In 1768 the treaty of Fort Stanwix established the Ohio River as the permanent boundary between the whites and natives. The Ohio River was to mark forever "Indian country". Like so many other permanent boundaries in the past, this one was not to last. The broad open country west of the Ohio River was perfectly suited for farming. In less than a year small parties of hunters, settlers and land speculators spread over the land west of the river. By the 1770's, settlers started laying claim to the lands which are now the modern states of Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. Clearly an outright violation of the treaty of Fort Stanwix, the natives of the area were outraged.

    All the years of bloodshed and warfare had been for nothing. Small parties of whites and natives clashed, creating a violent cycle of revenge and retribution. Handfuls of men both red and white, ambushed, killed and stole. As each side blamed the other for the violence, tension rose. In the summer of 1774 the situation exploded into a full-blown war. Troops from Virginia and Pennsylvania were sent west. A punitive expedition was planned against the Indian towns of the Shawnee and Delaware. Native raiding parties swept south and burned settlements in Kentucky and West Virginia. The terrible fighting that summer would become known as Lord Dunmore's war, named after the Governor of Virginia. In October of 1774, troops from Virginia gathered at the mouth of the Kanawa River at a place known as Point Pleasant. The troops were preparing for their invasion of "Indian country". On the 10th of that month the Shawnee attacked the camp. The battle raged all day ending with the Shawnee retreating back across the Ohio. It was a close fought battle but the Virginians remained on the field victorious. The battle of Point Pleasant convinced the natives of the hopelessness of yet another war. They would end hostilities and pursue peace. The Indian boundaries once again retreated west.

    In Griffing's image we see two warriors of the Shawnee nation as they cautiously travel one of the many tributaries of the Ohio River in the summer of 1774. The summer's tension has placed danger behind every tree. They are suddenly fired on from the cover of the trees. As the surprised warriors respond they find that they have been "Caught in Midstream".

Geo Irvin