THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY ARCHIVES: THE
MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives
should be read and considered within the historical context in
which it was composed and printed. The opinions expressed and the
language used do not reflect the opinions or standards of the
Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the
document was published.
(Ligonier, Aug. 8, 1774)
St. Clair, Arthur in: Smith, W. H.,
St. Clair Papers, 1882,
vol. 1., pp. 338-340.
Sir:- I am just returned from Pittsburgh, where the Pipe, Guyasutha, and the White Mingo are arrived, and bring favorable accounts from the Indian Nations about the lakes. They say they are all disposed to continue in friendship with the English; but the Wyandotts, the Hurons, and the Tawas have been waivering. The Shawanese had applied to them, and it was so long that they heard nothing from our people, that they were inclined to assist them, but these chiefs have persuaded them to sit still, and to send to the Wabash Indians to be quiet likewise; so that it is probable they arrived amongst them in a favorable time.
Some deputies from the Six Nations also are arrived. They have brought a very large belt to Mr. Croghan, and Mr. McKee, informing them of the death of Sir William Johnson, and of their intentions, notwithstanding, to adhere firmly to the treaties subsisting betwixt the English and them, and to endeavor to retain the other Nations in peace. They also have sent a belt by these deputies to (page 339) the Delawares, and to the Wabash Confederacy, recommending it to them to remain in peace, and to inform them that though their great friend is dead, the council-fire kindled by the English and them continues to burn as bright as ever; such is their mode of expression. From these circumstances it is to be hoped that the fracas with the Shawanese will blow over without any very bad consequences, thought that depends upon others, which must be brought about in a very little time, as five hundred of the Virginians are marched to destroy Wakatomica, the town the Shawanese lately abandoned.1
Should these meet with any check, which
is not improbable, some of the Western Nations will certainly
join them; but if they return without, and are satisfied with
destroying that town, matters may probably be made up; but I
doubt they will not stop there, as you see by the inclosed copy
of a letter from Lord Dunmore to Mr. Conolly, which accidentally
fell into my hands, that his Lordship is very full of chastising
them; and the twenty-fifth of next month is fixed for attacking
the great Shawanese town on the Scioto. Your Honor will please to
take notice, that the hint I gave you before of a design to
interrupt the trade of this Province, however improbable it might
appear, was not without some foundation.
____________________________________________
1 In July, 1774, Major Angus Mcdonald arrived over the mountains, with a considerable force of Virginia militia, which, when embodied with those already raised in the West, amounted to seven hundred men. McDonald went down to Wheeling, in order to take command, as there the whole force rendezvoused. A stockade fort (Fort Fincastle) was erected under the joint directions of Major McDonald and Captain William Crawford.
On the twenty-sixth of July, about four hundred men, having left Wheeling, arrived at the mouth of Fish Creek, on the east side of the Ohio, twenty-four miles below. Here they determined to move against the Shawanese villages upon the Muskingum River, in what is now Muskingum county, Ohio. The men were led by Major McDonald. Captain Crawford remained near Fort Fincastle. The expedition proved successful. Wakatomica, near what is now Dresden, Ohio, and other Shawanese towns, were destroyed, and considerable plunder secured. This was the first effective blow struck, by Virginia troops in Lord Dunmore's War.- Butterfields Washington-Crawford Letters, p. 96.
Return to TOC, p. 22
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