SHANGRALA'S
OHIO
INDIANS!
Welcome to Van Wert County, Ohio.
Let me take you on a little
walk down it's past.
Centuries ago, during winter hunting season,
this region was a paradise for the Indian hunters
who knew and followed the Great Black Swamp.
Indian tribes lived in the Ohio country in relative peace during
the first half of the eighteenth century. The territory was vast,
game was abundant, soil was fertile, and the few whites were
trappers and traders who didn't interfere with Indian life.
There were plenty of resources to provide for a people who did not
recognize ownership of land. Indians believed that all tribes owned
land in common and all had a right to claim the bounty of that land.
Indians were religious people much in tune with the land they lived
on. Their religion was animistic. They believed that living creatures
and natural phenomena had spirit. The Spirits were powerful and as
such demanded proper behavior from Indians. In this respect, their
religion served as a social as well as moral code for them.
White settlers, schooled in the British and European tradition where
ownership of property was a sign of success, came into direct conflict
with the Indians' less materialistic culture. Neither group understood
the others' culture, and both considered the other to be barbaric.
The area of which Van Wert County is part, occupies the center of a
triangle formed by three rivers - the Maumee, the Auglaize, and the
St. Marys. It was on these banks that the struggle for possession of
the Northwest Territory was fought, during the French and Indian War.
In 1790, General Josiah Harmar marched with his army to build an
American fort at Kekionga (now Fort Wayne, Indiana) and the Van
Wert County headwater creek area was used by the Indians as a
sanctuary for their women and children, away from the war trails.
Harmar, however, suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of
the Indian Confederation under Chiefs Little Turtle
and Blue Jacket.
Van Wert was named after a Revolutionary War hero, Isaac Van Wart,
who helped capture British spy, Major John Andre (who had helped
the notorious Benedict Arnold to escape).
Due to a mistake on the part of those preparing the act of legislation
recognizing his heroic actions, the name appeared erroneously as
"Van Wert" and the new spelling stuck.
Our history walk has brought us to our modern day. Lee Bigham and
his wife Patricia like to go hunting for artifacts in the woods and fields
that surround their small country home. They have an exceptional
eye for this and have found many artifacts with only just a small
bit of it showing through the top of the dirt.
My son took a few pictures of part of Lee's collection.
Please note: These are not displayed in any particular order.
They are authentic stones, points, and arrowheads
he found around Van Wert County. Various tribes of
many years past are represented here. Enjoy :)
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