Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1881-01-20

of the painted savage, nestled alone
within their sequestered shades, within
whose folds the forest maiden gave
modest ear to the love song of the dusky
warrior as he displayed the CORY in
sigma of his prOwess that adorned his
I girdle, and sang the deeds Of war and
the chase, and with equal ardOr wOOs
the maid, Or scalps the captive, and
burns victim at the stake.
ORIGINAL POssEssORs.
While it would transcend our pro-
vince to trace beyond prehistoric data,
the original owners of the territory
now comprehended within the limits of
Fayette county, yet we deem it essential
to perfect elucidatiOn of its complete
history, that we utilize all the facts
within our grasp and trace them until
the line fades out in myth. Therefore,
so nearly as can with Clearness be as
certained from chaotic masses of dOcu-
ments and traditions, we infer that the
first inhabitants belonged to the AlgOn-
quin family, the mOstpOpulous no doubt
in the United States, whose language
was comparatively uniform throughout
all the tribes and subdivisions; very
complex, yet capable of lofty flights Of
Oratory, beautiful rhetorical figures, and
Ill adapted to light and trlfling speech.
Inasmuch as there is a great deal of
conflicting testimony in regard to the
specific tribes COmprehended in this
great family, we shall, in this conneC-
tion, state that the territory now called
Fayette county was originally in the
possession of the Tewightwees, called |
by the French Miamis. Leaving its full
discussion to another part of the work,
cursorily we may say, that at the time
they were visited by Christopher Gist,
the English agent for the Ohio Land
in 1850, they were superior
in number to the Huron IroqOis with
whom they were at deadly emnity.
Their country extended on the west as
far as the watershed between the Wa
bash and Illinois. On the north were
the watOmies, who were slowly
encrOaChing upon the Miamis, who in
turn were gradually extending their
western limits into Ohio and absorbing
the territory claimed by the Huron Iro-
lOis; and according to the best of au-
thority they were the undisputed claim
ants of Ohio as far as the SciOtO. Itap-
pears that the Piankeshaws, or Pean-
lichias-Miamis, subdivision of the
great Tewightwee cOnfederacy, owned
or occupied the southern part Of Ohio,
including the present territory of Fay
ette county.
The WyandOts, long prior to the ad-
vent Of the English and French, had
resided in the territory now embraced
IN Ohio. In the beginning of the pres
mt century they numbered 23OO per-
IONS. In 1912 they Ceded their lands
% the United States Commissioner, Col.
John Johnston, aud moved beyond the
Missouri. In about 1850 the Shawanees
,ame from Florida, under Blackloof,
md as tenants at will of the Wyandots,
oOk possession of the valleys of the
daumee, SciOtO, Mad and Miami rivers.
from the fact that the ownership and
of the soil resided first in the
and subsequently in the
YyandOts and Shawanees, it is difficult t
o ascertain the exact date or dates at !
which the Indian title became totally
xtinct. "a full discussion Of which >
'ill be given in the body ofthe work. c