Pickawillany |
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| In 1747, the Shawnee
in Ohio along with other Ohio tribes including the Delawares, Wyandots and Mingos were all
doing business with the new English traders from Pennsylvania. One such trader was an
Irishman named George Croghan. From his establishment of a trading post on the western
frontier of Pennsylvania in the 1740s, Croghan had sent out several traders as far west as
the Mississippi River. He traveled throughout Ohio and encouraged the Miami tribes to
attend annual meetings at his post in Logstown (on the Ohio River). Croghan’s
official reports and diaries have proved very useful in telling the story of the Ohio
natives during this time period. Also in 1747, a detached band of Miami Indians from Indiana under the leadership of their chief known as ‘La Demoiselle’ to the French and ‘Old Britain’ to the English, (in an attempt to escape French influence), set up camp near the confluence of Loramie Creek and the Great Miami River in northern Miami County close to the southern Shelby County line. Beginning at this point in time, this particular band of Miami Indians were often referred to as the ‘Tweightewee’ (Ancient maps indicate this spelling, which is used throughout the Teacher’s Guide, however, various sources spell it in different ways). Their camp, named Pickawillany, came to be known as an English trading center after its leaders signed an agreement in 1748 at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to trade exclusively with the English. Pickawillany prospered with the Miami Indians trading beaver, deer, bear, fox and raccoon fur pelts (with beaver fetching the highest price). In exchange, the Indians could choose from many items that included: stroud, duffel, half thicks, powder, lead, shirts, coats, embossed flannel, callimango, wampum, vermillion, gartering, ribbon, pin heads, rings, brass wire, handkerchiefs, knives and awl blades. Wampum was made by stringing together shell beads of different colors, sizes and patterns. Wampum belts were made to record important events with each string representing a different idea. The French were very unhappy with the English encroachment into their territory and their lucrative trade with the Indians. To reinforce French claim on the area, they sent a force of 250 men under the command of Celeron de Bienville down the Ohio River, planting lead plates at the mouth of each river entering the Ohio, including the Great Miami River. |
After which, he then proceeded north,
following the Great Miami River to Pickawillany. De Bienville and his men arrived on
September 13, 1749, and spent an entire week attempting to convince Chief La Demoiselle to
revert his allegiance from the English back to the French. De Bienville left Pickawillany
unsuccessful, as indicated in his journal, "All that I can say is that the tribes of
these localities are very badly disposed toward the French and entirely devoted to the
English. I do not know by what means they can be brought back." The English, realizing they needed to reinforce their presence in the area, obtained permission in 1750 from the Miami tribe to construct a stockade at Pickawillany for protection from attack. George Croghan (Pennsylvania Indian Agent/trader) was instrumental in persuading La Demoiselle to allow them to do so. Thus, Fort Pickawillany was born. The stockade was built around the two-story main building with cabins for traders on the inside of the high wall of split logs and some on the outside. Christopher Gist, Virginian, responsible for picking good sites in the area for permanent English settlement, spent two weeks at the fort and wrote an extensive journal. On his first day there he wrote, "This town is located on the northwest side of the Big Miamee [Miami] River, about 150 miles from the mouth thereof: it consists of about 400 families, and daily increasing; it is accounted one of the strongest Indian towns upon this part of the continent." During its short life, Fort Pickawillany saw much plundering of pack trains, murders, and prisoners taken by those threatened by its existence. Finally, the French, after five years of confrontation, sent a force of Ottawa and Ojibwa warriors, led by Chief Pontiac, with French commanders from Detroit under the leadership of Charles Langdale with orders to destroy it. The surprise attack came on June 21, 1752. At the same time, Captain William Trent left the settlement of Logstown (20 miles west of Pittsburgh) on the Ohio River, bearing gifts for the Tweightewee at Pickawillany. While enroute, Trent learned of the attack and diverted his group down to Lower Shawnee Town at the mouth of the Scioto River. [Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] 'Indian' segment written in
December, 1997 |
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