On the 6th of August we set out for Detroit, down the
Miames river in a canoe. This river heads about ten
miles from hence. The river is not navigable till you
come where the river St. Joseph joins it, and makes a
considerably large stream. Nevertheless we found a
great deal of difficulty in getting our canoe over shoals,
as the waters at this season were very low. The banks
of the river are high, and the country overgrown with
lofty timber of various kinds; the land is level, and the
woods clear. About ninety miles from the Miames or
Twightwee, we came to where a large river, that heads
in a large lick, falls into the Miame river; this they call
the Forks.[1] The Ottawas claim this country, and hunt
here, where game is very plenty. From hence we proceeded
to the Ottawa village. This nation formerly lived
at Detroit, but is now settled here, on account of the
richness of the country, where game is always to be found
in plenty. Here we were obliged to get out of our canoes,
and drag them eighteen miles, on account of the rifts
which interrupt the navigation.[2] At the end of these
rifts, we came to a village of the Wyondotts, who received
us very kindly and from thence we proceeded to the
mouth of the river, where it falls into Lake Erie. From
the Miames to the lake is computed one hundred and
eighty miles, and from the entrance of the river into the
lake to Detroit, is sixty miles; that is, forty-two miles up
————
- ↑ This is the Auglaize River. On the site called the Forks, Wayne built Fort Defiance during his campaign against the Indians (1794).—Ed.
- ↑ The rapids of the Maumee were famous in the later Indian wars. There, in 1794, the British built Fort Miami, almost within the reach of whose guns Wayne fought the battle of Fallen Timbers. Fort Meigs was the American stockade built here during the War of 1812-15; and this vicinity was the scene of operations during all the Western campaigns ending with Perry's victory on Lake Erie, and the re-taking of Detroit.—Ed.
