Photo provided Chief Cornplanter, portrait by Frederick Bartoli, 1796.

Indian threats were a daunting fact of life in early Marietta. But not all contacts with Indians were violent. Relationships were varied, fascinating, often friendly. Some examples follow.

Delaware Indians traded with soldiers at Fort Harmar. Dealings were cordial but cautious. Their dances and dress were a curiosity to the soldiers.

Many Indians played valuable roles as guides:

¯ Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., later Governor of Ohio, was guided by an Indian named Charley on a diplomatic mission to Detroit in 1790. The same Charley tried to kill Meigs two years later at Marietta.

¯ Indian guides accompanied George Washington as he explored the Ohio River in 1770. The group camped near Marietta twice.

¯ Indian leaders acted as diplomats for a French expedition led by Celoron De Bienville to claim possession of the Ohio River valley in 1749. The expedition buried a lead plate here which was later recovered.

¯ An Indian called “George Washington” was a trusted guide at Fort Harmar.

A large contingent of Indian chiefs gathered in December 1788 at Fort Harmar for treaty negotiations. The government and many Indian leaders wanted a lasting peace. It wasn’t to be. The chiefs signed the treaty, but many did not agree with or understand the terms. Some tribes weren’t represented and those present could not agree on a unified position. Government leaders largely dictated the terms. Colonel John May called the treaty “a farce.” Despite earnest efforts by many, the treaty accomplished little.

Seneca Chief Cornplanter was present for the treaty and actively promoted good will on both sides. The Ohio Company later awarded him some land for his efforts.

Delaware chief Captain Pipe lost relatives to renegade American soldiers in 1778. He was present at the torture and death of George Washington’s friend William Crawford. But Pipe facilitated peace negotiations with local officials as he realized white settlement was inevitable.

Indians and whites who by circumstance were transplanted into the other culture faced great stresses. They often became restless and dysfunctional, feeling out of place. Some examples:

¯ Sixteen year old Daniel Convers was kidnapped by Indians whose sons had played and hunted with him. He was well cared for by his Indian family. He escaped after a few weeks. Others kidnapped as children formed lasting attachments to their Indian families and were anguished when forced to leave them.

¯ Delaware Chief White Eyes, who sought friendly relations with Americans, was murdered by American troops in 1778. As reparation for Chief White Eyes’ death, his 8 year-old son George Morgan White Eyes was placed under the care of Indian Commissioner George Morgan in New Jersey. He was allowed to attend Princeton University. George White Eyes was a good student, but white culture was unsettling to him. He returned to his tribe and struggled with alcoholism and anti-social behavior. He died after drunkenly threatening a 17 year-old who shot him.

¯ Indian John Miller was a friend of George White Eyes at Princeton University and visited him at a Delaware village near Duncan Falls, Ohio. He was shocked to learn that a war party from that village planned to attack the Waterford settlement where Miller had friends. He escaped and made a daring raft trip on the swollen Muskingum River to warn them. Miller was dismayed to find himself a pariah; white settlers thought he was an Indian spy, and the Delaware Indians wanted his scalp for betraying them. There was no place for him here; sadly, he returned to his native Massachusetts.

Indians were forced from the Ohio Country in the decades after Marietta was settled, a tragic outcome after a century of strife and failed attempts at peace.