The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1950-10-26
Tragedy At Big
Bottom

which left Marietta in fall, lf90, TO
make the first settlement in what
now is Morgan County. 1t was at
Big Bottom, on the east bank Of the
Muskingum River, four miles above
the mouth of Meigs creek, near the
south county line. 1t was there for
a little time-but not for long.
The men were young, confident and
impatient. They built block-house
of big beech logs which was big
enough to hold all of them but not
chinked between the logs. They left
that part of the job for rainy day
which never came.
Neither did they build stockade
of pickets around the block-house
nor post a sentry there regularly.
That and not chinking the cracks
with mud were fatal mistakes.
The young fellows had no system
of defense nor discipline and their
guns were left lying around in un-
handy places. Bad business when
Indians were in the neighborhood
and were known to be hostile.
The Indians during that summer
had been hanging around the settle
ments at VOLTS creek mills and at
Plainfeld, hunting, fishing and sell
ing the settlers venison and bear
meat in exchange for green corn and
vegetables. But with the coming of
fall they were gone on upriver to-
ward their own towns.
Sayages Hostile
The savages first learned about
the Big Bottom settlement when
they saw it from the other side Of
the river one afternoon, where from
high hill all that went on in the
bottoms could be observed The
block-house especially met with their
disapproval. Indians did not like
block-houses. They meant perman-
ent settlement was being attempted.
Francis and Isaac Choate and Tom
Shaw, their hired man already had
built a cabin about 20 rods above
the block-house and James Patton
lived with them. About as far be-
low the block-house Asa and Flea
zer Bullard lived in a cabin they
had put up. The settlement appar-
emily was getting under way.
The Indians sneaked in towards
Choate's cabin first and found the
men there eating supper. Inside
they were invited and ate supper
with the Choates.
After the eating the Indians tied
their hosts arms with leather thongs
and bits of venison packing cord and
told them they were captives. While
the few were at Choates' cabin most
of the savages had stealthily slipped
to the unguarded block-house and
found its occupants sitting around
the fire. One big Indian stepped in,
held the door open and the others
fired through the doorway.
Settler Killed
Zebulon Throop, from Massachu-
setts, fell dead and several others
were shot down. Throop had been
frying the meat. The Indians then
rushed in and killed all who were
left with their tomahawks.
The attack had been so sur
prising that no resistance was made
but by one rawboned Virginia
woman-the wife of Isaac Meeks, a
hunter-who seized an axe and near
ly cut the face off the Indian who
had opened the door. She i'm
mediately was tomahawked by an
other Indian before she could do
more. The axe stroke was all the
injury received by the savages
While the massacre was going on
John Stacey had slipped up ladder
to the loft and out on the roof,
where his brother, Philip, 16, had
hidden under a pile of skins. Stacey
was seen by the Indians outside and
shot while he was begging to be
spared.
The Billiards had heard the firing
and had run out of their cabin to
see what was happening. The sight
of Indians ran them back inside,
where they secured guns and am
munition and slipped out of the door
into the woods. The cabin itself
hid their escape from the savages.
They had gotten out just as their
clapboard door was kicked in by two
Indians. The savages did not pursue
the Billiards.
Plunder Cabins
After the slaughter was over and
the sealps gathered the Indians
began to plunder the cabins ano
block-house. In removing the pile
of skins, Philip Stacy, the boy, was
found and tornahawk was raised
to kill him. The boy begged so hard
that one of the Indian leaders gave
in and his life was saved.
After taking away everything
they thought worthy of it, the In
dians tore up the floor, pulled it on
the bodies and set it on fire.
Having been built of green logs,
only the floor and roof were con-