Hamilton County History David Heighway
William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, may have traveled through Hamilton County in 1791 rom 1785 to the signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, Indiana was part of the Northwest Indian Wars. The land was occupied by various Native American tribes, but incursions of whites from Kentucky caused the groups to clash. Hamilton County may have been on the path of some of these clashes. There was a confederation of tribes that opposed these incursions—the important leaders were Little Turtle (Miami), Blue Jacket (Shawnee), and Buckongahelas (Lenape [Delaware]). President George Washington ordered a military response with soldiers commanded by General Arthur St. Clair. General Charles Scott led a group of Kentucky militia, among whom was a young lieutenant named William Clark who kept a journal, (now at the Missouri Historical Society and accessible online). In 1791, the army advanced into what would become Indiana. They started on May 1st by crossing the Ohio River near the present site of Madison and headed for the Indian villages at
in his journal, “The badness of the hills and deepness of the mud and the height of the creeks, together with “By the 31st, I marched one hundred brush, exceeds all kinds of descripand thirty five miles, over a country tions.” Crossing the White River at one cut by four large branches of White point, three men and several horses River and many small streams with were drowned. The army returned in steep, muddy banks. During this early June to the “rapids of the Ohio” march, I traversed a country alternate—known today as the Falls of the Ohio near Clarksville. The town had been established by George Rogers Clark, the Revolutionary War hero and older brother of William. Ouiatanon (near present-day Lafayette). General Scott reported later:
General James Wilkinson launched another expedition in August and, according to various maps drawn between 1796 and 1819, went from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) up the present state line to the area of Fort Wayne. He deliberately avoided crossing White River, saying in his report afterwards: “I left the neighborhood of Fort Washington … and agreeably to my original plan, feinted boldly at the Miami ly interspersed with the most luxurivillages, by the most direct course the ous soil, and deep clayey bogs from one to five miles wide, rendered almost nature of the ground, over which I had to march would permit. I persevered impervious by brush and briars. in this plan … and thereby avoided Rain fell in torrents every day, with the hunting ground of the enemy, and frequent blasts of wind and thunderthe paths which lead directly from the storms. These obstacles impeded my White River to the Wabash, leaving the progress, wore down my horses, and headwaters of the first to my left …” destroyed my provision.” General Charles Scott
Some historians have said that this gave the expedition the name of the “Blackberry Campaign” since the soldiers stopped to pick berries to supplement their food supplies. When the expedition reached its objective, the soldiers destroyed the villages they found and the attack was considered a success. William Clark
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The return trip was as difficult as the initial advance. William Clark said
He attacked a village at Eel River, then followed the Wabash River to Ouiatanon. On his return south, he followed Scott’s route to Falls of the Ohio.
Did they come through Hamilton County? It’s important to know that two trails crossed at Strawtown: the trail following White River going north to Fort
April • May 2022 • Hamilton County Business Magazine
