souiicE OF ST. Peter's river. 75 



exact site. Even the history of the defensive works which 

 were erected, soon loses part of its interest by the destruc- 

 tion of the works themselves. We read of the deeds done 

 in the neighbourhood of Fort Loramie by the French, or 

 of the Miami villages by St. Clair, but if we travel over 

 the ground, we find but few traces of these deeds. At 

 Fort St. Mary, which was one of General Harrison's 

 principal depots in 1813 and 1814, we see but the re- 

 mains of a half-ruined blockhouse, and of a very miserable 

 hut surrounded by pickets, which are fast falling to decay. 

 A few years more and the remains of these works will be 

 sought for by the traveller as unsuccessfully as we now 

 search for the spots upon which St. Clair fought, and 

 Wayne conquered. A young growth of trees is rising, 

 which, if not levelled by the axe of the forester, will soon 

 conceal the last traces of the clearing, made by Wayne for 

 the advance of his army, which was pointed out to us as 

 Wayne's road. The party arrived in the afternoon of the 

 24th of May at Fort St. Mary, just in time to avoid a 

 heavy rain. A solitary log-house marks the spot where 

 a little village formerly thrived, under the protection of 

 the French fort," erected at this place. It stands on St. 

 Mary's river, at a distance of fifty-eight miles by land 

 from Fort Wayne ; the distance by water is probably about 

 one hundred and thirty-eight miles. The river is naviga- 

 ble, during half the year, for large boats, carrying from 

 one to two hundred barrels ; during the rest of the year, in 

 dry seasons, there is scarcely water enough in it to float a 

 canoe, and its course is very much impeded by driftwood. 

 A little limestone of a very inferior quality has been found 

 on the river bank, below the fort. From Piqua to St. 

 Mary the soil is only of second quality, being in many 

 places too wet and swampy for grain. The weather had 



