CHAPTER IX.


ADVENTURES IN KENTUCKY AND OHIO.

AFTER his return from captivity, Fitch remained some time in Bucks County, without any particular employment. He had not relinquished his belief that vast riches might be made by the selection and purchase of lands in the western country. After the treaty of peace with England, the question, How the lands north-west of the River Ohio should be disposed of, was mooted in Congress. It was thought that they would be sold, to pay the debts of the Confederacy. Fitch was now a land-jobber, and supposing that a good operation might be made by a pre-survey of the country, so that when Land Offices were opened warrants might be taken out immediately for choice tracts, he disclosed his thoughts to some of his friends. He found no difficulty in forming a company to forward such an enterprise. It was composed of Dr. John Ewing, Rev. Nathaniel Irwin, Wm. a. Houston, Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, Stacy Potts, of Trenton, and Colonel Joshua Anderson, of Bucks County. These gentlemen put <£20 each in a fund to pay expenses. Fitch was to have an equal share in the titles, and the money raised was to pay the expenses of subsistence, etc., for t e Surveying party. Col. Anderson went along, and he took with him Some of his friends who were unaccustomed to rough work, and who really were obstacles o the success of the expedition. Although they

should have commenced their labors at early dawn, it was generally eight or nine o'clock in the morning before they could be got to business, and they were soon tired out, so that the progress of the company was but slow. Fitch kept the minutes, made draughts, and at night corrected each day's work, but much time was lost in consequence of the laziness of members of the party.
They began at the mouth of the Hockhocking, on the north-western side of the Ohio, and surveyed up to Wheeling Island, a distance then computed by Fitch to be between eighty and ninety miles. They selected the most valuable tracts in that range, and surveyed about thirty-six thousand acres. They returned to Decker's Fort, from which point they had started, with an intention of going into the woods. But here an obstacle arose from the indisposition of the majority of the party to proceed further. They were afraid of hostile Indians. It had been resolved that they should survey one hundred thousand acres, and but little more than one-third of the task had been executed. Contention ensued, and Fitch determined to get frontier men accustomed to the country, whilst Col. Anderson and his friends, who had seen enough of life in the woods, were preparing to return' to Bucks County. With the hands thus obtained, Fitch set out westward, and all who Mere with him worked so energetically, that they surveyed forty-eight thousand acres in two weeks. Anderson and his party set off homeward two days before their return to Decker's Fort. The frost was now setting in, and nothing more could be done. Fitch remained at the mouth of Hockhocking, one day,
to settle up his affairs, when he also took the road to Pennsylvania on foot. At Wright's Ferry, he overtook Colonel Anderson and his party. Leaving them there, he traveled on, and got to Bucks County a day before them.
Arrived at home, his thoughts turned once more to his children, and in December, 1781, he addressed a letter to his son, of which the following is an extract:
so Heaven forbid that I should endeavor to raise an irreverent thought in your heart against your mother. But our separation, you may be assured, was no trifling matter to me. There was nothing that I more ardently wished for, at the time, than that Heaven would call me to the world of spirits. You, my child, staggered every resolution, and weighed more to me than a mountain of diamonds. Finally, I resolved, and re-resolved, and then resolved again, and gave you a sacrifice to the world more unwillingly than the patriarch of old.''
Whilst waiting the advent of spring, he became "E brother of the mystic tie." He joined Bristol Lodge No. 25 A. Y. M., of the State of Pennsylvania, on the 4th of January, 1785.2 He was a faithful member of the Masonic order, and attached to the institution, as appears by various expressions in his journal.
The share-holders were satisfied with the results of this trip, and with the prospects before them, and they prevailed upon Fitch to take the field early in the Spring of 1785. He accordingly left Bucks County in the winter, and crossed the Susquehanna river on the ice. At Monongahela, he met with one John Sterrett,

to whom he made proposals to accompany him. Hands were also hired, sufficient in number to carry two chains, and the whole party, numbering thirteen, went down the Ohio in the month of March, to the mouth of the Muskingum. They surveyed up that river a distance of eighty-five miles, until they came upon fresh Indian signs; finding a large camp, which had been but recent]y occupied. They thought it prudent to leave that dangerous vicinity, and taking to their canoes, paddled down the Muskingum, until they reached the Ohio, and thence proceeded to the mouth of the Hockhocking. Up that stream they proceeded about forty-seven miles, surveying the best lands. They reached a large island, about one hundred acres in extent; the stream on each side was choked with large logs, and impassable for canoes. Upon the land were the marks of fresh tracks, and other Indian signs. Fitch decided that he would return, but Sterrett was desirous of proceeding, and offered to go himself to the head of the river Hockhocking, and then cross the country to White Woman's Creek' (Walhonding River), a tributary which, joining the Tuscarawas at Coshocton, forms the Muskingum. Thence Sterrett proposed to return by land to the Ohio. This was contrary to the opinion and policy of Fitch, but he reluctantly consented. Sterrett divided the party, and loading each man with twenty pounds of flour, other provisions, and baggage,
	

they parted. Fitch and his companions embarked in their canoes, and proceeded down the river. Before night they saw three Indians standing on the bank, near a great bend, which was seven or eight miles round by the course of the river, but which was only a mile and a half across by land. The darkness was coming on, and the party paddled about a mile, ashen they ceased, loaded their guns, and inspected them to see if they were in good order. ' They then proceeded cautiously, and near the end of the bend they heard the Indians walking on the land, stepping among the willows, and breaking off twigs and sticks as they went along. Whether the savages were armed is not known, but they did not fire upon the voyagers nor attempt to molest them. The white men floated on until the night became so very dark that it was impossible to see to go further. They then went on shore, but took every precaution to give no indication of their situation. They kindled no fires, and were very quiet. They rose an hour before day, and waited impatiently until the first glimmer of dawn enabled them to proceed. They succeeded in escaping, and in good time reached the Ohio.
Sterrett and his party were not so lucky. They had traveled not more than eight or ten miles after the separation from Fitch, when they fell in with six separated from them and escaped the danger, but the rest were made prisoners. They were kept two nights and a day, when, after taking all their property from them, the Indians set them at liberty. The two men who were not captured returned to Fitch and reported

	their disaster, and Sterrett and his companions afterwards joined them. The Darter then went down to the Great Kanawha, from which they surveyed up along the Ohio, and to some distance inland, to the Muskingum, when they left off. The assistants were discharged and Fitch returned home, believing that one day he would be " a man of fortune." In this trip two hundred and fifty thousand acres were surveyed.
 -		When he reached Bucks County, intelligence
awaited
him which was unexpected. Whilst he was away,
Congress had passed resolutions that the NorthWestern
Territory should be divided into States, and that all
lands there should be laid out at right angles, and in
sections of one mile square, and should be in that
manner located. His expectations, and those of the
company, were thereby partially frustrated, as there
was every probability that much worthless land would
have to be taken in every section, with that which was
good. He however deemed it judicious to set off
again and re-survey, or rather note the most valuable
sections, according to the plan contemplated by 
Congress. He accordingly went once more to the frontiers,
where, hiring three men, they rode through the 
country, and when they came to good tracts they made
notes of the land-marks, so that when the sections were located by official surveys, they could tell which sections were most valuable. Governor Harrison, of Virginia, hearing of these transactions, published N proclamation, forbidding private surveys of lands on the western side of the Ohio. This was aimed particularly at Fitch, but before it was promulgated the mischief had been done, and the admonition was for the

 benefit of the company, as it deterred other adventurers from doing that which had already been accomplished by them.
After his return, :Fitch petitioned Congress for an appointment as surveyor in the western country, and was backed by good recommendations Whilst awaiting the result of this application, he made a draft of the North-Western country, from Hutchins and Morrow's maps, with additions from his own knowledge, " to keep the ideas of the country" in his mind. He thought that it might be useful if engraved, and he got a sheet of copper and hammered, polished, and engraved it, and then made a press and printed it 2 Speaking of this map afterwards, he said, " It's true it was but Coarsely done; it was cheap,-portable to any one who wanted to go to the woods, and more to

be relayed upon than any published."' Whilst thus engaged his interests were suffering. Relying too much upon his own merit, and the strength of the recommendations offered by him, he did not push his petition to Congress for appointment as a surveyor with the assiduity necessary, and others who were at the seat of government were working against him. The consequence was that he did not get the appointment. Mr. Hoops obtained it, and Fitch, now fully possessed of the idea of a great invention which had been partly conceived whilst he remained at home, had scarcely time or disposition to regret his failure.