THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY
ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and
considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed.
The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or
standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was
published.
Who Made the "Trader's Map"?
(November 1750- Date of Map)
(Due to length divided here into two parts)
Eavenston, Howard N. in: Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biography,
Vol. 65, Philadelphia,
1941, pp. 420-438.
Another manuscript, from Massachusetts Historical Society, contains related information and is of sufficient importance to merit printing verbatim.
John Pattins Acc. of Distances computed by Indian Traders
|
|
From |
Log's Town |
to Pipe Creek (or Pipe Hill) |
35 |
|
Mile |
|
|
|
|
do |
to the Mouth of Mouskindon |
140 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
do |
to Conhaway |
200 |
|
|
|
|
|
From |
Conhaway |
to Salt River Lick |
60 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Muskindon |
to Hakhawkin |
40 |
|
|
|
|
|
From |
Log's Town |
to Syotha River where the |
35 |
|
Mile |
|
|
|
|
Lower Shawonese Town is |
|
300 |
|
& odd Mile |
|
|
|
From |
Lower Shawonese Town |
to Little Miami |
100 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Little Miamis |
to Great Miamis on Ohio |
50 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Great Miami on Ohio |
to the Mouth of Wawbach |
100 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Mouth of Miami on Ohio |
to Miamis Town by water |
200 |
|
& by Land 100 |
|
|
|
|
Lowr Shawanese Town |
to Miami Town |
150 |
|
by Land |
|
|
|
|
Logs Town |
to three Legs |
70 |
|
by do |
|
|
|
|
3 Legs |
to Wendawets Town |
40 |
|
by do |
|
|
|
|
Wendawets Town |
to Hawkhakin Town |
100 |
|
do |
|
|
|
|
Hawkhakin |
to Delaware's Town upon Saiota |
15 |
|
do |
|
|
|
|
Hawkhakin |
to Miamis Town English al: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Twigtwee |
130 |
|
do |
|
|
|
|
Miami Town |
to the Cross |
65 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Cross |
to Fr. Miami Fort |
40 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Miami Fort |
to French Indian Miami Town |
1 1/2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Miami Fort |
to Fort Detroit |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note the River is 1 1/2 Miles over at Detroit |
240 |
|
by Water |
|
|
|
|
|
Fort Schvil |
to Lake Huron 3 Leagues |
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do |
to Lake Erie 12 Leagues |
36 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
From one end of the Lake Erie |
to the other is about |
300 |
|
|
|
|
|
From |
Fort Detroit they can go in 2 Days |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
to Ft. Sanduski |
|
|
|
|
|
|
From |
the West End of Lake Erie |
to the Mouth of Detroit |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
is computed 12 Leagues |
|
36 |
|
|
|
|
|
From |
The East End of Lake Erie |
to Fort Niagara |
70 |
|
|
|
|
|
From |
Ft. Niagara |
to Ft. Trunto abt Inanadaras que |
110 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fort Trunto to Fort Cadaracqui at: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frontenac |
|
120 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fort Cadaracqui |
to Fr. Nagalet |
120 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fort Nagalet |
to MontReal |
180 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mont Real |
to Quebec |
210 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Miami River to Lake Erie is full of Ripling Water, has 3 Falls |
|
|
|
|
|
(page
432) |
|
|
|
|
Note |
The French call what we name the Miami River which empties itself into Ohio the Rocky River and they call that Miami River which empties it self into Lake Erie & which is but about 3 Rods wide between the French Fort and the Miamis Town- The French talk of building a Fort in the Fork near where the Indian Town lies. |
|
|
|
|
Note |
The Land for the greatest Part Savannah's & Plains but some fine Timber Land. |
|
|
|
Note |
The Passage is down Ft. Miami River into L. Erie then up the Streight to Ft. Detroit which lies on the West Side of the Streams & the Pautawatomis lie on the South Side. |
|
The map referred to by the Clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly is not on file with either of these papers and no reference is made to it in the account itself. A diligent search has failed so far to find any record of it anywhere.
Pattin was in Boston late in 1753, and William Clarke of that place wrote to Benjamin Franklin on March 18, 1754, enclosing an account he had some time before received from a "gentleman in this town as the substance of what he had collected from conversing with Mr. Pattin when he was last here," some months before. He asked Franklin if the account were true and a number of questions about the Indians, rivers, etc., mentioned in it, and then asked for Franklin's opinion about numerous Indian problems. The account mentioned cannot be found, and a diligent search and inquiry has failed to find Franklin's reply, which may possibly have been given at the Albany convention that summer.
Late in 1753 Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania instructed "John Patten, an Indian Trader, to accompany Croghan and Montour to Logstown."20 Pattin reached there January 13, 1754, and went back to Philadelphia with Montour after February 13, arriving there February 20, and was examined by the Governor and Assembly in regard to courses and distances of the road and the relative locations of Shannopin's Town, Logstown and Venango.
On March 2, 1754, Pattin and Montour appeared before the (page 433) Governor and Council with a map of the Indian country, on which they had laid off the courses and distances of the path from Carlisle by way of Ray's Town to Shannopin's Town. They were before the Assembly again on March 6. "Pattin's Map of the Road, laid before us, makes it in a straight Line from the Three Springs to Shanopins, but Eighty-three Miles. . . Andrew Montour and John Pattin say, that the Road is very crooked, and that having, by the Governor's Directions (to the said Pattin) observed the Courses and Distances with all Exactness in their Power, etc."21
This second map, like the first one mentioned, has also disappeared and a careful search has so far failed to find any trace of it.
Pattin was on the schooner Argo in search of the Northwest Passage in 1753 and 1754, as a "draughtsman and mineralist."22
On the first voyage six Labrador inlets were visited and a chart made of them, but these were with the paper relating to these cruises, which were left with Franklin. He probably gave them to Dr. John Pringle in London, and nothing is now known of their whereabouts.
Pattin was admittedly, and by the statements of many others, an Indian trader; when he was captured he said this goods and horses were worth 950, no inconsiderable sum in those days. No record can be found of his license to trade, nor any mention of him in the accounts which are still extant of the merchants who financed the traders. He was paid 50 by Governor Hamilton for his trip in 1754, while Croghan was allowed nothing.
There are several other statements in the Du Simitire collection in Philadelphia and in the House of Lords manuscripts in London giving other accounts of Pattin's experiences which have not been reproduce on account of lack of space.
There are no other documents in the archives in London to indicate that Pattin made a statement there nor is there a copy of this map in any of the British collections.23
It is plain that Pattin had the knowledge of routes and distances from which this map could have been made. A comparison of the map with Pattin's account and his table of distances is very interesting.
The map covers the area west of a north and south line just east of the site of Cumberland, Maryland and a point about 70 miles east of Fort Niagara, to the "Oubach R." The account states only that he went trading with the Indians to Miami Town in November, 1750. This is the English town later called Pickawillany.
Fort Duquesne, built early in 1754 is not shown, nor are any of the other forts on the Allegheny River and Lake Erie- Forts LaBouef and Presque Isle, built in 1753; the latitude of the forks of the Ohio is what Lewis Evans in 1755 said he thought it was until he received Fry's observation, which put it about 10 miles north of Evans' original location.
The Indian trails from Shannopins Town westward into Ohio to Miami Town and the mouth of the Scioto River are about as described by the various traders, Gist, Croghan and others, and, of course, were well known to all traders.
The latitude of Miami Town is given by Father Bonnecamp as 40o 34' N., the map shows it about 40o 29'.24 Miami Town was burned by the French and Indians in June, 1752.
The Cross is shown about 64 miles from Miami Town, the account says it is 65 miles. The Cross is not shown on Father Bonnecamp's map showing the route of Celoron's expedition in 1749, but is shown by Lewis Evans on his map of 1755.
The location of French Miami Town and Miami Fort with respect to the river are as described in the account. The distance between them is shown about 5 miles, instead of 1 1/2 miles stated in the account.
The account says it is 240 miles by water from Miami Fort to Fort Detroit; the route shown on the map is exactly that distance. Fort Detroit is shown north of Lake St. Clair, however, instead of south of it. The description of the water route down the Maumee River given in the account is as it is shown on the map.
The account says Pattin was told by the French that Fort Sandoski- spelled the same both on the map and in the account- was built in the latter part of 1750. It was abandoned by the French in 1752 or 1753, possibly soon after Pickawillany was destroyed.25
The Trader's Map shows Fort DeTroit about 5 miles south of Lake Huron, the account says that from "F. Detroit to Lake Huron is about three Leagues" (9 miles). As the fort is incorrectly located in both places this is a striking agreement.
The account says that from the fort of Lake Erie is about 12 leagues (36 miles); the map shows 40 miles.
The map shows a canoe, or boat route, along the north shore of Lake Erie, where Pattin says he went. The two portages of 40 and 2 perches shown on the map indicate either a good knowledge of the route or advice from one who had accurate information.
The account states that from the east end of Lake Erie to Fort Niagara is about 70 miles, which agrees with the map. The account says that 3 leagues and a mile, or 10 miles, above Fort Niagara is a "strong house"; the map shows it as 8 miles. Niagara is spelt conventionally in the account but "Niagaria" on the map.
The account says, "it was but a days Journey for an Indian from Niagara Fort to Boccalunce an Indian town on a Branch of the Ohio." The map shows "Batalonce" on the Allegheny River, about 70 miles from Ft. Niagara. This is evidently the place called "Buxaloon" in the Evans map of 1755. Hanna says this town was built before 1749, and Croghan is supposed to have had a warehouse there between 1750-1754.
The other proper names in the account are spelled the usual way. None of the Ohio names excepting Sandoski are mentioned.
The spacing of the meridians of longitude on the 39o and 43o parallels of latitude are correct, as nearly as they can be measured. Scale is 1 inch = 32.5 miles, which is that generally used on old charts- 69.5 or 69 miles per degree of latitude.
The map of North America by Henry Popple, which was the latest one at that time, shows "Sandoski" and also spells Ohio "Hohio," as in the Trader's Map. Its date is 1733. Popple's map shows Le Detroit on the east side of the river, south of Lake St. Clair, and Fort de Detroit on the east side of the river, north of (page 436) Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie is not the same on both maps, and Popple's map south of Lake Erie is entirely incorrect, and entirely different from the Trader's Map. The Henry Popple map is the only one found where "Hohio" and "Sandoski" are spelled as they are on the Trader's Map, and the only map found prior to 1753 where the same spelling of "Sandoski" is used as on the Trader's Map and in the "Journal or Account of John Pattin's Capture."
On Great Miami River the town is called, on Evans' map, "The Eng. Tawixtee's T. taken in 1752," while on the Trader's Map it is "Miami's T."
Evan's map shows the meridians of longitude as "West of Philadelphia," but also shows at the bottom the number of degrees "West of London"; the Trader's Map has the parallels of latitude numbered but nothing on the meridians of longitude. The above longitudes consider the first meridian shown as being 4o west of Philadelphia, as it evidently is from the correspondence shown. 75o 09' W. (longitude of Philadelphia) is added to bring them to the Greenwich meridian. Evans mentions that his latitude of Pittsburgh was furnished by Colonel Fry and that it placed Pittsburgh about 10 miles farther north than he had thought it to be. His original idea checks closely with that shown on the Trader's Map. His longitude was furnished by William Franklin. The figures for Fort Niagara check closely, as does the latitude of the mouth of the Detroit River, but the longitude of that point and the latitudes of the more southern points do not agree at all closely, as is to be expected.
The spelling of the map and the statement of distances show fairly close agreement, as can be seen in the table below.26 It must be (page 437) remembered that most of the names were Indian and the spelling used was the hearer's rendition of what he heard, and few letters of that period use the same spelling of Indian names throughout, if they are used more than once.
The use of Hohio instead of Ohio was fairly common prior to 1700 on maps, but the shorter form had almost supplanted it by 1750. However, on a "Plan of Fort LeQuesne Built by the French at the Forks of the Ohio and Monongahela in 1754" the Allegheny is shown as "The Ohio or Hohio that is Fair River." "This Plan was sent from America as it had been taken by some curious French Deserters."27 In a letter from Governor George Thomas to Conrad Weiser, Philadelphia, May 14, 1745, regarding the actions of Peter Chartier, reference is made to "French Men at Hohio."28
Sandusky had only been established when this map was made and the name had not appeared or only rarely, before 1718. Before 1755 the spelling "Sandoski" is used only by Popple, on the Trader's Map, and in Pattin's statement.
Paper having the same watermarks as those found in the Trader's Map was used for the Evans maps of 1749 and 1755, and instances of its use as early as 1721 have been found.
From these records it can be seen that so far as we know now, Pattin was the only man in that country at that time who had travelled the routes from the French Miami Fort to Niagara and beyond; that he made an account of his journeys and a table of distances that agree exceedingly well with the map; that his spelling of Sandoski- and that on the map- are two of the three instances of that spelling at the time; and that the curious mistake of locating Fort DeTroit, north instead of south of Lake St. Clair is common to the map, table of distances, and account. How else could this have happened had not Pattin made the map? No similar mislocation occurs on any other map.
The latitudes of the places that can be compared closely are more nearly accurate on the Trader's Map than on either Popple's or Evans' maps. Where Pattin obtained his data cannot now be told, but it is likely that some of it was obtained from French maps while he was in Paris; there were certainly no such data available in London at that time. It is doubtful if Pattin was questioned to any extent at the State Office, and certainly no record showing interest in his statement or knowledge of the country he traversed exists. It is certain that he showed some material, possibly the rough copy of his map, to Thomas Penn while there. Richard Peters does not say when Pattin first showed him the map, but it must have been prior to January, 1753; he is definite in the statement that at least three copies were made, one for the Pennsylvania Council, one for the Proprietaries for which he paid Pattin 5.8, and one for his own personal use. It is very likely that Pattin had a fourth copy for himself, and the fact that the Library of Congress map has no title, date or signature, leads one to think that it was Pattin's copy which he never finished. If the original map was made entirely in Philadelphia, it is logical to assume that the copies were. How he acquired the experience to do such excellent workmanship as the map shows, cannot now be known.
If the writer's assumption is correct that this is Pattin's map, the information about coal in Pennsylvania must have been obtained before October, 1750 and probably in 1748 or 1749, as far as Ohio and Kentucky were concerned.
When this map was made, an appropriate title would have been: "A Map of the Ohio Country, as of November, 1750, showing also the Places in Canada west of Niagara visited by John Pattin during his Captivity by the French, 1750-1751. Made by John Pattin in Philadelphia, December, 1752."
Pittsburgh
|
HOWARD N. EAVENSON |
_____________________________
20 Pennsylvania Colonial Records, V, 707-708, 762.
21 Ibid., 730-31, 750; Pennsylvania Archives, 8th Ser., V, 3679.
22 Captain Swain's Accounts, Historical Society of Pa. See also Penn Mss., Official Correspondence, 1753-1754, VI, 3, 51, Peters to Penn.
23 Careful searches were made in the House of Lords MSS. in the Public Record Office and the British Museum, and in the Penn Papers in Friends' Library. The Royal Geographical Society had no record of such a map. The Royal Institute of Great Britain now has no American manuscripts.
July 3, 1754, the Board of Trade and Plantations received from Mr. Boland, of Massachusetts, a copy of the statement of Pattin and the table of distances, evidently made from those in the Mass. Hist. Soc.
24 Hanna, Wilderness Trail, II, 264.
25 Hanna, The Wilderness Trail, II, 181.
26 Comparative spelling in John Pattin's "Account of Distances" and the so-called Trader's Map.
|
Name |
Pattin's Account |
Trader's Map |
|
Muskingum |
Mouskindon |
Mouskindone |
|
Kanawha |
Conhaway |
Conhawa - Kanahawa |
|
Hocking |
Hawkhakin - Hakhawkin |
Hakhakkien - Hackhakkien |
|
Scioto |
Saiota - Syotha |
Siothai |
|
Shawnee |
Shawonese |
Shawnas |
|
Ohio |
Ohio |
Hohio |
|
Miami |
Miamis - Miami |
Miamis - Miami |
|
Wabash |
Wawbash |
Oubach |
|
--- |
Three Legs |
Three Ledges |
|
--- |
Wendawets Town |
Whitewomans Town |
|
Detroit |
Fort Detroit |
F. Du Detroit |
|
Sandusky |
Sandoski |
Sandoski |
|
Niagara |
Niagara |
Niagaria |
|
--- |
Pautawatomis |
Poutaovarami |
27 Published according to the Act by J. Payne in Paternoster Row, July 15, 1755.
28 Peters Papers, II, 30, Historical Society of Pa.
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