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Opinion by G. Michael Pratt, Perrysburg
The Blade (Toledo, OH)
03-12-95
A Readers' Forum contributor doubted the accuracy of recent interpretations of the Battle of Fallen Timbers, suggesting that the battle actually occurred on the Schuller Co. (formerly Johns-Manville) property and threw "down the gauntlet for someone to prove otherwise." The upcoming issue of the Maumee Valley Historical Society's Northwest Ohio Quarterly will contain a story, "The Battle of Fallen Timbers: An Eyewitness Perspective," in which I present information which supports the interpretation presented at the Fallen Timbers Bicentennial. The journal is a refereed publication; my article was favorably reviewed by an anonymous reviewer and the editorial board before it was accepted for publication. In his letter, the Forum letter writer cited maps which depict the battle. Unfortunately, these date to 1985 and represent recent attempts to define the battle by repeating interpretations based on legends and second-hand accounts.
There are only three contemporary maps which portray the details of the battle. These include an anonymous map published in the United States two months after the battle, a sketch map prepared by Thomas Duggan in Detroit based on information given by the first Indians to arrive at Detroit (and later copied and enhanced by British scribes), and a sketch map made a month after the battle by British Lieut. Governor Simcoe while he was visiting Fort Miamis.
Of the three, only the map published in the New York Magazine is reasonably accurate as to terrain and also coincides with the reports of the majority of the 20 eyewitnesses who left written accounts. This map places the majority of the battle to the east of a ravine system which runs perpendicular to the river through the uplands and opens into the floodplain below. The only ravine system which matches the map and eyewitness accounts is the one which lies in the woods of the city of Toledo property mentioned by the letter writer.
Although I have been able to trace the legend of Turkeyfoot Rock back to the 1840s, there is no eyewitness mention of a Chief Turkeyfoot or any other warrior who died while trying to rally the Indians on or near a rock. Several Wyandots and one Ottawa leader (Little Otter) were killed in the last part of the action, but both British and U.S. witnesses state that this occurred on the U.S.s left (or the Indian right) in the deep woods of the uplands area. The petroglyph itself, which has been moved to Fallen Timbers Park, might represent a native monument linked to the battle. If so, like the Fallen Timbers Memorial in the present park, it is not on the original battle site.
I believe that the historic information is sufficient to locate the majority of the battlefield on the city of Toledo parcel. However, the legends surrounding the Battle of Fallen Timbers are so pervasive and the threats to the battle site are so immediate and destructive that the battlefield may be long destroyed before the voices of those who were there will be given credit for what they saw.
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