Post by Matthew S. Schweitzer on Sept 18, 2003 7:17:24 GMT -5
The Battle of Pickawillany, which took place on June 21, 1752 near modern-day Piqua, OH, was a minor yet portentous confrontation between the French, English and their Indian allies in western Ohio in the years just before the outbreak of the French and Indian War. It is little remembered today, but gravely foreshadowed the oncoming conflict that would rage for nearly 6 years on the North American continent.
It seems though that some at the Ohio Historical Society have taken a renewed interest in this early battlefield. Hopefully the Society will have sufficient funding to carry out study on the site.
Here is an interesting recent article about the early Ohio battle from the Columbus Dispatch:
FORGOTTEN FORT
A pre-Revolutionary trading post may hold bloody details to Ohio's past
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
NEWS - SCIENCE 06A By David Lore
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
PIQUA, Ohio -- Until the morning of June 21, 1752, the Miami Indian chief La Demoiselle, ''the dragonfly,'' thought he had outmaneuvered the two great European powers, the British and the French.But a few hours after dawn that day, the chief's precarious perch in Great Power politics fell apart. A large French-led Indian raiding party burst into La Demoiselle's village on the banks of the Great Miami River, capturing the women as they tended the corn and overrunning the cabins surrounding the trading fort built by the British two years earlier.
By sunset, it was over.The war party -- about 240 Chippewa, Nipissing and Ottawa warriors under the command of two French officers -- forced the 20 Miami Indians defending the fort to surrender.There were only a few fatalities, but among the dead were a British trader and La Demoiselle, chief of the Piankashaw band of the Miami. Both were cut open and their organs eaten to intimidate the white and Indian survivors and force their removal from French-controlled western Ohio.
Today, a cornfield and forest cover the spot where the clash occurred 250 years ago along the Great Miami north of Piqua and Dayton. Spared from development, the bluff has retained its timeless, tranquil quality despite its one brief, bloody appearance on the stage of history.The dark soils beneath the plow line, however, could hold evidence of what happened that day in the Miami village of Pickawillany.
Although the exact location of Pickawillany is unknown, the Ohio Historical Society purchased 37 acres along the bluff two years ago for an archaeological project that began last summer.Pickawillany was not so much an Indian battle as a confrontation on the Ohio frontier between the British and French. The political context of the raid and the brutality of its execution was merely a preview.
''I would see it as a very important indicator of the British ability to penetrate what had previously been a French area in the Ohio Valley and a threat to the very heart of New France,'' said historian David Edmunds of the University of Texas.'' In the 18th century, France and Britain fought a series of wars for colonial empire,'' he said. ''Pickawillany was part of this contest and, just as important, also is a very good example of Native American diplomacy in which tribal people attempt to be the weight that tips the balance of power one way or another.''
Pickawillany, which was briefly occupied by the Miami between 1747 and '52, is next to the state's Piqua Historical Area. But until recently, Pickawillany has been of interest to only a few archaeologists, historians and Dayton-area relic collectors.
In 1961, historical-society archaeologists first proposed a dig to determine the exact location of the village and clarify what structures had been there. Traders had described in their journals a British fort surrounded by cabins as well as a Miami longhouse or council house.
With the purchase of the land, archaeologists now hope they can throw new light on this forgotten chapter of Ohio history.
Preliminary surveys of the site have been performed using ground-penetrating scanners to determine where to dig. Possible targets include a rectangular trench that might have supported a wall, bell-shaped pit or a well and possible burial ground.And archaeologists are using metal detectors to look for clusters of objects that could mark the village site.At promising locations, surface soils will be stripped away to reveal garbage pits, post holes or other signs of settlement. Test pits then will be dug to find artifacts and gauge the size and shape of buildings.
Under the historical society's policy, it's likely that any human bones would be left in place rather than removed for study.Almost every detail about Pickawillany is in dispute. Frontier journals described a single fort having three gates and a ''high wall of split logs.'' Others mention plans by the British to build a second fort at the site.The village population has been described as in the hundreds, but the numbers are imprecise, as is the number killed during the raid.Also, the men inside the fort reportedly surrendered in part because they ran out of water.Yet, trader John Pattin, who visited the village in 1750, noted in his journal that a well had been dug inside the stockade.
A large number of metal objects, including knives, fish hooks, gun parts and lead shot, have been collected from the cornfield over the years. Some are on display at the Piqua Historical Area's museum.The presence of a blacksmith shop, evidence of the extensive trade between the Miami and the British, is suspected.It was this trade that threatened the French. Based in Detroit, the French controlled the Great Lakes forcing the British south, to the Ohio River, in their westward expansion.
Pickawillany was settled at a strategic spot at the northern end of the Great Miami River, said Andy Hite, Piqua site manager.Although the French controlled the lakes, the British -- and their Indian allies -- could move goods and people by water down the Ohio and then northwest into French territory using the Great Miami, the Wabash and the St. Marys rivers.''Whoever controlled this area controlled the Northwest Territory, and whoever controlled the Northwest Territory won,'' Hite said. Pickawillany also threatened the French because it was a lure for western Indians eager to trade their furs for British goods, which were cheaper than those offered by the French.''People are people -- they go where the bargains are,'' Hite said.
La Demoiselle was nicknamed ''Old Britain'' because he broke away from the French and welcomed the British, who sought to establish a foothold in the West.''Although the British and French were eager to use the tribes for their purposes, the Indians were eager to do the same with the European powers,'' Edmunds said. ''Indian diplomacy during these times reflects a sophistication that often has been overlooked by white historians.''
The chief lost his gambit -- and his life -- and the Pickawillany raid forced most of the Miami survivors to move north under French domain.''The (French) destruction of Pickawillany was the kind of practical diplomacy which was most effective on the frontier,'' historian Bert Anson wrote in 1970.Anson, however, concluded that the Miami were better rid of their new friends, given the inability of the British to protect them.'' They now returned to the Wabash-Maumee Valley to resume their French contacts, certain they were a power which could not be ignored.''
The tribe largely avoided involvement in the French and Indian War, 1754 to '63, but was decimated by smallpox epidemics throughout the 18th century.In confederation with other tribes, the Miami under chief Little Turtle -- possibly La Demoiselle's grandson, according to Anson -- fought a series of battles with the Americans prior to their defeat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.
Most of the Miami were relocated from Indiana to Oklahoma in 1846.The Oklahoma Miami have discussed the Pickawillany project with the Ohio Historical Society and have raised no objections, said Joseph Leonard, a management professor at Miami University and member of the tribe.
dlore@dispatch.com
It seems though that some at the Ohio Historical Society have taken a renewed interest in this early battlefield. Hopefully the Society will have sufficient funding to carry out study on the site.
Here is an interesting recent article about the early Ohio battle from the Columbus Dispatch:
FORGOTTEN FORT
A pre-Revolutionary trading post may hold bloody details to Ohio's past
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
NEWS - SCIENCE 06A By David Lore
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
PIQUA, Ohio -- Until the morning of June 21, 1752, the Miami Indian chief La Demoiselle, ''the dragonfly,'' thought he had outmaneuvered the two great European powers, the British and the French.But a few hours after dawn that day, the chief's precarious perch in Great Power politics fell apart. A large French-led Indian raiding party burst into La Demoiselle's village on the banks of the Great Miami River, capturing the women as they tended the corn and overrunning the cabins surrounding the trading fort built by the British two years earlier.
By sunset, it was over.The war party -- about 240 Chippewa, Nipissing and Ottawa warriors under the command of two French officers -- forced the 20 Miami Indians defending the fort to surrender.There were only a few fatalities, but among the dead were a British trader and La Demoiselle, chief of the Piankashaw band of the Miami. Both were cut open and their organs eaten to intimidate the white and Indian survivors and force their removal from French-controlled western Ohio.
Today, a cornfield and forest cover the spot where the clash occurred 250 years ago along the Great Miami north of Piqua and Dayton. Spared from development, the bluff has retained its timeless, tranquil quality despite its one brief, bloody appearance on the stage of history.The dark soils beneath the plow line, however, could hold evidence of what happened that day in the Miami village of Pickawillany.
Although the exact location of Pickawillany is unknown, the Ohio Historical Society purchased 37 acres along the bluff two years ago for an archaeological project that began last summer.Pickawillany was not so much an Indian battle as a confrontation on the Ohio frontier between the British and French. The political context of the raid and the brutality of its execution was merely a preview.
''I would see it as a very important indicator of the British ability to penetrate what had previously been a French area in the Ohio Valley and a threat to the very heart of New France,'' said historian David Edmunds of the University of Texas.'' In the 18th century, France and Britain fought a series of wars for colonial empire,'' he said. ''Pickawillany was part of this contest and, just as important, also is a very good example of Native American diplomacy in which tribal people attempt to be the weight that tips the balance of power one way or another.''
Pickawillany, which was briefly occupied by the Miami between 1747 and '52, is next to the state's Piqua Historical Area. But until recently, Pickawillany has been of interest to only a few archaeologists, historians and Dayton-area relic collectors.
In 1961, historical-society archaeologists first proposed a dig to determine the exact location of the village and clarify what structures had been there. Traders had described in their journals a British fort surrounded by cabins as well as a Miami longhouse or council house.
With the purchase of the land, archaeologists now hope they can throw new light on this forgotten chapter of Ohio history.
Preliminary surveys of the site have been performed using ground-penetrating scanners to determine where to dig. Possible targets include a rectangular trench that might have supported a wall, bell-shaped pit or a well and possible burial ground.And archaeologists are using metal detectors to look for clusters of objects that could mark the village site.At promising locations, surface soils will be stripped away to reveal garbage pits, post holes or other signs of settlement. Test pits then will be dug to find artifacts and gauge the size and shape of buildings.
Under the historical society's policy, it's likely that any human bones would be left in place rather than removed for study.Almost every detail about Pickawillany is in dispute. Frontier journals described a single fort having three gates and a ''high wall of split logs.'' Others mention plans by the British to build a second fort at the site.The village population has been described as in the hundreds, but the numbers are imprecise, as is the number killed during the raid.Also, the men inside the fort reportedly surrendered in part because they ran out of water.Yet, trader John Pattin, who visited the village in 1750, noted in his journal that a well had been dug inside the stockade.
A large number of metal objects, including knives, fish hooks, gun parts and lead shot, have been collected from the cornfield over the years. Some are on display at the Piqua Historical Area's museum.The presence of a blacksmith shop, evidence of the extensive trade between the Miami and the British, is suspected.It was this trade that threatened the French. Based in Detroit, the French controlled the Great Lakes forcing the British south, to the Ohio River, in their westward expansion.
Pickawillany was settled at a strategic spot at the northern end of the Great Miami River, said Andy Hite, Piqua site manager.Although the French controlled the lakes, the British -- and their Indian allies -- could move goods and people by water down the Ohio and then northwest into French territory using the Great Miami, the Wabash and the St. Marys rivers.''Whoever controlled this area controlled the Northwest Territory, and whoever controlled the Northwest Territory won,'' Hite said. Pickawillany also threatened the French because it was a lure for western Indians eager to trade their furs for British goods, which were cheaper than those offered by the French.''People are people -- they go where the bargains are,'' Hite said.
La Demoiselle was nicknamed ''Old Britain'' because he broke away from the French and welcomed the British, who sought to establish a foothold in the West.''Although the British and French were eager to use the tribes for their purposes, the Indians were eager to do the same with the European powers,'' Edmunds said. ''Indian diplomacy during these times reflects a sophistication that often has been overlooked by white historians.''
The chief lost his gambit -- and his life -- and the Pickawillany raid forced most of the Miami survivors to move north under French domain.''The (French) destruction of Pickawillany was the kind of practical diplomacy which was most effective on the frontier,'' historian Bert Anson wrote in 1970.Anson, however, concluded that the Miami were better rid of their new friends, given the inability of the British to protect them.'' They now returned to the Wabash-Maumee Valley to resume their French contacts, certain they were a power which could not be ignored.''
The tribe largely avoided involvement in the French and Indian War, 1754 to '63, but was decimated by smallpox epidemics throughout the 18th century.In confederation with other tribes, the Miami under chief Little Turtle -- possibly La Demoiselle's grandson, according to Anson -- fought a series of battles with the Americans prior to their defeat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.
Most of the Miami were relocated from Indiana to Oklahoma in 1846.The Oklahoma Miami have discussed the Pickawillany project with the Ohio Historical Society and have raised no objections, said Joseph Leonard, a management professor at Miami University and member of the tribe.
dlore@dispatch.com
