The Journal News
11 January 1934 › Page 9
THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1934
H A M I L T O N J O U R N A L -- T H E D A I L Y N E W S
County Society Will Preserve History
143 Years Ago Thursday Shawnee Indians Began Bloody Attack Upon Dunlap's Station, 10 Miles South Of Hamilton Of Today; 25 Pioneers Withstand Siege Three Days Before Rescue Party, Composed Of Early Butler Pioneers, Arrived
By 0. LOWELL SAGER
Following the organization of the Butler County Historic Society, Friday night, at the Y. M. C. A., present day occurrences will be systematically recorded; preserved to show future residents of Butler county, to what they owe their progress.
Seldom does a day pass which is not the anniversary of some event reaching the part played by Butler county in acquiring and enriching the Northwest Territory for the United States. Stories kept by the historically-minded prove that Butler county pioneers were most active in making Ohio as prominent as it is today.
As for anniversaries, January 10, was the one hundred forty-third year since a bloody Indian attack upon Dunlap's Station, just ten miles south of present-day Hamilton. Fortunately the story is preserved so that tribute may be paid to the memory of the small group of brave pioneers, whose hardships led to the building of Fort Hamilton, and the rapid progress in the Miami valley.
Across River From Venice
Picture Dunlap's Station at the end of the year 1790, as it stood on the Hamilton -Butler county line, across the river from Venice. A substantial blockhouse surrounded by a stockades on three sides and the murky Big Miami its protection on the fourth side, was the haven of a few pioneers who dared settle in the country north of the Ohio river, in the Miami valley.
On the north side of the stockade the Horn, McDonald, Barrott and Barker families had built their cabins, while the White family lived south of the fort. Lieutenant Kingsbury, of the United States Army, ruled over his garrison of twelve soldiers within the stockade. Their names were Taylor, Neef, O'Neal, O'Leary, Lincoln, Grant, Strong, Sowers, Murphy, Abel, McVicar and Wiseman.
Explorers Attacked
Few Indians were seen in the neighborhood until January 8, 1791. On that day, four explorers, Sloan, Hunt, Cunningham and Wallace, had breakfast in their camp across the river below Dunlap, only to be attacked by what appeared to be a small party of Indian scouts.
Thence follows the story which might well have been recounted to pioneer children to terrify them into staying in their own backyards. Cunningham was killed outright; Hunt taken captive; and Sloan, though wounded, escaped with Wallace to Dunlap Station.
Of course, the garrison at the Station was afraid of immediate attack. The few families outside the stockade were quickly assembled in the blockhouse with all their portable belongings. A steady rain, changing to snow during the afternoon, added to the strain of the watchers in the fort. As no sign of Indian campfires could be seen, Wallace crossed the river with a scouting party and buried Cunningham. The party encountered no Indians.
Fortunately Lacked a Bed
Fear of attack grew loss intense because no Indians appeared and the scare was attributed to a small scout party. At nightfall, sentinels were posted as a matter of routine. Most of the garrison retired for the night, except a few timid inmates and Lieutenant Kingsbury, who had no bed to go to because the wounded explorer, Sloan, occupied it. It was fortunate for the group that Kingsbury had no bed, for the weary guards went to sleep.
At dawn, Lieutenant Kingsbury wishing to find quarters in the enclosure, opened the door of the blockhouse, only to find several Indians creeping toward him. He quickly barred the door, woke the garrison, and the siege was on.
Outlaw Leads Shawnees
About 350 Shawnees, led by their chief, Blue Jacket, and a notorious white outlaw, Simon Girty, surrounded the fort. Fearing to show himself before the besieged, Girty caused Hunt, prisoner of 24 hours, to be led out to act as interpreter for the Indians in their demand that the little garrison surrender. And Hunt begged that Dunlap surrender to the Indians in order to prevent his being tortured in revenge. During the parley, the besieged gave their answer by taking pot-shots at the Indians.
The attack began on Sunday morning, January 9, 1791. The besieged had just enough bullets to allow each of the 26 men about 24 shots. Upon learning tho scarcity of shot, the women began casting their pewter plates and spoons into bullets, and joined the men in jeering the enemy.
Three-Day Siege Starts
Thus began a three day fight. The first night, Hunt, prisoner of the savages, was partly stripped, tied cruelly in the clearing before the fort and tortured to death, slowly, throughout the night. During the next day, January 10, Wallace and an 18-year-old soldier, Wiseman, managed to leave the fort in a canoe, to seek aid from Fort Washington. The Indians, thinking to capture the fort before reinforcements could arrive, continued the siege until January 11, and then fled.
Thomas Irwin, a member of the rescue party, and later a resident of Butler county, said that a hunter, named Cox, heard firing at Dunlap and returned to an outpost on the Ohio river to give alarm of the attack. A rescue party was formed, including young John Reily, Patrick Moore, and Samuel Davis, all of whom later became prominent citizens of Butler county. The rescuers met Wallace and Wiseman, who were bound for Fort Washington. Upon learning more details of the attack, the party fairly sped to Dunlap, only to find that the Indians had left and one man in the garrison had been killed. Fear of another attack led the pioneers to abandon Dunlap and return to Fort Washington. No one then settled the Big Miami valley until the building of Fort Hamilton, in September 1791, amid the subsequent treaty with the Indians at Greenville, which left the Ohio country free from savage raids."
Content Source:Ancestry.com
Lccn:sn88077322
Literal Title:Hamilton Daily News Journal
