[101] The Kanawha takes its name from a tribe of Indians who formerly lived in its valley, but they were destroyed by the Iroquois in the early eighteenth century. Céloron called it the Chinondaista, and at its mouth buried a plate which is now in the museum of the Virginia Historical Society, at Richmond. Gist surveyed here for the Ohio Company in 1752; later, Washington owned ten thousand acres in the vicinity, and visited the spot in 1774. That same year, the battle of Point Pleasant was fought at the mouth of the Kanawha by Colonel Andrew Lewis’s division of Lord Dunmore’s army; and the succeeding year, Fort Randolph was built to protect the frontiers. Daniel Boone retired hither from Kentucky, and lived in this neighborhood four years (1791-95), before migrating to Missouri.—Ed.
[102] The word Scioto probably signified “deer,” although it is said by David Jones to mean “hairy” river, from the multitude of deer’s hairs which floated down the stream. The valley of the Scioto is famous in Western annals. During the second half of the eighteenth century it was the chief seat of the Shawnees whose lower, or “Shannoah,” town has been frequently mentioned in the Indian transactions which we have printed. The Shawnees, on their withdrawal up the valley, built the Chillicothe towns, where Pontiac’s conspiracy was largely fomented. These were the starting point of many raids against the Kentucky and West Virginia settlements. From these villages Mrs. Ingles and Mrs. Dennis made their celebrated escapes in 1755 and 1763 respectively. During all the long series of wars closing with Wayne’s victory in 1794, the intractable Shawnees were among the most dreaded of the Indian enemy.—Ed.
[103] The result of this message in regard to the French traders, is thus given in the official version of the journal:
“26th. Several of the Shawanese came there & brought with them 7 French Traders which they delivered to me, those being all that resided in their Villages, & told me there was just six more living with the Delawares, that on their return to their Towns they would go to the Delawares & get them to send those French Traders home, & told me they were determined to do everything in their power to convince me of their sincerity & good disposition to preserve a peace.”—Ed.
[104] Big Bone Lick, in Boone County, Kentucky, was visited by the French in the early eighteenth century. It was a landmark for early Kentucky hunters, who describe it in terms similar to those used by Croghan. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, scientists took much interest in the remains of the mammoth (or mastodon)—the “elephant’s bones” described by Croghan. Thomas Jefferson and several members of the American Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia, attempted to secure a complete skeleton of this extinct giant; and a number of fossils from the lick were also sent to Europe. Dr. Goforth of Cincinnati undertook an exploration to the lick at his own expense (1803), but was later robbed of the result. The store of huge bones is not yet entirely exhausted, specimens being yet occasionally excavated—the present writer having examined some there in 1894.—Ed.
[105] It is a curious mistake on Croghan’s part to designate the Kentucky as the Holston River. The latter is a branch of the Tennessee, flowing through the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. Its valley was early settled by Croghan’s friends, Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania. It is probable that, as the Kentucky’s waters come from that direction, he had a confused idea of the topography.—Ed.
[106] One of the earliest descriptions of the Falls of the Ohio. Gist was ordered to explore as far as there in 1750, but did not reach the goal. Findlay was there in 1753. Gordon gives an account similar to Croghan’s in 1766. Ensign Butricke made more of an adventure in passing these falls—see Historical Magazine, viii, p. 259. An attempt at a settlement was made by John Connolly (1773); but the beginnings of the present city of Louisville are due to the pioneers who accompanied George Rogers Clark thither in 1778, and made their first home on Corn Island. For the early history of Louisville, see Durrett, Centenary of Louisville, Filson Club Publications, No. 8 (Louisville, 1893).—Ed.
[107] Colonel Reuben T. Durrett, of Louisville, thinks Croghan “must have meant Salt River when he spoke of passing Pigeon River during his first day’s journey after leaving the Falls of the Ohio.” The Owl River he identifies with Highland Creek in Kentucky, between the mouths of the Green and Wabash rivers.
The Wabash River was early considered by the French as one of the most important highways between Canada and Louisiana. Marquette designates it on his map as the Ouabouskiguo, which later Frenchmen corrupted into Ouabache. The name was also applied to that portion of the Ohio below the mouth of the Wabash; but James Logan in 1718 noted the distinction. See Winsor, Mississippi Basin, p. 17. Croghan was probably the first Englishman who had penetrated thus far into the former French territory, except Fraser, who had preceded him to the Illinois.—Ed.
[108] The Shawnees had formerly dwelt west and south of their habitations on the Scioto. The Cumberland River was known on early maps as the “Shawana River;” and in 1718, they were located in the direction of Carolina. Their migration east and north took place about 1730. The present Illinois town at this site, is still called Shawneetown.—Ed.