"swampy ground" or iro, koshaxkink "river crossing" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_map1 = OHMap-doton-Coshocton.png , mapsize1 = 250px , map_alt1 = , map_caption1 = Former location of Muskingum, present-day site of

Coshocton, Ohio Coshocton is a city in and the county seat of Coshocton County, Ohio, United States approximately 63 mi (102 km) ENE of Columbus. The population was 11,216 at the 2010 census. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet in ...

, image_caption = , nickname = , coordinates = , established_title = Founded , established_date = 1748 , established_title2 = Abandoned , established_date2 = 1759 , established_title3 = , established_date3 = , population_total = , population_est = 300-400 , pop_est_as_of = 1750 , subdivision_type = State , subdivision_name = Ohio , subdivision_type1 = Present-day Community , subdivision_name1 =

, subdivision_type2 = , subdivision_name2 = , image_map = Map of Coshocton County Ohio Highlighting Coshocton City.png , map_caption = Location of Muskingum Village in Coshocton County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, website = Muskingum (also known as Conchake) was a

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, also known as the Huron * Wyandot language Wyandot (sometimes spelled Wandat) is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known variously as Wyandot or Wya ...

village in southeastern Ohio from 1747 to 1755.Charles Augustus Hanna, ''The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path,'' Volume 2, Putnam's sons, 1911
/ref> It was an important trade center in the early 1750s, until it was devastated by smallpox in the winter of 1752. The town was repopulated for a short time afterwards, then abandoned again as a new community was established by

Netawatwees Netawatwees or King Newcomer (c. 1686–1776, Lenape) was Sachem (principle Chief) and spiritual leader of the Delaware. His name, meaning "skilled advisor" or "first in council," is spelled in a variety of ways including Netaut Twelement, Na-tau ...

a few miles to the east at Gekelukpechink. The city of

was founded close to the site of the village in 1802.

Etymology

The name ''Muskingum'' may come from the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

word ''mshkikwam'' 'swampy ground'. The name may also be from Lenape ''"Mach kawënshàk,"'' referring to thorns, or a specific species of thorn bush. ''Muskingum'' has also been taken to mean 'elk's eye' (''mus wəshkinkw'') by folk etymology, as in ''mus'' 'elk' + ''wəshkinkw'' 'its eye'. Moravian missionary

David Zeisberger David Zeisberger (April 11, 1721 – November 17, 1808) was a Moravian clergyman and missionary among the Native American tribes who resided in the Thirteen Colonies. He established communities of Munsee (Lenape) converts to Christianity in the ...

wrote that the Muskingum River was called Elk's Eye "because of the numbers of elk that formerly fed on its banks." John McCullough, a captive who lived in Muskingum briefly during 1763, says in his captivity narrative that the name "Moosh-king-oong...signifies 'clear eyes,' as the river abounds with a certain kind of fish that have very clear eyes."Charles McKnight, "The Captivity of John McCullough," in ''Our Western Border, Its Life, Combats, Adventures, Forays, Massacres, Captivities, Scouts, Red Chiefs, Pioneer Women, One Hundred Years Ago.'' Philadelphia: J.C. McCurdy, 1876; pp 204-224
/ref> Conchake, (''Cong-sha-keh''), another name for the town, has been preserved in the name of the town of

, and comes from Lenape ''Koshaxkink,'' 'where there is a river crossing.' The word also refers to a location or river of refuge, or a road or path to refuge. The name was given in 1748 when a large band of Wyandot moved to the

Muskingum River The Muskingum River (Shawnee: ') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country o ...

area to escape conflict with the French.Native American Place and River Names in the Coshocton County Area
/ref>

Establishment, 1748

Muskingum was built by Wyandots who arrived with Orontony in the spring of 1748. In April, 1748 Orontony and 119

warriors, together with

Miami Indian Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at t ...

warriors led by Memeskia, attacked and burned the French Fort St. Philippe ( Fort Miami). Orontony then abandoned his community of Junundat and set off for the Ohio valley. About 70 of the warriors and their families settled at Muskingum. The remainder went farther east to build a new town at

Kuskusky "at the falls, by the falls or rapids" unm, kwësh-kwëshelxus-kee "hogs" + -kee (suffix used in place names) "Hogs Town" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , ima ...

.Michael N. McConnell, "Kuskusky Towns and Early Western Pennsylvania Indian History," ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,'' 116:33-58
/ref>Charles Augustus Hanna, ''The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path,'' Volume 1, Putnam's sons, 1911
/ref>

Visit by Christopher Gist, 1750

The town was visited by

Christopher Gist Christopher Gist (1706–1759) was an explorer, surveyor, and frontiersman active in Colonial America. He was one of the first white explorers of the Ohio Country (the present-day states of Ohio, eastern Indiana, western Pennsylvania, and nort ...

on December 14, 1750, he wrote in his Journal:

Friday, 13th.--Set out W 5 m. to Muskingum, a town of the Wyendotts. The Land upon Elk's Eye Creek is in general very broken, the Bottoms narrow. The Wyendotts, or "Little Mingoes," are divided between the French and English, one-half of them adhere to the first, and the other half are firmly attached to the latter. The Town of Muskingum consists of about one hundred families. When we came within sight of the Town, we perceived English colours hoisted on the King's House, and at
George Croghan George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governin ...
's rading house upon enquiring the reason, I was informed that the French had lately taken several English Traders, and that Mr.Croghan had ordered all the white men to come into this Town, and had sent expresses to the Traders of the lower Towns, and among the Pickweylinees; and the Indians had sent to their people to come to Council about it.

Gist learned from George Croghan and

Andrew Montour Andrew Montour ( – 1772), also known as Sattelihu, Eghnisara,Hagedorn, 57 and Henry,Montour was also called Henry, possibly due to the similarity of sound with the French ''"Andre".'' was an important mixed interpreter and negotiator in t ...

that two of Croghan's men had been captured by the French along with horses and the skins they were carrying to Philadelphia to be sold. On Christmas, Gist asked Montour and a blacksmith named Thomas Burney (employed by Croghan) to bring some of the Indians to hear him read the Bible. Afterwards, the Indians thanked Gist and invited him to live permanently at Muskingum, giving him the Wyandot name of ''Annosanah,'' "the Name of a very Good man that had formerly lived among them." Gist said that he was worried about being captured by the French, to which the Indians invited him to "bring great Guns and make a Fort" at Muskingum. The Indians wanted him to baptize their children and perform Christian weddings but Gist told them they would need a minister to come and instruct them properly. It is possible that the Indians were less interested in Christianity than in having an English fort equipped with artillery in the town, as attacks by French-allied Indians were becoming more frequent. The following day, Gist witnessed the execution of a woman prisoner who had tried to escape. She was beaten and shot through the heart with an arrow, then scalped and beheaded. Barney Curran, the trader in charge of Croghan's trading post, asked to be allowed to bury the body.''The Journal of Christopher Gist, 1750-1751.'' From. Lewis P. Summers, 1929, ''Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800'' Abingdon, VA.
/ref> On 9 December two traders arrived in the town, bringing the news "that another English Trader was taken Prisoner by the French, and that three French soldiers had deserted and come over to the English side and surrendered themselves to some of the Traders of the Pick Town, and that the Indians would have put them to death, to Revenge their Taking out Traders, but as the French Prisoners had surrendered themselves, the English would not let the Indians hurt them, but had them ordered to be sent under the care of three of our Traders and delivered at this Town to George Croghan."

Commerce with English traders

Before 1750, George Croghan established a trading house at Muskingum, complete with a residence and a storehouse called "the King's House."Sally Misencik, Paul R. Misencik. "Towns, Villages and Posts of 18-Century Ohio," in ''American Indians of the Ohio Country in the 18th Century.'' McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2020.
/ref> Croghan was there when Christopher Gist arrived in December, 1750. The trading house was seized by the French in 1753 or 1754, and the goods stored there were confiscated. In the account of losses suffered by George Croghan & Co. dated at Carlisle, Pennsylvania April 24, 1756, appears the item: "one store-house at Muskingum, £150." In 1752

William Trent William Trent (February 13, 1715–1787) was an American fur trader and merchant based in colonial Pennsylvania. He was commissioned as a captain of the Virginia Regiment in the early stages of the French and Indian War, when he served on the we ...

visited Muskingum on his way to

Pickawillany "ash people" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_map1 = OHMap-doton-Piqua.png , mapsize1 = 22 ...

. He states in his Journal, under date of June 29, 1752: "We got to Muskingum, 150 miles from the

Logstown "extensive flats" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = Image:Logstown1.jpg , imagesize = 220px , image_alt = , image_map1 = Pennsylvania in United States ...

, where we met some white men from Hockhocken who told us the town was taken and all the white men killed." Trent was referring to

Pickawillany "ash people" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_map1 = OHMap-doton-Piqua.png , mapsize1 = 22 ...

, which had been burned by French-allied Indians on 21 June, 1752.William Trent, ''Journal of Captain William Trent from Logstown to Pickawillany, A.D. 1752,'' Alfred Goodman, ed. Cincinnati: Robert Clark, 1871
/ref>

Abandonment, 1755

Smallpox ravaged many communities in the Ohio Country in 1752–1753. By the time Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry visited "Conchake" on 29 March 1755, it was nearly empty. He describes Muskingum as "a place where the Hurons yandotstook refuge during the war 747-48 120 of them died in one summer. One can still see the graves and the vestiges of the village that stood there then. At present there are only two cabins, one of which is occupied by a Christian savage from Sault St. Louis (

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Queb ...

) who has been there a long while. The other belongs to the Five Nations." Captive Charles Stuart passed through the area on 23 November, 1755 and noticed Croghan's residence and trading house still standing. In his

captivity narrative Captivity narratives are usually stories of people captured by enemies whom they consider uncivilized, or whose beliefs and customs they oppose. The best-known captivity narratives in North America are those concerning Europeans and Americans ta ...

, he wrote:

We Continued Travelling near the river for abt 10 Miles thro' Land Cover'd with the ground Oaks of Barrens But yet the Soil Seem'd pretty good--the said barrens...ended at the House where an Eng
ish Ish may refer to: *Ish (name) also ancient Hebrew word for Man at Genesis 2:23, also Ish-shah for Woman *Chazon Ish, sobriquet of Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz *the Sanskrit for "lord", see Ishvara * ''...ish'' (audio drama), Doctor Who audio d ...
Indian Trader had Formerly Lived and where was an Indian House of Both which were deserted.

A few Lenape refugees from Kittanning, including

Shingas Shingas (fl. 17401763), was a Lenape chief and warrior who participated in military activities in Ohio Country during the French and Indian War. Allied with the French, Shingas led numerous raids on Anglo-American settlements during the war, for wh ...

and his brother

Pisquetomen Pisquetomen (died ca. 1762)Colonel John Armstrong on 8 September 1756. By 1758 they had moved to Kuskusky.

Captives

By 1758, the town was repopulated and was home to several English captives taken in raids on frontier communities during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

. Marie Le Roy and Barbara Leininger, both age 12, were captured during the Penn's Creek massacre on 16 October 1755. They were taken to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, then to Kittanning, where they lived until Armstrong's attack in September 1756. After Kittanning was destroyed, the Indians moved for a time to

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort French colonization of the Americas, established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny River, Allegheny and Monongahela River, Monongahela rivers. It was lat ...

. On 12 October 1758, French and Indian forces from nearby

were defeated in an attack on the British outpost of

Fort Ligonier Fort Ligonier is a British fortification from the French and Indian War located in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States. The fort served as a staging area for the Forbes Expedition of 1758. During the eight years of its existence as a garrison, F ...

, and the population of the Kuskusky towns fled, taking the girls to Muskingum. They escaped with Hugh Gibson in March 1759. Hugh Gibson, 14, was captured in July, 1756 by Lenape Indians, outside Robinson's Fort, near present-day

Southwest Madison Township, Perry County, Pennsylvania Southwest Madison Township is a township in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,020 at the 2020 census. History The Adairs Covered Bridge and Bistline Covered Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Pl ...

. His mother and a neighbor were killed by the Indians, and he was brought to Kittanning, where he was adopted by Lenape war chief

Pisquetomen Pisquetomen (died ca. 1762)"An Account of the Captivity of Hugh Gibson," in Archibald Loudoun, ''A Selection of Some of the Most Interesting Narratives, of Outrages, Committed by the Indians, in Their Wars with the White People,'' A. Loudoun Press, Carlisle, 1811; pp. 181-186
/ref> After Kittanning was attacked on 8 September 1756, Pisquetomen took him to Saucunk and then to Muskingum, where in March, 1759, he escaped, together with a Scotsman named David Brackenridge, Marie Le Roy, and Barbara Leininger. They walked 250 miles to Fort Pitt (then under construction). John McCullough was 8 years old when he was captured by Lenape warriors in July, 1756, and brought to "Shenango," (a corruption of Chiningué). In his captivity narrative he reports living there with a Lenape family for two and a half years before moving to "Kseek-he-ooing" (possibly Saucunk) in late 1758. In 1763, McCullough was taken to "Moosh-king-oong" (Muskingum), which he reports, "signifies 'clear eyes,' as the river abounds with a certain kind of fish that have very clear eyes." In December, 1764, McCullough was released along with over 200 other captives by order of Colonel

Henry Bouquet Henry Bouquet (born Henri Louis Bouquet; 1719 – 2 September 1765) was a Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in British service during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. He is best known for his victory over a Native American ...

Later history

On 15 March 1764 Colonel

's army camped at the abandoned site of the village to receive captives handed over by Indians as part of a peace agreement signed the previous October with the Shawnee, the Ohio Seneca-Cayuga, and the Lenape. The Indians handed over about 260 captives. A village was established a few miles east of the site of Muskingum in the 1760s by

(c. 1686–1776), also known as Newcomer. Newcomer migrated to the area from

Cuyahoga Falls Cuyahoga Falls ( or ) is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 51,114. The second-largest city in Summit County, it is located directly north of Akron and is a suburb of the Akron metropol ...

with his band of Lenape Indians. The Lenape name of the town was "Gekelukpechink," (also spelled Gekelemukpechunk or Kecalamukpechink) meaning "still water." The town was used as a meeting place for the Iroquois Great Council, and English and American traders called it Newcomer's town, later

Newcomerstown, Ohio Newcomerstown is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, east-northeast of Columbus. In the late 1770s, this was the largest Delaware Indian village on the Tuscarawas River, with 700 residents. Chief Newcomer (''Netawatwes'') was ...

. By 1771, more than one hundred dwellings had been built, and the town was the site of the Great Council Fire of the Lenape people. David McClure,

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

preacher, visited the town in September, 1772 and provided a detailed description of the town and the surrounding countryside:

This town is called New Comers town by the English, & stands on the West bank of the Muskingum, 1 containing about 60 houses, some of logs, & others the bark of trees, fastened by elm bark to poles stuck in the ground & bent over at the top. There are nearly 100 families. It is the principal town of the Delaware nation, & the residence of the king & the greater part of the Councillors. There are several small villages up & down the river. This place is about 60 Miles above the mouth of the Muskingum. Eight or ten acres around the town, are cleared. On the opposite side of the River is a large corn field, in rich low ground; it is inclosed within one common fence, & each family has its division to plant. Some of the houses are well built, with hewed logs, with stone chimnies, chambers & sellers. These I was told were built by the English captives, in the time of the French wars.The king, whose name is Nettautwaleman, received me with hospitality. He is an old man, tall & active. His house is the largest, & built of small square logs. Around the walls, for beds & seats, were planks raised from the ground & covered with the hides of Buffaloes & Bears. Tuesday, afternoon, a messenger...conducted me to the
Council House A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...
. It was a long building covered with hemlock bark, with a swinging door at each end...the Conjuror's house...was the best built in town except the king's. A cellar with stone wall — a stair case, a convenient stone chimney & fire place & closets & apartments, gave it the appearance of an English dwelling. Between the house & the bank of the River was a regular & thrifty peach orchard...The Muskingum is a beautiful country. The soil is rich and deep. The land gradually rises from the river & forms extensive meadows and plains. Some places are covered with luxuriant grass, & neither tree or bush growing upon them for some miles.

In 1776, more than seven hundred Lenape and several traders lived in the town. Gekelukpechink was destroyed on April 20, 1781 during

Brodhead's Coshocton expedition Brodhead's Coshocton expedition was a military expedition carried out by Patriot forces against the Lenape near Coshocton, Ohio in April 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. Led by Daniel Brodhead, the Patriots engaged and defeated several ...

, in retribution for Delaware raids against settlers. The town of Tuscarawas, named after the river, was laid out by American colonists in 1802. The town was renamed Coshocton when it was designated county seat by the legislature in 1811.

References

{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas French and Indian War Geography of Coshocton County, Ohio Native American populated places Former populated places in Ohio Former Native American populated places in the United States Native American history of Ohio Populated places established in 1748 Lenape Captives of Native Americans