In Perilous Paths, author George G. McClellan seamlessly combines history, biography, and story as he narrates the early history of our country's movement from the east to the west through the eyes of Robert McClellan as he experiences successes and failures along the way. This story focuses on one small but important piece of the history after the Revolutionary War. It tells of real, rugged men like McClellan-a son of Ulster Scots immigrants born near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1770-who performed tasks in harsh conditions that would be considered dangerous, even foolhardy, today. Perilous Paths follows the footsteps made by McClellan from his youthful days as an army packer to his exploits as an Indian scout, army ranger, and spy. It details how he fought alongside Lewis and Clark, gained an education in reading and arithmetic for the army quartermaster corps, and then moved west to Missouri and succumbed to the lure of the unknown, entering Indian country where he trapped furs and traded with the Indians of what would eventually become the American Midwest. Marking the trials, tribulations and hardships, this history highlights McClellan's independence of character, the hardships he faced, and his desperate survival against unknown odds with a rugged determination to succeed.

Perilous Paths

The Story of Robert McClellan: Indian Fighter, Soldier, Trapper, Explorer, and Member of the John J. Astor Fur CompanyBy George G. McClellan

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 George G. McClellan
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-2531-9

Contents

Dedication...........................................vForeword.............................................xiPreface..............................................xiiiAcknowledgments......................................xvIntroduction.........................................xviiThe Ohio Indian War Period...........................1The Trapping Period..................................19The Northwest Exploration Period.....................27Other Characters.....................................67About the Author.....................................79

Chapter One

The Ohio Indian War Period

Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, positioned at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which join to form the Ohio River, was the primary center of activity for trekking west over the Alleghenies into Ohio Territory. It was also the source of iron ore and salt, commodities much in demand along the expanding American frontier. Pack trains were loaded in Mercersburg for the westward trek, and to many young men of that period, packing provided the excitement and adventure they sought in order to escape the drudgery and boredom of dirt farming. The dangers they faced only added to the thrill. It was akin to running off to join the circus or the navy.

William and Robert were both drawn by the same youthful passion for adventure, and during the Revolutionary War they were hired on as packers for the army. They continued in this profession after the war, but by 1790 Robert had enlisted in the army, a new profession he found much to his liking. He was first posted at Fort Gower on the Ohio River, a few miles above Hockhocking. His commanding general was Josiah Harmar. McClellan, with the Indian skills he had developed during early childhood, was quickly recruited as a ranger to scout and spy.

First Assignment: A Gathering of Indians

His first assignment was to gather information on the local Indians—the Wyandots, Delawares, and Shawnees—after it was learned that they were gathering in large numbers, supported by the British, in the nearby Hockhocking Valley. McClellan and a fellow named White conducted the reconnaissance as ordered. Both men, using all their woodsmen skills, made their way unobserved to a high promontory point called Mt. Pleasant, which overlooked the valley where the Indians were gathering.

Their rations included jerked venison, cornbread, and a canteen of water for each man. As their water ran low, McClellan and White took turns refilling their canteens at a spring (Cold Spring) near the river. This continued over the next few days until White, on his run, encountered two Indian squaws who had just gotten water themselves. On seeing him, they let out a whoop, and White quickly rushed forward, grabbed both women by their throats, dragged them down to the river, and proceeded to drown them. The youngest one, however, spoke some words of English, and White let her up while he finished drowning the other one. It turned out she was a white captive—had been for ten years—and was the only survivor of her family. White pushed the drowned squaw into the river for the current to take and made it back up to the point with the captive girl.

Detected, Evasion, and Escape

In the meantime, McClellan, without knowing the cause, noted that the Indians were in a serious way with search parties moving out in their direction. Now White came up with the girl, and the reason became clear. An Indian search party apparently spotted their lookout post and approached, moving stealthily from tree to tree without knowing how many whites they might encounter. McClellan and White told the girl to go on down and rejoin the Indians, but she refused and said she would rather die than go back.

McClellan and White, being skilled in Indian fighting techniques, quickly selected a fairly good defensive position where they could observe the Indians without detection and where they could easily defend themselves. To attack their position openly, the Indians had to cross a rocky bald, in the open, in single file. McClellan and White managed to shoot several who attempted the crossing before the rest drew back to reconsider their assault.

A large rock, which overlooked and commanded McClellan and White's position, quickly became the Indians' objective, as it might allow them an opportunity for a flanking attack. It was a hazardous position but the only one they apparently had. Indeed, one managed to ascend the rock and was prepared to spring down upon McClellan, who took quick aim and dropped the hammer only to see the flint crushed by the impact with no spark to ignite the powder. McClellan calmly attached a new flint but not before the Indian made his move. He jumped down but missed and plunged down the cliff. This enraged the other Indians, who pushed and shoved to get across the rocky opening to the cost of many. Another Indian made it to the flanking position and was shot dead but not by McClellan or White. They then noticed that the freed girl was missing and assumed she had lost her nerve and slipped away. A bit later, they saw her emerge from a place of concealment with a still-smoking musket in her hand. Her Indian skills had allowed her to slip forward during the fighting and grab a musket from one of the dead Indians. She had indeed shot the Indian on the rock and told her rescuers that he was the very one who, ten years earlier, had killed her mother and sister and had taken her and her brother prisoner.

Darkness fell while the Indians were planning a new strategy, and the girl, who knew every inch of the ground, volunteered to get them through the Indian pickets. Their path to safety lay right through the Indian camp. It took several hours of stealthily creeping through brush and waiting for the Indian pickets to move on. Finally, they got past and came near the village. Since they were dressed as Indians and the girl spoke the language, they decided the safest way out was straight through the village. Three days later, they all made it back to their base.

With General "Mad" Anthony Wayne

In 1791, McClellan traveled downriver to Fort Washington, near the village of Cincinnati, and in the spring of 1792 he and his older brother William moved on to Hamilton, Ohio; William remained there for the rest of his life, first as an army packer for General Wayne and then as a tavern keeper, a county sheriff, and a farmer. Robert's extraordinary physical ability and successful record as a frontier spy won him an appointment as a ranger in Captain James Flynn's scouts in the army of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne from September 21 to December 31, 1793.

McClellan's next enlistment was from July 1 to December 6, 1794. He again worked as a spy under a fellow named Wells. Wells had been a prisoner of the Indians from boyhood and was well acquainted with the Ohio Territory as well as the several Indian dialects spoken there. In earlier British-sponsored campaigns against the Americans, Wells had fought with the Indians but was now the chief of spies for General Wayne.

Besides Wells and McClellan, the spy division consisted of Henry Miller, who had also been an Indian captive; two other experienced woodsmen, Hickman and Thrope; and an ex-British sailor named William May, who had been...