The Land of the Miamis: An Account of the Struggle to Secure Possession of the North-West from the End of the Revolution until 1812Barce, Elmore
History
The Land of the Miamis: An Account of the Struggle to Secure Possession of the North-West from the End of the Revolution until 1812
Barce, Elmore
Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1750-1815; Miami Indians; Northwest, Old -- History
Rhea hears some things. While he is on the Maumee he tells Colonel McKee
and other British officers that he has seen Colonel Thomas Proctor on
his way to the Senecas and has talked with him. That Proctor told him he
was on his way to Sandusky and the Miami villages, and that he expected
the Cornplanter to accompany him and bring about peace; that he
(Proctor), expected to get shipping at Fort Erie, The British officers
who hear these things, say that if they were at Lake Erie, Proctor would
get no shipping. The Mohawks and other Indians declare that if Proctor,
or any other Yankee messenger, arrives, he will not carry back any
message. Simon Girty and one Pat Hill assert, that Proctor should never
return, even if he had a hundred Senecas with him.
On the ninth of March, 1791, the secretary of war issued orders to
General Charles Scott of Kentucky, to lead an expedition against the Wea
or Ouiatenon towns on the Wabash. The expedition was not to proceed
until the tenth day of May, as hopes were entertained that Proctor might
negotiate a peace. The force to be employed was to consist of seven
hundred and fifty mounted volunteers, including officers. All Indians
who ceased to resist were to be spared. Women and children, and as many
warriors as possible, were to be taken prisoners, but treated with
humanity.
The tenth day of May arrived, but Proctor was not heard from. The
hostility of the savages was daily increasing. Scott was delayed a few
days longer in the hope that intelligence might arrive, but on the
twenty-third of May he crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Kentucky and
plunged into the wilderness. Before him lay one hundred and fifty-five
miles of forest, swamp and stream. The rain fell in torrents and every
river was beyond its banks. His horses were soon worn down and his
provisions spoiled, but he pressed on. On the morning of the first of
June, he was entering the prairies south of the Wea plain and
approaching the hills of High Gap. He now saw a lone Indian horseman to
his right and tried to intercept him, but failed. He pushed on rapidly
to the Indian towns.
On the morning of June first, 1791, the landscape of the Wea is a thing
of beauty. To the north lies the long range of the Indian Hills, crowned
with forest trees, and scarped with many a sharp ravine. At the southern
edge of these hills flows the Wabash, winding in and out with graceful
curves, and marked in its courses by a narrow fringe of woodland. To the
east lies Wea creek, jutting out into the plain with a sharp turn, and
then gliding on again to the river. Within this enclosure of wood and
stream lie the meadows of the Ouiatenons, dotted here and there with
pleasant groves, and filled with the aroma of countless blossoms.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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