This is John Batchel, continuing my conversation with Professor Robert G. Parkinson,

Heart of American Darkness, bewilderment in horror on the early frontier.

I learned that the bloodiest month of the war, the Revolutionary War, was after Yorktown,

1782, and it was the violence in the Ohio River Valley against the Native Americans.

Expeditions launched by George Washington, by Rogers Clark, by others, making war on the Native Americans, not the British, the Native Americans.

Here's Professor Parkinson to explain. More of this later.

The situation in the Ohio country throughout the Revolutionary War is on many, many knife's edges. It sits on several razor's edges for the

British, for the Americans, and for Native peoples. Yes, never forget that Washington makes war on

the Native Americans during the time

he's fighting the British. Yep. And not just him, but Michael Cressips' pal, George Rogers

Clark, has a couple of expeditions against Native peoples. There is a lot of fighting in the West.

After Yorktown, the bloodiest ground really of the revolution is in the west after yorktown um uh the bloodiest ground uh really of the revolution

is in the ohio country after cornwallis surrenders and before the peace treaty is signed so the

ohio country is is is a very very difficult it's a bewildering place and so if you have

someone who is very very a powerful

orator and this is what this is what that weeping native his name is todkados he is he is

the old the son of the oldest brother of the shekelemi family he says a man as powerful

and persuasive like logan uh was too dangerous. He had to be

silenced because a number of native peoples would go, whichever direction he said they would.

And that might be against the British. That might be against the Iroquois. And they couldn't

have a free agent like that operating.

And so that's why they said this man needs to be silenced around 1780.

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