Village of Chillicothe (Chalagawtha): Which One?

A large Native town named Chillicothe plays a rich part in Early Frontier history, but its location and importance, as well as its inhabitants, are often confused and confusing to sort out.  That's because the Shawnee village of Chalagawtha, anglicized as Chillicothe, was relocated any number of times, mostly due to attacks by Whites.

The Chalagawtha were one of the five divisions of the Shawnee Nation.  We've already come across the Kispoko, the band of Pukeshinwa, Cheeseekau and Tecumseh, and also the Pekowi, a woman of this tribe married frontiersman and trader Pierre Chartier and gave birth to his son, Martin, who was a credit to her in every way.  The other two are Mekoche and Halawekatha.  Prior to European contact, each Shawnee band performed certain services for the tribe.  Besides being known warriors, the Kispoko were also known for their visionaries and medicine men, such as Tenskwatawa.  The Chalagawtha often furnished important leaders, such as Black Fish, who we'll come back to eventually. 

The main town of the Chalagawtha was also named Chalagawtha, or as Whites said it, Chillicothe.  Like many other Woodlands tribes, the Shawnee were semi-sedentary.  While they ranged far and wide in search of game, they also relied on agriculture and built palisaded towns similar to those of other Algonquian-speaking people.  Though Chillicothe was the main town of the Chalagawtha division, Shawnee from other bands were allowed to live there, as were Natives of other tribes.  The first Chalagawtha town of which White historical record speaks was Lower Shawnee Town on the Scioto River, founded about 1738.  Though this town is not specifically given the name Chillicothe, circumstantial evidence indicated that it might have been known by that name.  It became a magnet for traders in the years leading up to the French and Indian War (1755-1762), competing with Logstown further down the River.  At its peak, the town had about 1,200 inhabitants before being abandoned after the fall of Fort Duquesne in 1758.

The next Chillicothe was also located on the Scioto River, near Paint Creek on the site of the present-day city of Chillicothe, Ohio.  It lasted for almost twenty years (1758-1787).  Some sources point to this town as the birthplace of both Cheeseekau and Tecumseh, though it is likely it was a later Chillicothe that had that honor.  With the power of the Iroquois under check by the British, Shawnee who had been driven out of the Ohio Valley began to return, making this town a major Shawnee settlement with again about 1200 people.  In addition to Natives from their own and other tribes, the Shawnee welcomed traders, who often lived among them in the town, as well as Blacks fortunate enough to escape enslavement.  This was the main Shawnee town during Lord Dunmore's War (1774).  During the Revolution, many of its residence relocated elsewhere in Ohio.  The town was attacked by Whites and abandoned in 1787 during the Northwest Indian War. 

Old Chillicothe is often called that to distinguish it from the modern Ohio city of Chillicothe.  Settlement began in 1774 on the Little Miami River near present-day Xenia, Ohio.  Blackfish had his base here.  When Daniel Boone was captured by the Shawnee as a young man, he was brought here.  Both he and Simon Kenton were forced to run the gauntlet here, and it was here that Simon Girty would have pled for Kenton's life.  Both he and his brother James had spent time with the Shawnee and this town would have been well-acquainted with the Girtys and vice-versa.  Thus, when people speak of Chillicothe in the context of the Early Frontier, it is likely this town they're referring to.  Blackfish led a raid on Boonesborough, KY in 1778 and White militia attacked Chillicothe in retaliation, but Blackfish was able to hold the town.  George Rogers Clark led a force up the Little Miami River in 1780 to attack the town.  The Shawnee burned it down themselves and fled to keep it from falling into his hands. 

As Old Chillicothe began to decline, other villages with the name Chillicothe/Chalagawtha, sprang up.  Chillicothe on the Great Miami River (1780-1782).  Clark destroyed this town after the Battle of Blue Lick in 1782, in retaliation for the American defeat there.  Other Chillicothe towns include one on the St. Mary's River (1783-1790), one on the Maumee River, near modern-day Fort Wayne, IN (1788-92), and one in Missouri near present-day Cape Girardeau, begun in 1787.