Editing Pickaway Plains

'''Pickaway Plains''' is a wide area of rolling hills beginning about 3 miles south of [[Circleville, Ohio]], and extending several miles to the north and south.  This [[geological]] area was formed by sand and gravel deposited by melting water from the last [[glacier]] to retreat from the region during the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]].  During the time of inhabitation by the [[Shawnee]], the Pickaway Plains were covered by prairie vegetation, mainly grasses.

==Villages==
This area was inhabited most recently by the Shawnee, who founded at least three villages here:
* '''Cornstalk Town''' was located on the north bank of the Scippo Creek in [[Pickaway County, Ohio]].  It was just east of the present [[U.S. Highway 23]] highway and approximately where Gold Cliff Park is today.  The town was named for [[Cornstalk (Shawnee leader)|Cornstalk]], a Shawnee chief.
* '''Grenadier Squaw Village''' was located opposite the Scippo Creek from Cornstalk Town.  The town was named for Cornstalk's sister [[Nonhelema]], whom the British called the "[[Grenadier (soldier)|Grenadier]] [[Squaw]]" because of her imposing stature.
* '''Kispoko Town''' "was situated on the east bank of the [[Scioto River|[Scioto] river]], across from the Pickaway Plains about midway between present day Circleville and [[Chillicothe, Ohio|Chillicothe]].  This town was peopled by the [[Chalahgawtha|Chalahgawatha]] sect of the Shawnee tribe, one of five clans making up the Shawnee Nation.  The principal Chiefs of this area were the legendary Chief [[Cornstalk (Shawnee leader)|Cornstalk]] (Hokolewqua) and his giant sister, Grenadier Squaw (non-hel-e-ma) who stood at six and a half feet tall."<ref>{{Cite web
 |last        = Mark Howes
 |title       = Stage's Pond Local Lore
 |work        = Stage's Pond State Nature Preserve
 |accessdate  = 2013-02-17
 |url         = http://www.stagespondnaturepreserve.info/Local_Lore_Information.htm
 |url-status     = dead
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20131208021435/http://stagespondnaturepreserve.info/Local_Lore_Information.htm
 |archivedate = 2013-12-08
}}</ref> [[Tecumseh]]'s birth "occurred while his parents, Shawnee war chief, Pucksinwah, and his wife, Methotasa, were en route from their village of Kispoko Town, on the Scioto River, to a major tribal council at the Shawnee tribal capital village of [[Chillicothe, Ohio|Chalahgawth]] (Chillicothe - now Oldtown), which was located "two arrow flights" northwest."<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Birthplace of Tecumseh Marker
| work = HMdb.org, The Historical Marker Database
| accessdate = 2013-02-18
| url = http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=14064
}}</ref>
* '''[[Lower Shawneetown]]''', also known as '''Shannoah''', was relocated in 1758 from its original site at the confluence of the Ohio River and the Scioto, after Virginia militia launched an expedition to destroy it February, 1756 (the failed [[Sandy Creek Expedition]]). Some refugees from [[Logstown]] and from Upper Shawneetown were also invited to live there.<ref name = "Seaver">James Everett Seaver, Charles Delamater Vail, [https://archive.org/details/anarrativelifem00seavgoog ''A Narrative of the Life of Mary Jemison: The White Woman of the Genesee,''] American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1918.</ref>{{rp|365}}  The Shawnee referred to Pickaway Plains as ''Moguck.''<ref name = "Hanna1">Charles Augustus Hanna, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_SCYMAAAAYAAJ ''The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path,''] Volume 1, Putnam's sons, 1911</ref>{{rp|378}}

<gallery>
File:PickawayPlains3.JPG|Non-Hel-E-Ma sign located on Emerson Road.
</gallery>

==Dunmore's War==
In 1774, the Shawnee and allied nations sent around 300-500 men from the Pickaway Plains area to meet [[John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore|Lord Dunmore's]] army of [[Virginia]] [[militia]].  Lord Dunmore was attempting both to subdue the Shawnee and [[Mingo]], and to prevent [[Pennsylvania]] from laying claim upon present-day [[Ohio]].  This conflict became known as [[Dunmore's War]].  At [[Point Pleasant, West Virginia]], Cornstalk and his army met a detachment of Dunmore's army under command of Colonel [[Andrew Lewis (soldier)|Andrew Lewis]].

The forces met on October 10, 1774, at what became known as the [[Battle of Point Pleasant]]. After several hours of intense fighting, Lewis's detachment drove Cornstalk and his men northward, across the [[Ohio River]].  Dunmore then led his army in pursuit of the Shawnee.

Cornstalk and his men retreated to Pickaway Plains, with Dunmore's army still in pursuit.  As they reached the villages, Dunmore requested that Cornstalk discuss a peace treaty.  Cornstalk agreed after he received word that Lewis's detachment had destroyed several villages along the Ohio River.  At the treaty, held at [[Camp Charlotte]], Cornstalk agreed to honor the [[Treaty of Fort Stanwix]] of 1768, ceding the Shawnee hunting lands of present-day [[Kentucky]] to Virginia.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060117115346/http://ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=104 Ohio History Central: Lord Dunmore]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050905120440/http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/publications/geo/route23/guide2.html Ohio Department of Natural Resources:  US 23 Road Guide]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050410041138/http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/publications/geo/route23/stake.html Ibid., "Burning Stake"]

[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Ohio]]
[[Category:Geography of Pickaway County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Shawnee history]]