The Treaty of Fort Finney

1780s Spring House

The 18th century stone spring house in Shawnee Lookout Park is where the 1786 Treaty of Fort Finney was signed on January 31st.

In 1975 the building was moved from its original nearby location where Fort Finney once stood on the Ohio River, the present location of the Duke Energy power plant. It might be one of the oldest buildings in the Cincinnati area. A replica of the treaty is inside the building.

Defense plan of Fort Finney at the mouth of the Miami

The treaty was supposed to cede most of southern Ohio to the US.  In exchange for the land, the Americans also promised to keep white squatters from settling on land reserved exclusively for the Indians. This was the first surrender of territory to Americans by Indians west of the Alleghenies. Like many treaties, only some Indian leaders signed the treaty and many other Indians in the region did not recognize it at all. It was also typical to lure tribal leaders to "negotiations" and then mislead them in the interpretation of the terms knowing that none of the Indians could read or write English. This really made the treaty worthless even among those who signed.

Several Wyandot, Delaware, and Shawnee signed the treaty. It is interesting to note that signing for the Americans was George Rogers Clark, who became a well known "Indian fighter" and also the older brother of William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame. Also signing was Richard Butler, not the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs, but a veteran of the Revolutionary War who later died at the disastrous St. Clair's Defeat. The story goes that Butler was infamous among many Indians and at that battle he was not only scalped but his heart removed and consumed by Shawnee several warriors.

Fort Finney marker near the power plant

Text of the marker: 

A company of soldiers from Fort Pitt landed at the mouth of the Great Miami October 22, 1785, and immediately began the building of a fort near this site. It was named Fort Finney in honor of Major Walter Finney, who was in command of the operation.

The Continental Congress had commissioned generals George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler, and Samuel H. Parsons to make a peace treaty with the Shawnee Indians and to mark off lands to be allotted to that tribe.

This site was chosen as being "most convenient to the principle body of savages and nearly equal distance from the rapids (Louisville) and the interior part of Kentucky and Limestone (Maysville)"

Invitations were sent to the reluctant Indians, who finally met by the council house near the fort during the middle of January, 1786. On January 31, 1786 the treaty with the Shawnee Nation was signed, resulting in the immediate removal of hostile Indians from the area.

Erected by the Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company - 1953

Olde Coleraine

A replica of Dunlap's Station mentioned in a book.
I had to e-mail some folks to get find its location next to
this coat rack in a closet.

When people in Cincinnati think of Colerain, I'm sure many think of the sea of cars and signs that clog the main drag of the cluttered and overgrown retail area. It's really hard to imagine now but this older suburb of Cincinnati has a rich past of pioneer settlements and prehistoric Indian villages. This older history is largely forgotten or has vanished completely since no physical reminders remain. At least further to the West of Colerain Avenue, there remains open spaces and a few reminders of this community's interesting origins.

Sometimes referred to as Fort Dunlap, Dunlap's Station, or Fort Coleraine this pioneer settlement was founded at the horseshoe bend of the Great Miami River by an Irish immigrant named John Dunlap in 1790. He named the settlement after his birthplace of Coleraine, Ireland.
Today this is the location of Heritage Park where the Boy Scouts have placed a marker commemorating the settlement.

you may have sped right by this informative sign

There were about 40 of these small forts called "Stations" in the late 1700s around the Cincinnati area. This particular Station was significant because it was attacked by the famous Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket and 500 warriors along with the renegade ally Simon Girty, a white man who sided with the local Indians and British against the Americans.
It was nearly impossible for Indians to overtake a Station since they were not equipped with any sort of artillery. The British who sometimes instigated these attacks and provided intelligence rarely lent direct assistance since there was no formal declaration of war at this time with the US. The Native Americans had to resort to intimidation, surprise attacks or just burning stuff down.

Dunlap's Station Marker in Heritage Park

The Siege of Dunlap's Station lasted from January 8th until January 11th, 1791. Two settlers (Sloan and Cunningham) were killed in this attack including one unfortunate man named Abner Hunt. He was held hostage and tortured in full view of the terrified and barricaded residents in an effort to intimidate a surrender from Lieutenant Kingsbury and the Station's defenders.  This tactic proved unsuccessful and the Indian forces finally withdrew after more US military support arrived from nearby Fort Washington in Cincinnati. However, this really wasn't much of a win. These settlers didn't have clear title to the land they purchased from John Dunlap and likely never would. Red tape existed in the 18th century too. All their hard work might be for nothing if they stayed. Added to this was the ever-increasing hostilities with the Indians after St Clairs Defeat later that year. The settlement was soon abandoned.
Settlers returned in 1794 when the area was made more secure after the American win over the Ohio area Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and some of the legal hassles were sorted out.

There is a scaled down replica of the station in the Colerain Township Administrative building. I have since learned that there are plans to build a full-sized replica of Dunlap's Station somewhere in the area as a museum but funding is an issue so the plans are on hold for now. I already let them know that I would love to help build it! I also promised not to attack it.

my kids and I made this grossly inaccurate re-enactment
of the Siege of Dunlap's Station

Hedges Pioneer Cemetery a stone's throw from Dunlap

Next to the park and former location of Dunlap's Station is Hedges Cemetery, a combined graveyard of two old cemeteries where several Revolutionary War veterans are buried along with people who were killed in the 1791 attack, including poor old Abner.

When Heritage Park was being planned in the early 2000's, they ran some ground radar over the area looking for any remnants of Dunlap's Station and they claimed to have found none. The Great Miami River has, in fact, changed course in this area several times, so what little remained is likely to have been washed away over the years.
What they did uncover in the radar survey was more evidence of an ancient 95-acre Indian village that little was known about previously. Rumor has it that the information was hushed to keep the park project on target.  Frisbee golf has a higher priority than history.

Adena Mound atop the hill at River & Dunlap Roads

This 100 BCE Indian village was a prehistoric Hopewell settlement referred to by archaeologists as Colerain Earthworks. There is an 1836 mapped survey of it here. It was located partially on the property of Heritage Park and partially on the private property of Southwestern Ohio Water Works to the north.  An archaeological survey was done recently and the earthen walls appeared as slightly darker lines as compared to the surrounding soil. This confirmed the earlier radar survey and the late 1800s description of  "8 foot walls and 10 foot observation mounds" prior to it being turned into farmland. One of the walls even went right through Hedges Cemetery but just like nearby Northgate Mall no useful features remain.

Adena mound with a house on top

There are also several older 800 BCE Adena Mounds in this area, one is on private property at the top of a hill on private property across from Heritage Park at Dunlap and East Miami River Road.
The other Adena mound is 4 miles away near the Colerain Township Administration building and visible from the road. What is especially odd about this mound is that some time in the 1920's a Tudor style home was built right on top of it. You can still make out the shape of the mound. This home is now used as a garage for the newer home next to it.

Oh, and what happened to the "E" in ColerainE? No one is really sure. Sometimes things just fade away over time and I think they just liked extra E's in words in ye olde days.

sources:
Findagrave.com for Hedges cemetery - specifically, entries for Cunningham, Sloan, and Hunt who died at the Siege of Dunlap's Station