Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1870-03-10
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
No. 2.
GALLIPOLIS.

mingled feelings of admiration and
reverence. Emigration, nor, means
a few days ride on car or steam-
boat; emigration then, meant more, 1t
meant days and nights of toll and
peril, weeks and months of incessant
travel along the Indian trail and
buffalo tracks, pushing the P'rogae or
the 5gOadkorn, on unknown and
dangerous rivers TO the final desti
nation in the woods primeval, amid
the fresh and forest scenes of some
new and rising state.
To meet such dangers and over
come such obstacles required men of
iron will and muscle. Both were
found in high degree in our ances-
tors,
"The fair beginners of nobler time"
The age in which they lived was
remarkable and it developed remark
able men. The first struggle for
American liberty was over, and thou
sard, of brave men returned home
penniless and ruined. Europe was
groaning with civil wars and revolu-
tions, and the My haven of rest to
,the-efpressed spirit was America.
Hither, then, they came, out of the
way of crime and corruption, out of
the way of unholy thirst for wealth,
happily out of the way of all the
misery and degradation of populous
cities, to lay the foundation of the
"Empire of the West" To aportion
of these men belongs the honor of
founding our own Gallipolis.
After providing suitable shelter
from the inclemency of the weather,
the first work of Importance to the
new settlers was the erection Of a
Blockhouse, to protect them from
the attacks of savages. The site
chosen was near the river bank on
the Public Square, the materials,
heavy hewed logs. The lower story
was of smaller dimensions than the
upper, which was built in such way
as to project over the lower story on
all sides, four or five feet.
The floor of the upper story was
made of heavy timber and had but
one entrance well secured. On the
whole, this primitive fort was well
nigh impregnable, as concerned mus
kets and rifles, and even fire. The
settlers had in their employment
about thirty soldiers. whom they had
hired in the Eastern States, as guards
and guides. Among them was Col
Robert Stafford, of whom we shall
speak hereafter Daring the build |
ing Of the Block house, one of these
soldiers was killed by the Indians in
most daring manner. The whole
available force of the new colony
were engaged in cutting timber and
carrying it to the Block house, and |
while all his comrades had gone to
assistin conveying some extra heavy |
burden, this unfortunate man had
been left alone chopping in the
neighborhood of "The Mound" near
where the "Old Jail'' now stands,
and only few hundred yards from
the Block, house. But n strip of
woods interyened between the un-
fortunate man and safety, and some
prowling Indian, taking advantage
of the situation, shot and scalped
him; and so dexterious was he, that
he made his escape without even
being seen. The hands of the "Lit-
tie Yankee" were terribly cut and
hacked, showing that he had made
vigorous defence against the mur-
derous scalping knife which had
come to do its work even before life
had fed know of bat one other
person having been killed by Indians
in this county. This was a French
man. Being of retired disposition,
he had taken a fancy, hermit-like, to
leave his fellows, and take up his
abode in the forest, few miles from
town. His occasional visits to town
being broken off, some anxiety was
manifested for his fate, and an ex-
animation proved that he had been
murdered and scalped in his own
little Int several days before his
body WAS found.
Our settlers were, of course, sub
ject to all the privations, diseases and
discouragements incident to the set
Ilhg ol any new country, and some
of them actually returned TO France.
But many accounts of their great
privations must be over drawn. In
stance the following, written by Mr..
Ashe, an English traveller in Ameri-
ca" in 1906 1 copy from Niles
Register:
Sat Gallipolis the sympathies of
our traveller were greatly excited by
the wrctched state of the poor emf
grants resident there Deceived by
the representations of some specula.
tor, who described this as the prom
ised land, flowing with mix and
honey, about five> hundred families,