meason, as this was how he signed his own name at the time. That is how he will be referred to in this narrative.

  182. Here, as earlier, the island is referred to as Wheeling Island to prevent confusion. Actually, the island had no known name when first discovered, but as soon as Zane claimed land on it, the name Zane’s Island was applied. Later, when Daniel Zane became owner, he attempted to establish a town there, to be named Columbia, and he also built and operated the Columbia Inn there. However, for whatever reason, Columbia was never incorporated, and the island eventually was annexed by the city of Wheeling and for a considerable period was called Wheeling Island. It is today a part of the city of Wheeling but is still referred to as Wheeling Island. A folk tale that Ebenezer Zane originally bought the island from Indians is wholly without foundation.

  183. Ann Zane, the first white child born at Wheeling (May 27, 1771), grew to maturity there but died unmarried. Sarah Zane also grew to maturity at Wheeling and eventually married Capt. John McIntire. Several years after his death she married the Rev. David Young of Zanesville, O.

  184. Cresap’s Bottom was located at the site of present Cresap Bottom, Marshall Co., W.Va., a mile downstream and across the Ohio River from the present town of Powhatan Point, Belmont Co., O. George Rogers Clark later made a claim on Cresap’s Bottom, which became a matter of litigation for a long period of time, and he eventually lost the land due to the prior claims made by Michael Cresap.

  185. This settlement was located at the site of the present community called Woodlands, just below the mouth of Fish Creek in Marshall Co., W.Va.

  186. George Washington and George Rogers Clark, though in communication for many years afterward, never met each other.

  187. Sandy Creek enters the Ohio River at the lower end of present Washington Bottom, less than a mile above present Newberry Island and three miles above present Mustapha Island.

  188. Horsehead Bottom was a Mingo village located in 1771 two miles up the Little Scioto River from the Ohio, then a mile and a half up Pine Creek (present Wards Run) at approximately the site of the present town of Slocum, Scioto Co., O.

  189. This whole story by Greathouse, though accepted by the men at the rendezvous, cannot be substantiated. It is stated that this Davis, assuming he ever existed at all, was never seen again after starting up the Kanawha and was believed killed by Indians. Only two traders named Davis were in operation in that area at this time. Unrelated, they were Robert Davis and Edward Davis, whose whereabouts were accounted for.

  190. One account, which cannot be substantiated, states that as the party started upriver, “we met Killbuck, an Indian chief, with a small party. We had a long conference with him, but received little satisfaction as to the disposition of the Indians. It was observed that Cresap did not come to this conference,
but kept on the opposite side of the river. He said that he was afraid to trust himself with the Indians. That Killbuck had frequently attempted to waylay his father to kill him. That if he crossed the river, perhaps his fortitude might fail him, and that he might put Killbuck to death.”

  191. The stretch of Ohio River called Long Reach begins at the upper end of present Paden Island, just at the northernmost point of Paden City, Wetzel Co., W.Va., and continues downstream to the westward bend that occurs six miles upstream from present Saint Marys, Pleasants Co., W.Va.

  192. This place where they stopped is on the site of the present town of Hockingport, Athens Co., O.

  193. This camp was located a few hundred yards upstream from the mouth of Pipe Creek at the Ohio River, two and a half miles below the mouth of Grave Creek on the opposite side of the Ohio (where Moundsville, W.Va., is presently located). Pipe Creek empties into the Ohio directly across from present Round Bottom, in present Belmont Co., O.

  194. Existing evidence seems to indicate that these killings were done by Jacob Greathouse and his men, and that one of the men who came late on the scene and decried the killings was George Rogers Clark; the evidence also indicates that Michael Cresap was not present here.

  195. The author has been unable to find an actual copy of either of John Connolly’s circular letters, although the numerous accounts of their circulation and contents leave no doubt as to what they contained.

  196. Since there is a Short Creek entering the Ohio on each side of the big river, the one entering from the Ohio country is designated, as the settlers did, Indian Short Creek to distinguish between them. The mouth of Short Creek entering the Ohio from the west is at the northern edge of the present town of Tiltonsville, Jefferson Co., O.

  197. Some of the accounts of this incident state that Stevens was also killed, but this is an error that stems from a misinterpretation of the reports that he was shot. His wound was slight and he survived. He returned to the east shortly after this incident and disappears from historical mention.