Wakatomika

Last updated April 22, 2019

Wakatomika was the name of two 18th century Shawnee villages in what is now the U.S. state of Ohio. The name was also spelled Wapatomica, Waketomika, and Waketameki, among other variations, but the similar name Wapakoneta was a different Shawnee village.

The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking ethnic group indigenous to North America. In colonial times they were a semi-migratory Native American nation, primarily inhabiting areas of the Ohio Valley, extending from what became Ohio and Kentucky eastward to West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Western Maryland; south to Alabama and South Carolina; and westward to Indiana, and Illinois.

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Of the fifty states, it is the 34th largest by area, the seventh most populous, and the tenth most densely populated. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus.

The first Wakatomika was located along the Muskingum River, near present-day Dresden, Ohio. In August 1774, during Dunmore's War, Wakatomika and four other Shawnee villages in the area were destroyed by Virginia colonial militia in an expedition led by Angus McDonald.

The Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 miles (179 km) long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio. Via the Ohio, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. The river is navigable for much of its length through a series of locks and dams.

Dresden is a village in Jefferson and Cass townships in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, along the Muskingum River at the mouth of Wakatomika Creek. It was incorporated on March 9, 1835. The population was 1,529 at the 2010 census.

Angus McDonald was a prominent Scottish American military officer, frontiersman, sheriff and landowner in Virginia.

In 1782, another Shawnee Indian village by the name of Wapatomica was located in present-day Logan County, Ohio, about halfway between West Liberty, Ohio and Zanesfield, Ohio.^[1] A historical marker exists to commemorate Wapatomica. However, there is no access to the actual the site without permission from the Ohio Historical Society. In fact, a flag pole with a concrete base was erected at Wapatomica in the 1920s. The base read: This monument marks the location of the stake where captives were burned. The circle was used for war, religious, and pleasure dances. Location of the council house. Simon Kenton ran the gauntlet here in 1778. This monument erected August 31, 1922. The flag pole was struck by lightning, however, which damaged the concrete base. In July, 2010 the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and the Ohio Historical Society erected a new memorial marker on a hill near the intersection of CR 5 and 29, but kept the original marker, even though it was in poor shape.

Logan County, Ohio County in the United States

Logan County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,858. The county seat is Bellefontaine. The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who fought Native Americans in the area.

West Liberty is a village in Logan County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,805 at the 2010 census.

Zanesfield is a village in Logan County, Ohio, United States of America. The population was 197 at the 2010 census. It is the smallest incorporated village in Logan County.

After Dunmore's War, the residents of Wakatomika resettled further west. A new Wakatomica was established by 1778 on the Mad River in present-day Logan County. This village was destroyed in 1786 during an expedition led by Benjamin Logan at the outset of the Northwest Indian War.

The Mad River is a stream located in the west central part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It flows 66 miles (106 km) from Logan County to downtown Dayton, where it meets the Great Miami River. The stream flows southwest from its source near Campbell Hill through West Liberty, along U.S. Route 68 west of Urbana, past Springfield, then along Ohio State Route 4 into Dayton. The stream's confluence with the Great Miami River is in Deeds Park.

Benjamin Logan was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Shelby County, Kentucky. As colonel of the Kentucky County, Virginia militia during the American Revolutionary War, he was second-in-command of all the militia in Kentucky. He was also a leader in Kentucky's efforts to become a state. His brother, John Logan, was the first state treasurer of Kentucky.

The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), also known as the Ohio War, Little Turtle's War, and by other names, was a war between the United States and a confederation of numerous Native American tribes, with support from the British, for control of the Northwest Territory. It followed centuries of conflict over this territory, first among Native American tribes, and then with the added shifting alliances among the tribes and the European powers of France and Great Britain, and their colonials.

The name "Wakatomika" continues to be used for a number of place names, including:

Wakatomika, Ohio, a populated place
Wakatomika Creek
Little Wakatomika Creek
Camp Wakatomika, a Girl Scout camp in Licking County, Ohio

Wakatomika, Ohio human settlement in Ohio, United States of America

Wakatomika is an unincorporated community in central Washington Township, Coshocton County, Ohio, United States. Wakatomika is located on the Little Wakatomika Creek, and lies along State Route 60.

Wakatomika Creek is a tributary of the Muskingum River, 42.6 mi (68.6 km) long, in central Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 234 mi² (606 km²)

Little Wakatomika Creek is a stream which flows through Coshocton and Muskingum Counties in Ohio. The stream originates north of Tunnel Hill in Coshocton County and flows south through the villages of Tunnel Hill and Wakatomika before entering Muskingum County. Here, it empties into Wakatomika Creek just west of the village of Trinway, near the intersection of State Routes 60 and 16. The stream is part of the Mississippi River catchment via Wakatomika Creek, the Muskingum River, and the Ohio River.

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References

↑ Butterfield, An Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky Under Col. William Crawford in 1782, 345–347.

Butterfield, Consul Willshire. An Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky Under Col. William Crawford in 1782. R. Clarke & Co, 1873.
Tanner, Helen Hornbeck, ed. Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8061-2056-8.

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[1] Butterfield, An Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky Under Col. William Crawford in 1782, 345–347.