948

INDIAN TRAGEDIES AND ROMANCES.

upon Captain Kearsey descended with his men to " Fort Steuben," at the falls of the Ohio (now Louisville), leaving the settlers of Cleves entirely unprotected.

Symmes complained to Major Willis, the commander at the falls, of the conduct of Captain Kearsey, and urging the necessity of protection of the settlers, asked that a fort might be built at the Bend. As Captain Kearsey reported that " Fort Finney" was unavailable for the guarding of the settlement there, Major Willis dispatched Ensign Lutz, with a squad of seventeen or eighteen men, to Cleves, which, for the time, removed the apprehensions of the pioneers at that place. It was not long, however, before the Indians made an attack on them, in which one soldier was killed, and one soldier and four or five other persons were wounded.

Although the three settlements in the Miami purchase had but one object in view and shared the common danger, yet there existed a strong spirit of rivalry among them, each feeling a peculiar pride in the prosperity of the particular colony to which he belonged. That spirit produced a strong influence of the feelings on the pioneers of the different villages, and an esprit de corps, scarcely to be expected under circumstances so critical and dangerous as those which threatened them. For some time it was a matter of doubt which of the rivals, Columbia, Cincinnati, or North Bend (Cleves) would eventually become the chief seat of business. In the beginning Columbia, the eldest of the three, took"' the lead, both in number of its inhabitants, and the convenience and appearance of its dwellings. It was a flourishing village, and many believed it would become the great business town of the Miami country. That delusion, however, lasted but a short time. Next, the North Bend settlement gained a decided advantage over it, especially since the landing of the troops to protect the settlers, which induced many of the first adventurers to plant themselves there, believing that the place would thus afford them greater security than the other localities.