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Origins
- First Europeans
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It is hard to imagine the Ohio Valley without steel mills, railroad tracks, highways, and football, but there was a time when the only inhabitants of the region were Indians from the Six Nations and the game they hunted. The Mingo Indians were relatives of the Iroquois. Maps from the 1750s show a settlement of Mingo Indians in an area called "Mingo Bottom." This is present day Mingo Junction. The British were not the first Europeans through the Valley though. The French were most likely the first Europeans through the Valley. In the middle 17th century, Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was on a quest to find a water crossing through the eastern American continent. He started a journey in late 1667 when he landed in Quebec after arriving from France. He left Montreal in 1669 traveling across Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. LaSalle's exploration of the Ohio River valley began in the upper Allegheny River region; friendly Indians guided him down the river to the Ohio River. He continued his journey through modern-day Pittsburgh. He eventually came downstream through the Ohio Valley. His exploration crew, numbering 20-30 Frenchmen, noticed the frequent camps of Indians along the riverbanks. The Indians called the area "Oyo," pronounced, "O-hu-yah." The French translated this to mean, "La Belle Rivieri," or the "Beautiful River." This is the origin for the name of the state and river. 1 The Mingo Indians were a member of the Six Nations; they lived in the eastern and central Ohio territory during the 1760s to 1780s. The Iroquois, Six Nation tribe, were the Senecas, Cayugos, Oneidas, Mohawks, Onondagas, and the Tuscarawas. The Senecas(Mingoes) probably settled in Mingo Bottom. While the American Revolution was being fought to the east, the members of the Six Nations were occupying territory west of the Allegheny Mountains. Thomas Jefferson's writings in the 1780s show the Mingoes with a small population in Ohio.[3] The Shawnee and Delawares were much larger. The Mingoes also known as the Ohio Senecas, habituated near present day Mingo Junction until their move to central Ohio. After leaving the Ohio Valley, they settled near another river, the Scioto, in present day Columbus.2 They began to feel the surge of pioneers pushing past the Allegheny Mountains. Chief Logan, born Tachnechdorus, was the most famous of the Mingo Indians. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1725 to Iroquois parents. The Iroquois in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio were known as the Mingoes. John Logan was the Chief of the Mingoes. He was a physically strong and brave Indian leader. He used his power to avert war with other tribes and white men. He was a well respected man among the European settlers and he most likely earned his name Logan because of a friendship with William Penn's secretary, James Logan. He was friendly with settlers who were rapidly moving into the western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio wilderness. Eventually, Chief Logan moved his family to eastern Ohio in 1770. In 1774, a group of settlers murdered his family. From this point on, he sought revenge against those that murdered his family. The Mingoes began attacking settlers along the frontier border. The Colonists were not only fighting the British during this time, they were fighting the Indians in border wars. Eventually the other Indian tribes wanted to make peace with the Europeans, so they set up a meeting. Chief Logan refused to participate and sent this message instead: "I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen pointed as I passed and said, 'Logan is a friend of the white man.' I had even thought to have lived with you but for the injuries of one man, Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relatives of Logan, not even sparing his wives and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in any living creature. This calls on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have grown glutted by my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at creature. This calls on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have grown glutted by my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace; but do not harbor any thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? No one." It is clear from the message that Chief Logan was suffering from the loss of his family. He was a brave person looking for revenge. Colonel Cresap was tried for murdering his family, but was found innocent. Logan continued his assault on the white settlers until 1780, when he was murdered. He was never able to overcome the grief of losing his family and was clearly unable to stop the western push of the European settlers. He died a bitter man.2 Footnotes: 1 - John Edwin Coffman, "Ohio River," Discovery Channel School, original content provided by World Book Online, http://www.discoveryschool.com/students/homeworkhelp/ worldbook/atozgeography/o/400380.html, June 15, 2002. 2 - Ohio Historical Society - 1982 Velma Ave. - Columbus, OH 43211 3 - Albert Ellery, Ed., THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, Washington, DC, The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1907 |
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