at night an eight o'clock start was achieved on the morning of the tenth, but only eight miles were traversed. At two o'clock on the afternoon of the eleventh the army drew out into the low prairie land which lies six miles south of Fort Jefferson, Darke County, Ohio, and halted for the night to search for a safe path through it. On the day after, a party led by General Butler found a "deep-beaten" Indian trail which skirted the lower levels "avoiding the wet land," and this was followed for five and a half miles. There is no record that St. Clair followed an Indian trail until near the center of Darke County. The course heretofore had been run by the compass.[1]
From this night's encampment St. Clair rode forward a short mile and chose the site for the next fort on the line from the Ohio River to the Maumee. The spot chosen was near the present site of Fort Jefferson, Ohio—latitude 50° 4′ 22″ N. The work of erecting the new post was undertaken with alacrity by many of the soldiers and officers—the latter working in the mud with the men. Major Ferguson
- ↑ The St. Clair Papers, vol. ii, pp. 251, 262.
