Photo furnished by Miss Willia D. Cotton, Marietta
RUFUS PUTNAM'S HOUSE, MARIETTA, O.
LXXXVI
THE HOUSE OF GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM,
MARIETTA, OHIO
THE MAN WHO LED THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS TO OHIO
In 1775 General Washington decided that he must fortify Dorchester Heights, Boston, if he was to force the British to leave the country. But how was he to do this? The ground was frozen to a depth of eighteen inches, and the enemy's cannon commanded the coveted position. Lieutenant Colonel Putnam told the General that the seemingly impossible task could be performed. Washington was dubious, but he had learned that Colonel Putnam was to be counted on. One night, after dark, the work was begun, and before daylight it was so far completed that the surprised enemy were compelled to retire.
In recognition of services like this, Colonel Putnam was made a brigadier general. A reward even greater was his; he won the lasting friendship of Washington.
Eight years after the fortification of Dorchester Heights, two hundred and eighty-three officers asked Congress for a grant of land in the western country. General Putnam forwarded the petition to Washington, and urged that it be granted, in order that "the country between Lake Erie and the Ohio might be filled with inhabitants, and the faithful subjects of the United States so established on the waters of the Ohio and on the lakes as to banish forever the idea of our western territory falling under the dominion of any European power."
Action by Congress was delayed. On June 2, 1784, Washington wrote to Putnam:
"I wish it was in my power to give you a more favorable account of the officers' petition for lands on the Ohio and its water, than I am about to do.... For surely if justice and gratitude to the army, and general policy of the Union were to govern in the case, there would not be the smallest interruption in granting the request."