Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1870-03-24
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
No. 3.
oRGANIzATloN OF aALLIA COUNTY


GalIia wss the seventeenth in the or
der of organization. The act passed
March 25th. 1903, and the following
are the original boundaries, viz: 'all
that part of the county of Washing
ton, beginning at the mouth OF
Shade river; thence up the same un-
til it intersects the east and west
line between the third and fourth
townships in the eleventh range;
thence west with the same TO the
east boundary of Ross county;
thence south TO the northeast corner
of the county of Adams; thence
with the easterly boundary OF the
same to the Ohio river; thence up
the same to the place Of beginning" :"
Thus it will be seen that our county
formerly included a large part OF
Lawrence, Jackson, Finton ana
Meigs, a sufficient scope OF terrilory
to form Congressional district at
the present day. The Legislature
very appropriately named it Gall Ia,
because it had been settled by the
French.
Prominent among the pioneers oil
our county are such names as SAT :
FORD, LECLERco, RoLcoMB, UPPER,
and many others no less worthy
men mighty in strength, resolute In
spirit and upright in integrity, as the
felled forests, the fertile fields, and
the lustre of their names bear un-
dying witness.
COL. ROBERT Stafford.
This bold, active, enterprising
pioneer was born in Vermont about
the year 1772. He came to CALI
polls with the French emigrants in
1890, and may be said to have been
the first English settler of Gallia
county. He was among the most en-,
terprizing and untiring in his exer'
tions while building up the new set
tlement. But in common with the
majority Of the pioneers Of Gallia
county, the history of most of his
adventures and hardships belong to
the unWritten.
That he was skillful woodsman
and experienced trapper hunter, is
evident from the fact that he was en-
gagged by the celebrated Daniel
Boone, during trapping season on
Raccoon river, in this county. As it
Is not generally known to the many
youthful admirers of the great Ken
lucky hunter and Indian fighter, that
he honored our own county with his
presence, l will, give short ac-
count of that visit, as Col. STAFFORD
delighted to tell it to his friends.
AT that time Boone was living al
Point Pleasant. Having determined
to try his luck on this side of the
river, he hired as an assistant one
Fleming, and they commenced their
voyage up the creek, but on arriving
as far up as where Thevenin's mill
now is, Fleming got sick and was
obliged to return to Gallipolis. He
recommended in his stead Col. SAT-
FORD, and Boone hired him. But he
proved to be such an agreeable com
panion and so valuable an assistant,
that he gave him an equal share in
the procee ds of the seasons work.
Among other things Boone present
ed him with one of his favorite
traps called Isaac" Boone had
all his traps named.
They camped at "The Cave" a
splendid rock house, about ] mile
above AdamsYille, on Raccoon.-
Here they lived for six months and
trapped the beaver. They divided
the work so that one went up the
creek while the other went down.
The upper limit was "The Rock" On
immense gorge of drift wood at the
mouth of Strange's run, several hun
dred yards long. At this time hos
tilities had ceased on the frontier,
and our trappers were not molested
By hostile Indians. But once dur
ing their absence some prowling
band did "pile" things in the camp,
and carried off some dried deer
skins, probably TO make thongs to
take away stolen horses from Vir-
ginia, a trick which they were well
up to at that time. At times they
were annoyed by the visits of hun
CRY wolves, and they determined to
rid themselves of their nightly sere-
nades. Accordingly they killed and
dressed deer not far from camp,
and well knowing that the scent of
the blood and offal would attract the
wolves to the spot, they set spare
trap in the following manner, intend
ing to have some fun, and, as you
will see, they did Bending down a
stiff sapling, they chained the steel
trap to it, then by means of forked
stake driven into the ground, the
trap and the sapling were held firm
~ down. But things were arranged
in such way that when an animal
AZ.