Defiance - Day 29

  Thank goodness Defiance, Ohio was in the middle of this day. Otherwise, it was a day pretty much without merit except that it covere miles. However, I love Defiance.

Part of the mission of the North Country Trail is to showcase historical features of the northern United States. There are several places along the trail that are just packed to overflowing with history, usually because of some strategic location. Defiance is one of these. Imagine if an enemy invader could control the traffic and capture any goods that came through a major interstate junction, such as I-80 and I-94.

That's why Defiance was so important, although it wasn't yet called by that name. The location is the confluence of two great rivers: The Maumee (flowing west to east from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Lake Erie) and the Auglaize (which comes from the south). And rivers were the transportation corridors. On this point of land at the confluence, General Anthony Wayne stood and declared, "I defy the British, the Indians, and all the devils in Hell to take this place!" He thus became known as "Mad Anthony Wayne," and the location was called Defiance.

This area has also been the location of several Native communities. Men who became well-known chiefs were born here, including Pontiac, who very nearly reclaimed the colonies for the Indians. He captured most of the frontier forts; only Detroit outlasted his efforts, and he lost the support of the other tribes. The marker commemorating him was unreadable, so I won't bother with a picture.

More peaceful men are also associated with the area. This was one of the homes of John Chapman, Johnny Appleseed, and the site of his first nursery. Although everyone things he mostly handed out apple seeds, he actually planted nurseries all over the midwest, since seedling trees were much more valuable.

This rock is labeled "Blue Jacket's Chair." Blue Jacket was a Shawnee Chief of significant importance. He allied several tribes and led them in the battle of Fallen Timbers, where they were defeated by Mad Anthony Wayne. I don't know if this was a rock where he actually sat to preside over meetings. I'd love to spend a week or more just researching things in Defiance. He was rumored to have been a white man turned Indian, but DNA tests of descendants have ruled this out.

The marker on this circular monument is old, but the bottom part is new. This commemorates the largest apple tree on record anywhere. It was 9 feet in diameter, and in 1872 bore 200 bushels of apples. The tree died in 1887. The actual stump of the tree used to be there, semi-preserved with cement. I guess the last of it rotted away, and they replaced it with the granite replica.

There were at least two forts built where Defiance now stands, and a third nearby. I have a hard time shutting up about Defiance, once I get started, but I will.

The rest of the day was raw and damp, with a lot of road walking and no place to take a rest. The final indignity was a half-mile of actual towpath trail near the end of the day that could be described as a chain of lakes.

But my current helper, Cindy, picked me up and whisked me back to Marianne's where we had baked macaroni and cheese. That's about my top comfort food!

Miles today 17.1. Total miles so far: 421.7

See The Bridges to 400