Tecumseh and the Shawnee Village of Chalahgawtha

The Village of Old Town on U.S. 68 north of Xenia and right along the Little Miami Bike Trail near the Old Town spur where you can park your bike is also the historic location of Chalahgawatha or Old Chillicothe, once the main Shawnee village in the 18th century. U.S. 68 is historically a Shawnee trail running the length of Ohio (Bullskin Trail) and at the confluence of the Little Miami River and Massie Creek is where the village was located. There is a lot of history in this location.

Both Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton were held prisoner at this village and Kenton was forced to run a gauntlet here of about 200 yards.
There are historic markers so that you can get an idea as to location and distance. The primary site is now where the Tecumseh motel is located. If you either park in the motel lot or if traveling by bike, park at the spur and walk over to the location, you will find a number of markers pointing out the historic facts.

Looking behind the motel across what is now farm land, there is a rise on which the council house of the Shawnee stood. The village of Chalahgawatha had been destroyed several times and rebuilt by the Shawnee. One particular incident if noted on one of the markers.
This was the event where 10 Kentucky soldiers were killed in 1779 during an attack on the village. The marker unfortunately does not tell the whole story. Col John Bowman, commander was jealous of the fame George Rogers Clark had received in his capture of Vincennes from the British forces. He decided he would assemble volunteers to move against the Shawnee village at Chalahgawatha. What he did not know was that the Shawnees had split and half of them had moved to the west of the Mississippi and the rest of the primary braves were away from the village leaving mostly young boys and elderly. As Bowman moved against the village, he failed to keep silent and early warning of the soldiers' approach was heard by the tribe. Fearing they were going to be massacred, they moved to the council house where the women were singing the death chant. While Bowman's forces burned the wegiwa (teepees) belonging to the individual families. As they burned, they looted and during that time, the ten soldiers were killed by the few Indian gathered in the council house. Fearing a much bigger force, Bowman hesitated and ordered a withdrawal. Realizing they had the upper hand, the young Indian braves gave chase and killed more as the soldiers continued to retreat.

This is a historic area. Besides the terrible loss of the ten Kentucky soldiers, near this location the great Shawnee leader, Tecumseh,
was born near a springs about 500 feet away at the Old Town Preserve area. There isn't much to see in the location unless you have an active imagination and can try to imagine what the area looked like at the turn of the 18th century. But to stand in these shadows and think about the history behind the tragic events of the American Indians and the eventual domination of the white settlers, one cannot help but be moved.

Caesar Creek Nature Preserve

"Large, placid mulleins, as summer advances,
velvety in texture, of a light greenish-drab color,
growing everywhere in the fields..." - Walt Whitman

With the Labor Day weekend upon us and a series of non-stop beautiful days, I was looking for someplace to go and spend some time with nature. I wanted someplace different from where I had been. I considered heading to nearby Caesar's Creek State Park, but figured a lot of people would be there for the last big weekend of the summer. I also considered going to Ft. Ancient east of Lebanon, Ohio, but figured it wasn't much for hiking. Wanting to stick to the Little Miami River area, I discovered something in-between called the Caesar's Creek Nature Reserve. It spoke of about 2 miles of hiking trails and mention of a gorge area, so I hoped it would have some character to the area.

After a pleasant drive down State Route 42, I veered off a road just Southeast of Waynesville. Following it south and slightly east, I turned onto a small township road that was lovely just for a drive with the sun dappling the road through the many trees. After a few turns and twists, I found the Nature Reserve and parked. Only a few cars were parked there and those were mostly people who used it as a starting point to travel the bike path that is part of the 70 mile long and 66 foot wide Little Miami Scenic River State Park.
The entrance to the hiking trail begins in a wide swathe that leads to the primary trail. After a short quarter mile hike up this access area, the trail veers off to the left. Before I reached it, I could step a little off the access area and see the expanding valley floor, tree-filled before me.


The trail is a narrow downhill path that is a bit rough in the beginning as it heads down into the valley floor, where it widens a bit into an easy, generally flat trail blending through the trees. The sun through all of the leaves left dappled spots of bright light as I passed through the initial trail. This part is moderate and wide enough that there are occasionally joggers who like to be challenged. I don't recommend it since portions of the trail does have rocky areas sticking up that a mis-step could cause an ankle to twist if not careful. Despite it being the Labor Day weekend, this hike took me past only one person. I was pretty much left to my own in this lovely natural area with a few wildflowers still in bloom as the woods turn to goldenrod, Queen Anne's Lace and many bees going about their business. There were some fields of mulleins in their still late stage, nearly without flowers and going to seed; scattered pokeweed with its deep purple berries ripe for the birds - all early signs of fall.

The trail as it continues along a flat path soon begins to touch near the Little Miami River. This is such a peaceful river this late
in the summer with the river bugs - Mayflies and Dragonflies along with the water spiders skiping across the still river. The trail is so close to the river, it is easy to take short cuts through traces of paths up to the bank. Along the bank, it appears to have a small trail to follow in places that parallels the primary trail. I kept going over to the river in various places just to stand and observe nature in its late summer glory with the only human intrusion besides myself, being the sound of small planes overhead from the nearby Waynesville airport.

Eventually, the trail begins to turn away from the river and the texture of the trail becomes more rocky. Suddenly, as you find yourself heading up the slight beginning of the climb to the ridge, it does a near u-turn and follows a more gradual,
but breathless inducing climb up the side of the ridge. I didn't have my GPS with me, so I am not sure exactly what the elevation change is, but the climb is somewhat fatiguing for the casual hiker. Eventually, the trail reaches a level point for about 100 feet before it begins one last climb to the ridge. Upon reaching the ridge, one returns to the expanded trail that appeared to be for Park vehicles if need be. I decided to follow it the opposite way for about 500 feet and soon found myself in an area where the texture changed from deciduous trees to pine trees that appeared to be in a severe state of drought or dying. It was sad to see so many in this state. I turned around and followed once more the trail back toward where I began.

Caesar's Creek Nature Preserve is a nice short hike getaway that doesn't appear to be on the radar of many visitors since hiking would be the only sport allowed. It does bring you close to another area of the simply wonderful Little Miami River with its historic aspects. The river has played a big part in the settling of area, first with the migrating Indian tribes to the white settlers who later followed.

Hocking Hills State Park - Part 3

Our final stop in the Hocking Hills State Park was a mixed visit. By the time we reached Cantwell Cliffs, the rain had finally come down heavily making the visit a little more difficult to get to. Despite the rain, however, there were still quite a few brave souls going to the cliffs to view the area.

As I mentioned previously, these areas are designed to maximize visits from anyone hiker or not. Much has been cleared enough to make it a little easier to get to the site though this one was probably more difficult due to some narrow cliff steps, the rain and slight mud.

What makes Cantwell Cliffs fascinating is the huge gorge that has been formed from the slow erosion of the Black Hand Sandstone from water sourced from Buck Run. Because of the rain and the huge explosion of green growth at the time I was there, it takes on a very exotic rain forest look to it with the ravine serving as a respite beneath the rock cave indent. The vastness of the erosion covered by the growth is exciting to see in person. There are trails that lead off and my brother and I tried to follow one but were stopped by fallen trees and dense undergrowth due to the rain dragging down the bushes and branches.

As I mentioned in previous posts, the main attraction is fairly easy to get to for anyone, though fewer hike the trails when accessible. As you come into the area, if you want to continue, you have to step down a very narrow rock step called the "Fat Woman's Squeeze." This leads you to the end of the gorge where the cliffs have formed an indent which proved nicely for sitting out of the rain and viewing the scene before us.

The gorge opens before us and one looks down into the valley floor covered with lush greenery. This area is more remote than the others and I need to return to it when the weather is much better and clearer.

Hocking Hills State Park - Part 2

When I traveled to Hocking Hills State Park for the first time with my brother, I wasn't sure just what to expect. I had two immediate reactions: this was a wonderful geologic phenomenon that pictures simply cannot do justice and I was amazed at the number of casual tourists visting the primary features.

As I said in my last posting, the State Parks department has spent money and time to create easily accessible "points" for tourists to come in and view. This includes making the trails as easy to traverse as possible, building wooden bridges or steps when necessary to get you into the zone, and clearing some of it so the rock formations are much more visible. All of this is fine since there are more difficult hiking trails branching off from the individual stops. Unfortunately for us, the day, which started brightly enough devolved into solid hard rain.

Our second stop on our visit was to the "point" called the Rock House. This apparently is the only true cave in the area formed from erosion in the center of huge Black Hand sandstone that comprises the area. Black Hand sandstone is a primary base for a lot of this area of the hills coming from the early Mississippian era. A close look at the sandstone to me looked like very dry (though it was rock hard) sand pebbles and small whitish quartz stones. The Rock House itself sits up a 150 foot cliff and forms a tunnel-like area with various softly edged openings. There was a rumor that this was a location where notorious gangster Pretty Boy Floyd hid out, but I could find no proof to that rumor. I do know that people had been coming to area for ages though only those in the late 19th century had begun recording their visits (photo shows June 1889). According to the literature, water leaking from a horizontal joint parallel to the cliff face is responsible for the hollowing of this sandstone.

Historically, the area was used by Indians and later settlers as a platform for creating turpentine.
There are formations inside the cave that provided platforms and where sections had been created to allow the sap to run out of the pine wood as it was burned. As Turpentine was a vital part of Indian folk medicine, they produced it regularly. In 1835, one Colonel F.F. Rempel built a hotel complete with ballroom, livery stable and Post Office near the picnic grounds. None of that still stands, however.

From a hiking perspective, getting to the Rock House is a bit harder than that of Old Man's Cave. That possibly, its lesser popularity and the weather changing lowered the number of people our day there. Due to the wetness mixed with bright light, the views provided a wonder world, our own little land of the lost!
There is some climbing up some rocky footpaths along with some precarious views, but generally, to the careful hiker, the trail is moderate and safe.

The trail does have a history in which an early settler of the area was moving along the trail when he was attacked by a bear and gravely injured. He was able to escape, but later died and his widow and family soon left the area behind for safer counties.


When we reached the cave itself, the light was such that it was reasonably dark inside. Though the floor is relatively smooth, there were places you had to be careful to avoid tripping. While we weren't prepared, there were some people with flashlights to see inside. The tunnel-like area has "windows" so walking along it wasn't extremely precarious.

With the weather still holding, we decided to leave the immediate area and head to our final stop, the Cantwell Cliffs. (posting to follow).

Hocking Hills State Park - Part 1

Last weekend I visited Hocking Hills State Park with my brother to hike some of its trails. I had not been to the Park before though since I have lived in Ohio, people were constantly telling me I needed to visit Hocking Hills. More specifically I would be told I needed to visit Old Man's Cave. Over the years I heard plenty about it, but never found the time to get over there. It is nearly a 3 hour drive for me just to get there. But through the inspiration of my brother, for whom it was a 5 hour drive from his Pennsylvania homestead, I felt it was time to see it. As I arrived near the entrance of the park, I came upon this interplay of light and nature that I hoped bode well for the day.

Hocking Hills State Park is actually a large area located in Southeast Ohio with several different specially created tourist stops requiring a drive to each one, or an extended hike to see them. Unfortunately, for us, while the day started out promising after an overnight rainstorm, the bad weather began to return and so our hiking was limited to driving to each location then hiking into some of its outsanding geological features.

The park service has made these geologic stops into more easily accessed spots for tourists. The initial hike into each area has fairly cleared paths or areas accessible with minor difficulties. The sites themselves are a wonder to behold, but due to the initial access, all kinds of non-hiking people can be found including people with babies, dogs and dressed in sandals and other non-hike dress. However, leading off from these locations are trails that definitely require some expertise. Despite the number of tourists visiting, there are still dangerous cliff that could result in 80 feet or more falls, so the area still requires caution.

Come, Traveller, this hollow Rock beneath,
While in the leaves refreshing Breezes breath;
Retire to calm the Rage of burning Thirst,
In these cool Streams that from the Caverns burst.

Despite all of that, the wonders of the place are worth seeing. Our visit took us first to Old Man's Cave. Despite its name, it is not truly a cave. It is well known to most Ohioans and one of the first things I heard about after I moved to the state when talk of visiting the state parks came up. The spot is quite amazing to visit. The gorge it is part of is approximately 1 mile long with such geologic features such as waterfalls (though there is a drought and very little water falls), sandstone cliffs smoothly eroded giving them a sort of eerie look, and rock formations that have been named because of their appearance to various elements of nature. The park department has made various levels of the area easily accessible even to the casual visitor: wooden steps, dusted trails, carved stone steps and bridges.

The story behind the "cave" is that a man named Richard Rowe, an early 19th century hermit, lived in it. The Rowe family migrated in the 18th century from the Kentucky area to the Ohio River where he set up a trading post. Richard worked in his father's trading post and would make trips every autumn to the gorge where he would stay and trap for pelts to take back to the trading center. Staying through the cold season, one day, he went to the creek to get a supply of water. Using the butt of his musket to break the ice. The weapon discharged with the muzzle pointing under his chin. A few days later, his body was discovered by some other trappers in the area. They covered his body with the bark of an Oak tree and buried him in the sand on the ledge.

In later years, a mythology built up around Richard Rowe and the gorge. Avoiding the area, children would be told that an old man lived in a cave there and had shot and killed himself. Soon the area came to be known as Old Man's Cave.

My brother and I left the confines of the tourist area and began traversing the creek, but found that the trail seemed to fade away. So with storms threatening, we turned back and decided to head to our next destination - The Rock House. (Posting to follow)

Williamson Indian Mound

There is nothing more eloquent in Nature than a mountain stream, and this is the first I ever saw. Its banks are luxuriantly peopled with rare and lovely flowers and overarching trees, making one of Nature's coolest and most hospitable places. Every tree, every flower, every ripple and eddy of this lovely stream seemed solemnly to feel the presence of the great Creator. Lingered in this sanctuary a long time thanking the Lord with all my heart for his goodness in allowing me to enter and enjoy it.
- John Muir, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf

Though I wasn't near a mountain stream, I was hiking once more in a nearby favorite haunt - Indian Mounds State Park. It was nicely isolated as I could be alone with my thoughts as I traversed the rocky stream of the park amidst the weathering limestone cliffs that make up many of the parks of Greene County, Ohio.
Indian Mounds State Park is where the Williamson Indian burial mound is located. This is a burial site for the Adena culture which pre-dates the later Miami and Shawnee tribes which settled in the area.

The trails are relatively easy to hike, though like other Greene County parks that follow a gorge, the remnants of early glaciation, there are paths along the upper cliffs and trails which follow the stream bed. The latter are more difficult as there are many rocky outcroppings which make it more difficult to walk without taking care. The upper trails, though full of small rock outcrops and tree roots, are only moderate and I have actually seen a jogger once in a while along the upper trails, though how they keep from twisting an ankle, I do not know.

The park is rarely visited even during nice days such as my recent visit. With the hotter summer days, the flowers are fewer as the greenery of the nettle plants prevails. There were a few summer flowers in bloom usually nearly as tall as my chest that dotted the trail mostly of the upper paths. These Asters were seen near the beginning of the hiking trail.

Indian Mounds State Park begins with a long cleared road, then forks either toward the Adena burial mound, or across a wooden bridge along the cliff trail toward the Cedarcliff Falls. I first chose to visit the quiet splendor of the Williamson burial mound.


The Williamson Mound was built between 500 BC and 100 AD. The mound is about 30 feet in height and 140 feet in diameter. Since my last visit to the site, it seems the parks department has decided to let the open area in front of it go to prairie as it now has a mowed walk area toward the mound, but the rest of the ground is covered in high grasses.

Being alone with my thoughts as I moved along the lower trail, the summertime is a wonderful time to watch the water spiders swiftly move across the still water. I think I passed maybe one or two other people the several hours I spent there. The trail along the stream and below the cliffs runs about 1.5 miles culminating in the Cedarcliff Falls.

The falls appear to be natural though the rock face under the falling water is invisible. Traveling along the highway, one can stop and park near the falls and choose to just visit that area, or hike the trail in the opposite arrangement. A bridge at this end takes one across to the upper trails. About a quarter a mile down, you can choose to go down the steps of the the cliff to hike the stream trail. This is a nice diversion for a light hike and especially if you are one who likes to be away with only nature and your thoughts.

Osage Tunnel and the Three Sisters

There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a country.
A fine landscape is like a piece of music; it must be taken
at the right tempo. Even a bicycle goes too fast.
- Paul Scott Mowrer

Recently, I spent a partly cloudy morning at the Sugarcreek Metro Park near my home. The hiking trails in this park are mostly an easy hike, but set on the outskirts of the city of Bellbrook, Ohio, very close to housing developments, one is surprised to find such a treasure so close to home. The trails can run from over three miles to half that. Or if you chose to literally hike the whole park since the trails intertwine you could have a rather decent walk.

Because this is so close to the city of Dayton, even going early, you will encounter large amounts of joggers, photographers, and families. It is not a hike to take if you are looking for isolation. But it is definitely worth a visit because there are some surpising sites to see. When you walk down the asphalt entrance to the central location from where all trails extend, you can turn east and within a few hundred feet, you can take a short extension from the trail to come into an open natural prairie area which at certain times of the year will bloom with wildflowers. At the time of the month I reached it, the flowers were fewer but the tallgrass was just so. You can move around the prairie area on a special path that will wind you through the growth. This is a place that is reminiscent of an Ohio past when there were no settlements except for the Indians roaming the area. At one time there were over 300 natural prairie openings. While this is a planted prairie, it does give you an idea of what Ohio was like with nothing but forest and open prairies.

There were within these grasses hidden gems of tiny flowers. Sometimes they were quite visible, but other times, one had to look carefully to find them. The other spectacular thing this particular morning (and the main reason I like to go in the early mornings) are the number of distinct bird calls you could hear in the surrounding area. Seeing the dew on the grass with small wildflowers open to the sun and hearing the cacophony of the variety of bird fills one with the wonders of mother nature.

Leaving the prairie behind and re-entering the hiking trail, the path, while rock encrusted, is an easy one. There are the occasional hills up and down which add a bit to the challenge including a couple of steep inclines requiring a choice of trudging up the path, or using the natural stone steps added by the park department. The trail is at first somewhat open but soon begins to darken from the thicker canopy of trees overhead. As I followed the "green" trail, the longer one, I found myself a bit isolated as I moved through the wooded areas until I reached a stream that required crossing over the stone rock laid down to minimize getting wet. Continuing on, I briefly left the "green" trail where it met the "orange" trail. I wanted to see the first surprise.

The orange trail moves up a small hill and one is suddenly presented a sort of tunnel like effect as wiry osage orange trees have been worked to create a canopy of limbs.
Osage Orange trees are also known by the large softball fruit they produce commonly called "hedge apples." In the 1800s before the invention of barbed wire, Osage Orange trees were planted as a living fence or hedge along farms. The thorny saplings were aggressively pruned to promote bushy growth. The trees were considered "horse high, bull strong and hog tight." Tall enough that a horse would not jump it, stout enough that a bull would not push through it and woven so tightly that even a hog could not find its way through! The trees on this trail were originally planted in the late 1800s to serve as a fence and now are part of the trail. Among Osage Orange trees are male and female trees with only the female species producing the "hedge apples." I am not sure which sex these particular trees are, however.

Leaving the orange trail behind, I headed back to the green trail and continued to wind my way through the heavier areas of the wood. Interestingly, while this is a great place for bird watching and listening to their songs, it is also mixed with the outside world of vehicles passing, overhead planes, and campers over and up nearby hills. But still a delight to travel.

Another continued walk along a nearby stream, I soon diverted once more onto the Orange trail as I wanted to check out another feature of the park.
At a sharp curve in the trail is a suddenly open area called the Three Sisters Oak trees. Sadly, only one still stands. These are trees that are/were over 550 years old. When Columbus came to America, these trees were already 50 years old having begun growing around 1440. The one tree that is left is in decline now. The documentation says that two still stand, but as best as I could tell, I could only see one. The middle tree was brought down in the summer of 2008. Having been weakened by an earlier fire, the tree fell of its own accord. In the photo the tree looks somewhat smaller, but in actuality it is quite large. My camera did not have a wide enough lense to really do the tree the justice it deserved. This tree is really much more massive that the photo seems to show. But the fact that these are perhaps the oldest trees in the area and in a way have witnessed a lot, it boggles my mind to think that it was around when there were roaming buffalo and native Indians in the area only.

If you are looking for a moderate challenge, but an easy and convenient getaway, SugarCreek Metropark is a fine area. There is in addition to hiking, camping and horseback riding. Another section of the park is devoted to horseback riding.