Pickwiallainy was a trading post more that an fort, it measured about 25 feet by 60 feet running in a northeast by southwest direction, It was surrounded by a stockade, and located on a hill overlooking the meeting of the Loramie Creek and the Miami River. A Miami village(also known as the Twightwees) of roughly 2000 Indians occupied the ground west of the River. The Fort/Trading post was located 3 miles north of the present location of Piqua, Ohio. The Fort was set up by the traders and the Miami Indians whose local chief was named "Old Britian" by the English and La Demoiselle by the French of the region. But his actual Indian name was Aquianua. While most of the Miami Indians traded with the French, this particular group would remain loyal to their English traders in the area.
In 1749 the Celoron expedition came down the Miami River claiming territory for the King of France. They placed lead plates at the mouths of principal streams with their claim of sovereignty over the Ohio Valley region. One of the main objectives of the expedition was to bring the traders at Pickwiallainy back into the sphere of French influence of trade. Celoron landed September 13, 1749 at the trading fort.
On the 17th after waiting for a interpreter, Celoron used a local Iroquois who spoke the Miami tongue; he asked the Twightwees to cut off trade relations with the English and expel the English traders from the fort. In part of his opening speech to the Indians gathered there Celoron said "... so that the English who are the authors of all evil designs may not approach this territory which belongs to me. I make for you at the same, time a beautiful road to conduct you to Kiskikon, where I relight your fire. I break off all trade with the English whom I have notified to retire from my lands, and if they come thither they shall have cause to repent" On the 18th "Old Britain" came back with his reply"It is an ancient custom among us, when we speak of pleasant matters first to present the calumets, we pray you to have the goodness to listen to us. We come to reply to what you have said to us...It is not with the tips of the lips that they speak to you, but from the bottom of the heart. You have bid us to reflect seriously on what you have said to us; we have done so, and shall continue to do so during the entire winter. We hope to have the pleasure of giving you a good word in the spring. If the hunting is abundant, we will repair our faults. We assure you, my father, we will listen no longer either to bad discourse or to evil rumors. Such at present is our intention." which was polite but firm, they would continue to trade with the English. Celoron would try for a couple of days to sway the Indians, but on the 20th Celoron burned his canoes and started back to Detroit.
All this would come about from a treaty signed by the traders of Fort Pickwiallainy on June 19, 1748 at Lancaster, Pennsylvania with the Provisional Pennsylvania Government concerning trade with the British.
Over the next two years , as the Crowns of England and France continued to debate who had the rights to the Ohio Valley, Pickwiallainy grew as the center of trade. At times more than 50 traders could be found at the trading post. This would be a growing concern for the French, and finally the Governor-General called upon Celoron , who was now in command of Detroit for attack on Pickwiallainy to bring the region under french control, and to expel the british traders who did business there. But Celoron , who was in very poor health, couldn't or wouldn't attack. Thus finally the operation fell to a young french trader named Charles Langlade, who had married a squaw from Green Bay and who had strong influence over the Indians of the region. He took a force of 250 Ottawa and Ojibwa warriors down from Detroit, to attack the Fort Pickwiallainy.
The attack came on the morning of June 21, 1752, but as luck would have it, most of the Indians where on their summer hunt, but the raiding force did kill 14 Indians, captured 5 white traders, and they burned the village and the fort. In place of the British Flag they put up the French colors. They also killed the chief " Old Britain" and boiled him and eat him.
This would mark an end of influence in the region for the Miami Indians, most of the tribe never returned and would join other tribes in the region. While the attack surprised the British, and the Indians of the region, the French were quite pleased with the result. It would be the first shot fired in the French and Indian War.
