OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - HISTORY: Chapter 20 (Abbott, John S. C., 1875)
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			   Chapter XX.

	Adventures on the Muskingum; and the French Colony

   Let us now return to Marietta, on the Muskingum, to witness the scenes 
which have been transpiring there. In the autumn of 1790 a party of thirty-
six men went from Marietta and commenced a settlement at Big Bottom. This
was an expanse of rich meadow land, four miles above the mouth of Meigs Creek.
They were mostly thoughtless young men, who deemed recklessness to be courage.
The wiser men at Marietta considered it a very imprudent step to take, in 
view of menacing attitude of the Indians. They went, however, and erected a
block house sufficiently capacious to accomodate the whole of them on an
emergency. The house was built of large birch logs, unhewn. Being in a hurry,
they postponed filling in the chinks between the logs to some future period.
This was a fatal error. They planted no pickets around the house, and stationed
no sentry. All engrossed in the construction of their new homes and farms, 
they introduced no system of military discipline or defense. Their guns were
lying about any where, without order. Twenty men usually encamped in the 
block house. Each individual cooked for himself. At one end of the room there
was a fire-place. When the sun went down they all came in, built a large 
fire, whose blaze brilliantly illuminated the inclosure, and with jokes and
merriment, prepared and ate their suppers. It was midwinter. The weather was
unusually cold. It was not customary at this season of the year for Indian
war parties to venture out. This idea lulled these pioneers into fatal security.
About twenty rods above the block-house, at a short distance back from the
river, two brothers, by the name of Choate, had erected a cabin and commenced
clearing a lot. Two hired men lived with them. About the same distance below
the block-house there was another small cabin which two men by the name of
Bullard occupied.
   An old Indian trail, or war-path, leading across the State of Ohio, from
the Sandusky Valley to the mouth of the Muskingum, passed along the opposite
bank of the river from which there was a clear view of the little settlement
on the opposite shore. The Indians during the Summer had been loitering 
around all the settlements, selling venison and bear's meat in exchange for
corn and vegetables. They had thus rendered themselves familiar with the
approaches to the settlements and the most feasible points of attack. They 
had not gone to their towns, far up the river, preparatory to winter quarters.
They then planned and fitted out their war party.
   The warriors reached the bank opposite Big Bottom early in the evening, 
crossed the river on the ice just above the settlement, and divided their 
men into two parties, one to attack the men in Choate's cabin, while the 
other took the block-house and then proceeded to capture the cabin of the 
Bullards below. The plan as skillfully arranged and successfully executed.
Cautiously they approached Choate's cabin. The four men were at supper. 
Several of the Indians entered, assuming a friendly attitude, while others
remained quietly outside the door. Looking eagerly around they espied some 
leather thongs which had been used in packing venison. At a given signal the
rest rushed in, seized their victims who were unable to offer any resistance, 
and bound them firmly with the thongs. In the meantime the other and larger
party advanced to the block-house unobserved. The whole interior was lighted
by the blaze of the winter's fire. Peering through the crevices they saw the
whole party within, which consisted of but twelve persons, including a woman
and two children, seated around the supper-table. Their guns were stacked in
one corner of the room.
   The sagacious Indians silently arranged themselves with their rifles
around the door, each having selected his victim. One Indian threw open the
door, and, stepping in, held it open. At the same instant the savages fired,
and nearly every one fell dead. The woman, Mrs. Meehs, from Virginia, either
by accident or design, was not hit. Seizing an ax she aimed a tremendous
blow at the head of the Indian who opened the door. He dodged, but the blow
fell upon his face, cutting off entirely one of his cheeks, but burying its
keen edge in his shoulder. Before she could repeat the blow a tomahawk cleft
her skull. The savages all rushed in, and scarcely a moment elapsed before
the tomahawk had finished the work of death.
   One of the young men, however, while this slaughter was going on, sprang
to a ladder, by which he escaped to the top of the house. The savages followed
him, and here he presented a fair mark for their rifles. Piteously he begged
them to spare his life. They were merciless, and he fell pierced by their
bullets. Another young man, but sixteen years of age, crept under a bed. They
dragged him out, and, satiated with massacre, carried him off as a captive.
   There were but two men in the cabin of the Bullards. Hearing the firing
they ran out and saw the demon Indians in and around the block-house. Seizing
their rifles and some ammunition they plunged into the woods in a direction
to be hid by the cabin from the sight of the Indians. Scarcely had they
closed the door ere they heard it dashed in by the savages. In the darkness
of the night they heard it dashed in by the savages. In the darkness of the 
night they were not pursued. The Indians, thus triumphant, first carefully
secured the scalps of all their victims. They then loaded themselves with 
all the plunder they deemed valuable. The dead bodies were then placed in a 
pile in the center of the room. The floor was torn up and thrown upon them.
The torch was then applied, and the Indians, like fiends of darkness, dis-
appeared. Fourteen were killed and five were taken captive to Detroit. The 
two Bullards, who escaped, ran with the alarm to a small neighboring settle-
ment at Wolf Creek.
   The next day an armed party visited the ruins at Big Bottom. Dreadful was
the sight which there met their view. Though the fire had not consumed the 
bodies, it had so charred and blackened them that no recognition was possible.
The walls of the block-house, which were built of green beech logs, remained
standing. As the ground was frozen hard without, they dug a pit in the center
of the hut, where they consigned these mutilated bodies to their mournful
burial.
   One cannot read this narrative without emotions of indignation blending
with those of grief. Civilized men, if they have no regard for their own lives,
have no right thus to trufle with the sympathies of humanities. Major Putnam
lost a son in this massacre, but he had in vain entreated that son to be more
cautious in making preparations for defense against the Indians. Colonel 
Stacy, a veteran soldier, and familiar with Indian warfare, had two sons there.
One of them was shot on the roof of the house. The other was dragged from 
beneath the bed and carried into captivity. The colonel had visited the post
but a few days before the awful disaster, and entreated the inmates immediately
to fill the chinks between the logs, so as to render them bullet-proof; to
open port-holes for defense; immediately to prepare strong bars for the door,
to be shut every night at sunset; and, without any delay, to establish a
night watch. Had they done this the Indians would not have attacked them, and
if they had done the little garrison, with its supply of guns and ammunition,
might easily have beaten off two or three hundred assailants. But these reck-
less young men paid no heed to these common-sense warnings.
   The Indians, who could laugh to scorn General St. Clairs unmilitary posting
of his troops, might well look with contempt upon these fool-hardy young
men. Having carefully watched their proceedings, though they supposed the
settlement to number thirty-six men, some of whom chanced to be absent on 
the occasion, they sent only twenty-five warriors to take their scalps, plunder
their possessions, and burn down their station. Under the circumstances, had
the white men outnumbered the Indians, two to one, the result would have 
been the same.
   Prowling bands were continually wandering about, watching for opportunities
to shoot the unwary and to plunder. A boat was wrecked at the mouth of Crooked
Creek. A man went out, incautiously, from Stone's garrison, to draw the nails
from it. Two Indians caught sight of him. Creeping cautiously along the bank
they shot him, and took his scalp and clothing. As he did not return that
night an armed party went out in search of him. His mangled dead body was 
found by the side of the boat. This young man was to have been married the 
next day, and his wedding suit was already prepared. But here again we have
an act of great imprudence as well as of disobedience. The rules of the
garrison strickly forbade any one from going along beyond gunshot of the
station.
   The next day six young men went down the Ohio in a canoe, in search of
murderers of their companion. They repaired to a pond, famous as a place for
trapping beaver. Here they found unmistakable signs that Indians were about, 
and came across one of their traps; it was near sunset. They concealed them-
selves in a thicket near by. They had not been long thus in ambush ere they
saw a solitary Indian approaching. His quick eye caught their trail, and he
saw at once that it was that of strangers. Slowly he moved along, anxiously
examining it. When he had arrived within about a hundred feet of the ambush, 
one of the men fired, and the Indian fell; but as he fell he raised the 
shrill war-whoop. It was instantly responded to by his companions, forty in
number, who were encamped at but a short distance. With loud yells they came
rushing forward; the white men fled. Night was setting in; they were soon out
of sight, amid the glooms of the forest. All night long they continued their
flight, and at length reached their homes in safety.
   Several young men had obtained lots on the south branch of Wolfe's Creek, 
about three miles from the Waterford Garrison. They were accustomed to go
out well armed, and in company, to clear their lands. Very prudently they
built a block-house, and cut the timber down all around, so that there should
be no covert for a lurking foe. One morning it rained so violently that they
remained in the block-house. On of them went to the creek, at a short distance
from the house, to get some birch bark. In a few moments the report of a rifle
was heard. Every one seized his gun, and every one rushed to a port-hole; 
through them they saw their companion running, wounded and bleeding, towards
the house, followed by a gang of savages in hot pursuit. When within a few
yards of the door he fell, utterly exhausted, yet piteously imploring his
comrades to rescue him. Two of the young men then volunteered to carry tidings
of the attack to Waterford Station.
   An armed party was immediately sent to the rescue of the young men. Upon
their arrival, they found the wounded man dying. He breathed his last that
night. The party cautiously reconnoitered the region around. They found the
spot where the Indians had concealed themselves the night before, and where
they had made arrangements to decoy their victims, so as to secure the des-
truction of them all. Probably the rain alone, by shutting them up in the
block-house, saved their lives. There were very many adventures similar to 
the above.
   Still, notwithstanding all the privations of pioneer life, it would seem
that the settlers had many bright and joyous days. The sources of enjoyment
even under the most adverse circumstances. These intelligent settlers, who
had come from the culture and refinement of the States, had not plunged into
the wilderness, that they might consign their families to barbarism. The
great object of their emigration was to lift them up to a higher elevation 
of opulence, intelligence and comfort. Schools were established in the block-
houses, where the children were very carefully taught reading, writing and 
arithmetic. The young men had their games of ball, leaping, wrestling and 
running. Foot-races were very much enjoyed, since fleetness of foot was often
of inestimatible advantage in their contests with the Indians. At all the
military stations of the government, there were musical bands; dancing to 
their inspirited tunes was a favorite recreation with the young people. It 
was, by now means, all work and no play with these bold adventurers. Four or
five times a year, pic-nic parties from Campus Martius, Fort Harmar and Farmer's
Castle would meet at each others stations. They were always accompanied by a 
strong guard.
   These fortresses took the place of the old baronial castles of Europe in
feudal days. There was the military pagentry; the merry making of all kinds, 
with feasting, dancing, rifle shooting and all athletic games. It must have
been a spectacle almost like paradise, to see a little fleet of boats and
fairy-like birch canoes, floating down the gentle current of the beautiful
river, to Farmer's Castle, at Belpre. The soul-stirring strains of the martial
bands would be floated over the water, and reverberated among the region in
rays of loveliness, and God, our kind heavenly Father, would seem to say, 
through all the voices of nature, "I love to see my children happy."
   Congress had made a bequest of a hundred thousand acres of land to the 
Ohio Company, under condition that the company should obtain a resident settler
for each one hundred acres, within a period of five years. All the land not
taken up within the specified time was to revert to the government. General
R. Putnam was appointed by the government, the superintendent for surveying
and deeding this land. For this service he was to receive five dollars from 
each person to whom he should give a deed. The person purchasing must be a 
male, not less than eighteen years of age.
   In the year 1793 there were but a hundred and eighty-six males capable of
bearing arms within the limits of the few stations clustered around the mouth
of the Muskingum. The advance of wealth and luxury in the United States has
been so great within the last half century that it is difficult for us to 
form a conception of the humble residences of these pioneers. The first object
of the emigrant was to erect his cabin. Having selected his site, and generally
with an eye to picturesque beauty, with a sunny exposure, a pleasant prospect, 
and, if possible, a rippling brook near his door, he constructed his walls 
of unhewn logs, piled one upon another, dove-tailed together at the ends.
The interstices were compactly closed with clay, which soon became hardened
in the sun. The floor was made of very rough planks, formed by splitting a
log in two and hewing the surface as smooth as could be done with the broad-
ax. The convex side of the log was buried in the earth, thus presenting a very
solid and tolerably level floor. The roof was formed by sawing and splitting 
logs into a sort of clapboard, about six feet long and six or eight inches
wide. The doors and windows were sawed out through the logs. The holes for
the windows were pasted over with strong paper lubricated with bear's oil or
lard. This effectually excluded the rain and yet allowed a softened light to
enter the room. It was a very pleasant light when the sun shone brightly upon
it, but sombre and gloomy in the dark days of storm and rain.
   The furniture was of corresponding simplicity. The bedstead was formed by
fastening two stakes, about two feet high, to the floor and four and a half
feet from the wall. Poles were then extended from the wall, and from one 
stake to the other. This frame-work was covered with the split clapboards, 
or puncheons, as they were called, such as were used for the roof. The skins
of the bear, the buffalo and the deer, constituted the bedding. A pot, kettle
and frying-pan were considered the only indispensible utensils for cooking.
A plate was a luxury which few enjoyed. The food could be eaten from trenchers
or the puncheon table. The ingenuity of the good wife was sometimes pretty
severly taxed in providing entertainment for an influx of visitors.
   "A year or two after we arrived," writes one of the early pioneers, "a
visiting party was arranged by the ladies in order to call on a neighboring
family who lived a bit out of the common way. The hostess was much pleased 
to see us, and immediately commenced preparing the usual treat on such occasions-
a cup of tea, with its accompaniments. She had only one fire-proof vessel in
the house, an old broken bake-kettle, and it was some time before tea was 
ready. In the first place, some pork was fried in the kettle to obtain lard;
secondly, some cakes were made and fried in it; thirdly, some short cakes were
prepared in it; fourthly, it was used as a bucket to draw water; fifthly, 
the water was boiled in it; and finally the tea was put in, and a very 
excellent and sociable dish of tea we had."
   The seats were generally three-legged stools. A few of the wealthier families
had some split-bottomed chairs. Wood was abundant, and when this humble
apartment was illuminated with the blaze of the crackling fire, it presented
quite an attractive aspect. Such was, in general, the home of the pioneer.
But often had the emigrant, when his log hut has given place to the sealed
house, with glass windows and carpeted floors, and luxurious chairs and 
porcelain-ware - often has he said, "I was never so happy as in my little 
log cabin."
   As soon as the log house was completed, the next thing to be done was to
effect a clearing for a corn patch. This was a very arduous task. Sometimes
the settler would choose a spot for his residence at the edge of a treeless
prairie, but not infrequently the richness of the soil and the prospective
advantages of the location would induce him to select his lot in the midst 
of the dense forest. To cut down the gigantic trees, burn them, and plant
his crops amid the blackened stumps, required herculean energies. But the
reward was often great, in the developement of a farm of inexhaustible 
fertility. Thus toil and hardship in youth, secured competence and ease in 
old age.
   The journey cake, so called because so easily prepared, but which is now
corrupted into johnny cake, was made of corn, thoroughly pounded into meal, 
and baked in the ashes or upon some utensil placed before the fire. There
was much game in the forests, so that these hungry men had an ample supply
of venison and wild turkeys. As they had no mills, a rude mortar was made by
burning a hole in the end of a block of wood. This was called a "hominy 
block," in which they pounded their corn. Some of the more wealthy had hand-
mills. After the corn was pounded it was passed through a sieve. The finer
portion of the meal was made into bread or mush, and the coarser portion 
into hominy.
   The usual supper of the pioneer consisted of mush and milk, if he were so
fortunate as to have a cow. A large vessel filled with this preparation was
placed in the center of the table, and each guest helped himself. The mush, 
when mingled with milk, and taken from a tin cup, with a pewter spoon, 
afforded a very satisfactory repast.
   Flour was so dear that only a little was kept to be used in case of sick-
ness. But progress in comforts was very rapid. In the course of two or 
three years hand grist-mills were found standing in the chimney-corner of
almost every dwelling.
   The stones were of the kind ordinarily used for grindstones. They were
about twenty inches in diameter, and four inches thick. The upper stone or
runner, was turned by hand. A pole was firly fixed in the top of the stone, 
near the edge. The upper end of the pole entered a hole in a board or timber
overhead. One person turned the stone, while another fed the corn into what
was called the eye. It was hard and slow work to grind. The operator alter-
nately changed places. It required the work of nearly two hours to supply
meal enough for one person for a single day.
   Nearly all the animal food which found its way to the table of the pioneer
was taken from the woods. The deer and the turkey were so timid that it was
not easy to approach them. To elude their shyness, the hunters were accustomed
to wear hunting shirts suited to the general appearance of the forest at 
that particular season of the year. In the Spring and Summer they wore a 
green dress. In the Fall of the year they assumed a color resembling the
autumnal leaf. In the Winter, if there were snow upon the ground the hunter
spread over his dress a white shirt.
   Generally, they went out on their excursions in companies. Quite an im-
posing cavalcade was presented, when all were ready to move. The horses were
laden with flour, meal, blankets or buffalo-robes, ammunition, traps, cooking
utensils, and such other articles as might be needed. Some sequestered spot
was chosen, where a rude cabin was reared, with an immense log-fire blazing
in front of the door. The interior of the hut was lined and carpeted with
skins and moss, and presented a very alluring aspect. It was almost invariably
in the Winter that these enterprises were undertaken, for then the men could
not work upon the land.
   The winter evenings, in the cabins, must have seemed long and tedious. 
They had no candles. The principal substiture for them was pitch pine-knots.
Sometimes a man of more than ordinary intelligence, would read to his family
by this light. Usually, however, the evening was spent, by the fire-light, 
in shelling corn, scraping turnips, stemming and twisting tobacco, plaiting
straw for hats, cracking hickory nuts, of which they always laid in a full
supply.
   According to the Treaty of Paris, in 1783, the British military post at
Detroit, and all their other forts within what the British government had
recognized as the boundaries of the United States, were to have been surren-
dered to the United States "as soon as convenient." Yet, for more than ten
years after the treaty they retained these posts, notwithstanding the reiter-
ated and earnest remonstrances of the American government. This utter dis-
regard of the treaty stipulations was deemed a matter of so much importance
that a special minister was sent to England, to urge the amicable evacuation
of the posts. The minister, John Jay, after much difficulty, succeeded in 
obtaining a promise, from the British government, that all their troops and
munitions of war should be withdrawn before the first day of June, 1796. The
post at Detroit, and those on the Maumee, were accordingly delivered over to
General Wayne early in that year.
   Peace being thus secured for the whole of the Northwestern Territory, all
of the region, excepting that in the actual possession of the Indians, was 
divided into five counties. Washington County embraced all the territory
within the present State of Ohio, between the Muskingum River and the Little
Miami; and extending north from the Ohio River forty miles. Marietta was the 
seat of justice for this county. All that portion of the state between the 
Little and the Great Miami, within forty miles of the Ohio River, was called 
Hamilton County. Cincinnati was the county seat. Knox County embraced the
lands between the Great Miami and the Wabash, also bordering on the Ohio, 
with Vincennes for its seat of justice. The County of St. Clair included the
settlements on the Illinois and the Kaskaskia Rivers, as well as those on 
the upper Mississippi, with Kaskaskia for its county seat. Wayne County em-
braced all the settlements on the Maumee, Raisin, and Detroit Rivers, with
Detroit for its seat of justice.
   Over this vast region, now teeming with a population so numerous, intelli-
gent, and wealthy, there were then but a few small settlements, widely separ-
ated from each other. Often the unbroken wilderness extended for hundreds of
miles, unenlivened by a single hut of a white man. The only routes of travel
were the rivers, over whose solitary waters the birch canoes could glide, or
the narrow trail of the Indian.
   Great efforts were now made by land speculators, who had purchased large
tracts of territory, to induce emigrants to take up the lots. The Ohio and
Scioto Companies had sent Joel Barlow, for this purpose, to Europe. In the
following glowing language, he described, to the toiling artisans in the
thronged streets of Paris, the new Eden to which they were invited, beyond
the Atlantic. It was indeed a picture to allure the toiling, half-famished
artisans of that great metropolis.
   "The climate of Ohio is wholesome and delightful. Frost, even in winter, 
is almost entirely unknown. The river, called by way of eminence. 'The Beau-
tiful,' abounds in excellent fish of a vast size. There are noble forests, 
consisting of trees which spontaneously produce sugar. There is a plant which
yields ready-made candles. There is venison in plenty, the pursuit of which
is uninterrupted by wolves, foxes, lions, or tigers. A couple of swine will
multiply themselves a hundred fold in two or three years, without taking any
care of them. There are no taxes to pay, and no military services to be
performed."
   The distinguised French traveler, Volney, who visited this country in 1795,
commenting upon these statements, writes:
   "These magnificent promisers forgot to say that these forests must be cut
down before corn could be raised; that, for a year at least, they must bring
their daily bread from a great distance; that hunting and fishing are agree-
able amusements, when pursued for the sake of amusement, but are widely
different when followed for the sake of subsistance; and they quite forgot 
to mention that, though there be no lions or tigers in the neighborhood, 
there are wild beasts infinitely more cunning and ferocious, in the shape of
men, who were at that time at open and cruel war with the whites.
   "In truth, the market value of these lands at that time, in America, was
no more than six or seven cents an acre. In France, in Paris, the imagination
was too heated to admit of doubt or suspicion. And the people were too
ignorant and uninformed to perceive where the picture was defective and its
colors too glaring. The example, too, of the wealthy and reputedly wise
confirmed the popular delusion. Nothing was talked of, in every social circle, 
but the paradise that was opened for Frenchmen in the wilderness, the free
and happy life to be led on the beautiful banks of the Scioto."
   Now and then some remonstrance was uttered. Occasionally some one would
warn the excited community that the representations were grealy exaggerated.
Unfortunately for the French, about that time a French traveler, just returned
from this country, published a book in Paris, entitled "New Travels in America."
In this, we know not how influenced, he fully supports the statements of the
Ohoi and Scioto companies. Alluding to the Scioto organization, he writes:
   "This company has been much calumniated. It has been accused of selling
land which it does not possess, of giving exaggerated accounts of its fertil-
ity, of deceiving the emigrants, of robbing France of her inhabitants, and 
of sending them to be butchered by the savages. But the title of this 
association it incontestable. The proprietors are reputable men. The des-
cription which they have given of the lands are taken from the public and
authentic reports of Mr. Huthchens, Geographer of Congress. No person can 
dispute their prodigious fertility."
   Such was the strain of eulogy which pervaded his book. He was regarded as
an impartial witness. His endorsement wonderfully increased the confidence
of the French community that a new earthly paradise was blooming for them on
the banks of the Ohio, with fruit and flowers and bird-songs, which the 
unblighted garden of our first parents could scarcely have rivaled. The
fascinating pages of Brissot completed the delusion. The office of the agency
in Paris was thronged with eager buyers. Many of these were from the better
classes of society. They often disposed of their earthly all at a great
sacrifice to purchase bowers in the Eden on the Ohio.
   About five hundred emigrants were thus induced to leave France for the
New World. They were generally entirely unfitted to discharge the labors and
grapple with the hardships of the wilderness. The company laid out a town 
for them on the banks of the Ohio, about four miles below the mouth of the
Kanawha River, which was called Gallipolis, or the "City of the French."
   In anticipation of the arrival of the emigrants, forty men were employed
by the Scioto Company in cutting a large clearing from the vast and gigantic
forest which entirely covered the region. This clearing, which had the river
on its south front, was on the other three sides bounded by the sublime 
primeval forest. On this large square, still encumbered with stumps, and 
presenting a very gloomy aspect to artisans from Parisian streets and avenues,
eighty log cabins were erected. There were four rows, with twenty in each
row. Each cabin contained one room. There were eight blocks, the cabins being
united, like the blocks in a city, ten cabins in a block. At the four corners
of these blocks, which formed in themselves quite a fortress, was built a 
strong block-house, two stories in height.
   Above the cabins on the square were two other parallel rows of cabins, 
with a block-house at each corner. These were surrounded by a high and strong
stockade fence. These works were of the character of a citadel, to which all
the population could flee for protection in case of danger.
   These upper cabins were constructed ten in each block. They were a story
and a half high, and were intended for the more wealthy families of the 
emigrants. They were built of hewed logs, and were a little more elaborately
contructed then the rest. There was one large apartment finished off for a 
Council Chamber and a ball room. We will allow one of the emigrants himself, 
to tell the story of his experience. Let it be remembered, that Gallipolis
was commenced two or three years before the campaign of General Wayne. 
Monsieur Meulette writes:
   "I did not arrive until nearly all of the colonists were there. I descended
the river in 1791, in flat boats, loaded with troops, commanded by General
St. Clair, destined for an expedition against the Indians; some of my
countrymen joined that expedition. Among others was Count Malartie, a captain
in the French guard of Louis XVI. General St. Clair made him onf of his aid-
de-camps in the battle, in which he was severely wounded. He went back to
Philadelphia, and thence returned to France.
   "The Indians were encouraged to greater depredations and murders by their
success in this expedition, but most especially against the American settle-
ments. From their intercourse with the French in Canada, they seemed less
disposed to trouble us. Immediately after St. Clair's defeat, Colonel Sproat, 
who was commandant at Marrietta, appointed four spies or rangers for Gall-
ipolis. Two of these were Americans and two were French, of whom I was one.
It was not until after the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, that we were 
released.
   "Notwithstanding the great difficulties, the difference of temper, education
and profession, the inhabitants lived in harmony. Having little or nothing
to do, they made themselves agreeable and useful to each other. The Americans
and hunters, employed by the company, performed the first labors of clearing
the township, which was divided into lots. Although the French were willing
to work, yet the clearing of an American wilderness and its heavy timber, 
was far more thany they could perform. To migrate from the Eastern States to
the Far West, is painful enough, but how much more must it be for a citizen
of a large European town? Even a farmer of the old countries would find it
very hard, if not impossible, to clear land in the wilderness.
   "Those hunters were paid by the colonists, to prepare their garden ground
to receive the seeds brought from France. Few of the colonists knew how to 
make a garden; but they were guided by a few books on that subject, which
they had brought likewise from France. The colony then began to improve in
appearance and comfort. The fresh provisions were supplied by the company's
hunters; the others came from their magazines.
   "Many of the troops connected with the expeditions of Generals St. Clair
and Wayne, stopped at Gallipolis for supplies, which had been deposited there
by the government. Every morning and evening parties of the troops would go
around the town, in the forest, to see if there were any traces of lurking
Indians. The Indians, who doubtless came there often in the night, attacked
one of these parties, killing and wounding several. One of the French colonists, 
who was endeavoring to raise some corn, at a little distance from the houses, 
saw an Indian, rising from ambush, and shot him through the shoulder. The
Indian probably thought the Frenchman one of the American patrols. Sometime
afterwards a Frenchman was killed, and a man and woman made prisoners, as they 
were going to a little distance from the town for ashes to make soap.
   "After this, although the Indians committed depredations on the Americans, 
on both sides of the river, the French suffered only from some cattle carried
away. The Scioto Company, in the meantime, had nearly fulfilled all their
engagements for a period of six months. After this time they ceased their 
supply of provisions for the colonists. One of their agents gave as a reason, 
that the company had been cheated by one or two of their agents in France. 
It was said that they, having received the funds in France, for the purchased
lands, had kept the money and run off to England, without having purchased
any of the tract which they had sold to the deceived colonists.
   "This intelligence exasperated the French. It was the more sensibly felt, 
as a scarcity of provisions added to their disappointment. The winter was
uncommonly severe. The creek and the Ohio River were frozen over. The hunters
had no longer any meat to sell. Flat-boats could not come down with flour, 
as they had done before. This produced almost a famine in the settlement. A
family of eight persons, father, mother, and children, was obliged to 
subsist for eight or ten days on dry beans, boiled in water, without either
salt, grease, or bread, and this was a family which had never known what it 
was to want for anything. On the other hand, the dangers from the Indians
seemed to augment every day.
   "The colonists were, by this time, weary of being confined to a few acres
of land. Their industry and their labor were lost. The money and clothes they
had brought were nearly gone. They knew not to whom they were to apply to 
get their lands. They hoped that if Wayne's campaign forced the Indians to
make a lasting peace, the Scioto Company would send immediately, either to
recover or purchase those promised lands. But they soon found out their
mistake. After the treaty of Greenville, many Indians passing through Galli-
polis, on their way to the seat of government, and many travelers, revealed
the whole transaction. It was ascertained that the pretended Scioto Company
was composed of New Englanders, the names of very few only being known to the
French; who, being ignorant of the English language, and so far from the 
residence of their defrauders, could get no redress.
   "Far away in a distant land, separated forever from friends and relations,
with exhausted means, was it surprising that they were disheartened? May the 
happy of this day never feel at they did, when all hope was blasted and they
were left so destitute. Many of the colonists went and settled elsewhere, 
with the means that remained to them; and resumed their trades in more 
populous parts of the country. Others led a half-savage life as hunters for
skins. The greater part, however, resolved, in a general assembly, to make
a memorial of their grievances and send it to Congress. The memorial 
claimed no rights from that body; but it was a detail of their wrongs and
sufferings, together with an appeal to the generousity and feelings of
Congress.
   "They did not appeal in vain. One of the colonists proposed to carry the
petition. He only stipulated that his expenses should be paid, by a 
contribution of the colonists, whether he succeeded or not. At Philadelphia, 
he met with a French lawyer, M. Duponceau, and through his aid he obtained
from Congress a grant of twenty-four thousand acres of land, known by the
name of the French Grant, opposite the Little Sandy River. This grant was
for the French who were still resident of Gallipolis. The act annexed the
condition of settling on the lands three years before receiving the deed of
gift. As there were but ninety-two persons remaining in Gallipolis, and the
bearer of the petition received four thousand acres of the grant, in consider-
ation of his having purchased and paid for that amount, this left to each
inhabitant a lot of two hundred and seventeen and a half acres.'