Stockport in Morgan County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Big Bottom Massacre

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

1. Big Bottom Massacre Marker

Inscription. Following the American Revolution, the new Federal government, in need of operating funds, sold millions of acres of western lands to land companies. One such company, the Ohio Company of Associates, brought settlement to Marietta in 1788. Two years later, despite warnings of Native American hostility, an association of 36 Company members moved north from Marietta to settle “Big Bottom,” a large area of level land on the east side of the Muskingum River. The settlers were acquainted with Native American warfare, but even so, built an unprotected outpost. They did not complete the blockhouse, put pickets around it, or post a sentry. On January 2, 1791, a war party of 25 Delaware and Wyandot Indians from the north attacked the unsuspecting settlers, killing nine men, one woman, and two children. War raged throughout the Ohio Country until August 1794 when the tribes were defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Erected 2002 by Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, Morgan County Bicentennial Committee, and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 11-58.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Indigenous Peoples and Communities

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• Military • Notable Events • Settlements & Settlers • Wars, US Indian. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series list. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1853.

Location. 39° 32.272′ N, 81° 46.804′ W. Marker is in Stockport, Ohio, in Morgan County. It is on Ohio Route 266, on the right when traveling south. Big Bottom State Memorial is about one mile southeast of Stockport, on east side of Muskingum River. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Stockport OH 43787, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest,

in the Ohio River Valley,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Two Riverboat Pilots (approx. 0.8 miles away); The Stockport Mill (approx. 0.9 miles away); Underground Railroad (approx. 0.9 miles away); Stockport (approx. 0.9 miles away); Brick Church and Cemetery (approx. 2.2 miles away); Water Power on the Muskingum River (approx. 3.2 miles away); Quaker Meeting House (approx. 5.7 miles away); The Peninsula (approx. 7.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Stockport.

Also see . . .

Big Bottom Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

2. Big Bottom Marker

Older sign, now removed. it read, “Named for the broad Muskingum River flood plain, this park is the site of an attack on an Ohio Company settlement by Delaware and Wyandot Indians on January 2, 1791. The Big Bottom massacre marked the outbreak of four years of frontier warfare in Ohio, which only stopped when General Anthony Wayne and the Indian Tribes signed the Treaty of Greene Ville.”

A circa 1960s photograph of the Big Bottom Massacre Monument. From the Ohio Memory Digital Collections. (Submitted on February 2, 2011.)

Big Bottom Massacre Markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

3. Big Bottom Massacre Markers

Looking northwest across Muskingum River.

Photographed by J. J. Prats, August 22, 2018

4. Big Bottom Massacre Marker

Summer view with the river visible under the trees in the distance.

Photographed by J. J. Prats, August 22, 2018

5. Big Bottom Marker

Sign in Photo 2 has been replaced with this one. It reads, “Named for the broad Muskingum River flood plain, this park is the site of a raid by about twenty-five Delaware and Wyandot warriors on an Ohio Company settlement on January 2, 1791. The American Indians were attempting to halt the encroachment of European-Americans onto their tribal lands. The raid outraged the United States government and led to four years of bitter warfare, which ended with the defeat of the tribal coalition at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the signing of the Treaty of Greene Ville.”

Big Bottom Massacre Memorial image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

6. Big Bottom Massacre Memorial

Erected by Obadiah Brokaw, 1905. Looking west, with Muskingum River in background.

Memorial Killed image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

7. Memorial Killed

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

8. Memorial Killed

Memorial Escaped image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

9. Memorial Escaped

Memorial Title image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

10. Memorial Title

Big Bottom State Memorial image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 7, 2009

11. Big Bottom State Memorial

Credits. This page was last revised on August 26, 2018. It was originally submitted on March 4, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 4,142 times since then and 114 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 4, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. 4, 5. submitted on August 26, 2018, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. submitted on March 4, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.