The Miami Valley, in which Middletown is located, is an old inhabited region, serving as a corridor from the Ohio Valley to Lake Erie for three groups of people. Since the valley has so many natural advantages, it was often the scene of many battles. The Miami Valley is that area drained by the Great Miami and the Little Miami rivers. The Great Miami is 163 miles long and drains an area of 5,406 square miles in southwestern Ohio. The Miami Valley is about 120 miles long, varying in width from one-fourth to three miles.

The settle of the Miami Valley represented one of the major movements of population into the Ohio country. The first settlers of this rich valley were the Mound Builders, who lived in this region for many generations. They were an agricultural civilization. One of the great centers of the Mound Builders in the valley was in the region now known as Butler County, where they built over 200 mounds and twenty-four enclosures. ⁽¹⁾

The Mound Builders selected sites along the Miami River and its tributaries for settlement for the same reasons that the white man later made his settlements here. Where the Mound Builders’ settlements were most dense, the largest towns of the county have grown up. These early people settled on the broad alluvial terraces or the river bottoms. They wanted to be near the river, for it was the one great natural highway. The river furnished these people with fish and in the valley they found game and fruits. They built their largest works where the alluvial terraces were the widest. In the level bottomlands and on the terraces, they cultivated the fertile soil. To protect themselves and their land against other tribes, they built fortifications upon the bluffs or hilltops. Little is known as to what became of this primitive race. Some believe that the Mound Builders were the ancestors of the Indians. ⁽²⁾

Although the Mound Builders did not write, they left other records of their life. They drew many pictures on stone, which have been found. They made pottery and trinkets which archeologists have examined. A study of these people’s skulls showed them to be Mongolians. They probably came from Asia across the Bering Sea. Men who have studied the Mound Builders say that they first came to our valley 10,000 years ago and lived here over 5,000 years.

The Mound Builders made many things. They made flint arrows and tools of copper. Some of their pottery can still be examined for it was carefully constructed. They added granulated stone and shells to the clay to prevent shrinking and cracking. They made a matting by weaving or plaiting rushers and grass. They wove cloth from coarse plant fibers. Their cloth looked much like our burlap. They also used wood, pearls, and bones to make bracelets, necklaces and beads. Some of their work may be viewed today at the Fort Ancient Museum, located at Fort Ancient Park, near Lebanon, Ohio.

The next people to come to the Miami Valley were the Indians. Before they came we do not know what this land was called. In the Indian language, Miami means "land where the calm winds blow," and since there were few storms and almost no windstorms the Indians felt they had chosen a good name. The Miami Indians were of Algonquin stock, and at one time their strength numbered 4,500. ⁽³⁾ Since the Miami Indians were living here, the white man continued to refer to the valley by the well-chosen name.

In the eighteenth century the Miami Indians were made up of three groups: the Tawightis, the Quiatanona, and the Piankeshaws. The Miamis along with the Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Shawnees, Wyandots, and the Potawatami were members of the powerful northwestern confederacy of Indians, and of all the tribes mentioned, the Miamis were the most powerful. It was the Miami Indians who led the Indian opposition to the white man’s settlement of the Northwest Territory.

The headquarters of the Miamis was at Pickawillany, now Piqua, where the tribe built an Indian village and forts, Celeron, the French commander, buried one of six leaden plates at the mouth of the Miami, to show the possession of France to this region, then he journeyed up the Great Miami to Pickawillany to talk with the Indian Chief, "Old Britain," but he was unable to gain the cooperation of this old chief whose nickname very clearly showed where he stood. The following year when Christopher Gist arrived at Old Britain’s headquarters he was warmly received with a grand celebration. At that time Pickawillany was on of the largest Indian villages in the Ohio country, for it was where the Indian trail crossed. This village had 400 families. ⁽⁴⁾

What was the territory controlled by the Miamis? This is a difficult question to answer as Indian frontiers were always changing with the fortunes of the tribes in battle. General William Henry Harrison described the land belonging to the Miamis as, that which "embraced all of Ohio, west of the Scioto; all of Indiana, and part of Illinois south of the Fox River, and Wisconsin, on which they were intermingled… with other small tribes." ⁽⁵⁾

However, through the years the Miamis gradually lost much of these holdings, for at the making of the Treaty of Greenville, Little Turtle, their most famous chieftain, declared:

In the seventeenth century the Ironguois and their allies had driven the Miamis and other Indians of the area between the Ohio and Mississippi from their homes. Through a confederation of Indians brought about by LaSalle, the northwestern tribes succeeded in driving the aggressors out of their homelands, and the Miamis return to their original home. Later the Miamis deserted their French allies and looked to the British for aid, and by 1725 the Miamis were trading with the English.

The land along the Miami River was of great value to the Indians for the roomy Terraces of the river offered an excellent place for agriculture. The early prairie land was filled with waving grasses, where great herds of buffalo grazed. The buffalo furnished the Indians of the valley with food, clothing and shelter. The animal’s body yielded meat, which could be eaten fresh or dried for winter. The skin of the buffalo was used as a robe or teepee cover. Sinews furnished material for thread or bowstrings, and the bones were used for making ornaments. The river teemed with fish. The forest was the home of the deer, elk, raccoon and bear. The swamps were filled with thousands of geese and ducks. ⁽⁷⁾

Most of the major settlements of the Miami Indians were in the middle and upper valley. Since the valley was so fertile, and located on a major Indian trade route, it was contested by other Indian tribes, especially the Shawnee and the Potawatomi. So bloody and frequent were these Indian wars that the valley became know as the "Miami slaughter house."

Following the Mound Builders and Indians for the control of the Miami Valley was the White Man. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the Miami Valley was fought for by the French and British. It was the French who made the first explorations in the region. In 1749 Major Louis de Caleron with two hundred and fifty French soldiers and friendly Indians went through the valley. Hearing of this expedition, the English sent Christopher Gist, whom in 1751, mad a detailed report of the Miami Valley. After sailing up the Miami River, he wrote:

Thomas Hutchins, a member of the British navy, wrote the following statement concerning the Miami River which he navigated: "The Great Miami River, or Rocky River, has a strong channel, a swift stream but no falls. It has several branches, and is navigable with boats a great way up." ⁽⁹⁾

The first white man to attempt to settle the Miami Valley was John Cleve Symmes of New Jersey, who made the first settlements in 1788 and 1789. He described his territory, which included most of Butler County as follows:

The first white man had come to the Miami Valley to trade with the Indians, but when he saw the fertile lands of the valley, he decided to make permanent settlements. In 1790 a peace treaty was signed with the Indians, but the Indians did not live up to the English interpretations of the terms. In that year General Harmar marched through the Miami Valley to attack Little Turtle, the Indian leader, but he was defeated.

Washington then sent General St. Clair to attack the Indians. He decided to build forts up the valley, and in 1791, he sent part of his army to what became Fort Hamilton. Here a fort was built on the shores of the Miami River, 34 feet above the water along the upper plain of the river. This fort was situated so as to command the passage of the river, and to serve as a vital link of communication in the Indian campaign. Over two thousand pickets were used to enclose the fort; these were made from trunks of trees, nine to twelve inches in diameter. The trees were cut in twenty-foot lengths, trimmed and carried along the ground by men, as oxen could not get into the thick forests. A drainage ditch, three feet deep, was dug along the outside of the fort. Inside the fort, barracks were built to accommodate one hundred men. In September 1791, the fort was completed, two pieces of artillery placed on it, and a salute fired in honor of the new fort, which was named in honor of the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton.

Going from Fort Washington to Fort Hamilton was dangerous in the early days. In 1791 a messenger was waylaid by an Indian, who had hid behind a forked white oak tree, and he was scalped. A brigade of wagons with provisions for Fort Hamilton, guarded by about forty men, was attacked by Indians with casualties.

St. Clair proceeded up the Miami Valley from Fort Washington at Fort Jefferson on November 14, 1791 he met the Indians in great battle.

Failing to defeat the Indians, St. Clair was succeeded by General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, who conducted a successful campaign. This experienced Revolutionary soldier moved with caution, and for a year drilled his 4,000 men before moving into the Indian country. He avoided the mistake of the other two commanders of being taken by surprise by the Indians, and so cautiously did he proceed that the Indians called him "Never Sleep." On the Maumee River in 1794 he met the enemy. The Indians were ambushed behind large trees, which had been broken and uprooted by a great storm, and the battle thus received its name of "Fallen Timbers." "Mad Anthony" defeated the Indians and returned to Fort Greenville. After the Indians had sued for peace, a council was held, July 1795 at the fort in which over 1100 warriors representing twelve tribes were gathered. The Treaty of Greenville of 1795 was signed, and the whole Miami Valley as well as two-thirds of the State of Ohio was opened for settlement, reserving the other third for Indian reservations. The Indians were thus driven from the valley. In 1796 the British surrendered their forts in the Northwest, and the territory was opened for peaceful settlement.

Since Fort Hamilton was no longer needed as a military establishment, the stores and property belonging to the garrison were sold in 1796, and the fort abandoned. Israel Ludlow, who owned the land around the fort, surveyed it into lots, and a settlement was made. Many of the men and officers of the fort stayed in the new town and built homes. The town taking its name from the fort was called Hamilton. ⁽¹¹⁾

Hamilton was located on an alluvial plain, which extended back one and one-half miles from the river to the base of the hills. Alluvial topsoil rested on a strata of gravel forty feet deep. Pure water was easily obtained for wells were supplied by water filtering through the gravel from the river.

Farther up the river, another settlement was being developed. In 1791 Daniel Doty, a pioneer from New Jersey, explored the Miami country, and decided to make a settlement in the vicinity of the site now occupied by Middletown. He returned to New Jersey and in 1796 he brought back his family to make a permanent settlement. He was followed by several of his friends.

In 1802 Stephen Vail surveyed the site for Middletown, Ohio.

In 1803 the people of this area saw the need for a smaller unit of county government, and they decided to secede from Hamilton County and form a county of their own. This new county was called Butler County, in honor of General Richard Butler, a soldier in the American Revolution, who had been stationed at Fort Hamilton, where he lost his life during an Indian raid in 1791.

The glacier, along with the river, produced the soil of this region. At one time the whole area was a blue limestone plateau, but the glacier removed much of the plateau, and then covered the area with deposits of drift material. On the uplands shallow deposits of ground limestone were left. These drift materials were dropped on the rock bed. Boulder clay is the lowest of these deposits and can be seen in many banks along the streams. As this is a glacier deposit, branches, and roots of trees, and other forms of vegetation may be found in this clay. In some places a tough blue clay or "hard pan" can be found. But the yellow, gravelly clay is the most important drift. When the beds of blue clay were exposed to the air, the blue clay changed in color and texture, while in many places the water has carried away the clay and redeposited it. While boulder clay is instratified, the yellow clays are stratified. Another element of drift in this area is sand and gravel, which is found over deposits of clay. The Miami River and its tributaries have transported the limestone boulders and the size of the gravel is determined by the swiftness of the water current. The polish and striation of the rocks caused by the glacier has been removed in most cases by running water. Over the gravel beds are the deposits of sand and loam. ⁽¹²⁾

After the glacier left this region, water covered the valley, which was four hundred feet lower than today, and during this time the drift accumulated. When the continent rose, the Miami had to cut its channel deeper and deeper.

As the glacier wound its slow way through the valley, it had changed the channel of the Miami River in several places. Later one of these old river beds, which is in the southeast part of the county, was used for the Miami-Erie canal bed, and the other, which can be found in the northeast corner of the county adjacent to Middletown, was used for the Warren County Canal. These old river channels can still be traced.

During the glacial period, an ice cap two miles thick covered the Miami Valley. It was responsible for the grinding off of hilltops and the filling in of the valley making a great plain. The Miami River was filled with glacial debris to a depth of two hundred feet. Butler County lies in an area near the boundary of glacial drift. The southwest townships are much more rough and broken than the other areas, for the drift did not fill in the irregularities. About forty percent of the county is hilly. The highest elevation is 1,033 feet, which is found in Oxford Township, while the lowest elevation of 556 feet is found near Venice. At Middletown the elevation is 658 feet above sea level.

The river was of great help to the early settlers. In 1839 a Middletown editor boasted that the town possessed these advantages:

Both of these advantages were the gift of the river.

Butler County is located in the southwestern part of the state, with a total of 452 square miles, or 299,280 acres, divided into thirteen townships which are fairly regular in size and shape, except those along the Miami River where the river is used as boundary lines: The Miami River divided the county into two unequal divisions—the division lying west of the river is twice as large as the one on the east side. The river pursues a southwesterly direction through the county. If the river had flowed in a straight line through the county, it would have had a channel thirty miles long, but due to its many meanders, the river flows for forty-five or fifty miles.

The Miami River and its tributaries have made natural drainage system for the county. Since the land slopes toward the river, little artificial drainage is necessary. The semi-swamp land has been reclaimed by the construction of drainage ditches, which empty into the river.

Since the county slopes from the northwest to southeast, the tributaries flow into the Great Miami from the northwest on the west side of the river in conformity with the general slope of the land. Elk Creek, Seven Mile Creek, Four Mile Creek, and Indian Creek follow this natural course, Gregory Creek and Pleasant Run on the east side of the river run through gorges scooped out for them by small glaciers which broke off the main ice sheet that covered the valley. Thus these two creeks appear to run uphill, flowing northwest.

In the eastern section of the county there are streams of small size, while the tributaries from the western side deliver surface water of more than seven hundred miles of territory, and the streams all flow southeast. The channels owe much to glacial erosion. Some of the streams are older than others. Seven Mile Creek, which runs largely on rock beds is of late origin, while Twin Creek and Indian Creek are much older streams, for their bed rock is covered by heavy alluvial deposits. The county has many small streams, as is shown by the fact that it has built over 1,000 bridges

The first effect of rich alluvial soil with a good drainage has been the development of a rich agricultural area. Middletown was first built as a trading center in response to the needs of the agricultural community in this part of the county.

The Miami River furnished power for the early industrial development of the county. The founders of the village of Middletown built a brush dam across the Miami River to furnish the water power for two grist mills and a saw mill, which were very important to the people of that time. When the Miami-Erie Canal was built the route through Middletown and Hamilton was chosen because the river could be used as a feeder. The canal was not only an important water trade route, but its locks served as sources of water power. In the 1840’s and the 1850’s the river again gave Butler County cities an impetus when hydraulic power canals were built using the water form the river for power.

The river not only served as a source of power, but, in the early days, it furnished an excellent trade route. As early as 1803 Hamilton and Middletown, centers of agricultural trade, faced the problem of providing adequate transportation facilities for getting the surplus corn, wheat, flour and pork to market. Although the river was difficult to navigate, it furnished the best means of transportation for early freight. The canal and railroad later followed the river valley.

One of the most valuable resources of Middletown and Hamilton is the large, underground supply of pure, clean water, which is free from most impurities. Since the water is free from iron stain, which discolors paper, it is quite natural that fine papers could be manufactured in this region. The giant paper industry is based on this resource, the gift of the river. Without the river, there would not be such an abundance of water for industrial uses. The steel industry of Middletown is a large user of water. The quality of the water is improved by the natural filter beds of glacial drift material, which fill the valley.

Although the river has done much for man, it has also caused great destruction. In the nineteenth century, the river broke its banks, resulting in nine major floods. In the last flood of 1913, over 400 lives were lost, and $100,000,000 of property destroyed. The causes of these floods were many.

When the pioneers came to the valley, they found a dense forest and soggy woodland that acted as a natural drainage basin. When the land was cleared and drained, the flow of the water to the river was hastened. As the land became more and more intensively cultivated, little forest was left standing. The trees and forests had aided in absorbing the rain; they acted as natural reservoirs. With so much of the woodlands destroyed, the water flowed more rapidly to the river during heavy rainfall.

When the glacier covered the region, it changed the course of the river channels, wiping out local drainage. New channels were formed in the flat valley, and channels were dug to carry the ordinary flow of the river, but it could only carry about ten percent of the river’s flow during a flood. The flow varies greatly in the Miami River; at times it is as little as 250 cubic feet per second, but during the 1913 flood it reached a flow of 250,000 cubic feet per second. ⁽¹⁴⁾

As the river was the chief means of transportation, towns were built on the terraces near the river. Since the river furnished level land near power sites, industries were located on the lower terrace. Although this proximity to the river was convenient, the towns were easily flooded.

As storms move across the continent in the general direction from east to west, in order to avoid crossing the mountains they move in a northeasterly direction paralleling the Appalachian range. Ohio is frequented by these storms which come from the west and northwest and also by the storms from the southwest, which follow the direction of the Ohio valley. These storms, which usually bring large amounts of rainfall, often follow in rapid succession during the spring months, at times creating a flood situation.

Within the Miami Valley today are thousands of miles of ditches and drains, which are kept open at all times. These help hasten the flow of water to the river. The blocking of the river by bridges, piers and sandbars along also cause flooding.

In the valley one-third of the annual rainfall runs into the river, while two-thirds soaks into the ground. About one-seventh of the precipitation falls as snow, and if the ground is covered by heavy snow, followed by a rain, a flood situation may be created. The upland clay soil does not rapidly absorb the water of heavy rains. The gently rolling land of the valley contributes to a rapid run-off.

These floods were very destructive. But the people of the valley decided that something should be done to prevent their occurrence. The Miami Valley Conservancy District was organized to provide and operate a system of dams to control the river. Now over ninety percent of the drainage area is controlled by man. Through cooperation the people of the valley worked together to create a system to prevent floods. Now man is protected against the river.

Butler County has much good farmland. The alluvial valley in which the Great Miami flows and the valleys formerly occupied by the river cover seventy-five square miles of excellent farming land.

The soil is largely decomposed limestone gravel. Some areas of the county have better soil than others. The poorest soils are found in the uplands of the northern and western townships. The county is a region of blue limestone; seventy percent of the rocks are limestone, and thirty percent are shale. The uplands are covered with a sandy loam, and the bottomlands which constitute twenty percent of the farmlands, represent alluvial deposits made by the river.

The climate is favorable to agriculture. The average length of the growing session is 178 days, which is four weeks longer than in the northern sections of the state. The mean rainfall over a period of years average 41.4 inches as compared with 37.5 inches for the state. The mean annual temperature range is 43.6 degrees, and the mean annual temperature is 53.6 degrees. The mean summer temperature is 74 degrees, and the mean winter temperature is 31 degrees. The average year has 240 days of sunshine to insure a high average production of crops.

The early farmers found the soil and climate suitable to the production of grain crops. Large crops of corn could be raised. Wheat, rye, oats and barley thrived.

Thus geography had set the stage for the development of a rich agricultural community. To meet the needs of this agrarian civilization, Middletown developed as a trading post. It was not until the 1850’s that Middletown was to develop an industrial system.

(1) J. P. McDean, The Mound Builders (Cincinnati: R. Clark Co., 1887), p. 17.

(2) Henry Shetrone, The Mound Builders (New York: D. Appleton, 1930), p. 474.

(3) Rose A. Palmer, The North American Indians (New York: Smithsonian Institute Series, 1938), p. 396.

(4) William H. Van Fossan, The Story of Ohio (New York Macmillian Co., 1937) pp. 45-47.

(5) Elmore Barce, The Land of the Miamis (Fowler, Indiana: Benton Review Shop, 1922), pp. 46-48.

(6) Loc. Cit.

(7) Barce, op.cit., p. 28.

(8) Clara Longworth de Chambrum, Cincinnati (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1939), p. 14.

(9) Bert S. Bartlow et. al, Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio (B. F. Bowen Co., 1905), p. 2.

(10) Ibid., p.36.

(11) Stephen D. Cone, History of Hamilton (Hamilton, Ohio: Republican Publishing Co., 1896), V.1, p. 5.

(12) Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio (Columbus, Ohio: Nevins & Myers,) 1678), Vol. III, pp. 394-396.

(13) Middletown Mail, April 20, 1839.

(14) Arthur E. Morgan, The Miami Valley in the 1913 Flood, (Dayton, Ohio: State of Ohio, 1917), p. 23.