Spitting In George Washington's Eye

By J. Zane Walley and Julie Smithson

Article made possible by a grant from the Paragon Foundation

The Big and Little Darby creeks meander lazily through the Plains of Central Ohio, winding their way through thickets of wild plum trees, hazel bushes and oaks. The slopes and bluffs along the streams host cascades of purple coneflower, prairie false indigo and Indian paintbrush. Above the sedate waterways lies some of finest agricultural land in America, The Darby Plains. The area covers eight counties, is 106 miles long and up to 35 miles wide. It is 30 miles northwest of Ohio's capital city, Columbus.

Early settlers thought the land worthless for agricultural purposes and the plains were among the last areas in Ohio to be settled. They were low and moist and the danger of "swamp fever" caused them to be avoided although the soil was black and rich. A remarkably hardy breed of pioneers settled along the Darbys, drained the malarial bogs and turned the once shunned lands into a cornucopia.

Wars have raged on Darby creeks across centuries. In the 1760s, early settlers fought for their lives against the formidable French and Indian alliance led by the legendary Chief Pontiac. It was an incredibly bloody period in the history of Ohio, but the settlers fought it to a bitter and harsh win.

Darby pioneers marched to battle again in 1775 to fight the British in the Revolutionary War. They fought at Yorktown, Monmouth, White Plains, Germantown and other famed battlefields. The infant nation America was impoverished after the war, so the country rewarded veterans of that decisive armed conflict with land. In 1769, George Washington issued the Proclamation of Virginia Military Land Grants, granting homesteads to "the Revolutionary War Veterans, their heirs and assigns in perpetuity." The territory comprising the land along the Darby creeks is entirely "Virginia Military Lands," described in the original grant as "being a part of that between the Scioto and the Miami rivers."

Many old patriots took these lands and homesteaded on the Plains of Ohio. From this grand old Revolutionary stock sprang the Darby's stalwart and loyal sons, many of who fought alongside William Henry Harrison defeating Tecumseh's forces at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.

Outside the sporadic skirmish with Moravian and Wyandot Indians and a terrible malaria epidemic in 1822, life was peaceful on the Darby Plains, until 1882; when the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Ohio State University) working in cahoots with well-placed contacts in the General Land Office (a precursor of today's public land agencies), attempted a massive land grab that threatened all the "heirs and assigns" of the Revolutionary War veterans.

The congressman at that time, Henry L. Dickey said of the fraud: "The threatening attitude of the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College toward the holders of these lands, together with the fact that caveats have been filed in the General Land Office to prevent the issuing of patents even upon the lands that were located and surveyed three-quarters of a century ago, is well calculated to disturb the farmer who for many years had paid his taxes and knew nothing of legislative schemes and tricks of law."

The legislative trickery to take their lands sparked a revolt--The Log Cabin Rebellion--on the Darby and Virginia Military Lands. One popular theme among the farmers was to take a home to Washington and erect it on the Capitol lawn. That inspired the "Log-Cabin Song."

"Oh, where, tell me where, was your Buckeye Cabin made?

'Twas built among the merry boys who wield the plow and spade,

Where the Log Cabins stand in the bonnie Buckeye shade.

Oh, what, tell me what is to be your cabin's fate?

We'll wheel it to the Capitol, and place it there elate.

Oh, who fell before him in battle--tell me who?

He drove the savage legions, and British Army, too,

At the Rapids and the Thames and old Tippecanoe.

By whom, tell me whom, will the battle next be won?

The spoils men and leg-treasurers will soon begin to run!

And the Log-cabin candidate will march to Washington!"

The Log-Cabin candidate was former U.S. Army General James S. Robinson. He fought a bill through Congress protecting the occupants of military lands in their rights and granting patents to the just and equitable owners of these lands "affording absolute protection against the endeavors of speculators and swindlers."

General Robinson's bill held solid until 1991 when The Nature Conservancy named the Darby one of six "Last Great Places in the Western Hemisphere." Again, the lands along the Darby creeks that were granted to the Revolutionary War veterans came under attack. Many farmers on those war-stained waters believe that the "speculators and swindlers" have appeared in the uniform of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) accompanied by an army of environmental groups.

According to Julie Smithson, a full-time truck driver and spokesperson for Stewards of the Darby (SOD), a group formed to oppose the taking of the Darby lands, FWS is working with The Nature Conservancy, The National Audubon Society, Rivers Unlimited, and a montage of other environmental groups to force the farmers from their land by identifying the Darby as a high-priority area for protection of biological diversity. Smithson stated, "As far back as 1994 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service was secretly 'studying' our area. We have documentation proving that a $25,000 grant was given to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) by The Columbus Foundation 'for Darby Bioreserve' but, even as recently as late 1997, no one in our area was aware of these actions. They accomplished their studies of our private lands in secrecy!"

Smithson also observed: "The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed from 21,000 to 57,692 acres for a wildlife refuge. They have chosen for this refuge some of the best farmland in the United States--land that has been farmed by some of the same families for 200 years. The proposed refuge would dispossess these families and transform a productive agricultural economy into a non-productive service economy." The Draft Environmental Assessment..."identifies a need for 166,000 more additional acres...for mid-migration habitat for an estimated 25.7 million ducks."

SOD has intensively researched similar federal land taking in other areas of the U.S. They firmly believe that the plan by FWS is to render their farmland useless with restrictions by using the presence of several endangered shellfish found in the Darby watershed, thusly turning them in to "willing sellers." Smithson parallels the proposed takings of private Darby lands to a 1994 federal land grab in Washington County, Maine.

"For several years," she explained, "Washington County had been the target of federal, state and preservationist efforts at setting aside privately-owned land as parks or protected areas. The local landowners formed a property-rights group, the Washington County Alliance, in 1988 to protect their property but they lost to the federal agencies. In 1994, the Alliance conducted a survey of people who had sold land to the FWS in that county. The survey confirmed that half of responding landowners selling to FWS indicated they sold under regulatory agency pressure although they were misleadingly labeled 'willing sellers' in official literature and testimony."

Smithson further noted: "Due to the many options available to FWS regarding our land, we are faced with the specter of eminent domain, the more recent term 'friendly condemnation,' and the persuasive arguments to sell our 'property development rights,' restrictive covenants, perpetual easements, or 'conservation easements,' to the Fish & Wildlife Service."

SOD questions why FWS is even attempting to seize their land after praising them for their good stewardship. William Hartwig, regional director, stated, "It is no accident that this biologically-rich stream flows through land cared for by conservation minded farmers in Madison, Union and Champaign counties. Over the years, their use of conservation practices such as crop rotation and conservation tillage has enabled them to maintain economically viable farming operations while at the same time protecting the area's natural heritage. It is because of their actions that we have something worth saving today."

The Darby Watershed Project Manager Bill Hegge mirrored Hartwig's statement observing that, "Unlike the Darby Creek system, the other streams throughout Ohio and their fish and fauna have been greatly modified since settlement times. In contrast with other land uses, the long-term practice of agriculture has enabled the aquatic system to sustain its current level of biodiversity."

Wes Beery, agricultural coordinator for The Nature Conservancy disagreed with FWS stating that, "Farming can't help affecting the Darby. More than 80 percent of the land is used for agriculture. The problems that show up in Darby are sediments, many simply caused by farming the landscape."

The impending federal land grab has reincarnated the Log Cabin Rebellion. Darby farmers have been in Washington before the U.S. House Resources Committee bluntly speaking their piece. They recently presented written testimony stating:

"Our area is under threat of being declared a National Wildlife Refuge by the actions of corrupt officials of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, acting in collusion with The Nature Conservancy, which is attempting to impose one of its restrictive 'Bioreserve' projects on our farming community. The Columbus Foundation and Affiliated Organizations, a consortium of urban foundations unconcerned about rural economies and the property rights of farmers, gave The Nature Conservancy a grant of $25,000 in 1996 'For Darby Bioreserve, including hiring RiverKeeper to promote citizen-based protection of Big and Little Darby Creeks.' Despite massive opposition to the project by our local citizens, FWS continues to act under the influence of The Nature Conservancy and their funders, the Columbus Foundation consortium, to cripple our farm community. We request that Congress fully investigate this foundation-funded attempt to destroy the economy of our local farm community."

Local residents also drafted a declaration entitled "Our Land Is Our Responsibility" which reads in part:

"We, the residents of the area publicized as the Darby Prairie National Wildlife Refuge Study Area want our voices heard! We, who live and work in this farming community, believe the impact to area businesses would jeopardize their very existence.

"In the case of the proposed Little Darby National Wildlife Refuge, most of the land has been acquired by our farmers over many generations. At an average of 4.5 persons per home, this equates to the possible residential displacement of over 7,500 people from the Darby Study Area alone, with a loss of approximately 4,000 taxpayers to the community.

"Those of us who have been entrusted with the privilege of caring for the land, know well the proper care and nurturing required to maintain, protect and preserve our farmlands, and sustain a well-established wildlife habitat through conservation management. With an eye to the future, and the experience of almost 200 years, we know that our land is our responsibility!"

Smithson sums up the spirit of the Darby. "Distilled in their veins is the blood of their forefathers and the premise upon which this United States of America was founded. This fertile land has cradled their dead, raised their food, provided trees for shelter from the winds of storm and winter, resurrected their ancestors in the eyes of their children and grandchildren. They rightly claim the stewardship that they exercise. No distant government, nipping at their heels, can expect the surrender of all values held dear, without one hell of a fight!"