Come my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? Have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!
For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!
Not for delectations sweet,
Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious,
Not the riches safe and palling, nor for us the tame enjoyment,
Pioneers! O pioneers!
From Leaves of
Grass by Walt Whitman, 1865
Explorers seeking riches invaded the
Native American lands of the Ohio country in the 18th
century. These hearty, adventurous souls encountered a wild but
plentiful land. Abundant peltries (raw, undressed skins of small
animals) lured many trappers and traders into the Ohio Valley where
they caught these animals and also obtained valuable furs from
Indians. Later, however, the crops, not the wildlife of the region,
would become the golden resource of the settlers who followed.
The first authentic exploration of the
Ohio River (Belle Riviere) by an expedition organized for that
purpose was made in 1749 by Pierre-Joseph Céloron de Blainville,
French military officer, and Jesuit Father Joseph Pierre de
Bonnecamps. It was ordered by Comte de la Galissoniere, the governor
of Canada, to strengthen the French claim on the Ohio Valley.
The expedition included 216 French
Canadians and 55 Native Americans in a flotilla consisting of large
boats and canoes. It started from La Chine, Quebec (near Montreal) on
June 15.
This exploration became known as the
“Lead Plate Expedition.” The French used lead plates at the
mouths of several principal tributaries declaring the claims of
France. At each point, a tin or copper plate bearing the French royal
arms was nailed to a tree. Below, an inscribed leaden plate measuring
about eleven inches long and seven and one-half inches wide was
buried, declaring the claims of possession.
This was a traditional European mode of
marking territory, but must have contributed to Native American
anxieties about the intentions of the French, and thus ultimately the
survey had a counterproductive effect.
In total, Céloron buried at least six
lead plates. One was stolen by curious Indians almost immediately,
possibly before it was even buried, and placed in British hands. Two
more were found in the early 19th Century. The whereabouts of the
rest remain unknown.
Celoron's French soldiers proceeded
from Pittsburgh to the Great Miami River, planting the plates as they
went. Along the route, the soldiers encountered numbers of British
traders, especially at a village known as Lower Shawnee Town at the
Scioto River's mouth.
The Celoron expedition arrived at the
village on the Scioto River on August 22, 1749. The journal of
Bonnecamps gives the first reference in history to an Indian
settlement at the mouth of the Scioto. It is as follows:
“The situation of the village
of the Chaouanons (French for Shawnee) is quite pleasant – at
least, it is not masked by the mountains, like the other villages
through which we had passed. The Sinhioto River, which bounds it on
the east, has given it its name. It is composed of about sixty
cabins. The Englishmen there numbered five. They were order to
withdraw, and promised to do so. The latitude of our camp was 39
degrees 1'.”
Indians were in actual possession of
the land at that time. They were alarmed at the invasion of the
French in 1749 and were reported by Celoron as giving a warning
“salute” that gave the expedition great cause for alarm…
“Those Indians discharged well
nigh a thousand gun-shots. I knew the powder had been gratuitously
furnished by the English. Such a waste of ammunition was proof if its
abundance and increased the alarm of the French for their safety.”
Historian Andrew Lee Feight, Ph.D.,
writes that this tenuous confrontation at Lower Shawnee Town marked
the beginning of what modern-day historians refer to as the Great War
for Empire, still commonly known as the French & Indian War). The
tense meeting of Céloron and Shawnee leaders in the summer of 1749
is immortalized in the Portsmouth Flood Wall murals of Robert
Dafford, and its original version by H. H. Wessel (entitled, “Under
the Banner of France”) that can be found in what is now the third
floor, Law Library of the Scioto County Court House.
Of the meeting, Feight writes …
“Céloron and his men came
ashore in armor, with their weapons loaded and ready for a fight, but
there was none. The French forces most likely encamped on the
bottoms, on the east side of the Scioto River, across from the
village. When Céloron finally addressed the Indians, he delivered a
message from the Governor of Canada, which warned the villagers about
the nefarious designs of the English …
“The talks proved difficult and
Céloron, who had been ordered to expel and plunder English
merchants, would leave without evicting the handful of English who
were living in the village at the time. Céloron, instead, choose to
head down river, without burying one of his famous lead plates, which
he attempted to place at the mouth of all major tributaries of the
Ohio.”
Following the Celoron expedition,
French traders and trappers became active in the Ohio Valley.
Historian Henry T. Bannon writes that the French at the time were far
more capable than the English in carrying on the fur trade and, in
that way, they held the territory after Celoron's voyage. But that
region was not long to remain a possession of France; for it was
taken from by Great Britain in 1763.
And not too long after the contact from
these early explorers, many English pioneers began settling the
Scioto Valley. The first attempt at permanent settlement was said to
be in 1785. From the American Pioneer the following article is
taken, contributed by George Corwin of Portsmouth. It reads:
"In April, 1785, four
families from the Redstone settlement in Pennsylvania descended the
Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto River, and there moored their boat
under the high bank just below where Portsmouth now stands. They
commenced clearing the ground to plant seeds for a crop to support
their families, hoping that the red men of the forest would suffer
them to remain and improve the soil.
"Soon after they landed, the
four men, heads of the families, started up the Scioto to see the
paradise of the West, of which they had heard from white men who had
been captured by the Indians, and traversed it while in captivity.
Leaving their little colony of four women and their children to the
protection of an over-ruling providence, they wandered over the
beautiful bottoms of the Scioto as far up as the prairies above, and
opposite to where Piketon now stands. One of them, Peter Patrick by
name, pleased with the country, cut the initials of his name on the
beech tree near the river, and upon the margin of a little stream
that flowed into the Scioto. These letters afterward being found,
gave the name of 'Pee Pee' to the creek, and then to the prairies
through which the creek flowed. And from this also came the name of
Pee Pee Township in Pike County.”
The Seeds, the Crops, the
Subsistence
Of course, the pioneers' very existence
depended upon what they could attain from the earth. In the fertile
Scioto Valley both the abundance of wildlife, the streams and rivers,
and the rich soil gave them great sustenance. Whenever possible, they
chose a location for home near a spring of pure water. Their first
labor was to build a shelter, and the next was to prepare the soil to
raise a crop of grain.
The first settlers brought their corn
meal with them, and as soon as this supply was exhausted, they sought
more supply. Bannon writes that “two men traveled to Manchester or
Limestone by canoe to secure more.” Manchester had been founded in
1791 by Nathaniel Massie. At the time the old buffalo trace at
Maysville (Limestone) had been settled by Frontiersman Simon Kenton.
No pork was to be had, but bear meat
was often used in its place. Later, pork and cornbread became the
principal articles of pioneer food.
Thus, the old couplet:
“You can have
plenty of pork and pone,
If you don't like
this, you can let it alone.”
* Historical Note – “Pone”
is an Indian word and corn pone originated with the American Indian.
In the Indian language cornbread is “Aughpone.” From the
Journal of Nicoholas Cresswell of Virginia (1774). Colonists
didn’t just borrow the word for cornbread; they also borrowed
Native American ways of preparing cornmeal, adapting the recipes to
suit English palates. Native Americans made cornbread in one of two
ways: with a paste of crushed green corn kernels, or from a batter
made by adding water, salt, and animal fat to cornmeal. They would
use a thin paste to make flatter cakes, resulting in something more
like a cornmeal pancake. They treated a thicker batter as bread
dough, shaping by hand into loaves for baking.
As long as the game supply was
forthcoming, settlers could vary their bill of fare with venison,
wild turkey, or grouse. They drank tea made of sassafras, sage, or
sycamore. Coffee, when available, was so expensive that ten pounds of
rye were browned and mixed with every pound of it. And, once more
exhibiting the dependence upon a crop, distilled spirits were in
general use as beverages.
Bannon writes that distilling of
spirits led to their free use in home, at public celebrations, and at
house raisings. However, not everyone imbibed. Samuel Marshall, Jr.,
son of whom local historians claim to be the first “permanent
settler of Scioto County,”was among the first opponents of use of
intoxicating beverages. In 1824, Marshall gave notice of his
intention to have a house raising at which no liquor would be
furnished. His skeptical neighbors thought no one would attend the
sober affair, but on the day of the labor, a huge crowd was on hand
to see “this a miracle performed.” And, under these novel
conditions, “all hands went to work with enthusiasm and the house
was erected.
So, for many good reasons – food,
barter, drink (for most tastes) – the first mechanical problem the
pioneer had to solve was the construction of a device with which to
grind corn into hominy meal. The first contrivances were primitive
mortar and pestle operations. Bannon concludes …
“A cavity was cut in a tree
stump, and a pestle was made by driving an iron wedge into a heavy
stick. A small quantity of corn was put into this homemade mortar and
pounded into meal with the iron wedge and the assistance of a spring
pole. (After one stroke upon the corn in the mortar, it would rebound
for another.)
“The next appliance used for
grinding corn, consisted of two stones, one laid flat upon the other.
The lower stone was stationary and upper stone was revolved upon it
by hand power. Corn was fed into this crude mill through the eye of
the revolving stone and then ground into meal. This form of mill was
succeeded by the ordinary hand mills, having two cranks, and operated
by two men, but these soon gave way to the water mill. To separate
the bran from the meal, the pioneer used a sieve, made by stretching
a piece of perforated deerskin over a hoop.”
As time passed, extensive, fertile
fields in the region yielded annual crops of corn much greater than
needed for the requirements of the inhabitants. Excess corn, ever
becoming more readily at hand, was very bulky. This corn was sold
occasionally as low as ten cents per bushel. Still, trade was very
limited as no adequate means of transports existed. Thus, any labor
expended by farmers in growing more than sufficient supplies for
their own use, was of little avail.
But, the innovative settlers soon
discovered the crops were a boon to business. To provide the logical
sale for corn and perishable fruits, farmers erected distilleries at
which corn was condensed into whiskey and fruits were turned into
brandy. These resourceful farmers and distillers sought new markets
and turned to local merchants who operated local taverns and saloons
with good success.
* Historical Note – Similar
conditions caused the Whiskey Insurrection (Rebellion) of 1794 in
western Pennsylvania in which farmers who condensed grain into
distilled spirits rebelled against federal taxation. They resisted
the internal revenue tax levied in 1791 upon the spirits because it
was a tax upon a form of manufacture necessary to enable the small
farmers to find a market.
It is true that a wagon trail to
Chillicothe existed as early as 1799, but it was not a highway
created by law. Four dollars per hundred pounds was the rate charged
for transporting goods from Portsmouth to Chillicothe over this road
by wagon. That was an extremely hefty charge for delivery, and
unaffordable to the masses.
Then, the first roads were
commissioned, and these early routes greatly increased markets for
farm goods. In 1803 the first public road was opened in Scioto County
and consisted of a way cut through a dense forest. Bannon writes it
was located upon the line of Gallipolis Road. Trees were cut
sufficiently near the ground so that the stumps would clear the axles
of a wagon. Brush was removed from the roads and “mile trees”
were marked.
*Historical Note – Gallia
Street was named after its original destination, Gallipolis, Ohio.
The name was shortened in the 1800’s to Gallia Pike. Gallia Pike
was the road to Gallipolis outside the city limits of Portsmouth
while the road inside the limits was called Gallia Street. Gallipolis
is home to “The French 500,” a group of French aristocrats,
merchants, and artisans who were fleeing the violence and disruption
of the French Revolution in 1790.
The Ohio and Scioto river valleys
figured most prominently in the settlement of Ohio. European settlers
had already touched the soil and surveyed the territory there even
before Congress set aside 3.8 million acres in 1783 for the
Revolutionary War veterans of Virginia as the Virginia Military
District. These valleys became the lands of hopes and dreams for the
new settlers. And, sadly, they became the ghost settlements of their
longtime native inhabitants. As I explore the history of the place, I
cannot underestimate the role of the rich natural resources that
support all life there.
1612 J. Smith Map of Virginia 17 Eating the broth with the bread which they call Ponap.
From maize to pone to moonshine to
field corn, corn is the great sustainer of existence. In her new
book, Midwest Maize: How Corn Shaped the U.S. Heartland
(2015), author Cynthia Clampitt acknowledges how corn practically
created the center of the country. Clampitt says …
"Some have compared the
spread of corn across the United States to the sweeping conquest of
the great empire builders. It is an apt comparison. Corn made it
possible to 'conquer' the frontier with astonishing speed and created
an empire of farms, transportation, and cities that made the country
wealthy. The Midwest is not where corn started, but it is where it
became powerful.
"The Corn Belt was born in
Ohio. Chillicothe and the Scioto River Valley is where the paradigm
of farming shifted to feeding corn to animals.”
Like so many human residents of the
valleys, corn is an overachiever. It is a rugged plant from the grass
family and it grows fast, compared to other grains. Every resident of
Ohio can look with pride and wonder upon these beautiful fields
filled with the simple, lofty crop of corn. As Bernard L. Herman
Ph.D. Professor of Folklore and Folklife at the University of North
Carolina, so descriptively states ...
“The corn—all ringed and
jointed stalks, sibilant leaves, greenish-blond silk going
brunette—teased the senses with transient pleasure …
“My thoughts wandered to the
scent of corn and an August afternoon a lifetime ago in the company
of my friend and fabled local antiquarian Ms. Jean. The redolence of
corn in scorching summer perfumes the imagination, flavors
recollection – and there’s plenty of corn and memory to go around
in our corner of the world.”
Ohioans could well be blessed with the
nickname “Pones” instead of “Buckeyes” if legislators had
looked to the fields instead of to the trees for a fitting moniker.
Sweet, indelible memories, indeed.
“A light wind swept
over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.”
--Anne Bronte
Sources
Henry T. Bannon. Stories Old and
Often Told: Chronicles of Scioto County, Ohio. University of
Michigan. 1927
Cynthia Clampitt. Midwest Maize: How
Corn Shaped the U.S. Heartland. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 2015.
Andrew Lee Feight, Ph.D. “Lower
Shawnee Town & Céloron's Expedition.” Scioto Historical,
https://www.sciotohistorical.org/items/show/35. Accessed December 5,
2018.
Bernard L. Herman. “Remembering Jean
Mihalyka.” Southern Culture. Accessed
December 5, 2018.
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