Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-07-07

lurylfed and was appointed 10 the com
napd Of the legionary army Of the vest
sKD ANTHONY wAYSE CONES TO rHE MAUNrE.
Notwithstanding all NE sctivity which
he general brought TO, the service Il was
not until the 10th Of October, 1893, that
he troops were prepared 10 take the field
In the msentime, Washington once more
fought by peaceful means to induce the In
lians TO lay down their arms and enter into
friendly relations with the people Of the
United States, but without success.
Gen. Knox, then Secretary of War, in
his letter to Wayne Of September 3d. 1893,
'ays; "The Indians have refused to treat,
md you are now to judge whether your
Iorce will be adequate to make them feel
our superiority in arms. Every offer has
been made to obtain peace by milder terms
han the sword Let il therefore be again
md for the last time impressed upon your
mind that as little as possible is TO be haz-
arded that your force be fully adequate to
The object you propose to effect; and that
a defeat at the present time and under the
present circumstances, would be pernicious
in the highest degree 10 the interests Of our
Under these orders Wayne begon his
march, but from the necessity of multiply
ing forts TO secure his communications, and
The admonitions Of the government to haz-
ard as little ms possible it was not till the
9Th of August, 1894, that he was able to
reach the Indian settlements. When he or.
rived at the junction Of the Augaize river
with the Maumee, which was called the Mi
nmi OF the Lake, he was reinforced by 100
mounted men from Kentucky. Here he
built fort to WEIGH he gave the name of
Ft. Defiance. In letter written from this
place to the Secretary Of War, he says
g Though now prepared to strike, ] have
thought it proper to make the enemy n
LAST OVERTURE or PEACE;
nor am without hope that they will listen
to it," In this humane expectation how
ever, the general was disappointed. The
Indians, elatcd by the former success
which had hitherto attended their arms and
stimulated by promises of aid given by
British Agents, rejected the offer. On the
18th of August, Wayne advanced to Roche
dc Boeuf, where he fortified depot for his
stores and on the 10Th marched on the po-
sition taken by the enemy. This was closely
and carefully reconnoitered, and found to
be in all respects, well adapted for defense.
The enemy's right flank was covered by an
almost impenetrable thicket His left ex-
tended to the Maumee river and his entire
front was protected by fallen timber, the
effect Of tornado, and which gave to this
action the name of
BATTLE OF THE FALLEN TINBERs"
In this strong position, well-fortiied by ma
ture, and accident lay the body of the Miami
Indians in three lines of open order with
,-,loir III a.
their position from being turned as to favor
any maneuver of that kind which they
might wish to practice against their adver-
snry.
Wayne attacked this position with his usual
impotuosity and carried it at the point of the
bayonet, driving the Indians both into the
woods and river with great slaughter. This
victory completely broke the savage power
and they now gladly sought those terms
Of peace which they had so often rejected.
This battle was fought on what is now
known rs Presque Isle Hill on the river
three miles above the village of Maumee.
In this battle the Indians lost their chief,
Turkey Foot, and the large boulder lying
by the road side at the foot of the hill bears
many tokens of the esteem in which he was
held by his tribe I'VE remained" says
the General in his official report, three
days and nights on the banks of the Miami
in front of the field of battle, during which
time all the houses and corn were consum-
ed or otherwise destroyed for considera-
BILE distance both above and below Fl Mi
anna, and we were within pistol shot Of the
garrison Of that place who were compelled
to remain quiet spectators Of the gene
raj devastation and conhagration."
On the oath the army began its march to
Greenvile where a general conference OF
the tribes had been requested. On their
way villages and cornfelds for distance
of fifty miles on each side of the river were
laid waste. This yas not to Wayne pleas
ing occupation, but being prescribed to
him by the government as necessary to
bring the Indians to realize the horrors o
war when brought to their own cabins and
cornfelds it could not be cvaded nor was
the effect it would produce on the enemy
overrnted
TREATY AT GREESvIILE.
At Greenville. Wayne and the United
States commission were by the chiefs Of
the Wyandotts, Delawares, Shawnees, Chip.
pewas, Ottawas, Pottawattomics, Miamis,
Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshsaw
and Kaskaskias and on the Sd day of Au,
gust 1875 after somewhat protracted con
ference, a treaty was made by which the
boundary between the northwestern tribes
of Indians and the United States was estab
lished. This boundary commenced at the
mouth of the Cuyahoga river on Lake Erie
and terminates at the mouth of the Ken
lucky river on the Ohio. 1t passed up the
Cuyahoga river to the Portage, between
that and the Tuscarawas river, and after
crossing the Portage passed down the Tus-
carawas to the Muskingum and then in a
westerly course, crossed to the head waters
of the st. Marys river. Then to TT. Re.
covery on the Wabash, and from there in a
direct line to a point on the Ohio opposite
the mouth of the Kentucky river.
This treaty confirmed the right of the
Indians in all the territory lying west and
north of the line above described. But
civilization could not be bounded by q
mere line, nor the impulse of the white
man to GO west" be restrained and while
engaged in this most solemn covenant OF
division of territory, the United States OBJ
tanned the cession from the Indians of l6
reservations of land, amounting in all to
1000 square miles, in various parts of the
northwest No. 8 Of which is what is known
as the twelve mile reservation at the foot
of the rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie,
(the Maumee river,) and about the center
of which the villages of Perrysburg and
Maumee, in Wood county, were afterwards
laid out.
AS above mentioned the U. S. Govern.
mcnt, while apparently erecting barriers to
restrain her citizens from encroaching on
the lands granted by treaty TO the Indians,
was nevertheless constantly preparing the
way for such encroachment by obtaining
and settling the reservations forced from
the Indians in their treaties and in fur
theranee of this object, and 10 facilitate
communication between these points, they
obtained cessions of land for the building
of roads, making settlements, &c.
MAUMEE And WESTERN RESERVE ROAD.
At the treaty of Brownstown, concluded
on the 25th of November, 1903, between
the United States and the Indian tribes
northwest Of the river Ohio, the latter ceded
to the United States " a tract of land for a
road of l20 feet in width from the foot OF
the rapiis Of the river Miami, of Lake
Erie, to the western line of the Connecticut
Reserve, and all the land within one mile
of said road on each side thereof for the