Christie commanding, crossed the Niagara River, and stormed and
captured Queenstown Heights, six miles from its mouth. General Brock,
hastening with reinforcements to the aid of the British, was killed
and his troops driven back. But the American militia refused to cross
the river to support the regulars and the battle being renewed, the
latter were finally surrounded and compelled to surrender. For a brief
biography of General Brock, see Buttrick’s _Voyages_, _ante_, note 6.
Colonel John Christie, born in New-York City in 1786, was a graduate
of Columbia College, and in 1808 gave up the study of law to enter the
army. For the courage and skill displayed in the battle of Queenstown
he was advanced to the rank of colonel, March, 1813. He died the
following July from the effects of a wound received in the battle.—ED.
Footnote 65:
It is the intention of the writer to attempt, as soon as he can make
the necessary arrangements, to penetrate to the North Pole, and to
find a North-West passage by land.—EVANS.
Footnote 66:
This is an island of Ontario in the channel between Lakes Superior and
Huron.—ED.
Footnote 67:
For an account of Fort George, see Buttrick’s _Voyages_, _ante_, note
7.
The village of Newark was about a quarter of a mile from this fort. It
was settled by Loyalists immediately after the Revolution, and was
then called West Niagara. When, in 1792, the province of Upper Canada
was created, it was made the capital, and Governor Simcoe took up his
residence there, changing the name to Newark. The Americans captured
it (May, 1813), and held the place until the following December.
Before leaving, Brigadier-general McClure ordered it to be burned, and
all the houses, to the number of one hundred and fifty, were laid in
ashes. When it was rebuilt after the war, the name Niagara was
adopted.—ED.
Footnote 68:
Bordering the river, five miles above Fort Niagara, is a flat more
than sixty feet lower than the surrounding territory. Here the British
landed on the night of December 18, 1813, and the following day
surprised and captured Fort Niagara.—ED.
Footnote 69:
August 17, 1814, a British force under Major-general Ross landed at
the mouth of the Potomac and marched leisurely toward Washington. The
city was entirely without defense. Two thousand men having been
collected from the surrounding country and a thousand regulars
assembled, the British were met (August 24) at Bladensburg—five miles
north-east of Washington. Resistance was brief, the Maryland militia
fled, followed by the remainder of the troops. Ross entered Washington
without further opposition, and burned the public buildings.—ED.
Footnote 70:
This is hardly a fair illustration. The difficulty was, that the
Seminole stronghold was on Spanish territory, and it was Jackson’s
boldness in invading neutral territory, pursuing the Indians into the
swamps, and seizing the Spanish posts, that ended the war. He entered
Florida late in March, 1818; after five days’ march, he reached and
destroyed the Indian village, Fowltown; took possession of St. Marks,
April 6, and then marched one hundred and seven miles across a swampy
wilderness to Suwanee—the town of the Seminole chief Bowlegs. The
Indians had been warned and had retreated, but he burned the village,
and the war was ended as far as the Seminoles were concerned.—ED.
Footnote 71:
When on the morning of November 7, 1811, the Indians attacked General
Harrison’s camp and thus opened the battle of Tippecanoe, the militia
were for a time thrown into confusion, while the Fourth United States
Infantry under command of George Rogers Clark Floyd, stood their
ground. After the campaign was ended the latter more than hinted that
had it not been for them the whole force would have been
massacred.—ED.
Footnote 72:
Major-general Brown having crossed Niagara River (July 3, 1814) and
captured Fort Erie, General Riall marched to attack him. The two
forces met (July 5) on the plains of Chippewa, midway between Forts
George and Erie, and after a sharp skirmish the British retreated to
Queenstown. The importance of the battle was overshadowed by that of
Lundy’s Lane, which occurred the same month.—ED.
Footnote 73:
It is held that Niagara Falls have receded seven miles from their
position when first known, the average yearly recession being from
four to six feet.—ED.
Footnote 74:
Augustus Porter, brother of General Peter Porter, was born at
Salisbury, Connecticut, in 1769. When twenty years of age, he left
home for western New-York, becoming a surveyor in the Phelps and
Gorham Tract, and later in the Holland Purchase. In 1806, he removed
with his family to Niagara Falls, where he continued to reside until
his death in 1825. In association with three others, he formed the
Portage Company, which leased from the state for fifteen years the
exclusive privilege of transporting property across the portage
between Lewiston and Schlosser. He was the first judge of Niagara
County, opening his first term at Buffalo in 1808. The unusual length
of his life enabled him to see the country, through which he had
travelled for days without meeting a white man, develop into a
populous agricultural and commercial region.—ED.
Footnote 75:
For a brief account of Black Rock and Buffalo, see Buttrick’s
_Voyages_, _ante_, notes 4 and 9.—ED.
Footnote 76:
The Oneida alone remained neutral, and in consequence suffered
severely at the hands of the Mohawk, who burned their villages and
drove them to seek shelter at Schenectady.—ED.
Footnote 77:
For the early history of Fort Erie, see Buttrick’s _Voyages_, _ante_,
note 5.
Eleazer Derby Wood, born in New-York City (1783), a graduate of West
Point (1806), served in the West during the early part of the war,
having conducted the defense of Fort Meigs, and commanded the
artillery at the battle of the Thames. He was killed in General
Brown’s sortie to raise the siege of Fort Erie (September 17, 1814),
and a monument to his memory was erected by that general at West
Point.
James Gibson, who also died from a wound received in this sortie, was
a native of Sussex County, Delaware, and a graduate of West Point. He
had been in the battle of Queenstown Heights; was made a colonel, and
in July, 1813, inspector-general of the army.—ED.
Footnote 78:
In 1750, Joncaire built a stronghold at the upper end of the Niagara
portage, which was known as Fort au Portage; but when, eight years
later, the English advanced to invest Fort Niagara, he blew it up and
retired across the river. At the close of the French and Indian War
(1763), the English built a fort at this point, which they named Fort
Schlosser, in honor of Captain Joseph Schlosser, its first
commander.—ED.
Footnote 79:
In retaliation for the burning of Newark, General Riall, upon the
capture of Fort Niagara (December, 1813) ordered his troops to destroy
all American settlements on the Niagara frontier. Buffalo, Black Rock,
Lewiston, Schlosser, and the friendly Seneca and Tuscarora villages
were accordingly burned, and the people driven to seek shelter at
Batavia.—ED.
Footnote 80:
The Seneca Indians were the most western of the Iroquois, and during
the Revolutionary War had their principal villages on the Genesee
River, one of them containing one hundred and twenty-eight houses.
These were completely destroyed by Sullivan’s expedition (1779); but
although the English invited them to cross into Canada with the
Mohawk, they refused to go, and a considerable number settled near the
mouth of Buffalo and Cattaraugus creeks. When in 1797 the Holland
Company purchased the Indian title to their lands, the Seneca retained
reservations at these points, also the Allegheny and Tonawanda
reservations already mentioned (_ante_, p. 153), and five smaller ones
in the Genesee valley. In 1838 pressure was brought to bear by the
Ogden Land Company, and certain chiefs signed a treaty ceding their
lands in New-York, Congress at the same time granting them lands in
Indian Territory. The body of the people, however, refused to move;
the New-York and Pennsylvania Friends interested themselves in their
behalf, and they were allowed to remain.—ED.
Footnote 81:
The history of the tribe known as the Erie or Cat Nation is obscure
and involved, and their habitat uncertain. See _Jesuit Relations_,
viii, p. 305; xxi, pp. 313–315.—ED.
Footnote 82:
For the early history of Presqu’ Isle, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
volume i of our series, note 62.—ED.
Footnote 83:
For the Grand, Cuyahoga, and Rocky Rivers, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
volume i of our series, notes 70, 72, and 73.—ED.
Footnote 84:
This stream drains Medina and Lorain counties, Ohio, entering Lake
Erie about thirty miles west of Cleveland.—ED.
Footnote 85:
For the Vermillion River, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our
series, note 76.—ED.
Footnote 86:
The Huron River rises in northern Ohio, and flowing north-westward
empties into Lake Erie about nine miles east of Sandusky.—ED.
Footnote 87:
The Black Swamp, extending from the Sandusky to the Maumee River, and
covering an area of over one hundred and twenty miles in length and an
average of forty in width, was entirely avoided by early settlers in
northern Ohio. By the Indian treaty signed at Brownstown (1808), the
United States government acquired a strip of land to make a road
through the swamp; but nothing further than the preliminary surveys
being accomplished, the land was later transferred to the State, and
the first road completed in 1827. It was very little settled before
1830. In accordance with a state law passed in 1859, a system of
public ditches was introduced, which rapidly drained the swamp and
transformed it into a fertile agricultural region.—ED.
Footnote 88:
These rapids of the Sandusky River were located about eighteen miles
from where the river empties into Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie.—ED.
Footnote 89:
Upper Sandusky was formerly the seat of a Wyandot settlement. Near
there, Crawford was defeated by the Indians (June, 1782) and
subsequently tortured to death. General Harrison built a temporary
fort at that point during the War of 1812–15. For the Wyandot villages
on the Sandusky, see Weiser’s _Journal_, volume i of our series, note
26.—ED.
Footnote 90:
For the events leading up to the treaty, see _ante_, note 11. It was
signed (August 3, 1795) by ninety chiefs and delegates from twelve
tribes, and established the following Indian boundary line: up the
Cuyahoga River and across the Tuscarawas portage to a point near Fort
Laurens, thence south-west to Laramie’s Station, thence north-west to
Fort Recovery, and thence south-west to the Ohio, opposite the mouth
of the Kentucky River.—ED.
Footnote 91:
This stockade, better known as Fort Stephenson, was constructed in the
spring of 1813. In August following, it was attacked by General
Proctor as here related. The British troops stormed it fiercely for
two hours, all their officers and a fifth of their men being killed or
wounded.
George Croghan, a nephew of George Rogers Clark, was born at Locust
Grove, near Louisville, Kentucky, November, 1791. Graduating from
William and Mary’s College (1810) he entered the army and took part in
the battle of Tippecanoe. He so distinguished himself at the siege of
Fort Meigs that he was promoted to the rank of major, and placed in
charge of Fort Stephenson. For his gallant defense of this post, he
was voted a medal by Congress. After an unsuccessful attack on Fort
Mackinac (1814), he left the army for a short time and acted as
postmaster at New-Orleans. In 1823 he re-entered the army, was made
inspector-general with the rank of colonel, and later served with
distinction in the Mexican War. See Williams, “George Croghan,” in
Ohio Archæological and Historical Society _Publications_, xii, pp.
375–409.—ED.
Footnote 92:
Portage River, entering into Sandusky Bay from Wood County.—ED.
Footnote 93:
Across the river from the present Maumee City, Henry County, Ohio.
This fort, built in February, 1813, was twice besieged during that
year by the British and their Indian allies under Tecumseh, but was
not captured.—ED.
Footnote 94:
At the Raisin River, see _post_, note 63.—ED.
Footnote 95:
While General Proctor was besieging Fort Meigs (May, 1813), Colonel
Dudley with eight hundred Kentucky militia descended the rapids and
surprised the British, driving them from their battery and spiking
their cannon. But, too elated by success to enter the fort as ordered,
they pursued the enemy for nearly two miles into the woods and swamps,
and were finally surrounded and captured.—ED.
Footnote 96:
After the battle of Fallen Timbers, General Wayne (September, 1794)
proceeded to destroy the Miami villages at the junction of the St.
Mary and St. Josephs rivers, and there built Fort Wayne. It had long
been a centre of Indian trade, and the French had maintained a post
there through the first half of the eighteenth century. See Croghan’s
_Journals_, volume i of our series, note 87.—ED.
Footnote 97:
General Wayne destroyed the Indian villages at the confluence of the
Auglaize and Maumee rivers (August, 1794), and established Fort
Defiance at that point. On his march from Fort Recovery for that
purpose, he also built Fort Adams at the place where he crossed St.
Mary’s River, at Girtystown, an old Indian trading place twenty-five
miles north of Fort Recovery. For the history of the forts of Ohio,
see Graham, “Military Posts in Ohio,” in Ohio Archæological and
Historical Society _Publications_, vol. iii.—ED.
Footnote 98:
The building of Fort Miami by the British in a time of peace between
that nation and the United States (1794) was one of the grievances of
the frontiersmen. After Wayne’s victory, the Indians were chased to
the gates of Fort Miami. The British surrendered this fort with the
other North-west posts in 1796. The Americans made the post at this
place the rendezvous for the campaign of 1812–13.—ED.
Footnote 99:
This was probably the village at the mouth of Otter Creek, forty-two
miles south-west of Detroit. The land had been purchased from the
Indians and settlement begun in 1794.—ED.
Footnote 100:
This road, begun under the direction of the secretary of war, May,
1816, was built by soldiers stationed at Detroit. By November, 1818,
seventy miles had been completed. It was eighty feet wide and
contained over sixty causeways and many bridges.—ED.
Footnote 101:
In 1784 a small body of French Canadians purchased land from the
Indians and settled at the mouth of Raisin River, forty miles south of
Detroit. They traded in furs with the agents of the North-West
Company. In 1812 the village contained about forty-five French
families and a few Americans. It has now been incorporated in the city
of Monroe.—ED.
Footnote 102:
General Winchester, having reached the Maumee Rapids, did not wait for
the remainder of the army under Harrison, but proceeded to Frenchtown,
although his men had little ammunition and the town was unprotected,
save for a line of pickets. Proctor, the British general, crossed from
Malden and attacked him, January 22, 1813. A panic seizing one portion
of the army they fled to the woods where they were overtaken and most
of them scalped by the Indians; the militia at the same time
surrendering to Proctor. Without providing sufficient protection for
the wounded left at Frenchtown, this general hastened back to Canada,
and the following morning a horde of painted savages broke into the
town and shot and scalped the helpless prisoners.—ED.
Footnote 103:
Brownstown is situated on the Huron River, twenty-five miles south of
Detroit; Magagua (Monguagon) is about twenty miles south of Detroit.
The engagement at the former place occurred August 5; at the latter,
August 9, 1812.—ED.
Footnote 104:
For the early history of Detroit, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i
of our series, note 18.—ED.
Footnote 105:
Lewis Cass was governor of Michigan from 1814 to 1831.—ED.
Footnote 106:
Alexander Macomb (1782–1841) was a lieutenant colonel in the regular
army at the outbreak of the War of 1812–15. Having served on the
Niagara frontier during 1813, he commanded the regular troops at the
battle of Plattsburg (September, 1814), and for his bravery was made a
major-general and received a gold medal from Congress. Upon the death
of General Brown in 1828, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the
army.—ED.
Footnote 107:
Either the common whitefish (_Coregonus clupeiformis_) or the blue
fins (_Coregonus nigripinnis_).—ED.
Footnote 108:
For an account of the North-West Company, consult the preface to
Long’s _Voyages_, volume ii of our series, p. 16.—ED.
Footnote 109:
Hog Island, about three miles above Detroit, was so named by the
French in the early years of discovery, because of the number of wild
swine found thereon. Near this island occurred the defeat of the Fox
Indians in 1712. See _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, xvi, p. 283.
This island was purchased by William, father of General Macomb, in
1786.—ED.
Footnote 110:
For the Ottawa Indians, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our
series, note 37.—ED.
Footnote 111:
This unimportant post was established (1765) and commanded by Patrick
Sinclair, a British army officer, who also purchased a large tract of
land along the river. Both fort and river were for a long time called
Sinclair, and as late as 1807 are so given in an Indian treaty drawn
up by Governor Hull. See _State Papers, Indian Affairs_, i, p.
747.—ED.
Footnote 112:
The battle of the Thames, in which Proctor was put to flight and
Tecumseh killed, was fought two miles west of Moraviantown, or about
sixty-five miles north-east of Detroit.—ED.
Footnote 113:
In 1793 Governor Simcoe made a trip to Detroit, and selected the
present site of London for the capital of Upper Canada. However, the
surrender of Detroit (1796), in accordance with Jay’s Treaty, rendered
such a plan impracticable, and York was chosen capital instead.
London, situated on the Thames one hundred and ten miles north-east of
Detroit, was laid out in 1826 and incorporated in 1840.—ED.
Footnote 114:
For the Delaware and Chippewa Indians, see Post’s _Journals_, volume i
of our series, note 57; Long’s _Voyages_, volume ii of our series,
note 42.—ED.
Footnote 115:
For a brief biography of General Arthur St. Clair, see F. A. Michaux’s
_Travels_, volume iii of our series, note 33. Evans would seem to
imply that the lake and river were named for this officer. The name
was assigned by La Salle’s expedition in 1679. See Hennepin, _A New
Discovery_ (Thwaites’s ed., Chicago, 1903), pp. 59, 108.—ED.
Footnote 116:
The English, upon their surrender of Mackinac in 1796, thinking the
Americans might claim St. Joseph Island, hastened to take possession.
A stockade was erected and subsequently a blockhouse, but the place
was not suited for a military station. In 1815, the buildings were
repaired and a garrison established; it was removed, however, to
Drummond’s Island the following year. For further information
regarding this island, see _Michigan Pioneer Collections_, xvi, p.
69.—ED.
Footnote 117:
For information concerning these lakes, see Long’s _Voyages_, volume
ii of our series, pp. 145, 191.—ED.
Footnote 118:
For the early history of Mackinac, see Thwaites, “Story of Mackinac,”
in _How George Rogers Clark won the North-west_ (Chicago, 1903).—ED.
Footnote 119:
A brief sketch of Fort St. Joseph is given in Croghan’s _Journals_,
volume i of our series, note 85.—ED.
Footnote 120:
Evans probably refers here to the fall five miles from the mouth of
Fox River, at De Pere (French, _Rapides des pères_), so called because
it was the site of a Jesuit Indian mission established in 1669–70. See
_Wisconsin Historical Collections_, xvi. Our author in his description
omits mention of the Lower Fox, flowing from Lake Winnebago into Green
Bay.—ED.
Footnote 121:
Fort Howard, named in honor of General Benjamin Howard, formerly
commander in the Western territory, was constructed (1816) a mile
above the mouth of Fox River, when the Americans took possession,
after the War of 1812–15. A French settlement, chiefly on the opposite
side of the river at Green Bay, had existed here since about 1745.—ED.
Footnote 122:
There were two villages of Winnebago (French Puans) on the lake of
that name: the principal one was situated on Doty’s Island, at the
mouth of the lake; the other at the junction of the Upper Fox and the
lake, near the waterworks station of the modern Oshkosh. This latter
was familiarly known to the French voyageurs as Saukière. The village
on the Menominee (Malhominis) River was, as Evans says, a mixed one,
composed principally of the tribe which gave name to the river. For
these two tribes, see Long’s _Voyages_, volume ii of our series, notes
81, 86. For the Potawatomi, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our
series, note 84.—ED.
Footnote 123:
A piece of land six miles square situated on the Chicago River, having
been ceded to the United States by the treaty of Greenville (1795),
orders were issued by the War Department (1803) for the construction
of a fort on the north branch of the river. Fearing a combined English
and Indian attack, the garrison evacuated the fort August 15, 1812;
but had proceeded but a little way, when they were attacked by the
Indians and the greater number massacred. Fort Dearborn was rebuilt in
1816, and garrisoned for several years thereafter. It was torn down in
1857, and the last of the buildings connected with it were consumed in
the Chicago fire of 1871.—ED.
Footnote 124:
For a brief description of Sault Ste. Marie, consult Long’s _Voyages_,
volume ii of our series, note 38.—ED.
Footnote 125:
For these tribes, many of whom are merely clans of the larger tribes,
consult _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, xvi, index.—ED.
Footnote 126:
See Franchère’s _Narrative_, volume vi of our series, note 205, for a
brief description of the Grand Portage.—ED.
Footnote 127:
For Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake, see Franchère’s _Narrative_,
notes 201, 204.
The maps of Evans’s period represent White Bear Lake as the source of
the Mississippi, and Red or Mississagan Lake as the origin of Red
River of the North. The latter retains its name. The former is
probably that now known as Leech Lake.—ED.
Footnote 128:
Illinois was admitted to the Union in 1818, and the part north of its
present boundary was annexed to Michigan Territory. For the various
divisions of the North-west Territory, see Thwaites, “Division of the
North-west,” in _How George Rogers Clark won the North-west_.—ED.
Footnote 129:
Grose Isle, nine miles in length and about a mile in width, was
purchased from the Indians in 1776 by William Macomb; it extends to
the mouth of Detroit Strait.—ED.
Footnote 130:
When Perry reached Erie, Pennsylvania, to take charge of naval affairs
(March, 1813), he found two vessels, the “Niagara” and the “Lawrence,”
already under construction. Working with tireless energy he equipped
his fleet of ten vessels by August 12, and sailing up the lake
anchored in Put-in-Bay to await the enemy. On the morning of September
10, the British squadron of six vessels, under Captain Barclay,
appeared and the battle began. The “Lawrence,” Perry’s ship, being
shot to pieces, he boarded the “Niagara,” and again attacked the
British at close range. At three in the afternoon, Barclay’s two large
vessels surrendered, and two others attempting to escape were
captured. This victory compelled the British to evacuate Detroit.—ED.
Footnote 131:
The “Wasp” under command of Johnston Blakely sailed from Portsmouth
for the British Channel (May, 1814), and began the destruction of
English merchantmen. June 28, the brig “Reindeer” bore down upon her,
but after twenty minutes of hard fighting was compelled to surrender.
Although suffering severely in this engagement, the “Wasp” continued
her ravages until October, when she disappeared and was never heard
from again.—ED.
Footnote 132: