Pickawillany

Not far from where Piqua Ohio is located today, a major historical event took place more than a quarter of a century before the United States was formed.

Leading up to the 1750s the Ohio Territory was occupied by many small groups of Native Americans, most of whom had come here in the last 100 years because of the plentiful game, plus easily navigable north/south rivers that connected with the Great Lakes and the Ohio River.

Some of the Native Americans were here because they had been forced out of their homelands by other more agressive Native Americans as well as a growing number of European colonists.

Europeans had discovered that North America seemed to have an endless supply of beavers that could readily be trapped and skinned that had in recent years grow n more difficult to aquire from historic trading partners in Russia where they closely guarded the secrets of the beaver pelts.

With the colonization of North America, the beaver pelt became a hot commodity and a profitable one for all concerned. Native Americans had perfected the skill set to trap and skin the beavers. They traded those pelts with both French and English traders who gave them guns, gun powder, lead, plus a variety of other iron and steel products. Those skins were then shipped back to Europe where they were turned into

plus some even smaller French trading posts, and a very few English trading outposts. There were also some very rugged frontiersmenSome of the Native American groups had trading relationships with either the British or French, and in some cases, both sides. One of those Native American groups were the Miami.

The Miami were one of the earliest traders with the French and because of this trading, the Miami began looking for new areas for hunting and trapping. Because of this deman they moved south

Miami Indians established the town they called Pickawillany about 5 years before the conflict between the English and French forces. Pickawillany was located on a low bluff on the west side of the confluence of the Great Miami River and Loramie Creek, just north of Piqua in Miami County. Pickawillany had become a major trading center. In fact, in it's first 5 years, the village had become the largest gathering of Miami in the Ohio country.

The Miami had been one of the earliest Native American groups trading with the French. Exchanging deer skin, beaver pelts and other Native American products in exchange for French made goods like firearms, ammunition, gun powder, and cooking utensils. Despite this extensive trading arrangement, the Miami felt the French traders treated them poorly.

In time, this resentment grew to such a fevered pitch that the Miami refused trade with the French. The Miami leader Memeskia, invited the British to set up a trading post in Pickawillany. This appeared to be a good deal for both the British and the Miami, but the French were not so pleased with the loss of trade. More importantly was the loss of French influence in that part of the Ohio frontier.

The French made a final attempt in 1750 to convince Memeskia to re-establish trading with the French, but Memeskia refused. The following year, the French decided to use stronger tactics. In 1751, the French sent an armed force that attacked the village. During the brief encounter 2 Miami were killed and 2 British traders were captured.

Despite this attack and further threats from the French, Memeskia still refused to change his position. The next year the French returned to Pickawillany with a larger militia force that included Ottawas and Ojibwa warriors who had sided with the French. This time the conflict ended with Memeskia's execution and the the capturing of 5 British traders and the destruction of the town. After this the Miami permanently abandoned Pickawillany and moved further west into what would become Indiana. A few years later, a band of Shawnee laid claim to the area and built a village they called Piqua.

Today, archeologists continue excavating the Pickawillany site.