Monette, John W. History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi, by the Three Great European Powers, Spain, France and Great Britain, and the Subsequent Occupation, Settlement, and Extension of Civil Government by the United States, Until the Year 1846, in two volumes, Volume II . New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1846. [format: book], [genre: history]. Permission: Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures, Aurora University
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"blazed-traces," through the deep forests which covered the southern portion of this extensive territory. A cabin, a hunter's hut, or a solitary family residence might be seen on these routes at the distance of ten or fifteen miles from each other, where man and horse might obtain imperfect shelter and scanty fare. In other directions, the traveler might traverse the wilderness for thirty or forty miles without house or shelter, or food for man or beast, except the prolific herbage which covered his route on every side.

[A.D. 1797.] Extension of Population in 1797 and 1798. — The settlements had extended sparsely up the Scioto Valley and River; a village of more than fifty cabins, log houses, and frames, had sprung into existence upon the site where Chillicothe had been laid out twelve months before; a few scattering settlements were found along the river for twenty miles below, and also upon some of the tributaries within fifty miles of the mouth. Forty-five miles by land above Chillicothe, on the Scioto, were three or four cabins, recently erected near the site of the present town of Franklinton, opposite the present location of Columbus, and not far from the Indian boundary. But this remote portion was a perfect wilderness of woods and wet prairies, and the few settlers were such hunters as live only on the extreme verge of civilization, or who, like John Brickell, had lived with the Indians until they had been "weaned" from civilized life. ³⁶³ Two years afterward, a cabin might be seen in this region every ten or twelve miles upon the principal routes and traces.

Upon the Muskingum but few settlements had extended above the present site of Zanesville, which was near the limits of the Indian country, and was occupied by a few squatters with their half-formed cabins, barely giving them a shelter from the inclemency of the seasons.

In the mean time, since the treaty of Greenville, a large number of emigrants from Kentucky and Virginia had advanced into the extreme eastern portion of Hamilton county, on the West side of the Scioto River, within the limits of the "Virginia Military District." Hundreds of settlements had been already made, and the population had augmented until it became expedient to divide the county of Hamilton. The governor and council, accordingly, on the 10th day of July laid

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