(from John M’Clung, Sketches of Western Adventure,
Containing an Account of the Most Interesting Incidents
Connected with the Settlement of the West from
1755–1794, 1832)
TODAY if you move from New York City to the Midwest, you hitch a U-Haul trailer to your car and head for the Pennsylvania Turnpike at sixty-five miles per hour. After the Revolutionary War, when land speculation was ablaze, life was different. You’d hitch your horses to a wagon and head toward Pittsburgh, then an outpost of 376 souls. To cross the Alleghenies was not easy—wave after wave of three-thousand-foot mountains extended from the Mohawk Valley to the Tennessee River. Consider the following description of one family of twelve who had decided to make the arduous trek:
The man carried an ax and a gun on his shoulders—the wife, the rim of a spinning wheel in one hand and a loaf of bread in another. Several little boys and girls, each with a bundle according to their size. Two poor horses each heavily loaded with some poor necessaries. On top of the baggage of one was an infant, rocked to sleep in a kind of wicker cage, lashed securely to the horse. A cow formed one of the company, and she was destined to bear her proportion of service. A bed cord was wound around her horns, and a bag of meal on her back.
Once near Pittsburgh, westward-bound settlers could buy a flatboat—forty-two feet long, twelve feet wide, drawing two and a half feet of water. Steered by oars, these rafts were swept by a steady current down the Ohio River, southwest toward the Mississippi.
An earlier pioneer to such an adventure was Colonel Rufus Putnam from Massachusetts, one of the founders of the Ohio Company of Associates. In 1786 the Ohio Company ran newspaper advertisements asking Revolutionary War officers and soldiers to meet at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Boston. Only eleven men showed up. Yet at its peak the company obtained rights to 1,781,700 acres, “north-westerly of the Ohio River,” an area slightly larger than the state of Delaware. In 1788, forty-eight armed men and boys from the Ohio Company floated down the river on homemade flatboats loaded with lumber and supplies and built from scratch the town of Marietta, Ohio. In those days two large flatboats were capable of carrying “twenty-nine whites, twenty-four negroes, nine dogs, twenty-three horses, cows, hogs, etc., besides provisions and furniture.” Indians along the Ohio River waxed and waned as a threat to voyagers.
From John M’Clung’s Sketches of Western Adventure, Containing an Account of the Most Interesting Incidents Connected with the Settlement of the West from 1755–1794, here’s a travel tale down the Ohio River in 1791.
IN THE YEAR 1791 , while the Indians were yet troublesome, especially on the banks of the Ohio, Captain William Hubbell, who had previously emigrated to Kentucky from the state of Vermont, and who, after having fixed his family in the neighborhood of Frankfort, then a frontier settlement, had been compelled to go to the eastward on business, was a second time on his way to this country. On one of the tributary streams of the river Monongahela, he procured a flat bottomed boat, and embarked in company with Mr. Daniel Light, and Mr. William Plascut and his family, consisting of a wife and eight chil dren, destined for Limestone, Kentucky. On their progress down the river Ohio, and soon after passing Pittsburgh, they saw evident traces of Indians along the banks, and there is every reason to believe that a boat which they overtook, and which, through carelessness, was suffered to run aground on an island, became a prey to these merciless savages.
Though Captain Hubbell and his party stopped some time for it in a lower part of the river, it did not arrive, and it has never to their knowledge been heard of since. Before they reached the mouth of the Great Kenhawn, they had, by several successive additions, increased their number to twenty, consisting of nine men, three women, and eight children. The men, besides these mentioned above, were one John Stoner, an Irishman and a Dutchman (whose names are not recollected), Messrs. Ray and Tucker, and Mr. Kilpatrick, whose two daughters also were of the party. Information received at Gallipolis confirmed the expectation of a serious conflict with a large body of Indians. Every possible preparation was made for a formidable and successful resistance of the anticipated attack.
The nine men were divided into three watches for the night, which were alternately to continue awake and be on the lookout for two hours at a time. The arms on board, which consisted principally of old muskets much out of order, were collected, loaded, and put in the best possible condition for service. At about sunset on that day, the 23d of March, 1791, our party overtook a fleet of six boats descending the river in company, and intended to have continued with them, but as their passengers seemed to be more disposed to dancing than fighting, and as, soon after dark, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Captain Hubbell, they commenced fiddling and dancing instead of preparing their arms and taking the necessary rest preparatory to battle, it was wisely considered more hazardous to be in such company than to be alone.
It was therefore determined to proceed rapidly forward by aid of the oars, and to leave those thoughtless fellow-travelers behind. Captain Hubbell and his party proceeded steadily forward alone. Early in the night a canoe was dimly seen floating down the river, in which were probably Indians reconnoitering.
It was now agreed, that should the attack, as was probable, be deferred till morning, every man should be up before the dawn in order to make as great a show as possible of numbers and of strength; and that, whenever the action should take place, the women and children should lie down on the cabin floor and be protected as well as they could by the trunks and other baggage, which might be placed around them. In this perilous situation they continued during the night, and the captain, who had not slept more than one hour since he left Pittsburgh, was too deeply impressed with the imminent danger which surrounded him to obtain any rest at that time.
Just as daylight began to appear in the east, and before the men were up and at their posts agreeably to arrangement, a voice at some distance below them in a plaintive tone repeatedly solicited them to come on shore, as there were some white persons who wished to obtain a passage in their boat. This the captain very naturally and correctly concluded to be an Indian artifice, and its only effect was to rouse the men and place every one on his guard. The voice of entreaty was soon changed into the language of indignation and insult, and the sound of distant paddles announced the approach of the savage foe. At length three Indian canoes were seen through the mist of the morning rapidly advancing. With the utmost coolness the captain and his companions prepared to receive them. The chairs, tables, and other encumbrances were thrown into the river, in order to clear the deck for action.
Every man took his position, and was ordered not to fire till the savages had approached so near, that (to use the words of Captain Hubbell), “the flash from the guns might singe their eyebrows”; and a special caution was given, that the men should fire successively, so that there might be no interval. On the arrival of the canoes, they were found to contain about twenty-five or thirty Indians each. As soon as they had approached within the reach of musket shot, a general fire was given from one of them, which wounded Mr. Tucker through the hip so severely that his leg hung only by the flesh, and shot Mr. Light just below the ribs. The three canoes placed themselves at the bow, stern, and on the right side of the boat, so that they had an opportunity of raking in every direction. The fire now commenced from the boat, and had a powerful effect in checking the confidence and fury of the Indians.
The captain, after firing his own gun, took up that of one of the wounded men, raised it to his shoulder, and was about to discharge it, when a ball came and took away the lock; he coolly turned round, seized a brand of fire from the kettle which served for a caboose, and applying it to the pan, discharged the piece with effect. A very regular and constant fire was now kept up on both sides. The captain was just in the act of raising his gun a third time when a ball passed through his right arm, and for a moment disabled him. Scarcely had he recovered from the shock and re-acquired the use of his hand, which had been suddenly drawn up by the wound, when he observed the Indians in one of the canoes just about to board the boat in its bow, where the horses were placed belonging to the party. So near had they approached, that some of them had actually seized with their hands the side of the boat.
Severely wounded as he was, he caught up a pair of horsemen’s pistols and rushed forward to repel the attempt at boarding. On his approach the Indians fell back, and he discharged a pistol with effect at the foremost man. After firing the second pistol, he found himself without arms, and was compelled to retreat; but stepping back upon a pile of small wood which had been prepared for burning in the kettle, the thought struck him, that it might be made use of in repelling the foe, and he continued for some time to strike them with it so forcibly and actively that they were unable to enter the boat, and at length he wounded one of them so severely that with a yell they suddenly gave way. All the canoes instantly discontinued the contest and directed their course to Captain Greathouse’s boat, which was then in sight. Here a striking contrast was exhibited to the firmness and intrepidity which had been displayed.
Instead of resisting the attack, the people on board of this boat retired to the cabin in dismay. The Indians entered it without opposition, and rowed it to the shore, where they instantly killed the captain and a lad of about fourteen years of age. The women they placed in the center of their canoes, and manning them with fresh hands, again pursued Captain Hubbell and party. A melancholy alternative now presented itself to these brave but almost desponding men, either to fall a prey to the savages themselves, or to run the risk of shooting the women, who had been placed in the canoes in the hope of deriving protection from their presence. But “self preservation is the first law of nature,” and the captain very justly remarked, there would not be much humanity in preserving their lives at such a sacrifice, merely that they might become victims of savage cruelty at some subsequent period.
There were now but four men left on board of Captain Hubbell’s boat, capable of defending it, and the captain himself was severely wounded in two places. The second attack, however, was resisted with almost incredible firmness and vigor. Whenever the Indians would rise to fire, their opponents would commonly give them the first shot, which in almost every instance would prove fatal. Notwithstanding the disparity of numbers, and the exhausted condition of the defenders of the boat, the Indians at length appeared to despair of success, and the canoes successively retired to the shore. Just as the last one was departing, Captain Hubbell called to the Indian, who was standing in the stern, and on his turning round, discharged his piece at him. When the smoke, which for a moment obstructed the vision, was dissipated, he was seen lying on his back, and appeared to be severely, perhaps mortally wounded.
Unfortunately the boat now drifted near to the shore where the Indians were collected, probably between four and five hundred, were soon rushing down on the bank. Ray and Plascut, the only men remaining unhurt, were placed at the oars, and as the boat was not more than twenty yards from shore, it was deemed prudent for all to lie down in as safe a position as possible and attempt to push forward with the utmost practicable rapidity. While they continued in this situation, nine balls were shot into one oar, and ten into the other, without wounding the rowers, who were hidden from view and protected by the side of the boat and the blankets in its stern. During this dreadful exposure to the fire of the savages, which continued about twenty minutes, Mr. Kilpatrick observed a particular Indian, whom he thought a favorable mark for his rifle, and, notwithstanding the solemn warning of Captain Hubbell, rose to shoot him. He immediately received a ball in his mouth, which passed out at the back part of his head, and was almost at the same moment shot through the heart. He fell among the horses that about the same time were killed, and presented to his afflicted daughters and fellow travelers, who were witnesses of the awful occurrence, a spectacle of horror which we need not further attempt to describe.
The boat was now providentially and suddenly carried out into the middle of the stream, and taken by the current beyond the reach of the enemy’s balls. Our little band, reduced as they were in numbers, wounded, afflicted, and almost exhausted by fatigue, were still unsubdued in spirit, and being assembled in all their strength, men, women, and children, with an appearance of triumph gave three hearty cheers, calling to the Indians to come on again if they were fond of the sport.
Thus ended this awful conflict, in which out of nine men, two only escaped unhurt. Tucker and Kilpatrick were killed on the spot, Stoner was mortally wounded and died on his arrival at Limestone, and all the rest, excepting Ray and Plascut, were severely wounded. The women and children were all uninjured, excepting a little son of Mr. Plascut, who, after the battle was over, came to the captain and with great coolness requested him to take a ball out of his head. On examination it appeared that a bullet which had passed through the side of the boat had penetrated the forehead of this little hero, and remained under the skin. The captain took it out, and the youth, observing, “That is not all,” raised his arm, and exhibited a piece of bone at the point of his elbow, which had been shot off and hung only by the skin. His mother exclaimed, “Why did you not tell me of this?”
“Because,” he coolly replied, “the captain directed us to be silent during the action, and I thought you would be likely to make a noise if I told you.”
The boat made the best of its way down the river, and the object was to reach Limestone that night. The captain’s arm had bled profusely, and he was compelled to close the sleeve of his coat in order to retain the blood and stop its effusion. In this situation, tormented by excruciating pain and faint through loss of blood, he was under the necessity of steering the boat with his left arm, till about ten o’clock that night, when he was relieved by Mr. William Brooks, who resided on the bank of the river, and who was induced by the calls of the suffering party to come out to their assistance. By his aid and that of some other per sons who were in the same manner brought to their relief, they were enabled to reach Limestone about twelve o’clock that night.
Crowds of people, as might be expected, came to witness the boat which had been the scene of so much heroism, and such horrid carnage, and to visit the resolute little band by whom it had been so gallantly and perseveringly defended. On examination it was found that the sides of the boat were literally filled with bullets and with bullet holes. There was scarcely a space of two feet square in the part above water, which had not either a ball remaining in it or a hole through which a ball had passed. Some persons who had the curiosity to count the number of holes in the blankets which were hung up as curtains in the stern of the boat, affirmed that in the space of five feet square there were one hundred and twenty-two. Four horses out of five were killed, and the escape of the fifth amidst such a shower of balls appears almost miraculous.