George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 4, 15th edition.

[78] world crossed the Little Miami, and journeyed

chap. III.} 1751.

in February towards the Miami River; first of white men on record, they saw that the land beyond the Scioto, except the first twenty miles, is rich and level, bearing walnut trees of huge size, the maple, the wild cherry, and the ash; full of little streams and rivulets; variegated by beautiful natural prairies, covered with wild rye, blue grass and white clover. Turkeys abounded, and deer and elks, and most sorts of game; of buffaloes, thirty or forty were frequently seen feeding in one meadow. ‘Nothing,’ they cried, ‘is wanting but cultivation to make this a most delightful country.’¹ Their horses swam over the swollen current of the Great Miami; on a raft of logs they transported their goods and saddles; outside of the town of the Picqualennees, the warriors came forth with the peace-pipe, to smoke with them the sacred welcome. They entered the village with the English colors, were received as guests into the king's house, and planted the red cross upon its roof.

The Miamis were the most powerful confederacy of the West, excelling the Six Nations, with whom they were in amity. Each tribe had its own chief; of whom one, at that time the chief of the Piankeshaws, was chosen indifferently to rule the whole nation. They formerly dwelt on the Wabash, but, for the sake of trading with the English, drew nearer the East. Their influence reached to the Mississippi, and they received frequent visits from tribes beyond that river. The town of Picqua contained about four hundred families, and was one of the strongest in that part of the continent.