SOURCE OF ST. PETEr's RIVER. 77 



within a short distance of Shanesville on part of his grant. 

 The soil being considered of the best quality, and the situ- 

 ation on the river an advantageous one, he has already sold 

 out some parts of it. No man is better known in this part 

 of the country than Shane ; his influence among the Indians 

 is great, and he enjoys a high degree of popularity with 

 the whites, founded upon the uniformly good character 

 which he maintained during the war, and upon the 

 unbounded confidence reposed in him by General Harrison. 

 He was absent from home at the time we passed there, but 

 we afterwards met with him at Fort Wayne. 



The late heavy rains had so much swelled the St. Mary 

 that it was impossible to ford it. We passed it in a canoe 

 — our horses swam across. Fourteen miles of bad roads, 

 leading however through a country remarkable for the 

 excellence of its soil, and for its fine luxuriant growth of 

 white and black oak, beach, hickory, shellbark, &c. brought 

 us to a new settlement, where, notwithstanding the badness 

 of the accommodations, wc were happy to find a hospitable 

 reception. Near to this house we passed the state line, 

 which divides Ohio from Indiana. In the state of Ohio 

 we met with no Indians. Their numbers appear to be 

 diminishingvery rapidly. We were informed that they 

 do not exceed two thousand, consisting principally of 

 Ottawas, Miamis, Senecas, Wyandots, &c. This neigh- 

 bourhood abounds, as we were informed, in wolves, deer, 

 and raccoons ; bears are few, and the panther is seldom seen ; 

 we met with no wild animal whatever, on this part of our 

 route. The distance from this to Fort Wayne is twenty- 

 four miles, without a settlement; the country is so wet 

 that we scarcely saw an acre of land upon which a settle- 

 ment could be made. We travelled for a couple of miles 

 with our horses wading through water, sometimes to the 



