Pickaway Plains is a wide area of rolling hills beginning about 3 miles south of Circleville, Ohio, and extending several miles to the north and south. This geological area was formed sand and gravel deposited by melting water from the last glacier to retreat from the region during the Ice Age. During the time of inhabitation by the Shawnee, the Pickaway Plains were covered by prairie vegetation, mainly grasses.

Villages

This area was inhabited most recently by the Shawnee, who founded at least two villages here:

• Cornstalk's Town was located on the north bank of the Scippo Creek in Pickaway County, Ohio. It was just east of the present U.S. Highway 23 highway and approximately where Gold Cliff Park is today. The town was named for Cornstalk, a Shawnee chief.
• Grenadier Squaw's Town was located opposite the Scippo Creek from Cornstalk's Town. The town is believed to have been named for Cornstalk's sister. However, the American Indian Movement protests the use of the word squaw in place names of Native cultures. See also: "S"-Peak (pro-AIM), The Controversy Over the Word 'Squaw' (anti-AIM)

Dunmore's War

In 1774, the Shawnee and allied nations sent around 300-500 men from the Pickaway Plains area to meet Lord Dunmore's army of Virginia militia. Lord Dunmore was attempting both to subdue the Shawnee and Mingo, and to prevent Pennsylvania from laying claim upon present-day Ohio. This conflict became known as Dunmore's War. At Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Cornstalk and his army met a detachment of Dunmore's army under command of Col. Andrew Lewis.

The forces met on October 10, 1774, at what became known as the Battle of Point Pleasant. After several hours of intense fighting, Lewis's detachment drove Cornstalk and his men northward, across the Ohio River. Dunmore then led his army in pursuit of the Shawnee.

Cornstalk and his men retreated to Pickaway Plains, with Dunmore's army still in pursuit. As they reached the villages, Dunmore requested that Cornstalk discuss a peace treaty. Cornstalk agreed after he received word that Lewis's detachment had destroyed several villages along the Ohio River. At the treaty, held at Camp Charlotte , Cornstalk agreed to honor the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768, ceding the Shawnee hunting lands of present-day Kentucky to Virginia. Nevertheless, Cornstalk and his son were detained and confined, and soon afterwards, murdered by settlers who were enraged by the further warlike conduct of the Shawnee.

External Links

• Ohio History Central: Lord Dunmore
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources: US 23 Road Guide
• Ibid., "Burning Stake"