finally led to their removal from the valley.
Occasional difficulties of a transient nature, had arisen between the
Delawares and the Shawanoes at Wyoming. An unkind feeling, produced by
trifling local causes, had grown up between the two tribes. At length a
childish dispute about the possession of a harmless grasshopper,
brought on a bloody battle; and a final separation of the two parties
soon followed. One day, while most of the Delaware men were absent on a
hunting excursion, the women of that tribe went out to gather wild
fruits on the margin of the river, below their village. Here they met a
number of Shawanoe women and their children, who had crossed the stream
in their canoes, and were similarly engaged. One of the Shawanoe
children having caught a large grasshopper, a dispute arose with some
of the Delaware children, in regard to the possession of it. In this
quarrel, as was natural, the mothers soon became involved. The Delaware
women contended for the possession of the grasshopper on the ground
that the Shawanoes possessed no privileges on that side of the river. A
resort to violence ensued, and the Shawanoe women being in the
minority, were speedily driven to their canoes, and compelled to seek
safety by flight to their own bank of the stream. Here the matter
rested until the return of the hunters, when the Shawanoes, in order to
avenge the indignity offered to their women, armed themselves for
battle. When they attempted to cross the river, they found the
Delawares duly prepared to receive them and oppose their landing. The
battle commenced while the Shawanoes were still in their canoes, but
they at length effected a landing, which was followed by a general and
destructive engagement. The Shawanoes having lost a number of their
warriors before reaching the shore, were too much weakened to sustain
the battle for any length of time. After the loss of nearly one half
their party, they were compelled to fly to their own side of the river.
Many of the Delawares were killed. Shortly after this disastrous
contest, the Shawanoes quietly abandoned their village, and removed
westward to the banks of the Ohio.[A]
[Footnote A: Chapman]
After the Shawanoes of Pennsylvania had fallen back upon the waters of
the Ohio, they spread themselves from the Alleghenies as far westward
as the Big Miami. One of their villages was seventeen miles below
Pittsburg: it was called Log's Town, and was visited by Croghan, in
1765. Ano
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