the map of German settlements in 1775 (after p. 263), and their migratory spirit, as described in the reports of the Reverend H. M. Mühlenberg, might have been accepted without further evidence as a proof that the German pioneers crossed the Appalachian Mountain ranges at every possible point and at the earliest opportunity. Yet they have never received credit for this historical fact. The materials brought forward in this chapter have long remained hidden in places difficult of access, such as the volumes of "Der deutsche Pionier," or in the obscure corners of local and state histories. It was necessary, therefore, to present a large amount of detail for the purposes of proof, at the risk frequently of wearying the reader.

CHAPTER XIII

THE WINNING OF THE WEST

II. THE SETTLEMENTS OF THE OHIO VALLEY

German traders, hunters, and missionaries in the Ohio territory - Causes for slow development — Pontiac's War-Colonel Bouquet-The first permanent white settlement in Ohio that of the Moravian missionaries on the Muskingum, Gnadenhütten, Schönbrunn, etc. - David Zeisberger The massacre of the Christian Indians at Gnadenhütten Continuous Indian wars Settlements on the Ohio River, at Marietta, Losantiville (Cincinnati), etc. - St. Clair's defeat-General David Ziegler - The Indian fighter Lewis Wetzel - Expedition of General Wayne against the Indians opens the country for settlement - Ebenezer Zane, founder of Zanesville German sectarians in Tuscarawas County - The "Backbone Region" of Ohio- The Scioto Valley Martin Baum of Cincinnati, pioneer of Western commerce- Chr. Waldschmidt in the Little Miami Valley - Dayton and Germantown in the valley of the Great Miami - Distribution of German settlers throughout the larger towns of Ohio- - The traveler Sealsfield's observations - Mission tours of the German Methodist Heinrich Böhm.

BEING more difficult of access, the territory north of the Ohio was not settled as early as Kentucky and Tennessee. It was inhabited by warlike Indian tribes, who proved to be quite as capable of resistance as their conquerors, the Six Nations, had been in the East. The first Germans to penetrate the Ohio country were the two men prominent for their exceptional services in Indian affairs, Conrad Weiser and Christian Frederick Post. Weiser several times served as envoy to the Indians of the Ohio Valley, in 1748 visiting the Indian village called Logstown, due west of Fort Pitt, near the Ohio state-line. The important mission, during the French and Indian War, of the

Moravian, C. F. Post, to the Indians of the Ohio Valley, in which he succeeded in separating them from their French allies, has been described in a preceding chap

ter.1

Post had established for himself the reputation of being a friend of the red man, and his marriage with a Delaware squaw increased the Indians' confidence in him. The marriage, however, was contrary to the wishes of the Bethlehem church fathers, and deprived him of the privilege of laboring in the mission service of the Moravians. This circumstance induced him to work independently among the Indians, in the spirit of the Moravians, though no longer as their ordained missionary. In 1761 he be came the first white settler in the Ohio district, locating among the Tuscarora Indians in the upper Muskingum Valley, in what is now Stark County, Ohio. His was the first dwelling erected by a white man in the Ohio region, exclusive of the stations of the Jesuit missionaries and the huts of traders. Desiring to found a mission for the Indians, he applied for assistance to the brothers at Bethlehem. The young John Heckewelder thereupon volunteered to go to Post's settlement, and he soon became a worthy disciple, learned in the Indian tongues. At first they had some difficulty in obtaining permission from the Indians to cultivate the land, but soon after they laid out a garden (in 1762), gave instruction to the Indian children, and preached the Gospel to the more mature. But their presence in the Indian territory seemed to be viewed with disfavor, and involved danger to themselves. Judging from the signs all about them, something mysterious was brewing. Post had gone eastward, when Heckewelder found that he was in danger of assassina1 See Chapter x, pp. 274-278.

tion. The latter immediately fled to Fort Pitt, and meeting Post on the way, notified him of the danger. Post would not be convinced until he had returned to the settlement, when he also concluded that his only chance for safety lay in flight.

The storm that was gathering resulted in what is known as Pontiac's War, which followed immediately after the French and Indian War. The Indians had found that they had merely changed masters when the French had given up their claims to the territory west of the Alleghanies. A more formidable adversary was facing them, and it was now their time to crush him before he had grown too strong. The Indians were fortunate in having a leader of great ability, Chief Pontiac, of the Ottawa tribe. Imposing in physique, eloquent and magnetic, he was endowed with all the qualities of the ideal Indian warrior. Going from tribe to tribe along the frontiers of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, he convinced his hearers that the time had come when they might, by a bold stroke, crush the advancing white settlers, and regain all the huntinggrounds which the red men had lost. They were told that the Great Spirit was angry with them because they were cowards, and they were shown how all could be accomplished in a short time. The genius of Pontiac conceived the plan to attack all the frontier forts at the same moment, depriving them of the opportunity of assisting one another. Since the Indians were never desirous of storming fortifications, Pontiac planned to take the forts by stratagems. For each outpost a different scheme of surprise was devised, and complete secrecy was charged upon all the Indian allies. At one place the Indians, laden with furs, entered a fort, apparently to engage in trading. At a given signal the unsuspecting whites were cut down

almost to the last man.' At another the king's birthday was celebrated with an Indian game of ball. The Chippewas and Sacs were engaged on opposite sides, and when the game was at the hottest the ball was thrown over the fortifications. All the players, numbering several hundred, instantly leaped over the walls after the ball, and having thus gained entrance, killed the defenders and took possession of the fort. By most clever tricks and surprises all the forts of the entire western frontier fell into the hands of the Indians, with the exception of Detroit and three forts in Pennsylvania: Bedford, Ligonier, and Pitt. Detroit was saved by an Indian squaw, who revealed the plan to Major Gladwyn. The three Pennsylvania fortresses owed their safety to the watchfulness and discipline enforced by Colonel Henry Bouquet, who in the French and Indian War had served as colonel of the German regiment, the Royal Americans, and as second in command in the expedition against Fort Duquesne. The Indians laid siege to the Pennsylvania forts until Colonel Bouquet came to their relief, who gained a victory in the battle of Bushy Run.

As was their wont, the Indians quickly wearied of the struggle, deserted Pontiac, and lent a willing ear to proposals of peace. Two punitive expeditions were immediately organized to invade the Indian territory, one at the north under General Bradstreet, in the direction of Lake Erie and Niagara, the other farther south into Ohio, under Colonel Bouquet. Colonel Bouquet arrived in the upper Muskingum region in the autumn of 1764, and established a camp. Thither he summoned the chiefs of the Seneca, Delaware, and Shawnee tribes, and their allies.

1 The stockade at St. Joseph's River, in the northern part of Indiana. 2 Fort Michillimackinac. Cf. Francis Parkman, The Conspiracy of Pontiac, and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada, vol. i, p. 338. (Boston, 1880.)