THe Miami Claim Upper Piqua

Upper Piqua  Part 2

Many of you who are reading this post have heard of Pickawillany, fur trade, and “Old Britain”.

So why was trade with the British or French circa 1750 significant? 

It might sound odd, but the driving force for trade and the conquest of Ohio, whether by British or French, was fashion.

France and Great Britain disputed ownership of the Ohio Valley in the mid 1700’s. Both empires were both keenly interested in fur trade. They established trade with Indians and exchanged tools and weapons for fur. Fur trade one of the earliest and most important industries in North America.

Animal skins were taken in North America and transported to Europe for processing and final sale. Fur trade was based on pelts destined either for the luxury clothing market or for the felting industries, of which hatting (hats were a mandatory article of clothing for both men and women) was the most important…. 

Luxury clothing was not relegated to high society …. Leather clothing was also very important as skilled trades clothing. Within European skilled trades, if you were a butcher, you would wear clothing specific to a butcher…. and if you were a baker, you would wear clothing specific to a baker. Tradesmen had specific outfits.  This fashion trend occurred all throughout Europe for decades.

If you had a leather outfit for your skilled trade, then you were obviously not an apprentice, you were a man of means and accomplishment within your industry.

In this way, fashion played a part in the conquest of the Ohio Valley.

The second flag of Upper Piqua was that of the Miami Indians....

The earliest known permanent settlement at Upper Piqua was called Pickawillany. 

Several branches of the Miami confederation occupied Western Ohio and Indiana, The Twigtwee sect of the Miami Indians, established their town where the present day Loramie Creek enters into the Miami River - about three miles north of present day Piqua.

This site eventually became capital city of the local Miami tribe. Their leader, Memeskia, was known as La Demoiselle to the French, or “Old Britain” to the English because he preferred trading with the British. 

In the late 1740’s, the French controlled most trade for the Miami Indian tribe… except for the Twigtwees. La Demoiselle recognized that British traders gave more merchandise to the Twigtwees when trading for furs than what French traders offered.

By the early 1750’s several British traders built a trading post or fort (25 ft by 60 ft in size) next to the village. It became known as Fort Pickawillany. 

In June of 1752, many of Pickawillany’s warriors attended a conference at Logstown.  Realizing Pickawillany was vulnerable at this time, a French commander in Michilimackinac sent an expedition under Charles Langlade to end British trade at Pickawillany. 

French troops and approximately 150/250 (sources differ in headcount) Ottawa and Ojibwas (Chippewa) warriors came to stop trade with the British. The attack was fast and furious. The village, stockade, and fort were burned.

There were only eight British traders present at the fort when it was attacked. Five of the traders were taken back as prisoners, one was killed, and two escaped. Sources differ as to whether it was 5 or 15 villagers who were killed. 

La Demoiselle, or “Old Britain” as he was otherwise known, was within the village when it was attacked. The Ottawa killed, boiled, and ate “Old Britain”. 

While some of the Miami stayed in the area after the attack, the village and fort were never rebuilt. This event became known as the first battle of the French and Indian War.

Sources for this information were: Rayner's First Century of Piqua, Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications Volume XVI, Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly Volume XXVII, and History of Western Ohio & Auglaize County with Illustrations