2 Indians killed on Turtle Creek

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The History of Warren County, Ohio

TWO INDIANS KILLED ON TURTLE CREEK.

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Contributor::	Transcription contributed by Arne H Trelvik 26 May 2003
Sources:	The History of Warren County Ohio Part IV Township Histories Turtle Creek Township (Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992)

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The following, furnished by Herschel W. Price, of Butlerville, is the only history which has been preserved of the killing of Indians within the limits of Warren County:
“In July, 1792, two men, with Mrs. Coleman and Oliver M. Spencer, then a lad, were returning in a canoe from Cincinnati to Columbia. They were fired on by two Indians in an ambush on the bank; one of the men was killed, the other wounded; Mrs. Coleman jumped from the canoe into the river as was saved. Young Spencer was taken prisoner and carried to the Maumee, where

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he remained about eight months, and was ransomed. A narrative of his captivity, written by himself, has been published. When the captivity of the lad was learned at Columbia, the settlers were called on to pursue the Indians. They were unsuccessful in their pursuit. One party followed a trail to the forks of Turtle Creek, where they abandoned the search and disbanded to return home. Among the party was Henry Boltzelle, who discovered a smoke in the woods close to the fork of Turtle Creek now within the limits of Lebanon. Cautiously making his way toward the smoke, he saw an Indian leaning against a tree and eating meat from a large bone. Boltzelle aimed at the savage and shot him dead. As he fell, he gave a yell, which was answered by a whoop from another Indian near by. Having reloaded his gun, Boltzelle waited for the second Indian to appear, and killed him. Having buried the two Indians in the sand near the creek, Capt. Boltzelle carried home with him as trophies of his victory a fine silver-mounted rifle of English manufacture, and a bullet-pouch made of panther-skin, with the panther’s paw for the lappel. In the pouch were the scalps of four white men. To this day, the gun and bullet-pouch are relics in the possession of one of his great-grandsons, in Paulding County, Ohio. Boltzelle was a Pennsylvania Dutchman; he married and settled in Sycamore Township, Hamilton County, where he lived to a ripe old age. His family name was afterward changed to Bolser.

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