The Tuscarawas Valley in Indian Days, 1750-1797: Original Journals and Old Maps Book

This book consists of the eyewitness accounts of persons who came into the Tuscarawas Valley in eastern Ohio in the last half of the 18th century. There are 48 journals, each one opening a small window into the past. We can hear, in the words of the traveler himself, of his trip to the Valley, usually starting and ending at Fort Pitt, of the people he met, Indian and white, and of his descriptions of the Indian towns and customs. The journals encompass the entire period between the first detailed account of the Ohio country by an English-speaking person, Christopher Gist in 1750, to the time, in 1797, when the Tuscarawas Valley was being surveyed for settlement by the whites, and the Indian culture was passing from the valley. It is, without doubt, the most comprehensive, first-person look at the valley in Indian days that has ever been published.

There are also 30 maps in the book, most of them dating from the 18th century. When the valley was being surveyed in 1797, the vestiges of six Indian towns were noted on these maps, and they are displayed on the left-hand page of the book. Opposite to them, on the right-hand page, are the modern topographic maps of the same locations, thus enabling the reader to see precisely where the old Indian town was located on the modern map. Other maps are included for the purpose of helping to establish the locations of some towns that were not noted on the 1797 survey, or for some other particular purpose.

By means of these journals and maps, the locations of White Eyes Town and Muskingum are now known. Also the location of Bouquet's 16th Encampment survey point is established. Many other new facts are brought out about the Tuscarawas Valley in Indian Days.