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"ash people" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_map1 = OHMap-doton-Piqua.png , mapsize1 = 220px , map_caption1 = Location of Pickawillany Village , image_caption = , nickname = , coordinates = , established_title = Founded , established_date = 1747 , established_title2 = Demolished , established_date2 = 21 June, 1752 , established_title3 = , established_date3 = , population_total = , population_est = 400 families (1200–1600 people) , pop_est_as_of = 1750 , subdivision_type =
State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...
, subdivision_name = Ohio , subdivision_type1 = Present-day community , subdivision_name1 =
Piqua, Ohio Piqua ( ) is a city in Miami County, southwest Ohio, United States, 27 miles north of Dayton. The population was 20,522 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded as the village of Washington ...
, subdivision_type2 = County , subdivision_name2 =
Miami 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 the ...
, image_map = Ohio in United States.svg , map_caption = , website = Pickawillany (also spelled Pickawillamy, Pickawillani, or Picqualinni) was an 18th-century Miami Indian village located on the
Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...
in North America's
Ohio Valley The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
near the modern city of
Piqua, Ohio Piqua ( ) is a city in Miami County, southwest Ohio, United States, 27 miles north of Dayton. The population was 20,522 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded as the village of Washington ...
.R. David Edmunds, "Pickawillany: French Military Power versus British Economics"
''Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine'', vol. 58, April 1975, pp 169–184, accessed 17 October 2021
In 1749 an English trading post was established alongside the Miami village, selling goods to neighboring tribes at the site. In 1750, a stockade (Fort Pickawillany) was constructed to protect the post. French and English colonists were competing for control of the fur trade in the Ohio Country as part of their overall struggle for dominance in North America. In less than five years, Pickawillany grew to be one of the largest Native American communities in eastern North America. The French decided to punish Miami chief
Memeskia Memeskia (in Miami-Illinois: Meemeehšihkia - ′Dragonfly′, c. 1695 – June 21, 1752), known as "Old Briton" by the British and as "La Demoiselle" by the French, was an eighteenth-century Piankashaw chieftain who fought against the French in 17 ...
(also known as La Demoiselle or Old Briton), for rejecting the French alliance and dealing with the English traders, which threatened what had previously been a French monopoly over local commerce. On 21 June, 1752, the village and trading post were destroyed in the raid on Pickawillany, also known as the Battle of Pickawillany, when French-allied Indians attacked the village, killing Memeskia and at least one English trader and burning the English stockade and the trading post. Following the attack, the village of Pickawillany was relocated about a mile to the southeast. The city of
Piqua, Ohio Piqua ( ) is a city in Miami County, southwest Ohio, United States, 27 miles north of Dayton. The population was 20,522 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded as the village of Washington ...
, was established later near this site. Pickawillany's destruction directly encouraged greater British fortification and military presence at other outposts in the Ohio Valley, and has been seen as a precursor to the wider British-French conflict that would become 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 s ...
.


Etymology

The English term Pickawillany derives from , the Shawnee word for the
Miami people The Miami (Miami-Illinois: ''Myaamiaki'') are a Native American nation originally speaking one of the Algonquian languages. Among the peoples known as the Great Lakes tribes, they occupied territory that is now identified as North-central India ...
– literally, "foreigner". The Miami name for the village () is a direct translation of the Shawnee or "ash people."David J. Costa, "On the Origins of 'Pickawillany'"
''Names'', Vol. 62 No. 4, December 2014, 214-17, accessed 17 October 2021


Establishment and early history

In the two decades preceding 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 s ...
, France struggled to maintain military and economic control of the Ohio Country, which was strategically crucial to lines of supply and communication between Canada and Louisiana. French dominance largely depended on the continued favorable relations between the government of
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
and the Native American tribes living in the region, primarily the
Miamis The Miami (Miami-Illinois: ''Myaamiaki'') are a Native American nation originally speaking one of the Algonquian languages. Among the peoples known as the Great Lakes tribes, they occupied territory that is now identified as North-central India ...
(Twightwees), the
Wyandots The Wyandot people, or Wyandotte and Waⁿdát, are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. The Wyandot are Iroquoian Indigenous peoples of North America who emerged as a confederacy of tribes around the north shore of Lake Ontario wi ...
(Hurons), and the
Shawnees 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 an ...
. English traders from Pennsylvania were able to supply cheaper goods in larger quantities than the French traders could, attracting a greater share of the
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...
and influencing many Ohio tribes to shift their alliance to the English. In 1739 the Huron leader Orontony relocated his community from Detroit to Junundat and became openly hostile towards the French. In 1747 a combined force of Huron and Miami Indians attacked French outposts including Fort St. Philippe ( Fort Miami), which was destroyed. The French forced the Wyandots to abandon Junundat in that year, but they were then faced with the growing influence of the newly-founded Miami community of Pickawillany, under the leadership of
Memeskia Memeskia (in Miami-Illinois: Meemeehšihkia - ′Dragonfly′, c. 1695 – June 21, 1752), known as "Old Briton" by the British and as "La Demoiselle" by the French, was an eighteenth-century Piankashaw chieftain who fought against the French in 17 ...
, a
Piankeshaw The Piankeshaw, Piankashaw or Pianguichia were members of the Miami tribe who lived apart from the rest of the Miami nation, therefore they were known as Peeyankihšiaki ("splitting off" from the others, Sing.: ''Peeyankihšia'' - "Piankeshaw Pers ...
war chief. Memeskia had gained influence over many in the Miami tribe by encouraging a stronger trade relationship with the English rather than the French. The Miami elder Cold Foot had maintained loyalty to the French for many years, but English goods were cheaper and more readily available than those of the French, leading many tribes to settle closer to English trading posts.Martinez, Luke Aaron Fleeman ''"The land belongs to neither one": Native Americans, Europeans, and the raid on Pickawillany''
Master's Thesis, College of Social Sciences, California State University, Fresno; May 2011, accessed 17 October 2021
In late 1747 Memeskia led a group of Miami Indians about to the southeast from their community at
Kekionga Kekionga (meaning "blackberry bush"), also known as KiskakonCharles R. Poinsatte, ''Fort Wayne During the Canal Era 1828-1855,'' Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1969, p. 1 or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe. It was l ...
on the
Maumee River The Maumee River (pronounced ) ( sjw, Hotaawathiipi; mia, Taawaawa siipiiwi) is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and ...
, to settle Pickawillany on the west bank of the
Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...
, opposite the mouth of what was later named
Loramie Creek Loramie Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 tributary of the Great Miami River in western Ohio in the United States. Via the Great Miami and Ohio river ...
. The village was at the convergence of several trading trails in western Ohio, giving it unusual influence over trade in the region. In addition, it was the southern terminus of three key
portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
s (overland carrying places between rivers) that provided access between the Ohio/Great Miami River systems and Lake Erie and other points to the north and west. Traveling by water from the east and the headwaters of the Ohio River toward the western Great Lakes, it would have been almost a necessity to pass through Pickawillany to get from one region to the other. Pickawillany was near enough to the
Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a me ...
, Kickapoo,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...
, and other tribes for trade, and accessible to the English traders of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its location was a threat to the French, as it was easily accessible by many tribes allied to the French, and brought English traders far into territory the French considered theirs. However, it was also deep in Ohio Country, too far from English colonial territory to expect military assistance if attacked.
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 ...
states that
the Miamis had a village on the west side of the Great Miami river, at the mouth of what afterward became known as Loramies creek. That point was visited by the Coureurs des Bois at an early day, and had become a place of note long previous to the alliance of the Miamis with the English. From the latter it received the name of "Tawixtwi town", until the building of a stockade, when it was called Pickawillany, although in some accounts we find the name "Picktown" applied to it.William Trent, ''Journal of Captain William Trent from Logstown to Pickawillany, A.D. 1752''
Alfred Goodman, ed. Cincinnati: Robert Clark, 1871, accessed 17 October 2021
In July, 1748, fifty-five representatives of the Six Nations, Delawares, Shawnees,
Nanticokes The Nanticoke people are a Native American Algonquian people, whose traditional homelands are in Chesapeake Bay and Delaware. Today they live in the Northeastern United States and Canada, especially Delaware; in Ontario; and in Oklahoma. Th ...
, and Twightwees met at the courthouse in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population among ...
and signed a peace treaty with the
Pennsylvania Provincial Council The Pennsylvania Provincial Council helped govern the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1776. The provincial council was based on the English parliamentary system and namely the Upper House or House of Lords. From the Frame of Government of Pen ...
. This treaty guaranteed commercial access to tribes across the Ohio Valley as far west as the Wabash River, an unprecedented diplomatic achievement for the English.Joseph Solomon Walton, 1900, ''Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of Colonial Pennsylvania''
Philadelphia: G.W. Jacobs & Co., 1900, accessed 17 October 2021
The Indian leaders promised to try to persuade other Ohio communities to leave the French and join a pro-English alliance.


Visit by Céloron de Blainville, 1749

In response to these new English alliances, the
Governor of New France The governor of New France was the viceroy of the King of France in North America. A French nobleman, he was appointed to govern the colonies of New France, which included Canada, Acadia and Louisiana. The residence of the Governor was at the Chate ...
,
Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois ( 12 October 1671 – 12 July 1749) was a French Naval officer who served as Governor of New France from 1726 to 1746. Biography Son of François IV de Beauharnais, Charles had two brothers w ...
decided to send a military force down the Ohio River to persuade and intimidate the main Native American communities to remain loyal to France. In mid-1749 Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville, leading a force of eight officers, six cadets, an armorer, 20 soldiers, 180 Canadians, 30 Iroquois and 25
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
s,O. H. Marshall, "De Celoron's Expedition to the Ohio in 1749,"
''Magazine of American History'', March, 1878, p. 146, accessed 17 October 2021
moved down the Ohio River on a flotilla of 23 large boats and birch-bark canoes, on his " lead plate expedition," burying lead plates at six locations where major tributaries entered the Ohio. The plates were inscribed to claim the area for France. Céloron also sought out English traders and warned them to leave this territory which belonged to France.A. Gwynn Henderson, "The Lower Shawnee Town on Ohio: Sustaining Native Autonomy in an Indian "Republic"."
In Craig Thompson Friend, ed., ''The Buzzel about Kentuck: Settling the Promised Land'', University Press of Kentucky, 1999; pp. 25-56. Accessed 17 October 2021
After visiting Kittanning,
Logstown "extensive flats" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = Image:Logstown1.jpg , imagesize = 220px , image_alt = , image_map1 = Pennsylvania in United States ...
and Lower Shawneetown and receiving a cool response, Céloron's party traveled up the
Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...
(which Bonnecamps referred to as the "rocky river", ''Rivière a la Roche'') to Pickawillany, arriving there on 13 September. Céloron immediately found two "English soldiers" living in Pickawillany and sent them away. Of the Miami living in Pickawillany, Father Bonnecamps remarks, "This band is not numerous; it consists at most of 40 or 50 men."Joseph Pierre de Bonnecamps, "Relation du voyage de la Belle Rivière faite en 1749, sous les ordres de M. de Céloron"
in Reuben Gold Thwaites, ed., ''The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents'', 73 vols. Cleveland: Burrow Brothers, 1896-1901, vol. 69, accessed 17 October 2021
Céloron's party spent a week camped outside the town. He wanted to persuade Memeskia to lead his people back to Kekionga, and some of the Miamis said they "had not much objection". At one point he proposed that the Miamis accompany his party north to Detroit, emphasizing that the English could not be trusted. Céloron dispensed the last of his trade goods to the Miamis, with promises of much more if the Miamis would declare loyalty to the French and return to Kekionga. Memeskia promised to return the following spring, "for the season is too far advanced." After this, Memeskia refused to meet with him again, and instead Céloron met with other Miami leaders who then sent messages to Memeskia. On 20 September, Céloron gave up, burned his canoes and set off with his party overland to Detroit. On the way, he stopped at Kekionga and met with Chief Cold Foot, telling him that Memeskia had made a vague promise to return to the French. Cold Foot told Céloron that "La Demoiselle is a liar. It is the source of all my grief to be the only one who loves you, and to see all the nations of the south let loose against the French." Céloron later remarked, speaking in general about his journey, that "the nations of these localities are very badly disposed towards the French, and are entirely devoted to the English."


Fort and trading post, 1749-1750

In November, 1749,
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 governi ...
, an Irish trader and Pennsylvania Indian agent, established a trading post alongside the village.Wainwright, Nicholas B. ''George Croghan: Wilderness Diplomat''
Institute of Early American History and Culture, at Williamsburg, 1959, accessed 17 October 2021
According to a letter from Governor Robert Dinwiddie, when the French learned that Croghan had established a trading post at Pickawillany, they offered a price for Croghan's capture or for his scalp:
Two Prisoners who had been taken by the French, and had made their Escape from the French Officer at Lake Erie ... brought News that the French offered a large sum of Money to any person who would bring them the said 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 ...
the Interpreter alive, or if dead their scalps.
In late 1750, the
Pennsylvania Provincial Council The Pennsylvania Provincial Council helped govern the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1776. The provincial council was based on the English parliamentary system and namely the Upper House or House of Lords. From the Frame of Government of Pen ...
sent gifts to the people of Pickawillany and requested permission to build a "strong house", a fortified enclosure designed to withstand attack, but technically not a fortress, as the pacifist Philadelphia Quakers felt that they could not ethically finance any military structures. Nonetheless, this building was referred to by everyone else as "Fort Pickawillany." William Trent describes the fort's construction in 1750:
Having obtained permission from the Indians, the English, in the fall of 1750, began the erection of a stockade, as a place of protection, in case of sudden attack, both for their persons and property. When the main building was completed, it was surrounded with a high wall of split logs, having three gateways. Within the inclosure the traders dug a well, which furnished an abundant supply of fresh water during the fall, winter, and spring, but failed in summer. At this time Pickawillany contained four hundred Indian families, and was the residence of the principal chief of the Miami Confederacy.
With the security of a stockade fort, traders began building storehouses to contain their trade goods and to store the skins and furs they received in trade from the Indians. Trent describes these storehouses as
ordinary
log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. Eur ...
s, the trading being carried on below, while an "upper storey" or "
loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to larg ...
" was used as a place to store away skins and combustible material ... The articles of traffic on the part of the whites were firearms, gunpowder, lead, ball, knives, rings, rum, medals, hatchets, flints, blades, cooking utensils, shirts and other articles of wearing apparel, tobacco pipes, paint, etc .... Some of the traders would run regular "caravans" of fifteen or twenty horses, making several trips during the year.
The presence of a fort and a trading post attracted many English traders to the village seeking a new source of skins and furs. Hunters from many nearby communities began visiting Pickawillany regularly to trade, and the accumulation of European trade goods gave Memeskia increased influence over neighboring tribes, as he could strengthen alliances through gift-giving, a standard Native American practice. The French became increasingly concerned that the Miamis were considering "a general revolt against the French in pursuance of their plan of making themselves masters of all the upcountry."


Visit by John Patten, 1750

In November, 1750 John Patten, a Pennsylvania trader, stopped at Pickawillany on his way to trade with Native communities on the St. Marys River. While trading with the Indians, Patten was invited to Fort St. Philippe, where he was arrested and his goods confiscated. He was later taken to Quebec and examined by Governor La Jonquiere and his Council at Château Vaudreuil in Montreal on 19 June, 1751. Patten stated that at Pickawillany he "found upwards of fifty Traders, including servants, lodging in cabins belonging to the Miamis Indians; that the name of their chief was La Demoiselle; that those cabins were in a fort." Patten was then sent to France, and in 1752 was released through the help of friends, whereupon he returned to Pennsylvania.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, accessed 17 October 2021
In his deposition to the
Pennsylvania Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...
on 17 October, 1752, Patten referred to Pickawillany as "the Twightwee Town, which lies near the head of that Western branch of the Ohio called by the English, Miamis River." He reported that "this Miami Town was computed to have about 200 fighting men, all of the Twightwee Nation, settled therein, and are some of those who left the French seven or eight years ago rom 1752 in order to trade with the English."


Visit by Christopher Gist, 1751

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 ...
visited the town in February, 1751 and reported:
This Town is situate on the NW Side of the Big Miamee River and about 100 M from the mouth thereof; it consists of about 400 Families and daily increasing it is one of the strongest Towns upon this part of the Continent ... The Land on the Great Miamee River is very rich level and well timbered, some of the finest Meadows that can be .... The Grass here grows to a great Height in the clear fields, of which there are a great number, & the Bottoms are full of white Clover, wild Rye and Blue Grass.''The Journal of Christopher Gist, 1750-1751''
From. Lewis P. Summers, 1929, ''Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800'' Abingdon, VA, accessed 17 October 2021
Volwiler, Albert T. ''George Croghan and the Westward Movement, 1741–1782''
Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1926, accessed 17 October 2021
While he was there, four Ottawa Indians sent as emissaries by the French arrived, and a council was held with Memeskia. The Ottawas presented gifts and requested that Memeskia reconsider his alliance with the English. Croghan and Gist were present at the council, at which both the French and English flags were displayed. After hearing the French message, the speaker of the Miamis replied,
Brothers of the Ottaways, You are always differing with the French Yourselves, and yet you listen to what They say, but we will let you know by these four Strings of Wampum that We will not hear anything they Say to Us, nor do anything they Bid Us .... As You threaten Us with War in the Spring We tell You that if You are angry we are ready to receive You, and resolve to die here before We will go to You.
The next day the French flag was removed and the Ottawas were sent home. Gist and Croghan finalized a treaty of friendship with Memeskia: "We had Drawn Articles of Peace and Alliance between the English and the Wawaughtanneys and Pyankashees; the Indentures were signed and selad ealedand delivered on both sides." Leaders of Pickawillany were invited to attend a conference at Logstown in May, 1751, where Croghan distributed gifts and further cemented the relationship between the English and the Ohio Valley Indian communities. On 1 March, as Gist was preparing to leave Pickawillany, the speaker of the Miamis sent a message to Governor Dinwiddie, which began: "Brothers our Hearts are glad that you have taken notice of Us, and surely Brothers we hope that you will Order a Smith to settle here to mend our Guns and Hatchets." By mid-1752 a gunsmith (Thomas Burney) and a blacksmith were working at Pickawillany, employed by Croghan.Stanley Baker, "Evidence for Early Blacksmithing in the Ohio Valley and the Occurrences of "B"-Stamped Trade Axes near Piqua, Ohio"
''Ohio Archaeologist'', Vol. 29, no. 4, Fall 1979, pp. 28-33, accessed 17 October 2021
Burney had previously established a forge at the Wyandot community of Muskingum, where Gist had met him in December, 1750.


French plans to attack Pickawillany

Céloron de Blainville's failed attempt to persuade Memeskia to return to French loyalty led to the French decision to attack the village, as a punishment and a warning to other Native communities defecting to the English. Soon after Céloron's return, reports of French military movements began to alarm English colonial authorities. In July, 1751, reports reached Governor George Clinton of New York that a French force of "twelve Hundred French & Two Hundred of Orondacks passed by Oswego about a fortnight ago with a design to cut off (as I understand) some of the Nations of Indians to the Westward, who are Strongly attached to the British Interest, also to Stop the Philadelphians building at, or near Ohio."
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet of New York ( – 11 July 1774), was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Ireland. As a young man, Johnson moved to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Royal Na ...

"The Papers of Sir William Johnson"
vol. IX, Almon Lauber, Alexander Flick, eds. Albany: State University of New York, accessed 17 October 2021
Benjamin Stoddert reported to
Sir William Johnson Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet of New York ( – 11 July 1774), was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Ireland. As a young man, Johnson moved to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Royal Na ...
that "two hundred Orondack Indians under the command of Monsieur Belletre and Chevalier Longville ... design against a village of the Twightwees where the English are building a trading-house." Two escaped English prisoners, Morris Turner and Ralph Kilgore, reported to Governor Dinwiddie "that in the Spring an army of five hundred Frenchmen would march to Ohio, and either bring back the Shawnees and Owendats (
Wyandots The Wyandot people, or Wyandotte and Waⁿdát, are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. The Wyandot are Iroquoian Indigenous peoples of North America who emerged as a confederacy of tribes around the north shore of Lake Ontario wi ...
) or kill them."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, accessed 17 October 2021
In fact, French troops and Ottawa warriors under the command of Céloron de Blainville assembled at Detroit, but the Indians complained that the force did not have sufficient strength to attack Pickawillany and refused to proceed.''Wisconsin Historical Collections''
Volume XVIII (1908). State Historical Society of Wisconsin, accessed 17 October 2021
In late 1751, François-Marie Picoté de Belestre led a raiding party of seventeen warriors to Pickawillany, but found the town nearly deserted, as most of the population was away hunting. They captured two English traders and killed a Miami man and a woman. In response, Memeskia had three captured French soldiers killed, cut off the ears of a fourth prisoner, and sent him back to Canada as a warning to the Governor of New France. The
Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
of New France, Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquière, immediately began preparing another attack on Pickawillany, but plans were incomplete when he died on 17 March, 1752. His successor, Charles III Le Moyne,
Baron de Longueuil Baron de Longueuil () is a title of French nobility that was granted originally by King Louis XIV of France to a Norman military officer, Charles le Moyne de Longueuil. Its continuing recognition since the cession of Canada by France to Britain ...
, worked unsuccessfully to put together a force of French troops and Indian warriors to attack the town again. The French were unable to persuade Ottawa leaders to launch an attack on Pickawillany, even though spies reported on the numbers of fighting men and defenses of the town: "They are 140 men, the others eighty, and have but two English among them without cannon or artillery."Theodore Calvin Pease and Ernestine Jenison, ''Illinois on the Eve of the Seven Years' War, 1747-1755''
Springfield: Trustees of the State Historical Library, 1940. Illinois Historical Collections, volume XXIX, accessed 17 October 2021
On 23 May, 1752, Lieutenant John Mills wrote to Pennsylvania Governor James Hamilton to inform him "By some foreign Indians, just arrived, I am told that ... onsieur St. Orr, a French officeris gone back to Canada to conduct an Army back, to be employed against them he Twightwees" Hamilton was skeptical, but in any case did not have the power to send assistance to the Miami Indians at Pickawillany without the approval of the
Pennsylvania Provincial Council The Pennsylvania Provincial Council helped govern the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1776. The provincial council was based on the English parliamentary system and namely the Upper House or House of Lords. From the Frame of Government of Pen ...
, and no action was taken.


Raid on Pickawillany, 1752

In the winter of 1751–1752, Charles Michel de Langlade, a 23-year-old
Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derive ...
''
coureur de bois A coureur des bois (; ) or coureur de bois (; plural: coureurs de(s) bois) was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian trader who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with First Nations peoples by e ...
'' seeking to advance his military career, began assembling a war party of French-allied
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a me ...
, and
Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
warriors, traveling as far as
Saginaw Bay Saginaw Bay is a bay within Lake Huron located on the eastern side of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms the space between Michigan's Thumb region and the rest of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Saginaw Bay is in area. It is located in parts ...
to enlist the support of Ottawa there. Langlade knew that the Governor of New France had been trying to implement a plan to attack and destroy the village, but that he had been unable to recruit Indian warriors. Langlade was well-connected to the Ottawa (his maternal grandfather was
Nissowaquet Nissowaquet (–1797, also known as La Fourche) was an Odawa leader of the Nassauakueton doodem. His father was chief Returning Cloud Kewinaquot and his mother was Nesxesouexite Neskes Mi-Jak-Wa-Ta-Wa. He grew up in Michilimackinac and moved to L ...
, an Ottawa war chief), and spoke the
Odawa dialect The Ottawa, also known as the Odawa dialect of the Ojibwe language is spoken by the Ottawa people in southern Ontario in Canada, and northern Michigan in the United States. Descendants of migrant Ottawa speakers live in Kansas and Oklahoma. The ...
fluently. He was able to persuade Ottawa warriors to attack Pickawillany by characterizing the raid as a gesture of friendship towards
Onontio Onontio was a title used by North American Indians of the Great Lakes region to refer to the governor of New France. The title was first given to Charles de Montmagny and was subsequently applied to all later French governors. ''Onontio'' is a Moha ...
, the French governor. Langlade's plan to attack Pickawillany was carried out without the knowledge of the Canadian government. At the time of the raid he was only a cadet in the colonial regulars, and held no official rank.Paul Trap, "Mouet de Langlade, Charles Michel (1729-1801)"
''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', Volume IV (1771-1800), 1979, accessed 17 October 2021
On 7 June, Langlade and a force of 272 Ottawa reached Detroit, where about 30 of the Indians deserted, having heard that there was a
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) cer ...
epidemic among the Miamis.Paul M. Trap, "Charles Langlade in the French and Indian War"
Master's Thesis, Western Michigan University at Kalamazoo, Michigan, August 1980. 113 pages, accessed 17 October 2021
The Miamis later alleged that thirty French soldiers accompanied the Indians but did not take part in the raid. Early on the morning of 21 June, 1752, Langlade arrived at the village with 240 Indians and one other unidentified Frenchman. They lay in wait until most of the village's population was outside the fort or working in the cornfields. Launching their attack at about 9 a.m., the warriors killed 13 Miami men and captured four women. About twenty men and boys, including five English traders, took refuge in the fort, but three traders locked themselves in a cabin, and although they had guns and ammunition, were too frightened to open fire, and were eventually captured. The attackers negotiated terms of surrender with those inside the fort, presenting
wampum Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of Native Americans. It includes white shell beads hand-fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and white and purple beads made from the quahog or Western Nor ...
belts as a token of
good faith In human interactions, good faith ( la, bona fides) is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case ...
and promising that if they gave up the traders, the attackers would return the four captured Miami women, take the traders and leave. As they were heavily outnumbered and had no water, the fort's well having gone dry, the Miamis decided to hand over three of the five English traders, one of whom (a blacksmith) was badly injured from a gunshot wound to his abdomen. The Ottawas killed this man, cut out his heart and ate it in front of the Miami men, to atone for the death of Ottawa warriors killed in the attack. Among Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples, the hearts of the victims were often devoured to add the power of the deceased to whoever consumed it. Two other traders, gunsmith Thomas Burney and Andrew McBryer, "whom the Indians hid," escaped with the help of the Miamis, fled "during the night" and made their way to Lower Shawneetown. Langlade's men then seized the Miami chief Memeskia, and he was killed, boiled and eaten "within a hundred yards of the fort" in front of his Miami men. This act represented a symbolic re-incorporation of Memeskia into the French alliance. One source reports that they killed two more of the English traders. Afterward the Ottawa released the Miami women, as well as Memeskia's wife and son, burned the English stockade and the trading post and left for Detroit with the captured Englishmen and £3000 worth of trade goods (more than $300,000 worth in today's dollars). The trader William Ives passed by the town the next night and reported later to William Trent that "the white men's houses were all on fire, and that he heard no noise in the Fort," although there was one gunshot and someone calling out. Trent met Thomas Burney and Andrew McBrey at Lower Shawneetown on 6 July and questioned them about the raid. At Lower Shawneetown on 29 July, Trent met "the young Pianguisha king, Musheguanockque, or the Turtle, two more men, Old Britain's wife and son, with about a dozen women and their children." Trent refers to Memeskia's son as Ellonagoa Pyangeacha.


Contemporary accounts of the raid

Various contemporary sources report widely differing numbers of casualties and prisoners, in addition to other details. Thomas Burney is the principal source for the English accounts; William Trent based his statements on what he learned when he spoke to Burney and Andrew McBrey in Lower Shawneetown (it is not known how much McBrey contributed to the narrative). Newspaper articles published in late 1752 are based on statements by Burney or Trent,''New York Mercury'', 20 November, 1752, ''New York Gazette'', 27 November, 1752, and ''Boston Evening Post'', 27 November, 1752, ''Boston Post-Boy'', 27 November, 1752, cited in Martinez, 2011 as are letters from Governor Dinwiddie and other Pennsylvania leaders. A brief statement made by five English traders who were captured (some accounts list only four) was made in a deposition on 2 February, 1753. French accounts are probably based heavily on Langlade's reports, together with some information from Indians who accompanied him. Langlade sent his journal, in which he described the raid, to the
Marquis Duquesne Michel-Ange Du Quesne de Menneville, Marquis Du Quesne (c. 1700 17 September 1778) was a French Governor General of New France. He was born in Toulon, France. Du Quesne served from 1752 through 1755, and is best known for his role in the Frenc ...
, however it has been lost. Interestingly, Langlade's memoir, published in 1876 and based on recollections of Langlade's grandson, does not mention the raid.


English accounts

William Trent, in his journal, makes no mention of Langlade, but instead states that the attack was led by a "Monsieur St. Orr, afterward distinguished in the French and Indian war." St. Orr had been selected to lead the raid but was unable to persuade the Ottawa and Ojibwe Indians to accompany him. Thomas Burney, one of the two English survivors, reported on the raid to Captain Robert Callender in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 census, the borough population was 20,118 ...
on 29 August, who in turn wrote to Governor Dinwiddie with the following statement:
Last night, Thomas Burney, who lately resided at the Twightwees' town in Allegheny, came here and gives the following account of the unhappy affair that was lately transacted there: On the twenty-first day of June last, early in the morning, two Frenchmen and about two hundred and forty Indians came to the Twightwees' town, and in a hostile manner attacked the people there residing. In the skirmish there was one white man and fourteen Indians killed, and five white men taken prisoners.
Burney later presented a letter to Governor Dinwiddie, supposedly from the Miamis but probably written by Burney himself, describing the raid:
The French and French Indians ... engaged our Fort at a time when all our Warriors and briskest Men were out a hunting. They had two hundred and forty fighting Men, appeared suddenly, and took us on Surprize, when they had sent us Wampum and a fine French Coat in Token of Peace and good Will, just to deceive and draw our People out, and then fall on us, as a more weak and defenceless Part; being only twenty Men able to bear Arms, and nine of them were our Brothers, the English, who helped us much. But their Stores and Houses being on the outside of our Fort, our enemies plundered them, and took six of our Brothers', the English's, Goods, and, to our great Loss, their Powder and Lead; and killed one of them English, & scalped him. They kill'd our great Pianckosha King, whom we called Old Britain, for his great Love to his Brothers, the English ... There were but two French men appear'd among the Indians in Time of Battle, altho' we understand there were thirty men within two Miles of us, all the Time of Action, who were ready to receive their share of the Plunder.
The four existing newspaper articles (all from November, 1752) focus heavily on the "acts of barbarity" of the murder of captives, the mutilation of corpses, and the cannibalizing of an English trader and of Chief Memeskia. In one article, William Trent reported that the fingers of the dead British trader were cut off and kept by Langlade's warriors. The papers emphasize that counterattacks were in preparation by the Native American tribes allied with the English. The ''New York Gazette'' says that the " Six Nations have not yet declared war, but have called in all their warriors, and are making preparations." Mobilization of European troops would have been controversial and was not being contemplated. Newspapers reported that the Six Nations and allied Indians in the Ohio Country had taken a "solemn oath to eat every Frenchman they can lay their hands on, and not to leave a man, woman, or child of the Tawaw ttawaNation alive." The five English traders captured at Pickawillany made the following statement in Philadelphia on 2 February, 1753:
They were trading ... with the Five Indian Nations on the River Ohio ... when they were met, on the 22nd of June, 1752, by a party of 170 Canada-French and some Indians, having a French officer at their head named Langlade who took these Declarants Prisoners. There were two other men of Philadelphia in Company with these Declarants, vizt. Andrew Browne and Alexander MacDonald, both whom the Indians of the French party kill'd by the Officer's order and cut off their Scalps. The French party seiz'd all the goods belonging to these Declarants ... Besides which the French kill'd 30 horses belonging to all five of them ... And these Declarants themselves were carried Prisoners to ... Quebec ... and were there thrown into a dark dungeon with only straw to lay upon."Deposition of English Traders, February 2, 1753", i
Theodore Calvin Pease and Ernestine Jenison, in ''Illinois on the eve of the Seven Years' War, 1747-1755''
Springfield: The Trustees of the State Historical Library, 1940, accessed 17 October 2021


French accounts

A letter from The Baron de Longueuil on 18 August, 1752, reports:
A party of about 210 savages of Missilimakinac attacked the Fort of La Demoiselle, who is dead; and they destroyed about 26; and the others asked for pardon ... I will add, My Lord, that among the number of savages who are reported to be killed there, were six English Traders, whose
magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinati ...
were destroyed by our savages.
On 2 September, 1752, Commandant Jean-Jacques de Macarty-Mactigue wrote to
Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, marquis de Vaudreuil (22 November 1698 – 4 August 1778) was a Canadian-born colonial governor of French Canada in North America. He was governor of French Louisiana (1743–1753) and in 1755 beca ...
, describing the raid:
After the Ottawa attacked the Great Miami Village, the ... Ottawa, having captured four Miami women, proposed to give them up in exchange for the English. This the Miami did, giving up seven English, one of whom was wounded. These the Ottawa killed and pillaged. The Miami promised not to return and attack the Chippewa, saying, "I do not know how our father will act. We have lost many people and he is the cause. We do not say that we will not return.
François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery (24 August 1703 – 29 July 1759) was a colonial military leader in the French province of Canada. Active in the defense of New France during the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War), ...
wrote about the raid to Vaudreuil on 3 October, 1752:
Toward the end of May, the Chippewa and Ottawa of Mackinac, to the number of two hundred men, attacked the Miami of Great Miami River. This blow was not of great account as they killed only five or six men. But what was better was their killing of three English and taking six prisoners after seizing their merchandise. Of the six, the Miami gave up four to them after the action, to get back four of their women who had been taken. One of these English was eaten by the Chippewa who had lost men ... But I would not venture to certify this last news, which I heard only from the Indians.


Aftermath

Memeskia's wife and son were released by Langlade, and went to Lower Shawneetown, where Trent saw them on 29 July. The Pennsylvania Council later sent them gifts in condolence of the death of Memeskia. Langlade garnered significant fame and praise following the raid, and in 1755 was promoted to
ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be differ ...
and given a full military pension. He participated in (by his own account) 99 different military engagements during his lengthy career.
Michel-Ange Duquesne de Menneville Michel-Ange Du Quesne de Menneville, Marquis Du Quesne (c. 1700 17 September 1778) was a French Governor General of New France. He was born in Toulon, France. Du Quesne served from 1752 through 1755, and is best known for his role in the Frenc ...
wrote of Langlade: "He is acknowledged here to be very brave, to have much influence on the minds of the Indians, and to be very zealous when ordered to do anything." A month after the raid, William Trent visited the abandoned town, accompanied by Thomas Burney and 20 Indians, arriving on 20 July. They found French flags flying over the deserted fort, which they replaced with British flags, and Trent recovered a few trade goods that had been abandoned by the attackers. Following the attack, the Miami and English abandoned the site. The village of Pickawillany was relocated about two miles to the southwest. The city of
Piqua, Ohio Piqua ( ) is a city in Miami County, southwest Ohio, United States, 27 miles north of Dayton. The population was 20,522 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded as the village of Washington ...
developed later near the Miami's second site of this village.John A. Rayner, ''The First Century of Piqua, Ohio''
Magee Bros. Publishing Company, 1916, accessed 17 October 2021
The five English traders who were captured (Joseph Stevens, George Henry, John Evans, James Devoy, and Owen Nicholson) later stated that Langlade took them "to Quebec, and from thence sent them to
La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
, in Old France, where they were released by the English ambassador, and by him sent to London, from whence they got a passage to this place." Andrew McBryer, the second English survivor of the raid, was reported by one source to have been captured by French soldiers and Indians in late 1752. A second source says he was captured at Christopher Gist's settlement near
Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester with ...
in 1754. In 1756 George Croghan, facing bankruptcy after the destruction of his trading posts at Pickawillany in 1752 and Lower Shawneetown in 1754, made an account of his losses, stating that at Pickawillany he lost goods amounting to 331 pounds and 15 shillings, which were "in the hands of Thomas Burney and Andrew McBryar." By June, 1753, Thomas Burney was operating a blacksmith's forge at
Logstown "extensive flats" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = Image:Logstown1.jpg , imagesize = 220px , image_alt = , image_map1 = Pennsylvania in United States ...
. On 28 March, 1754, he enlisted as a private in
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
's regiment in the Virginia Militia and was employed briefly as a messenger. He served under Captain Andrew Lewis at the Battle of Fort Necessity in July, 1754Crozier, William Armstrong. ''Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776''
Genealogical Publishing Company, 1973, accessed 17 October 2021
and in November he applied for an officer's commission, which was denied. In a letter of November 13, 1754, from Governor
Robert Dinwiddie Robert Dinwiddie (1692 – 27 July 1770) was a British colonial administrator who served as lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia from 1751 to 1758, first under Governor Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, and then, from July 1756 ...
to Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe, Dinwiddie mentions that "The bearer hereof, Thos. Burney, lived some years among the Twightees iami as a blacksmith."Robert A. Brock, ed. ''The official records of Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Virginia, 1751-1758''
vol. I. Richmond: The Society, 1883-84; p. 447, accessed 17 October 2021
Burney was killed at the
Battle of the Monongahela The Battle of the Monongahela (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness) took place on 9 July 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War, at Braddock's Field in what is now Braddock, Pennsylvania, ea ...
on 9 July, 1755.


Later history

The remains of Pickawillany may have been the site of a 1763 battle 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 s ...
, described by Black Hoof to Colonel John Johnston:
In the French War ... a bloody battle was fought on the present farm of Colonel Johnston at Upper Piqua ... The Miamis,
Wyandots The Wyandot people, or Wyandotte and Waⁿdát, are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. The Wyandot are Iroquoian Indigenous peoples of North America who emerged as a confederacy of tribes around the north shore of Lake Ontario wi ...
, Ottawas and other northern tribes adhered to the French, made a stand here and fortified, the Canadian traders and French assisting. The
Delawares The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
, Shawanese, Munseys, part of the
Senecas The Seneca () ( see, Onödowáʼga:, "Great Hill People") are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west ...
residing in Pennsylvania,
Cherokees The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
, Catawbas, etc., adhering to the English interest with the English traders, attacked the French and Indians. The siege continued for more than a week; the fort stood out and could not be taken. Many were slain, the assailants suffering most severely. The besieged lost a number, and all their exposed property was burnt and destroyed. The Shawnese chief, Black Hoof, one of the besiegers, informed Colonel Johnston that the ground around was strewn with bullets, so that basketfuls could have been gathered. Soon after this contest the Miamis and their allies left this part of the country ... and never returned.
A few years later, the French commander of the fort at
Vincennes, Indiana Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville and Terre Haute. Founded in 1732 by French fur ...
, sent traders to establish a trading post on the site of Pickawillany. At the same time, the French made efforts to establish an alliance with the Miami Indians living in nearby Piqua, "lavishing upon them a very large amount of money and a great variety of costly presents." The post did not profit much, however, until 1769, when Pierre-Louis de Lorimier established a store there. Eventually a small community grew up around the store, known as "Loramie's Station". A branch of the
Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...
on which the community stood was known as
Loramie Creek Loramie Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 tributary of the Great Miami River in western Ohio in the United States. Via the Great Miami and Ohio river ...
. During the
Illinois Campaign The Illinois campaign, also known as Clark's Northwestern campaign (1778–1779), was a series of events during the American Revolutionary War in which a small force of Virginia militiamen, led by George Rogers Clark, seized control of several B ...
, in 1782,
George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier during the Amer ...
destroyed Loramie's Station as well as Piqua and several other Miami communities. General
Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...
built a small fort at the site of Pickawillany in the fall of 1794, but it was abandoned a year later after the signing of the
Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples ...
. Settlers moving west after the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
arrived in the area in 1798 and established a town called Washington. The name was changed to Piqua in 1823. In August, 1795, Chief Little Turtle (Michikinikwa), at Greeneville, Ohio, reportedly said, "You discovered on the Great Miami traces of an old fort. It was not a French fort, brother, it was a fort built by me." Historians believe this is an error in translation, and that he said "a fort built by Mishikinakwa (The Turtle)," the name of an early Miami leader (also written Musheguanockque) known to have been at Pickawillany, who escaped to Lower Shawneetown after the raid.


Archeological investigations

Between 2002 and 2011, extensive work was done on a tract purchased by the State of Ohio in 1999, to be included in the Piqua Historical Area State Memorial and overseen by the
Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connec ...
. The site has been actively farmed since the mid-19th century and no visible traces of Pickawillany remain."Ohio Historical Society to Resume Archaeological Survey at Pickawillany,"
''Ohio History Connection'', September 29, 2006, accessed 17 October 2021
Using
remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Earth ...
,
magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, on ...
,
electrical resistance The electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the flow of electric current. Its reciprocal quantity is , measuring the ease with which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallel ...
and
ground penetrating radar Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It is a non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate underground utilities such as concrete, asphalt, metals, pipes, cables o ...
surveys, over 1500 artifacts have been recovered, including musket balls, lead scrap, small brass ornamental items called tinkler cones, brass arrow points,
gunflint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fires ...
s, and iron tools. Remote sensing data has located several sub-surface anomalies that may represent parts of building foundations, buried cellars and a well. The ongoing project is intended to identify the locations of important structures and activity areas. Between 2009 and 2011 work centered on a number of large anomalies located within about from one another that were identified during previous magnetometer surveys. These are all within an area where the data suggests that the English traders were active.Bill Pickard and Linda Pansing, "The Search for Pickawillany 2009"
''Ohio Historical Society'', August 18, 2009, accessed 17 October 2021
Artifacts recovered in 2009 included a brass finger ring set with a faceted green glass stone, French style gunflints, brass arrow points (including a very rare stemmed type), a brass and iron hook about long, a stone tobacco pipe, a number of glass and ceramic beads, and two butt plates from French muskets dated to between 1699 and 1745. Of particular interest was the discovery of a blacksmith's hammer in 2011. Thomas Burney, one of the two English survivors of the raid, was a
gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very h ...
, and the English trader whose heart was eaten by Ojibwe Indians was a blacksmith. Other
ironmongery Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, aluminium ...
found at the site may have come from a trash pit near the blacksmith's shop. Three iron axes stamped with the letter "B" have been found in the Upper Piqua area or in the vicinity of the Pickawillany site, turned up during farming activities over the years. The "B" stamp is unique to that local area since no other sources have been found which mention this particular mark. The fact that Thomas Burney practiced blacksmithing in the area and the unique presence of the stamp would suggest that Burney himself manufactured these axes.John Bryan, "Biscayne Trade Axes: the earliest known metal axes in North America"
''Scavengeology'', October 8, 2019, accessed 17 October 2021


See also

* Charles Michel de Langlade *
Memeskia Memeskia (in Miami-Illinois: Meemeehšihkia - ′Dragonfly′, c. 1695 – June 21, 1752), known as "Old Briton" by the British and as "La Demoiselle" by the French, was an eighteenth-century Piankashaw chieftain who fought against the French in 17 ...
*
Miami people The Miami (Miami-Illinois: ''Myaamiaki'') are a Native American nation originally speaking one of the Algonquian languages. Among the peoples known as the Great Lakes tribes, they occupied territory that is now identified as North-central India ...
*
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 ...


Notes


References


External links


"Ohio Historical Society to Resume Archaeological Survey at Pickawillany", ''Ohio Historical Society'' September 29, 2006

Bill Pickard and Linda Pansing, "The Search for Pickawillany 2009", ''Ohio Historical Society'' August 18, 2009

''The Crooked Trail to Pickawillany (1747–1752)''
by George Ironstack; Miami University
Jim Cornelius, "Pickawillany Horror Story—Part I—Memeskia's Rebellion", ''Frontier Partisans''

Jim Cornelius, "Pickawillany Horror Story—Part II—Memeskia Goes into the Pot", ''Frontier Partisans''

"Pickawillany", ''Ohio History Central''

"La Demoiselle", ''Ohio History Central''


* [https://mainstreetpiqua.com/2017/06/blast-from-piquas-past-the-raid-on-pickawillany/ Darrin Michael and Jasmine Larsen, "Blast from Piqua's Past: The Raid on Pickawillany". ''Downtown News'', 21 June, 2017]
"Some Thoughts on Pickawillany, 1748–1752, Part 1: The Setting", ''Ohio History Connection'', March 15, 2007

Melanie Speicher, "Pickawillany—an Important Miami Indian Village", ''Sidney Daily News'', April 16, 2019
{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas French and Indian War Miami tribe Geography of Miami County, Ohio Native American populated places Archaeological sites in Ohio Former populated places in Ohio Former Native American populated places in the United States Native American history of Ohio Populated places established in 1747 Captives of Native Americans 1752 disestablishments Cannibalism in North America