Photo of the Day
Laughery Creek - Ohio/Dearborn County Line
Laughery Creek derives its name from Colonel Archibald
Lochrey of
Pennsylvania. On
August 21, 1781 during the latter years of the Revolutionary War Lochrey and a
company of soldiers were traveling down the Ohio River to meet George Rogers
Clark. Clark wanted to repeat his success at Vincennes at Detroit. On August 21, one of Lochrey's men shot a buffalo on the bank of a creek that emptied into the Ohio River. The company stopped to prepare the carcass for consumption when a band of Indians, led by Joseph Brandt, attacked. Lochrey and thirty-two of his companions died in the attack. Brandt and his warriors carried the remainder to Detroit as prisoners. Clark's dream of capturing Detroit died with Lochrey's company. An historical marker a short distance downstream mark in Riverview Cemetery marks the site of the massacre and whatever remains are left of Lochrey and his men. A government clerk misspelled Lochrey's name when they recorded the name of the creek.
