Vermilion Views

PREHISTORIC FIRE-LANDS: I found the following information re: the early inhabitants of our area to be extremely informative. Methinks you will also.

I am getting better at transcribing these passages so there are fewer mistakes. But I like to read as I go - and sometimes I fill in the blanks. So tread carefully this trail through yesteryear.

INDIANS OF THE FIRE-LANDS -PART 2

INDIAN CHARACTER

There was preserved among them a tradition of their migration across the lakes, impelled by a great famine to search for new hunting grounds. They built their "big fire'' or chief town at Upper Sandusky, and a map, published in 1755, shows the location of others of their villages along the river. These settlements flourished, and the Wyandots became, after the lapse of years, the most powerful tribe in this region. There is frequent mention of the chronicles of the pioneers on the Fire-lauds, of parties of these Sandusky river Wyandots who crossed the Fire-lands in search of game.

In smaller numbers on the Fire-lands were the Senecas, a remnant of the once powerful nation, which, with the other tribes of the Iroquois confederacy, a century and a half before, had crushed the Wyandots and the Eries. The white settlements had become numerous through the territory where the Five Nations had held dominion. The star of the Senecas was waning. They had no longer the leadership of such chieftains as Red Jacket, the warrior-orator, and, driven by the dominant Caucasian race, they were drifting slowly across the country towards the great plains of the west.

Besides these two representatives of the Huron-Iroquois family, there were no others on the Fire-lands in the days of the pioneers.

The Algonquin, however, were here, not in such numbers of individuals probably, but more numerously represented in names of tribes. Among these we note the Delawares, the Renappi or Lenni-Lenape, as they called themselves, who dwelt along the banks of the Huron river, the most of them in Milan township. With them were mingled the Ottawas or " Tawas," as many of the white settlers called them. The one people had come from the east, where, for years, they had lived among the other Algonquin tribes of the Atlantic coast; the other had come from the northwest, and, in perfect peace, they had united their fortunes in the pleasant valley of the Huron. Upon the picturesque site of the town of Milan they built their village, Pequotting, and there and in that vicinity, even after the coming of the pale faces, they hunted and fished, and raised corn on the fertile river flats.

We believe that it was these Delawares and Ottawas of Pequotting who were accustomed to make maple sugar on the river bottom west of Norwalk, and whose trail lay along the sand ridge where now is Main Street, the pleasant, maple-shaded avenue which is the pride of the town.

The other Algonquin tribes, so far as is known, had no fixed residence on or near the Fire-lands, but, pursuant to their nomadic habits, they made occasional visits to this section of the country. This was particularly the case with the Chippewas, Miamis and Potawattomies. They were all inhabitants of the country to the west and northwest. The Shawnees were of southern origin. They had a tradition that their ancestors came from some foreign land, across the sea.

According to French accounts, the tribe of Chippewas or Ojibways is worthy of more than a passing notice. They are said to have been a powerful and brave race, and their war with the Sioux, which was waged for one hundred and eighty years after the whites first knew them, and we know not for how long before, is one of the memorable events of Indian history, and is the surest proof of the indomitable courage and haughty pride of both tribes.

The territory of the Chippewas was on both sides of Lake Superior, at the head of which was their chief town, Chegoimegon, where, it is said, they kept a perpetual fire burning.

They were a tall, well formed race, and their language was praised by the French as the court-language of the aborigines.

Bands of Indians of all these tribes, hunted and fished over most, and probably all, the townships of the Fire-lands; but except Pequotting, they had no village in either Erie county or Huron at the time of the first white settlements.

Technically, the lives and characters, the manners and customs of the Indians inhabiting the Fire-lands after the first white settlements, can scarcely be said to belong to the period of "prehistory." But one can hardly write of the red men without letting his pen cross the line on which history begins. We can form no estimate of the lives of the inhabitants of these woods before a white man's ax began to hew the way for the march of civilization, without a study of the characteristics described by the first white chroniclers, as belonging to the red men who remained after those times.

Thus, even in naming and describing tribes, we have trespassed upon the nineteenth century. We shall find no instance of individual character recorded at any earlier period.

So many years have now elapsed since the last red man vanished from the Fire-lands, like a departing ghost of a dead and buried past, that we can now but dimly trace even the tribal distinctions and names of these strange children of the woods. Few, indeed, are the names, and faint the memories, of the individual warriors and chieftains which have come down to us. But before they are all forever lost in the shadows of the past, it should be the duty of the historian to rescue and keep bright the names and fame of Seneca John and Ogontz, the Ottawa, two noble representatives of the better class of Algonquin and Iroquois.

In those days the red men were in a transition state. They had been savages, with all the cruelty, the bad passions, and the ignorance belonging to savagery; but now, from their intercourse with the whites, they were learning many of the mean vices with a few of the virtues, of civilization. The missionary and the trader were working side by side, but not in harmony, and too often the good work of the one was destroyed by the had work wrought by the other.

In such a period, the characters of John, the Seneca, and Ogontz, the Ottowa, stand out in bold and pleasing relief. In the frequent mention of these two chiefs by the early chroniclers of the Fire-lands, there has been found no word of disparagement concerning either of them.

The Seneca was accustomed to hunt in the southern and western part of Huron county. The early settlers of that region always gave him a cordial welcome, and some of them have placed on record their appreciation of his character. He could speak but little English, but was always friendly to the settlers, and was brave, honest, and trustworthy.

Ogontz was better known in the region of Sandusky, which was one of his favorite resorts at certain seasons of the year, for the purpose of fishing and hunting, and that locality was for years known, by reason of this fact, as " Ogontz place."

This chief is described as a man of stately form and noble bearing, and, like Seneca John, he seems to have been in character a nature's nobleman, while, unlike John, he had received, at the hands of the French, a high degree of culture.

The tragedy which ended the life of each of these hunter and warrior chiefs, illustrates the sanguinary character of their race. Seneca John was accused of witchcraft, and having been condemned by his own tribe, was unhesitatingly slain, — his own brother being the executioner. Ogontz, years before his death, had killed, in self defense, a rival chief, and had adopted the latter's son, who, even in his boyhood, cherished a desire to avenge his father's death. The boy grew up, and, when the opportunity offered, took the life of the brave, kind Ogontz, who had been a second father to him, better than the first.

These two men, John and Ogontz, the Seneca and the Ottawa, the Iroquois and the Algonquin, are the type of the aboriginal native of America, uncorrupted by association with the white men. They lived and died, the one an ignorant savage, the other an educated gentleman, but both, by nature, proud, noble and manly, the proof that the red man was not always in his present state of miserable degradation...

_{Author: Williams, W. W. (William W.)

Subject: Huron County (Ohio) - History; Huron County (Ohio) - Biography; Erie County (Ohio) - History; Erie County (Ohio) - Biography

Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio: Press of Leader Printing Company

NOT IN COPYRIGHT}

Continued Next Week...

VERMILION'S PIONEERS: The Vermillion River was named by North American natives for the color of the clay they used for paint found along its banks. Vermillion, of course, is not an Indian word, but is the French word for the color red. French explorers and traders obviously translated the word from a native word that had the same meaning and is now lost to the ages. The river begins in Ashland County, runs north through the eastern part of Huron and western part of Lorain counties, and empties into Lake Erie near the eastern portion of that which became Vermillion Township. It wanders through alternating sandy ridges and lowlands in the southern part of the township, then widens and flows through the northern flatlands and on into the lake. A half a mile west of the river’s mouth sat a cabin. The year was 1808.

Capt. William Austin, his wife, and a children’s lived in the wilderness cabin. It was built a respectable distance from the river for good reason. The potential for sickness visiting them if they lived near the stream of bordered by the marshlands was very real. Austin was a season sea captain who, it was said, had visited every port on the globe. He boasted of having had held Oliver Hazard Perry on his lap when Perry was but a baby. Although I’ve seen two reports of that incident I remain skeptical. Capt. Austin was, however, a man of many talents. But he was also a man whose reputation preceded him.

One tale about the good Capt. is the he was a visionary. In all his long years on the sea he never met with any mishap. The tale goes that once upon the ocean his ship was lost in the fog. While Austin slept he dreamt of a mad white horse rushing toward him with its mouth open. He awoke, jumped from his bunk, ran topside, and ordered to ship to come about immediately. The sailors jumped at is order (Capt. Austin was not a man to be disobeyed), and when the ship turned and the fog lifted the sailors saw before them terrific breakers that would have wrecked the ship if they had not turned about.

On another vessel sailing Lake Erie on a brilliant day in autumn when the lake was like glass he ordered the boat to be tied up at Put-In-Bay. The boat was headed for Detroit were some of the passengers had urgent business to attend to. His passengers thought the captain had gone mad and pleaded with him to continue the journey. But he refused. He had earlier been only leaning on the rail and envisioned that same mad white horse galloping toward him through the air. By the time the sun had set a terrible gale swept across the lakes with a violent storm, and by morning there was a foot of snow on the deck.

All this aside Austen was important to the settling the Vermillion for several good reasons. It is not precisely known if he was the first or second settler in what would become our town, but it is known that he established a trading post, farmland, and built the first sailing vessel in the area. It was named the “Friendship” which he skippered before and during the war of 1812 (transporting troops).

I mean not the slightest number of pioneer families who settled about the same time Capt. Austin came here; like the George and John Sherart’s families (name evidently corrupted into Sherod over time), the Solomon Parsons family, Horatio Perry, or Benjamin Brooks (who had been captive of the Indians when young and came to know their ways quite well), but I like to concentrate for a time of family by the name of Sturges (corrupted from stir just).

In 1810 Frederick and Charlotte Sturges (knee total) migrated from Roxbury, New York the wilderness along the Vermillion River. Charlotte brought along her baby girl, Eunice, carry her all the way up the wall. The journey took six weeks. They settled on the high ground east of the river (perhaps Linwood Park area). The operated a tavern and a ferry boat. The following spring Fredrick's father, Capt. Sturges and his wife Eunice, joined them. Although the Sturges men were adept seamen they were also adept at consuming a beverages they proffered. History tells us that this was not an unusual practice in those days. Yet it is not the man I want to focus upon in this essay. Charlotte Sturges has left us a personal record of her days as a pioneer in Vermillion: At the tender age of 18 Charlotte Sturges pushed aside a little tree branch and gazed upon the Vermillion River flowing with the pristine wilderness that would become her own... SeeVermilion's Pioneer Woman; Charlotte Sturges for "the rest of the story".

PODCAST #170: This week the Vermilion Views Podcast #170 takes thee on a "field trip" to Schoenbrunn Village near New Philadelphia, Ohio. It's a "good'un" so enjoy.

Also, please note that all the video (MP4) podcasts (when used) are done in the "Quicktime MP4" format. If you don't have "Quicktime" it's easy to find and free to download.

Vermilion Ohio, A Good Place to Live