Otis James
Benjamin of Ohio: A Story of the Settlement of Marietta
A REAL FEAST
Now it so happened, fortunately for us, that the smoke had come from the camp of white men, and of them Bruce begged, or bought, half of a fat deer, broiling enough steaks on the coals to satisfy the hunger of the younger members of the party, while he roasted a goodly portion, hunter-fashion, on a hickory skewer stuck up in the earth in front of the fire.
The girls made coffee and corn bread, and we feasted that night.
Captain Haskell and I went on board the boat to sleep, and I was not sorry we did so, for before morning another storm came up, and when we looked out from beneath the wagon covers, after sunrise, snow covered the ground to the depth of two inches.
The sun was shining brightly; the wind had died away until there was not sufficient air stirring to lift a feather, and nothing prevented us from continuing the journey without delay, which we did, the girls broiling venison steaks in our fireplace at the stern of the boat while we sailed along.
Master Bruce told us we might take no little credit to ourselves, for we most likely were the first white people to venture on the Indian shore and remain there all night, since Pittsburgh had become a town.
FINDING THE CANOE
It surprised me not a little because the old hunter failed to mourn the loss of his canoe, for on board was all his equipment for the winter's work, and, having lost it, he must go back to Pittsburgh to replenish his stores and procure another craft.
However, it is folly for one to worry and fret over that which cannot be avoided. Master Bruce might have made himself miserable bewailing the loss of his goods and nothing would have been changed.
Near noon we saw the craft on the Pennsylvania side of the river, where it had been blown by the wind, lying there comfortably ashore, as if waiting for us to take it in tow.
It was a difficult matter to pull our craft around to get hold of the canoe; but we finally did so, and would have worked more than one day rather than allow the old hunter to meet with a loss.
When it was made fast alongside once more, and we were drifting with the current, Master Bruce went on board to learn what portion of his goods had been lost during the storm, and to his surprise found that only one of the traps was missing, although the flour was more or less wet.
Why the canoe was not overset by the wind, unstable as it was, I could not understand until Master Bruce explained that the weight of the flour and the traps, resting on the bottom of the boat, must have served as ballast to hold it steady, and again, most-like, it went ashore within a short time after having been cut adrift.
I supposed we had quite a journey before us from Pittsburgh to Buffalo Creek, and therefore was surprised when at sunset I asked Master Bruce concerning the distance, and he told me that within an hour we would arrive at the place where we were to take on the cattle and horses, for it was Master Rouse's intent to carry with us Uncle Daniel's oxen, if the old man had not succeeded in loading them on his friend's craft.
BUFFALO CREEK
It was not yet nine o'clock when we came within sight of the few twinkling lights in the settlement of Buffalo, and I could hear Isaac Barker's boisterous laugh while we were yet half a mile away, therefore I knew he was indulging in his quips and jokes.
It must have been that he was on the lookout for us, for before the flatboat was made fast to the shore, he, with Michael Rouse and Ben Cushing, was calling out words of welcome, and asking how the journey had progressed. As soon as they were on board, our craft having been made fast, we learned without surprise that the two ailing horses had died during the march.
A few moments later, as I was about to overhaul the bedding in order to make it ready for the children, whose time for going to sleep had already passed, Mistress Rouse said to me that she had no intention of remaining on board the boat during the night.
The fear that another storm might come up, or that we might be half-swamped as at Pittsburgh, caused the good woman to shrink from spending the night on the boat when it was possible to sleep ashore. Isaac was therefore urged to find some shelter, which he speedily did by proposing that they take possession of a log hut which stood on a point of land near the mouth of Buffalo Creek, where he, with Michael and Ben, had slept the night before.
The building had been abandoned, as it seemed, or else its owner was making a long journey, perhaps on a hunting trip, and would not complain if we made free with his property, it being the custom on the frontier for travelers to take advantage of such shelter as they might find unoccupied.
THE MARCH ACROSS THE COUNTRY
I counted on hearing from Ben Cushing and Isaac Barker entertaining stories that night, concerning the march across the country, but much to my disappointment they had nothing of interest to tell.
Forced to accommodate their pace to the slowly moving oxen, they trudged along hour after hour, starting well before daylight and continuing as long as it was possible to see at night, in order to cover the greatest possible distance, with nothing whatsoever to break the monotony of the march.
We were up long before the sun next morning, for now it was necessary to take the live stock on board our flatboat. We were forced to embark Uncle Daniel's oxen, he having passed Buffalo some time before Isaac and Ben arrived there, and when we had all the beasts on board we were packed like herring in a box, each in his own special place and with very little opportunity to move about.
However, we were nearly at our journey's end; the current of the river ran swiftly as compared with the stream at Pittsburgh, and there was no longer reason to fear that the Indians might do any harm, even if there had been cause before.
In exactly four days from the time of leaving Pittsburgh, we arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum. It was well we had come to an end of our journey so soon, for ice was already beginning to form in the river, and before daylight the Muskingum was frozen quite solidly.
Within an hour after we had moored the flatboat to the bank, Master Devoll came on board.
Although I have not said that this march of ours was attended with danger, and in fact it was not, yet there were many chances that one or another of us, if not all, might have fallen by the wayside, owing either to the roughness of the way, or the fatigue caused by such incessant labor with insufficient lodging, to say nothing of the poor food owing to the fact that we had not the necessary vessels in which to prepare it.
AT MARIETTA
Before we had really made the flatboat fast, Mistress Devoll and Mistress Rouse were almost at their wits' ends with fear, for in the woods and on the sides of the hill back of Fort Harmar could be seen hundreds upon hundreds of camp fires, and one of those idlers who are ever to be found at the riverside of a settlement, told us there were no less than three hundred savages encamped there, having come to make a treaty with our people on the 9th of January.
Master Devoll laughed at his wife's fears, claiming that the savages were as peaceful as lambs, although at the time I doubted very much whether he believed his own words.
However, the women and children did not remain aboard our flatboat, for Master Devoll took them to the Mayflower, which was moored near by, where were better accommodations for sleeping, and in our craft only Ben Cushing and I were left on guard.
We two lads spent a full hour that evening, congratulating ourselves upon having finished the journey and questioning as to what we would do now we were come into this Ohio country.
We had been more than eight weeks on the road, advancing all the time, one day after another, except the eight and forty hours which were spent with Master Hiples in that village where live the Dunkards, and, save for the death of the two horses, we had come through with no greater mishap than the loss of a two-quart tin measure and a blanket belonging to Mistress Rouse. This was doing remarkably well, when you consider that never one of the party, not even the men, had undertaken such a journey before.
In the morning we found the Muskingum River frozen from shore to shore, and until spring came the stream was never so free of ice that we could have propelled our boat, therefore we arrived, as one might say, just in the nick of time, for a delay of four and twenty hours would have found us frozen in at some point above the town, from which it would have been necessary to continue on foot.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
Uncle Daniel was on the river bank to meet us next morning, before we put the animals ashore, and then, very much to my disappointment, he announced that it was not his intention to remain long in Marietta.
It appears that he, with several others, had decided to go thirteen miles down the Ohio River, where they had already staked out a town, and there build for themselves a settlement which should be wholly made up of those who had been neighbors in Massachusetts. However, he was forced to remain with us at Marietta during the winter.
Master Devoll took his family from the Mayflower at an early hour next morning and moved their belongings to Campus Martius, where he hoped to remain until his house was finished, and there did Mistress Devoll bid me come, saying I should find a home with them until it was possible to settle upon plans for the future, while Master Devoll told me that if I wanted to work at fair wages as a farm hand, he would give me employment as soon as spring had come.
It may be that I was a simple for not accepting the offer which was made in all kindness of heart, and yet I had a desire to become something more than an ordinary laborer, so, thanking him heartily for his generosity, I went out into the world on my own account, having as partner Ben Cushing.
We two young fellows had no idea of what it might be possible for us to do. This new country was all so different from what we had seen in Massachusetts; the ways of the people would be different now they had come so far from home, and we were without means of gaining a livelihood, save for our willingness to work and the strength of our bodies.
INSPECTING THE TOWN OF MARIETTA
However, penniless and undecided though we were, there was no intention on our part to force matters, and after the flatboat had been unloaded, we set about looking the town over, eager to see what had been done in so short a time, and speculating as to what we might do at some future day.
I am free to confess that the fortification with the high-sounding name of Campus Martius was pleasing to look upon. It was an imposing building, not such a one as you would expect to find in a wild country, and it lent to its surroundings a certain sense of security, because one could readily understand that it was built in a manner to defy the attacks of the savages.
Outside the palisade, extending in either direction along the river bank were ten log cabins, very few of which were occupied by their owners, for those who had built them had not as yet brought their families to Marietta. The streets were laid out in regular order, but like those we saw in Harrisburg, they were still filled with the stumps of trees, and the only signs of highways were the tiny paths looking much like sheep tracks as they wound in and out among the trees, avoiding the wet places, and leading where the way was most easy to travel.
No one gave any heed to us, and we wandered here and there looking into this house or criticizing another which was but half finished, until we came to where we could see Fort Harmar with the Indian encampment behind it. Then we decided upon the next day's entertainment, for Ben Cushing insisted that since this was our first chance to see a savage, we should spend at least a few hours there.
While it promised a novelty, I was by no means easy in mind regarding an inspection of the red men. Nevertheless I kept all these fears to myself, hoping Ben might give over his excursion when we learned that the ice was not strong enough to bear us up.
Unfortunately, however, it was possible to gain Fort Harmar, for the night was very cold, and ice formed of a thickness to render traveling on the river safe, therefore I was forced to agree to his proposition again.
A TEMPORARY HOME
Before we could inspect these Indian visitors, it was necessary we should make some provision for food and shelter, for neither of us wanted to present himself to Mistress Rouse or Mistress Devoll as a beggar, therefore we set about providing for ourselves a temporary home.
I have no doubt but that we would have been allowed to take possession of any of the log houses which were not occupied; but that would have been much like begging a shelter, therefore we proposed to Master Devoll that we occupy the flatboat during the time that it remained fast in the ice.
It proved to be a happy idea. He told us that it was his intention to allow the boat to remain where it was until spring, since he could do no different because of the ice, and then it could be used by those who proposed to make a settlement fourteen miles farther down the Ohio. He also said that we were at liberty to use it as we saw fit during the entire winter, providing, of course, that we did no damage to the craft; but at the same time advising that, instead of trying to keep house by ourselves, we live either with his family or Master Rouse's.
He said we should find plenty of game in the woods, and proposed that we borrow his gun whenever we were in need of meat, promising to supply us with ammunition; but this last we agreed to only with the understanding that he keep a strict account of what was used, so that when we had earned sufficient money with which to cancel the debt, we might pay him.
At this he laughed, declaring that we were indeed high and mighty for lads who yet had their way to make through the world; but at the same time clapping us heartily on the shoulders as he vowed he liked our spirit and had no doubt but that we should succeed in making our way, for there must be ample opportunity for willing lads to earn fair wages when spring had come.
BUYING LAND
Another thing Master Devoll did for which both Ben and I have good reason to bless him. He insisted that we make a bargain with Colonel Putnam for one of the eight-acre lots, agreeing to pay for it within a year's time, and inasmuch as the price fixed upon for those who had come to settle was the same as that made by the government, meaning one dollar an acre, it surely seemed as if we could contrive within a twelve-month to earn that much money in addition to supporting ourselves.
Without loss of time we went to the small building which Colonel Putnam called the "Land Office," and there made application for one of the lots as Master Devoll had advised. On the instant after Colonel Putnam spoke, we understood that Master Devoll had not contented himself simply with giving advice, but had been to the land office before us, stating who we were and what were our intentions, therefore Colonel Putnam not only was ready to receive us, but had much to say which sounded to my ears like unwon praise.
"It is such lads as you that we want here in Marietta," he said heartily. "Your records are good, so far as I have learned, and it pleases me to set aside an eight-acre lot for you. Decide upon any one of those which have not already been taken, and I will enter it in your names."
Then he put before us a plan of the town of Marietta, whereon each piece of land was marked out, and we, instead of going out to look for ourselves that we might decide which was the most valuable or desirable, said to him that he should put our names down on whatever lot he saw fit, whereupon he laughingly did so, and we afterward learned that we had been, perhaps, wise in leaving to him the selection.
That night after we had become landowners, as you might say, we slept on board the flatboat with no covering save such a shelter as could be made with branches of trees, and because we were not disposed to ask either Mistress Rouse or Mistress Devoll to lend us blankets, we made a lively blaze in the fireplace, laying ourselves down with our feet toward it.
The night was cold indeed and we suffered not a little before morning; but, as Ben said, it was better to be a trifle chilly than to feel ourselves beholden to any one, even for that with which we covered ourselves.
I insisted that our first duty should be to get together a supply of fuel, and indeed there was no scarcity about. The trees grew so near the water's edge that we could hew them into four-foot lengths, and almost toss them into the flatboat.
It was my proposition that we fill the craft entirely with fuel before doing anything else, but Ben was so set upon seeing the Indian encampment, that he refused to do more than cut enough to last during one night, and when I asked him what he intended to do about breakfast, he quietly announced that he would rather go hungry one day, than miss the chance of seeing those savages with whom we might, at some time in the near future, find ourselves fighting for our lives.
I also was eager to see the Indians; but not to such an extent that I would cross over to Fort Harmar with an empty stomach. I therefore told him that I should first make it my duty to go into the woods in search of game.
