Brady's Ambush

Sam Brady knew that a large group of Indian warriors were returning to the Ohio country after raiding white settlements near Ft. McIntosh. He felt safer tracking natives with just a few of his best men, but this time he decided to take every Ranger available. A small group was more mobile and easier to hide, but had little chance of surviving an attack against 15 or 30 Indians. Brady followed them on the trail that crossed the south end of Brady Lake. There he noticed signs of recent Indian activity, so the Rangers continued cautiously westward. A couple of miles later, Brady's group found their foe setting up camp on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River next to the Standing Stone (today's Standing Rock). The Rangers quietly retraced their steps to the southeast end of the lake, where Sam decided to use an old Indian trick on the Indians--the ambush.

The Indian trail was on top of a ridge where it passes the south end of Brady Lake, exactly where Merrill Road is today. The next morning Sam placed half his men on the bank below the north side of the ridge, and the other half on the south side with instructions not to fire until he fired first. Brady took one man with him and headed down the trail toward the Standing Stone. The Indians were just waking when Brady arrived at thair camp. He and his partner fired their wepons at the camp, turned, and ran back toward the lake. The Indians grabbed their rifles and took after them.

Brady stopped on the trail at the southeast corner of the lake, turned, and aimed his rifle. He knew the rest of his men were hidden below on both sides of the trail, rifles ready. Soon an imposing group of warriors came running around the bend, but Brady held his fire. When they were about fifty yards away, Brady fired, and the woods erupted in a hail of gunfire. Most of the Indians were killed immediately. The survivors headed back to the Standing Stone. Brady lost no men.

The Rangers headed back to Ft. McIntosh, avoiding trails and walking on logs and wetlands to hide their footsteps.

Forty years later, General Samuel Harris, a local surveyor, was interested in the Ambush story. He found human bones beside the Indian trail where the ambush was supposed to have occured, and some in the peat bog on the south side of the trail. The Stewart family supposedly found a broken sword at the site. And the Haymakers, first residents of Kent, found skeletons in the ledges at the Standing Stone. It was believed they were the remains of the motally wounded Indians who had the misfortune of being caught in Brady's Ambush.

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© 1999 Brad Bolton.

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