Ohio's rich heritage and long history

Ohio's Living Heritage

Two centuries ago, the Ohio's lands were a mix of prairies and heavily forested wilderness, crisscrossed with Native American hunting trails and villages. In fact, it is estimated that there were some 15,000 Native Americans living on this land from 5 different peoples: Miami, Shawnee, Ottawa, Wyandot and Delaware.

Today, the same land that supported those 15,000 Native Americans, supports over 10,000,000 people. That's more people than live in Sweden, Greece or Austria.

If a census could have been taken during the early days of Ohio, it would have shown that Ohio had a general divide between those settling in northern Ohio and southern Ohio.

Northern Ohio settlers were made up mostly of transplanted Yankees from New England, while southern settlers were actually part of the Virginia Military District with lots of soldiers from the American Revolutionary War laying claim to land as payment for services in the war. These were the farmer warriors of the day-- land loving people that appreciated the rich soils of southern Ohio.

The New England Yankees were primarily merchants and manufacturers-- the industrial complex of 18th Century America.

In the middle of the state there were large numbers of German settlers coming from central Pennsylvania.

As time progressed, the northern half of the state became less northern and the southern half became less southern.

This was Ohio's heritage, the people that made us what we are today. They were resourceful and strong-- the Ohio wilderness was no place for the gentry minded folks or for those not willing to pitch in and work. But long before this immigration to Ohio took place, there were problems between those already living here and those wishing to live here.

Early conflicts

Some groups of Native Ohio peoples welcomed the new settlers. Others, did not, particularly those that had had dealings with the white-man in the past and found they could not be trusted and their treaties meant nothing if the whites wanted to change the rules. This led to violent conflicts.

As these conflicts became more violent, news spread back to the east and the Native peoples were painted with a broad brush as being blood-thirsty savages. Instances of whites killing friendly Native peoples spread among the villages. This led to racial distrust between the whites and Native peoples.

After the American Revolution, Ohio began to see increasingly large numbers of settlers move into the area. They saw the rich land as a place to start over and lay claim to the promises created by the new country. The problem was that the land had been off limits to American settlers. Large numbers of Native peoples living north of the Ohio River had signed treaties with the government that promised settlers would remain south of the Ohio and the Native peoples would stay north . This treaty was impossible to enforce and settlers quickly filtered into southern Ohio, and this eventually led to even more violent conflicts.

Change in leadership

As the influx of whites into the Ohio valley increased, the Native peoples quickly realized the treaties they had signed meant nothing. Strong leaders from various groups became organizers of the Native peoples.

Some of these leaders had studied the tactics used by the military, and they used those same tactics themselves.

Although the British had been technically defeated in the Revolution, they still had an interest in the Ohio land. They developed a strategy that involved supplying the Native peoples with arms, munitions and supplies and openly encouraged them to strike back at the settlers, and to attack any military advancements by the American government.

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From The Ohio Gazetteer in Columbus, 1841:

"(We) challenge the world to contradict the assertion, that this great and rowing state possesses more of the essential ingredients of future greatness and more self-sustaining and self-creating principles than any other territory of equal size on the face of the globe."

Earlier, Ohioans had a different reputation as so eloquently stated by then governor of the Northwest Territories, Arthur St. Clair when Ohio was being considered for statehood:

"(Ohioans) are a multitude of indigent and ignorant people... ill qualified to form a constitution and government for themselves... and too far removed from the seat of government to be much impressed with the power of the United States"

Fortunately, Arthur St. Clair's opinions were not shared by many Ohioans and through their efforts, they successfully forced President Thomas Jefferson to remove St. Clair as governor of the territory, and our move toward statehood advanced quickly.

In 1803 we became the first state in the Northwest Territory. Through the efforts of 35 delegates, in 25 days, we created the most democratic constitution seen to that point in history.

Ohio was a land for adventurers seeking a better quality of life and existence than what they knew from living in the east.

Re-enactors paying tribute to Lincoln's Funeral in the Ohio Statehouse

The Ohio / Lincoln Connection

Abraham Lincoln played a decisive role in America's turbulent history and Ohio played a pivotal role in Lincoln's Presidency.

More about the Lincoln connection >>

Ancient Ohio Cultures

Long before there were Wyandot, Delaware, Shawnee, Miami or any of the many other Native peoples in Ohio, there were the Ancient People of Ohio. What we know about them is only what we have found that they left behind. No written record of their daily lives exists. No record of their language exists. No handed-down traditions from one generation to the next exists.

All we know is what we can find buried in the ground in the form of pieces of pottery, a few tools and implements, and little else. We don't even know what they called themselves.

We have given these cultures names only as a form of reference to distinguish them in modern day terms. Most notable are the Adena Culture and the Hopewell Culture.

These were the Mound Builders. They left behind large earthen walls and mounds found throughout the state. Many of the mounds have been destroyed, either by farming, construction, or erosion over the years.

ABOVE: Human Effigy Pipe uncovered at Adena Mound that was located on Thomas Worthington's Estate in Chillicothe. On display at the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus. It is the only human shaped pipe discovered to date. It is part of the Adena Culture.

Today we can still see many of these constructions that have been preserved, or in some cases, reconstructed. Most often are the large conical mounds which were burial sites for notable individuals and families. Underneath these conical mounds succeeding generations werelaid to rest, along with other items of value to the individual, and then covered with dirt. With each death, a new layer would be added, increasing the size of the mound. A good example of this is the Miamisburg Mound located just south of Dayton. It is over 65' tall and 877' in circumference.

The other form of construction remaining are called earthworks. These are often incredibly large constructions that cover acres of land. They usually include a geometric wall that is either circular or rectangular in shape and often aligned with the moon rises. Ohio has numerous sites representing different cultures. Most notable is the Serpent Mound, and the Octagon Earthworks plus a number of other sites throughout the state. The giant earthworks were considered to be primarily part of the Hopewell Culture.

In fact, Ohio represented one of the largest deposits of these ancient cultures anywhere in the country. Many of them dating back to the time when the Great Pyramids were being built in Egypt. However, during the early 19th Century, Ohio did not have a historical preservation society and many of those artifacts found in Ohio were shipped away, ending up in European museums, as well as in east coast museums and Chicago.

Early archeological surveys of the state revealed that the Ohio land was home to 1000s of ancient people with that were connected to other groups of people thousands of miles away in all directions.

The peoples that constructed these earthworks lived here 1000s of years before the Native Indians moved into the state, and long before the first known white settlers arrived. Why they left may never be known. Perhaps they had conflicts with other cultures, perhaps the climate changed, perhaps disease destroyed their civilizations. Why they came here, is probably the same reason that everyone comes to Ohio, even today.

Ohio has always been an area that was attractive to peoples of all origins. Its fertile ground, seasonal climate, good hunting, and plenty of water and other natural resources are likely the prime reasons. Opportunity to live a peaceful, successful life are what we all seek.

Removing Native Americans from their land

Once the American Revolutionary War was concluded, it would take 3 more organized battles between American forces and Native Americans and another war with England to create a lasting peace that would ultimately make it safe for Ohio to be settled and developed.

Two of those battles would be total defeats for the American military. It would take a highly organized former military leader of the Revolution to mount a successful campaign against the Native Americans.

Ultimately, it would take a second war with Great Britain (War of 1812) to completely stop England's influence over the Native American's in Ohio.

More Ohio's Indian Wars>>