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COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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977.201 r.6AT:\
I History of Clinton Couni Indiana
HISTORY
CLINTON COUNTY,
INDIANA
TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF ITS CITIES, VILLAGES AND TOWNS,
EDUCATIONAL, RELIGIOUS, CIVIL, MILITARY, AND POLITICAL
HISTORY, PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT PERSONS, AND
BIOGRAPHIES OF REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
ALSO A CONDENSED
HISTORY OF INDIANA,
EMBODYING ACCOUNTS OF PREHISTORIC RACES, INDIAN WARS, AND A BRIEF REVIEW OF ITS CIVIL AND POLITICAL HISTORY.
IIiI<V»TRATi:D.
CHICAGO:
INTER-STATE PUBLISHING CO.
1886.
■ n County PuUk ti IVayne, IndSana
"^
PREFATORY.
In placing this volume before their patrons the publishers feel that their work will stand the test of candid criticism. They have spared neither endeavor nor expense that could add to the value of the HiSTOKT OF Clinton County, to make it all that it should be; and they therefore feel assured that those citizens who have for nearly a year watched with a friendly interest the progress of the work, will not be disappointed with the product of that long period of careful, concentrated labor. That this volume, contain- ing as it does, in its 900 broad pages, thousands of dates and names, should be absolutely free from trivial error„they do not claim, and suppose the citizens of Clinton County do not expect; but the publishers have a right to believe, such has been the care bestowed upon the work by competent, experienced writers, print- ers and proof-readers, that even the petty and unimportant class of errors have been mostly avoided, and that essential misstate- ment of facts will nowhere be found. The riches of historical lore, gathered from more than 2,000 pioneers or their descendants, by the writers of the History of Clinton County, have been returned to them in what has seemed an appropriate and acceptable form. It has been the study of the publishers, by the aid of all that is most excellent in the art of typography and the bookbinder's skill, to send forth this work as its worth deserves.
Whatever may be the verdict of those who do not realize the extent of our work, and therefore make no allowance for the many different ways that errors may occur, we feel sure that all thought- ful and just people will appreciate our efforts, will recognize the great public benefit that has been accomplished, and will value the work as a memorial in the years to come of the lives and advent- ures of the early pioneers, of the lives of men prominent in politi-
PREFATORY.
cal and business circles, and of individuals of less note, but none the less necessary to the county's history, that would otherwise have passed into oblivion. In com]iliance with the expressed wish of many of the citizens of Clinton County, we have thought best to supplement our work with a succinct history of the State of Indiana, in which we have begun the tracing of historical events at the earliest period, following down the stream .of time to the present, noting many important incidents which will doubtless be of much interest to all.
Respectfully,
INTER-STATE PUBLISHING CO. Chica.00, November, 1886.
m
Ji=^
-±iL.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
HISTOSy OF IXDIAXA.
FORMER OCCUPANTS.
Pre-Historic Races— First Immigration— Second Immigration— The Tartars— Relics ot tlie Monnd Builders— The Indians— Manners and Cnstoms lT-36
EXPLORATION BY THE WHITES.
Eftriiest Explorers— Oaabache-Vincennes-National Policies— The Great French Scheme— Pontiac'B War— British Policy— American Policy- Indian Savagery 37-51
EXPEDITION OF COLONEL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
Against Kaskaskia- Vincennes- Ingenioue Ruse Against the Indians— Subseqaent Career ofHamilton-Gibault-Vigo 5«-67
GOVERNMENT OF THE NORTHWEST.
Ordinance of 1787— Liquor and Gaming Laws 67-74
MILITARY HISTORY, 1790-1800.
Expedition of Harmar, Scott and Wilkinson- Expeditions of St. Clair and Wayne— Gen- eral Wayne's Great Victory ''5-81
TERRITORIAL HISTORY.
Organization of Indiana Territory- First Territorial Legislature— The Western Sun— Indi- ana in 1810 : 8e.66
GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE INDIANS.
Treaties of Peace— Harrison's Campaign- Battle of Tippecanoe 87-100
WAR OF 1812 WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
Declarationof War— Siege of Fort Wayne-Expedition Against the Indians— Close of the War 101-lOS
TECUMSEH.
The Most Noted Indian— A Shawnee Warrior— Desire to Confederate all the Tribes— Con ference with Governor Harrison— His Arrangement with the I'rophet, but Pinal Disap- pointment 111-116
CIVIL MATTERS OF 1812-1815.
Message of John Gibson— Message of Governor Posey— Hospitality Toward the Indians — Population in 1815— General View— Close of Territorial History 116-130
ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE.
Constitntional Convention- First G-neral Assembly— Governor's Message— Rush of Immi- grants to the New State— General Prosperity 131-186
BL4.CK HAWK WAR.
Removal ot Indians West of the Mississippi— Unwilling to Leave Their Hunting Grounds- An Attempt to Defy the Decrees of Government— The Militia Called Out- Capture of Black Hawk 1«»-1«0
LAST H-XODUS OF THE INDIANS.
Kmlgration under Command of Colonel Pepper and General Tipton— Indian Titles— 6,000.- 000 Acres Ceded to the United Slates 181-lM
CONTENTS.
LAND SALES.
First Land Sale— Settlers vs. Land Specnlatore— An Indian Scare— Harmony Com- mnnity 133-135
MEXICAN WAR.
Cause of the War— Troops Called Oat— Incidents of the War— Bravery of the Soldiers— The Troopsfromlndiana— Cost ofthe War 136-143
SLAVERY, AND IXDIANA IN THE WAR OP THE REBELLION.
Fifteenth Amendment— Indiana Patriots Amone the First to Respond to the Call for Troops —Indiana's "War Governor" to the Front— 10,000 -Men from Indiana— Three Months' Keg- imente- Three Years' Regiments— Minute Men- Six Months' Regiments- One Hundred Days' Volnnteers-The President's Call of July, 1864— Call of December, 1864— Inde- pendent Cavalrv Company — Colort^d Troops — Light Artillery— Battles in which Indiana Soldiers Fonghi^After the Waf. 144-193
FINANCIAL.
Early Taxes- State Bank— Wealth and Progress— Internal Improvements— Canals— Turn- pikes—Railroads 194 905
GEOLOGY.
Development of Mineral Resources— Rich Iron Mines— Coal— Lime 205-ffl!)
AGRICULTURAL.
State Board of Aerioulture— Exposition— Indiana Horticultural Society— Indiana Pomo- logical Society 309-315
EDUCATION.
Public Schools— Indiana State University— Purdue University— Indiana State Normal School— Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute, Valparaiso— Denom- inational and Private Institutions S15-232
BENEVOLENT AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS.
Institute for the Education of the Blind— Institute for the Deaf and Dumb- Hospital for the Insane— The State Prison South— The State Prison North— Female Prison and Reforma- tory-Indiana House of Refuge 23»-ai4
HISTORY OF ClilNTOX COUXTY.
CHAPTER I.
lUTRODCCTOKT.
Changes in Fiftv Years— Life in the Crowded East— Courage Of the Pioneers— Their Labors and Rewards— A Pen Picture 245-249
CHAPTER II. SciENTinc,
Boundaries— Surface and Soil— Timber— Water Courses- Second Growth of Timber- Wagon and Rail Roads— Climate— Geology — Animals — Birds — Fishes — Eepliles 250-269
CHAPTER III.
INDUKS.
The First Poaaessora of the Soil— History of the Miamis- A Powerful Tribe— Indian Wars— Treaties— Purchase of their Lands— Remnant of the Tribe— A Dying People. ..270-277
CHAPTER IV. The Pionekeb.
Names of First Settlers- Early Mills-Character of the Pioneers- Old SetUers Union of Clinton County- Summary of Proceedings— Historical Reminiscences by Members.. 278-298
CHAPTER V. PioNEEK Life.
The Log Cabin— Sleeping Accommodations- Cooking— Women's Work— Dress and Manners- Familv Worship— Hospitalitv-Trade-Monev — Milling— Agricultural Im- plements—Hog liilling-Prairie Fires-Wild Hogs— Native Animals Wolf Hunte-
Snakes-Shakes— Education— Past the Picuires- Spelling School— Guarding Against Indians- The Bright Side- What the Pioneers Have Done— Military Drill— Jack, the Pbiloeopherof the Nineteenth Century— Too Full for Uf i^n „nc
Sv^
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI. CrviL History.
Act Creating Clinton County— Supplementary Act— Before 1830— Selection of the County Seat— First Election-First Meetinar of the Commissioners- Principal Acts of the Com- missioners at Their Early Sessions— County Seal— Licenses— Creating Townships- Laying Out Frankfort and Selling Lots— First Tax Levy— Clearing the Square— Tem- porary Conrt-Honse— First Keport of County Treasurer— Division of County into Com- missioners' Districts— Additional Townships 337-34?
CHAPTER VII. Political.
CHAPTER VIII.
Official Rbgister.
List of Incumbents of the Several County Offices With Tc ; County— District Judsrea- Associite Judg( "" ■ " ■"' -Survey
of Service, Since the Or- - _ Probate Judges- Clerks- Auditors - Recorders — Treasurers — Sheriffs — Surveyors— Commissioners-Senators- Representatives .. 369-:Sr2
The Civil W.ui.
CHAPTER IX.
The First Shell— Call to Arms— Patriotic Response— First Company from Clinton— Ros- ter—History of Three Months' Service— Histories of Regiments in which Clinton County was Represented- Tenth— Fortieth— Forty-Fifth (Third Cavalry)— Seventy-Second— Eighty-Sixth— One Hundredth— One Hundred and Fiftieth— One Hundred and Fifty- Fourth— County Action_—Bounties and Relief -Calls for Troops— Drafts— Militia En- rollment 373-:j');
CHAPTER X.
A Necessity to Our Age— Recent 1 ism- Frankfort Argus—Ob^'-rri} Crescent- "Air-Line Papers"-' ne;'- Frankfort ^yetklu r«i".'- rim«s— Frankfort Democrat— i:
-History of Clinton County's -Journal- - 1 h n ton Xews— Compiler— V::&n^ion li^ nab icuii — rliiUon Repahlican Ban- ■ I ' 'It .— Frankfort i?n»ne;'— Frankfort -LoUax C'OMrie/'-Other Papers, .391-406
aI.
Administration of Justice in Clinton County— Earlv Court Matters— First Cases— Early T.._: .- -Clinton County Bar— First Attorneys— Brief Mention of Those Who Belong to
; Bar— Personal Sketches ,
CHAPTER XII. The Medical Profession.
The Pioneer Physician and Hla Lot— First Physicians of Frankfort— Present Practition- ;and Present Practitioners of Other Places in the County— Clinton County
Medical Society— Biographical Mention.
CHAPTER XIII. Educational.
Introductory Remarks— Progress in Educational Methods and Staidards- Importance of Good Schools— Early Schools— Text Books— Improvements— Educational Statistics, Showing Number of Schools, Teachers, Pupils, etc., and Expenditures for Different Purposes 471-475
CHAPTER XIV. Agriclt-tural.
Clinton an Agricultural County— Statistics of Agriculture of 1886— Clinton County Agri- cultural Society— Organization— Fairs, 187^-1885— Middle Fork Agricultural and Horti- cultural Society 476-483
CHAPTER XV. Railroads.
Introductory— Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago— Terre Haute & Logans- port— Lake Erie & Western— Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City— Louisville, New Albany & Chicago— Remarks— Honor to Whom Honor is Due— Liberality of the County, Town- ships and Citizens— The Profltable Results 484^90
CHAPTER XVL
-First Jail— Second Court-House—Second Jail- Present Jail— Sale of OldCourt-House— New Conrt-House- Description— Laying of the Corner-stone— Address of Welcome— Extract From .the Oration of the Day— County Poor Farm— Valuation and Taxation of the County, 1843 and 1885— Early Methodism in Clinton County— Early Roada-Popiilation -County Debt— Financial Statement 491-510
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVII. City of Fkankfort.
From Small Beginnings— Site Selected by a Commission— Early Sale of Lots— Purchas- ers and Prices— First Buildings, Hotels and Stores— Railroad Building and Recent Pros- perity-Incorporation—City Officers and Councilmen for Each Tear— Description of ?ity — Frankfort Public Schools- Churches- Secret Orders — Banks— First ^National —
Farmers— Business Directory— Press— Professional Men— Biographical.
CH.\PTEE XVIII.
Center TowssHrp.
Geographical Description— Early Settlement— List of Pioneers— Location of County Seat— First Events— First Churches and School — First Death— Railroads — Population- Valuation and Taxation, ISSB— Statistics of Agricolture-Political— Biographical 59S-608
CHAPTER XIX.
Forest Township.
Youngest of the Sisterhood of Townships— Circumstances of its Creation— Boundaries Hize, Soil, etc. — Early Settlement— Churches — Township Officers- Agricultural Statis- tics—Population—Political—Valuation and Taxation of Property— Forest S'lilage - His- tory-Odd Fellows— Churches— Biographical 009-635
CH-iPTJER XX. Jackson Towsship.
GeoTaphT and Topography— Early Settlement— Catalogue of the Pioneers— Early Events— First Religious Meeting and School— First Birth, Death and Marriage— Mar- ried "Fall Up"— Organization— Population— Valuation and Taxation, 1845 and 1686- Political— Static ticB of Agriculture— Churches— Biographical 6--!6-645
CHAPTER XXI.
Johnson Township.
Geographical Description— Early Settlement— Pioneers— First Events— Items of Early
History— Postofflce Organization of Township— Railroad Facilities— Population—
Agricultural Statistics— Political— Valuatic ' "' .«...„,. .,,._,_,,,.•■-,,,.
— Ijnsiness -Societies— Hillisburg— Mason
CHAPTER XXII.
KiRKUN Township.
Schools -Organization— First Marriage, Birth and Death— Improvements— Railroad- Population— Political— Statistics of Agriculture- Valuation and TaxaUon of Property, 1845-'86— Township Officers- Kiridin Village— History — Business— School— Lodges— Churches- Biographical 055-701
CHAPTER XXIII. Madison Toavnship.
Geographical Description-First Settlement— Pioneers— First Events- Winship« Mills Postoffice-Organization -First Election— First and Present Officers— Agricultural— Population— Political— Valuation and Taxation -Mulberry Village-Early History- Business Men of 18S6— Mills— Hamilton— Biographical 703-735
CHAPTER XXIV. Michigan Township.
Qeo<Taohv and Topography— Early Settlement— List of Pioneers— Organization of Tow'nship-Earlv Township Officers- First Events— The March of Prosrees-Agncultural Stalist'cs— Popniation— Political— Valuation and Taxation, 1845 and 188B— Michigantown -Business-Secret Orders— Churches— Boyleston Village— Biographical 736-, 68
Owes Township.
CHAPTER XXV.
-Early Settlement- First
nte— Organization— Railroad
_ 1845 and 1886— Statistics of ^"riciiltm"e -KUimore 'ViUage-Moran Village— Sedalia ViUage— Biographical 769-786
CHAPTER XXVI
Perrt Towns:
Geooraohical Description— First Settlement— Subsequent Arrivals— Early Events- Or- sanization-Agricultnral Stalislics-Population— PoliUcal-Valuation and Taxation,
ical.
787-821
CH.\PTER XXVIl. Ross Township.
GeoTaphy and Toposraphy— Solomon Miller, the Pioneer of tlieTownehip— Other Early Settfers— First Events— Organization of Township— First and Present Townehip Officers —Political— Statistics of Agriculture-Population, Valuation and Taxation, 181.=> and 1886 — Rossville— Business- Societies-Churches- Edna Mills-Biographical SR-848
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
nOAR CkEEK TOWNBHrP.
Geographical Description— Early Settlement— Subsequent Arrivals— First Evente- Popnlation -Political Record- ARricultural Statistics- Valuation and Taxation, 1815 and 1886— Pickard'B Mills Village— Biographical 849-866
CHAPTER XXIX. Warren Township.
Geography and Topography— Productiveness— Timber— First Settlers— Early Events —Population— Political— Valuation and Taxation of Proiierty, 1815 and 1886— Middle Fork Village— Church— bocieties-GeetingeviUe-Biograpbical 866-890
CHAPTER KXX.
Washington Toivnship.
Description -Origin of Name— Early Settlement-William Clart
iption— urigm or JName — liariy oeuiemenc— wiuiam ^larE ana Hia Followers — Growth of the Settlement— Early Events— Organization— Township Officers- Statistics ricultttre— Population— Railroada-Valaation and Taxation, 1845 and 18S6— Pollti-
c&l-5e£Eeraon VUlage— History— An Interesting Kuin— Biographical.
BIOtirRAPHICAIi SKETCHES.
Allen,David 898
AUen.D F 533
Allen, H.C T94
Allen, -Moses 795
Allen, M.K 898
Alter, Benjamin 873
Alter.David (il4
Anderson, Samuel 798
App, J.51 707
Armstrong, I. D 533
Ashley, W. P 535
Ashman, George 631
Ashman, George ti:;2
Aehpaw, J. R 616
Atkinson, J ohn 536
Avery, Jacob 74J
Avery, W. A 536
Ayers, Samuel 537
Boyles,M. A 77:
Braden, W. M 9,1'
Brafford, J. M 54:
Brant^D. a'.'.'..'.'.'..'...'/.'.'. 741
Britton, Daniel 74
Brock, A. D 63-
Brookie,H. R...; 63:
Brookle, J. A 63'
Bi-ookie, R. A 63:
Brumbaugh, O. E 43
Bryant, Dm W. C 54
Buck, Nicholas ni
Buntin, Elihu (1?.:
BurnSjJohn 'i'
Daniels, L. H. Davis, G. E....
538
Bailey, F. P
Bailor, S. M... . Baird, J. A. B...
Bnker, Abner
Barner, D. P....
Barner, John 4ii
Barnett, John 63
Barnett,J. W 74
Bate, Josiah 87::
Baum, Daniel 70:
Bayless, J Q
4M
Beard, Adam 874
Beard, M. B 4^0
Bell, A.J T.i
BeU,J. M 774
Bell,W.F 775
Bennett, William 708
Berry, James 6 )3
Bejdler, William 839
Bickley, C. H 665
Bickley, Joseph 666
Blacker, G. B SCO
Blacker, J. D S'll
Blake, J. A .:i:i9
Blvetone, Aaron 74 i
Blystone, G. A 741
Bond.B. J 666
Bond, J. P 6'i7
Bond, J. P 745
Bond, J. R 745
Bond, J. W 603
Bonil.M. U 667
Boone, R. G 540
Boulden, J. N 668
Bowen, Sanford 541
Cain, George
Caldwell, F. D
Caldwell, J. J
Calloway, Catharine Calloway, Joseph .
Carrick, Robert
Carson, tiev. J. K. 1'
Carter, D. B
Carter, E. P
Carter, R. J
Catron, A^idrew
Catron, J. L
Cairon, Valentine. ..
C.itterlin, N. T
Choat, Lewis
Clark, Cyrus
Clark, J. K
Clark, J. M
Clark,J. P
Clark, W. D
Claybaugh, Joseph.. Clendenning, A. J...
Co,,pstick. A. H
Coble, A. H
Cohee, Hezekiah
Cohee, J. U
Cohee, Wilson
Colby, W. A
Coldwell.S.C
Cole, J. W
Comly, W. M
Cook, Isaac
> ooper, J. iS
Cooper, W. E
Cooper, W. T
Coyner, Jacob
Coyner, Martin
Cripe, D. E
Crissenberry, J. T.. CruU, W. J
6)8
Davie, Hamilton. Davis, Hueston...
Davis, J. A
Davis, M.P 619
Davis, N. C 448
Davis, S. M 630
Dearth, W. L 5.55
Douglas, B. F 556
Douglas, I. W 449
Dow, E. P 877
Dunbar, W. T 805
Dunn,W.P 449
Durbin, Thomas 637
|
F |
|
|
Fickle, Isaac |
.... 907 |
|
Finney, J. V |
.... 631 |
|
.... 605 |
|
|
Fisher,J.J |
.... 451 |
|
Fisher, S. B |
... 451 |
|
Fisher, S.P Forsyth, J. L |
|
|
.... 558 |
|
|
Fowler, G.Y |
.. . 404 |
|
Fraz.er, M. C |
670 |
|
« |
|
|
Gable,F.M |
.... 833 |
|
Gjugwer, George |
|
|
Gangwer, Monroe.... Garl, E. E |
|
|
tiard, Jeese |
.... 559 |
|
Gard, Oliver |
.... 452 |
|
Gard,P. W |
.... 483 |
|
Gaskell,N.J |
.... 561 |
|
Geiger, Frederick.... Gentry, W. A |
.. . 833 |
|
.... 454 |
|
|
Gocbenauer, David... |
|
|
Goldsberry, F. M Gordon, A. M |
|
|
.... 8r7 |
|
|
Gordon, Rev. B. L.... |
.... 878 |
|
Gray.J. M |
.... 879 |
CONTENTS.
HalUday, G. D 561
Halliday.S. B 6-32
Hamilton, Prancie 834
Hamilton, G. H 404
HamUton, H. R WS
Hammond, J. W 5BS
Harding, Samuel 672
Harland, A. J 835
Harlaiul, J. W 563
Harland, J. W., Jr 435
Harnsberger, P. A » 750
Harris.J. W 806
Harshman, Enos 808
Hart, J. G 672
Hartzog, S. C 564
Hayden, B. F 809
Hays, J. M a36
Hays, J. S 837
HeaYilon, Amos 909
Heavilon, Joseph 911
Heavilon, Taylor 912
Hedgcock, J. A 565
Hedgcock, J. S 751
Heichei-t, L. V 505
Hendricks, Nathan 6T3
Hendricks, Samuel 880
Hesser, J. A .-. 675
Hiatt, C. T 751
Hines, W. E ■.. 425
Bockman, J. T 427
HoUcraft, Abraham 677
Hornaday. W. H 455
Huff, A. J 566
Hufflne.W. A 678
I
Irwin.J. L 637
Irwin, J. N 679
Irwin, K. S 638
J
Jacoby, Moses . , 715
Jacoby, William 716
Jacobs, Leander 913
Jenkina, J. M 6S8
Johnson, David 6ii5
Johnson, E. H 810
Johnson, J. S 606
Johnson, L. F 811
Johnson ip. S 606
Jordan, W. N 717
K
Kelley, William 752
Kent.J. V 428
Keys,T.P 566
Kinder, Rev. John 639
King.James 680
King, j! W................ 681
Knapp, G. D 881
Kramer, Edward 568
Kramer, W. B. and L. N. . 569
K/eisher, Daniel 838
Kreisher, S. H 753
Kyger, Samuel 606
Lane, Jesse 813
Lannm, David 814
Latshaw, Aaron S39
Lawson.J.W 570
Layman, Rev. John 754
Lechlltner, David 717
Leisure, Adam 670
Llpp, John 755
Littleton, A. C 866
Littleton, James 856
Loflin,John 466
Logan, N. A 756
Lowden, William 757
Louks, J.P 857
Lyon, 8. W 640
M
Mabbitt, W. L
llagill, Thomas
MaiBh, J. W ,
Major, G. M
Major, John
Major, Josiah
Major, Thomas
Manlove, Jasper
Martin, M. L
Masters, T. \V
Mathews, J. C
Mattix, Robert
Mattox, Q. B
McBride, W. T
McCarty,T. P
McClurg, Leander
McDavis, J ames
McKenzie, Darius
McKenzey, Nehemiah...
McKenzey, U. C
McKinney, J. C
Mr Kinney, W.V., Sr.... McKinney. W. v., Jr....
McMath.D. J
Meridith, J. W
Merritt, Samuel
Messier, J. W
Metzger,J. B
iMilborn, J. E
Mlller.A. J
Miller, Aaron
Miller, John
Miller, Rev. J. L
Miller, J. S
Miner, H. W
Miner.J. U
Mitchell, Leonidas
Moore, P. P
Moore, John
Moore, Thomas
Moore, W. W
Morris, W. 6
Morrison, H. Y
Morrison, James
Morrison, Hev. M. S...,
Morrison, O. A.J
Muudell, Adam
Myers, Isaiah
K
Neher.E. M
Nixon,P. M
O
Ogle, J. L
Ogle, S. C
Ohl, David
Osborne.D. W
P
Palmer, B. P
Paris.J. H
Parker, Joseph
Pence, John
Perrin, H. C
Peter, J. A
Peters, William
Petty.C. M
Pickering, J. C
Pickering', T. J
Pioer. T. C
Poffinbarger, Valentine,
Potter, A. A
Powell, W. L. M
Parner, John ".
R
Raper, Thomas
Reckard, J. L
Reed, J. C
Reed, WilUam...
Rex, John
Rex, Noah
Ricketts, John.... Rinehart, Allen... Robbins.G. \V.... Robinson, T. P.... Robison, Andrew.
Roes, R. H
Rothenberger, Christian. Eouek, Fred
Seager, John
Seager, R. W Seawright, Wilson. Shafor, W. "
Shearer.Hugh 654
Sheets, Michael.. Sheets, Phillip...
Sheffler, A. R
Sheridan, H. C . . . Short, Solomon.. Sims, Alexander. Sims, Lewis
, Stephen.
Sipe, Charles.. 573 ! SUpber, David 573 Slipher, I. N.. ^■^ Sliphi
Smith, G. A
Smith, George..
Smith, H. L
Smith, M. C
Smith, T.J
Snyder, John Southard, J. E.. Sparks, Allen... Sparks, Elijah..
Squire, J. W
Stafford, H. W.., Stafford, J. E....
^taley, K. H
Staley, W. A
Starkey, D. L....
Stewart, J. H
Stewart, John W. .
Stotter, Amos
Stowere, Travis
Strange, Henry
Strange, HezeUah.
Strange, Seth
Strange, WUliam... Strong, William....
722 Teegnarden, F. M...
915 I Temple, J. A
""■ Tharp, Levi
Thatcher, Anson
Thatcher, A. M
Thatcher, G. W. ..
Thatcher, John
Thompson, A. A
Thompson, David.. .
Thompson, R. W
Thompson, Thomas.
Turney, J. W.,
ssr
Vsnsickle, John
W
Wade, T. H
Walter, Alexander..
Watson, J. R
Wharney, James A.
Whitcomb, J. L
White, M. B
CONTENTS.
Wigle,H.H 889
WOee.P. M 864
Wilhelm, Christian 634
WiUlama, Allen 697
Wills, Charles 699
Wise, J. B 466
Wright, W.T 595
Wyncook, J. V 700
X
Xanders, Eev. W. H 734
if
Tonkey, W. P
Young, David
Tonng, Johnson . . . Young, E. O
Z
Zaring, Christian.
Zerfa8,D. A
ZerJas, Solomon . . .
Baker, Abner 900
Barner, John 416
Bate, Joslah 873
Buntin, Elihu 635
Cheat, Lewis 77T
Clark, Colonel Ueo. R 53
Early Explorers of Ind.Ter. 25
Fisher, S. B 451
Gard, P. W 423
Hamilton, H. R 908
Hieroglyphics of the Mound- BuUders 39
ILiliUSTRATIOaiS.
HoUcraft, Abraham 677
Hunting Prairie Wolves . . 191 [Qdiaus Attacking Front- iersmen 43
Morrison, H.T 431
Opening Indiana Forest. . 123
Pioneer Dwelling 179
Robison.A.M 884
Scene on the Ohio 233
Scene on the Wabash 146
Seager, John '
Short, Solomon '
Short, Mrs. Mary '.
Stafford, J. E .;. ;
Tecumseh - ■:
The Shawnee Prophet '
Vansickle, John !
Verlical Section of the
Rocks !
Young, K.O ■
7^
HISTORY OF INDIANA:
FOEMER OCCUPANTS.
PEEHI8T0RIC RACES.
Scientists have ascribed to the Mound Builders varied origins and though their divergence of opinion, may for a time seem incom- patible with a thorough investigation of the subject, and tend to a confusion of ideas, no doubt what^v^er can exist as to the compar- ative accuracy of conclusions arrived at by some of them. Like the vexed question of the Pillar Towers of Ireland, it has caused much speculation, and elicited the opinioiis of so many learned: antiquarians, ethnologists and travelers, that it will not be found beyond the range of posfability to make deductions that may suffice to solve the problem who were the prehistoric settlers of America. To achieve this it will not be necessary to go beyond the period over which Scripture history extends, or to indulge in those airy flights of imagination so sadly identified with occasional writers of eve^;;:! the Christian school, and all the accepted literary- exponent's of modern paganism.
Thut this continent is co-existent with the world of the ancients cannot be questioned. Every investigation, instituted under the auspices of modern civilization, confirms the fact and leaves no channel open through which the skeptic can escape the thorough refutation of his opinions. China, with its numerous living testi- monials of antiquity, with its ancient, though limited literature and its Babelish superstitions, claims a continuous history from antediluvian times; but although its continuity may be denied witli every just reason, there is nothing to prevent the transmission of a hieroglyphic record of its history prior to 1656 anno mtaidi, since many traces of its early settlement survived the Deluge, and became sacred objects of the first historical epoch. This very sur vival of a record, such as that of which the Chinese boast, is not at variance with the designs of a God who made .and ruled the universe; but that an antediluvian people inhabited this continent,
20 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
devour the budding tops of those great trees. Other efforts in this direction may lead to great results, and culminate probably in the discovery of a tablet engraven by some learned Mound Builder, describing in the ancient hieroglyphics of China all these men and beasts whose history excites so much speculation. The identity of the Mound Builders with the Mongolians might lead us to hope for such a consummation; nor is it beyond the range of probability, particularly in this practical age, to find the future labors of some industrious antiquarian requited by the upheaval of a tablet, written in the Tartar characters of 1700 years ago, bearing on a subject which can now be treated only on a purely circumstantial basis.
THE SECOND IMMIGRATION
may have begun a few centuries prior to the Christian era, and unlike the former expedition or expeditions, to have traversed north- eastern Asia to its Arctic confines, and then east to the narrow channel now known as Behring's Straits, which they crossed, and sailing up the unchanging Yukon, settled under the shadow of Mount St. Elias for many years, and pushing South commingled with their countrymen, soon acquiring the characteristics of the descendants of the first colonists. Chinese chronicles tell of such a people, who went North and were never heard of more. Circum- stances conspire to render that particular colony the carriers of a new religious faith and of an alphabetic system of a representative character to the old colonists, and they, doubtless, exercised a most beneficial influence in other respects ; because the influx of immi- grants of such culture as were the Chinese, even of that remote period, must necessarily bear very favorable results, not only in bringing in reports of their travels, but also accounts from the fatherland bearing on the latest events.
With the idea of a second and important exodus there are many theorists united, one of whom says: "It is now the generally received opinion that the first inhabitants of America passed over from Asia through these straits. The number of small islands lying between both continents renders this opinion still more probable; and it is yet farther confirmed by some remarkable traces of similarity in the physical conformation of the northern natives of both continents. The Esquimaux of North America, the Samoieds of Asia, and the Laplanders of Europe, are supposed to be of the same family ; and this supposition is strengthened by the affinity which exists in their languages. The researches of Hum-
li
4
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 21
boldt have traced the Mexicans to the vicinity of Behring's Straits ; whence it is conjectured that they, as well as the Peruvians and other tribes, came originally from Asia, and were the Hiongnoos, who are, in the Chinese annals, said to have emigrated under Puno, and to have been lost in the North of Siberia."
Since this theory is accepted by most antiquaries, there is every reason to believe that from the discovery of what may be called an overland route to what was then considered an eastern extension of that country which is now known as the " Celestial Empire," many caravans of emigrants passed to their new homes in the land of illimitable possibilities until the way became a well-marked trail over which the Asiatic might travel forward, and having once entered the Elysian fields never entertained an idea of returning. Thus from generation to generation the tide of immigration poured in until the slopes of the Pacific and the banks of the great inland rivers became hives of busy industry. Magnificent cities and monuments were raised at the bidding of the tribal leaders and populous settlements centered with happy villages sprung up everywhere in manifestation of the power and wealth and knowl- edge of the people. The colonizing Caucasian of the historic period walked over this great country on the very ruins of a civil- ization which a thousand years before eclipsed all that of which he could boast. He walked through the wilderness of the West over buried treasures hidden under the accumulated growth of nature, nor rested until he saw, with great surprise, the remains of ancient pyramids and temples and cities, larger and evidently more beauti- ful than ancient Egypt could bring forth after its long years of uninterrupted history. The pyramids resemble those of Egypt in exterior form, and in some instances are of larger dimensions. The pyramid of Oholula is square, having each side of its base 1,335 feet in length, and its height about 172 feet. Another pyramid) situated in the north of Vera Cruz, is formed of large blocks of highly-polished porphyry, and bears upon its front hiero- glyphic inscriptions and curious sculpture. Each side of its square base is 82 feet in length, and a flight of 57 steps conducts to its summit, which is 65 feet in height. The ruins of Palenque are said to extend 20 miles along the ridge of a mountain, and the remains of an Aztec city, near the banks of the river Gila, are spread over more than a square league. Their literature consisted of hieroglyphics; but their arithmetical knowledge did not extend farther than their calculations by the aid of grains of corn. Yet,
iiiJ HISTORY OF INDIANA.
notwithstanding all their varied accomplishments, and they were evidently many,' their notions of religious duty led to a most demo- niac zeal at once barbarously savage and ferociously cruel. Each visiting, god instead of bringing new life to the people, brought death to thousands; and their grotesque idols, exposed to drown the senses of the beholders in fear, wrought wretchedness rather than spiritual happiness, until, as some learned and humane Monte- zumian said, the people never approached these idols without fear, and this fear was the great animating principle, the great religious motive power which sustained the terrible religion. Their altars were sprinkled with blood drawn from their own bodies in large quantities, and on them thousands of human victims were sacri- ficed in honor of the demons whom they worshiped. The head and heart of every captive taken in war were offered up as a bloody sacrifice to the god of battles, while the victorious legions feasted on the remaining portions of the dead bodies. It has been ascer- tained that during the ceremonies attendant on the consecration of two of their temples, the number of prisoners offered up in sacri- fice was 12,210; while their own legions contributed voluntary victims to the terrible belief in large numbers. Nor did this horrit)le custom cease immediately after 1521, when Cortez entered the imperial city of the Montezumas; for, on being driven from it, all his troops who fell into the hands of the native soldiers were subjected to the most terrible and prolonged suffering that could be experienced in this world, and when about to yield up that spirit which is indestructible, were offered in sacrifice, their hearts and heads consecrated, and the victors allowed to feast on the yet warm flesh.
A reference is made here to the period when the Montezumas ruled over Mexico, simply to gain a better idea of the hideous idolatry which took the place of the old Boodhism of the Mound Builders, and doubtless helped in a great measure to give victory to the new comers, even as the tenets of Mahometanism urged the ignorant followers of the prophet to the conquest of great nations. It was not the faith of the people who built the mounds and the pyramids and the temples, and who, 200 years before the Christian era, built the great wall of jealous China. No: rather was it that terrible faith born of the Tartar victory, which carried the great defenses of China at the point of the javelin and hatchet, who afterward marched to the very walls of Rome, under Alaric, and
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
23
spread over the islands of Polynesia to the Pacific slopes of South America.
THE TARTARS
came there, and, like the pure Mongols of Mexico and the Missis- sippi valley, rose to a state of civilization bordering on that attained by them. Here for centuries the sons of the fierce Tartar race con- tinued to dwell in comparative peace until the all-ruling ambition of empire took in the whole country from the Pacific to the Atlan- tic, and peopled the vast territory watered by the Amazon with a race that was destined to conquer all the peoples of the Orient, and only to fall before the march of the arch-civilizing Caucasian. In course of time those fierce Tartars pushed their settlements northward, and ultimately entered the territories of the Mound Builders, putting to death all who fell within their reach, and causing the survivors of the death-dealing invasion to seek a refuge from the hordes of this semi-barbarous people in the wilds and fast- nesses of the North and Northwest. The beautiful country of the Mound Builders was now in the hands of savage invaders, the quiet, industrious people who raised the temples and pyramids were gone; and the wealth of intelligence and industry, accumulating for ages, passed into the possession of a rapacious horde, who could admire it only so far as it offered objects for plunder. Even in this the invaders were satisfied, and then having arrived at the height of their ambition, rested on their swords and entered upon the luxury and ease in the enjoyment of which they were found when the van- guard of European civilization appeared upon the scene. Mean- time the southern countries which those adventurers abandoned after having completed their conquests in the North, were soon peopled by hundreds of people, always moving from island to island and ultimately halting amid the ruins of villages deserted by those who, as legends tell, had passed eastward but never returned; and it would scarcely be a matter for surprise if those emigrants were found to be the progenitors of that race found by the Spaniards in 1532, and identical with the Araucanians, Ouenches and Huil- tiches of to-day.
BELIC8 OF THE MOUND BUILDERS.
One of the most brilliant and impartial historians of the Kepublic stated that the valley of the Mississippi contained no monuments. So far as the word is entertained now, he was literally correct, but
"24: HISTORY OF INDIANA.
in some liasty effort neglected to qualify his sentence by a refer- ence to the numerous relics of antiquity to be found throughout its length and breadth, and so exposed his chapters to criticism. The valley of the Father of Waters, and indeed the country from the trap rocks of the Great Lakes southeast to the Gulf and south- west to Mexico, abound in tell-tale monuments of a race of people much farther advanced in civilization than the Montezumas of the sixteenth century. The remains of walls and fortifications found in Kentucky and Indiana, the earthworks of Vincennes and throughout the valley of the Wabash, the mounds scattered over Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Yirginia, and those found in Illi- nois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, are all evidences of the univer- sality of the Chinese Mongols and of their advance toward a com- parative knowledge of man and cosmology. At the mouth of Fourteen-Mile creek, in Clark county, Indiana, there stands one of these old monuments known as -the " Stone Fort." It is an unmistakable heirloom of a great and ancient people, and must have formed one of their most important posts. The State Geolo- gist's report, filed among the records of the State and furnished by Prof. Cox, says: "At the mouth of Fourteen-Mile creek, and about three miles from Charleston, the county-seat of Clark county, there is one of the most remarkable stone fortifications which has ever come under ray notice. Accompanied by my assistant, Mr. Borden, and a number of citizens of Charleston, I visited the ' Stone Fort' for the purpose of making an examination of it. The locality selected for this fort presents many natural advantages for making it impregnable to the opposing forces of prehistoric times. It occupies the point of an elevated narrow ridge which faces the Ohio river on the east and is bordered by Fourteen-Mile creek on the west side. This creek empties into the Ohio a short distance below the fort. The top of the ridge is pear-shaped, with the part answering to the neck at the north end. This part is not over twenty feet wide, and is protected by precipitous natural walls of stone. It is 280 feet above the level of the Ohio river, and the slope is very gradual to the south. At the upper field it is 210 feet high and one hundred steps wide. At the lower timber it is 120 feet high. The bottom land at the foot of the south end is sixty feet above the river. Along the greater part of the Ohio river front there is an abrupt escarpment rock, entirely too steep to be scaled, and a similar natural barrier exists along a portion of the northwest side of the ridge, facing the creek. This natural wall
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HISTOEY OF INDIANA.. 27
is joined to the neck of an artificial wall, made by piling up, mason fashion but without mortar, loose stone, which had evidently been pried up from the carboniferous layers of rock. This made wall, at this point, is about 150 feet long. It is built along the slope of the hill and had an elevation of about 75 feet above its base, the upper ten feet being vertical. The inside of the wall is protected by a ditch. The remainder of the hill is protected by an artificial stone wall, built in the same manner, but not more than ten feet high. The elevation of the side wall above the creek bottom is 80 feet. "Within the artificial walls is a string of mounds which rise to the height of the wall, and are protected from the washing of the hill- sides by a ditch 20 feet wide and four feet deep. The position of the artificial walls, natural cliffs of bedded stone, as well as that of the ditch and mounds, are well illustrated. The top of the enclosed ridge embraces ten or twelve acres, and there are as many as five mounds that can be recognized on the flat surface, while no doubt many others existed which have been obliterated by time, and though the agency of man in his efforts to cultivate a portion of the ground. A trench was cut into one of these mounds in search of relics. A few fragments of charcoal and decomposed bones, and a large irregular, diamond-shaped boulder, with a small circular indentation near the middle of the upper part, that was worn quite smooth by the use to which it had been put, and the small pieces of fossil coral, comprised all the articles of note which were revealed by the excavation. The earth of which the mound is made resem- bles that seen on the hillside, and was probably in most part taken from the ditch. The margin next to the ditch was protected by slabs of stone set on edge, and leaning at an angle corresponding to the slope of the mound. This stone shield was two and one-half feet wide and one foot high. At intervals along the great ditch there are channels formed between the mounds that probably served to carry off" the surplus water through openings in the outer wall. On the top of the enclosed ridge, and near its narrowest part, there is one mound much larger than any of the others, and so situated as to command an extensive view up and down the Ohio river, as well as affording an unobstructed view east and west. This is designated as ' Look-out Mound.' There is near it a slight break in the cliff" of rock, which furnished a narrow passage way to the Ohio river. Though the locality afforded many natural advantages for a fort or stronghold, one is compelled to admit that much skill was displayed and labor expended in making its defense as perfect as possible at
28 HISTOET OF INDIANA.
all points. Stone axes, pestles, arrow-heads, spear-points, totums, charms and flint flakes have been found in great abundance in plowing the field at the foot of the old fort."
From the " Stone Fort " the Professor turns his steps to Posey county, at a point on the Wabash, ten miles above the mouth, called "Bone Bank," on account of the number of human bones continually washed out from the river bank. " It is," he states " situated in a bend on the left bank of the river; and the ground is about ten feet above high-water mark, being the only land along this portion of the river that is not submerged in seasons of high water. The bank slopes gradually back from the river to a slough. This slough now seldom contains water, but no doubt at one time it was an arm of the Wabash river, which flowed around the Bone Bank and afforded protection to the island home of the Mound Builders. The Wabash has been changing its bed for many years, leaving a broad extent of newly made land on the right shore, and gradually making inroads on the left shore by cutting away the Bone Bank. The stages of growth of land on the right bank of the river are well defined by the cottonwood trees, which increase in size as you go back from the river. Unless there is a change in the cur- rent of the river, all trace of the Bone Bank will be obliterated. Already within the memory of the white inhabitants, the bank has been removed to the width of several hundred yards. As the bank is cut by the current of the river it loses its support, and when the water sinks it tumbles over, carrying with it the bones of the Mound Builders and the cherished articles buried with them. No locality in the country furnishes a greater number and variety of relics than this. It has proved especially rich in pottery of quaint design and skillful workmanship. I have a number of jugs and pots and a cup found at the Bone Bank. This kind of work has been very abundant, and is still found in such quantities that we are led to conclude that its manufacture formed a leading indus- try of the inhabitants of the Bone Bank. It is not in Europe alone that we find a well-founded claim of high antiquity for the art of making hard and durable stone by a mixture of clay, lime, sand and stone; for I am convinced that this art was possessed by a race of people who inhabited this continent at a period so remote that neither tradition nor history can furnish any account of them. They belonged to the Neolithic, or polished-stone, age. They lived in towns and built mounds for sepulture and worship and pro- tected their homes by surrounding them with walls of earth and
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
29
stone. In some of these mounds specimens of various kinds of pottery, in a perfect state of preservation, have from time to time been found, and fragments are so common that every student of archaeology can have a bountiful supply. Some of these fragments indicate vessels of very great size. At tlie Saline springs of Gal- latin I picked up fragments that indicated, by their curvature, ves- sels five to six feet in diameter, and it is probable they are frag- ments of artificial stone pans used to hold brine that was manufac- tured into salt by solar evaporation.
" Now, all the pottery belonging to the Mound Builders' age, which I have seen, is composed of alluvial clay and sand, or a mix- ture of the former with pulvef ized fresh- water shells. A paste made of such a mixture possesses, in high degree, the properties of hydraulic Puzzuoland and Portland cement, so that vessels formed of it hardened without being burned, as is customary with modern pottery."
The Professor deals very aptly with this industry of the aborig- ines, and concludes a very able disquisition on the Bone Bank in its relation to the prehistoric builders.
HIEROGLYPHICS OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.
The great circular redoubt or earth-work found two miles west ol the village of New Washington, and the "Stone Fort," on a ridge one mile west of the village of Deputy, oflPer a subject for the anti- quarian as deeply interesting as any of the monuments of a decayed empire so far discovered.
au HISTORY OF INDIANA.
From end to end of Indiana there are to be found many other rel- ics of the obscure past. Some of them have been unearthed and now appear among the collected antiquities at Indianapolis. The highly finished sandstone pipe, the copper ax, stone axes, flint arrow-heads and magnetic plummets found a few years ago beneath the soil of Cut-Off Island near Xew Harmony, together with the pipes of rare workmanship and undoubted age, unearthed near Covington, all live as it were in testimony of their owner's and maker's excel- lence, and hold a share in the evidence of the partial annihilation of a race, with the complete disruption of its manners, customs and industries; and it is possible that when numbers of these relics are placed together, a key to the phonetic or rather hieroglyphic system of that remote period might be evolved.
It may be asked what these hieroglyphical characters really are. Well, they are varied in form, so much so that the pipes found in the mounds of Indians, each bearing a distinct representation of some animal, may be taken for one species, used to represent the abstract ideas of the Mound Builders. The second form consists of pure hieroglyphics or phonetic characters, in which the sound is represented instead of the object; and the third, or painted form of the first, conveys to the mind that which is desired to be repre- sented. This form exists among the Cree Indians of the far North- west, at present. They, when departing from their permanent vil- lages for the distant hunting grounds, paint on the barked trees in the neighborhood the figure of a snake or eagle, or perhaps huskey dog; and this animal is supposed to guard the position until the warrior's return, or welcome any friendly tribes that may arrive there in the interim. In the case of the Mound Builders, it is un- likely that this latter extreme was resorted to, for the simple reason that the relics of their occupation are too high in the ways of art to tolerate such a barbarous science of language; but the sculptured pipes and javelins and spear-heads of the Mound Builders may be taken as a collection of graven images, each conveying a set of ideas easily understood, and perhaps sometimes or more generally used to designate the vocation, name or character of the owner. That the builders possessed an alphabet of a phonetic form, and purely hieroglyphic, can scarcely be questioned; but until one or more of the unearthed tablets, which bore all or even a portion of such characters, are raised from their centnried graves, the mystery which surrounds this people must remain, while we must dwell in a world of mere speculation.
niSTORr OF INDIANA. 31
Vigo, Jasper, Sullivan, Switzerland and Ohio counties can boast of a most liberal endowment in this relation; and when in other days the people will direct a minute inquiry, and penetrate to the very heart of the thousand cones which are scattered throughout the land, they may possibly extract the blood in the shape of metal- lic and porcelain works, with hieroglyphic tablets, while leaving the form of heart and body complete to entertain and delight un- born generations, who in their time will wonder much when they learn that an American people, living toward the close of the 59th century, could possibly indulge in such an anachronism as is im- plied in the term "New World."
THE INDIANS.
The origin of the Ked Men, or American Indians, is a subject which interests as well as instructs. It is a favorite with the eth- nologist, even as it is one of deep concern to the ordinary reader. A review of two works lately published on the origin of the Indians treats the matter in a peculiarly reasonable light. It says :
" Recently a German writer has put forward one theory on the subject, and an English writer has put forward another and directly opposite theory. The difference of opinion concerning our aborig- inals among authors who have made a profound study of races is at once curious and interesting. Blumenbach treats them in his classifications as a distinct variety of the human family; but, in the threefold division of Dr. Latham, they are ranked among the Mon- golidffi. Other writers on race regard them as a branch of the great Mongolian family, which at a distant period found its way from Asia to this continent, and remained here for centuries separate from the rest of mankind, passing, meanwhile, through divers phases of barbarism and civilization. Morton, our eminent eth- nologist, and his followers, Nott and Gliddon, claim for our native Red Men an origin as distinct as the flora and fauna of this conti- nent. Prichard, whose views are apt to differ from Morton's, finds reason to believe, on comparing the American tribes together, that they must have formed a separate department of nations from the earliest period of the world. The era of their existence as a distinct and insulated people must probably be dated back to the time which separated into nations the inhabitants of the Old "World, and
fave to each its individuality and primitive language. Dr. Robert Irown, the latest authority, attributes, in his "Races of Mankind," an Asiatic origin to our aboriginals. He says that the Western In- dians not only personally resemble their nearest neighbors — the Northeastern Asiatics — but they resemble them in language and traditions. The Esquimaux on the American and the Tchuktchis on the Asiatic side understand one another perfectly. Modern an-
l\^
bZ HISTORY OF INDIANA.
thropologists, indeed, are disposed to think that Japan, the Kuriles, and neighboring regions, may be regarded as the original home of the greater part of the native American race. It is also admitted by them that between the tribes scattered from the Arctic sea to Cape Horn there is more uniformity of physical features than is seen in any other quarter of the globe. The weight of evidence and authority is altogether in favor of the opinion that our so- called Indians are a branch of the Mongolian family, and all addi- tional researches strengthen the opinion. The tribes of both North and South America are unquestionably homogeneous, and, in all likelihood, had their origin in Asia, though they have been altered and modified by thousands of years of total separation from the parent stock."
The conclusions arrived at by the reviewer at that time, though safe, are too general to lead the reader to form any definite idea on the subject. No doubt whatever can exist, when the American In- dian is regarded as of an Asiatic origin ; but there is nothing in the works or even in the review, to which these works were subjected, which might account for the vast difference in manner and form between the Red Man, as he is now known, or even as he appeared to Columbus and his successors in the field of discovery, and the comparatively civilized inhabitants of Mexico, as seen in 1521 by Cortez, and of Peru, as witnessed by Pizarro in 1532. The fact is that the pure bred Indian of the present is descended directly from the earliest inhabitants, or in other words from the survivors of that people who, on being driven from their fair possessions, re- tired to the wilderness in sorrow and reared up their children under the saddening influences of their unquenchable griefs, bequeathing them only the habits of the wild, cloud-roofed home of their de- clining years, a sullen silence, and a rude moral code. In after years these wild sons of the forest and prairie grew in numbers and in strength. Some legend told them of their present sufferings, of the station which their fathers once had known, and of the riotous race which now reveled in wealth which should be tlieirs. The fierce passions of tlie savage were aroused, and uniting their scat- tered bands marched in silence upon the villages of the Tartars, driving them onward to the capital of their Incas, and consigning their homes to the flames. Ouce in view of the great city, the hurrying bands halted in surprise; but Tartar cunning took in the situation and offered pledges of amity, which were sacredly ob- served. Henceforth Mexico was open to the Indians, bearing pre- cisely the same relation to them that the Hudson's Bay Company's
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 33
villages do to the Northwestern Indians of the present; obtaining all, and bestowing very little. The subjection of the Mongolian race represented in North America by that branch of it to which the Tartars belonged, represented in the Southern portion of the con- tinent, seems to have taken place some five centuries before the advent of the European, while it may be concluded that the war of the races which resulted in reducing the villages erected by the Tartar hordes to ruin took place between one and two hundred ^jears later. These statements, though actually referring to events which in point of time are comparatively modern, can only be sub- stantiated by the facts that, about the periods mentioned the dead bodies of an unknown race of men were washed ashore on the Eu- ropean coasts, while previous to that time there is no account whatever in European annals of even a vestige of trans-Atlantic hu- manity being transferred by ocean currents to the gaze of a won- dering people. Towards the latter half ot the 15th century two dead bodies entirely free from decomposition, and corresponding with the Red Men as they afterward appeared to Columbus, were cast on the shores of the Azores, and confirmed Columbus in his be- lief in the existence of a western world and western people.
Storm and flood and disease have created sad havoc in the ranks of the Indian since the occupation of the country by the white man. These natural causes have conspired to decimate the race even more than the advance of civilization, which seems not to affect it to any material extent. In its maintenance of the same number of rep- resentatives during three centuries, and its existence in the very face of a most unceremonious, and, whenever necessary, cruel con- quest, the grand dispensations of the unseen Ruler of the universe is demonstrated; for, without the aborigines, savage and treach- erous as they were, it is possible that the explorers of former times would have so many natural diflSculties to contend with, that their work would be surrendered in despair, and the most fertile regions of the continent saved for the plowshares of generations yet un- born. It is questionable whether we owe the discovery of this con- tinent to the unaided scientific knowledge of Columbus, or to the dead bodies of the two Indians referred to above; nor can their ser- vices to the explorers of ancient and modern times be over-esti- mated. Their existence is embraced in the plan of the Divinity for the government of the world, and it will not form subject for surprise to learn that the same intelligence which sent a thrill of liberty into every corner of the republic, will, in the near future.
Li*
di \ HISTORY OF INDIAKA.
devise some method under which the remnant of a great and an- cient race maj taste the sweets of public kindness, and feel that, after centuries of turmoil and tyranny, they have at last found a shelter amid a sympathizing people. Many have looked at the In- dian as the pessimist does at all things; they say that he was never formidable until the white man supplied him with the weapons of modern warfare; but there is no mention made of his eviction from his retired home, and the little plot of cultivated garden which formed the nucleus of a village that, if fostered instead of being- destroyed, might possibly hold an Indian population of some im- portance in the economy of the nation. There is no intention what- ever to maintain that the occupation of this country by the favored races is wrong even in principle; for where any obstacle to advanc- ing civilization exists, it has to fall to the ground; but it may be said, with some truth, that the white man, instead of a policy of conciliation formed upon the power of kindness, indulged in bel- ligerency as impolitic as it was unjust. A modern writer says, when speaking of the Indian's character: "He did not exhibit that steady valor and efficient discipline of the American soldier; and to-day on the plains Sheridan's troopers would not hesitate to attack the bravest band, though outnumbered three to one." This piece of information applies to the European and African, as well as to the Indian. The American soldier, and particularly the troopers referred to, would not fear or shrink from a very legion ot demons, even with odds against them. This mode of warfare seems strangely peculiar when compared with the military systems of civilized countries; yet, since the main object of armed men is to defend a country or a principle, and to destroy anything which may oppose itself to them, the mode of warfare pursued by the savage will be found admirably adapted to their requirements in this con- nection, and will doubtless compare favorably with the systems of the Afghans and Persians of the present, and the Caucasian people <9f the first historic period.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
The art of hunting not only supplied the Indian with food, but, like that of war, was a means of gratifying his love of distinction. The male children, as soon as they acquired sufficient age and strength, were furnished with a bow and arrow and taught to shoot birds and other small game. Success in killing a large quadruped requifed years of careful study and practice, and tlie art was as
HISTOKT OF INDIANA. 35
sedulously inculcated in the minds of the rising generation as are the elements of reading, writing and arithmetic in the common schools of civilized communities. The mazes of the forest and the dense, tall grass of the prairies were the best fields for the exercise of the hunter's skill. No feet coiild be impressed in the yielding soil but that the tracks were the objects of the most searching scrutiny, and revealed at a glance the animal that made them, the direction it was pursuing, and the time that had elapsed since it had passed. In a forest country he selected the valleys, because they were most frequently the resort of game. The most easily taken, perhaps, of all the animals of the chase was the deer. It is endowed with a curiosity which prompts it to stop in its flight and look back at the approaching hunter, who always avails himself of this opportunity to let fly the fatal arrow.
Their general councils were composed of the chiefs and old men. When in council, they usually sat in concentric circles around the speaker, and each individual, notwithstanding the fiery passions that rankled within, preserved an exterior as immovable as if cast in bronze. Before commencing business a person appeared with the sacred pipe, and another with fire to kindle it. After being lighted it was first presented to heaven, secondly to the earth, thirdly to the presiding spirit, and lastly the several councilors, each of whom took a whifl". These formalities were observed with as close exactness as state etiquette in civilized courts.
The dwellings of the Indians were of the simplest and rudest character. On some pleasant spot by the bank of a river, or near an ever-running spring, they raised their groups of wigwams, con- structed of the bark of trees, and easily taken down and removed to another spot. The dwelling-places of the chiefs were sometimes more spacious, and constructed with greater care, but of the same materials. Skins taken in the chase served them for repose. Though principally dependent upon hunting and fishing, the uncertain supply from those sources led them to cultivate small patches of corn. Every family did everything necessary within itself, commerce, or an interchange of articles, being almost unknown to them. In cases of dispute and dissension, each Indian relied upon himself for retaliation. Blood for blood was the rule, and the relatives of the slain man were bound to obtain bloody revenge for his death. This principle gave rise, as a matter of course, to innumerable and bitter feuds, and wars of extermination where such were possible. War, indeed, rather than peace, was the Indian's
41
OO HISTOBY OF INDIANA.
glory and delight, — war, not conducted as civilization, but war where individual skill, endurance, gallantry and cruelty were prime requisites. For such a purpose as revenge the Indian would make great sacrifices, and display a patience and perseverance truly heroic ; but when the excitement was over, he sank back into a listless, un- occupied, well-nigh useless savage. During the intervals of his more exciting pursuits, the Indian employed his time in decorating his person with all the refinement of paint and feathers, and in the manufacture of his arms and of canoes. These were constructed of bark, and so light that they could easily be carried on the shoulder from stream to stream. His amusements were the war-dance, ath- letic games, the narration of his exploits, and listening to the ora- tory of the chiefs; but during long periods of such existence he remained in a state of torpor, gazing listlessly upon the trees of the forests and the clouds that sailed above them; and this vacancy imprinted an habitual gravity, and even melancholy, upon his gen- eral deportment.
The main labor and drudgery of Indian communities fell upon the women. The planting, tending and gathering of the crops, making mats and baskets, carrying burdens, — in fact, all things of the kind were performed by them, thus making their condition but little better than that of slaves. Marriage was merely a matter of bargain and sale, the husband giving presents to the father of the bride. In general they had but few children. They were sub- jected to many and severe attacks of sickness, and at times famine and pestilence swept away whole tribes.
EXPLORATIONS BY THE WHITES. -
EAKLIEST EXPLOEEES.
The State of Indiana is bounded on the east by the meridian line which forms also the western boundary of Ohio, extending due north from the mouth of the Great Miami river; on the south by the Ohio river from the mouth of the Great Miami to the moiith of the Wabash ; on the west by a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash river from its mouth to a point where a due north line from the town of Yincennes would last touch the shore of said river, and thence directly north to Lake Michigan ; and on the north by said lake and an east and west line ten miles north of the ex treme south end of the lake, and extending to its intersection with the aforesaid meridian, the west boundary of Ohio. These bound aries include an area of 33,809 square miles, lying between 37 47' and 41° 50' north latitude, and between 7° 45' and 11° 1' wesi longitude from Washington.
After the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, more than 150 years passed away before any portion of the territory now com prised within the above limits was explored by Europeans. Colo nies were established in Florida, Virginia and Nova Scotia by the principal rival governments of Europe, but not until about 1670-'2 did the first white travelers venture as far into the Northwest as Indiana or Lake Michigan. These explorers were Frenchmen by the names of Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon, who then visited what is now the eastern part of Wisconsin, the northeastern portion of Illinois and probably that portion of this State north of the Kan- kakee river. In the following year M. Joliet, an agent of the French Colonial government, and James Marquette, a good and simple-hearted missionary who had his station at Mackinaw, ex- plored the country about Green Bay, and along Fox and Wiscon- sin rivers as far westward as the Mississippi, the banks of which they reached June 17, 1673. They descended this river to about 33° 40', but returned by way of the Illinois river and the route they came in the Lake Region. At a village among the Illinois In- dians, Marquette and his small band of adventurers were received (37)
Ob HISTOET OF INDIANA.
in a friendly manner and treated hospitably. They were made the honored guest:: at a great feast, where hominy, fish, dog meat and roast bufialo meat were spread before them in great abundance. In 1682 LaSalle explored the West, but it is not known that he entered the region now embraced within the State of Indiana. He took formal possession, however, of all the Mississippi region in the name of the King of France, in whose honor he gave all this Mis- sissippi region, including what is now Indiana, the name " Louisi- ana." Spain at the same time laid claim to all the region about the Gulf of Mexico, and thus these two great nations were brought into collision. But the country was actually held and occupied by the great Miami confederacy of Indians, the Miamis proper (an- ciently the Twightwees) being the eastern and most powerful tribe. Their territory extended strictly from the Scioto river west to the Illinois river. Their villages were few and scattering, and their occupation was scarcely dense enough to maintain itself against in- vasion. Their settlements were occasionally visited by Christian missionaries, fur traders and adventurers, but no bedy of white men made any settlement sufficiently permanent for a title to national possession. Christian zeal animated France and England in mis- sionary enterprise, the former in the interests of Catholicism and the latter in the interests of Protestantism. Hence their haste to preoccupy the land and proselyte the aborigines. No doubt this ugly rivalry was often seen by Indians, and they refused to be proselyted to either branch of Christianity .
The " Five Nations," farther east, comprised the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondaguas and Senecas. In 1677 the number of warriors in this confederacy was 2,150. About 1711 the Tusca- roras retired from Carolina and joined the Iroquois, or Five" Na- tions, which, after that event, became known as the " Six Nations." In 1689 hostilities broke out between the Five Nations and the colonists of Canada, and the almost constant wars in which France was engaged until the treaty of Eyswick in 1697 combined to check the grasping policy of Louis XIV., and to retard the plant- ing of French colonies in the Mississippi valley. Missionary efforts, however, continued with more failure than success, the Jesuits allying themselves with the Indians in habits and customs, even encouraging inter-marriage between them and their white fol- lowers.
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 6)}
OUABACHE.
The Wabash was first named by the Pr-^nch, and spelled by them Ouabache. This river was known even before the Ohio, and was navigated as the Ouabache all the way to the Mississippi a long time before it was discovered that it was a tributary of the Ohio (Belle Riviere). In navigating the Mississippi they thought they passed the mouth of the Ouabache instead of the Ohio. In traveling from the Great Lakes to the south, the French always went by the way of the Ouabache or Illinois.
VINCENNES.
Francois Morgan de Viusenne served in Canada as early as 1720 in the regiment of " De Oarrignan " of the French service, and again on the lakes in the vicinity of Sault Ste. Marie in the same service under M. de Vandriel, in 1725. It is possible that his ad- vent to Vincennes may have taken place in 1732; and in proof of tliis the only record is an act of sale under the joint names of him- self and Madame Vinsenne, the daughter of M. Philip Longprie, and dated Jan. 5, 1735. This document gives his military position as commandant of the post of Ouabache in the service of the French King. The will of Longprie, dated March 10, same year, bequeaths him, among other things, 408 pounds of pork, which he ordered to be kept safe until Vinsenne, who was then at Ouabache, returned to Kaskaskia.
There are many other documents connected with its early settle- ment by Vinsenne, among which is a receipt for the 100 pistoles granted him as his wife's marriage dowry. In 1736 this officer was ordered to Charlevoix by D'Artagette, viceroy of the King at New Orleans, and commandant of Illinois. Here M. St. Vinsenne re- ceived his mortal wounds. The event is chronicled as follows, in the words of D'Artagette: " We have just received very bad news from Louisiana, and our war with the Chickasaws. The French have been defeated. Among the slain is M. de Vinsenne, who ceased not until his last breath to exhort his men to behave worthy of their faith and fatherland."
Thus closed the career of this gallant oiBcer, leaving a name which holds as a remembrancer the present beautiful town of Vin- cennes, changed from Vinsenne to its present orthography in 1749.
Post Vincennes was settled as early as 1710 or 1711. In a letter from Father Marest to Father Germon, dated at Kaskaskia, Nov. 9, 1712, occurs this passage: "Zes Francois itoient itabli un fort sur
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
leflewee Ouahache / Us demanderent un missionaire / et le Pere Mermet leurfut envoy e. Ce Fere crut devoir travailler a la conversion des Mascoutens qui avoient fait un village sur les hords dumeme jleuve. Cest une nation Indians qui entend la langue niimoise.'''' Translated: " The French have established a fort upon the river "Wabash, and want a missionary; and Father Mermet has been sent to them. That Father believes he should labor for the conversion of the Mascoutens, who have built a vil- lage on the banks of the same river. They are a nation of Indians who understand the language of the Illinois."
Mermet was therefore the first preacher of Christianity in this part of the world, and his mission was to convert the Mascoutens, a branch of the Miamis. "The way I took," says he, " was to con- found, in the presence of the whole tribe, one of these charlatans [medicine men], whose Manitou, or great spirit which he wor- shiped, was the buffalo. After leading him on insensibly to the avowal that it was not the buffalo that he worshiped, but the Man- itou, or spirit, of the buffalo, which was under the earth and ani- mated all buffaloes, which heals the sick and has all power, I asked him whether other beasts, the bear for instance, and which one of his nation worshiped, was not equally inhabited by a Manitou, which was under the earth. ' Without doubt,' said the grand medi- cine man. ' If this is so,' said I, ' men ought to have a Manitou who inhabits them.' ' Nothing more certain,' said he. ' Ought not that to convince you,' continued I, ' that you are not very reasonable? For if man upon the earth is the master of all animals, if he kills them, if he eats them, does it not follow that the Mani- tou which inhabits him must have a mastery over all other Mani- tous? Why then do you not invoke him instead of the Manitou of the bear and the buffalo, when you are sick?' This reasoning disconcerted the charlatan. But this was all the effect it produced."
The result of convincing these heathen by logic, as is generally the case the world over, was only a temporary logical victory, and no change whatever was produced in the professions and practices of the Indians.
But the first Christian (Catholic) missionary at this place whose name we find recorded in the Church annals, was Meurin, in 1S49.
The church building used by these early missionaries at Yin- cennes is thus described by the " oldest inhabitants:" Fronting on Water street and running back on Church street, it was a plain
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
building with a rough exterior, of upright posts, chinked and daubed, with a rough coat of cement on the outside; about 20 feet wide and 60 long ; one story high, with a small belfry and an equally small bell. It was dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. This spot is now occupied by a splendid cathedral.
Yincennes has ever been a stronghold of Catholicism. The Church there has educated and sent out many clergymen of her faith, some of whom have become bishops, or attained other high positions in ecclesiastical authority.
Almost contemporaneous with the progress of the Church at Vincennes was a missionary work near the mouth of the "Wea river, among the Ouiatenons, but the settlement there was broken up in early day.
NATIONAL POLICIES.
THE GREAT FRENCH SCHEME.
Soon after the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi by La- Salle in 1682, the government of France began to encourage the policy of establishing a line of trading posts and missionary stations extending through the West from Canada to Louisiana, and this policy was maintained, with partial success, for about 75 years. The traders persisted in importing whisky, which cancelled nearly every civilizing influence that could be brought to bear upon the Indian, and the vast distances between posts prevented that strength which can be enjoyed only by close and convenient inter- communication. Another characteristic of Indian nature was to listen attentively to all the missionary said, pretending to believe all he preached, and then offer in turn his theory of the world, of religion, etc., and because he was not listened to with the same degree of attention and pretense of belief, would go off disgusted. This was his idea of the golden rule.
The river St. Joseph of Lake Michigan was called " the river Miamis" in 1679, in which year LaSalle built a small fort on its bank, near the lake shore. The principal station of the mission for the instruction of the Miamis was established on the borders of this river. The first French post within the territory of the Miamis was at the mouth of the river Miamis, on an eminence naturally fortified on two sides by the river, and on one side by a
42
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
deep ditch made by a fall of water. It was of triangular form. The missionary Hennepin gives a good description of it, as he was one of the company who built it, in 1679. Says he: " We fell the trees that were on the top of the hill; and having cleared the same from bushes for about two musket shot, we began to build a redoubt of 80 feet long and 40 feet broad, with great square pieces of timber laid one upon another, and prepared a great number of stakes of about 25 feet long to drive into the ground, to make our fort more inaccessible on the riverside. We employed the whole month of November about that work, which was very hard, though we had no other food but the bear's flesh our savage killed. These beasts are very common in that place because of the great quantity of grapes they find there; but their flesh being too fat and luscious, our men began to be weary of it and desired leave to go a hunting to kill some wild goats. M. LaSalle denied them that liberty, which caused some murmurs among them; and it was but unwill- ingly that they continued their work. This, together with the approach of winter and the apprehension that M. LaSalle had that his vessel (the'Griffin) was lost, made him very melancholy, though he concealed it as much as he could. We made a cabin wherein we performed divine service every Sunday, and Father Gabriel and I, who preached alternately, took care to take such texts as were suitable to our present circumstances and fit to inspire us with courage, concord and brotherly love. * * * The fort was at last perfected, and called Fort Miamis."
In the year 1711 the missionary Chardon, who was said to be very zealous and apt in the acquisition of languages, had a station on the St. Joseph about 60 miles above the mouth. Charlevoix, another distinguished missionary from France, visited a post on this river in 1721. In a letter dated at the place, Aug. 16, he says: " There is a commandant here, with a small garrison. His house, which is but a very sorry one, is called the fort, from its being sur- rounded with an indifierent palisado, which is pretty near the case in all the rest. We have here two villages of Indians, one of the Miamis and the other of the Pottawatomies, both of them mostly Christians; but as they have been for along time without any pas- tors, the missionary who has been lately sent to them will have no small difficulty in bringing them back to the exercise of their re- ligion." He speaks also of the main commodity for which the In, dians would part with their goods, namely, spirituous liquors, which they drink and keep drunk upon as long as a supply lasted.
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HISTOET OF INDIANA. 45
More than a century and a half has now passed since Charlevoix penned the above, without any change whatever in this trait of In- dian character.
In 1765 the Miami nation, or confederacy, was composed of four tribes, whose total number of warriors was estimated at only 1,050 men. Of these about 250 were Twightwees, or Miamis proper, 300 "Weas, or Ouiatenons,300 Piankeshaws and 200 Shockeys; and at this time the principal villages of the Twightwees were situated about the head of the Maumee river at and near the place where Fort "Wayne now is. The larger Wea villages were near the bants of the Wabash river, in the vicinitj' of the Post Ouiatenon; and the Shockeys and Piankeshaws dwelt on the banks of the Vermil- lion and on the borders of the "Wabash between Vincennes and Ouiatenon. Branches of the Pottawatomie, Shawnee, Delaware and Kickapoo tribes were permitted at different times to enter within the boundaries of the Miamis and reside for a while.
The wars in which France and England were engaged, from 1688 to 1697, retarded the growth of the colonies of those nations in North America, and the efforts made by France to connect Canada and the Gulf of Mexico by a chain of trading posts and colonies naturally excited the jealousy of England and gradually laid the foundation for a struggle at arms. After several stations were estab- lished elsewhere in the "West, trading posts were started at the Miami villages, which stood at the head of the Maumee, at the "Wea villages about Ouiatenon on the "Wabash, and at the Piankeshaw vil- lages about the present sight of "Vincennes. It is probable that before the close of the year 1719, temporary trading posts were erected at the sites of Fort Wayne, Ouiatenon and Vincennes. These points were probably often visited by French fur traders prior to 1700. In the meanwhile the English people in this country commenced also to establish military posts west of the Alleghanies, and thus matters went on until they naturally culminated in a general war, which, being waged by the French and Indians combined on one side, was called " the French and Indian war." This war was terminated in 1763 by a treaty at Paris, by which France ceded to Great Britain all of North America east of the Mississippi except New Orleans and the island on which it is situated; and indeed, France had the preceding autumn, by a secret convention, ceded to Spain all the country west of that river.
46 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
PONTIAC'8 WAE.
In 1762, after Canada and its dependencies had been surrendered to the English, Pontiac and his partisans secretly organized a pow- erful confederacy in order to crush at one blow all English power in the West. This great scheme was skillfully projected and cau- tiously matured.
The principal act in the programme was to gain admittance into the fort at Detroit, on pretense of a friendly visit, with short- ened muskets concealed under their blankets, and on a given signal suddenly break forth upon the garrison; but an inadvertent remark of an Indian woman led to a discovery of the plot, which was con- sequently averted . Pontiac and his warriors afterward made many attacks upon the English, some of which were successful, but the Indians were finally defeated in the general war.
BRITISH POLICY.
In 1765 the total number of French families within the limits of the Northwestern Territory did not probably exceed 600. These were in settlements about Detroit, along the river Wabash and the neighborhood of Fort Chartres on the Mississippi. Of these fami- lies, about 80 or 90 resided at Post Vincennes, 14 at Fort Ouiate- non, on the Wabash, and nine or ten at the confluence of the St. Mary and St. Joseph rivers.
The colonial policy of the British government opposed any meas- ures which might strengthen settlements in the interior of this country, lest they become self-supporting and independent of the mother country ; hence the early and rapid settlement of the North- western territory was still further retarded by the short-sighted selfishness of England. That fatal policy consisted mainly in hold- ing the land in the hands of the government and not allowing it to be subdivided and sold to settlers. But in spite of all her efforts in this direction, she constantly made just such efforts as provoked the American people to rebel, and to rebel successfully, which was within 15 years after the perfect close of the French and Indian war.
AMEKIOAN POLICY.
Thomas Jefferson, the shrewd statesman and wise Governor of Virginia, saw from the first that actual occupation of Western lands was the only way to keep them out of the hands of foreigners and
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 47
Indians. Therefore, directly after the conquest of Vincennes by Clark, be engaged a scientific corps to proceed under an escort to tbe Mississippi, and ascertain by celestial observations the point on that river intersected by latitude 36° 30', the southern limit of tbe State, and to measure its distance to the Ohio. To Gen. Clark was entrusted the conduct of the military operations in that quar- ter. He was instructed to select a strong position near that point and establish there a fort and garrison ; thence to extend his conquests northward to the lakes, erecting forts at different points, which might serve as monuments of actual possession, besides affording protection to that portion of the country. Fort " Jefferson " was erected and garrisoned on the Mississippi a few miles above the southern limit.
The result of these operations was the addition, to the chartered limits of Virginia, of that immense region known as the " North- western Territory." The simple fact that such and such forts were established by the Americans in this vast region convinced the Brit- ish Commissioners that we had entitled ourselves to the land. But where are those " monuments " of our power now?
INDIAN SAVAGEKT.
As a striking example of the inhuman treatment which the early Indians were capable of giving white people, we quote the follow ing blood-curdling story from Mr. Cox' " Recollections of the Wabash Valley":
On the 11th of February, 1781, a wagoner named Irvin Hinton was sent from the block-house at Louisville, Ky., to Harrodsburg for a load of provisions for the fort. Two young men, Richard Rue and George Holman, aged respectively 19 and 16 years, were sent as guards to protect the wagon from the depredations of any hostile Indians who might be lurking in the cane-brakes or ravines through which they must pass. Soon after their start a severe snow-storm set in which lasted until afternoon. Lest the melting snow might dampen the powder in their rifles, the guards fired them off, intending to reload them as soon as the storm ceased. Hinton drove the horses while Rue walked a few rods ahead and Holman about the same distance behind. As they ascended a hill about eight miles from Louisville Hinton heard some one say "Whoa to the horses. Supposing that something was wrong about the wagon, he stopped and asked Holman why he had called him to halt. Holman said that he had not spoken; Rue also denied it,
4:8 HISTOEY OF INDIANA.
but said that he had heard the voice distinctly. At this time a voice cried out, " I will solve the mystery for you ; it was Simon Girty that cried Whoa, and he meant what he said," — at the same time emerg- ing from a sink-hole a few rods from the roadside, followed by 13 Indians, who immediately surrounded the three Keutuckians and demanded them to' surrender or die instantly. The little party, making a virtue of necessity, surrendered to this renegade white man and his Indian allies.
Being so near two forts, Girty made all possible speed in making fast his prisoners, selecting the lines and other parts of the harness, he prepared for an immediate flight across the Ohio. The panta- loons of the prisoners were cut off about four inches above the knees, and thus they started through the deep snow as fast as the horses could trot, leaving the wagon, containing a few empty bar- rels, standing in the road. They continued their march for sev- eral cold days, without fire at night, until they reached "Wa-puc-ca- nat-ta, where they compelled their prisoners to run the gauntlet as they entered the village. Hinton first ran the gauntlet and reached the council-house after receiving several severe blows upon the head and shoulders. Eue next ran between the lines, pursued by an Indian with an uplifted tomahawk. He far outstripped his pursuer and dodged most of the blows aimed at him. Holraan complaining that it was too severe a test for a worn-out stripling like himself, was allowed to run between two lines of squaws and boy s, and was followed by an Indian with a long switch.
The first council of the Indians did not dispose of these young men; they were waiting for the presence of other chiefs and war- riors. Hinton escaped, but on the afternoon of the second day he was re-captured. Now the Indians were glad that they had an occasion to indulge in the infernal joy of burning him at once. Soon after their supper, which they shared with their victim, they drove the stake into the ground, piled np the fagots in a circle around it, stripped and blackened the prisoner, tied him to the stake, and applied the torch. It was a slow fire. The war-whoop then thrilled through the dark surrounding forest like the chorus of a band of infernal spirits escaped from pandemonium, and the scalp dance was struck up by those demons in human shape, who for hours encircled their victim, brandishing their tomahawks and war clubs, and venting their execrations upon the helpless sufferer, who died about midnight from the effects of the slow heat. As soon as he fell upon the ground, the Indian who first discovered
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 49
him in the woods that evening sprang in, sunk his tomahawk into his skull above the ear, and with his knife stripped off the scalp, which he bore back with him to the town as a trophv, and which was tauntingly thrust into the faces of Rue and Holman, with the question, " Can you smell the fire on the scalp of your red-headed friend? We cooked him and left him for the wolves to make a breakfast upon; that is the way we serve runaway prisoners."
After a march of three days more, the prisoners, Rue and Hol- man, had to run the gauntlets again, and barely got through with their lives. It was decided that they should both be burned at the stake that night, though this decision was far from being unani- mous. The necessary preparations were made, dry sticks and brush were gathered and piled around two stakes, the faces and hands of the doomed men were blackened in the customary manner, and as the evening approached the poor wretches sat look- ing upon the setting sun for the last time. An unusual excitement was manifest in a number of chiefs who still lingered about the council-house. At a pause in the contention, a noble-looking In- dian approached the prisoners, and after speaking a few words to the guards, took Holman by the hand, lifted him to his feet, cut the cords that bound him to his fellow prisoners, removed the black from his face and hands, put his hand kindly upon his head and said: " I adopt you as my son, to fill the place of the one I have lately buried ; you are now a kinsman of Logan, the white man's friend, as he lias been called, but who has lately proven himself to be a terrible avenger of the wrongs inflicted upon him by the bloody Cresap and his men." With evident reluctance, Girty interpreted this to Hol- man, who was thus unexpectedly freed.
But the preparations for the burning of Rue went on. Holman and Rue embraced each other most affectionately, with a sori-ow too deep for description. Rue was then tied to one of the stakes; but the general contention among the Indians had not ceased. Just as the lighted fagots were about to be applied to the dry brush piled around the devoted youth, a tall, active young Shawnee, a son of the victim's captor, sprang into the ring, and cutting the cords which bound him to the stake, led him out amidst the deafening plaudits of a part of the crowd and the execrations of the rest. Re- gardless of threats, he caused water to be brought and the black to be washed from the face and hands of the prisoner, whose clothes were then returned to him, when the young brave said: "I take this young man to be my brother, in the place of one I lately lost;
50 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
I loved that brother well ; I will love this one, too ; my old mother will be glad when I tell her that 1 have brought her a son, in place of the dear departed one. We want no more victims. The burning of Ked-head [Hinton] ought to satisfy us. These innocent young men do not merit such cruel fate; I would rather die myself than see this adopted brother burned at the stake."
A loud shout of approbation showed that the young Shawnee had triumphed, though dissension was manifest among the various tribes afterward. Some of them abandoned their trip to Detroit, others returded to Wa-puc-ca-nat-ta, a few turned toward the Mis- sissinewa and the Wabash towns, while a portion continued to De- troit. Holman was taken back to Wa-puc-ca-nat ta, where he re- mained most of the time of his captivity. Rue was taken first to the Mississinewa, then to the Wabash towns. Two years of his eventful captivity were spent in the region of the Wabash and Illi- nois rivers, but the last few months at Detroit; was in captivity altogether about three years and a half
Hue effected his escape in the following manner: During one of the drunken revels of the Indians near Detroit one of them lost a purse of $90; various tribes were suspected of feloniously keeping the treasure, and much ugly speculation was indulged in as to who was the thief. At length a prophet of a tribe that was not suspected was called to divine the mystery. He spread sand over a green deer-skin, watched it awhile and performed various manipulations, and professed to see that the money had been stolen and carried away by a tribe entirely different from any that had been suspicioned; but he was shrewd enough not to announce who the thief was or the tribe he belonged to, lest a war might arise. His decision quieted the belligerent uprisings threatened by the e.xcited Indians.
Rue and two other prisoners saw this display of the prophet's skill and concluded to interrogate him soon concerning their fami- lies at home. The opportunity occurred in a few days, and the In- dian seer actually astonished Rue with the accuracy with which he described his family, and added, " You all intend to make your escape, and you will effect it soon. You will meet with many trials and hardships in passing over so wild a district of country, inhabited by so many hostile nations of Indians. You will almost starve to death; but about the time you have given up all hope of finding game to sustain you in your famished condition, succor will come when you least expect it. The first game you will succeed in taking
Tv^
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
51 have plenty of
will be a male of some kind; after that you wil game and return home in safety."
The prophet kept this matter a secret for the prisoners, and the latter in a few days set off upon their terrible journey, and had just such experience as the Indian prophet had foretold; they arrived home with their lives, but were pretty well worn out with the exposures and privations of a three weeks' journey.
On the return of Holman's party of Indians to Wa-puc-ca-nat-ta, much dissatisfaction existed in regard to the manner of his release from the sentence of condemnation pronounced against him by the council. Many were in favor of recalling the council and trying him again, and this was finally agreed to. The young man was again put upon trial for his life, with a strong probability of his being condemned to the stake. Both parties worked hard for vic- tory in the final vote, which eventually proved to give a majority of one for the prisoner's acquittal.
While with the Indians, Holman saw them burn at the stake a Kentuckiaii named Richard Hogeland, who had been taken prisoner at the defeat of Ool. Crawford. They commenced burning him at nine o'clock at night, and continued roasting him until ten o'clock the next day, before he expired. During his excruciating tortures he begged for some of them to end his life and sufferings with a gun or tomahawk. Finally his cruel tormentors promised they would, and cut several deep gashes in his flesh with their tomahawks, and shoveled up hot ashes and embers and threw them into the gaping wounds. When he was dead they stripped off his scalp, cut him to pieces and burnt him to ashes, which they scattered through the town to expel the evil spirits from it.
After a captivity of about three years and a half, Holman saw an opportunity of going on a mission for the destitute Indians, namely, of going to Harrodsburg, Ky., where he had a rich uncle, from whom they could get what supplies they wanted. They let him go with a guard, but on arriving at Louisville, where Gen. Clark was in command, he was ransomed, and he reached home only three days after the arrival of Rue. Botli these men lived to a good old age, terminating their lives at their home about two miles south of Richmond, Ind.
EXPEDITIONS OF COL. GEOEGE EOGEES CLAEK.
In the summer of 1778, Col. George Eogers Clark, a native of Albemarle county, Va., led a memorable expedition against the ancient French settlements about Kaskaskia and Post Vincennes. With respect to the magnitude of its design, the valor and perse- verance with which it was carried on, and the memorable results which were produced by it, this expedition stands without a parallel in the early annals of the valley of the Mississippi. That portion of the West called Kentucky was occupied by Henderson & Co., who pretended to own the land and who held it at a high price. Col. Clark wished to test the validity of their claim and adjust the government of the country so as to encourage immigration. He accordingly called a meeting of the citizens at Harrodstown, to assemble June 6, 1776, and consider the claims of the company and consult with reference to the interest of the country. He did not at first publish the exact aim of this movement, lest parties would be formed in advance and block the enterprise; also, if the object of the meeting were not announced beforehand, the curiosity of the people to know what was to be proposed would bring out a much greater attendance.
The meeting was held on the day appointed, and delegates were elected to treat with the government of Virginia, to see whether it would be best to become a county in that State and be protected by it, etc. Various delays on account of the remoteness of the white settlers from the older communities of Virginia and the hos- tility of Indians in every direction, prevented a consummation of this object until some time in 1778. The government of Virginia was friendly to Clark's enterprise to a certain extent, but claimed that they had not authority to do much more than to lend a little assistance for which payment should be made at some future time, as it was not certain whether Kentucky would become a part of Vir- ginia or not. Gov. Henry and a few gentlemen were individually so hearty in favor of Clark's benevolent undertaking that they assisted him all they could. Accordingly Mr. Clark organized his expedition, keeping every particular secret lest powerful parties would form in the West against him. He took in stores at Pitts- (52)
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HISTORY OF INDIANA. 55
burg and "Wheeling, proceeded down the Ohio to the " Falls," where he took possession of an island of a about seven acres, and divided it among a small number of families, for whose protection he constructed some light fortifications. At this time Post Vin- cennes comprised about 400 militia, and it was a daring undertak- ing for Col. Clark, with his small force, to go up against it and Kas- kaskia, as he had planned. Indeed, some of his men, on hearing of his plan, deserted him. He conducted himself so as to gain the sympathy of the French, and through them also that of the Indians to some extent, as both these people were very bitter against the British, who had possession of the Lake Region.
From the nature of the situation Clark concluded it was best to take Kaskaskia first. The fact that the people iregarded him as a savage rebel, he regarded as really a good thing in his favor; for after the first victory he would show them so much unexpected lenity that they would rally to his standard. In this policy he was indeed successful. He arrested a few men and put them in irons. The priest of the village, accompanied by five or six aged citizens, waited on Clark and said that the inhabitants expected to be separ- ated, perhaps never to meet again, and they begged to be permitted to assemble in their church to take leave of each other. Clark mildly replied that he had nothing against their religion, that they might continue to assemble in their church, but not venture out of town, etc. Thus, by what has since been termed the "Rarey" method of taming horses, Clark showed them he had power over them but designed them no harm, and they readily took the oath of allegiance to Virginia.
After Clark's arrival at Kaskaskia it was difficult to induce the French settlers to accept the "Continental paper" introduced by him and his troops. Nor until Col. "Vigo arrived there and guar- anteed its redemption would they receive it. Peltries and piastres formed the only currency, and Yigo found great difficulty in ex- plaining Clark's financial arrangements. "Their commandants never made money," was the reply to Vigo's explanation of the policy of the old Dominion. But notwithstanding the guarantees, the Continental paper fell very low in the market. Vigo had a trading establishment at Kaskaskia, where he sold coff'ee at one dollar a pound, and all the other necessaries of life at an equally reasonable price. The unsophisticated Frenchmen were generally asked in what kind of money they would pay their little bills.
56 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
"Douleur," was the general replj'; and as an authority on the sub- ject says, "It took about twenty Continental dollars to purchase a silver dollar's worth of coffee; and as the French word "douleur" sig- nifies grief or pain, perhaps no word either in the French or Eng- lish languages expressed the idea more correctly than the douleur for a Continental dollar. At any rate it was truly douleur to the Colonel, for he never received a single dollar in exchange for the large amount taken from him in order to sustain Clark's credit.
Now, the post at Vincennes, defended by Fort Sackville, came next. The priest just mentioned, Mr. Gibault, was really friendly to " the American interest;" he had spiritual charge of the church at Vincennes, and he with several others were deputed to assemble the people there and authorize them to garrison their own fort like a free and independent people, etc. This plan had its desired effect, and the people took the oath of allegiance to the State of Virginia and became citizens of the United States. Their style of language and conduct changed to a better hue, and they surprised the numer- ous Indians in the vicinity by displaying anew flag and informing them that their old father, the King of France, was come to life again, and was mad at them for fighting the English; and they ad- vised them to make peace with the Americans as soon as they could, otherwise they might expect to make the land very bloody, etc. The Indians concluded they would have to fall in line, and they offered no resistance. Capt. Leonard Helm, an American, was left in charge of this post, and Clark began to turn his atten- tion to other points. But before leaving this section of the coun- try he made treaties of peace with the Indians; this he did, how- ever, by a different method from what had always before been followed. By indirect methods he caused them to come to him, instead of going to them. He was convinced that inviting them to treaties was considered by them in a different manner from what the wliites expected, and imputed them to fear, and that giving them great presents confirmed it. He accordingly established treaties with the Piankeshaws, Ouiatenons, Kickapoos, Illinois, Kaskaskias, Peorias and branches of some other tribes that inhab- ited the country between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. Upon this the General Assembly of the State of Virginia declared all the citizens settled west of the Ohio organized into a county of that State, to be known as "Illinois" county; but before the pro- visions of the law could be carried into effect, Henry Hamilton, the British Lieutenant-Governor of Detroit, collected an army of about
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
30 regulars, 50 French volunteers and 400 Indians, went down and re-took the post Yincennes in December, 1778. No attempt was made by the population to defend the town. Capt. Helm and a man named Henry were the only Americans at the fort, the only members of the garrison. Capt. Helm was taken prisoner and a number of the French inhabitants disarmed.
Col. Clark, hearing of the situation, determined to re-capture the place. He accordingly gathered together what force he could in this distant land, 170 men, and on the 5th of February, started from Kaskaskia and crossed the river of that name. The weather was very wet, and the low lands were pretty well covered with water. The march was difficult, and the Colonel had to work'hard to keep his men in spirits. He suffered them to shoot game whenever they wished and eat it like Indian war-dancers, each company by turns inviting the others to their feasts, which was the case every night. Clark waded through water as much as any of them, and thus stimu- lated the men by his example. They reached the Little Wabash on the 13th, after suffering many and great hardships. Here a camp was formed, and without waiting to discuss plans for crossing the river, Clark ordered the men to construct a vessel, and pretended that crossing the stream would be only a piece of amusement, al- though inwardly he held a different opinion.
The second day afterward a reconnoitering party was sent across the river, who returned and made an encouraging report. A scaf- folding was built on the opposite shore, upon which the baggage was placed as it was tediously ferried over, and the new camping ground was a nice half acre of dry land. There were many amuse- ments, indeed, in getting across the river, which put all the men in high spirits. The succeeding two or three days they had to march through a great deal of water, having on the night of the 17th to €ncamp in the water, near the Big Wabash.
At daybeeak on the 18th they heard the signal gun at Vincennes, and at once commenced their march. Eeaching the Wabash about two o'clock, they constructed rafts to cross the river on a boat-steal- ing expedition, but labored all day and night to no purpose. On the 19th they began to make a canoe, in which a second attempt to steal boats was made, but this expedition returned, reporting that there were two "large fires" within a mile of them. Clark sent a canoe down the river to meet tlie vessel that was supposed to be on her way up with the supplies, with orders to hasten forward day and night. This was tlieir last hope, as their provisions were entirely
H^
58 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
gone, and starvation seemed to be hovering about them. The next day they commenced to make more canoes, when about noon the sentinel on the river brought a boat with five Frenchmen from the fort. From this party they learned that they were not as yet dis- covered. All the army crossed the river in two canoes the next day, and as Clark had determined to reach the town that night, he ordered his men to move forward. They plunged into the water sometimes to the neck, for over three miles.
Without food, benumbed with cold, up to their waists in water, covered with broken ice, the men at one time mutinied and refused to march. All the persuasions of Clark had no effect upon the half-starved and half-frozen soldiers. In one company was a small drummer boy, and also a sergeant who stood six feet two inches in socks, and stout and athletic. He was devoted to Clark. The Gen- eral mounted the little drummer on the shoulders of the stalwart sergeant and ordered him to plunge into the water, half-frozen as it was. He did so, the little boy beating the charge from his lofty perch, while Clark, sword in hand, followed them, giving the com- mand as he threw aside the floating ice, "Forward." Elated and amused with the scene, the men promptly obeyed, holding their rifles above their heads, and in spite of all the obstacles they reached the high land in perfect safety. But for this and the ensuing days of this campaign we quote from Clark's account:
" This last day's march through the water was far superior to any- thing the Frenchmen had any idea of. They were backward ia speaking; said that the nearest land to us was a small league, a sugar camp on the bank of the river. A canoe was sent off and re- turned without finding that we could pass. I went in her myself and sounded the water and found it as deep as to my neck. I returned with a design to have the men transported on board the canoes to the sugar camp, which I knew would expend the whole day and en- suing night, as the vessels would pass slowly through the bushes. The loss of so much time to men half starved was a matter of con- sequence. I would have given now a great deal for a day's provis- ion, or for one of our horses. I returned but slowly to the troops, giving myself time to think. On our arrival all ran to hear what was the report; every eye was fixed on me; I unfortunately spoke in a serious manner to one of the oificers. The whole were alarmed without knowing what I said. I viewed their confusion for about one minute; I whispered to those near me to do as I did, immedi- ately put some water in my hand, poured on powder, blackened my
'v*
HISTOEY OF INDIANA. 5&
face, gave the war-whoop, and marched into the water without say- insf a word. The party gazed and fell in, one after another without saying a word, like a flock of sheep. I ordered those near me to begin a favorite song of theirs; it soon passed through the line, and the whole went on cheerfully.
" I now intended to have them transported across the deepest part of the water; but when about waist-deep, one of the men in- formed me that he thought he felt a path; we examined and found it so, and concluded that it kept on the highest ground, which it did, and by taking pains to follow it, we got to the sugar camp with no difficulty, where there was about half an acre of dry ground, — at least ground not under water, and there we took up our lodging.
" The night had been colder than any we had had, and the ice in the morning was one-half or three-quarters of an inch thick in still water; the morning was the finest. A little after sunrise I lectured the whole ; what I said to them I forget, but I concluded by in- forming them that passing the plain then in full view, and reaching the opposite woods would put an end to their fatigue; that in a few hours they would have a sight of their long wished-for object; and immediately stepped into the water without waiting for any reply. A huzza took place. As we generally marched through the water in a line, before the third man entered, I called to Major Bowman, ordering him to fall in the rear of the 25 men, and put to death any man who refused to march. This met with a cry of approbation, and on we went. Getting about the middle of the plain, the water about mid-deep, I found myself sensibly failing; and as there were no trees nor bushes for the men to support them- selves by, I feared that many of the weak would be drowned. I or- dered the canoes to make the land, discharge their loading, and play backward and forward with all diligence and pick up the men ; and to encourage the party, sent some of the strongest men forward, with orders when they got to a certain distance, to pass the word back that the water was getting shallow, and when getting near the woods, to cry out land. This stratagem had its desired effect; the men Exerted themselves almost beyond their abilities, the weak holding by the stronger. The water, however, did not become shallower, but continued deepening. Getting to the woods where the men expected land, the water was up to my shoulders; but gaining the woods was of great consequence; all the low men and weakly hung to the trees and floated on the old logs until they were
HISTOKY OF INDIANA.
taken off by the canoes; the strong and tall got ashore and built tires. Many would reach the shore and fall with their bodies half in the water, not being able to support themselves without it.
" This was a dry and delightful spot of ground of about ten acres. Fortunately, as if designed by Providence, a canoe of Indian squaws and children was coming up to town, and took through this part of the plain as a nigh way ; it was discovered by our canoe-men as they were out after the other men. They gave chase and took the Indian canoe, on board of which was nearly half a quarter of buffalo, some corn, tallow, kettles, etc. This was an invaluable prize. Broth was immediately made and served out, especially to the weakly; nearly all of us got a little; but a great many gave their part to the weakly, saying something cheering to their comrades. By the afternoon, this refreshment and fine weather had greatly invigor- ated the whole party.
" Crossing a narrow and deep lake in the canoes, and marching some distance, we came to a copse of timber called ' Warrior's Island.' We were now in full view of the fort and town; it was about two miles distant, with not a shrub intervening. Every man now feasted his eyes and forgot that he had suffered anything, say- ing that all which had passed was owing to good policy, and noth- ing but what a man could bear, and that a soldier had no right to think, passing from one extreme to the other, — which is common in such cases. And now stratagem was necessary. The plain between us and the town was not a perfect level; the sunken grounds were covered with water full of ducks. We observed several men within a half a mile of us shooting ducks, and sent out some of onr active young Frenchmen to take one of these men prisoners without alarming the rest, which they did. The information we got from this person was similar to that which we got from those taken on the river, except that of the British having that evening completed the wall of the fort, and that there were a great many Indians in town.
"Our situation was now critical. No possibility of retreat in case of defeat, and in full view of a town containing at this time more than 600 men, troops, inhabitants and Indians. The crew of the galley, though not 50 men, would have been now a re-enforcement of immense magnitude to our little army, if I may so call it, but we would not think of them. We were now in the situation that I had labored to get ourselves in. The idea of being made prisoner was foreign to almost every man, as they expected nothing but tor- ture from the savages if they fell into their hands. Our fate was
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 61
now to be determined, probably in a few hours; we knew that nothing but the most daring conduct would insure success; I knew also that a number of the inhabitants wished us well. This was a favorable circumstance; and as there was but little prooability of our remaining until dark undiscovered, I determined to begin opera- tions immediately, and therefoi'e wrote the following placard to the inhabitants:
To the Inhabitants of Post Vlncennes:
Gentlemen: — Being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request such of you as are true citizens and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in your houses; and those, if any there be, that are friends to the king, will instantly repair to the fort and join the hair-buyer general and fight like men; and if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered afterward, they may depend on severe punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on being well treated; and I once more request them to keep out of the streets; for everyone I find in arms on my arrival I shall treat as an enemy.
[Signed] G. R. Claek.
" I had various ideas on the results of this letter. I knew it could do us no damage, but that it would cause the lukewarm to be decided, and encourage our friends and astonish our enemies. We anxiously viewed this messenger until he entered the town, and in a few minutes we discovered by our glasses some stir in every street we could penetrate, and great numbers running or riding out into the commons, we supposed to view us, which was the case. But what surprised us was that nothing had yet happened that had the appearance of the garrison being alarmed, — neither gun nor drum. We began to suppose that the information we got from our prisoners was false, and that the enemy had already knew of us and were prepared. A little before sunset we displayed ourselves in full view of the town, — crowds gazing at us. We were plunging ourselves into certain destruction or success ; there was no midway thought of. We had but little to say to our men, except inculcat- ing an idea of the necessity of obedience, etc. We moved on slowly in full view of the town; but as it was a point of some con- sequence to us to make ourselves appear formidable, we, in leaving the covert we were in, marched and counter- marched in such a manner that we appeared numerous. Our colors were displayed to the best advantage; and as the low plain we marched through was
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
not a perfect level, bnt had frequent risings in it, of 7 or 8 higher than the common level, which was covered with water; and as these risings generally run in an oblique direction to the town, we took the advantage of one of them, marching through the water by it, which completely prevented our being numbered. "We gained the heights back of the town. As there were as yet no hostile appearance, we were impatient to have the cause unriddled. Lieut. Bayley was ordered with 14 men to march and fire on the fort; the main body moved in a different direction and took possession of the strongest part of the town."
Clark then sent a written order to Hamilton commanding him to surrender immediately or he would be treated as a murderer; Hamilton replied that he and his garrison were not disposed to be awed into any action unworthy of British sub- jects. After one hour more of fighting, Hamilton proposed a truce of three days for conference, on condition that each side cease all defensive work; Clark rejoined that he would "not agree to any terms other than Mr. Hamilton surrendering himself and garrison prisoners at discretion," and added that if he, Hamil- ton, wished to talk with him he could meet him immediately at the church with Capt. Helm. In less than an hour Clark dictated the termsof surrender, Feb. 24, 1779. Hamilton agreed to the total surrender because, as he there claimed in writing, he was too far from aid from his own government, and because of the " unanimity" of his ofiicers in the surrender, and his "confidence in a generous enemy."
"Of this expedition, of its results, of its importance, of the merits of those engaged in it, of their bravery, their skill, of their prudence, of their success, a volume would not more than suflice for the details. Suffice it to say that in my opinion, and I have accurately and criti- cally weighed and examined all the results produced by the con- tests in which we were engaged during the Revolutionary war, that for bravery, for hardships endured, for skill and consummate tact and prudence on the part of the commander, obedience, dis- cipline and love of country on the part of his followers, for the immense benefits acquired, and signal advantages obtained by it for the whole union, it was second to no enterprise undertaken dur- ing that struggle. I might add, second to no undertaking in an- cient or modern warfare. The whole credit of this conquest be- longs to two men ; Gen. George Rogers Clark and Col. Francis Vigo. And when we consider that by it the whole territory now
IISTOKY OF INDIANA.
covered by the three great states of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan waa added to the union, and so admitted to be by the British commis- sioners at the preliminaries to the treaty of peace in 1783; (and but for this very conquest, the boundaries of our territories west would have been the Ohio instead of the Mississippi, and so acknowledged by both our commissioners and the British at that conference;) a territory embracing upward of 2,000,000 people, the human mind is lost m the contemplation of its effects; and we can but wonder that a force of 170 men, the whole number of Clark's troops, should by this single action have produced such important results." [John Law.
The next day Clark sent a detachment of 60 men up the river Wabash to intercept some boats which were laden with provisions and goods from Detroit. This force was placed under command of Capt. Helm, Major Bosseron and Major Legras, and they proceeded up the river, in three armed boats, about 120 miles, when the British boats, about seven in number, were surprised and captured without firing a gun. These boats, which had on board about $50,000 worth of goods and provisions, were manned by about 40 men, among whom was Philip Dejean, a magistrate of Detroit. The provisions were taken for the public, and distributed among the soldiery.
Having organized a military government at Vincennes and appointed Capt. Helm commandant of the town. Col. Clark return- ed in the vessel to Kaskaskia, where he was joined by reinforce- ments from Kentucky under Capt. George. Meanwhile, a party of traders who were going to the falls, were killed and plundered by the Delawares of White Eiver; the news of this disaster having reached Clark, he sent a dispatch to Capt. Helm ordering him to make war on the Delawares and use every means in his power to destroy them; to show no mercy to the men, but to save the women and children. This order was executed without delay. Their camps were attacked in every quarter where they could be found. Many fell, and others were carried to Post Vincennes and put to death. The surviving Delawares at once pleaded for mercy and appeared anxious to make some atonement for their bad con- duct. To these overtures Capt. Helm replied that Col. Clark, the " Big Knife," had ordered the war, and that he had no power to lay down the hatchet, but that he would suspend hostilities until a messenger could be sent to Kaskaskia. This was done, and the crafty Colonel, well understanding the Indian character, sent a
l\*-
6i HISTORY OF INDIANA.
message to the Delawares, telling them that he would not accept their friendship or treat with them for peace; but that if they could get some of the neighboring tribes to become responsible for their future conduct, he would discontinue the war and spare their lives ; otherwise they must all perish.
Accordingly a council was called of all the Indians in the neigh- borhood, and Clark's answer was read to the assembly. After due deliberation the Piankeshaws took on themselves to answer for the future good conduct of the Delawares, and the " Grand Door " in a long speech denounced their base conduct. This ended the war with the Delawares and secured the respect of the neighboring tribes
Clark's attention was next turned to the British post at Detroit, but being unable to obtain sufficient troops he abandoned the en- terprise.
Clark's ingenious ruse against the Indians.
Tradition says that when Clark captured Hamilton and his gar- rison at Fort Sackville, he took possession of the fort and kept the British flag flying, dressed his sentinels with the uniform of the British soldiery, and let everything about the premises remain as they were, so that when the Indians sympathizing with the British arrived they would walk right into the citadel, into the jaws of death. His success was perfect. Sullen and silent, with the scalp- lock of his victims hanging at his girdle, and in full expectation of his reward from Hamilton, the unwary savage, unconscious of danger and wholly ignorant of the change that had just beenefl"ected in his absence, passed the supposed British sentry at the gate of the fort unmolested and unchallenged ; but as soon as in, a volley from the rifles of a platoon of Clark's men, drawn up and awaiting his coming, pierced their hearts and sent the unconscious savage, reek- ing with murder, to that tribunal to which he had so frequently, by order of the hair-buyer general, sent his American captives, from the infant in the cradle to the grandfather of the family, tot- tering with age and infirmity. It was a just retribution, and few men but Clark would have planned such a ruse or carried it out successfully. It is reported that fifty Indians met this fate within the fort; and probably Hamilton, a prisoner there, witnessed it all
subsequent career of HAMILTON.
Henry Hamilton, who had acted as Lieutenant and Governor of the British possessions under Sir George Carleton, was sent for-
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
65
ward, with two other prisoners of war, Dejean and LaMothe, to Williamsburg, Va., early in June following, 1779. Proclamations, in his own handwriting, were found, in which he had offered a specific sum for every American scalp brought into the camp, either by his own troops or his allies, the Indians; and from this he was denominated the "hair-buyer General." This and much other tes- timony of living witnesses at the time, all showed what a savage he was. Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia, being made aware of the inhumanity of this wretch, concluded to resort to a little retaliation by way of closer confinement. Accordingly he ordered that these three prisoners be put in irons, confined in a dungeon, deprived of the use of pen, ink and paper, and be ex- cluded from all conversation except with their keeper. Major General Phillips, a British oiScer out on parole in the vicinity of Charlottesville, where the prisoners now were, in closer confine- ment, remonstrated, and President Washington, while approving of JeifersCn's course, requested a mitigation of the severe order, lest the British be goaded to desperate measures.
Soon afterward Hamilton was released on parole, and he subse- quently appeared in Canada, still acting as if he had jurisdiction in the United States.
The faithful, self-sacrificing and patriotic services of Father Pierre Gibault in behalf of the Americans require a special notice of him in this connection. He was the parish priest at Vincennes, as well as at Kaskaskia. He was, at an early period, a Jesuit mis- sionary to the Illinois. Had it not been for the influence of this man, Clark could not have obtained the influence of the citizens at either place. He gave all his property, to the value of 1,500 Spanish milled dollars, to the support of Col. Clark's troops, and never re- ceived a single dollar in return. So far as the records inform us, he was given 1,500 Continental paper dollars, which proved in the end entirely valueless. He modestly petitioned from the Govern- ment a small allowance of land at Cahokia, but we find no account of his ever receiving it. He was dependent upon the public in his older days, and in 1790 Winthrop Sargent "conceded" to him a lot of about "14 toises, one side to Mr. Millet, another to Mr. Vaudrey, aud to two streets," — a vague description of land.
UISTOKT OF INDIANA. VIGO.
Col. Francis Vigo was born in Mondovi, in the kingdom of Sar- dinia, in 1747. He left his parents and guardians at a very early age, and enlisted in a Spanish regiment as a soldier. The regiment was ordered to Havana, and a detachment of it subsequently to New Orleans, then a Spanish post; Col. Vigo accompanied this de- tachment. But he left the army and engaged in trading with the Indians on the Arkansas and its tributaries. Next he settled at St. Louis, also a Spanish post, where he became closely connected, both in friendship and business, with the Governor of Upper Louisiana, then residing at the same place. This friendship he enjoyed, though he could only write his name; and we have many circumstantial evidences that he was a man of high intelligence, honor, purity of heart, and ability. Here he was living when Clark captured Kas- kaskia, and was extensively engaged in trading up the Missouri.
A Spaniard by birth and allegiance, he was under no obligation to assist the Americans. Spain was at peace with Great Britain, and any interference by her citizens was a breach of neutrality, and subjected an individual, especially one of the high character and standing of Col. Vigo, to all the contumely, loss and vengeance which British power could inflict. But Col. Vigo did not falter. "With an innate love of liberty, an attachment to Republican prin- ciples, and an ardent sympathy for an oppressed people struggling for their rights, he overlooked all personal consequences, and as soon as he learned of Clark's arrival at Kaskaskia, he crossed the line and went to Clark and tendered him his means and influence, both of which were joyfully accepted.
Knowing Col. Vigo's influence with the ancient inhabitants of the country, and desirous of obtaining some information from Vincennes, from which he had not heard for several months. Col. Clark proposed to him that he might go to that place and learn the actual state of affairs. Vigo went without hesitation, but on the Embarrass river he was seized by a party of Indians, plundered of all he possessed, and brought a prisoner before Hamilton, then in pos- session of the post, which he had a short time previously captured, holding Capt. Helm a prisoner of war. Being a Spanish subject, and consequently a non-combatant. Gov. Hamilton, although he strongly suspected the motives of the visit, dared not confine him, but admitted him to parole, on the single condition that he should daily report himself at the fort. But Hamilton was embar-
HISTOEY OF INDIANA. 67
rassed by his detention, being besieged by the inhabitants of the town, who loved Vigo and threatened to withdraw their support from the garrison if he would not release him. Father Gibault was the chief pleader for Yigo's release. Hamilton finally yielded, on con- dition that he, Vigo, would do no injury to the British interests on his way to St. Louis. He went to St. Louis, sure enough, doing no injury to British interests, but immediately returned to Kaskaskia and reported to Clark in detail all he had learned at Vincennes, without which knowledge Clark would have been unable to ac- complish his famous expedition to that post with final triumph. The redemption of this country from the British is due as much, probably, to Col. Vigo as Col. Clark.
GOVERNMENT OF THE NORTHWEST.
Col. John Todd, Lieutenant for the county of Illinois, in the spring of 1T79 visited the old settlements at Vincennes and Kas- kaskia, and organized temporary civil governments in nearly all the settlements west of the Ohio. Previous to this, however, Clark had established a military government at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, appointed commandants in both places and taken up his headquar- ters at the falls of the Ohio, where he could watch the operations of the enemy and save the frontier settlements from the depreda- tions of Indian warfare. On reaching the settlements, Col. Todd issued a proclamation regulating the settlement of unoccupied lands and requiring the presentation of all claims to the lands set- tled, as the number of adventurers who would shortly overrun the country would be serious. He also organized a Court of civil and criminal jurisdiction at Vincennes, in the mouth of June, 1779. This Court was composed of several magistrates and presided over by Col. J. M. P. Legras, who had been appointed commandant at Vincennes. Acting from the precedents established by the early French commandants in the West, this Court began to grant tracts of land to the French and American inhabitants; and to the year 1783, it had granted to different parties about 26,000 acres of land; 22,000 more was granted in this manner by 17S7, when the practice was prohibited by Gen. Harmer. These tracts varied in size from a house lot to 500 acres. Besides this loose business, the Court entered into a stupendous speculation, one not altogether creditable to its honor and dignity. The commandant and "the magistrates under him suddenly adopted the opinion that they were investf^i
68 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
with the authority to dispose of the whole of that large region which in 1842 had been granted by the Piankeshaws to tlie French inhabitants of Vincennes. Accordingly a very convenient arrange- ment was entered into by which the whole tract of country men- tioned was to be divided between the members of the honorable Court. A record was made to that effect, and in order to gloss over the steal, each member took pains to be absent from Court on the day that the order was made in his favor.
In the fall of 1780 La Balme, a Frenchman, made an attempt to capture the British garrison of Detroit by leading au expedition against it from Kaskaskia. At the head of 30 men he marched to Vincennes, where his force was slightly increased. From this place he proceeded to the British trading post at the head of the Maumee, where Fort Wayne now stands, plundered the British traders and Indians and then retired. "While encamped on the bank of a small stream on his retreat, he was attacked by a band of Miamis, a number of his men were killed, and his expedition against Detroit was ruined.
In this manner border war continued between Americans and their enemies, with varying victory, until 1783, when the treaty of Paris was concluded, resulting in the establishment of the inde- pendence of the United States. Up to this time the territory now included in Indiana belonged by conquest to the State of Virginia; but in January, 1783, the General Assembly of that State resolved to cede to the Congress of the United States all the territory north- west of the Ohio. The conditions offered by Virginia were accepted by Congress Dec. 20, that year, and early in 1784 the transfer was completed. In 1783 Virginia had platted the town of Clarksville, at the falls of the Ohio. The deed of cession provided that the territory should be laid out into States, containing a suita- ble extent of territory not less than 100 nor more than 150 miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances would permit; aud that the States so formed shall be distinct Republican States and admitted members of the Federal Union, having the same rights of sovereignty, freedom and independence as the other States. The other conditions of the deed were as follows: That the necessary and reasonable expenses incurred by Virginia in subduing any British posts', or in maintaining forts aud garrisons within and for the defense, or in acquiring any part of the territory so ceded or relinquished, shall be fully reimbursed by the United States; that the French and Canadian inhabitants and other settlers of theKas-
HISTOET OF INDIANA.
kaskia, Post Yincennes and the neighboring villages who have pro- fessed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their titles and possessions confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and privileges; that a quantity not exceeding 150,- 000 acres of land, promised by Virginia, shall be allowed and granted to the then Colonel, now General, George Rogers Clark, and to the officers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with him when the posts and of Kaskaskia and Vincennes were reduced, and to the officers and soldiers that have been since incorporated into the said regiment, to be laid off in one tract, the length o'. which not to exceed double the breadth, in such a place on the northwest side of the Ohio as a majority of the officers shall choose, and to be afterward divided among the officers and soldiers in due proportion according to the laws of Virginia; that in case the quantity of good lands on the southeast side of the Ohio, upon the waters of Cumberland river, and between Green river and Ten. nessee river, which have been reserved by law for the Virginia troops upon Continental establishment, should, from the North Carolina line, bearing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was expected, prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the defi- ciency shall be made up to the said troops in good lands to be laid off between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the northwest side of the river Ohio, in such proportions as have been engaged to them by the laws of Virginia; that all the lands within the ter- ritory so ceded to the United States, and not reserved for or appro- priated to any of the before-mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of the American army, shall be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall become, members of the confederation or federal alliance of the said States, Virginia included, according to their usual respective proportions in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and lonafide dis- posed of for that purpose aind for no other use or purpose whatever. After the above deed of cession had been accepted by Congress, in the spring of 1784, the matter of the future government of the territory was referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Jeffer- son of Virginia, Chase of Maryland and Howell of Rhode Island, which committee reported an ordinance for its government, provid- ing, among other things, that slavery should not exist in said terri- tory after 1800, except as punishment of criminals; but this article of the ordinance was rejected, and an ordinance for the temporary
4l
70 mSTOET OF INDIANA.
government of the county was adopted. In 1785 laws were passed by Congress for the disposition of lands in the territory and pro- hibiting the settlement of unappropriated lands by reckless specu- lators. But human passion is ever strong enough to evade the law to some extent, and large associations, representing considerable means, were formed for the purpose of monopolizing the land busi- ness. Millions of acres were sold at one time by Congress to asso- ciations on the installment plan, and so far as the Indian titles could be extinguished, the work of settling and improving the lands was pushed rapidly forward.
OEDINANOE OF 1787.
This ordinance has a marvelous and interesting history. Con- siderable controversy has been indulged in as to who is entitled to the credit for framing it. This belongs, undoubtedly, to Nathan Dane; and to Rufus King and Timothy Pickering belong the credit for suggesting the proviso contained in it against slavery, and also for aids to religion and knowledge, and for assuring for- ever the common use, without charge, of the great national high- ways of the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence and their tributaries to all the citizens of the United States. To Thomas Jefferson is also due much credit, as some features of this ordinance were embraced in his ordinance of 178i. But the part taken by each in the long, laborious and eventful struggle which had so glorious a consum- mation in the ordinance, consecrating forever, by one imprescript- ible and unchangeable monument, the very heart of our country to Freedom, Knowledge, and Union, will forever honor the names of those illustrious statesmen.
Mr. Jefferson had vainly tried to secure a system of government for the Northwestern territory. He was an emancipationist and favored the exclusion of slavery from the territory, but the South voted him down every time he proposed a measure of this nature. In 1787, as late as July 10, an organizing act without the anti- slavery clause was pending. This concession to the South was expected to carry it. Congress was in session in New York. On July 5, Rev. Manasseh Cutler, of Massachusetts, came into New York to lobby on the Northwestern territory. Everything seemed to fall into his hands. Events were ripe. The state of the public credit, the growing of Southern prejudice, the basis of his mission, his personal character, all combined to complete one of those sudden
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 71
and marvelous revolutions of public sentiment that once in five or ten centuries are seen to sweep over a country like the breath of the Almighty.
Cutler was a graduate of Tale. He had studied and taken de- grees in the three learned professions, medicine, law, and divinity. He had published a scientific examination of the plants of New England. As a scientist in America his name stood second only to that of Franklin. He was a courtly gentleman of the old style, a man of commanding presence and of inviting face. The Southern members said they had never seen such a gentleman in the North. He came representing a Massachusetts company that desired to purchase a tract of land, now included in Ohio, for the purpose of planting a colony. It was a speculation. Government money was worth eighteen cents on the dollar. This company had collected enough to purchase 1,500,000 acres of land. Other speculators in New York made Dr. Cutler their agent, which enabled him to represent a demand for 5,500,000 acres. As this would reduce the national debt, and Jeflferson's policy was to provide for the public credit, it presented a good opportunity to do something.
Massachusetts then owned the territory of Maine, which she was crowding on the market. She was opposed to opening the North- western region. This fired the zeal of Virginia. The South caught the inspiration, and all exalted Dr. Cutler. The entire South ral lied around him. Massachusetts could not vote against him, be cause many of the constuitents of her members were interested personally in the Western speculation. Thus Cutler, making friends in the South, and doubtless using all the arts of the lobby was enabled to command the situation. True to deeper convic tions, he dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of wise statesmanship that has ever adorned any human law book He borrowed from Jefferson the term "Articles of Compact," which, preceding the federal constitution, rose into the most sacred char- acter. He then followed very closely the constitution of Massa- chusetts, adopted three years before. Its most prominent points were:
1. The exclusion of slavery from the territory forever.
2. Provision for public schools, giving one township for a semi- nary and every section numbered 16 in each township; that is, one thirty-sixth of all the land for public schools.
3. A provision prohibiting the adoption of any constitution or the enactment of any law that should nullify pre-existing contracts.
IISTORY OF INDIANA.
Be it forever remembered that this compact declared tliat " re- ligion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good govern- ment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of edu- cation shall always be encouraged." Dr. Cutler planted himself on this platform and would not yield. Giving his unqualified dec- laration that it was that or nothing, — that unless they could make the land desirable they did not want it, — he took his horse and buggy and started for the constitutional convention at Philadelphia. On July 13, 1787, the bill was put upon its passage, and was unani- mously adopted. Thus the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, a vast empire, were consecrated to free dom, intelligence, and morality. Thus the great heart of the nation was prepared to save the union of States, for it was this act that was the salvation of the republic and the destruction of slavery. Soon the South saw their great blunder and tried to have the compact repealed. In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee, of which John Randolph was chairman. He reported that this ordinance was a compact and opposed repeal. Thus it stood, a rock in the way of the on-rushing sea of slavery.
The " Northwestern Territory " included of course what is now the State of Indiana; and Oct 5, 1787, Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was elected by Congress Governor of this territory. Upon commencing the duties of his ofiice he was instructed to ascertain the real temper of the Indians and do all in his power to remove the causes for controversy between them and the United States, and to effect the extinguishment of Indian titles to all the land possible. The Governor took up quarters in the new settlement of Marietta, Ohio, where he immediately began the organization of the government of the territory. The first session of the General Court of the new territory was held at that place in 1788, the Judges being Samuel H. Parsons, James M. Varnum and John C. Symmes, but under the ordinance Gov. St. Clair was President of the Court. After the first session, and after the necessary laws for government were adopted. Gov. St. Clair, accompanied by the Judges, visited Kaskaskia for the purpose of organizing a civil gov- ernment there. Full instructions had been sent to Maj. Hamtramck, commandant at Vincennes, to ascertain the exact feeling and temper of the Indian tribes of the Wabash. These instructions were ac- companied by speeches to each of the tribes. A Frenchman named Antoine Gamelin was dispatched with these messages April 5, 1790, who visited nearly all the tribes on the Wabash, St, Joseph and St.
^
HISTORY OF INDIANA. • 73
Mary's rivers, but was coldly received ; most of the chiefs being dissatisfied with the policy of the Americans toward them, and prejudiced through English misrepresentation. Full accounts of his adventures among the tribes reached Gov. St. Clair at Kaskas- kia in June, 1790. Being satisfied that there was no prospect of effecting a general peace with the Indians of Indiana, he resolved to visit Gen. Harmar at his headquarters at Fort "Washington and 1 consult with him on the means of carrying an expedition against the hostile Indians; but before leaving he intrusted Winthrop Sargent, the Secretary of the Territory, with the execution of the resolutions of Congress regarding the lands and settlers on the Wabash. He directed that oificer to proceed to Vincennes, lay out a county there, establish the militia and appoint the necessary civil and military ofiicers. Accordingly Mr. Sargent went to Yin- cennes and organized Camp Knox, appointed the officers, and noti- fied the inhabitants to present their claims to lands. In establish- ing these claims the settlers found great difficulty, and concerning this matter the Secretary in his report to the President wrote as follows :
" Although the lands and lots which were awarded to the inhabi- tants appeared from very good oral testimony to belong to those persons to whom they were awarded, either by original grants, pur- chase or inheritance, yet there was scarcely one case in twenty where the title was complete, owing to the desultory manner in which public business had been transacted and some other unfor- tunate causes. The original concessions by the French and British commandants were generally made upon a small scrap of paper, which it has been customary to lodge in the notary's office, who has seldom kept any book of record, but committed the most im- portant land concerns to loose sheets, which in process of time have come into possession of persons that have fraudulently de- stroyed them; or, unacquainted with their consequence, innocently lost or trifled them away. By French usage they are considered family inheritances, and often descend to women and children. In one instance, and during the government of St. Auge here, a royal notary ran off with all the public papers in his possession, as by a certificate produced to me. And I am very sorry further to observe that in the office of Mr. Le Grand, which continued from 1777 to 1787, and where should have been the vouchers for important land transactions, the records have been so falsified, and there is such gross fraud and forgery, as to invalidate all evidence and informa- tion which I might have otherwise acquired from his papers."
74 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Mr. Sargent says there were about 150 French families at Vin- cennes in 1790. The heads of all these families had been at some time vested with certain {itles to a portion of the soil ; and while the Secretary was busy in straightening out these claims, he re- ceived a petition signed by 80 Americans, asking for the confirma- tion of grants of land ceded by the Court organized by Col. John Todd under the authority of Virginia. With reference to this cause. Congress, March 3, 1791, empowered the Territorial Governor, in cases where land had been actually improved and cultivated under a supposed grant for the same, to confirm to the persons who made such improvements the lands supposed to have been granted, not, however, exceeding the quantity of 400 acres to any one per- son.
LIQUOE AND GAMING LAWS.
The General Court in the summer of 1790, Acting Governor Sargent presiding, passed the following laws with reference to vending liquor among the Indians and others, and with reference to games of chance:
1. An act to prohibit the giving or selling intoxicating liquors to Indians residing in or coming into the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and for preventing foreigners from trading with Indians therein.
2. An act prohibiting the sale of spirituous or other intoxicat- ing liquors to soldiers in the service of the United States, being within ten miles of any military post in the territory; and to pre- vent the selling or pawning of arms, ammunition, clothing or accoutrements.
3. An act prohibiting every species of gaming for money or property, and for making void contracts and payments made in consequence thereof, and for restraining tlie disorderly practice of discharging arms at certain hours and places.
Winthrop Sargent's administration was highly eulogized by the citizens at Vincennes, in a testimonial drawn up and signed by a committee of officers. He had conducted the investigation and settlement of land claims to the entire satisfaction of the residents, had upheld the principles of free government in keeping with the animus of the American Hevolution, and had established in good order the machinery of a good and wise government. In the same address Major Hamtramck also received a fair share of praise for his judicious management of afl"airs.
MILITARY HISTORY 1790-1800.
EXPEDITIONS OF HAEMA.E, SCOTT AND WILKINSON.
Gov. St. Clair, on his arrival at Fort Washington from Kas- kaskia, had a long conversation with Gen. Harmar, and concluded to send a powerful force to chastise the savages about the head- waters of the Wabash. He had been empowered by the President to call on Virginia for 1,000 troops and on Pennsylvania for 500, and he immediately availed himself of this resource, ordering 300 of the Virginia militia to muster at Fort Steuben and march with the garrison of that fort to Viucennes, and join Maj. Hamtramck, who had orders to call for aid from the militia of Vincennes, march up the Wabash, and attack any of the Indian villages which he might think he could overcome. The remaining 1,200 of the mi- litia were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Washington, and to join the regular troops at that post under command of Gen. Harmar. At this time the United States troops in the West were estimated by Gen. Harmar at 400 effective men. These, with the militia, gave him a force of 1,450 men. With this army Gen. Harmar marched from Fort Washington Sept. 30, and arrived at the Mau- mee Oct. 17. They commenced the work of punishing the Indians, but were not very successful. The savages, it is true, received a severe scourging, but the militia behaved so badly as to be of little or no service. A detachment of 340 militia and 60 regulars, under the command of Col. Hardin, were sorely defeated on the Maumee Oct. 22. The next day the army took up the line of march for Fort Washington, which place they reached Nov. 4, having lost in the expedition 183 killed and 31 wounded; the Indians lost about as many. During the progress of this expedition Maj. Hamtramck marched up the Wabash from Vincennes, as far as the Vermillion river, and destroyed several deserted villages, but without finding an enemy to oppose him.
Although the savages seem to have been severely punished by these expeditions, yet they refused to sue for peace, and continued their hostilities. Thereupon the inhabitants of the frontier settle- ments of Virginia took alarm, and the delegates of Ohio, Monon- (75)
76 HISTOKY OF INDIANA.
gahela, Harrison, Randolph, Greenbrier, Kanawha and Mont- gomery counties sent a joint memorial to the Governor of Vir- ginia, saying that the defenseless condition of the counties, form- ing a line of nearly 400 miles along the Ohio river, exposed to the hostile invasion of their Indian enemies, destitute of every kind of support, was truly alarming; for, notwithstanding all the regula- tions of the General Government in that country, they have reason to lament that they have been up to that time ineifectual for their protection; nor indeed could it be otherwise, for the garrisons kept by the Continental troops on the Ohio river, if of any use at all, must protect only the Kentucky settlements, as they immediately covered that country. They further stated in their memorial: "We beg leave to observe that we have reason to fear that the conse- quences of the defeat of our army by the Indians in the late expe- dition will be severely felt on our frontiers, as there is no doubt that the Indians will, in their turn, being flushed with victory, in- vade our settlements and exercise all their horrid murder upon the inhabitants thereof whenever the weather will permit them to travel. Then is it not better to support us where we are, be the ex- pense what it may, than to oblige such a number of your brave citizens, who have so long supported, and still continue to support, a dangerous frontier (although thousands of their relatives in the flesh have in the prosecution thereof fallen a sacrifice to savage ia- ventions) to quit the country, after all they have done and suffered, when you know that a frontier must be supported somewhere?"
This memorial caused the Legislature of Virginia to authorize the Governor of that State to make any defensive operations neces- sary for the temporary defense of the frontiers, until the general Government could adopt and carry out measures to suppress the hostile Indians. The Governor at once called upon the military commanding officers in the western counties of Virginia to raise by the first of March, 1791, several small companies of rangers for this purpose. At the same time Charles Scott was appointed Brigadier- General of the Kentucky militia, with authority to raise 226 vol- unteers, to protect the most exposed portions of that district. A full report of the proceedings of the Virginia Legislature being transmitted to Congress, that body constituted a local Board of War for the district of Kentucky, consisting of five men. March 9, 1791, Gen. Henry Knox, Secretary of War, sent a letter of instruc- tions to Gen. Scott, recommending an expedition of mounted men not exceeding 750, against the Wea towns on the Wabash. With
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 77
this force Gen. Scott accordingly crossed the Ohio, May 23, 1791, and reached the Wabash in about ten days. Many of the Indians, having discovered his approach, fled, but he succeeded in destroy- ing all the villages around Ouiatenon, together with several Kick- apoo towns, killing 32 warriors and taking 58 prisoners. He released a few of the most infirm prisoners, giving them a " talk," which they carried to the towns farther up the Wabash, and which the wretched condition of his horses prevented him from reaching.
March 3, 1791, Congress provided for raising and equipping a regiment for the protection of the frontiers, and Gov. St. Clair was invested with the chief command of about 3,000 troops, to be raised and employed against the hostile Indians in the territory over which his jurisdiction extended. He was instructed by the Secre- tary of War to march to the Miami village and establish a strong and permanent military post there; also such posts elsewhere along the Ohio as would be in communication with Fort Washington. The post at Miami village was intended to keep the savages in that vicinity in check, and was ordered to be strong enough in its gar- rison to afford a detachment of 500 or 600 men in case of emer- gency, either to chastise any of the Wabash or other hostile Indians or capture convoys of the enemy's provisions. The Secretary of War also urged Gov. St. Clair to establish that post as the first and most important part of the campaign. In case of a previous treaty the Indians were to be conciliated upon this point if possible; and he presumed good arguments might be offered to induce their acquiescence. Said he: " Having commenced your march upon the main expedition, and the Indians continuing hostile, you will use every possible exertion to make them feel the effects of your superi- ority; and, after having arrived at the Miami village and put your works in a defensible state, you will seek the enemy with the whole of your remaining force, and endeavor by all possible means to strike them with great severity. * * * *
In order to avoid future wars, it might be proper to make the Wa- bash and thence over to the Maumee, and down the same to its mouth, at Lake Erie, the boundary between the people of the United States and the Indians (excepting so far as the same should relate to the Wyandots and Delawares), on the supposition of their continuing faithful to the treaties; but if they should join in the war against the United States, and your army be victorious, the said tribes ought to be removed without the boundary mentioned."
Previous to marchino; a strong force to the Miami town, Gov. St.
^71
78 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Clair, June 25, 1791, authorized Gen Wilkinson to conduct a second expedition, not exceeding 500 mounted men, against the Indian villages on the Wabash. Accordingly Gen. Wilkinson mustered his forces and was ready July 20, to march with 525 mounted vol- unteers, well armed, and provided with 30 days' provisions, and with this force he reached the Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua village on the north bank of Eel river about six miles above its mouth, Aug. 7, where he killed six warriors and took 34 prisoners. This town, which was scattered along the river for three miles, was totally dc;- stroyed. Wilkinson encamped on the ruins of the town that night, and the next day he commenced his march for the Kickapoo town on the prairie, which he was unable to reach owing to the impassa- ble condition of the route which he adopted and the failing condi- tion of his horses. He reported the estimated results of the expe- dition as follows: "I have destroyed the chief town of the Ouiate- non nation, and have made prisoners of the sons and sisters of the king. I have burned a respectable Kickapoo village, and cut down at least 400 acres of corn, chiefly in the milk."
EXPEDITIONS OF ST. CLAIE AND WAYNE.
The Indians were greatly damaged by the expeditions of Harmar, Scott and Wilkinson, but were far from being subdued. They regarded the policy of the United States as calculated to extermi- nate them from the land; and, goaded on by the English of Detroit, enemies of the Americans, they were excited to desperation. At this time the British Government still supported garrisons at Niagara, Detroit and Michilimackinac, although it was declared by the second article of the definitive treaty of peace of 1783, that the king of Great Britain would, " with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction or carrying away any negroes or property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his forces, garrisons and fleets from the United States, and from every post, place and harbor within the same." That treaty also provided that the creditors on either side should meet with no lawful impedi- ments to the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all iona fide debts previously contracted. The British Government claimed that the United States had broken faith in this particular understanding of the treaty, and in consequence refused to with- draw its forces from the territory. The British garrisons in the Lake Region were a source of much annoyance to the Americans, as they aflforded onctor to uostile Indians, encouraging them to
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 79
make raids among the Americans. This state of aifairs in the Territory Northwest of the Ohio continued from the commence- ment of the Revolutionary war to 1796, when under a second treaty all British soldiers were withdrawn from the country.
In September, 1791, St. Clair moved from Fort Washington with about 2,000 men, and November 3, the main army, consisting of about 1,400 effective troops, moved forward to the head-waters of the Wabash, where Fort Recovery was afterward erected, and here the army encamped. About 1,200 Indians were secreted a few miles distant, awaiting a favorable opportunity to begin an attack, which they improved on the morning of Nov. i, about half an hour before sunrise. The attack was first made upon the militia, which immediately gave way. St. Clair was defeated and he returned to Fort Washington with a broken and dispirited army, having lost 39 officers killed, and 539 men killed and missing; 22 officers and 232 men were wounded. Several pieces of artillery, and all the baggage, ammunition and provisions were left on the field of bat- tle and fell into the hands of the victorious Indians. The stores and other public property lost in the action were valued at $32,800. There were also 100 or more American women with the army of the whites, very few of whom escaped the cruel carnage of the savr age Indians. The latter, characteristic of their brutal nature, proceeded in the flush of victory to perpetrate the most horrible acts of cruelty and brutality upon the bodies of the living and the dead Americans who fell into their hands. Believing that the whites had made war for many years merely to acquire land, the Indians crammed clay and sand into the eyes and down the throats of the dying and the dead!
(JEN. Wayne's geeat viotoet.
Although no particular blame was attached to Gov. St. Clair for the loss in this expedition, yet he resigned the office of Major-Gen- eral, and was succeeded by Anthony Wayne, a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary war. Early in 1792 provisions were made by the general Government for re-organizing the army, so that it should consist of an efficient degree of strength. Wayne arrived at Pittsburg in June, where the army was to rendezvous. Here he continued actively engaged in organizing and training his forces until October, 1793, when with an army of about 3,600 men he moved westward to Fort Washington.
While Waj'ne was preparing for an offensive campaign, every
bO HISTORY OF INDIANA.
possible means was employed to induce the hostile tribes of the Northwest to enter into a general treaty of peace with the Ameri- can Government; speeches were sent among them, and agents to make treaties were also sent, but little was accomplished. Major Hamtramck, who still remained at Vincennes, succeeded in con- cluding a general peace with the Wabash and Illinois Indians; but the tribes more immediately under the influence of the British refused to hear the sentiments of friendship that were sent among them, and tomahawked several of the messengers. Their courage had been aroused by St. Clair's defeat, as well as by the unsuccess- ful expeditions which had preceded it, and they now felt quite pre- pared to meet a superior force under Gen. Wayne. The Indians insisted on the Ohio river as the boundary line between their lands and the lands of the United States, and felt certain that they could maintain that boundary.
Maj. Gen. Scott, with about 1,600 mounted volunteers from Kentucky, joined the regular troops under Gen. Wayne July 26, 1794, and on the 28th the united forces began their march for the Indian towns on the Maumee river. Arriving at the mouth of the Auglaize, they erected Fort Defiance, and Aug. 15 the army advanced toward the British fort at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, where, on the 20th, almost within reach of the British the American array gained a decisive victory over the combined forces of the hostile Indians and a considerable number of the Detroit militia. The number of the enemy was estimated at 2,000, against about 900 American troops actually engaged. This horde of savages, as soon as the action began, abandoned themselves to flight and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving Wayne's vic- torious array in full and quiet possession of the field. The Ameri- cans lost 33 killed and 100 wounded; loss of the enemy more than double this number.
The army remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and cornfields were consumed and destroyed for a considera- ble distance both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol shot of the British garrison, who were compelled to remain idle spectators to this general devastation and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores and property of Col. McKee, the British Indian agent and " principal stimulator of the war then existing between the United States and savages." On the return march to Fort Defiance the villages and cornfields for about 50
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 81
miles on each side of the Mauraee were destroyed, as well as those for a considerable distance around that post.
Sept. 14, 1794, the army under G-en. Wayne commenced its march toward the deserted Miami villages at the confluence of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's rivers, arriving Oct. 17, and on the follow- ing day the site of Fort Wayne was selected. The fort was com- pleted Nov. 22, and garrisoned by a strong detachment of infantry and artillery, under the command of Col. John F. Hamtramck, who gave to the new fort the name of Fort Wayne. In 1814 a new fort was built on the site of this structure. The Kentucky volunteers returned to Fort Washington and were mustered out of service. Gen. Wayne, with the Federal troops, marched to Greenville and took up his headquarters during the winter. Here, in August, 1795, after several months of active negotiation, this gallant officer succeeded in concluding a general treaty of peace with all the hos- tile tribes of the Northwestern Territory. This treaty opened the way for the flood of immigration for many years, and ultimately made the States and territories now constituting the mighty North- west.
Up to the organization of the Indiana Territory there is but little history to record aside from those events connected with military affairs. In July, 1796, as before stated, after a treaty was con- cluded between the United States and Spain, the British garrisons, with their arms, artillery and stores, were withdrawn from the posts within the boundaries of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, and a detachment of American troops, consisting of 65 men, under the command of Capt. Moses Porter, took possession of the evacuated post of Detroit in the same month.
In the latter part of 1796 Winthrop Sargent went to Detroit and organized the county of Wayne, forming a part of the Indiana Territory until its division in 1806, when the Territory of Michigan was organized.
TERRITORIAL HISTORY.
OEGANIZATION OF INDIANA TEEEITOEY.
On the final success of American arms and diplomacy in 1796, the principal town within the Territory, now the State, of Indiana was Vincennes, which at this time comprised about 50 houses, all presenting a thrifty and tidy appearance. Each house was sur- rounded by a garden fenced with poles, and peach and apple-trees grew in most of the enclosures. Garden vegetables of all kinds were cultivated with success, and corn, tobacco, wheat, barley and cotton grew in the fields around the village in abundance. During the last few years of the ISth century the condition of society at Vincennes improved wonderfully.
Besides Vincennes there was a small settlement near where the town of Lawrenceburg now stands, in Dearborn county, and in the course of that year a small settlement was formed at " Armstrong's Station," on the Ohio, within the present limits of Clark county. There were of course several other smaller settlements and trading posts in the present limits of Indiana, and the number of civilized inhabitants comprised within the territory was estimated at 4,875.
The Territory of Indiana was organized by Act of Congress May 7, 1800, the material parts of the ordinance of 1787 remaining in force; and the inhabitants were invested with all the rights, privi- leges and advantages granted and secured to the people by that ordinance. The seat of government was fixed at Vincennes. May 13, 1800, Wm. Henry Harrison, a native ot Virginia, was appoint- ed Governor of this new territory, and on the next day John Gib- son, a native of Pennsylvania and a distinguished Western pioneer, (to whom the Indian chief Logan delivered his celebrated speech in 1774), was appointed Secretary of the Territory. Soon afterward Wm. Clark, Henry Vanderburgh and John Griffin were appointed territorial Judges.
Secretary Gibson arrived at Vincennes in July, and commenced, in the absence of Gov. Harrison, the administration of government. Gov. Harrison did not arrive until Jan. 10, 1801, when he imme- diately called together the Judges of the Territory, who proceeded
HISTOEY OF INDIANA.
to pass such laws as they deemed necessary for the present govern- ment of the Territory. This session began March 3, 1801.
From this time to 1810 the principal subjects which attracted the attention of the people of Indiana were land speculations, the adjustment of land titles, the question of negro slavery, the purchase of Indian lands by treaties, the organization of Territorial legis- latures, the extension of the right of suffrage, the division of Indiana Territory, the movements of Aaron Burr, and the hostile views and proceedings of the Shawanee chief, Tecumseh, and his brother, the Prophet.
TJp to this time the sixth article of the celebrated ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery in the Northwestern Territory, had been somewhat neglected in the execution of the law, and many French settlers still held slaves in a manner. In some instances, according to rules prescribed by Territorial legislation, slaves agreed by indentures to remain in servitude under their masters for a certain number of years; but many slaves, with whom no such contracts were made, were removed from the Indiana Territory either to the west of the Mississippi or to some of the slaveholding States. Gov. Harrison convoked a session of delegates of the Territory, elected by a popular vote, who petitioned Congress to declare the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery, suspend- ed ; but Congress never consented to grant that petition, and many other petitions of a similar import. Soon afterward some of the citizens began to take colored persons out of the Territory for the purpose of selling them, and Gov. Harrison, by a proclamation April 6, 1804, forbade it, and called upon the authorities of the Territory to assist him in preventing such removal of persons of color.
During the year 1804 all the country west of the Mississippi and north of 33" was attached to Indiana Territory by Congress, but in a few months was again detached and organized into a separate ter- ritory .
When it appeared from the result of a popular vote in the Terri- tory that a majority of 138 freeholders were in favor of organizing a General Assembly, Gov. Harrison, Sept. 11, 1804, issued a procla- mation declaring that the Territory had passed into the second grade of government, as contemplated by the ordinance of 1787, and fixed Thursday, Jan. 3, 1805, as the time for holding an election in the several counties of the Territory,to choose members of a House of Representatives, who should meet at Vincennes Feb. 1 and
84 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
adopt measures for the organization of a Territorial Council. These delegates were elected, and met according to the proclamation, and selected ten men from whom the President of the United States, Mr. Jefferson, should appoint five to be and constitute the Legisla- tive Council of the Territory, but he declining, requested Mr. Har- rison to make the selection, which was accordingly done. Before the first session of this Council, however, was held, Michigan Ter- ritory was set off, its south line being one drawn from the southern end of Lake Michigan directly east to Lake Erie.
FIBST TEEKITOEIAL LEGISLATURE.
The first General Assembly, or Legislature, of Indiana Territory met at Vincennes July 29, 1805, in pursuance of a gubernatorial proclamation. The members of the House of Kepresentatives were Jesse B. Thomas, of Dearborn county ; Davis Floyd, of Clark county ; Benjamin Parke and John Johnson, of Knox county; Shadrach Bond and William Biggs, of St. Clair county, and George Fisher, of Kandolph county. July 30 the Governor delivered his first mes- sage to "the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Indiana Territory." Benjamin Parke was the first delegate elected to Congress. He had emigrated from New Jersey to In- diana in 1801.
THE "western sun"
was the first newspaper published in the Indiana Territory, now comprising the four great States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and the second in all that country once known as the "Northwestern Territory." It was commenced at Yincennes in 1803, by Elihn Stout, of Kentucky, and first called the Indiana Gazette, and July, 4, 1804, was changed to the Western Sun. Mr. Stout continued the paper until 1845, amid many discouragements, when he was appointed postmaster at the place, and he sold out the oflice.
INDIANA IN 1810.
The events which we have just been describing really constitute the initiatory steps to the great military campaign of Gen. Harrison which ended in the "battle of Tippecanoe;" but before proceeding to an account of that brilliant affair, let us take a glance at the re- sources and strength of Indiana Territory at this time, 1810:
Total population, 24,520; 33 grist mills: 14 saw mills; 3 horse mills; 18 tanneries; 28 distilleries; 3 powder mills; 1,256 looms;
HISTOKY OF INDIANA. 85
1,350 spinning wheels; value of manufactures — woolen, cotton hempen and flaxen cloths, $159,052; of cotton and wool spun in mills, $150,000; of nails, 30,000 pounds, $4,000; of leather tanned, $9,300; of distillery products, 35,950 gallons, $16,230; of gun- powder, 3,600 pounds, $1,800; of wine from grapes, 96 barrels, $6,000, and 5 0,000 pounds of maple sugar.
During the year 1810 a Board of Commissioners was established to straighten out the confused condition into which the land-title controversy had been carried by the various and conflicting admin- istrations that had previously exercised jurisdiction in this regard. This work was attended with much labor on the part of the Commis- sioners and great dissatisfaction on the part of a few designing specu- lators, who thought no extreme of perjury too hazardous in their mad attempts to obtain lands fraudulently. In closing their report the Commissioners used the following expressive language: "We close this melancholy picture of human depravity by rendering our devout acknowledgment that, in the awful alternative in which we have been placed, of either admitting perjured testimony in sup- port of the claims before us, or having it turned against our char- acters and lives, it has as yet pleased that divine providence which rules over the aff'airs of men, to preserve us, both from legal mur- der and private assassination."
The question of dividing the Territory of Indiana was agitated from 1806 to 1809, when Congress erected the Territory of Illinois, to comprise all that part of Indiana Territory lying west of the Wabash river and a direct line drawn from that river and Post Vincennes due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada. This occasioned some confusion in the govern- ment of Indiana, but in due time the new elections were confirmed, and the new territory started off on a journey of prosperity which this section of the United States has ever since enjoyed.
From the first settlement of Yincennes for nearly half a century there occurred nothing of importance to relate, at least so far as the records inform us. The place was too isolated to grow very fast, and we suppose there was a succession of priests and com- mandants, who governed the little world around them with almost infinite power and authority, from whose decisions there was no appeal, if indeed any was ever desired. The character of society in such a place would of course grow gradually different from the parent society, assimilating more or less with that of neighboring tribes. The whites lived in peace with the Indians, each under-
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HISTOET OF INDIANA.
Standing the other's peculiarities, ' which remained fixed long enough for both parties to study out and understand them. The government was a mixture of the military and the civil. There was little to incite to enterprise. Speculations in money and prop- erty, and their counterpart, beggary, were both unknown; the nec- essaries of life were easily procured, and beyond these there were but few wants to be supplied; hospitality was exercised by all, as there were no taverns; there seemed to be no use for law, judges or prisons; each district had its commandant, and the proceedings of a trial were singular. The complaining party obtained a notifi- cation from the commandant to his adversary, accompanied by a command to render justice. If this had no efiect he was notified to appear before the commandant on a particular day and answer; and if the last notice was neglected, a sergeant and file of men were sent to bring him, — no sheriff and no costs. The convicted party would be fined and kept in prison until he rendered justice according to the decree; when extremely refractory the cat-o'-nine- tails brought him to a sense of justice. In such a state of society there was no demand for learning and science. Few could read, and still fewer write. Their disposition was ^nearly always to deal honestly, at least simply. Peltries were their standard of value. A brotherly love generally prevailed. But they were devoid of public spirit, enterprise or ingenuity.
GOY. HARRISON AND THE INDIANS.
Immediately after the organization of Indiana Territory Governor Harrison's attention was directed, by necessity as well as by in- structions from Congress, to settling affairs with those Indians who still held claims to lands. He entered into several treaties, by which at the close of 1805 the United States Government had ob- tained about 46,000 square miles of territory, including all the lands lying on the borders of the Ohio river between the mouth of the Wabash river and the State of Ohio.
The levying of a tax, especially a poll tax, by the General Assem- bly, created considerable dissatisfaction among many of the inhabit- ants. At a meeting held Sunday, August 16, 1807, a number of Frenchmen resolved to " withdraw their confidence and support forever from those men who advocated or in any manner promoted the second grade of government."
In 1807 the territorial statutes were revised and under the new code, treason, murder, arson and horse-stealing were each punish- able by death. The crime of manslaughter was punishable by the common law. Burglary and robbery were punishable by whip- ping, fine and in some cases by imprisonment not exceeding forty years. Hog stealing was punishable by fine and whipping. Bigamy was punishable by fine, whipping and disfranchisement, etc.
In 1804 Congress established three land ofiices for the sale of lands in Indiana territory, one was located at Detroit, one at Vin- cennes and one at Kaskaskia. In 1807 a fourth one was opened at Jeffersonville, Clark county; this town was first laid out in 1802,. agreeably to plans suggested by Mr. Jefferson then President of the United States.
Governor Harrison, according to his message to the Legislature in 1806, seemed to think that the peace then existing between the whites and the Indians was permanent; but in the same document he referred to a matter that might be a source of trouble, which in- deed it proved to be, namel}', the execution of white laws among the Indians — laws to which the latter had not been a party in their enactment. The trouble was aggravated by the partiality with which the laws seem always to have been executed; the Indiaa
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
i
was nearly always the sufferer. All along from 1S0.5 to 1810 the Indians complained bitterly against the encroacliments of the white people upon the lands that belonged to them. The invasion of their hunting grounds and the unjustiiiable killing of many of their peo- ple were the sources of their discontent. An old chief, in laying the trouble of his people before Governor Harrison, said: "You call us children ; why do you not make us as happy as our fathers, the French, did? Thej' never took from us our lands; indeed, they were common between ns. They planted where they pleased, and they cut wood where they pleased; and so did we; but now if a poor Indian attempts to take a little bark from a tree to cover him from the rain, up comes a white man and threatens to shoot him, claiming the tree as his own."
The Indian truly had grounds for his complaint, and the state of feeling existing among the tribes at this time was well calculated to develop a patriotic leader who should carry them all forward to victory at arms, if certain concessions were not made to them by the whites. But this golden opportunity was seized by an unworthy warrior. A brother of Tecumseh, a "prophet" named Law-le-was-i- kaw, but who assumed the name of Peras-quat-a-wah (Open Door), was the crafty Shawanee warrior who was enabled to work upon both the superstitions and the rational judgment of his fellow In- dians. He was a good orator, somewhat peculiar in his appearance and well calculated to win the attention and respect of the savages. He began by denouncing witchcraft, the use of intoxicating liquors, the custom of Indian women marrying white men, the dress of the whites and the practice of selling Indian lands to the United States. He also told the Indians that the commands of the Great Spirit re- quired them to punish with death those who practiced the arts of witchcraft and magic; that the Great Spirit had given him power to find out and expose such persons; that he had power to cure all diseases, to confound his enemies and to stay the arm of death in sickness and on the battle-field. His harangues aroused among some bands of Indians a high degree of superstitious excitement. An old Delaware chief named Ta-te-bock-o-she, through whose in- fluence a treaty had been made with the Delawares in 1804, was accused of witchcraft, tried, condemned and tomahawked, and his body consumed by fire. The old chief's wife, nephew ("Billy Patterson ") and an aged Indian named Joshua were next accused of witchcraft and condemned to death. The two men were burned at the stake, but the wife of Ta-te-bock-o-she was saved from
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 91
death by her brother, who suddenly approached her, took her by the hand, and, without meeting any opposition from the Indians present, led her out of the council- house. He then immediately returned and checked the growing influence of the Prophet by exclaiming in a strong, earnest voice, " The Evil Spirit has come among us and we are killing each other." — \J)illon^s History of Indiana.
When Gov. Harrison was made acquainted with these events he sent a special messenger to the Indians, strongly entreating them to renounce the Prophet and his works. This really destroyed to some extent the Prophet's influence; but in the spring of 1808, having aroused nearly all the tribes of the Lake Region, the Prophet with a large number of followers settled near the mouth of the Tippe- canoe river, at a place which afterward had the name of "Prophet's- Town." Taking advantage of his brother's influence, Tecumseh actively engaged himself in forming the various tribes into a con- federacy. He announced publicly to all the Indians that the treaties by which the United States had acquired lands northwest of the Ohio were not made in fairness, and should be considered void. He also said that no single tribe was invested with power to sell lands without the consent of all the other tribes, and that he and his brother, the Prophet, would oppose and resist all future attempts which the white people might make to extend their set- tlements in the lands that belonged to the Indians.
Early in 1808, Gov. Harrison sent a speech to the Shawanees, in which was this sentence: " My children, this business must be stopped; I will no longer suffer it. You have called a number of men from the most distant tribes to listen to a fool, who speaks not the words of the Great Spirit but those of the devil and the British agents. My children, your conduct has much alarmed the white settlers near you. They desire that you will send away those people; and if they wish to have the impostor with them they can carry him along with them. Let him go to the lakes; he can hear the British more distinctly.' ' This message wounded the pride of the Prophet, and he prevailed on the messenger to inform Gov. Harrison that he was not in league with the British, but was speak- ing truly the words of the Great Spirit.
In the latter part of the summer of 1808, the Prophet spent sev- eral weeks at Vincennes, for the purpose of holding interviews with Gov. Harrison. At one time he told the Governor that he was a Christian and endeavored to persuade his people also to become Christians, abandon the use of liquor, be united in broth-
Tv*
92
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
erly love, etc., making Mr. Harrison believe at least, that he was honest; but before long it was demonstrated that the "Prophet" was designing, cunning and unreliable; that both he and Tecumseh were enemies of the United States, and friends of the English; and that in case of a war between the Americans and English, they would join the latter. The next year the Prophet again visited Vincennes, with assurances that he was not in sympathy with the English, but the Governor was not disposed to believe him; and in a letter to the Secretary of War, in July, 1809, he said that he regarded the bands of Indians at Prophet's Town as a combination which had been produced by British intrigue and influence, in antic- ipation of a war between them and the United States.
In direct opposition to Tecumseh and the prophet and in spite of all these difficulties. Gov. Harrison continued the work of extin- guishing Indian titles to lands, with very good success. By the close of 1809, the total amount of land ceded to the United States, under treaties which had been effected by Mr. Harrison, exceeded 30,000,000 a res.
From 1805 to 1807, the movements of Aaron Burr in the Ohio valley created considerable excitement in Indiana. It seemed tliat he intended to collect a force of men, invade Mexico and found a republic there, comprising all the country west of the Alleghany mountains. He gathered, however, but a few men, started south, and was soon arrested by the Federal authorities. But before his arrest he had abandoned his expedition and his followers had dispersed.
Harrison's campaign.
While the Indians were combining to prevent any further trans- fer of land to the whites, the British were using the advantage as a groundwork for a successful war upon the Americans. In the spring of 1810 the followers of the Prophet refused to receive their annuity of salt, and the officials who offered it were denounced as "American dogs," and otherwise treated in a disrespectful manner. Gov. Harrison, in July, attempted to gain the friendship of the Prophet by sending him a letter, offering to treat with him person- ally in the matter of his grievances, or to furnish means to send him, with three of his principal chiefs, to the President at Wash- ington; but the messenger was coldly received, and they returned word that they would visit Vincennes in a few days and interview the Governor. Accordingly, Aug. 12, 1810, the Shawanee chief with 70 of his principal warriors, marched up to the door of the
UISTOKY OF INDIANA.
Governor's house, and from that day until the 22d held daily inter- views with His Excellency. In all of his speeches Tecumseh was haughty, and sometimes arrogant. On the 20th he delivered that celebrated speech in which he gave the Governor the alternative of returning their lands or meeting them in battle.
While the Governor was replying to this speech Tecumseh inter- rupted him with an angry exclamation, declaring that the United States, through Gov. Harrison, had "cheated and imposed on the Indians." When Tecumseh first rose, a number of his party also sprung to their feet, armed with clubs, tomahawks and spears, and made some threatening demonstrations. The Governor's guards, who stood a little way off, were marched up in haste, and the In- dians, awed by the presence of this small armed force, abandoned what seemed to be an intention to make an open attack on the Gov- ernor and his attendants. As soon as Tecumseh's remarks were interpreted, the Governor reproached him for his conduct, and com- manded him to depart instantly to his camp.
On the following day Tecumseh repented of his rash act and re- quested the Governor to grant him another interview, and pro- tested against any intention of offense. The Governor consented, and the council was re-opened on the 21st, when the Shawanee chief addressed him in a respectful and dignified manner, but re- mained immovable in his policy. The Governor then requested Tecumseh to state plainly whether or not the surveyors who might be sent to survey the lands purchased at the treaty of Fort Wayne in 1809, would be molested by Indians. Tecumseh replied: "Brother, when you speak of annuities to me, I look at the land and pity the women and children. I am authorized to say that they will not receive them. Brother, we want to save that piece of land. We do not wish you to take it. It is small enough for our purpose. If you do take it, you must blame yourself as the cause of the trouble between us and the tribes who sold it to you. I want the present boundary line to continue. Should you cross it, I assure you it will be productive of bad consequences."
The next day the Governor, attended only by his interpreter, visited the camp of the great Shawanee, and in the course of a long interview told him that the President of the United States would not acknowledge his claims. "Well," replied the brave warrior, "as the great chief is to determine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough into his head to induce him to direct you to give up this land. It is true, he is so far off he will not be
l>4 HISTOEY OF INDIANA.
injured by the war. He may sit still in his town and drink his wine, while you and I will have to fight it out."
In his message to the new territorial Legislature in 1810 Gov. Harrison called attention to the dangerous views held by Tecumseh and the Prophet, to the pernicious influence of alien enemies among the Indians, to the unsettled condition of the Indian trade and to the policy of extinguishing Indian titles to lands. The eastern settlements were separated from the western by a consider- able extent of Indian lands, and the most fertile tracts within the territory were still in the hands of the Indians. Almost entirely divested of the game from which they had drawn their subsistence, it had become of little use to them; and it was the intention of the Government to substitute for the precarious and scanty sup- plies of the chase the more certain and plentiful support of agri- culture and stock-raising. The old habit of the Indians to hunt so long as a deer could be found was so inveterate that they would not break it and resort to intelligent agriculture unless they were compelled to, and to this they would not be compelled unless they were confined to a limited extent of territory. The earnest lan- guage of the Governor's appeal was like this : " Are then those extinguishments of native title which are at once so beneficial to the Indian and the territory of the United States, to be suspended on account of the intrigues of a few individuals? Is one of the fair- est portions of the globe to remain in a state of nature, the haunt of a few wretched savages, when it seems destined by the Creator to give support to a large population, and to be the seat of civili- zation, of science and true religion?"
In the same message the Governor also urged the establishment ' of a system of popular education.
Among the acts passed by this session of the Legislature, one authorized the President and Directors of the Vincennes Public Library to raise $1,000 by lottery. Also, a petition was sent to Congress for a permanent seat of government for the Territory, and commissioners were appointed to select the site.
"With the beginning of the year 1811 the British agent for Indian affairs adopted measures calculated to secure the support of the savages in the war which at this time seemed almost inevitable. Meanwhile Gov. Harrison did all in his power to destroy the influ- ence of Tecumseh and his brother and break up the Indian confed- eracy which was being organized in the interests of Great Britain. Pioneer settlers and the Indians naturally grew more and more
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 95
aggressive and intolerant, committing depredations and murders, until the Governor felt compelled to send the following speech, substantially, to the two leaders of the Indian tribes: "This is the third year that all the white people in this country have been alarmed at your proceedings ; you threaten us with war ; you invite all the tribes north and west of you to join against us, while your warriors who have lately been here deny this. The tribes on the Mississippi have sent me word that you intended to murder me and then commence a war upon my people, and your seizing the salt I recently sent up the "Wabash is also sufficient evidence of such intentions on your part. My warriors are preparing themselves, not to strike you, but to defend themselves and their women and children. You shall not surprise us, as you expect to do. Your intended act is a rash one: consider well of it. What can induce you to undertake such a thing when there is so little prospect of success? Do you really think that the handful of men you have about you are able to contend with the seventeen 'fires?' or even that the whole of the tribes united could contend against the Ken- tucky 'fire' alone? I am myself of the Long 'Knife fire.' As soon as they hear my voice you will see them pouring forth their swarms of hunting-shirt men as numerous as the musquitoes on the shores of the Wabash. Take care of their stings. It is not our wish to hurt you; if we did, we certainly have power to do it.
" You have also insulted the Government of the United States, by seizing the salt that was intended for other tribes. Satisfaction must be given for that also. You talk of coming to see me, attend- ed by all of your young men; but this must not be. If your inten- tions are good, you have no need to bring but a few of your young men with you. I must be plain with you. I will not suffer you to come into our settlements with such a force. My advice is that you visit'the President of the United States and lay your griev- ances before him.
" With respect to the lands that were purchased last fall I can enter into no negotiations with you; the affair is with the Presi- dent. If you wish to go and see him, I will supply you with the
" The person who delivers this is one of ray war officers, and is a man in whom I have entire confidence; whatever he says to you, although it may not be contained in this paper, you may believe comes from me. My friend Tecumseh, the bearer is a good man and a brave warrior; I hope you will treat him well. You ar?
yb HISTORY OF INDIANA.
yourself a warrior, and all such should have esteem for each other.'*
The bearer of this speech was politely received by Tecumseh, who replied to the Governor briefly that he should visit Vincennes in a few days. Accordingly he arrived July 27, 1811, bringing with him a considerable force of Indians, which created much alarm among the inhabitants. In view of an emergency Gov. Harrison reviewed his militia — about 750 armed men — and station- ed two companies and a detachment of dragoons on the borders of the town. At this interview Tecumseh held forth that he intended no war against the United States; that he would send messengers among the Indians to prevent murders and depredations on the white settlements ; that the Indians, as well as the whites, who had committed murders, ought to be forgiven ; that he had set the white people an example of forgiveness, which tliey ought to follow; that it was his wish to establish a union among all the Indian tribes; that the northern tribes were united; that he was going to visit the southern Indians, and then return to the Prophet's town. He said also that he would visit the President the next spring and settle all difiiculties with him, and that he hoped no attempts would be made to make settlements on the lands which had been sold to the United States, at the treaty of Fort Wayne, because the Indians wanted to keep those grounds for hunting.
Tecumseh then, with about 20 of his followers, left for the South, to induce the tribes in that direction to join his confederacy.
By the way, a lawsuit was instituted by Gov. Harrison against a certain Wm. Mcintosh, for asserting that the plaintiff had cheated the Indians out of their lands, and that by so doing he had made them enemies to the United States. The defendant was a wealthy- Scotch resident of Vincenues, well educated, and a man of influence among the people opposed to Gov. Harrison's land policy. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Harrison, assessing the damages at $4,000. In execution of the decree of Court a large quantity of the defendant's land was sold in the absence of Gov. Harrison; but some time afterward Harrison caused about two-thirds of the land to be restored to Mr. Mcintosh, and the remainder was given to some orphan children.
Harrison's first movement was to erect a new fort on the "Wabash river and to break up the assemblage of hostile Indians at the Prophet's town. For this purpose he ordered Col. Boyd's regiment of infantry to move from the falls of Ohio to Vincennes. When the military expedition organized by Gov. Harrison was nearly
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HISTOKT OF INDIANA. VI
ready to march to the Prophet's town,several Indian chiefs arrived at Vincennes Sept. 25, 1811, and declared that the Indians would comply with the demands of the Governor and disperse; but this did not check the military proceedings. The army under com- mand of Harrison moved from Yincennes Sept. 26, and Oct. 3, en- countering no opposition from the enemy, encamped at the place where Fort Harrison was afterward built, and near where the city of Terre Haute now stands. On the night of the 11th a few hos- tile Indians approached the encampment and wounded one of the sentinels, which caused considerable excitement. The army was immediately drawn up in line of battle, and small detachments were sent in all directions; but the enemy could not be found. Then the Governor sent a message to Prophet's Town, requiring the Shawanees, Winnebagoes, Pottawatomies and Kickapoos at that place to return to their respective tribes; he also required the Prophet to restore all the stolen horses in his possession, or to give satisfactory proof that such persons were not there, nor had lately been, under his control. To this message the Governor received no answer, unless that answer was delivered in the battle of Tip- pecanoe.
The new fort on the "Wabash was finished Oct. 28, and at the re- quest of all the subordinate officers it was called "Fort Harrison," near what is now Terre Haute. This fort was garrisoned with a small number of men under Lieutenant-Colonel Miller. On the 29th the remainder of the army, consisting of 910 men, moved toward the Prophet's town; about 270 of the troops were mounted. The regular troops, 250 in number, were under the command of Col. Boyd. With this army the Governor marched to within a half mile of the Prophet's town, when a conference was opened with a distinguished chief, in high esteem with the Prophet, and he informed Harrison that the Indians were much surprised at the approach of the army, and had already dispatched a message to him by another route. Harrison replied that he would not attack them until he had satisfied himself that they would not comply with his demands; that he would continue his encampment on the Wabash, and on the following inorning would have an interview with the prophet. Harrison then resumed his march, and, after some diflBculty, selected a place to encamp — a spot not very desir- able. It was a piece of dry oak land rising about ten feet above the marshy prairie in front toward the Indian town, and nearly twice that height above a similar prairie in the rear, through which
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
and near this bank ran a small stream clothed with willow and brush wood. Toward the left flank this highland widened consid- erably, but became gradually narrower in the opposite direction, and at the distance of 150 yards terminated in an abrupt point. The two columns of infantry occupied the front and rear of this ground, about 150 yards from each other on the left, and a little more thau half that distance on the right, flank. One flank was filled by two companies of mounted riflemen, 120 men, under com- mand of Major-General "Wells, of the Kentucky militia, and one by Spencer's company of mounted riflemen, numbering 80 men. The front line was composed of one battalion of United States in- fantry, iinder command of Major Floyd, flanked on the right by two companies of militia, and on the left by one company. The rear line was composed of a battalion of United States troops, under command of Capt. Bean, acting as Major, and four companies of militia infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Decker. The regular troops of this line joined the mounted riflemen under Gen. Wells, on the left flank, and Col. Decker's battalion formed an angle with Spencer's company on the left. Two troops of dragoons, about 60 men in all, were encamped in the rear of the left flank, and Capt. Parke's troop, which was larger than the other two, in rear of the right line. For a night attack the order of encampment was the order of battle, and each man slept opposite his post in the line. In the formation of the troops single file was adopted, in order to get as great an extension of the lines as possible.
BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.
No attack was made by the enemy until about i o'clock on the morning of Nov. 7, just after the Governor had arisen. The attack was made on the left flank. Only a single gun was tired by the sentinels or by the guard in that direction, which made no resist- ance, abandoning their posts and fleeing into camp; and the first notice which the troops of that line had of the danger was the yell of the savages within a short distance of them. But the men ■were courageous and preserved good discipline. Such of them as were awake, or easily awakened, seized arms and took their stations; others, who were more tardy, had to contend with the enemy in the doors of their tents. The storm first fell upon Capt. Barton's company of the Fourth United States Regiment, and Capt. Geiger's company of mounted rifiemen, which formed the left angle of the ■rear line. The fire from the Indians was exceedingly severe, and
HISTOEi' OF INDIANA.
men in these companies suffered considerably before relief could be brought to them. Some few Indians passed into the encampment near the angle, and one or two penetrated to some distance before they were killed. All the companies formed for action before they were fired on. The morning was dark and cloudy, and the fires of the Americans afforded only a partial light, which gave greater advantage to the enemy than to the troops, and they were there- fore extinguished.
As soon as the Governor could mount his horse he rode to the angle which was attacked, where he found that Barton's company had suffered severely, and the left of Geiger's entirely broken. He immediately ordered Cook's and "Wentworth's companies to march up to the center of the rear line, where were stationed a small com- pany of n. S. riflemen and the companies of Bean, Snelling and Prescott. As the General rode up he found Maj. Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of these companies, and having ascertained that the heaviest fire proceeded from some trees 15 or 20 paces in front of these companies, he directed the Major to dislodge them with a part of the dragoons; but unfortunately the Major's gal- lantry caused him to undertake the execution of the order with a smaller force than was required, which enabled the enemy to avoid him in front and attack his flanks. He was mortally wounded and his men driven back. Capt. Snelling, however, with his company immediately dislodged those Indians. Capt. Spencer and his Ist and 2nd Lieutenants were killed, and Capt. Warwick mortally wounded. The soldiery remained brave. Spencer had too much ground originally, and Harrison re-enforced him with a company of riflemen which had been driven from their position on the left flank.
Gen. Harrison's aim was to keep the lines entire, to prevent the enemy from breaking into the camp until daylight, which would enable him to make a general and effectual charge. With this view he had re-enforced every part of the line that had suffered much, and with the approach of morning he withdrew several companies from the front and rear lines and re-enforced the right and left flanks, foreseeing that at these points the enemy would make their last effort. Maj. Wells, who had commanded the left flank, charged upon the enemy and drove them at the point of the bayonet into the marsh, where they could not be followed. Meanwhile Capt. Cook and Lieut. Larrabee marched their companies to the right flank and formed under tire of the enemy, and being there joined
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
by the riflemen of that flank, charged upon the enemy, killing a number and putting the rest to a precipitate flight.
Thus ended the famous battle of Tippecanoe, victoriously to the whites and honorably to Gen. Harrison.
Tn this battle Mr. Harrison had about 700 efficient men, while the Indians had probably more than that. The loss of the Ameri- cans was 37 killed and 25 mortally wounded, and 126 wounded ; the Indians lost 38 killed on the field of battle, and the number of the wounded was never known. Among the whites killed were Daviess, Spencer, Owen, "Warwick, Randolph, Bean and White. Standing on an eminence near by, the Prophet encouraged his warriors to battle by singing a favorite war-song. He told them that they would gain an easy victory, and that the bullets of their enemies would be made harmlessby the Great Spirit. Being informed duringthe engagement that some of the Indians were killed, he said that his warriors must fight on and they would soon be victorious. Immediately after their defeat the surviving Indians lost faith in their great (?) Proph- et, returned to their respective tribes, and thus the confederacy was destroyed. The Prophet, with a very few followers, then took up his residence among a small band of Wyandots encamped on Wild-Cat creek. His famous town, with all its possessions, was destroyed the next day, Nov. 8.
On the 18th the American army returned to Vincennes, where most of the troops were discharged. The Territorial Legislature, being in session, adopted resolutions complimentary to Gov. Harri- son and the officers and men under him, and made preparations for a reception and celebration.
Capt. Logan, the eloquent Shawanee chief who assisted our forces so materially, died in the latter part of November, 1812, from the effects of a wound received in a skirmish with a recon- noitering party of hostile Indians accompanied by a white man in the British service, Nov. 22. In that skirmish the white man was killed, and Winamac, a Pottawatomie chief of some distinction, fell by the rifle of Logan. The latter was mortally wounded, when he retreated with two warriors of his tribe, Capt. Johnny and Bright-Horn, to the camp of Gen. Winchester, where he soon after- ward died. He was buried with the honors of war.
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WAR OF 1812 "WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
The victory recently gained by the Americans at the battle of Tippecanoe insured perfect peace for a time, but only a short time as the more extensive schemes of the British had so far ripened as to compel the United States again to declare war against them. Tecumseh had fled to Maiden, Canada, where, counseled by the English, he continued to excite the tribes against the Americans. As soon as this war with Great Britain was declared (June 18, 1812), the Indians, as was expected, commenced again to commit depredations. During the summer of 1812 several points along the Lake Region succumbed to theBritish, as Detroit, under Gen. Hull, Fort Dearborn (now Chicago), commanded by Capt. Heald under Gen. Hull, the post at Mackinac, etc.
In the early part of September, 1812, parties of hostile Indians began to assemble in considerable numbers in the vicinity of Forts "Wayne and Harrison, with a view to reducing them. Capt. Rhea, at this time, had command of Fort Wayne, but his drinking pro- pensities rather disq^ualified him for emergencies. For two weeks the fort was in great jeopardy. An express had been sent to Gen. Harrison for reinforcements, but many days passed without any tidings of expected assistance. At length, one day, Maj. Wm. Oliver and four friendly Indians arrived at the fort on horseback. One of the Indians was the celebrated Logan. They had come in defiance of " 500 Indians," had "broken their ranks" and reached the fort in safety. Oliver reported that Harrison was aware of the situation and was raising'men for a re-enforcement. Ohio was also raising volunteers; 800 were then assembled at St. Mary's, Ohio, 60 miles south of Fort Wayne, and would march to the relief of the fort in three or four days, or as soon as they were joined by re- enforcements from Kentucky.
Oliver prepared a letter, announcing to Gen. Harrison his safe ar- rival at the besieged fort, and giving an account of its beleaguered situation, which he dispatched by his friendly Shawanees, while he concluded to take his chances at the fort. Brave Logan and his companions started with the message, but had scarcely left the fort when they were discovered and pursued by the hostile Indians, yet passing the Indian lines in safety, they were soon out of reach. The Indians now began a furious attack upon the fort; but the little garrison, with Oliver to cheer them on, bravely met the assault, re- pelling the attack day after day, until the army approached to their relief. During this siege the commanding officer, whose habits of
102 HISTORY OF INDIANA.
intemperance rendered him unfit for the command, was confined in the " black hole," while the junior officer assumed charge. This course was approved by the General, on his arrival, but Capt. Rhea received very little censure, probably on account of his valuable ser-