Oldtown, Ohio

How do I cover this bit of history that is so immense, significant and fascinating and fit it into my little blog?  That is what I have been sitting here pondering, drumming my nails on the desk and staring at a virtual cornucopia of information on Tecumseh, Oldtown and all this area of the Buckeye Trail represents.

The simple answer is I cannot give it justice, here on this blog.

Perhaps, when I convert this section to a book chapter, I will delve deeper. But for now this simple little post will have to do.

Leaving Xenia via U.S. Route 68 you will see a sign for Oldtown which was once called Old Chillicothe, the home of the Shawnee. A few small markers reveal the significance of this area. They are easy to miss, covered with overgrown weeds outside a roadside motel, along a road with little heads-up as to what is to come and a small grassy area with an historical marker.

Unless you were to stop and read the signs and stones you would never know that just a short walk from this point, the great Indian warrior, Tecumseh was born. 

There is not much to this little park to commemorate the birthplace of Tecumseh. 

You would not know that this is the site of the famous Shawnee Village that was destroyed four times by pioneer forces. It remained Ohio's leading Indian Town until 1807.

Here, along this unremarkable stretch of road, worlds collided- Native Americans and European-Americans, explorers and soldiers, frontiersmen and woodsman; all struggling either to preserve a way of life or start anew.